Gospel Living

New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 19:28:00 +0000

In case you missed it, I'm now blogging (a little more than occassionally) over at http://pastormarksbury.blogspot.com/

I'll leave this blog up for a little bit longer, but everything will slowly be shifting over there!

SERMON: The Sinful Results of Ignoring God | Mark 6:14–19

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 07:30:00 +0000

The Sinful Results of Ignoring God | Mark 6:14–29
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 13 August, 2017

We’re seeing what ignoring the Word of God allows in a person’s sin nature. Herod’s sin led to irrationality and fault (vv. 14–16), inconsistency of faith (vv. 17–20), enticements of flesh (vv. 21–25), and iniquity and futility (vv. 26–29).

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZXpVGNY0yI

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=816171336122

Sermon Notes

I. Introduction

This is the only section in Mark that does not focus on Jesus Christ. You will remember that John the Baptist is the forerunner to Christ, and commentaries point out here that John is also a type of Christ. John preached repentance, like Christ. And like Christ, John the Baptist faces persecution and death for it. That’s because this story about Herod is about sin.

We are looking backward, but not necessarily that far backward. Herod’s shift in focus to Christ happens because John the Baptist is executed. So, we don’t know how close to a chronological order of events this might be. What we see is an ugly, twisted account. We see incest, adultery, lewd behavior, and murder.

So, this evening, we’re seeing what ignoring the Word of God allows in a person’s sin nature. Herod’s sin led to irrationality and fault (vv. 14–16), inconsistency of faith (vv. 17–20), enticements of flesh (vv. 21–25), and iniquity and futility (vv. 26–29).

II. Herod’s Sin Led to Irrationality and Fault (vv. 14–16)

¹⁴King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

King Herod I was appointed by Rome, so he wasn’t “born king of the Jews” (cf. Mt 2:2). After he died in 4 BC, Rome divvied his kingdom among four people. It appointed a tetrarch over Galilee and Perea, Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and Malthace, a Samaritan.

The Herods held their power tenaciously, having no reason to believe God would protect their positions. Herod the Great even killed two of his own sons and eventually disinherited another we read about here, Herod Phillip. When we consider Herod Antipas, though he was tetrarch, we see that he wanted to be a king like his father (and Mark here calls him king, somewhat tongue-in-cheek). As one commentary notes, “Antipas’s ambition to secure for himself the official title of ‘king’ resulted in his downfall under Caligula” (Hiebert, The Gospel of Mark, 162).

Herod Antipas now hears about Jesus, possibly through the disciples who are out preaching (6:7–13). Herod’s Galilean residence was in Tiberias, and we don’t have an account saying that Jesus had visited this city. It may simply be that Herod wasn’t paying attention to Jesus since his attention was still on John the Baptist, but now he hears, and trembles.

He hears that Jesus may be Elijah. Scripture prophesied that Elijah would come before the Messiah (Mal 4:5). Jesus worked miracles, and Elijah didn’t die (2 Kgs 2:11), so some thought He was Elijah. Jesus explained, however, that John the Baptist fulfilled that role (Mt 11:14; Lk 1:17). While this group of people were confused, they still saw Jesus as prophetic and a worker of wonders.

He hears that Jesus may be a prophet. Moses prophesied that a greater prophet would arise among the people (Dt 18:15). That insight into His messianic character affirms the heavenly wisdom with which He spoke. Hebrews 1:2 says that God the Father has spoken to us though His Son, the fulfillment of all prophetic ministry.

He hears that Jesus may be John raised again. While the other two explanations bore some rational explanation, this one didn’t. Herod had delivered John’s head over on a platter (even though he was perplexed and afraid of John, v. 20). He knew that John worked no signs. But he still struggled, and we see this in a more literal translation of v. 16—“John, whom I myself beheaded, he has been raised.” He is troubled with guilt and fear in this confession.

Jesus perplexed Herod (Lk 9:7). They both preached repentance, and he couldn’t shake the image of John somehow haunting him. As Matthew Henry said, “Those who most wilfully disbelieve the truth, are commonly most credulous of errors and fancies.”^{^[1]}

Sin and guilt causes us to imagine false scenarios. This is one reason why some people in the church become convinced that someone is out to get them when there’s actually considerable evidence to the contrary. They live with unforgiveness, fear, control issues, or some other state of iniquity that clouds their perception.

We needn’t live in that state. God says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). Trusting Scripture, you can then “be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rm 12:2).

III. Herod’s Sin Led to Inconsistency of Faith (vv. 17–20)

¹⁷For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. ¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

Herod Antipas’s house was a nest of sin. In Josephus’s Antiquities, we read that Herod arrested John to avoid political trouble (18.2), but we see here that there was more to it than that. As one study Bible says, “According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, Herodias was a granddaughter of Herod the Great. Her first husband (Philip) and second husband (Antipas, who is called Herod in this text) were both sons of Herod the Great by different mothers, making them her uncles as well as her spouses (Josephus, Antiquities 18.109–10, 136).”^{^[2]} So, this was an incestuous marriage.

To add another wrinkle to this, Herod Antipas was already married to the daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabataen Arabia. Once she saw how the adulterous Antipas was betraying her, she fled back to her father. That later sparked warfare and a defeat for Antipas.

John the Baptist had every right to call this out as a prophet. John repeatedly pointed to Scripture, which forbade taking a brother’s wife to oneself. Perhaps he cited Leviticus 18:16—“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness;” perhaps he cited Leviticus 20:21—“If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.” The repentance he preached undoubtedly called on Herod to give Herodias back to Philip. Perhaps John did this publicly on a few occasions, but v. 18 says that he spoke to Herod, meaning that he also preached face-to-face. That sparked two responses within Herod’s house.

An embittered Herodias sought to kill God’s messenger. We could read v. 19 to mean that she “had it in for him,”^{^[3]} and the imperfect indicates that she held this murderous grudge for a while. It seems that she wanted to remain where she was; Herod the Great had disinherited his son Philip, so Philip was living in Rome with Herodias as a private citizen (Hiebert, 165). It appears that Herodias was happy to be stolen from her husband by an ambitious king, and she wasn’t happy that John dares question her morality and shame her. That some guy from the desert would come spouting Bible verses about sin threatened her spiritual and social status, and she wanted to silence him permanently.

A concerned Herod sought to keep God’s messenger. Herodias was a true Jezebel, focused on her own well-being above all, but Herod was more like Ahaz. He was inconsistent. Herod feared John and protected him from Herodias. He knew John was “a righteous and holy man” (v. 20). Even though John filled him with uncertainty, he “heard him gladly.”

Don’t be deceived: the second response is no better than the first. While God’s message might cause you great emotion—fear, confusion, gladness—that doesn’t mean it has penetrated your heart. In Herod’s case, he never repented of his illicit marriage, and we’ll see in the following verses that he allowed Herodias to get her way. Genuine faith will produce good works; otherwise, it’s a false or dead faith (Js 2:14–26).

Know that being close to church and the Bible won’t help in the Day of Judgment. If you are in an unlawful relationship, end it now for the sake of your soul. Repent (turn from your sin to God) and believe that His gospel message will save you.

IV. Herod’s Sin Led to Enticements of Flesh (vv. 21–25)

²¹But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

Herod throws a feast for his birthday and invited all the key political, military, and social leaders under him. Alcohol is a factor, and Herodias sees an opportunity to finally take John the Baptist’s life. So, she conspires with her daughter to circumvent his protection of John. Consider that for a moment: she makes her child as much a child of hell as she is.

Herodias led her daughter into debauchery. Her name is Salome, Herodias’s daughter with Herod Philip, now Herod Antipas’s daughter-in-law. Salome didn’t come with a ballet performance, as this wasn’t the kind of dancing in which respectable women engaged. Queen Vashti refused to allow herself to be ogled in a similar situation (Est 1:11–12), but Herodias doesn’t seem to have qualms with her daughter’s striptease at this drunken feast.

Herodias led her daughter to murder. The best possible spin on this is that Salome doesn’t hold personal animosity toward John the Baptist and that her mother forces her. However, she’s complicit in the crime because of her mother, and there’s no indication that Salome wasn’t influenced to share her mother’s hatred. Indeed, the words “immediately with haste” in v. 25 emphasize “the eager haste with which the murder was pushed.”^{^[4]} She adopted her mother’s murderous frame of mind and understood that she had to get back before Herod sobered himself. Even though she didn’t wield the executioner’s axe, because of her mother, she also bears the responsibility of John’s murder.

Sinful parents lead their children astray in many ways, tempting them to sin. Though the resultant consequences may linger like the violence in David’s household (cf. 2 Sm 12:10), the Lord thankfully forgives parental transgressions. God can grant you repentance and change your heart, and He can do the same for your children. Until the Lord changes them, consider Ephesians 6:4—parents must not provoke children but “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Even so, we want to consider Herod’s sin. The oaths he gives also reflect the Book of Esther, where King Ahasuerus promised Esther the same (Est 5:3, 6). Mark writes highlighting the irony of the situation—Herod wasn’t a “king” because he had no “kingdom.” Moreover, his debauched marriage and womanizing opened him to the kind of heinous sin no man—king or otherwise—should fall. It’s clear that both Herod and Herodias loved their station in life, and those temptations opened him to what comes next.

V. Herod’s Sin Led to Iniquity and Futility (vv. 26–29)

²⁶And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

One thing is clear: Herod did not want to kill John the Baptist. No matter how depraved a person allows himself to be, he always comforts himself with that certain line he would never cross. Nonetheless, a life devoted to sin will take people places they never wanted to go, and Herod’s resistance to crossing the line of iniquity proved futile for two reasons.

Herod fell to his temptations. Lust was obviously a problem for Herod, for he stole his brother’s wife. Herodias knew this and paraded her daughter in a way no mother should. Still, Herod knew this was his daughter-in-law, and at least as a leader, should have kept himself in check. Yet, filled with lust, he not only promised her his favor (v. 22), he fervently swore it to her (v. 23).

Herod feared men. Gathered are the key political, military, and social figures of the region. They all witness this pleasing dance and hear Herod gush vows to this lovely young woman. That should not matter when it comes to questions of right and wrong, but Herod felt that his oaths in front of these men were irreversible. He made a fool of himself over a pretty face and felt that turning her down would make him a bigger fool.

All of this comes down to what Herod really worshipped—himself. Herod loved his station in life more than the life of God’s prophet. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” First Corinthians 6:13b says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” Herod became a picture of someone interested in the truth, who felt guilty for his sin, but who ultimately worshipped himself.

VI. Final Thoughts

So, here are some of the results of unchecked sin in a person’s life. Actually, since this account begins after the fact, we could change the order of the points. Herod’s sin lead to his inconsistency of faith and really, more sin. His sin led to further enticements of the flesh. As sin festered in his heart and life, Herod’s sin led to more iniquity and, eventually, futility. Finally, since it remained unconfessed and unrepentant, his sin led to irrationality and personal fault. Really, only one of Herod’s acts of sin would have done all of this, but this is the result of the sin nature when it’s allowed to fester within our souls.

Herod was sorry that he had to murder John the Baptist, but understand that this is not true repentance. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, we read, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” None of the good feelings he had toward John meant that Herod became a Christian, and his regret over John was the same as anyone would feel when they are caught doing something wrong. It didn’t lead him to true repentance before a holy God.

^{^[1]} Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1789.

^{^[2]} John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Mk 6:17.

^{^[3]} A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Mk 6:19.

^{^[4]} Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 194.

SERMON: Apostolic Preaching Ministry Begins | Mark 6:7–13

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Sermon Notes
Apostolic Preaching Ministry Begins | Mark 6:7–13
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 6 August, 2017

Prayer has the effect of bringing us into God’s work. Just like in the sending of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–8), the ones with the Lord are about to be sent on a mission. In Matthew 10, Luke 9, and here in Mark 6, we have the commissioning of the twelve to labor in the harvest mission. We see them sent out with an their objective (v. 7), and then we’ll see their operation (vv. 8–11), and finally, their obedience (vv. 12–13). In this, we will see some implications for our own service.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccKpBhLh2hY

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=8131722582810

Sermon Notes

Apostolic Preaching Ministry Begins | Mark 6:7–13
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 6 August, 2017

I. Introduction

Chapter six started with a sad account. Jesus returned home, only to find Nazareth in determined unbelief. They had a sinful, self-condemning resolve to not believe, which gave us the opportunity to examine the unbelief of false believers. That account ended with the stunning words of verse six: “And he marveled because of their unbelief.”

The latter half of the verse says, “And he went about among the villages teaching.” Because they had so rejected Him, He simply moved on in His preaching ministry. As such, the sending of the twelve grows from Jesus’s teaching campaign in the area.

Remember that the Pharisees, the shepherds of Israel, were also committed to their unbelief; in Mt 9:34, they say, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” Look to Matthew 9—in v. 35, we read, “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.” Look what comes next: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (v. 36). There were so many who need to hear, and the spiritual leaders responsible for teaching them were saying that the Messiah is in cahoots with Satan!

So, what’s the solution? “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (vv. 37–38). He needs people to go and tells them to pray; but He already has the perfect people in mind.

II. The objective of the twelve (v. 7)

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

Remember that Jesus appointed these twelve already back in 3:13–19, so Mark finds no need to relist the twelve here. Jesus is sending them out in His name, and the Greek word here is the same root from which we get the word “apostle.” The twelve are specifically His “sent ones” for ministry.

Going out by twos has obvious practical applications for evangelistic purposes and for simple companionship (cf. Eccl. 4:9–12). More than that, the Law required the testimony of two witnesses (Nm 35:30; Dt 17:6; 19:15; Jn 8:17; 2 Cor 13:1). And then there’s the pattern; John the Baptist sent two disciples to Christ (Lk 7:19), and Jesus continued it for church discipline (Mt 18:16) and for charges against an elder (cf. 1 Tm 5:19). Missionary journeys in the Book of Acts also followed this pattern (Acts 3:1; 4:1; 13:2; 15:40).

So, by twos, Jesus began to send them out, staggering their sending. He already had a handful of target areas in mind. It seems that He sends them in different directions.

Now, this is actually the fourth phase of His mission for His disciples. MacArthur explains the others:

“In all, there were five phases culminating in their final sending, of which this was the fourth. First, they were called to confess Jesus as Lord and Messiah (cf. John 1:35-51), being drawn by the Holy Spirit to believe in Him. Second, the Lord called them to follow Him permanently in full-time ministry and leave behind their trades, such as fishing and tax collecting (cf. Mark 1:16-20; 3:13-17; Luke 5:1-11). Third, He elevated these twelve to the level of preachers. Is anywhere not only calls to follow but to be sent by Him as his Apostolic delegates (cf. Luke 6:12-16). … Fourth, He prepared them for ministry by sending them out on a short-term preaching tour. It is this phase of their training that is described in these verses. Fifth, after His resurrection and before His ascension, Jesus finally commissioned them to do miracles and to preach the gospel throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8)” (John MacArthur, Mark 1–8, 284).

Since the current shepherds of Israel have rejected Him, Jesus selects these fishermen. While other apostles appear in Scripture, these are in that special category of specifically being sent by Jesus Christ, those who would later be witnesses of His resurrection (Acts 1:22). As such, Jesus would give them authority that no other disciple would have.

The role of the twelve would be foundational for the building of Christ’s church. Jesus Christ will later say, “I will build my church,” and it’s built upon Peter’s profession of Christ (Mt 16:16–18). Once the Spirit of Truth came upon them, He gave them prophetic utterance concerning Christ and the future (John 16:12–15). As such, we read that “household of God” is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph 2:19–20). The signs and wonders that they wrought were signs that they were the true apostles of Christ (2 Cor 12:12). As the foundation of the church, theirs was a unique, unrepeatable role, which will be commemorated in the construction of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:14).

Their objective is to preach repentance and belief. This verse highlights their authority over demons, but more is implied, especially when considering the parallel passages. Luke 9:2 says that He “sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” The word for “proclaim” is the same to describe Jesus’s own public teaching ministry (Mk 1:14, 38; Lk 4:43; 8:1), meaning that they are to follow His pattern of ministry. It’s the same word used here in v.12—they “proclaimed that people should repent.”

Their objective is obtained with delegated authority. The text says that He “gave them authority over the unclean spirits,” and the imperfect might imply that they were each given authority individually.^{^[1]} They cast out demons in the name of Christ, and v. 13 tells us that they also healed, as does Matthew and Luke. Oil was used for medicinal purposes (Lk 10:34), but the context here is that supernatural healing took place. The anointing symbolized the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Zech 4:1–6). Those being anointed by the apostles would recognize that the power of God working through them, and that they were sent by Christ. As such, they would realize that Jesus had the power to send the Holy Spirit and dispense supernatural authority as He wished.

While this special healing and deliverance ministry was only for that era, Jesus still distributes grace to believers through the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:7 says, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” He not only gave the church the apostles and prophets that we read about in Scripture, but also evangelists and pastor-teachers who teach it and build up the body of Christ (vv. 11–12). Indeed, the whole body should work in this process (v. 16), for our sufficiency is always from God in the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:5–6).

III. The operation of the twelve (vv. 8–11)

He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. ¹⁰And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” ¹²So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.

The King gives them their standing orders for this mission, and they seem strange. The twelve are to bring nothing with them—no provisions. They’re certainly sent with an urgency, but also with a lesson. Even though they have supernatural authority (v. 7), must still trust in the Lord for their provisions. There’s also a hint here as to how God expects His ministers to live.

A. The twelve were to be dependent (vv. 8–9)

It’s interesting to me how some use this passage and the parallel accounts. Some think that this account means that Christ’s ministers should take a vow of poverty. I heard of one young man who read this and thought he should go to Bible college in faith, having no way to pay, and the funds would miraculously be provided. In Matthew 10:5–6, it says that they shouldn’t go to the Samaritans or to Gentiles, but only to the house of Israel. Obviously, if we make applications like those all the over here in the United States, we’re woefully outside the will of God!

In fact, these are orders only for this particular mission. Look in Luke 22:35, where Jesus recalls the day we’re studying.

³⁵And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” ³⁶He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” ³⁸And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

So, we have to be careful to say that this sending—recorded in Matthew 10, Luke 9, and here in Mark 6—applies to all of God’s ministers throughout time. It didn’t even apply to the apostles throughout time!

So, what do we read here? Jesus “charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.” In Mt 10:9–10, we read, “Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.” They were to travel light and rely on the goodness of others.

Wait a minute—didn’t we just read a discrepancy? Here, Jesus says to take a staff and sandals, and it sounds like He says not to do so in Matthew. Again, in Mt 10:9–10, Jesus said “Acquire no… sandals or a staff.” In other words, they were not to buy a second set of sandals or a new staff for their journey. They needed to go just as they were, with current walking staff and sandals, and learn to depend upon the Lord for provision.

This also meant that they couldn’t “stock up” later from someone’s generosity, nor could they accept payment for services rendered (Mt 10:8–9). They were to demonstrate dependence on God. They were also to contrast the false shepherds of Israel who saw their godliness as a means of gain (1 Tm 6:5).

B. The twelve were to be content (vv. 10–11)

Dovetailing from the previous point, they should not be like the false teachers who try to get free lodging and meals, taking advantage of people’s generosity. It would be tempting for the disciples to take advantage of the generosity of others. Remember, Judas is later discovered to be stealing from the moneybag (Jn 12:6), so this isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

Instead, they were to model contentment. They didn’t choose houses at random. In Matthew 10:11, Jesus explains that they were to take care to find “worthy” houses, “for the laborer deserves his food” (v. 10). The depraved are

imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Tm 6:5–10)

C. The twelve were to be discerning (v. 12)

Sadly, not everyone would provide for their needs. Even fewer would actually accept the message of the gospel. So, when a town in Israel refused them, they were to dust off its dirt from their feet. This was a habit of the devout Jews after they passed through godless, Gentile regions. Essentially, they were condemning a Jewish town with the same condemnation that a pagan, Gentile territory would have. However the manner of shaking dust off one’s self might be, the scene of a Jew doing this within the borders of Israel would have been scandalous.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (Mt 7:6). Indeed, it wasn’t simple rejection the disciples were to fear. Jesus warns them, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (Mt 10:16–18).

They had to count the cost of their divine service.

IV. The obedience of the twelve (vv. 12–13)

¹²So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. ¹³And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Again, John the Baptist (Mt 3:22) and Jesus (Mk 1:15) preached repentance, so it should be no surprise that Christ’s disciples were called to give the same message of repentance and belief. They were not to blunt the hard edges of the law, nor were they to water down the exclusive call to belief in Jesus Christ. If it meant possible persecution, they were to tell people that they needed to turn from their sins and trust in the Messiah.

This is where we can learn a lesson. Many of God’s representatives fail to communicate God’s Word today, giving personal anecdotes and axioms in the place of the Gospel of Christ. For instance, when you have a pastor of one of America’s largest churches saying that he doesn’t think people need to hear him preach repentance, you see a pastor who attracts his thousands by substituting Christ’s message with his own message. The teaching of the Christian must be the same as the message of Christ—repentance and belief in the gospel. It may cause offense and may divide friendships, but it is the message ever on our lips.

Now, again, Christ’s apostles had a larger charge than simple evangelism. They were laying the foundation of the church. So, their obedience included believing and practicing the casting out demons and supernatural healing Jesus gave to them. These were among “the signs of a true apostle,” practiced “with signs and wonders and mighty works” (cf. 2 Cor 12:12). God was bearing witness to the truthfulness of the apostolic message with these miracles (Hb 2:3–4). While they may have been timid at first, they were to use their particular and peculiar spiritual gifting.

It’s interesting to see them healing with the use of oil, which was used for medical purposes (Lk 10:34). Perhaps what James 5:14 is talking about, but the context here is that supernatural healing took place. The anointing symbolized the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Zech 4:1–6). Those being anointed by the apostles would recognize that the power of God working through them, and that they were sent by Christ. As such, they would realize that Jesus had the power to send the Holy Spirit and dispense supernatural authority as He wished. Jesus did not Himself require oil as a vehicle when He healed others.

V. Final Thoughts

First, we see that the Lord has the right to command and direct His people. This passage is full of the orders that Jesus gave, and we see the response of His twelve. If the Lord defines how we are to engage in evangelism, that becomes our methodology for apologetics and witnessing. If the Lord defines how the church should be run, that becomes our ecclesiology. We must recognize Him as Lord of all, bowing to His prescriptions.

Second, we also see the simple principle of two is better than one. While it’s not impossible for ministry do be done by a single individual, it can certainly be done better by multiple people. That’s why it’s better for missions to be done in teams. That might also be why God commanded churches to be run by more than one pastor. Indeed, there are certain times when multiple members need to work together to accomplish a ministry. As Hb 10:24 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”

Third, while the special healing and deliverance ministry of apostles was only for that time, we should recognize that Jesus still distributes grace today through the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:7 says, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” He gives the church not only the apostles and prophets that we read about in the New Testament, but also the evangelists and pastor-teachers who can teach the Word and build up the body of Christ (vv. 11–12). The whole body, in fact, is to be involved in this process (v. 16). Our sufficiency is always from God in the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 3:5–6). As such, in the Spirit, Christians can practice a similar dependence, contentment, and discernment.

Finally, note the implicit judgment of the passage. If you have never turned from your sins to the Lord and trusted in Him alone to get you into heaven, then you have been rejecting the message of the apostles and of their Christ. If you ignore the Word of God, you may find the metaphorical dust shaken before you for the day of judgment. Don’t trust in anything else, sharing your faith in Christ with another, “just in case.” Trust fully in the fact that He can save you from your sins, this world, and all that is in it.

^{^[1]} Max Zerwick and Mary Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1974), 121.

SERMON: The Unbelief of False Believers | Mark 6:1–6

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 08:00:00 +0000

The Unbelief of False Believers | Mark 6:1–6
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 30 July, 2017

This week, we are looking at how unbelief operates. More to the point, we’ll see how unbelief operates among supposed believers. So, we are examining the unbelief of false believers.

What do we see? First, unbelief causes false believers to be scandalized by Christ (vv. 1–4). Second, unbelief causes false believers to be separated from Christ (vv. 5–6). Let’s start our examination.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq3oLjZLmnk

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=8417223560

Sermon Notes:

I. Introduction

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen some of the most incredible miracles in Scripture. Jesus has calmed the storm that the disciples saw as their death. He casts out the legion of demons from the man that no one could bind. He heals a malady that no physician could heal. He raises Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Jesus Christ alone performs the works of the Father (Jn 10:37).

Yet, Jesus’s trip home in this text is hollow by comparison. This is Jesus’s last recorded trip to Nazareth. One would think that His final trip would have been the first recorded in Luke 4. There, they become so incensed at His message, that they seek to throw Him off the cliff and stone Him. Still, He comes back now, sadly to find His hometown in cool and settled unbelief.

As such, in v. 6, we read that Jesus is amazed. Whereas others marveled at Christ (5:20; 15:5), now it is His turn to be astounded at faithlessness in the midst of such truth and verifiable miracles. This is the second of only two instances where we read that Jesus was amazed—the other was in Luke 7:9, where the centurion believed that Jesus could heal his servant from a distance. This grievous instance is bewilderment at the dogged refusal to believe from who were otherwise seemingly faithful Jews.

What was this lack of faith? Understand that we never read that human faith was a prerequisite for Jesus’s miracles—He cast demons out of a man without anyone asking, and He raised a dead girl who obviously exercised no faith! Yet, His townspeople only gave Him a polite hearing on the Sabbath, and we read that He only began to teach. We also read that He “could do no mighty work there, except… a few” (v. 5). In other words, in cities like Capernaum where He’d essentially eradicated all sickness, relatively few Nazarenes came to Him to be healed.

So, this wasn’t simple lack of faith, but determined unbelief. Unbelief in God’s Word is always linked to a wicked disposition. It was when Eve disbelieved God’s Word that she ate of the fruit. It was their refusal to repent and believe that caused the people of Noah’s day to perish in the worldwide deluge. This is the unbelief that condemns a soul to the judgment of hellfire; as John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” And the people of Nazareth have a sinful, morally culpable state of mind, a self-condemning resolve to not believe.

This serves as a contrast to what we studied last week. We saw then how true faith in the Savior operates. This week, we are looking at how unbelief operates. More to the point, we’ll see how unbelief operates among supposed believers. So, we are examining the unbelief of false believers.

What do we see? First, unbelief causes false believers to be scandalized by Christ (vv. 1–4). Second, unbelief causes false believers to be separated from Christ (vv. 5–6). Let’s start our examination.

II. Unbelief causes false believers to be scandalized by Christ (vv. 1–4)

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. ²And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? ³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. ⁴And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

Again, in v. 1, Jesus travels about twenty miles southwest from Capernaum to where He grew up—Nazareth. The local man who was gaining national fame returned with His twelve disciples (v. 7). At some point since Jairus’s house, then, the rest of disciples the disciples met with Jesus.

The disciple’s presence means that He wasn’t just visiting home; Jesus planned on engaging in public ministry. However, compared to previous passages in Mark, we notice something lacking. In v. 1, we read that He came to Nazareth, and v. 2 picks up on the following Sabbath day. Where are the crowds? Verse 5 says that He only healed a few sick people, indicating that folks simply were not coming to Him. The public ministry, then, is restricted to the synagogue.

Still, we see Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath day wherever He was. Remember that the custom was to have a visiting rabbi teach a lesson, and Jesus is here with His disciples. The local leader of the synagogue, then, allows Jesus another opportunity to teach. We don’t know if this wasn’t simply a tradition, but my guess is that the townsfolk did not look forward to having to hear Jesus again. Verse 2 says that Jesus began to teach, perhaps indicating that could not finish. They were polite, and they thought it to be enough.

It’s important at this point the kind of people we’re talking about here. These were not atheists. Neither were they wicked individuals, shunning religion and out committing mayhem. Nor were they Pharisees, professionally religious and politically motivated. These were essentially small-town, church-going, average folks. They were where they should have been, but they were unwilling to receive Christ’s Word.

Their silent arrogance is notwithstanding the fact that, on some level, His teaching was resonating with them. Verse 2 actually says that they were amazed, and the same word for amazement or astonishment used in 1:22. He teaches with a level of wisdom they had never seen before—and they ask, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him?” Moreover, He performed a few miracles, as we read in v. 5. They also ask, “How are such mighty works done by his hands?” These kinds of questions could have taken them a good direction, but false believers have commitments deeper than their professed faith: commitments to their sins.

That’s why their amazement turned their hearts to scandal, not worship. The word for “offence” in v. 3 is the same word used in 4:17 of the seed that took root in the stony ground—the plant grew, but immediately “fell away” at the first sign of tribulation. They would not continue with Christ because they did not have a God-given, genuine faith growing within them. Perhaps it happened knowingly or unknowingly, but they suddenly and definitely come to a realization that Jesus means trouble, so they begin haranguing Him.

They ask, “Is not this the builder”—the carpenter, the craftsman. This word is not limited to wood creations, and could include stone masonry and metalsmithing. Some commentaries mention that Joseph and Jesus possibly built yokes for oxen, others that they worked in stone. They continue, “Is not this… the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?”

Now, on the surface, this seems like a reasonable set of questions, but they are questions designed to lead to the people being offended. They are questions to distract from what is being said. In exercises of logic, this is called a red herring—not relevant to the message and evidence before them. However, in their determination to remain in sin, they muddy the water, they put up a smokescreen—they avoid personal application altogether by asking unrelated questions.

Indeed, there’s a second logical fallacy involved: the ad hominem, the attack against the Man. Here, they know a man without intensive religious training—He worked in their community not long ago with His hands. The Greek world did not value the blue-collar tradesman. Similarly, perhaps the Jews here assume God doesn’t use the mundane or ordinary to accomplish His purposes, though He does (1 Cor 1:18–31).

This attack expands when they ask, “Is this not the son of Mary?” Typical Jewish practice was to refer to someone by the name of the father rather than the mother. Some commentaries suggest that they refer to Mary here only because Joseph is dead; even with Joseph dead, however, they should have referred to Jesus as “the son of Joseph.” The reason they call Him the “son of Mary” is because there’s still a lingering question as to Jesus’s legitimacy.

Remember, Mary was found to be pregnant before her and Joseph’s wedding night. In John 8:41, Jesus has this exchange: “ ‘You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’ ” In John 8:29, the Pharisees say, “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

What’s more, they point out His brothers and sisters. As an aside, this is more evidence that Jesus had earthly brothers. Yet, John 7:5 says that “not even his brothers believed in him.” It’s likely that this small town knew this and that his brothers thought that Jesus was out of His mind (Mark 3:21). There’s no doubt that they influenced many a local inquirer about their brother.

They are offended—scandalized. And so, Jesus quotes an old adage, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” Jesus places Himself on par with the prophets and was indeed recognized by many as a prophet (v. 15; 8:28; Mt 21:11, 46; Lk 7:16; 24:19; Jn 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). Yet, the townspeople disbelieved, as did Jesus’s “relatives and… household.” They all refuse to believe Him.

Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt and their hearts grow hard. It’s difficult to imagine how God could use the child down the street for such a great work. When a local community knows all the faults and warts of an individual, it’s difficult to imagine that a great change has taken place. Perhaps there is even a bit of jealousy at play in their hearts. But this is even more than simple familiarity at play here—for those closest to Jesus feel the height of conviction of their sin. They will either repent or reject the work He is doing.

What do we learn? Professed believers prove themselves to be false when they reject the message and work of Christ. Someone may talk about the wonderful teachings of Jesus, but strictly in reference to some moralistic dogma like the Golden Rule. They may even believe that He can work miracles. Maybe they become comfortable and familiar with the “old, old story,” but for some reason, reject what He can do in their own lives.

Being where the Word of God is taught is not enough. Having a good impression of Jesus, even awe, is no evidence of conversion. And you’ll know the scandal of Jesus happens when He brings the truth too near, too personal. His presence reveals those who merely masquerade as believers, those who will never have Him. The sad reality is that theirs isn’t a true faith, and they reject Christ in the end. That brings us to the next point:

III. Unbelief causes false believers to be separated from Christ (vv. 5–6)

⁵And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.

Others marveled at Christ (5:20; 15:5), but here, Christ is astounded at faithlessness amid His truth and verifiable miracles. He now preached repentance and belief in His gospel message (1:14–15; 6:2), and their initial excitement faded to offense. They may have believed in God, but they disbelieved they needed to apply His message.

As such, He could not do a miracle there. Again, it’s not that faith is a prerequisite for God to work. However, one’s choice to disbelieve will certainly prevent Christ’s power from being known.

MacArthur theorizes a positive spin to this situation: “Or, more importantly it may signify that Christ limited His ministry both as an act of mercy, so that the exposure to greater light would not result in a worse hardening that would only subject them to greater condemnation, and a judgment on their unbelief.”^{^[1]}

The more miracles done there would have increased their condemnation, so a lack of mighty works was somewhat a mercy. As Jesus explains in Mt 11:20–24: “Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! or if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.’ ”

Still, that is nothing in the way of good news. It is but a lessening of impending judgment. Nazareth stands condemned. Mt 7:6 says, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” Sure, they’re near Jesus in proximity or by blood, but their hearts are far (cf. Mt 15:8).

They disbelieved by rejecting His message. In v. 4, He places Himself on par with the prophets, and He was indeed recognized by others as a prophet (v. 15; 8:28; Mt 21:11, 46; Lk 7:16; 24:19; Jn 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). However, He implies that He’s without honor, for His own family thought He’d lost His mind (3:21; cf. Jn 7:5). Now, their embarrassment turns to outright rejection.

They disbelieved by not coming to Him. As a result, He was engaged in circuit or itinerant teaching. He left Nazareth because of their unbelief. Even so, He didn’t sink into despondency; He continued the work of gospel ministry elsewhere.

IV. Final Thoughts

It’s difficult to imagine that the Christian sitting in the pew next to us is, well, not a Christian. It’s even more difficult to imagine that you might not be the believer that you claim to be. Even so, we see a repeated theme in the gospels—members of the God-believing nation coming to Christ, having good initial reactions to Him, but ultimately rejecting Him in their own lives.

Thankfully, none are too far or too near for Him to save. His family would eventually believe. After He appeared resurrected to His brother (1 Cor 15:7), His family joined the disciples “with one accord” in prayer (Acts 1:14). James and Judas (Jude) would pen the New Testament books bearing their names, and James even became the leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13; Gal 1:19). He saves those who grew up with Him, such as in church, who previously never came to Him. Repent and believe today.

If you are a believer, notice the kind of rejection you may experience, even from supposed believers. Next week, we are going to look at the sending of the Apostles, and they’re here, in Nazareth, with Jesus. It’s important for Christ’s disciples to see the kind of rejection they may receive. Down in v. 11, we read that He says, “And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” Sometimes, as we share the gospel, we need to be aware that there comes a time to move on to someone else.

^{^[1]} John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1470.

SERMON: Faith in the Only Savior | Mark 5:21–43

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 15:18:00 +0000

Faith in the Only Savior | Mark 5:21–43
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 23 July, 2017

Both of these accounts come back to faith in Christ’s words, even when all evidence points to the contrary. The faith looks different depending on context, but it always has Christ as its object. As such, we are seeing how true faith in the Savior operates. We’ll see faith in the Savior amid the crowds, faith in the Savior amid uncleanness, faith in the Savior amid fear, and faith in the Savior amid death.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9xJMXpXqdM

Audio:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=730171036262

Sermon Notes

Faith in the Only Savior | Mark 5:21–43
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 23 July, 2017

I. Introduction

Mark likes to interrupt stories into stories. He did it back in chapter three, where the Pharisees’ blasphemy of the Holy Spirit comes in the midst of Jesus’s family traveling to fetch Him (3:20–35). In chapter six, Mark will do this again. In this case, we see the healing of two individuals, one twelve and the other having suffered for twelve years, so there seems to be a connection in this sandwiched account. Mark’s theological purpose seems to be to compare or contrast the elements of the accounts.

The old saying (which does NOT come from the Bible) is that God helps themselves. What we are in the midst of seeing, starting with chapter four and throughout this chapter, is that God helps those who cannot help themselves. Indeed, we could call this whole section of Mark “seeking a second opinion,” for the Lord answers with hope when everything else seems hopeless.

II. Faith in the Savior Amid the Crowds (vv. 21–24)

²¹And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²²Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

Jesus, rejected by the people on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, returns to Capernaum on the northeastern shore. Not much time had passed, so we are not surprised to find this crowd of people quickly gathering to Him. Indeed, the crowd of the opposing shores is a foil, granting us opposing reactions to the ministry of Christ—one of rejection and one of welcome.

There’s a jubilance to the crowd, but there are a number of reasons why people come to Christ that do not include faith. We see that Jesus remains accessible in the group, especially to someone who might come in to Him in true faith. We see a hint of the only reaction to Christ that means anything.

The man was Jairus, the head or, perhaps even the president of the local synagogue. He would be a layman of sorts, but one charged with maintaining the synagogue. He would take replace the Torah scrolls if they were to become old or damaged. He scheduled rabbis. He would have been a respected pillar in the community, known for his piety.

This respected individual walked up to Jesus. No one would have expected what happened next. He fell at the feet of Jesus and began to plead with Him. His prostration and begging would be a clear, public signal. This respected pillar of the community thrusts his pride and dignity aside for the sake of his daughter. It doesn’t matter if he suffers ridicule or loses his position, as long as Jesus save his daughter.

He uses the diminutive form (which only Mark records), the endearing touch of a father’s plea. Literally, “My little girl is at the end.” Jewish custom was that a girl became a woman when she turned twelve years and one day old, but she was still his little girl, and his only child (Lk 8:42).

Of course, the man’s faith isn’t perfect. Jairus had probably heard that Jesus healed people in the region through touch, so he believed this was necessary. In the Greek of v. 23, he literally asks that Jesus come and save her, but he probably only means that in the physical sense, which is why its translated this way. Still, even though he doesn’t know all that Jesus can do, he is still exercising faith in the only One Who can do anything, and it is enough.

It’s not enough to simply have a positive view of Jesus. Western society becomes more secularized every day, with more people adopting anti-Christian beliefs. It’s tempting to view and use Christianity as simply the needed political or countercultural reply. So, like the crowds here, church goers affirm their belief that Jesus is good for society and personal improvement. The unfortunate reality is that a positive view of Jesus does little more for you spiritually than having a negative one; many come to Jesus calling Him “Lord” and holding good works, but they are not saved (Mt 7:21–23).

Indeed, this means that we need something more. When I was a child, a church told me about sin and Hell. I was told that if I prayed a little prayer and really meant it, Jesus would save me. I came to realize later, though, that my faith was not in Christ, but in the sincerity of my prayer. The proof of that is in the fact that I didn’t desire Jesus personally; I just desired a good life with those following Him. That isn’t saving faith.

One must come to an exalted Jesus in full humility. Whereas the gathered crowd may have come for numerous reasons, a few, including this man, came in humility and faith. Jairus was a ruler of the Capernaum synagogue, so he had heard Jesus’s authoritative teaching and witnessed His miracles. He knew that Jesus was the only hope his daughter had, came with nothing in his hand but belief, fell to his knees before the Lord, and began to beg.

Don’t have faith in your involvement with church, in the excitement of the crowd or the causes trumpeted by the gathering. Don’t be concerned with whether you are on the “right side of history” any more than with whether you’re on the eastern or western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Come to Christ with nothing but your need for His salvation, and make sure that your steps are as directed by Him through the crowds of life.

III. Faith in the Savior Amid Uncleanness (vv. 25–34)

²⁵And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

One can only imagine the suffering this woman endured. While the exact nature of her illness is a mystery, many commentaries agree that she had some sort of a gynecological disorder leading to the discharge. Such an ongoing hemorrhage would have ill effects on both her physical and mental health, not to mention the social stigma and personal disgust she suffered as life literally drips away from her.

She would be considered perpetually unclean in the Old Covenant community (cf. Lv 15:25–27). Such a mark would have set her apart like a leper, part of her ongoing suffering. She would not have been able to participate in worship or daily life in Israel.

She invested every penny in search for a cure. However, the treatments that the physicians suggested not only failed to help, but made the matter worse (v. 26), whatever that might mean. The Talmud lists eleven cures, all of which failed her. “The Talmud itself gives no fewer than eleven cures for such a trouble. Some of them are tonics and astringments; but some of them are sheer superstitions like carrying the ashes of an ostrich-egg in a linen rag in summer and a cotton rag in winter; or carrying a barley corn which had been found in the dung of a white she-ass. No doubt this poor woman had tried even these desperate remedies” (Barclay, Mark, 129). Luke the physician omits that doctors made her worse, but concludes that she “could not be healed by anyone” (Lk 8:43).

Yet, she hears about Jesus (v. 27), and she comes to Him. Hers also is an imperfect faith, filled with superstition and fed by misinformation. In Matthew 9:20, we read that she seeks to touch the fringe of His garment, probably the tassels (see Nm 15:38–40; Dt 22:12). But, it was faith.

She comes in fear and faith. There may be several reasons why she’s fearful—since she was unclean, perhaps she feared the crowd approaching her, or perhaps she even feared meeting Jesus face-to-face (see v. 33). Still, she knows He has the power to heal, and while the crowd squeezes closer, she reaches out in faith. Augustine says, “Flesh presses, but faith touches;” and she realizes she is healed in that very moment.

He responds with control and care. It seems in vv. 29–30 that Jesus and the woman simultaneously knew that the healing occurred. The twice use of “immediately;” the woman ginosko—knew—in her body that there had been a healing, and Jesus epignosko—clearly knew—in Himself that there had been a healing. He knew someone had touched His garment in this crowd in faith, so He stops the crowd and begins looking back and forth, despite his disciples’ protest. The use of the feminine case in v. 32 hints that Jesus knew that a woman had touched Him.

Of course, if He knew someone had touched the outermost fringe of his garment in a crowd of people, and if He knew that someone had just been healed, then it is not a stretch to believe that He knew exactly who it was. Even so, this question accomplishes two goals: 1) to give the woman a chance to come forward now in faith, and 2) a chance for everyone else to praise God for this miracle.

Praise God that we don’t have to have everything figured out and our theology in a proper row before He will save us! That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t begin to grow in our knowledge and faith once we come to Christ, but the Lord makes no demands of us to save us; He fulfills all the commands. When we think of spiritual salvation, our efforts, or the efforts of so-called religious professionals, makes our state worse before God, not better.

Even in a crowd, Jesus can perceive the touch of an individual. To those coming to Him suffering for years with the unclean discharge of sinfulness, He says the same thing that He spoke to the woman. He speaks tenderly in v. 33: “Daughter,” and continues, “Your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed.” It wasn’t the fringes of Jesus’s garment that saved her. It also wasn’t her touching Him with her hand that saved her. It was her faith. We need to have the same focus, as we are tempted to think about prayers and baptisms and other works that could get us into the Kingdom; we need to know that it is faith that saves us: the gift from God, lest anyone should boast (Eph 2:8–9). Know the comfort of these gospel words!

IV. Faith in the Savior Amid Fear (vv. 35–37)

³⁵While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

There are lengths of our journey where it seems that life gets worse while we’re with Jesus, and faith begins to run dry. Jairus must have felt that way—he came to Jesus asking Him to come and heal his daughter (vv. 22–24). However, Jesus delays and heals someone else (vv. 24–34), and now the message of his daughter’s death (v. 35). He risked ridicule and scorn from the scribes and Pharisees, came to Jesus, and seemingly, all for naught.

Perhaps the messengers pulled Jairus aside while Jesus healed this girl, but Jesus still overheard the conversation. He chooses to ignore their words and speaks directly to Jairus: “Do not fear, only believe.” Two imperatives. He gave two commands to the woman in v. 34, “Go in peace and be healed.” Here, we see faith as the antidote to the fear undoubtedly welling up within Jairus. Luke notes that Jesus added that “she will be well” (Lk 8:50). Jairus demonstrated faith in coming to Christ, and now Jesus tells him to continue in that belief—a difficult command we need to hear as fears well up in our own souls.

Do not fear if you don’t see. We who read ahead know how this will end, but in the moment, Jairus walks without sight. He has to walk back home with Jesus believing everything will be all right when they arrive. He has no evidence other than the word of Christ. He doesn’t even have the excitement of the crowd anymore—only Jesus and three disciples walk this part of the road.

Believe based on what you know. Perhaps the delay added difficulty to his faith, but it probably helped Jairus to witness Jesus’s healing of the woman’s hemorrhage (vv. 25–34). It confirmed what Jarius already knew about Jesus, that He could heal the sick. Moreover, her issue lasted for the same number of years his daughter had life, perhaps drawing Jairus’s mind to the possibility of Christ healing his daughter specifically. It’s significant that Jesus doesn’t say, “Start believing”—the tense carries the meaning of “keep believing.”

We must not entertain doubts, allowing them to rob faith. We have the Word of God, and we know what God has done in the past for other people and ourselves. Even though the road gets quiet and clouded, don’t fear to continue with Jesus in faith.

Indeed, we can look to Him when our faith feels weak. Jesus doesn’t allow Jairus’s faith to be snuffed out by the moment. He gives this anguished father grace in the moment. Indeed, the Lord is growing Jairus’s faith in the moment, faith that call a more committed and thorough trust than he previously had.

V. Faith in the Savior Amid Death (vv. 38–43)

³⁸They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus, the disciples, and Jairus walk alone toward the house, and Jairus has been wondering what Jesus could do. He’s with Jesus in faith that something could be done for his precious little girl, but now their ears are greeted with the sound of commotion. The family would have hired professional mourners to help announce the passing to the community, a common practice in the day that even included flutes (cf. Mt 9:23). This sad sound confirms the news they received—Jairus’s daughter is dead.

Yet, in the sorrow of the moment, Jesus replies that the girl is simply asleep. One can imagine the confusion and anger arising as they ridicule Christ. It’s not as though they’d announce the death of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue if they weren’t sure she was dead. So, Jesus’s words of promise seem foolish to the unbelieving world, as would any teaching on the resurrection of the dead (cf. Acts 17:30). Even so, the promise remains for those who today mourn a loved one in the Lord.

Death for believers is like sleep. Jesus wasn’t lying when He said that she was asleep, and He gave the same description He did with Lazarus in John 11:11. In both cases, their deaths were reversed, and so, the death of all saints is considered sleep (Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor 15:6, 20, 51; 1 Thes 4:13–14). It’s not that the soul sleeps within the body, for death occurs when the spirit leaves the body (Js 2:26) and goes to be with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). Even so, the bodies of all saints will be raised again.

Death is rolled back by Christ. This is less than a day since he rebuked the raging storm and the legion of demons, but He tenderly cares for this little lamb. Indeed, though a dead body is ceremonially unclean, just like the woman had been, Jesus still touches her. He speaks so tenderly, and the Aramaic word “Talitha” can be translated “Lamb.” His sheep know His voice (Jn 10:27), and the Greek makes the “I” emphatic; “I myself say to you arise.” He heals her so completely that she gets out of bed and begins to walk—she’s even ready to eat something! “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55).

Look at how complete the miracle is. In v. 42, she immediately began to walk around. We need to understand that she is not a small child even though she’s “daddy’s little girl;” she’s old enough to walk around. Jesus orders her to have food—she’s not a zombie; she can eat. Everyone is thrown into a state of amazement.

VI. Final Thoughts

So, there we are. We’ve seen faith in the Savior amid various circumstances: the crowds, uncleanness, fear, and death. We’ve seen faith in two, different individuals who demonstrate two, very different approaches to Christ. Still, we see that the faith is to be in the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the only one Who can save our souls, though we are the walking dead, like the woman with the hemorrhage. He’s the only One who can lift us up from the grave, like Jairus’s daughter. He is the resurrection and the life; He says, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

We must have faith in Christ for salvation. We must have faith in Him for eternal life. We don’t add anything to this faith—we simply come to Him, knowing that He is the only source of salvation.

SERMON: Out of Ashes | Mark 5:1–20

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Out of Ashes | Mark 5:1–20
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 16 July, 2017

Thankfully, even though evil is around us, Jesus came “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8). This evening, we’re going to notice 1.) the destruction wrought from evil (vv. 1–5), 2.) the deliverance by Christ from evil (vv. 6–13), 3.) the depravity resulting from evil (vv. 14–17), and 4.) duty of the delivered from evil (vv. 18–20).

Video:

https://youtu.be/JibrHeKeoCg

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=718171647223

Sermon Notes

Out of Ashes | Mark 5:1–20
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 16 July, 2017

I. Introduction

In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis famously said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”[1]

So, on the one hand, in this era of science and logic, we might be tempted to disparage the account before us. Some commentators have wondered if this man weren’t simply a mentally-ill individual, running and yelling and scaring pigs. Incidentally, I sometimes wonder why someone would go to the trouble of writing a commentary on the Bible if they don’t believe what it says!

On the other hand, Christians shouldn’t be superstitious about the demonic. The recent animated movie “Trolls” (2016) got me to thinking about a presentation I heard as a young Christian. Among other things, the preacher said that if you bring troll dolls into your house, you were inviting demonic spirits. He told stories of how one families heard noises in their houses and experiencing paranormal activity, and it was because people had brought cursed objects into their homes, like troll dolls.

The truth is that, when you treat objects as though they have good and evil energies, you’re engaging in something more akin to New Age paganism than Christianity. That kind of superstition and should have no place in the Christian life. Christianity presents a world in which God is in control, and He has told us all we need to know in Scripture.

Therefore, we can’t overemphasize Satan’s power (which is where a lot of superstitious practices originate), nor can we ignore it. This is perhaps why Mark devotes so much space to this one account. We have this vivid picture of the depths of evil in the world around us, and we need to see it for all its wickedness.

II. Destruction Wrought from Evil (vv. 1–5)

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ²And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ³He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

They disembark into Gentile territory, if it’s not clear from the grazing pigs on the hillside. This marks the first of many Gentiles cities where Jesus performed miracles. Gergesa (modern day Khersa) is most likely the name of the town, while what we have is Mark designating the region “the land of the Gerasenes” (so named for the larger city to the southeast). It’s in the Decapolis, a confederation of ten cities east of the Sea of Galilee.

This account follows the storm at sea, which itself came at the end of the Lord’s busy day of teaching in chapter four. They’re just arriving at the eastern shore in Gentile territory. Jesus had said that they needed to cross over (4:35), but He gave no reason. They survived the storm at sea only because He had miraculously silenced it. Even so, they still don’t know why they are there, and no reason is directly given in the text.

The best guess is to help this man and plant a seed of ministry in Gentile territory. Sometimes we don’t know why the Lord directs our lives as He does, but sometimes we can see that He helps and changes sinners because of it. Even so, there will be no rest for the disciples, who are undoubtedly still reeling from the storm and the realization of how powerful Christ actually is.

This man had to live away from his family (v. 19) and others, considering his violent and uncontrollable behavior. The hillside near Khersa has tombs carved into it, and that’s where he lived—an unclean place for these unclean spirits. Matthew 8:28 points out a second man, but Mark focuses perhaps on the more vocal of the two.

Now, when we read that he “had” the unclean spirit, we are reading that he was possessed or controlled by it. Luke 8:30 says that the demons had entered him. This isn’t the way in which demons typically work—they deceive (cf. 1 Cor 10:20–21; 1 Tm 4:1). Let’s be clear: he didn’t suffer from psychosis; he was demonized.

We see this when v. 3 emphasizes his supernatural strength with a triple negative, which we could ackwardly translate, “and not even with a chain, no one was able no longer to bind him.” He was often bound and could rub apart and crush his shackles (v. 4). He also demonstrates supernatural knowledge in knowing Jesus’s name (v. 7). Mark doesn’t tell us how he came to be so demonized, but what he says is heartbreaking.

The demonic activity made him an outcast. Though people cared for him (v. 19), he could no longer live in civilized society. The word in v. 4 could be translated “tame,” as one might tame a wild animal (Garland, Mark, 202). No one can tame evil through personal effort—only the grace of God through Christ Jesus can deliver us from evil. Though it’s not good for a man to be alone (Gn 2:18), he (and his co-suffering demoniac) lived isolated and naked, completely dehumanized.

The demonic activity made him injure himself. He spent his time shrieking and purposefully gashing himself—self-mutilation. Luke adds, “For a long time he had worn no clothes” (Lk 8:27). “The man’s nakedness not only indicated sexual perversion (cf. Lev. 18:16–19; 20:11, 17–21) and shame (cf. Gen. 3:7; Rev. 3:18), it also illustrated the physical torment he suffered at the hands of the demons who possessed him, since he was constantly exposed to the elements” (MacArthur, Mark 1–8, 242–43). Evil is always self-destructive, and the demonic attack on man is an attack on the image of God.

One commentary points out, “He is a microcosm of the whole of creation, inarticulately groaning for redemption (Rom. 8:22)” (Garland, Mark, 203). His story is dramatic, but the fact is that he pictures anyone under the control and influence of the prince of the power of the air. He represents a life apart from Jesus Christ, and he bears the scars of Satan’s wicked influence. Satan seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn 10:10), on the prowl to devour (1 Pt 5:8–9). His demons likewise seek to slowly or quickly destroy (cf. Mk 9:22).

It’s at this point that Jesus steps into this man’s life. He wasn’t seeking the Lord. Matthew 8:28 says that the demoniacs were “so fierce that no one could pass that way.” However, as he screeches and run up to the boats, he meets the group, not with violence, but with prostration before Jesus Christ. That brings us to the next point:

III. Deliverance by Christ from Evil (vv. 6–13)

⁶And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. ⁷And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹²and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

The demoniac bows before the Lord and uses an honorific title, but that isn’t genuine worship. Remember that terrifying passage from the Sermon on the Mount—Jesus doesn’t just say that He will cast out unbelievers, but also many calling Him “Lord, Lord” (Mt 7:21–23)! The Roman soldiers would also bow down, but in mockery (15:19). Assuming a physical position of kneeling or bowing before Jesus does not fool Him into thinking worship is occurring, and God isn’t obligated to hear the prayers of sinners (Jn 9:31; Js 4:3).

It takes the Lord stepping into our sinful state. Notice how quickly the demons realize that they’re outmatched! MacArthur notes here, “What no human being could tame, even through the use of ropes and chains, Jesus restrained with nothing more than His presence” (MacArthur, Mark 1–8, 243).

The demons have no advantage over Him. They claim to be a legion in number, a Latin term for a military division of 6,000 men. Only 2,000 pigs were possessed (v. 13), so it’s possible that this is meant in the metaphorical sense meaning a great host. We can’t put it past demons to lie and exaggerate. Still, only one man had this many demons.

Now, such a host would frighten any of us, but Jesus effortlessly holds this satanic army at bay. Indeed, He didn’t need its name to gain footing in order to expel them; He cast other demons out without any such inquiry. He only asks to demonstrate His authority over even such an amassed army of angelic creatures.

The demons are reduced to begging to Him. Matthew 8:29 reveals that they know that a time of torture comes for them. That’s why the demons shudder (Js 2:19). They knew the Lord could cast them down into the abyss with but a word (Lk 8:31; cf. Rv 9:1ff). Moreover, v. 10 reveals that they specifically wanted to remain in the country, and did not want to wander in in dry places (Mt 12:43; Lk 11:24). The best option they contrive is to leave from the man into unreasoning animals—unclean pigs (cf. Lv 11:7–8) for these unclean spirits. But they anxiously await Jesus’s permission to do even that.

He allowed them an opportunity to cause such chaos to demonstrate just how powerful He is. Don’t believe dualistic nonsense or fear the power of the devil. Satan is not God’s all-powerful opposite, for his demonic dominion of darkness bows before the will of Jesus Christ. Trust in the all-powerful Lord of Scripture. As stated in the third verse of Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God:”

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

What else do we see about Christ’s deliverance here?

First, Jesus cared more for the demonized man than the swine. It’s not that Jesus didn’t care for this expensive herd of animals. God notices all His creatures, and Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Mt 10:29). Even so, God knows the number of hairs on a man’s head because he’s “of more value than many sparrows” (vv. 30–31). This man endured torment from these demons—and Jesus came to set him free, even at the cost of a couple thousand pigs.

Know the love of God and how He values you—He laid down His life for you (not an animal). That should motivate you to do the same (1 Jn 3:16–18), and you can know you’ve been converted by the love of God because of your love for fellow believers (v. 14). Jesus values human life so much that He came to set those captive to sin and Satan free, for God is love (1 Jn 4:8).

Second, Jesus completely transforms the demonized man. Down in v. 15, we see that He Who brought peace to the raging storm and sea (4:39) transformed this violent, irrational individual. Remember that the demonic forces tormented both his mind and body. He had no dignity before Jesus set him free, lacking the simple principles of humanity such as reason, modesty, and self-control. All people without Christ live below their created worth, bearing the image of God while ultimately ignoring and rejecting Him. Even so, we see that Christ can completely transform even what, from a human perspective, we would call the hard cases. He can justify and sanctify a person who’s even under the control of a legion of demons!

Well, the townspeople witness the power and peace of the Person of Christ. However, they don’t react as you might suspect. That brings us to our next point:

IV. Depravity Resulting from Evil (vv. 14–17)

¹⁴The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

News of this was bound to spread, especially with the loss of the herd. One study Bible notes here that “Jesus bears no responsibility for the action the demons took; He did not direct them to run the swine into the sea. Even today, two thousand hogs is a very large herd. Their monetary value could easily have been worth a quarter of a million dollars in today’s economy—a sizable loss for the owners.”^{^[2]}

Those who were feeding the pigs explained everything, including that Jesus had been involved in the loss of the herd. The townsfolk come to see what happened to the herd, and they’re stricken with fear. Even though the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Pv 1:7), unfortunately, they didn’t move forward in knowledge.

Interestingly, the same word in v. 10, parakaleo, is used of the townspeople here. The demons in the man begged Jesus to have their leave of Him, and the people now beg Jesus to leave away from them. A similar situation occurred years later in Philippi—Paul commanded the demon out of the slave girl, and her owners sought to silence their message because of their loss of profit (Acts 16:16–24). Fear at the work of God is not a sign of true faith.

All people without Christ live below their created worth, bearing the image of God while ultimately ignoring and rejecting Him. This was obviously true of demoniac before Christ stepped in and changed his life. Even so, the town people also live in an unregenerate state.

They see Jesus as bad for business, meaning that they would rather the man remain as he was. The entire town was comprised of people who didn’t worship and live for the Most High God. So, when they saw that Jesus was destroying the works of darkness, they grew in fear. May it never be that we are satisfied with evil, where we might tell Jesus to leave.

V. Duty of the Delivered from Evil (vv. 18–20)

¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

By contrast, the demoniac, now set free, develops an instant affection for the Lord. He wanted to stay with the Lord. When Jesus instead gives him a task, he spreads the truth about the work and mercy of the Lord. This complements the healing of the leper in the chapter one; the leper was to announce his cleansing to the priests, and this man is to go and announce his cleansing from the demons to the people.

He had information the leper didn’t. Jesus refers to His work as the work of the Lord. In case there’s any doubt as to what He means by “Lord” here, the parallel account reads “God” here (Lk 8:39), and in both places, the work of God is understood to be the work of Jesus. How fully he understood this is debatable, but his obedience meant that Jesus’s next journey into Decapolis was welcome (7:31ff).

How have you responded to the Lord? Do you fear the Lord, having also a genuine admiration for Him and a desire to follow His commands?

VI. Final Thoughts

Christians, as you read this passage, you should arrive at the conclusion that you need not fear the demonic, and certainly not demon possession. Ephesians 1:21 says that Jesus Christ is seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” He sent His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to indwell believers as a temple (1 Cor 6:19–20). And when we are warned about false spirits, we read, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn 4:4).

Don’t think that Christ isn’t powerful enough to overcome your personal sin, either. He conquers all the powers of Hell, and He can conquer that lust, that addiction, that pride, that gluttony, that laziness. He can overcome the sin nature that wars against His Spirit. He will destroy the works of darkness in your life, saving your soul from Hell. Call upon the name of the Lord.

Or would you rather the evil remain and Jesus depart? Some love their sin more than they fear the Lord. Indeed, they fear what God might take away from them. Don’t do what these people did—allow Christ to confront the wickedness in your life. He seeks to save and deliver.

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (Harper Collins, 1996), ix.

^{^[2]} Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Mk 5:12–13.

SERMON: What Manner of Man is This? | Mark 4:35–41

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 13:42:00 +0000

What Manner of Man is This? | Mark 4:35–41
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 9 July, 2017

How we answer the question of Who Jesus is will change how we respond to the storms of life. As our example this evening, we are going to look at the disciples before the might of the storm (vv. 35–38), and then the disciples before the might of the Lord (vv. 39–41).

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7k-0mMtphQ

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=71617040330

Sermon Notes

What Manner of Man is This? | Mark 4:35–41
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 9 July, 2017

I. Introduction

We approach a passage that has been the subject of countless sermons. The calming of the storm is a favorite for topical preachers, because it seems to deliver up a simple message: When you’re going through a storm, make sure that Jesus is in your boat! That isn’t a bad application, but it seems to miss the point a bit. Consider the simple fact that there are other boats mentioned here—maybe the message is, whenever going through a storm, at least be near someone who has Jesus!

The truth is we are going to go through storms. Jesus promised tribulation in this world, so we may have to go through some struggle. Jesus nowhere promises to calm the storms of life, though He might. Indeed, the desire for everything always to go peacefully might be an idol in your life—especially if you find yourself only coming to Him when the going gets tough. Rather than desiring a storm-free life, we need is a bigger image of Who He is.

Last time we were in Mark, we looked at two parables that gave us insight into the nature of the Kingdom of God. We saw the mysterious growth of the kingdom—God causes all the growth outside of our intervention. We also saw the chief growth of the kingdom, that it encompasses all peoples and crowds out all contenders. God works as He wills, apart from our efforts.

The account this evening emphasizes that. It’s not about us, but about our Lord Jesus Christ. The key doesn’t come until the last words: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The KJV reads this way: “What manner of man is this?” This passage shows us just how powerful Jesus Christ is.

Such will be the way from here through the end of chapter five; we’ll see further demonstrations of Jesus’s power. He calms the storm here. He wields power over a legion of demons in the first twenty verses of the next chapter. He heals a woman with just the fringes of His garment. He then raises a girl from the dead. If we continue into chapter eight, we see four more miracles, including Jesus walking on the water. All these miracles stand in contrast to human despair and desperation, with Jesus performing the impossible; the miracles echo the question of the disciples—“Who then is this?”

How we answer the question of Who Jesus is will change how we respond to the storms of life. As our example this evening, we are going to look at the disciples before the might of the storm (vv. 35–38), and then the disciples before the might of the Lord (vv. 39–41).

II. The Disciples’ Before the Might of the Storm (vv. 35–38)

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

The text says, “on that day, when evening had come.” So, this is the same day as the parables on the kingdom, in the early evening. As A. T. Robertson points out, “It had been a busy day. The blasphemous accusation, the visit of the mother and brothers and possibly sisters, to take him home, leaving the crowded house for the sea, the first parables by the sea, then more in the house, and now out of the house and over the sea.”^{^[1]} What an emotionally and physically exhausting series of events!

So, Jesus basically says, “Let’s go.” They are passing into farming country on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, west-to-east. They are going to be headed to the Decapolis (5:20; 7:31), ten cities east of the Sea of Galilee. This is a largely Gentile region, but with fewer people. As such, the Lord and His disciples could get away from the crowds for a reprieve.

We can imagine that both He and His disciples would also be looking forward to this. So, after dismissing the crowd, v. 36 says, “they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.” In other words, this is the same boat from which He was teaching, and He didn’t leave to change, eat, or nap first. They immediately departed.

Mark adds a little note: There were “other boats were with Him.” Perhaps these are some of Jesus’s other disciples, and perhaps some of the crowd is just following Jesus. Steve Lawson reminds us of George Whitefield here, who would depart for the next town, only to find that men were following him on horseback to hear more of his preaching. Sometimes it’s difficult to get away, and this is the only time of relief our Lord is going to receive.

The disciples didn’t know the storm they were about to encounter, as is often the case. The Sea of Galilee is low, 690ft below sea level, and the surrounding mountains are high (Mt. Hermon on the northern shore is 9,200ft above sea level); it’s a shear drop of thousands of feet. High winds at certain times of year are common occurrences and whip downward and through ravines. Couple this with a varying climate: “Tropical conditions prevail around the lake’s surface, where even bananas are grown today. Yet the higher elevations can produce chilling night air.”^{^[2]}

If you know much of anything about meteorology, it shouldn’t surprise you that storms would result from this interplay of cold air pushing against warm air. Some of these storms can be intense; “In 1992, one such storm generated ten-foot high waves on the lake, causing flooding and damage to the city of Tiberias.”^{^[3]}

While the term “arose” is here, and how we might describe a storm forming, it would be more accurate to say that the galestorm “came down,” which is what Luke 8:23 has. This windstorm is particularly sudden and violent, and the Greek word is translated elsewhere as “whirlwind” (Job 38:1). This is the same description of the storm that terrified the Gentile sailors in Jonah 1:4. Matthew 8:24 calls it “a great storm at sea” or “a mighty tempest”— σεισμὸς (the word from which we get seismology)—shaking like from an earthquake.

The waves were beating into the boat. Or, as Mt 8:24 says, “so that the boat was being swamped by the waves.” They were taking on water and fighting a losing battle. We understand now that, though these were experienced fishermen, they feared that they were in dire straits. How quickly and drastically the weather changes!

Still, with all of that going on, v. 38 says, “But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.” In fact, the “He” is emphatic in the Greek, contrasting His rest to the pains of the disciples. They’re fearful, but He’s peaceful. What a contrast it is!

How can Jesus be so calm at a time like that? There are really two reasons. First, He’s simply tired. Indeed, He’s made a pillow of the coarse, leather cushion for the steersman. Luke says that Jesus fell asleep (Lk 8:23), and Matthew also has that Jesus was sleeping (Mt 8:24). After such a long day, we couldn’t fault anyone for succumbing to sleep. Because He was also fully human, He experienced exhaustion. So deep was His sleep that the storm does not seem to rouse Him.

Still, He had to be somewhat aware of what was happening. That leads us to the second reason: Because His is the rest of one trusting in the Heavenly Father. Does this describe your sleep, even when the storm rages?

“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me” (Ps 3:5).
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Ps 4:8).

The disciples are supposed to be learning to be like Jesus, and He was at rest. There are times at which our Lord is angry, and we should be angry at what angers Him, such as sin. There are people whom He loves, and we should love Him. And when He says we models rest, even though we’re going through the storms of life, we should be at rest.

They do not understand this, so they rouse Him and ask, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” This is an impersonal address, literally, “be a care to one, to you?” Matthew 8:25 and Luke 8:24 use the same word with the same form—they are dying. There’s a question here as to whether the disciples meant “we” inclusively, meaning they and Jesus were perishing. That seems to be the route that the translations go—we’re all about to die, and you can sleep at a time like this? This parallels the account of Jonah, where the captain said, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish” (Jonah 1:6).

They figured that, of He was not active at the moment, He didn’t care. As such, their fear says more about them in the moment—the storm aroused their faithlessness and distrust. That’s what must be addressed.

III. The Disciples’ Before the Might of the Lord (vv. 39–41)

³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

They had roused Him with their pleas. However, He did not respond with His own fear or dread, and their anxieties did not excite His own. He knew what would happen. This is unlike Jonah, who only reluctantly told the truth after being awakened, and who then became a victim of the waves. After Jesus is awakened, He rebukes the storm. Remember that, in Matthew 12:41, Jesus said that He is greater than Jonah—and therefore, this generation will be condemned if it does not repent at His preaching.

So, He rebuked the wind and sea. This is the same term used back in 1:25 for Jesus silencing the demon. He speaks to the wind and sea as though they were as rational as spiritual beings, though they are impersonal forces. He muzzles the storm. Nature doesn’t need to hear and understand the voice of the Lord to respond; it simply does.

The rest of the verse says, “And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Don’t let that pass by you—there’s a suddenness to the silence. There would be no denying the connection between His rebuke and the storm dissipating. As suddenly as it arose, its violence and fervor disappeared.

This isn’t just a calming, as though the wind began to abate and the sea returned to normal. This was a calm that stood in contrast to the storm that existed mere seconds ago. The water was placid and the air still, an evening lacking any evidence that a storm even existed. Regardless of the amount of trouble or the power generating turmoil, the Lord remains in total control!

As such, He turns to rebuke the disciples! We can only imagine their shock, the fear welling up in them as Jesus speaks to them. Still, we see His grace: He asks them questions instead of giving short commands, indicating perhaps a softer tone than He just used to dissipate the storm.

He asks, “Why are you afraid?” The term here is cowardly. None of God’s children should ever cower from what this world has to offer. We worship the Lord of Creation—and even if He seems quiet, we should remain confident in that fact. Even so, they are still processing Who He is.

As such, v. 41 literally says that “they feared a great fear.” They marveled, as well (Mt 8:27, Lk 8:22). Clearly, they had feared the storm, as their panic is clear in their statement that they were perishing. Here, however, they have a far greater fear for the Lord. Paul D. Tripp in his sermon on this passage points out that this is when fear defeats fear.

This is the natural reaction to just Who Jesus is. By contrast, consider those heavenly-tourism books, where folks claim to see God. There are also those supposed modern-day prophets who claim that Jesus bodily visits them and they have chats. Yet, we see here the fear that the disciples have as they begin to realize just Who Jesus is. Theirs is hardly different than the response of anyone else in Scripture.

· Abraham said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes” (Gn 18:27).

· Job—“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5–6).

· Samson’s father, Manoah—“We shall surely die, for we have seen God” (Jdg 13:22).

· Isaiah—“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Is 6:5).

· Ezekiel—“I fell on my face” (Eze 1:28)

· Daniel—“I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.” (Dn 10:9).

· Peter—“he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ ” (Lk 5:8)

· Paul—also fell to the ground (Acts 9:4)

· John—“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead” (Rv 1:17).

They were filled with fear and marvel. As such, they ask each other, “Who then is this?” Previously, after He had cast out the demon, they were questioning His authoritative teaching (1:27). The question now becomes, Who can control all of nature? This question forces the reader to reevaluate the claim that Mark lays out since 1:1, “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

· God is described in Psalm 65:7 as He “who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.”

· Psalm 89:9 says, “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.”

· Psalm 107 talks about deliverance from the stormy sea. When the sailors were at their wits’ end (v. 27), “they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!” (vv. 28–31).

He is the Lord Jesus Christ—completely human, even growing tired, but also completely God. One of the historical debates concerning Jesus Christ concerned His nature or, more accurately, His natures. The early church struggled to see that He indeed came in human flesh. Of course, many also wondered at His divine nature. The Christ revealed in Scripture is both completely human and completely divine, as we see in this passage.

His two natures are essential to what we believe about Jesus Christ. Because He’s both human and divine, He’s able to destroy the devil and deliver all of us (Hb 2:14–15). He became a “merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (v. 17). It is only because He has two natures that He can be our Lord and Savior.

IV. Final Thoughts

It’s well-said that the fear of the Lord is the fear that drives out other fears. Get to know the Lord, how He has revealed Himself in Scripture, how He reveals Himself in this passage. As counterintuitive as it sounds, there’s no greater means of finding rest in the Lord than fearing Him more than the concerns of this life.

Know this, though. The storm you need to fear in this life isn’t unpaid bills or work or family matters or anything of the sort. As Paul Tripp says, the greatest storm of your life is sin—and like the disciples in the boat, you have no chance to defeat it. Our struggle against the waves of sin confronts us with the fact that we need Christ, every moment of every day. And we need to fear Him more than we fear any the temptations to sin.

So yes, if you’re going through a storm, you better make certain that you have Jesus in the boat. Sometimes, God allows storms in our lives to help us realize that we need Jesus. You’re not promised a storm-free life with Jesus, but you won’t have any hope to survive without Him. Indeed, the greatest storm for you is yet to come, an eternal one in which you are being judged by God for your works. He’s our only hope for deliverance, so get to know Him if you don’t already!

^{^[1]} A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Mk 4:35.

^{^[2]} Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Mk 4:35.

[3] John MacArthur, Mark 1–8, 229.

My Personal List of Warning Signs of a Bad Church

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 08:00:00 +0000

Churches come in all shapes and sizes, and the Bible grants them a great deal of flexibility. Even so, after some 30+ years of attending churches good and bad, I've started to notice patterns in the bad ones. I've started jotting them down, and I'll add to this post as I see more. So, if I'm traveling on the Lord's Day, here are signs that say to me, "Stay away."

(OBLIGATORY NOTE*: These are not definitive evidences of bad churches, as some good churches undoubtedly have one or more of these characteristics. I'm also not saying that I automatically wouldn't attend a church with one or more of these, my pet peeves put aside. And, before you ask, yes, these are all drawn from real examples of bad churches.)

Churches with one-word names (definite articles and “church” notwithstanding)
Ex. “Journey”; “The Light”; “Real Church”; “Elevation Church”
Churches with more than five-word names
Ex. “New Apostolic Church of Pentecostal Miracle Deliverance and Sufficient Grace, Inc.”
Churches that infringe upon corporate names
Ex. IHOP: “International House of Prayer”
Any church that requires visitors to walk through an attire or wealth detector, or have "special" parking out of view for beater and older-model vehicles.
A church with the letters "A. V." and the numbers "1611" on their sign
A church with a clown on the sign, especially if it's announcing the latest production of a Broadway musical.
Churches a-sparkle with the name-tags adorning the congregation
Churches with Plexiglas pulpits, music-stand pulpits, or no pulpits.
A church decorated with wall art of the pastor, his pulpit time, and his family.
Churches where, during the worship music, strobes and spot lights move to illuminate the audience or auditorium (sanctuary?)…
…or that use fog machines during Sunday worship…
…or that expand a song by seven-minute “experience” through either twenty-nine repetitions of “Send Your fire” or a bass solo.
Basically, two words: Worship band.
Churches where, five to seven minutes max. into his sermon, the pastor fails to say, “Open your Bibles to…”
Churches where, five minutes into her sermon… (‘nuff said)
Churches where the pastor starts with a video.
Churches that have props, sets, color schemes, or something visible to set apart the pastor's current sermon series, especially if said visuals are based off pop-culture.
Any church where the pastor stands up in a tight shirt to show off his tats and gym bod.
...or wears a t-shirt, a v-neck, a plaid shirt and jeans, some hipster specs, or hair product.
A church where a pastor at some point smiles and commands, "Turn to your neighbor and say _________," or asks, "Can I get an amen?"
Churches whose children's departments have the kids color pictures of their pastors, prophets, or staff members...
...or that require members to use kiosks and bar code scanners to check children in and out of class
...or that give communion to kids
...or that don't, at least, encourage kids to bring their Bibles.
Any church whose youth group won last year's National Harlem Faith-Shake Video Competition...
...or that even submitted a video
Any church with "temple" in the name.
Any church that has two sermons in one service: the sermon proper and the 20-minute tithing reminder.
Two words: Altar Calls. Dim the house lights and cue thirty verses of "Just As I Am."
Churches with websites that make reference to the importance of "mentoring" instead of discipleship, "being missional" instead of evangelism, "doing life together" or "building community" instead of fellowship... basically, avoid those churches that avoid biblical terminology.
Churches with staff listed as "life coach," "visionary pastor," "head pastor," "equipping pastor," "drama and visual arts pastor."
Churches with tithing calculators on their websites

*Because folks get offended way too easily these days, and someone will be thinking of the exceptions to these statements.

SERMON: Women in Ministry | Various Texts

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 09 Jul 2017 07:00:00 +0000

Women in Ministry | Various Texts
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 2 July, 2017

My proposition to you isn’t that we should let the Bible lead, something I think everyone in this room already believes. In fact, I imagine that the Bible is so clear that you will agree with about 90% of what I have to say. My proposition is that the Bible gives us clear guidance on this issue—that is that ordained men should lead in church services, start to finish.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5cX9sDv0SQ

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=73171819491

Sermon Notes

Women in Ministry | Various Texts
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 2 July, 2017

I. Introduction

The message this evening comes from a series of related questions that many people in the congregation have been asking. I have to confess on my part that it is not an issue that I’ve articulated well, especially when it comes to specific aspects of application. In fact, I’m not sure that it’s an issue that is articulated clearly most of the time in Evangelical churches.

We’ve been experiencing what Charles Spurgeon called a “downgrade” in otherwise solid churches. There are otherwise solid Bible teachers that know they need to hold the line against certain liberalizing influences, such as standing against gay marriage and binary gender definitions in Scripture, but they also want to be found as acceptable as possible. So, they’ll also virtue signal in differing ways, letting people know that, even though they’re conservative, they’re not like the stodgy, fuddy-duddies of the past.

For instance, we have the issue of the involvement of women in ministry. We’ve had roughly sixty years of feminism and women’s liberation theology pounding our seminaries and pulpits. More conservative institutions for the most part have weathered the worldly philosophies, but not completely without comprise. It seems that there has been a reduction of the biblical view to “no women in the pulpit, everything else is okay.” That means that women (and unordained men, for what it’s worth) can lead the congregation in prayer, reading, and maybe even some teaching (as long as it’s short). Some pastors even yield their pulpits to their wives for certain times of teaching, and we’re even seeing more and more Mr.-and-Mrs. Pastor teams. (There’s a new church in a shopping center just down the road that has one, and it’s one of many.)

Historically, none of this has been the case in Christian churches, and this question that comes to how ministry should operate in the body. As Christians—Baptists no less—we believe that Scripture should guide how we worship. This is known as the regulative principle of worship. The London Baptist Confession of 1689 says, “the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures” (22.1).

Consider the following:

· God wouldn’t accept Cain’s offering (Gn 4:3–8).
· In the Ten Commandments, God will not share worship with another god or even an object (Ex 20:2–6).
· God wanted Moses to build the tabernacle “after the pattern” (Ex 25:40).
· God wouldn’t accept the unauthorized offering of Nadab and Abihu and killed them for it (Lv 10).
· Consider also how many of the man-made traditions of worship Jesus rejected (e.g., Mt 15:1–14).
· Paul condemns the “self-made religion” at Colossae (Col 2:23).

When we consider the biblical evidence, we walk away with one, clear message: God despises experimental religion. He doesn’t want us to try new ways of doing things, He doesn’t want us to innovate with the old ways. We don’t do something new on Sunday that will shake things up or that’s neat. We certainly shouldn’t make changes in our format because we’re afraid of what people will say to us. While our locations may change (we can meet in homes or catecombs or buildings), and some of our technology may change (microphones and keyboards), neither our means nor our message must change.

When we select pastors, we should look to biblical qualifications, not whether someone has an MBA. When we meet, we read Scripture, sing, and preach (1 Tm 4:13; 2 Tm 4:2; Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). We pray (cf. Mt 21:13). We make disciples, baptize, and participate in the Lord’s supper (Mt 28:19; Acts 2:38–39; 1 Cor 11:23–26; Col 2:11–12). And we should do all things decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40).

My proposition to you isn’t that we should let the Bible lead, something I think everyone in this room already believes. In fact, I imagine that the Bible is so clear that you will agree with about 90% of what I have to say. My proposition is that the Bible gives us clear guidance on this issue—that is that ordained men should lead in church services, start to finish. Let’s start with:

II. The Question of Leadership in the Church

There are three terms for the role of leadership in the church, bishop or overseer, elder, and pastor. The three are used synonymously in Scripture, referring to the same office (Acts 20:17, 28; also 1 Pt 5:1-2). Theologians over the past sixty or so years have fallen into two camps concerning this office:

Complementarian—This view teaches that men and women were created to complement one another and equally bear God’s image. By “complement,” men and women are created for and called to different roles that are essential.
Egalitarian— This view emphasizes the equality that men and women share as God’s image-bearers. Because of the Fall, women were subjected to their husbands. In Christ, the two are once again equal. Any roles in marriage or ministry are for whoever is the best suited, regardless of sex.

It’s abundantly clear in Scripture—right from the beginning—that men and women equally bear the image of God (Gn 1:27). However, contra the egalitarian position, no Scripture anywhere approves the ordination of women to a church office. There are examples of godly, prominent women in both the Old and New Testaments, but that is consistent only with the premise that we are all imago dei. Instead of authorizing women to church offices, the language of Scripture makes clear that men are to lead in the church.

III. The Teaching of Scripture

A. The consistent image of gender-roles

God in His sovereignty chose to create man first, and then woman. God speaks to Adam, and presumably, Adam’s expected to fill her in later. Adam also names the animals as well as his wife, implying his headship over her. They both bear God’s image, but their roles develop even in the perfection of the Garden of Eden.

With the Fall came another wrinkle in the male/female dynamic. During the curse of Genesis 3:16, God says to the woman, “Your desire (תְּשׁוּקָה—t’shuqah) shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” The word for desire is the same as in Gen 4:7: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire (תְּשׁוּקָה—t’shuqah) is for you, but you must rule over it.”

That consideration (among a couple of other syntactical nuances) prompted a recent change in the ESV. Since its inception in 2001, the ESV has always translated Genesis 3:16 as above. However, in 2016, the committee changed it to read, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

Whether that is the best translation is debatable, but this seems to be the implications of the curse. A wife will, at times, sinfully desire the leadership role in marriage. However, that husband must instead lovingly bear the authority in the relationship (1 Tm 2:12–14).

The image continues most appropriately in the New Testament in the Son of God. It is not an accident that God chose to be born into the world as a male, a flip of the celestial coin. He chose not to take on the form of the daughter of God, not to be the second Eve.

As the first male born to Mary, He was holy to the Lord (Lk 2:23). Because Adam had transgressed, though, humanity could only be redeemed by the Second Adam (1 Cor 15:45, 47; Rm 5:14). Thus, He (not “She”) must fulfill the gospel and rule the church.

Furthermore, when He appointed twelve apostles, He didn’t engage in egalitarianism. He didn’t appoint half women and half men to make it fair, or so that the church could receive a broader perspective. Despite the claims of some recent television programs and movies, He didn’t appoint even one woman. He didn’t avoid that appointment because of the cultural and religious norms and mores, for He was crucified for flaunting the traditions of men. No, He chose men because men are responsible to take the lead.

The church and family should reflect this model. Indeed, Paul compares the church to a household (1 Tim 3:15), and a key qualification for an elder is whether he runs his household well (1 Tm 3:4–5). Scripture speaks to the fact that husbands are to lead in the family and that wives are to submit (Eph 5:22–24; Col 3:18; Ti 2:4–5). As such, it should be no surprise that “the household of God” carries that image forward into the corporate setting.

The image of male leadership, however, is never of oppression. When Jesus came, He didn’t break a bruised reed or quench a faintly burning wick (Isa 42:3). When He appointed His apostles, He told them not to “lord it over them” (Mt 20:25). Men should lead in a manner worthy of their wives’ submission, loving them as Christ loved the church (Eph 5:25).

As such, the model in both the Old and New Testaments for family and church is as follows:

Man à Love | Follow and Submit ß Woman

Even so, could it be that Scripture permits women to lead in some way in ministry if she also submits to her husband or to her pastor? Is a woman herself entirely disallowed the pastoral office? If so, can she participate in other ways in front of the church? I don’t believe so. In fact, someone said this to me in 2005 or so and it has come true: no reading of Scripture that allows women to lead could not also be applied to homosexuals, and that is exactly what we’ve seen. Let’s turn to texts that are essential to our understanding.

B. The key biblical texts regarding women in leadership:

There are six passages that form the battlements of the debate: 1 Corinthians 11:3–16, 1 Corinthians 14:26–30, Galatians 3:28, 1 Timothy 2:9–15, 1 Timothy 3:11, and Titus 2:1–6. Let’s look at each of these in depth.

1. 1 Corinthians 11:3–16

We looked at this passage this morning. Because Pastor Paul went over this text, I won’t linger too long here. The creation order bears out that man was over woman before the Fall, even though man was never meant to see woman as inferior. The head-coverings in this chapter were a cultural sign in the Roman world of a wife’s submission to her husband, compatible with biblical teaching, and so women mustn’t remove them, even if she’s giving prophetic utterance. (It is our contention that, though God can, He does not continue to give these kinds of utterances in churches today.)

Now, while it seems that Paul tacitly permits women speaking, as long as their heads are covered (v. 5), he doesn’t say that women should speak in church. All he does is highlight their lack of head-coverings as evidence of their pride. The apostle demonstrates the shameful way women were addressing the congregation. As such, not only is this a weak verse to be used in support of women speaking in church, it’s more likely part of Paul’s larger argument against it.

2. 1 Corinthians 14:26–40

In this text, Paul gives his clearest prohibitions against women speaking in church. In chapter 11, he talks about the pride in prophecies. In chapter 12, he talks about the pride in spiritual gifts in general. In chapter 13, he highlights the love we should have for one another in Christ’s church.

Finally, in chapter 14, he condemns the lack of order in churches amid charismatic chaos (see vv. 26, 33, 40). Rather than everyone speaking at once, they should do so “in turn” (v. 27). No more than two or three people should be allowed to speak in tongues, and “one” should interpret (v. 28). If someone receives a prophetic utterance, he should speak and then remain silent afterward (v. 30). The prophets are to weigh and judge the prophesies given (vv. 29, 32).

It’s within this call to order that Paul says that “women should keep silent in the churches.” This is a parenthetical thought specific to the role of women in churches.

V. 33 states the universality of the command, “As in all churches.” This isn’t an issue that was strictly for the Corinthian believers, and when previously addressing women in church, Paul again made the command universal (11:16).
Paul says in v. 34 that women should remain silent; “For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says” (v. 34). Now, Robert Thomas in his book Spiritual Gifts (114–15) lists five views on this verse, concluding that it means that women are not to speak in public services (the most natural reading of the Scripture). As equal image-bearers, their submission pictures Christ’s submission to the Father (1 Cor 11:3). The Law includes Genesis, so Paul is again referencing the creation order and the Fall.
V. 35 would continue, then, to further emphasize their silence in churches. If they have questions, they should ask their husbands, but at home. They should learn, and their husbands should take the responsibility to teach them. Paul concludes, “For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church”—scandalous.

The women of Corinth were interrupting the church services with questions, not for edification but to embarrass or passively voice disagreement. So, women were asking questions of the interpretation of prophecies, calling the taught Word of God into account. Perhaps some were even using the time to air a disagreement they were having with their husbands. Paul says that all this discussion should happen behind closed doors, and that godly women should not interrupt the services.

For those of you thinking that he’s just picking on women here, notice the greater context. He’s essentially telling a bunch of people to hush. Some people were engaged in tongues and other things to draw attention to themselves, and too many people were turning the worship into a stage for their pride. So, he’s telling most men to be quiet, as well.

3. Galatians 3:28

Egalitarians say this is the “magna carta” of the church, erasing all differences between men and women. However, Paul continues to use terms and define roles elsewhere, so this doesn’t seem to be his purpose. This verse doesn’t erase the differences between bond and free, because Paul also gives instruction for them in their respective roles. The main purpose here is to speak of our unity in Christ through salvation. That’s why some books on church government have no indexed references to this verse—it has nothing to do with the discussion at hand. Passages speaking of who should be ordained should be consulted.

4. 1 Timothy 2:9–15

This is another prohibitive text. What some of the women did in this community was use the braiding of hair to weave in expensive pearls to signify wealth. Paul here says that women must avoid showy displays meant to attract attention or signal social status, as the church isn’t a country club or a fashion show. Their adorning was to be done “with modesty and self-control” (v. 9). Instead of pridefully drawing attention to themselves, v. 10, godly women adorn themselves “with good works.”

With that said, we then come to v. 11. Women are to be learners, contra some of the misogynistic beliefs of the Jewish men. However, according to v. 12, they cannot be teachers of men or to exercise authority over men. In fact, the Holy Spirit here uses the words “quietly,” “submissiveness,” and “quiet” to describe the modest and self-controlled demeanor of women as they learn. Paul points to the creation order: first, man was created before woman, and second, woman was deceived, not man.

5. 1 Timothy 3:11

This is also seen as a permissive text for women being ordained as deacons. For the sake of time, we won’t go into it. For, even if we grant “deaconesses” biblically, we do so recognizing that elders bear the responsibilities of leadership and teaching within the church.

6. Titus 2:1–6

This is a permissive text. It’s clear here that, not only are women are permitted to teach, they are commanded to do so. However, within the context of the conversation, notice there’s no mention of women teaching men, only other women. Women should and must be teaching in the church—there are some things that men cannot communicate well to women, and vice versa. It’s the task of the whole church to build up the church—not just the task of the pastors. With that said, this text cannot be used to counteract Paul’s earlier words.

IV. What about the public reading of Scripture?

This is where the main question at our church comes into view. This is more of a grey area since Scripture doesn’t say specifically if a woman (or an unordained man, for that matter) can or cannot read Scripture. Now, some of our discussion has been focused on whether reading implies teaching or authority. I think a case could be made there, but not a strong one. If the discussion began and ended there, we’d have to say this is an issue in which we could agree to disagree.

As such, we have to consider a little more. There are some passages in addition to the ones we’ve considered. Consider, for instance, that God through Moses gave the task of publicly reading His Word to the elders and to priesthood (Dt 31:9–13):

Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, ¹¹when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹²Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, ¹³and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Later, Ezra the priest engaged in the public reading of Scripture (Neh 8:2–5):

²So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. ³And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.

When Paul addresses Timothy, he calls him to take on the pastoral task in Ephesus. He says to him (1 Tm 4:13): “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” The verb translated “devote yourself” is singular, meaning that Paul means these three instructions specifically for Timothy.

When we see Scripture read publicly, then, it seems to always fall under the auspices of ordained leadership; debating whether reading or prayer is teaching is secondary to that point. Moreover, we saw that Scripture calls all women and most men to remain silent in churches (singing and other congregational responses notwithstanding). These considerations have historically lead churches to restrict the reading to pastors or elders alone.

In the Presbyterian Church, the Book of Church Order (50-1, 2) has that the public reading of Scripture is to be done by a minister “or by some other person,” historically, a visiting minister, an elder, or a someone in training for ordination. However, the PCA has begun allowing un-ordained men and women to engage in this practice, teetering close to the same decisions the PCUSA faced before compromising on other issues. As the Westminster Larger Catechism Question 156 says,

Q. Is the Word of God to be read by all? A. Although all are not to be permitted to read publicly to the congregation, yet all sorts of people are bound to read it apart by themselves, and with their families: to which end, the Holy Scriptures are to be translated out of the original into vulgar languages.

V. Common objections:

Isn’t this just legalism?
Properly defined, legalism is a system of salvation based on personal works. One can be legalistic in the application of scriptural commands by misapplying the commands, increasing the burden one must bear beyond what God said.
Can’t the Bible mean different things to different people?
This is the postmodernist’s approach, attacking the sufficiency of Scripture by questioning whether anything can be certain. This is spiritual suicide, however, for if the Bible can mean anything, then it means nothing.
What if a woman feels called to ministry and she’s blessing people?
Several prominent women preachers are either “pastors” or instruct both women and men and have avid followers—Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, Joyce Meyer, Darlene Zschech, Christine Caine, Lysa TerKeurst, etc. Whether they are good or bad teachers, solid or heretical in doctrine is beside the point. Nowhere does Scripture list the qualification for ministry as a feeling. While some certainly can desire ministry, that alone is no reason to justify their desires, even if some people feel that the ministry is helping them in some way.
What if a woman hears God tell her to enter ministry?
The Holy Spirit has inspired clear Scripture on the matter—men are specifically called to ministry. For the Holy Spirit to then communicate to a woman that she should enter ministry would be to contradict Himself, and God is not a God of confusion. As such, a woman claiming to hear from God in such a way would be a false prophet adding to Scripture (cf. Dt 4:2; 5:22; 12:32).

VI. Final Thoughts

Women are essential to the life of the local church. By “essential,” I mean that we could not do what we do without you. My wife, for instance, takes care of so much in my life so that I can be ministering to others; her ministry to me and our children is no less vital. That’s true of all women—they have a high calling from Scripture that makes church possible. Just because it’s a different calling doesn’t mean that it’s less godly or special.

You may or may not have thought through all these issues before, and that is alright. Typically, other than a few items of ministry, most in the church take certain features of church life for granted. Perhaps you’re not even sure you agree. That’s also okay—you do not have to agree with every layer of doctrine this church teaches to be a member here; you only need to know what it teaches and begin studying for yourself.

Understand, though, that there isn’t true freedom leaving a biblical framework for worship. We’re left with the ideas of men, our own presumptions, and the question of tradition. Only in the Lord do we experience true freedom, and He tells us to abide in His Word.

SERMON: Kingdom Parables | Mark 4:26–34

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Kingdom Parables | Mark 4:26–34
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 25 June, 2017

This evening, we are continuing our study in the parables. We are looking at two parables that give us insight into the nature of the Kingdom of God. We will see that the kingdom grows mysteriously and that the kingdom grows chiefly.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCKMwJjQcT4

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=627171650534

Sermon Notes

Kingdom Parables | Mark 4:26–34
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 25 June, 2017

I. Introduction

Last time, we talked about The Parable of the Lamp and The Parable of the Measure. These parables emphasize the need for the His disciples to hear the Word and deliver it to others faithfully. So, we have two points this evening: those hearing God’s Word must shine it out faithfully, and those hearing God’s Word must measure it out faithfully.

We see in vv. 33–34 in this passage a reminder that Jesus explained these parables to His disciples. How many times has hearing been mentioned in this chapter? Eleven by my count. Some are supernaturally hindered, and some will not hear because of their sin. Others have ears to hear.

It’s vital that we understand this, for it is only the seed of the implanted Word that causes growth. We may be tempted to lean too much on the teaching of others for understanding truth, such as a good and godly Bible teacher, but we can’t place our confidence in people. However, we must hear the word of the kingdom, for any other word will not cause us to grow.

II. The Kingdom Grows Mysteriously (vv. 26–29)

²⁶And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

While we know a good bit about the growth cycle of plants, we don’t know everything. That’s not to say that we can’t know much more thorough investigation, but we must admit that we have neither observed nor concluded all there is to know. In a similar way, Scripture gives us need insight into spiritual botany, but God alone knows the full mystery of kingdom growth.

The question here is what is the Kingdom image: is it like a seed (as in v. 30), a man, or the entire act? The image of the sower casting the seed comes back to mind, but we see that the soil produces. It seems that Jesus is saying that the entire parable is what the kingdom is like, so let’s proceed and look at the components.

We see that the sower “sleeps and rises night and day,” perhaps because the Hebrew day begins at sundown. He falls asleep after planting the seed. That might not seem strange in itself, but we read nothing more of his efforts. He awakens and sleeps again. Usually a farmer is more involved in his crops than this farmer seems to be, so the focus here is not on the farmer’s efforts. The seed sprouts (and literally, the sprout “lengthens”) as growing all on its own.

Consider the rest in the kingdom! After many worries in ministry this week, this thought struck me. We may sometimes fret over the soul of an individual, keeping ourselves up at night with worry and doubt. We may worry over the church or future ministry. We’re not called to have some kind of a Zen, “que sera sera” attitude, but God has also given us the gift of sleep and removed the power of sprouting and growth from our hands. Losing sleep will not win one lost soul, for it is not the worker in the field who causes the increase.

Notice that “the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” The how is somewhat emphasized, as in “How knows not he!” He understands that the seed needs to be in the ground and that it needs rain. Even so, he only knows the conditions necessary for growth to take place; he doesn’t know what process causes the seed to grow. There’s a sense of dependence. Similarly, we know we need to be faithfully proclaiming the Word of God here for Christians to grow and mature, but God will mysteriously cause the growth. Indeed, the work of the farmer isn’t even in view here, for the credit of the harvest is beyond his efforts.

1 Cor 3:5–9 comes into view:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

It is all God doing the work. Literally, v. 28 says, “The earth produces automatically.” That is, God has so designed plants grow naturally, without human intervention. Similarly, a person is not born again through their own effort but by the work of God alone.

John 1:12–13—“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 3:5–8—“Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ ”
John 6:44—“ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
This is why it’s so foolish for us to think that we need to help God out in getting people saved. Sometimes churches will dim the house lights and play music softly to give people an emotional sense that God is moving them. I’ve heard of evangelistic crusades where they have people assigned in crowds to come forward so as to encourage others to come forward. These kinds of efforts may be well-intentioned (though not all are), but they tacitly deny the power of gospel.
Paul was a well-educated man. However, when he preached, it was all about the Word of God. In 1 Cor 2:1–5, he says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

The sense here is almost that the crop decides when it’s ready. Today, the kingdom is not yet ready, and citizens are still being added. 2 Cor 4:15—“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

The kingdom of God gains citizens every day and is therefore spiritual today. Today, the kingdom of God is not yet ready, with each conversion being another sprout appearing in the field.

Even so, Revelation 20–21 speaks of the future, earthly kingdom reign of Christ and the eternal reign over the New Heavens and New Earth. God is all in all and is therefore sovereign over these different spheres. At the right time, though, the sickle will free God’s people for His future kingdom. 1 Th 2:19—“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? ²⁰For you are our glory and joy.”

Christians share the gospel, but we must trust the unseen Spirit do His mysterious work to bring kingdom growth. Once God determines the growth to be ready, He’ll apply the sickle and bring all of His people into His future kingdom.

III. The Kingdom Grows Chiefly (vv. 30–34)

³⁰And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. ³⁴He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.”

Now, the mustard seed isn’t the smallest seed of all the world. However, it’s the smallest of all kosher seeds, and one that’s familiar to Christ’s audience. “Mustard seeds are around 1/10th of an inch in diameter.”^{^[1]}

Jesus used the mustard seed proverbially to speak of the grand results of even a small faith (Mt 17:20). Here, image is that the kingdom of God begins small, with the Word and the work of twelve, but it grows exponentially. The immediate picture of this is Christ Himself, the Living Word. He started small—a baby born in a manger, under shameful conditions. Yet, His ministry had encompassed the entire region. From the 120 disciples faithfully awaiting in Jerusalem in Acts 1–2 came 3,000 converts (Acts 2:41).

These wild birds picture the Gentile peoples, not the Satanic birds in the Parable of the Sower. It can seem like this is some nefarious act, the birds resting in the branches, especially after the Parable of the Sower! And certainly, the kingdom is large enough to attract pretenders. Since the kingdom grows so large, it’s inevitable that false believers take up residence within the church. As the net of the kingdom draws in fish, some will be bad and separated at the judgment (Mt 13:47–50).

However, just as the mustard seed can refer to the kingdom in this parable and faith in another, we need to be careful not to make assumptions. This is a case where the greater context of Scripture will help us.

Old Testament references use these images to describe the nations coming to Israel. MacArthur, “In the Old Testament, the image of a tree providing safe haven to the birds was used to illustrate kingdoms that were so mighty they brought stability and blessing to nations around them (cf. Dan. 4:10–12, 20–22 Ezek. 31:3–6).”^{^[2]}

For instance, in Dan. 4:10–12, we read,

The visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

Now, that was Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream. The Lord reveals to him how his pagan kingdom will grow. The surrounding peoples were blessed even with this kind of society.

Now, switching to the Millennial Kingdom, we read this in Eze 17:23—“On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.” There again, we see that the birds come to nest, a sign of blessing.

This plant is growing to be a great kingdom regardless of human effort for or against it. Think about those who would persecute the church. I believe it was Alistar Begg who said that the same Paul who once tried to put Christians to death now finds rest in the branches of this growing kingdom. There are places in this world where they try to stamp out Christianity, but the kingdom continues to grow. You and I can take rest in this growing plant, like the birds of the air, knowing that God will never allow His work to be destroyed.

The kingdom is large enough for all peoples. Those who follow the Word that Christ gave to His disciples will find a resting place in the kingdom of God, regardless of ethnicity or socioeconomic background. If we believe, we will find rest in the gospel of the kingdom, which is and which is to come.

Mark says here that Jesus “spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.” Some can be with the Lord and hearing His teaching without observing it within themselves. As 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” If you are in the faith, then follow the command of Christ to beware false teachers infiltrating the church with fruit foreign to the kingdom (Mt 7:15–20).

IV. Final Thoughts

Individually, you are not going to know how the Spirit is working in you or in anyone else. You may awaken to find another Christian has grown by inches while you might think your growth has halted. Or, you may not realize that you’ve grown until the day of harvest. There’s a mystery to it that is not directly related to our human efforts. Yes, it’s important to follow Scripture in your walk, but it’s God that gives you the increase. Trust in Him to accomplish His work.

This applies as you engage in gospel ministry. You may be tempted to take everything into your hands, as though you are responsible for the salvation of each and every sinner you encounter. Know that the truth is that God causes the increase and the growth. We can’t allow the “what if’s” govern our ministry. Trust in the sovereign control of the Lord.

^{^[1]} John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Mk 4:31.

[2] John MacArthur, Mark 1–8: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 2015), 220.

General Session 12 | Up from the Grave: The Resurrection | Tom Pennington | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Up from the Grave: The Resurrection
General Session 12 by Tom Pennington
2017 Shepherds' Conference

What is the importance of Christ's resurrection? What does it have to do with the gospel? How does it follow the substitutionary atonement of Christ? What does this all mean for us?

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General Session 12 - Tom Pennington - Shepherds’ Conference 2017 from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

Tom Pennington

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SERMON: Parables on Hearing and Delivering the Word | Mark 4:21–25

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Parables on Hearing and Delivering the Word | Mark 4:21–25
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 18 June, 2017

These parables emphasize the need for the His disciples to hear the Word and deliver it to others faithfully. So, we have two points this evening: those hearing God’s Word must shine it out faithfully, and those hearing God’s Word must measure it out faithfully.

Video:

Audio:

Sermon Notes

Parables on Hearing and Delivering the Word | Mark 4:21–25
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 18 June, 2017

I. Introduction

Last time we saw the parable of the soils. Historically, it’s called the parable of the sower, but we saw that Jesus’s emphasis was on the kinds of hearts that react to His Word.

· There are those who will never allow the Word to penetrate. The seed is either consumed by the birds or trampled down underfoot, but the heart is impermeable (v. 15). That was the condition of the Pharisees as they committed the unpardonable sin, and they felt no twinge of doubt or shame in their hardened position against Christ.

· There are those who, by contrast, seem to receive the Word immediately and with great joy. However, theirs is only a superficial faith that withers at the first sign of trouble or opposition (vv. 16–17).

· Similarly, there are those in whom the Word takes some root. However, there are also the weeds of worldly desires, which choke any life that was there (vv. 18–19).

· Finally, there is success. The Word takes root, and it goes deep. The ground is clear of thistles and brambles. As such, the Word bears fruit, “thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (v. 20). We’ll see that Jesus wants His Word revealed to the world for the sake of these.

These are the four, basic responses to the preaching of the Word. If you share the gospel with a neighbor, or you teach a Sunday School class, or you preach to a full sanctuary, you will see one of these four responses. That might seem like a lot to take in at first if you’re not familiar with this parable, but look again to v. 20 for simplification. Those in whom the Word of God bears fruit are “the ones who hear the word and accept it.”

That’s the key: hearing and receiving Scripture. Back in v. 9, after delivering this parable, Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Again, in v. 23, He says, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Moreover, in v. 24, He says, “Pay attention to what you hear.” Hearing means that we bow our hearts to His Word.

Now, Mark jumped ahead to give the explanation of the parable, but now he returns to the other parables Jesus taught that day on the boat. Even so, skip down to v. 33—“With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.” Notice that He explained everything to His disciples because they needed to then teach others. They needed to receive the Word so they could deliver it.

Two of those parables this morning are among those: The Parable of the Lamp and The Parable of the Measure. These parables emphasize the need for the His disciples to hear the Word and deliver it to others faithfully. So, we have two points this evening: those hearing God’s Word must shine it out faithfully, and those hearing God’s Word must measure it out faithfully.

II. Those hearing God’s Word must shine it out faithfully (vv. 21–23)

²¹And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ²²For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

In this parable, Jesus names four objects that were common to any household. For the first of these items, the KJV has “candle,” but “lamp” is more accurate. This would be a clay bowl, perhaps terracotta, shaped with a spout and a handle. The lamp would contain some olive oil and a wick would extend down the spout.

The next item is a basket, about a peck in size, holding roughly two gallons. The bed isn’t exactly what you’re thinking; it would have been a low couch that you would recline on while eating. Finally, these houses typically had a high shelf protruding from the inner wall upon which you could place a lamp.

These four items are very simple: a lamp, a basket, a bed, and a lampstand. We could almost play a game like on Sesame Street—which two things go together? A lamp would go out under a basket, or at least won’t be able to shine its light. A bed would put it out, if the lamp doesn’t catch it on fire first. Obviously, the lamp should be elevated on a stand.

So, v. 21 gives us the picture. The question is, who is the lamp? Some resources I’ve studied said that Jesus is the lamp. Indeed, one of the Old Testament references to the Messiah is a lamp (2 Kgs 8:19; Ps 132:17). David also refers to God as his lamp (2 Sam 22:29). This beautiful image of the Lord manifests in full color in Jesus Christ, the light of the world (Jn 1:5; 8:12).

Even so, Scripture is also referred to as a lamp (Ps 119:105), and so is truth (Ps 36:9; 119:130; Pv 6:23). Jesus says that He is the light of the world (Jn 8:12), and He gives that light to men (John 1:4, 9). Jesus proclaimed “light” to the Jews and the Gentiles (Acts 26:23). He has given us light as armor that we can put on as we cast away the unholy works of darkness (Rm 13:12). Elsewhere, God tells us that we are in the light of the Lord, so we should walk “as children of light,” because the fruit of the light is us (Eph 5:8–9; cf. 1 Th 5:5). In other words, there are lots of “lamps” and “lights” in Scripture.

Within context, however, Jesus is talking about the work of His Word (the word is the seed sown [vv. 1–20] and what’s heard and measured [vv. 24–25]). It seems here that Jesus is calling His true disciples lamps, holding the light of His Word. Christians are clay jars with the glorious treasure of the gospel inside. Consider 2 Corinthians 4 for a moment.

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. ²But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (vv. 1–6). Notice how God must speak “light” into our darkness. Lest we get too mystical, notice that the light is the gospel (and, by extension, our awakening to it caused by God). Notice now what Paul says next: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (v. 7).

The image is slightly different than the one Jesus shared, but only slightly. Clay jars and lamps are both crafted of clay and are both breakable. We hold the glorious gospel within us.

What will these living lamps do? Reveal. V. 22 is fascinating in this regard—The N/KJV has this as something simply being revealed, but that doesn’t quite capture it. We see here that something is hidden in order that it might be revealed. As Job 12:22 says, “He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.”

God’s pattern is to reveal, even what we don’t want known. At the right time, He shines His light on the secrets and intents of the heart (1 Cor 4:5). While the “sins of some people are conspicuous,” God reveals other sins later (1 Tm 5:24). Jesus says in Matthew 10:26–27 that “nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops” (see also Lk 12:2–3). Rm 2:16—“on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” His glory will be known to all when He reveals the deeds of men.

Even before that great day, His Word is revealing the truth about us. That brings us to the next point:

Jesus’s disciples will reveal His secret. Indeed, they do just that in the writing of Scripture. This passage resembles Matthew 5:14–16, where Jesus explains, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (v. 16). The context here is that, while the parables remain hidden to some, the good work of the disciples will be to tell the world of these words.

This is the task of the evangelist—open the Scriptures to the unregenerate. This is the task of the parent—to open up the Scripture to the child so they can see how God’s Word speaks to their situations. This is the task of the preacher—open the Scriptures and make connections that they may have missed.

Disciples today and their local churches must continue to share what the world can’t discover through its own wisdom (cf. 1 Cor 1:21). We have the lamp of God’s Word in our churches, which is why Revelation 1:20 identifies churches as lampstands. However, heed His warning that He’ll remove the lampstand of those who are not faithful to His Word (cf. Rv 2:5)! Whether gathered corporately in church or dispersed into the world, may His Holy Word remain on our lips to guide the lost through the dark.

III. Those hearing God’s Word must measure it out faithfully (vv. 24–25)

²⁴And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

He commands, “Pay attention to what you hear.” As the children’s song says, “Be careful little ears what you hear;” we must both hear and receive the Word. This means that we need to ensure that we are receiving the Word of God in good measure, and it also means that we should be giving it out in good measure. Let’s look at the first of these.

A. First, we must be receiving the Word of God in good measure.

As Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Within our own souls, we must strive to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:5).

What must not allow ourselves to be filled with vain traditions or our sinful inclinations, but instead with the Word of God. Too often, though, we only half-listen to God’s Word. We’re not to be listening simply for someone else, as in, “Boy, I really wish Bill was here to hear this message, because the preacher is talking about him!” We need to be hearing the Word of God for ourselves.

I was talking with one of you this morning and a perfect example of this was mentioned. When David hears the Nathan’s story of the stolen sheep, David was ready to bring wrath upon the fictional thief. He had no clue that he was the man. In times like this, our sinful heart is exposed to the light of God’s Word.

Coming to church on Sunday mornings isn’t enough to accomplish this, nor is sitting in a pew every time the doors are open. You must have the Bible beside you often, and its message can never be far from your mind. If it helps, get the Bible on CD or download, hear it, and give it consideration within your heart. Read good books and turn on some faithful preachers who you know will explain Scripture.

On that latter point, let me add a caveat. Sometimes, we think we’re getting more good than we are out of listening to pastors and ministries. For instance, if you only listen to polemical ministries or teachers, you might rightly be able to identify bad teachers and heretics. However, you may also find yourself becoming more negative in general and nitpicky of what everyone says. That’s because you are hearing only a small portion of God’s Word applied to situations, and sometimes it’s applied poorly.

On the other hand, some of you may listen to teachers that seem to avoid all conflict. For instance, one otherwise solid pastor every year shares the stage with false teachers and false prophets. He’s given cover to many that led the church astray. The only time I saw him publicly rebuke a false teacher, he walked back his comments after criticism. You can learn some great truths from this teacher, so I won’t call him out by name, but he’s definitely a feelings-driven individual, and he seems to make pastoral judgments based on those feelings. (That’s my feeling on the matter!) That kind of attitude will not only lead you to paper over real doctrinal issues for the sake of unity and grace, it will lead you into error.

Later in Mark, Jesus will tell the disciples to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod” (Mk 8:15). He also said, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice” (Mt 23:2–3). What we need to do is recognize that all Bible teachers can do wrong, including myself, because we can’t just blindly emulate what we think we see (pun intended). We need to instead make certain that we are coming back to Scripture, allowing it to direct our lives.

What does Scripture say? Let’s look back at the most misquoted Bible verse in Scripture, Matthew 7:1. It reads:

Judge not, that you be not judged. ²For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

⁶“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t stop at, “Judge not.” Jesus certainly doesn’t say, “Don’t remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Moreover, we need to know who the dogs and pigs are so that we don’t waste our time with them. Even so, if we are going to engage in measuring out the Word of God in someone else’s life, we better be sure that we are following it as closely as possible in our own.

There’s another way to look at this. Sometimes we wait on our own impressions to confirm an issue. We’ll say things like “That doesn’t feel right.” I’m not saying that you should never trust your gut, but God never promised to communicate to us through our emotions, our thoughts, or our dreams. I know that God can and has done so, but He never promised us this.

Did you know this? I’ve heard Christians say, “Well, I know this is true because I have a peace about it.” I’ve heard brothers and sisters say, “I’m just waiting on that still, small voice.” Some Christians await dreams and visions for receiving divine information. I love you, but the Greek term for this is “poppycock.” None of this is receiving the Word of God, and this kind of teaching has led some to even justify sin because they think God now allows it.

As Justin Peters says, if you want to hear the voice of God, read your Bible. If you want to hear the voice of God audibly, read the Bible out loud. We need to make certain that we are faithfully hearing the actual Word of God and allowing it to have its work on us. Jesus says, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” We need to make certain that we are hearing and receiving the Word of God in good measure.

B. Second, we must be giving it out in good measure

This was His command to the apostles primarily and to us secondarily. They were to measure out a great offering, and the Holy Spirit carried them along as they penned Holy Writ (2 Pt 1:20–21). We understand the parables and have the rest of Scripture today because they were faithful; their faithfulness gave rise to every conversion in the history of the Christian church.

Similarly, our personal efforts in the power of the Spirit will result in reaping a bountiful harvest. Those who have the truth will find the strength to obey it in areas such as personal holiness, evangelism, etc., and receive so much more. For instance, Pv 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.” The parable of the talents (Mt 25:14–30) indicates that those investing in kingdom work will bear fruit (some fourfold, some tenfold). God allows the hand of the diligent to reap reward (Pv 10:4), for the one who has will receive more.

In the parable of the ten minas (Lk 19:11–27), there’s a correlation between earthly work and heavenly rewards—and we will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7). This doesn’t seem fair on the surface, but this is, in fact, an issue of grace and justice. If you have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, then more will be added to you. If you reject Him, then God will begin removing some of those common graces you take for granted. A good example of this is what happened to Jerusalem in AD 70—the Jewish leadership rejected the Messiah, and they lost their temple.

Understand that those who do not care not for what they have will not teach others about Christ because they don’t have Christ. Theirs is a false profession, merely an objective faith. If you are in this category, then you must also receive the Word.

IV. Final Thoughts

This evening, we’ve seen two parables that speak about receiving and disseminating the Word of God. The lost world may not know the Word, but we must shine its light into darkness. We must feed the spiritually hungry with it, but first, we must fill ourselves with it.

Whereas God might use us to expose works of darkness through the light of His Word, we better be sure that we will be judged according to the same standards. If we call others to be searched by the Word, we also better allow ourselves to be first searched by Scripture. “This is an old Jewish proverb that occurs in a variety of forms, one of which ran, ‘In the pot in which you cook for others, you’ll be cooked.’ ”^{^[1]}

^{^[1]} James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 140.

Trusting the God of Righteousness | Psalm 11:4–7

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

⁴ The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord’s throne is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

⁵ The Lord tests the righteous,

but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

⁶ Let him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷ For the Lord is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

David had reasons to flee danger, and the first three verses logically present his danger, not emotionally. Even so, there are times when the men (and women) of God should withstand the evil of their day. This was one time, and David could remain steadfast because of his confidence in the Lord.

He knows the Lord sovereignly rules (v. 4a–b). Verse 4 could possibly reference God’s presence with His covenant people in the earthly temple. Even so, the second phrase of this verse could be an example of parallelism, meaning this verse speaks of Yahweh’s heavenly temple (cf. Hb 8:5) and throne (cf. Ps 9:7). The foundations are not destroyed (v. 3), for the Lord is still enthroned.

He knows the Lord sees everyone (vv. 4c–5a). His heavenly dwelling doesn’t mean that He’s separated from our affairs. We see here the Lord’s omniscience—there’s nothing hidden from His eyes, and He sees all from His throne. He squints, as it were, while investigating mankind, testing us (cf. Jer 6:27–30).

He knows the Lord hates the wicked (vv. 5b–6). Those containing impurities find themselves rejected by the Master Smith. Indeed, the Hebrew word for “hate” (sane) is used to speak of David’s enemies hatred of him (e.g., Ps 18:17; 38:19)—and the Lord points His hatred toward the wicked and the lover of violence. He will rain down calamity upon them, and His wind of wrath will destroy just as surely as it wiped out Sodom (Gn 19:24).

He knows the Lord loves righteous (v. 7). That is, He is both the embodiment and standard for righteousness—and He demonstrates His love for righteousness by hating wickedness and contrasting the ways of the wicked. David knows he can take refuge in the protection of Yahweh, both from the wicked and his own sin.

Of course, there is none righteous (Rm 3:10), but those who trust in the Lord will not be judged by their works, but will instead be transformed by the Lord (cf. 1 Jn 3:2).

General Session 11 | If The World Hates You: Preaching Christ in the Face of Hostility | Al Mohler | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

General Session 11
If The World Hates You: Preaching Christ in the Face of Hostility by Al Mohler
2017 Shepherds' Conference

Can we make peace with this culture? Is this culture neutral in regards to Christ? Can we gain enough influence to make the world love us and our Lord? The answer to all these questions is no, and we need to come to terms with this.

MEDIA LINKS: MP3 / VIMEO / ARABIC MP3 / KOREAN MP3 / RUSSIAN MP3 / SPANISH MP3

General Session 11 - Albert Mohler - Shepherds’ Conference 2017 from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

Al Mohler

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General Session | High Above the Heavens: The Ascension | HB Charles Jr | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

General Session | High Above the Heavens: The Ascension
HB Charles Jr | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

MEDIA LINKS: MP3 / VIMEO / ARABIC MP3 / KOREAN MP3 / RUSSIAN MP3 / SPANISH MP3

General Session 10 - H.B. Charles - Shepherds’ Conference 2017 from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

HB Charles Jr

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Thy Kingdom Come | Michael Vlach | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Thy Kingdom Come by Michael Vlach
The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ
2017 Shepherds' Conference

MEDIA LINKS: MP3

Michael Vlach

A Quick Example of How to Read the Bible "Literally"

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Mark 4:1 in the KJV reads, "And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land."

Consider the words "and sat in the sea."  What a strange image develops if we were to ignore all else and focus on those words alone!  Jesus walks on the water, so does He now sit on or in it?  Or, perhaps a sandbar kept His body aloft in the water.

No, of course not. 

You might rightly note the immediate context says, "he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea."  So, does this mean that He sat in a leaky boat?  Perhaps as the boat filled, He "sat in the sea."

No, no, no.

Just because we could get a unique meaning out of a verse by reading the words in such a way doesn't mean that we are reading the Bible "literally."  It isn't applying meanings that no one has ever interpreted it as saying.  It isn't ripping a verse out of context and giving it an innovative meaning.

Someone could counter with a lexical analysis.  Doesn't the verb refer to "he," which in turn refers to Jesus?  What is "sea" but the water of the Sea of Galilee?  Doesn't "in" mean, well, "in?"  It clearly seems that the phrase "sat in the sea" means that Jesus delivered some soggy parables.  

(Actually, the Greek proposition en means "on," depending on context, but let's consider something else.)

We need to understand how words are used, considering how people communicate and speak.  For instance, consider the last time you went fishing.  You may have said something like this: "We took my boat, went out into the water, and fished yesterday morning."  The image is clear, and even though it is a possible interpretation, no reasonable person would imagine you driving to the lake, leaving the boat on land, and then diving in the early morning lake with fishing lines in tow.

Perhaps this has been a silly example, but there's a real temptation to interpret strange doctrines based on a single verse or a snippet of a line.  Indeed, many false teachings, prophecies, and movements have been sparked by a strange reading of an out-of-context reading of Scripture.

We read the Bible as the Author intended it to be read.  In other words, to read the Bible "literally" is to read it according to its literary purpose, seeking the understanding that the Author communicated originally.

Sola Scriptura | Nathan Busenitz | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Sola Scriptura by Nathan Busenitz
When Christ Confronts Tradition
2017 Shepherds' Conference

MEDIA LINKS: MP3

Nathan Busenitz

Cornerstone | Elder

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The Pulpit is not a Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Pastors sometimes use secular marketing
strategies to grow their "brand."

Much of what happens in churches today evidences a lack of gospel focus. We wonder why, in the later half of the twentieth century, we had smooth-talking preachers in nice suits in preaching circuits without any discernible biblical content. We wonder today why certain pastors seem to frequent conferences but their churches seem to model little practical holiness. It seems that one reason is that pastors become tempted to enlarge their platforms, an endeavor at the expense of the local church.

R. Scott Clark has written an excellent piece highlighting the rise of celebrity platform with the decline of the pastoral pulpit. He writes "that students should not come to seminary with the hope of becoming famous. There is a difference between writing occasionally and deliberately setting out to build a platform and a brand. The church hardly needs more people using the pulpit as leverage. A minister ought to be content to fulfill his vocation. He ought not seek a platform at the expense of his congregation."

I'm not necessarily of the opinion that we need to go back to constructing high pulpits and to wearing black robes. Even so, we must recognize what we've lost there, lest the call of celebrity fill the vacuum. Let's hope that our pastors will have "VDM" on their business cards, not "CEO."

Old Testament Anticipation of the Messiah | Michael Grisanti | 2017 Shepherds' Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

Old Testament Anticipation of the Messiah by Michael Grisanti
2017 Shepherd's Conference

How does the Scripture present the coming Messiah?

MEDIA LINKS: MP3

Michael Grisanti

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SERMON: How to Reject Christ | Mark 3:20–30

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

How to Reject Christ | Mark 3:20–30
Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church
Sunday Evening Service | 28 May, 2017

Sadly, some will choose to reject Christ, and there are two kinds of rejection in this passage. First, we can reject Christ by treating Him trivially. Second, we can reject Christ by blaspheming Him bitterly.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPHjnIUKvgI

Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=6317170360

The Church and Race

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Sat, 03 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

There's been quite a fervor of social justice issues entering into the church, including otherwise theologically-sound groups. Reformed voices decry white privilege, reprimand churches for not doing enough, and call for systematic changes throughout society.

CrossPolitic held an excellent discussion panel back in January that will hopefully help get the church back to it's gospel mission and some common sense.

Media: MP3

Purity at the Pool

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Fri, 02 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

I have something a little different today. With summer upon us, we have the opportunity to have fun in the water. Unfortunately, it's also a time of struggle for both men and women. In this seven-and-a-half-minute podcast, Dr. Heath Lambert addresses practical steps we can take in this battle.

Podcast/Article: TIL 104 : Purity At The Pool

URL: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/324968235-acbc-2-til-104-purity-at-the-pool.mp3

Description: TIL 104 : Purity At The Pool by Association of Certified Biblical Counselors

This content comes from: Truth in Love

URL: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:142426663/sounds.rss

Seeking Signs? | Mark 8:10–13

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 07:30:00 +0000

And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

¹¹The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. ¹²And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

What a contrast between His people and the demonstrable faith of the Gentiles!

Jesus embarks to Jewish territory on the western shore of Galilee. After spending time with Gentiles, it should’ve been a homecoming. Unfortunately, the Pharisees meet Him with ill-intent. These hypocrites already know about Him, but they tempt Him by asking Him for more. What is wrong with their request?

First, they seek more signs then God has chosen to give them. Perhaps they’re asking for a sign like Elijah produced on Mt. Carmel (1 Kgs 18:19–40), or for manna like Moses had provided (Jn 6:30–31). However, they’ve witnessed many miracles and a sign from heaven at Christ’s baptism (Mk 1:10). It’s clear at this point that no sign will be good enough for them. They’ve already declared that He is empowered by the devil (3:22), so they would have explained away the sign had He performed it.

They didn’t care to learn about Him. If they had, though, they would see the glimmer of grace in Matthew 16:4—the sign of Jonah includes death, burial, and resurrection. Those who seek a sign need only to look to His power of death itself!

Second, they seek a sign rather than interpreting the Scripture. They’ve not only seen the signs, but they know what Scripture has to say about the Messiah. In the parallel passage, Jesus says, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Mt 16:2–3). They refused to know their visitation (Lk 19:44), so they’ll face judgment.

Wondering if God is real and the Bible is true, you may be also seeking signs. God’s created the universe to reflect His glory, with His fingerprints in its beauty and intricacy. He communicated the Bible that you’ve been reading. Don’t waver between opinions, asking for more; bow to what you know is true.

Beginning with Moses | Joe Zhakevich | 2017 Shepherd's Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shaun Marksbury) — Wed, 31 May 2017 03:23:00 +0000

Beginning with Moses | The OT Witness to a Suffering Messiah
Joe Zhakevich | 2017 Shepherd's Conference

MEDIA LINKS: MP3

Joe Zhakevich

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