"We continue again in Mark chapter 10. Let's say a word of
prayer and we'll begin our study. 'Once more Lord, we ask that you open our
eyes to the wondrous things in your law that are in here in Mark 10. And Lord,
as we come to your Word, I know that it's so important that our hearts have a
right attitude, that we have ears that hear and hearts that understand, or are
willing to understand. So we pray that you could even soften our hearts even
now so that we would hear what you have to say to us Lord. I do pray that you
would give us vision as we read your Word, as to what you desire to do in and
through us, Lord. But thank you for your Word. We pray your Holy Spirit would
be upon us now, in Jesus name, Amen.'
Let's begin with verses 1-12,
"Then he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other
side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to him, as he was accustomed he
taught them again. The Pharisees came and asked him, 'Is it lawful for a man to
divorce his wife?' testing him. And he answered and said to them, 'What did
Moses command you?' They said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of
divorce and to dismiss her.' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Because of
the hardness of your heart he wrote this precept. But from the beginning of the
creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall become
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so then they are no
longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together let not man
separate.'
In the house his disciples also asked him about this same
matter, so he again said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries
another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and
marries another, she commits adultery.'"
Now from the end of
chapter 9 and beginning here in chapter 10, it's important to note that there's
been a gap in time. The Holy Spirit has led Mark--you know Mark is a
fast-moving gospel--has led Mark to focus now on the last few weeks of Christ's
ministry here on earth. We had about six months now in chapter 9 before the
cross, and now we're just a couple weeks before that. And so we skip some time.
The other gospels contain some of the things that took place during those six
months. In fact, about a third of the gospel of Luke contains some of the
things we don't have here, as we go, transitioning from chapter 9 to chapter
10. So we can learn about some of these things that he taught and did in other
gospel accounts. But Mark has chosen now to move us right up to those last
weeks. And the rest of the gospel of Mark focuses on those last days.
As you read in verse 1, Jesus has departed from the region of Galilee,
it's most likely he's come into the area of Samaria, which is the area today of
the West Bank, south of Galilee, and he has crossed, potentially, some
mountains into the Jordan valley, and then into what is the nation of Jordan
today. And you can see that today from the Jordan valley, as we go there in
February, you can see the nation of Jordan. And then probably back into the
Jordan valley, he's come now into the area of Jerecho, proceeding to the city
of Jerusalem. Of course we know why. Well, as usual, along the way, folks all
around know him, and multitudes have gathered. And he uses the opportunity, as
he's got people around him, to teach them, to give them the truth, to give them
light, to give them Life in the teaching. So he begins to teach them. As you
see there, without a doubt, the Pharisees come, they're just consistently on
him now. And I guess they're probably trying to set him up, is what I presume.
But they come with a question. And you read the question there, they come
asking him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?". We don't have part
of it there, but in Matthew 19 they refer to "Is it lawful for a man to divorce
his wife for any reason?" is the specific question. If he takes a conservative
view, response to divorce, well potentially it may offend Herod, as Herod hears
about it--of course Herod and Herodias, that's why John the Baptist was
ultimately beheaded, because of John the Baptist's hard-line teaching on that.
But then if he takes a liberal way with this, you know, they're always trying
to trap him, but if he takes a liberal way, maybe he's gonna offend many of the
conservative Jews that would maybe have more of a conservative approach to
divorce and remarriage and things. Well, no doubt, the issue of divorce was a
hot topic in Jesus' day as it is today--lot's of philosophies and
understandings, different thoughts about it. There were two primary
understandings, and I would say today there are two primary camps. One real big
camp today in the 1990's in America, and then the smaller camp. But you could
probably divide this issue into two primary camps, as you could then. There was
this guy Hillel, you may have heard about him, he was a rabbi. He had a liberal
interpretation of the law, of Deuteronomy 24. He taught that a husband could
divorce his wife for any reason, ah, just about anything, whatever he thought.
You know, if she burnt a meal, well he would consider her unclean. If maybe he
saw a woman who was more attractive than his wife he would consider his wife
unclean in respect to this other woman now. So if his was unclean, according to
Deuteronomy 24 [his liberal interpretation of it] he could issue a certificate
of divorce. That's what this guy Hillel, the rabbi taught, and he had a lot of
followers [naturally]. There was another guy, Shamei, a more conservative rabbi
who taught the only grounds for divorce in God's eye was marital
unfaithfulness--a more conservative response [and probably the proper
interpretation of Deuteronomy 24 as we'll see when we read Jesus' response].
Well Jesus responds to the Pharisees by testing their own understanding
of what Moses taught. And they respond by basically quoting part of Deuteronomy
24. But they have, I'm sure, a certain understanding, a more liberal
understanding (it seems the Pharisees do, as you put the different accounts
together). But Jesus, as they respond, they say 'Well Moses said, 'You could
divorce a wife if you gave her a certificate of divorce.' And that is what is
written in Deuteronomy 24, but there is some qualifications to that. But Jesus,
again, with these guys, he goes right to the heart of the issue. Probably
surprises them by even going back before the Law, before Moses' time, right
back to Genesis chapter 2. And he says 'This is the perspective with marriage.
You guys have a certain understanding, but let's look at marriage from God's
perspective. Let's go right back to the garden of Eden. Marriage is a thing
that God has instituted himself. Marriage is an idea that God came up with. He
designed marriage. He made marriage. It wasn't like this agreement/covenant
thing that men and women came up with themselves. Marriage is ordained by God.
You need to understand that. It's much more than just a contract. Marriage
starts with God, as he says there, he says in verse 9, "What God has joined
together, let not man separate." Marriage is a God-thing, that's what he's
saying. It isn't a human thing at all. That's something that God has done. It
goes beyond this piece of paper that you exchange, but there are vows made
before God that God recognizes, and God joins a man and woman together. So he
tells the Pharisees that God allowed divorce, but it was not his desire, it was
not his will. God allowed it, and he says specifically, he made provision for
it due to the hardness of their hearts. I think it's interesting, it says, "Due
to the hardness of your hearts." He's talking to people a thousand plus years
after the Law. He could have said, you know, 'Due to the hardness of their
hearts...' But he says, "God allowed it due to the hardness of your
hearts."--spoke right directly to the people in front of him. God has allowed
this all along due to the hardness of man's hearts. I wonder today if God is
dealing with some of us in the same manner? Are there areas of our lives where
we are unwilling to accept God's desire or God's standard, and it's because of
hardness of our heart? Ultimately, when we will not accept God's Word and its
standard, it's because of the hardness of our heart. We like to make
exceptions, because we get into this situation that's difficult and we say
'Man, this is a tough situation, so here's exception, exception, exception...'
Or maybe we like to accept a liberal interpretation of God's law. Well, Jesus
says to them, 'Moses allowed it because of the hardness of your hearts, because
you weren't willing to listen to what God desired and the blessing he wanted to
put upon your life, but because you had hard hearts and wouldn't forgive and
you wouldn't be gracious, you know, God allowed it, and allowed you to go that
road, of course, to receive all that would go with that. Well, are there areas
of God's Word today where you have chosen to add exceptions or accept liberal
interpretation because you're unwilling to accept God's perfect will on the
matter? Are there areas in your life? I think marriage and divorce can be an
example of that today in our culture. With the American society where more than
half of Americans today, married couples divorce. That's a reality in our
culture, and sadly to say, it's a reality in the church today too. Maybe
though, it's a different issue in your life. Maybe it's fornication. Maybe, you
know, the living together thing becomes an issue, often. We see it in our
society, therefore we want to do that, make exceptions for God's law there. We
say 'Well, you know we need to live together, because we need to get to know
each other a little, and you know, everybody does it, so it's acceptable.'
Maybe it's not that, maybe it's the movies you watch, maybe it's an unforgiving
heart. God says 'Forgive', and you say, 'Well, this person, you've got to
realize what they did to me. I don't need to forgive them, based on what they
did to me.' You have exceptions where you're simply choosing not to trust God,
but you have your reasons as to why. Well, is there hardness in your heart,
that's resulting in you thinking that it's permissible in your situation
because of such and such--you're thinking, 'Well, God does not mind, because A,
B, C, D, E, F, G...'? Well, God would say otherwise. I would say, yes he does
mind, because when God says 'This is my standard, this is my truth', that is
his standard, and that is his truth. He doesn't change, he is never-changing.
Just because we are in a certain situation that doesn't mean that God is gonna
change what is truth. Truth gives life, truth is what we need. Jesus says we
arrive at the conclusions that we do when we deviate from his standard because
of the evil desires of our heart, ultimately, because of the hardness of our
heart in not being willing to accept his standard. You know, God instructed the
Israelites, he said, "You shall be Holy, for I the Lord your God am Holy." And
that's how he set the standard, he says, 'You shall be Holy for I am Holy.' And
then as you read through the Law he begins to practically map out a system for
the Israelites to begin to get ahold of a sense of what it means to be Holy,
and what it means to be separate, set apart from the world. It goes through all
these things and begins to lay all these practical ways at least for them to
get a handle on what that means. He says, "You shall be Holy, for I am
Holy"--that's the standard. That's the standard. Peter reminds us, the church,
in 1 Peter 1:13-17, he says, "Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children. Not conforming yourselves
to the former lusts, as in your ignorance, but as he who has called you is
Holy, you also be Holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be Holy for
I am Holy', and if you call on the Father who without partiality judges
according to each one's work, conduct yourselves upon your stay here in fear."
So Peter makes it clear. Same thing he says to the church [as Jesus said to the
Pharisees], this is the standard, this is who you serve, this is who you walk
with. Be Holy because God is Holy. That's the standard. Be separate, not like
the world, not thinking like the world or living like the world. He says "Gird
up the loins of your mind." You know, what does that mean "loins of your mind"?
You know, we don't really talk like that here as Americans in the 90's. But
probably the way to put that into our terminology would be to say "Get with
it!"--"Get a handle on what God's will is and where his mind is--get with it
and out of the world's mind and get God's mind!" "Gird up the loins of your
minds, get that perspective." And then he encourages further, Peter says, "be
sober". To be sober is to take a serious look at something, a serious look at
the will and the Word and the standard of God. He says 'Look at is seriously,
see what God's standard is and what he desires for you. Not in a flippant
manner in any way, but with fear, you know, work out your own conduct before
God--not fear that he's gonna crush us, but just fear in reverence because he's
Holy. Understand that we're no longer to live like the world, Peter says. What
is acceptable today in our American culture isn't necessarily acceptable before
God. And Peter says 'Be Holy at all your conduct.' He throws in the word
"all"--all your conduct, all your thoughts, all your decisions, all your
desires, all your choices, seek to live a Holy life, seek to live according to
God's standard, not stooping to the world's standards. He says, "In all your
conduct"--not just in areas where we think it's convenient...He says "In all
your conduct seek to live a Holy life for God."
Well, verse 10, in
verses 9-10, you know the disciples hear the remarks of Jesus. We don't have it
all here in Mark, but in Matthew they hear this and they're like "Wow, maybe
it's better not to get married if this is the deal, you know-- 'What God's
joined together let not man separate"? Does God understand my
marriage and see my situation? Man, it's better off not to get
married then to do that." So when they begin to ask Jesus, as they want to
understand, this is hard for them to grab onto. You see Jesus responds,
"Whoever divorces his spouse" he says, "and remarries another commits adultery"
he says "against their former spouse." That's what he says explicitly, I'm not
making up the words, that's what he says--'If a man divorces his wife and
marries another he commits adultery against his former wife. If a woman
divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery against her
former husband.' He states, that to divorce and remarry will result in adultery
against the first spouse. And he says, that's God's standard. And that's hard
to swallow and accept, at times, considering the situation we find ourselves
in. But that is the standard that Jesus very clearly writes and gives us. No
doubt when we consider the web that can be cast by sin, man that can be hard to
grab onto, because the sin and the lives of others can really get kind of
nasty.
I believe today that many today do not like to teach this truth
in our present culture because of what goes on in our culture, because a lot of
folks are offended if you say simply what God's Word says. And I just want to
share with you what his Word says, I'm not going to add anything to it. I think
a lot of people get offended today, but God said, "Be Holy as I am Holy."
'Grasp for a moment what I desire and what my standard is. I'm the one who
instituted marriage, I'm the one who's designed it, it's nothing that man came
up with, I did it, I joined two folks together.' And Jesus says, 'What God has
joined together let not man separate.'
Now, we obviously want to be
balanced. It's important to realize that this sin that Jesus refers to here is
no worse a sin than any other sin. There are some camps that seem to put those
who have been divorced or remarried in another little group, you know--this
outcast group. Sin is sin, we all here, every one of us are sinners and stand
in the grace of God, regardless of what our sin might be. Whether what Jesus is
referring to here or another sin, we're all sinners. So it's important to
realize that too, and not to put this on a different level. And certainly when
we sin and repent, God forgives us of our sin. That's the cross, we're
forgiven. He forgives us, and then he cleanses us, and then he continues to
bless our life. And also today, in 1999, August 1st, we can't go back in time.
So however, wherever you find yourself today, you can't go back in time and
undo things. You are here where you are today. So you accept, by the grace of
God, where you are at today. But it's important that we understand God's
standard and from this point on in our life we seek to live by his standard,
and his standard is Holy. He's a Holy God. He says, 'Live a Holy life, for I am
Holy.' No doubt today, America is crumbling because families are crumbling. And
families are crumbling because we are not adhering to the Word of God. We see
the fruit of deviating from God's standard. Just look at our country. No doubt
there's much pain in lives of people today, and children especially, because of
divorce. You look around and you see it. In the past couple of weeks I've sat
with young people or people in their twenties where they're still so hurt and
need so much healing because of what took place through a broken and unstable
life when they were younger. For sure, and no doubt God's grace can abound in
every situation that we ever encounter. As we depart from God's standard we do
reap what we sow, but God's standard is Holy. That's his standard.
"If
there is adultery." Now what we don't have here, and maybe I haven't noted it,
or maybe I have, is in Matthew 19 Jesus included an exception. He says,
'Divorce, you can't divorce, you should not divorce and remarry, but he says,
'with the exception of marital unfaithfulness'--the New King James says,
"sexual immorality" and I believe that's the correct translation. When Jesus
states this when Matthew writes it down he throws in the exception. There is an
exception. And I believe because when the husband and wife are married, that in
that sexual union there's a oneness bond, that there is a work that God is
doing. We see that in 1 Corinthians. Paul says, 'Don't join yourself with a
harlot, you know, you're becoming one with a harlot.' So there's this oneness
that takes place in the marriage bed, that God does this beautiful union. So
obviously that's been defiled. We have a serious situation. So Jesus says
there's an exception. If there's sexual sin against the marriage. Then it's
permissible to divorce and I would say that it's permissible to remarry.
Although, you don't have to divorce in that situation, because God is a
gracious God, and he can work, and I know of folks where God has worked in that
situation.
I want to also just note that I do not believe that if you
are here today and you are divorced and remarried, that you should divorce
again and go back to your former spouse. I've heard teaching where people have
taught that. I believe there's a high standard for marriage, but that is
certainly not God's will to do that. That's kind of bizarre and Deuteronomy 24
specifically deals with that. It says, 'Don't, if you get divorced and remarry,
don't go back to your former spouse.' So if you're married today, just accept
the amazing grace of God as we all do in all our lives for all the things we've
done, and let the Lord just bless and work. But understand his standard and if
we don't accept his standard, it's due to the hardness of our hearts. It's due
ultimately to the hardness of our hearts. Also, I want to say that I believe
that all things are new in Christ. There's folks here I'm sure that were
married and divorced before they ever knew Christ. And how can you adhere to
the law of God if you don't even know the law of God? That's foreign to you. So
today as a Christian, now all things are new in Christ, the old is gone, the
new is come.
I'd also like to say that if you are now a believer and are
now married to a non-believer, Scripture says that if your non-believing spouse
chooses to depart, then you're permitted to let that spouse go. You're not to
hold that person in bondage--if they don't like the Christian thing and you've
become a Christian and they can't handle it, and that happens, and they leave,
then let them go. [1 Corinthians 7:15.] And I would say, then, if that is
permissible, then I would assume it is permissible to remarry. [1 Corinthians 7
is Paul's complete description of what's permissible for the Christian in
divorce and remarriage situations. In verses 10 through 11 he totally backs up
Jesus' statements in Mark 10 and Matthew 19. But in verses 12-16 the apostle
Paul lists one other important exception, which this pastor mentions in
passing. I will type out 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 so you can see the complete Word
of God in this situation. A non-believer is someone who is not born-again,
doesn't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within them. There are rare
occasions where a spouse may attend church with his or her mate and appear to
be a Christian and is not. If this can be determined (Jesus says, "By their
fruits you will know them", i.e. the overall fruits of a person's actions is
the only real way of determining the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit.)
then one isn't bound, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 7:15.] 1 Corinthians
7:10-16, "To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A
wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain
unmarried or else be reconciled with her husband. And a husband must not
divorce his wife.
To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any
brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him,
he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and
he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving
husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been
sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be
unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
But if the unbeliever leaves, let
him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has
called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save you
husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?"
[That is basically the whole counsel of God on the subject of divorce
and remarriage.] But this is God's standard, and it's beautiful, his standard.
I also will note that, I don't believe a wife should remain in a
physically abusive situation. I don't believe that's healthy [and that abusive
person is proving by his or her actions that he or she really isn't a Christian
anyway, if you ask me--and this would fall under 1 Corinthians 7:15.] Some
would say 'If he's beating you up, he's beating you up, submit.' Well, you
know, I don't agree with that. However, what I believe should follow is
separation with some serious counseling for both husband and wife, seeking
resolution, and when there's resolution, then bring the two back together. [I
don't think that last statement is totally realistic. This is why. Again,
personally, I don't believe that a guy who's beating up his wife is an example
of a born-again Christian, and that such a case falls under the category of an
unbeliever "who is not pleased to dwell" with the believing spouse. Actions
speak louder than words, and they say body language makes up 55 percent of
everything we say in reality.] A wife doesn't have to sit there and be beat up.
So God's standard is God's standard and when we don't accept his standard, it's
because of the hardness of our heart. 'Well, I just don't want to do that,
because of A, B, C, & D.' And we have to ultimately realize it's because of
our own hardness and evil desires. But Jeremiah said in chapter 6, he says,
'Chose the ancient paths, go that way, that's the way of life and peace--God's
way, some of the old-fashioned standards are God's way.' Not what we're seeing
necessarily in America in the 1990's. Is there hardness in your heart? Have you
been struggling with God's will for you're current situation? My encouragement
to you, is allow God to soften your heart, as you go soberly to his Word to
examine his truth about whatever the situation you're in. And if God then
begins to reveal things to you, just repent, man, repentance is beautiful. But
may our hearts be what I read in Psalm 143 'Teach me to do your will, Lord,
teach me. Teach me to do your will, that I would do your will and live
according to your will.' [For a totally fantastic resource on how to build and
maintain a happy marriage log onto
http://www.mooreonlife.com and order a copy of Dave Moore's
eight cassette series titled Love For A Lifetime. It is about $38 but is worth
every penny of it. For a sample of what's in that series click on
http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/christiangrowth/HisNeeds_HerNeeds.htm
and enjoy this article composed of transcripts of two of the eight cassette
tape series. Another resource, available at
http://www.family.org is Dr.
James Dobson's book "LOVE must be TOUGH". It provides sound advice for those
who have a spouse threatening to leave the relationship. Let's look at verses
13-16.
Verses 13-16, "Then they brought little children to him
that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But
when Jesus saw it he was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little
children come to me and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of God.
Assuredly I say to you, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God as a little
child will by no means enter it.' And he took them up in his arms, laid his
hands on them and blessed them." You know, we have a hard time
accepting God's standard, but it's no doubt as you look at God's Word that God
loves us with a tremendous amount of love. You just see especially as we're
going through the gospel of Mark, Jesus with the children, man, he just wants
to touch them, he just wants to hug them and kiss them and embrace them. In
fact, here in this situation, there's folks here bringing children to Jesus,
all sorts of ages, as you look at all the gospels, infants even and young
children. As they bring them to Jesus the disciples say, 'Hey, you know, he's
too busy to bother him with the children, let's deal with the adults here and
not waste Jesus' time.' But in verse 14 it really rips Jesus when he sees
what's going down as he watches the behavior of the disciples. The Greek
suggests that he's indignant, it's a very strong emotion that's going on, as he
sees it he really is ripped that they've done that. And he corrects their
perspective and says to them, 'Hey, wait a minute! Let these kids come to me.
Let them come to me, and do not forbid them. For such is the kingdom of
God.'--Just the childlike faith and the innocence and just the beauty of a
child, he says, 'I want to hug that child.' You know, as moms and dads here you
just want to hold your kids and pick 'em up and even when they're sleeping in
the middle of the night you pick them up and just hold them because you love
them. And Jesus just loves us, man, he has a perfect will for us, just wants to
bless our lives and that's why he says the things that he does in his Word. You
know, you read through the Law, God said to the Israelites, 'If you do these
things, you know, I'm gonna bless your life, you're going to go into this land
that you do not even have really the right to, I'm gonna go in there and give
you this land, and I'm gonna bless you and bless you.' But he says, 'If you do
not conform to my way, you're gonna reap some hard stuff.' In fact, with the
Israelites he says to them, 'I'm gonna vomit you out of the land, I'm gonna
punish you, all these plagues are gonna come upon you.' And no doubt God
chastises those that he loves, but if we just embrace his way, man, there's
blessing. It's a life of peace and joy to walk right in God's way, whatever
that might mean. Regardless of what maybe we think today, his way is perfect,
no doubt about it. Well, Jesus wants these children to come to him, he says,
'For such is the kingdom of heaven.' And Jesus just holds these kids and loves
them. You know, when I read that, there's been some things on my heart. In
recent weeks, and I've even talked to some folks about it, and you know you
just see his attitude towards children, no doubt as a church our attitude
should be the same towards the young people. We should focus in the children's
ministry to have the best children's ministry and that the kids just get fed
and blessed. But things have been stirring on my heart, and so I've talked to
some folks. And it was interesting Thursday morning, you know we have the
prayer [meeting] Thursday morning, and after the prayer on Tuesday and
Thursdays I just hang out and just kind of journal some. And I was journaling
[writing in his prayer-journal] and I looked at my watch and it was 8:15 and I
said, 'Ah, our local radio show is on, and here I'm spending time with the Lord
and don't know why I did this, but I got up and turned on the radio. And
sometimes that can be a real depressing experience for me, that I tune in and
listen to the program [to himself speaking]. And the funny thing was, I was
already thinking, I was spending time with the Lord and then these thoughts
started stirring in my mind, and I started writing them down, and as I was
going through the Word certain Scriptures would keep coming my way. And then I
listened to myself on the radio, and then on the radio I was referring to the
same thing. And I said, you know, 'There's the things that have been going on
in my heart.' I'm not going to mention anything, but there's things on my
heart. And this was a few weeks back, and I happened to turn myself on and
heard myself say the same thing that I was thinking at that moment. It's funny
how that works. But there's been this burden on my heart, and I'm gonna very
basically share with you a couple things. And obviously as a church God will
lead us together. I think of 1 Corinthians. You know Paul said, 'Test the
prophets.' You know, if you have a prophecy, share the prophecy, but then test
the prophecy. And sometimes when we talk about prophets we think of 'Thus saith
the Lord' you know. I've got the robe on, got gray hair, you know, and there's
lightning or whatever. I think, really, in the practical sense, in 1
Corinthians, it's just someone sharing with the body of believers, saying,
'Hey, you know, I've got a burden on my heart.' 'I think it is of the Lord,--is
it of the Lord?' And Paul says 'test, man, test to see if it's of the Lord.'
Well, I have had a burden for the young people, and I see a great need and I
have just referred to it a little bit. I referred to it just about the
education of our public schools, not only are our kids not hearing about Jesus,
they're failing in just what they learn, schools aren't doing enough in
teaching them. It's a great opportunity for the church. Well, we have this
building, many of you guys know about it. In times past, we've referred to
going back and rebuilding this building because it sits right there in front of
the town's Senior High School, right there. And a little over a year ago I
mentioned to the church, "Let's, you know, we give a week's offering a month to
the missions, let's give another whole week's offering toward what we call
"Orphans and Widows". Well, the Lord blessed the missions offering with a very
specific vision for York [England] and Nice [France] and things, and the Lord
has just abundantly blessed that. But this "Orphans and Widows" never really
got blessed. And I believe it was because we never really had a vision, except
other than to reach out to the needy. And so we stopped it for awhile, and some
of you are looking at me "What's he talking about?" You had to be here to hear
it all, I guess, and to kind of know what was going on behind the scenes. Well,
anyway, I've had a desire, as a church, to begin to just focus finances toward
this building, rebuilding it, and use it as a tutoring house, regardless of
whether or not the public schools will let us in. You know, I've had an
opportunity to tutor one student recently, which one of the public schools
knows about. And this student was failing the 7th grade. My last report, I've
only done it for a few weeks, and I'm not really doing anything except saying,
'Hey, do you homework'--is that the student was just tested and tested at the
9th grade level. And they've been told if they don't pass summer school they're
not going on to 8th grade, but now they say they're doing 9th grade work. And
I'm just sitting with this person saying, 'Do your homework, do you homework.'
It's not very hard to do. But if we love kids, man, we can help them in their
schooling, and of course given them Jesus, man. And the gospel is also meeting
a need. Well, a second thing I'd like to do is buy a bus. And you guys are
looking at me and going "What is he talking about?" I've been there before, and
sometimes I hear ya. Other times it was the Lord. But with a bus we can really
impact the young folks in the community, bring them to church, if we have a
tutoring house we can bring them there. So these are things stirring through my
mind, have been for awhile, and I can't seem to get away from them. So I
mentioned it to you. And as I was going through the Word, and my journal on
Thursday I then began to look at the text on Mark chapter 10, I'm like 'You
know, there's a lot of these truths right here that I keep seeing before my
face. Well, it would be neat as a church to focus on the youth and young folks
in our community. But also focus on the needy. You know our HQ congregation has
a whole ministry focussed on international relief, and they just send relief,
and relief, and relief. [The whole body of Christ has a Christian version of
C.A.R.E. as well. Log onto
http://www.samaritanspurse.org and check it out.] And, man, I
heard a lot of stories this week from folks, I wasn't even going to mention my
idea here, but people just kept telling me how they've reached out to the
homeless, to the needy and well, I'm wondering if it's time for us as a church
to get more radical with that.
Verses 17-22, "Now as he was
going out on the road one came running, knelt down before him and asked him,
'Good Teacher, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?' So Jesus
said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God. You
know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do
not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' And he
answered and said to him, 'Teacher, all these things I have kept from my
youth.' And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, 'One thing you
lack. Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you'll have
treasure in heaven, and come take up your cross and follow me.' But he was sad
at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions."
Here this rich young ruler, Mark throws a neat little perspective on this,
because the other gospels refer to this account, but here Mark says this part
about "This guy came running, knelt before Jesus", just really eager to be
before Jesus and just had a great reverence for Jesus. Well he comes, this
young ruler, he's got possessions, he's got authority. You can see from the
text he's a very disciplined young man, successful, one who seeks to do good
with his life--one who thinks that he has done good with his life. And I think
that that becomes the issue here as Jesus begins to speak to him. He addresses
Jesus as the Good Teacher. In those verses in which you see, Jesus replies,
Jesus says, 'Well, you're saying I'm the Good Teacher, no one is good but one.'
He's referring to Psalm 14. 'There's none that's righteous, no not one..."
'Only one is good and that is God, he is the only one that is good.' So Jesus
says 'You're calling me Good Teacher', begins to force this issue, 'If I'm
really good there's only One I can be, because there is no one that is good,
only God', trying to force an understanding of who he really is, he is the Son
of God, He is good. Well knowing this man's heart, this man comes to Jesus and
says 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus says to him, 'Well,
you know the commandments'--and he quotes a number of the commandments all
dealing with our relationship with others. He says 'You know the commandments,
don't murder, don't steal, don't commit adultery, don't defraud, you know,
honor your mom and dad.' He says 'You know those commandments. Obey the
commandments and you're going to inherit eternal life.' Well the young man
says, 'Well, you know I have obeyed the commandments, but what still do I lack?
You know I've been obeying the commandments, I haven't committed adultery, you
know my mom and dad think I do pretty well, but know I'm still missing
something Jesus.' And Jesus is getting to the heart of the thing, he says,
'Well, OK, you do lack something--one thing you do lack. Go your way, sell
whatever you have, and give it to the poor, and gain treasure in heaven.' To
which this just shatters the young man, as he's very wealthy, he walks away
very sorrowful. We don't know if later he comes around and wrestles through
this, or just stays away from the Lord. But the Lord goes for the heart of the
issue, because if this rich young ruler really obeyed the Law, the spirit of
the Law, then when Jesus said this to him, he would have had no problem with
it. When the spirit of the Law is to love the Lord your God with all of your
heart, all your mind and all your soul, and then to love your neighbor as
yourself, if that truly is my heart, the spirit of my heart--if you say to me,
"Hey, if you want to be blessed, give all you have to the poor", I'd be like
"Well, you know, I was already thinking about that, you know, I want to do
that. You know, these poor people over here, I'd like to give to them. You
know, it would be a different heart. Well, this rich young ruler, like so many,
has just obeyed the letter, thought they had this religious things going, but
missing out on the heart, really the heart of the law. If you obey the heart of
the Law, man, you're all set--love the Lord your God with all your heart, all
your mind, and all your soul--that's to obey him and that's to love Christ and
have Christ as your Lord. Well, sadly, this rich young ruler was really
attached to his belongings and he walked away sorrowful. Let's continue.
Verses 23-31, "Then Jesus looked around and said to his
disciples 'How hard is it for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of
God.' And they were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again and said
to them, 'Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into
the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' And they were greatly
astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked
at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God
all things are possible.' And Peter began to say to him, 'See, we have left all
and followed you.' So Jesus answered and said, 'Assuredly I say to you, there
is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters of father or mother or
wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospel's who should not receive a
hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and
children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But
many who are first will be last, and the last first.'" Jesus now uses
this situation with the rich young ruler to warn about the love of money, the
god of Mammon, he begins to warn those around him. He even says 'How hard it is
for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.' And according to the
disciples perspective, the perspective of the Jew, if you were rich, man, you
were under the favor of God--you were just under the fountain of blessing that
were pouring out upon you, and if you were rich, it was considered, man, 'God
is blessing your life.'--and that can be true. So when Jesus says that it's
hard, the disciples are like 'Wait a minute here, aren't they the ones that are
really finding favor with God?' And Jesus says again, he says, 'How hard is it
for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It's like taking a camel, I mean, if
you can get a camel through an eye of a needle, then you can get a rich man
into heaven' is what he says. There's a liberal interpretation which I don't
agree with, but there's this gate that gets you into Jerusalem, it's a narrow
gate, called the Eye of the Needle. That on the Sabbath all the main gates
would be closed in Jerusalem and this little gate would be left open, but in
order for a camel to get through this small gate it was required, the camel
actually had to stoop down on its knees and really work hard to get through
this little gate that was left open on the Sabbath. And the rider would
obviously have to crouch down. Some have said, 'Well that's what Jesus referred
to, this gate.' But Jesus said that it's not possible with man, so he's not
referring to that. He's referring to the little needle you have at home,
getting a camel through that little needle. I would say that's just not
possible, I can't, you know I look at a big hairy camel, eight feet tall, and I
look at a little hole in the needle and I can't do it. And I can't and it's
impossible. But God can do a miracle, he can get that "camel" through the eye
of that needle. But he warns, he's warning about this love of money, man. The
love of money can have such a grip on your heart, so much so, that you can see
the way of God, and see yeah, those ancient paths, that's the way to Christ,
man, he's the way--and yet not be willing to go down that way because you love
your belongings, you love all that goes with it, and you're not willing to
forsake that and follow Christ and pick up the cross and to follow him. So
Jesus warns about that. What's your heart like? What if Jesus said to you
today, "You know, Bob, I want you to, well listen, I got this plan, I want you
to sell your house, I want you to quit your job, pack up your pop-up tent and I
want you to drive up to Siberia or to drive up to Newfoundland or Labrador and
I want you to live there and share the gospel with those folks. Now I want you
to trust me to provide." How would you react?--I mean, if God really said that
to you? Maybe he's said something like that to you before, and you're not
willing to do it, but it shows an issue in your heart. If you really love God,
and you love your neighbor as yourself, you're like "Alright Lord, those people
in Labrador need Christ. I'm going. You tell me how and tell me when." Kind of
like in the bulletin today, you've got Noah there, you know the yard sale,
selling everything before he gets on the boat. Get your yard sale going, sell
everything and go wherever the Lord has for you to go. So what's your heart
like? I find in these passages a guard, a guard against this mentality, this
thing that can creep in. You know, we live in one of the most prosperous
countries in the world. And it's a grip on so many hearts in America, and even
many in the church get gripped by the love of money. And it hinders their
service to God. But the way to guard yourself against it is to give. If we give
individually, if we give as a church, we guard ourselves against that grip of
the love of money. Whatever comes into my life, I determine 'Well, a portion
I'm gonna give to the Lord.' 'Or if I get a lot I'm gonna just bless back
whatever it is.' I just want to give, I don't necessarily want to build up this
big empire. If God blesses me with a nice house, great, a nice car, great, I
can go with it, I can go without it--but man, I want to use all I have to the
glory of God and to serve others. If you have that heart, then as God blesses
you, man, it guards you. Your heart stays soft, you don't get caught up into
it. Jesus said to this young guy, he said, 'Sell all and give to the poor and
you'll get treasure in heaven.' There's blessing in giving, you store up in
eternity, man, you store blessing there. If you hold on and just want to build
your own empire, well, you'll live nice now but you'll live a little more
meager later in the kingdom of God, compared to others. I mean, meager in the
kingdom of God isn't that bad [king David said, 'Let me be a doorkeeper in the
kingdom of God, man, just so that I'm there, man. But the Lord gives us a
chance to make it so much more if we want to, and David knew that too.]. Well,
I see a guard, and I see a guard for this church too. And as I was thinking
again on Thursday, I said, 'You know, the church that wants to be a church
always stays guarded and focussed on giving. Practically, we're gonna give no
matter what, as a church. If you don't do that, then as God blesses--I was
reading recently that as God blesses--you know, a pastor that starts a church,
when God starts a church through a pastor, starts a Bible study, initially
he'll live on a very meager income. But as you watch studies, as churches get
blessed and they grow, the pastors salaries go up and up and up and up, and
with very large churches, pastors very often have very large salaries.
Personally I don't think that's right. I'm not going to judge a man, but you
know, Jesus died on a cross, man. I don't see how you can [or should] make a
lot of money on that. But that's the mentality, that's the human heart. That
will be the heart of this congregation if we do not today determine we are
going to be a church that gives. Because if we just give now and we get blessed
and then we get focussed 'Wow, this building, man, we got to shell out some
money here, and you know, we need to hire 27 people to do this program.' And
you know what happens? You just begin to get inward and you begin to become
less useful to the Lord. I pray we get radical and we stay radical. I like to
guard myself, set up a guard so I cannot go down a certain road. So I was
thinking these thoughts, 'As a church, if we set aside this amount we're gonna
give to the Lord, percentage wise, offering a week, whatever it is, man, as we
grow, we give it. It guards us. [The basic tithe principle--income goes up,
giving goes up in proportion. This critical principle was given by God to the
Israelites, and some Christian scholars in two commentaries think the right to
levy tithes was handed over to the church as a whole by their interpretation of
Hebrews 7. See "Principles of Giving".] I like what Jesus says, though, he
says, "All things are possible with God." Man, the life of faith is a radical
life, man. And all things are possible with God, man, I mean, you can give away
99 % of your income, and see God take 1% and multiply it. That's what happened
with Mr. Quaker, you know, Quaker Oats, he decided he was going to give 99% of
his income, wasn't basically a peasant. But his name we know about today, he
turned out to be a multimillionaire, very wealthy. But he started to give and
give and God just started to give it back. That's what Jesus says to his
disciples. Peter says 'Hey, well at least we do OK here Jesus. I know we failed
a few times, but hey, man, we've left everything, and we're following you.' And
Jesus says, 'You know, if you've left everything, for the sake of the gospel,
you're not going without, man. God is gonna bless in return.' And he does bless
in return, there's no doubt about it. In my little life whenever I've left
anything, I can look around and say, 'Lord, you've just blessed me. I can't
out-give you no matter how hard I try.' I believe it's true for a church also.
[To read a little more about the subject of giving CLICK ON
http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/gifts.htm,
"Principles of Giving".]
Verses 32-34, "Now they were on the
road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them, and they were
amazed, and as they followed they were afraid. Then he took the twelve aside
and again began to teach them and tell them the things that would happen to
them. 'Behold we're going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed
to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they'll condemn him to death and
deliver him to the Gentiles, and they'll spit on him and kill him and the third
day he'll rise again.'" You know, if you only knew the love of God
for us. How much Christ loves you, how much he's done for you. Here, weeks
before he goes to the cross, he's headed to Jerusalem, he knows what's ahead of
him, as a man he knows what's ahead of him, as he's walking. He's God, yet he's
a man, he knows what's ahead of him...They're still not getting it, you read
this in other gospels when he says this again, they're like 'We don't
understand.'
Verses 35-45, "Then James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, came to him saying, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we
ask.' And he said to them, 'What do you want me to do for you?' They said to
him, 'Grant us that we might sit, one on your right hand and the other on your
left in your glory.' But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you ask. Are
you able to drink the cup that I drink and to be baptized with the baptism that
I am to be baptized with?' They said to him, 'Yes we are able.' So Jesus said
to them, 'You will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism I am
baptized with you will be baptized. To sit on my right hand and on my left is
not mine to give. But it is for those for whom it is prepared.'--(in Luke it
says "by the Father.")--And when the ten heard it they began to be greatly
displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to himself and said to
them, 'You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it
over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not
be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your
servant, and whoever of you who desires to be first shall be slave of all. For
even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his
life a ransom for many.'" James and John, you take Matthew and the
other gospels, they come with their mom. And the question that you read there,
'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask'--that question was probably
asked by their mom, they asked it through their mom. Maybe they're a little
fearful about asking, but if you read the other gospels, the mom comes on their
behalf to ask the question. So they do ask the question, but via their mom,
evidently. But maybe they repeat the question. But they say, 'Hey, do this
thing for us'--'Alright, what do you want?' 'We want to sit next to you in your
kingdom.' See they've got the Messianic kingdom in mind, 'We want the
authority, we want the blessing, we've forsaken all to follow you, but we want
to sit there right next to you, man, have everything else below us and around
us.' And he says, 'Well, you don't know what you're asking for. There's a cost
that goes with those positions, are you willing to drink the cup that I
drink?--and are you gonna be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with?'
They're like, 'Yeah, we'll do whatever!' Still not getting it across, he says,
'You know,' even though they don't understand--'You are.' Of course James was
martyred, John was boiled in oil, survived it, then later exiled to Patmos and
he lived there and maybe later he was executed, but they certainly endured a
pretty heavy cup and baptism. The cup, Jesus in the garden said, 'Take this cup
[from me]', referring to the cross. And a number of times, even in the New
Testament, even in Jesus' Word we have him referring to the cross as a baptism.
That's why we do the baptism, to be baptized in Christ and raised to life,
identifying with that. So he's referring to the cross. Well they want this
preferential treatment, they don't understand what they're asking for. He does
say, 'The seat on my right and the one on my left is, has ultimately been
ordained by my Father, I'm not going to give you who that is.' Well, the other
ten, you know, now they're displeased by that. 'What are you doing, James and
John, asking him something like that? Now, hey, you think you're better than we
are or something?' And Jesus uses that opportunity, he says, 'You know, you're
not getting it. It's not this lording, it's not this position above others, the
gospel, the kingdom is being a slave, being a servant. You want to be great
man, just lay your life down. I'm coming to go to the cross to give my life as
a ransom for many. And if you want to therefore be exalted to any degree like
that, like I'm going to be, lay your life down, man, serve, be a slave for
others.' That's what the kingdom is all about. And again, in reading this, man,
I'd tell you and I in this congregation, be slaves to the community we live in,
just slaves, servants, willing to do whatever, Jesus says--give all our
belongings, give all we got, give our time--whatever Jesus says to us to do,
because we love our neighbor as ourselves, and we love God with all of our
heart and all of our mind and all of our soul. Let's finish the chapter.
Verses 46-52, "Now they came to Jerecho. As he went up out of
Jerecho with his disciples, together with a large crowd, blind Bartimaeus, the
son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of
Nazareth he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus son of David, have mercy on
me!'"--You look at the other gospel accounts, there's another blind
guy with Bartimaeus. Matthew doesn't say Bartimaeus, it says there's two blind
men that came to Jesus. And one of them must be less predominant. Bartimaeus is
the main guy of the two. But there's two, there's another guy with Bartimaeus
that cries out to Jesus. Well, those around--verse 48--"many warn him
to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me.'
So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind
man, saying to him, 'Be of good cheer, rise, he is calling you.' Throwing aside
his garment, he arose and came to Jesus." Luke says he jumped up in
excitement. "So Jesus answered and said to him, 'What do you want me to
do for you?' The blind man said to him 'Rabboni, that I might receive my
sight.' And Jesus said to him, 'Go your way, your faith has made you well.' And
immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road."
Just a beautiful picture, people in need, man, it's about people in
need--ministering to people in need. I'd rather be the people with the attitude
in verse 49 than the people in verse 48--"Hey man, Jesus doesn't have time for
you, we don't want to get bothered by you either, we want to talk to Jesus, you
be quiet over there." But this guy's going, "Ah Messiah, have mercy on me, Ah,
I need your touch." There's people in this community with that cry in their
heart even now. And what a beautiful thing, verse 49, to be able to say, "Hey
be of good cheer, man, there's Jesus, he's ready to touch your life, to bring
healing and to bring hope." Well, blind Bartimaeus gets this wonderful
blessing. Standing before Jesus, Jesus says, 'What do you want?' 'I want my
sight, I want to regain my sight.' If you understand the Greek, I think one
other gospel says it that way. He was seeing before, but evidently has gone
blind. Some historians have said as much as 50 percent of the male population
in Jesus' time had some type of eye disease, whether they were blind or some
other type of disease, it was very prevalent in Jesus' time, eye problems. And
here this man says "I want to regain my sight." And Jesus just says, "Well,
your faith has made you well." This man knew it was the Messiah. Understood
God's Word that the Messiah came to give life and to give light and to give
sight. He said, 'Ah, Messiah, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' And Jesus
said, 'Your faith has made you well.' And Immediately his sight came back to
him.'