Approved Workmen

Dr. Chester Karrass was an academic who devoted his life to advanced research and experimentation in negotiation techniques. He eventually earned a PhD from the University of Southern California, and spent years as a negotiator and a negotiation consultant.

Karrass’ approach to negotiation is effective, but there is nothing earth-shattering about his process. Essentially you have what the buyer wants, what the seller wants, and then an area in between that represents how far each will go and still be satisfied. If you can get the terms of the agreement into that zone then you have a deal.

Karrass offers many principles. One of them is related to your target. Your target is: what you think is reasonably possible to get out of a negotiation. You have a goal where you want to end up. You make your first offer with room for concessions (i.e. giving up certain things). In this process then you give something up, they give something up, and so on and so on until you have a deal.

In Karrass process you make your first offer knowing that you will take concede portions to get a deal. Well the Karrass approach may work for buyers and sellers, it might work for employers and employees, or landlords and tenants. In fact, master negotiators can find ways to make deals work, even when it seems impossible. They do it by discovering the sticking point for the other party, and then giving in when it comes to that area.

Friends, of all the deals that can be negotiated, negotiation has no place when it comes to the Gospel. As we will see today, Jesus desires to be accepted and loved and worshipped in His hometown, and yet He is unwilling to compromise in any way to accomplish that goal.

Jesus doesn’t negotiate. 

His offer is incredible, really. You can’t find it anywhere else—surrender yourself to Him trusting exclusively in His perfection to provide the basis for your standing before God.

And He brings the righteousness. He brings the forgiveness. He brings the peace and the joy and the newness of life. He brings His Spirit to dwell within you. He promises you heaven—eternity with Him. And all He asks is that you simply repent and believe.

And although that may be simple, it is also very specific and very narrow. The gate is narrow to get into heaven. It is a turnstile—the little metal contraption you walk through when you go into an arena that counts the attendees.

Jesus defines what it means to repent and believe and He is absolutely unflinching on the definition. There is no negotiating. No special cases. No exceptions. You accept or reject the package deal on His terms.

And as we will see. This is why the Gospel requires the supernatural work of God. Because the human heart will never accept the Gospel if God doesn’t incline the heart. It is distasteful, it is offensive.

Our outline for today’s passage is:

3 Descriptions that Capture the Homecoming of Jesus

1. The roots—Jesus returns to his hometown for evangelism (1-2a)
2. The response—Jesus rejected by his hometown for the scandal (2b-5)
3. The result—Jesus renounces his hometown for unbelief (6)

Mark 6:1–6—1 Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” 5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching.

Today’s passage demonstrates the simplicity of the Gospel message. The simplicity that God is reconciled to sinners through faith—nothing more and nothing less.

The Gospel is a fascinating topic. On the one hand, it is so simple—the good news that Jesus saves sinners by grace through faith in his perfect life, substitutionary death that took away the penalty for sin, and victorious resurrection that guarantees new life for all who trust in Him, by reconciling guilty sinners to a Holy God.

And yet that message gets convoluted. Man makes subtractions and additions to that simple message. The natural man cannot understand it. It’s foolishness and nonsense. And the Gospel is unpalatable to flesh because it removes all human contribution to salvation.

As humans, we have a built-in sense of moral obligation to God. The law of God is written on our hearts. And although it is marred by sin, we all understand there is some reckoning, some accounting process, some judgment for our morality.

Well the heart of the Gospel is simply this: abandoning self-trust and turning to God and entrusting yourself to Him. This is the main point Mark is making today. God saves anyone and everyone who comes to Him by faith.

It has been an incredible couple of days for Jesus and the people following Him around: calming a storm; driving a legion of demons out of man possessed on the eastern shore; now back in Galilee He will raise the dead, and the heal the incurably ill.

This morning we will come face to face with the majesty of Christ. I have no patience for speaking in fluffy language about our Savior. As one pastor put it the, “Jesus is my girlfriend songs…” by this he meant songs that you could sing to a girlfriend—I love you, I love you, you are beautiful, you are beautiful, you make me complete, I love your name, I want to see your face, I want to be in your presence.

By themselves, a statement like the previous could reflect a biblical concept. But the substance of our worship of God is attributes about Him that wouldn’t be true of your boyfriend or your girlfriend. They are divine attributes.

We worship God because He is just, and righteous, He is truth, He is faithful, He is eternal, and unchanging, and all-powerful, and wise, and sovereign. And yet, make no mistake. To contemplate God is to result in an appreciation of Him.

And to study Jesus is to see a moral beauty that is utterly compelling to His people. The Gospel records reveal Jesus to us, and we love our savior. So, as we see Him we love Him more.

Peter if you remember in 2 Peter 3 spoke of the excellencies of Christ. We said that word means the moral beauty of Christ. A goodness that is compelling and desirable. Well surely today we will see the excellencies of our Savior. Learning about Jesus makes us love Him all the more, and as we behold Him, we are transformed into His likeness.

You cannot study the Savior and remain unchanged. These texts are spiritually exhilarating to see Jesus bringing salvation to sinners.

Demonstrates the compassion and tenderness and care of our Lord. This account will include two people that are dissimilar. Last week was the darkest evil you could imagine in Jesus saving the Garesenes demoniac. This week it is a synagogue official and one who is destitute and afflicted.

Mark 5:21–43—21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. 22 One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet 23 and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him. 25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” 35 While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” 37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. 41 Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. 43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat. 

Today’s passage is an incredible demonstration of the power and authority of Jesus recorded by Mark.

As you remember, the disciples have just had their faith tested and exposed as weak. Their understanding of Jesus is becoming clearer bit by bit. But as they all came face to face with the reality God was in their boat, they were terrified. At first, they were very afraid of the storm, then they became even more afraid as Jesus miraculously calmed the storm.

The rest of the boat journey brings them to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This next encounter is no accident. Jesus clearly has an agenda. He made a divine appointment with a demoniac and added it to calendar.

He will leave the terror of a stormy sea and confront the terror of the storm raging within an individual—a man created in His image, for His glory, who is both sinner and sufferer. This is the most descriptive and involved account of all the demonic influences that we read of in Mark’s Gospel. Mark devotes 20 verses to his portrayal of the events, while Matthew gives six.

4 Descriptions as Jesus Delivers the Doomed

1. The wretched situation (1-5)
2. The miraculous deliverance (6-13)
3. The unsettled observers (14-17)
4. The devoted follower (18-20)

Jesus steps foot on the shore after a two hour or so boat trip, and before He can get unloaded or make His way into town He has a pitiful and dangerous man awaiting Him on the shore. This man was characterized as one with an unclean spirit.

Matthew records the same event. We know it’s the same because it is right after the storm, it involves the tombs, the violence, the townspeople, and the pigs. The only difference in Matthew’s record is that there isn’t just one man, but there are two, and the location is different.

Matthew calls it the Gadarenes. Mark says Gerasenes. Different places, one is broad and one is specific. Like two people recounting a story and one says we were in Linn County, and the other says, we were just outside Albany.

Gadarenes was the broader region. Garesenes is the more poinpointed location. We know almost nothing about this city—it is most likely at a site that was accidently happened upon by a bulldozer making way for a road in 1970.  

East side of the lake. Topographically we need to have a beach, and also a cliff nearby. That’s this location on the East side of Lake Galilee.

As Matthew says, there were actually two men, but Luke and Mark focus on the main character of the two. It’s like if two guys go fishing and you ask the first, tell me about you trip? The first guy says, we caught three fish. A big one, and a couple of little ones we just threw back. 

Later you ask the second guy, separately. How was your trip, and he says, “we caught a 25 lb. coho.” Do you scream, “liar!” No. No one is lying. No one is forgetting details. They had different purposes. 

One is telling you the exact number of fish caught. The other is telling you the only fish that really mattered.

They are in the country of the Gerasenes. Outside of Israel.

Jesus so far hasn’t been in Gentile areas. This is significant. And so, here’s His first trip abroad, and He is met by a man who had been invaded by and is now under the controlling domination of an unclean spirit (a demon.)

This is a man who is demonized. We distinguished last week that there is a difference between demonic influences, which can be resisted by the Christian standing firm in the promises of God, and demonization or demon-possessed by which a person loses the ability to resist the demon’s influence.

The latter is what we are facing here. And Mark will go into great detail to give us a description of what this man’s condition when He meets Jesus. 

It’s hard to imagine this scenario. One of the darkest pictures of human suffering recorded for us in all of Scripture. As we have said, demons desire to destroy. Their goal is to maximize human suffering. And this man is severely afflicted because he is suffering not from one demon, but from many.

Mark 5:1–20

1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. 14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Well this week is the last one in our mini-series on “the Doctrine of Demons” before heading back to Mark. I have found this study to bolster my own confidence in the sufficiency of the provision we have in Christ. Before we began this series we were in 2 Peter 1 reflecting upon how we have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness.

This study is really a manifestation of those precious truths. That in the spiritual realm we have been given a rich spiritual provision and we lack nothing in the promises of God for knowing Him and living for Him.

The impetus for the focus on demons for a few weeks is because we were making our way through Mark’s Gospel when we encountered chapter five, where Mark takes an extended passage to deal with a man who was possessed by a demon. 

A passage like Mark 5 raises more questions for us than it answers. In this account, we read about profound suffering taking place by an evil spirit. It is horrifying.

And because there are so many questions surround demon possession we wanted to take a little extra time to make sure that we establish a thorough understanding of this doctrine. 

There is confusion regarding what it means to be demon-possessed. 

• How to identify if someone is being tormented by demons.
• What the symptoms of demon-possession are.
• How demons can influence the lives of Christians.

As believers, we need to be equipped to bring clarity to the confusion.

And the case I will argue for in this study is that the confusion isn’t originating from the lack of data in the Scriptures. It isn’t because we can’t make definitive conclusions where we need to from the text itself. But rather, the confusion comes from an elevation of human experience and a lack of careful study of the Scriptures. 

In fact, in preparation for this message as I read, I found time and time again, authors who, on the one hand, affirm the authority and sufficiency of Scripture with their words, but then, on the other hand, undermine those words in practice.

Their language sounds very intelligent. They don’t come out and say at the end of the day I let me life experiences shape my theology. But you begin to find that counseling meetings, stories told by a missionary or something they concocted in their imaginations.

Consider how one theologian states his view of this relationship between experience and God’s revelation:

Of course, doctrine must always have precedence over experience. Nor can experience ever furnish a basis for biblical interpretation. Yet, if consistent experiences clash with an interpretation, the only inference possible is that there is something wrong with either the experience itself or the interpretation of the Scripture which runs counter to it. Certainly the inspired Word of God never contradicts valid experience. The sincere truth-seeker must be prepared to revamp his interpretation to bring it into conformity with facts as they are.”

Of course, the Scripture has precedence over experience… but if you are a sincere truth-seeker then you must revamp your interpretation to bring it into conformity with facts as they are. So subtle, so problematic. Who determines what a “valid experience” is, or who determines the, “facts as they are.”

You can’t claim with integrity that you believe in the authority of the Scripture if you can work backwards and re-interpret the Bible based upon something other than the text of Scripture itself.

Whether it is your tradition, or your experiences, or your personal viewpoints, or what feels right to you—you must let all of that be interpreted by the plain language of Scripture. In fact, Scripture is littered with examples of men and women who dishonored the Lord due to walking by what seemed right to them instead of the plain Word of God.

And it’s easy to wonder about demonic influences. We don’t have much information. 

Please hear me on this. I’m not minimizing spiritual warfare. I’m not a naturalist. I believe in the spirit-world and spiritual forces of darkness, but just like our in study of Satan, the Bible is clear that our focus spiritually isn’t on demons. 

And furthermore, if you want the main take-a-way from this message it is this: the existence of demons is already presupposed by God in every promise He has given us. 

What do I mean by that?

You don’t need some special battle plan, or prayer practice, or special discernment, or special anything for dealing with demons. The normal means that God has given you are sufficient. 

As I will demonstrate the instructions to the church regarding demons is simple and clear. I’m sure that you won’t have every question answered this morning. But I want to give a basic framework for you today. I would encourage you, if you have additional questions to consult Alex Konya’s Demons—A Biblically Based Perspective.

Understanding the Doctrine of Demons (it is a play on words from 1 Timothy 4:1-3)

1. Demons (understanding demons generally)
2. Demonization (understanding demonization specifically)
3. Deliverance (understanding deliverance properly)

Matthew 12:43–45 (NASB95)

Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.

This morning is, part two of our study on the Adversary (Satan). Last week we tried to cover the origin of Satan. 

Well last week we got through the first sub-point of the first point. Not very far. But it was important to establish the origin of Satan, the first part of recognizing his person.

By way of review then, Satan originated as an angel, created early in the Creation week recorded generally in Genesis 1, but without specific reference to angelic beings. We looked at cross references in Psalms and Job 38 to establish the presence of angels during the week of Creation, and then also the fact that they could not have been created prior to the beginning unless they were eternal and uncreated.

We also examined a couple of passages in the Old Testament, Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, both are believed by some to contain a record of Satan’s fall from glory. We demonstrated that there is nothing in the passages themselves that indicate this, there is no reference outside of these passages that associate them with Satan, and then the fact that the human kings written about in Isaiah and Ezekiel meet the descriptions when we account for the use of poetic, or figurative language.

This meant recognizing that Lucifer is not a title for Satan. It is a latin word that means shining one or light-bearing one and was picked up by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible. 

It is used to refer to the morning star, which isn’t Satan’s title, but rather the is a phrase mocking the king of Babylon who held a high view of himself.

Lastly, we considered the most likely depiction of Satan’s fall and placed this squarely in Genesis 3, that the act of leaving the boundaries and abode set for him in heaven, Satan attempted to destroy God’s creation and begin a rebellion. Since this is the first appearance of Satan, it would seem to be the most logical explanation of his first outward act of rebellion.

But this week we want to further examine how to deal with this great enemy of our souls. God has given us everything we need. It could be summarized many ways, but I broke this into two tools.

2 Tools for Withstanding the Enemy

     1. Recognizing Satan’s Person

• Satan’s Origin
• Satan’s Personality
• Satan’s Characteristics
• Satan’s Schemes
• Satan’s Boundaries

     2. Resisting Satan’s Program

Understanding these truths will impact on your spiritual condition and your joy in Christ. We will move through the next couple of points quickly and spend the majority of our time on understanding Satan’s schemes and then discussing resisting Satan’s program.

Perhaps you grew up in Christian tradition as I did, learning that Satan is the great enemy of both God and Christians. He was formerly the highest archangel, Lucifer. Originally created by God as the most impressive angel, he was full of wisdom and beauty. 

But Lucifer took pride in his wisdom and beauty, he coveted the glory that was due to God, and he rebelled, being cast down from heaven by God and banished to hell where he now resides and rules. 

When Lucifer fell, and became Satan, he took one-third of the angels with him in rebellion, who now form a host, an army of evil spirits. Currently, Satan splits time between deceiving the world and torturing unbelievers in the lake of fire.

Some of what I just said is true, some of it is false, and some parts of what I said are conjecture. It’s no secret that there is a great deal of confusion surrounding the person of Satan. Satan is a person, not a human person, but a person in that he possesses individual attributes and a unique identity.

One theologian explains this confusion surrounding the person of Satan:

Through the centuries, Satan’s identity has been going through a process of change. His identity has become a blending of Scripture, tradition, and speculation. The arts, literature, and mythology have all made their contribution to his distorted identity. 

Examples of this include: 

• Allegorical interpretations of the Old Testament by the early church Fathers (Tertullian, Origen, and Hippolitus.)
• Literary works such as Dante’s The Divine Comedy written in the 1300s, from which we get the Inferno and John Milton’s Paradise Lost written in the 1600s
• Add to that bad theology that deliverance ministry and breaking strongholds and binding Satan.

And you begin to trace out the ingredients that have been baked into this current notion about Satan. Well, I don’t claim to be the definitive authority on the topic of Satan. I’m not a Satanologist. 

But out of an earnest desire to understand what God teaches, I have labored to study and think through these issues. What I am going to present today is my effort at synthesizing the biblical data concerning Satan.

A doctrine such as the doctrine of Satan doesn’t have the same level of unanimous precision. So, take the deity and humanity of Christ—there is a longstanding tradition of biblical interpretation and doctrine. Less consensus when it comes to Satan.

At the outset then, we must note up front that Satan is to a degree still shrouded in mystery to us.  We simply don’t have enough data in the Scriptures to tell us answers to so many questions that we might like to have the answer to. 

• How did the first sin enter the heart?
• How long was it between when God created the universe and the first angel fell?
• Can angels still fall today?
• What is the exact mechanism by which Satan influences individuals—we know he spoke audibly to Eve through a serpent, but how does he influence people today? Is he on your shoulder whispering to your subconscious? Is he able to read your thoughts and he works by affirming the ungodly ones and stirring them up in your heart?
• And so on and so on…

And it’s always a challenge for us when we don’t have as much data as our little minds want. Concerning this lack of data, one commentator warned:

There are fewer than 120 verses that refer directly to either Satan or the devil, and the overwhelming majority of these verses are found in the New Testament. The Bible’s lack of attention to Satan is justified, however, for God and not Satan is its focus. This limitation of biblical information to this intriguing and perplexing subject leaves it dangerously open to speculation, distortion, and confusion which ironically helps Satan to accomplish his evil purposes.

By design the emphasis in Scripture is on God, and not His comparatively weak enemy, Satan. But the lack of data gives Satan an opportunity to have a heyday and sow confusion concerning his identity.

Today we will go stroke by stroke as we paint a picture of who Satan is and then next week examine how we deal with him. 

Some of what we look at will be a slam dunk so to speak. Scripture is plain and clear and we will hang our hat on those truths. It will correct errant thinking.

And then some areas that we have less clarity, I will give you a synthesis of the biblical data, but we can’t be definitive on those things. 

Does that sound fair?

There are two areas that we are going to explore concerning Satan. The first is how we should understand Satan, and the second is how we should respond to Satan.

Our outline is:

2 Tools for Withstanding the Enemy

     1.Recognizing His Person (Individual Identity)

1. His Origin
2. His Personality
3. His Descriptions
4. His Schemes
5. His Boundaries

     2.Resisting His Program

Have you ever had someone whose counsel you really looked up to? Perhaps a parent or a parental figure? Maybe it was someone who wasn’t even related to you physically, but a spiritual mentor? How did you receive his or her counsel? 

Did you treasure it? Was it important to you? Of course.

We all follow people who have a compelling life worth emulating, and something worthwhile and helpful to say. But what things make a message more urgent? Certainly, if I had an urgent need that would make the situation urgent. But what about if this was the last time you would have a conversation with this mentor? How would that affect your listening skills?

I had a friend from who had the chance to spend a few minutes with an older man who was well regarded for his personal godliness. That man literally hours before his home going exhorted my friend to fight the good fight, to stay faithful, to carry on the work that he had been about for so many decades.  

That was compelling. The message carried a weightiness and an urgency

Today we will be in 2 Peter 1.

And here you have a man that has a compelling life to follow and a compelling message to listen to, and he is going to die soon… this is an important message. Really if you are going to perk up your ears and hone in on something, this is one you want to pay close attention to.

2 Peter 1:12-15—12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. 13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Peter has a specific purpose in mind as he’s writing. He knows that there are false teachers influencing the flock of God there. And so, as a result he knows the best defense to protect their spiritual well-being is a good offense. The believers there must have a robust faith that is active to weather the storm.

And in the context Peter is writing against false teachers that come promoting two things that go hand in hand—the non-return of Christ as judge, and the freedom to live life according to fleshly indulgence without concern.

We don’t know the exact identity of the teachers (because Peter’s recipients in the church knew them so well). But we know that they had been in and among the people of God. They had experienced a measure of grace and they had tasted of spiritual things. But rather than profit their souls, they turned from it into destruction. Here is a quick summary of these men:

• 2:1 – they introduce destructive heresies

• 2:2 – they are full of sensuality and yet they intermingle it with a pretense of following truth

• 2:3 – they are greedy and opportunistic

• 2:10 – they are self-willed

• 2:12 – animalistic in their reasoning

• 2:13 – they glory in evil pleasure in deceitful things

• 2:14 – their eyes are full of adultery, they entice weaker ones opportunistically – exploit with greed

• 2:15 – yet they knew the way of life and they left it

And they aren’t passive… they are trying to actively entice, by appealing to ‘fleshly desires… arrogant words of vanity… sensuality’ (2:18).

They are promising freedom (2:19), and yet they are enslaved themselves (2:19). They were momentarily pulled out of their perversion, but they returned to it (2:22). Meanwhile they silence their consciences by claiming the Christ’s return isn’t imminent, or even going to happen at all.

Do you get the weightiness of this? We are talking about false teachers that are a real threat to genuine children of God. Because they are crafty, and subtle, and sneaking… much like Satan himself.

2,000 years later and there is a whole new crop of teachers today that entice by sensuality. They are greedy and self-willed. And they speak under the guise of freedom. And it is so appealing to the flesh.

What happens is that you want something in the flesh. And then you find a teacher that as they teach, it frees you up to pursue unrighteousness in your conscience. And you begin to find yourself attracted to that teacher—not because they speak the truth, but because they affirm you in your ungodliness.

So, I hope you are starting to get a sense for this here. A godly man who spent years with Jesus face to face in ministry alongside him is writing a letter at the end of his life to friends in the Lord to speak to them very candidly about their spiritual lives.

He is giving them counsel for how they will navigate the Christian life.

Essentially, he is going to sum up the spiritual journey for them in just a few verses, and its beautiful. And I’m convinced that these truths are safeguards for us… if we believe these things about our salvation it will serve as a protection to our souls.

This isn’t theoretical for me. We aren’t talking about facts and data and truth in an unremoved manner. I have real faces, real souls in mind here, of spiritual causalities. People who have been ensnared by Satan’s devices, those who are caught up in false doctrines, and now lie in a spiritual graveyard.

These are vital matters of eternal significance. Heaven and Hell. Life and Death. I urge you to take heed to this message.

The reason why I wanted to teach this passage initially, was because I found myself going back to it so frequently to counsel my own soul. And what I was attempting to deal with was a spiritual coldness. I was going through the motions in my Christian walk, and yet it was lifeless. I was doing the right things on auto-pilot.

And it concerned me. I’m not a feelings-driven kind of guy. That’s not my point. But rather that when it came to my spiritual appetite and zeal for the Lord, and genuine love for God, something was lacking.

What Peter is going to teach us this morning is that if you are not growing right now in your Christian walk you need to be concerned. If you are not growing you need to be concerned.

Because as we will see, the alternative to growing (i.e., not growing) is becoming ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of God. I would ask you to hear this message this morning. 

And if from where you sit this morning you find yourself in the not growing category, then right now where you sit, ask God to help your heart and mind be recaptured by His glory that you might know His grace again freshly. And that as you taste and see and know and believe, you will again long to grow.

3 Truths that Will Protect Your Path to Glory (that produce assurance and protect you from false teaching when you believe them and depend upon them and live your life in light of them)

1. Your provision – God’s grace (1-4)

2. Your pursuit – Personal growth (5-9)

3. Your payoff – Eternal glory (10-11)

2 Peter 1:1–11—1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

In the eighth-grade I was assigned a project in my English class. It was one of those doozies. It was a semester long project that required turning in assignments every week until it was complete.

The assignment was to create a so-called, “Me Book”—as if I needed to spend any more time thinking about myself. But now I was supposed to create an entire book, devoted to none other than, yours truly.

My “Me Book” had photos of myself at various stages of life, poetry I had written, awards I had won. I had pages of preferences, and details about who I was and what I liked. I worked diligently until that entire green, three-ring binder was filled with page projectors stuffed with content.

I used markers, colored pencils, glue, scissors, magazines, photo paper, and all my craft skills to finish the book… It was one of those projects that no one other than your mom and maybe your future wife, ever wants to read.

But compared to writing a book report, or creating a timeline for history, this project was so much more enjoyable. Why? Because devoting myself to contemplating myself was… natural! I was already doing that all the time anyway. Now I get class credit for it.

A trite example. But it illustrates a tendency we have as Christians when we come to the Bible.

Very often we open the pages of Scripture and we ask God to speak to us, and our focus is on ourselves, asking, “what am I thinking and feeling today?”

Or we go to the Scriptures to find a nugget to help us throughout day. And in one sense, of course we go to the Scripture to be blessed. And very often we do learn about ourselves. I’m not condemning coming to Scripture expectantly. But what are we expecting.

You see the Bible isn’t primarily about us. The Bible is written for us. But it is about God. It is His self-revelation. Scripture is the unfolding story not about you or I, but rather the story about the God of the universe and His plan, His thoughts, His ways, and how He works in the lives of His people.

The pinnacle of revelation is the person and work of Christ. His past, present and future glory. His mission. His perfections. His attributes. And it is by beholding His glory that we are transformed day by day.

In fact, if I were to level a primary concern about modern preaching it would be this—that somehow we have become the focus of the sermon. Our Bible reading, our Bible studies, and our preaching is focused on the human experience. Our time in the Word is spent, dare I say squandered, focusing on ourselves.

And what we are trading is a fresh awareness the majesty of our God. We are missing His glory as we settle for less. This is what we mean when we say one of our distinctives at CBC is a high view of God. It is an attempt to keep Him our central focus, and recover the awe that He is worthy of.

Take your Bibles this morning, and please turn with me to Mark 4. Mark 4:35-41. Today’s passage is a familiar one about Jesus calming a storm on a lake. And this is a classic passage that gets superficially applied.

You are familiar with the story. It is simple and short. Jesus is in the boat with His disciples. A massive storm almost kills them, Jesus tells it to stop and it does.

Too often, however, the take-a-way becomes: Jesus calms the storms of life. The application then is to think about ourselves—what storm do you have right now? What difficult situation are you in? Jesus is here to calm it down for you, just go to Him.

Certainly, that is one implication of this passage. But it isn’t primarily what is going on. That isn’t the lesson Jesus wants His disciples to learn first and foremost. To read this passage as being about Jesus making our life calm, is to approach the text with a man-centered perspective.

To understand this passage rightly is to understand that Jesus is calming the storm, not to bring comfort to people going through unpleasant circumstances. But rather to reveal His identity as God, and in the process, test the disciples’ untested faith and expose it as wanting.

This is a passage about the majesty and identity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our struggle as His followers to take Him at His word. 

As you remember from last week, Jesus has just claimed to be bringing in a new kingdom. 

Now over the next week Mark records Jesus demonstrating that He has the power to make good on His statements. He can get the job done. He isn’t the big-talking boaster on the playground who makes big claims, but couldn’t deliver on half of what He asserts.

This week it is power over a storm, the next week power over a legion of demonic influences, and the following week His powerful healing of a little girl and a woman with a chronic illness. All provocative displays of His majestic power.

With that said, let’s read our text this morning. This first display of majestic power in this section:

Mark 4:35–41—35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself 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?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

If you are keeping an outline to follow along in the passage today, it is:

5 Scenes as Jesus Commands Nature’s Obedience, thereby Revealing His Deity & His Disciple’s Unbelief; and the challenge this presents for each of us.

1. The Unassuming Sunset (35-36)
2. The Unexpected Storm (37)
3. The Untroubled Savior (38)
4. The Unrivaled Sovereign (39)
5. The Unnerved Supporters (40-41)

Part of being human is that we are finite. By finite I don’t just mean that our days are numbered, but our understanding is limited. Not only is limited by experience—meaning you can only really learn a limited number of things very well. But our reasoning and our perception are broken as well.

It’s one of the effects of the Fall of humanity into sin. Theologians refer to this as the noetic effects of the fall. Noetic (mental) effects of sin on our minds.

Your thinking is affected by sin. It’s one of many reasons that it is so marvelous to meditate on the person of Jesus Christ. He had a mind unaffected by sin. An ordered thought-life. Clear reasoning and logic. Pure thoughts and memories. And a faith that believed truth as soon as He encountered it. Would have made interacting with Him an unforgettable experience.

But one of the specific effects on our minds is the difficulty in dislodging a held belief even when it is wrong. Some people refer to this as cognitive dissonance. It is the struggle that we have once we come to a position on something, to change our perspective, even when facts require a different conclusion.

This is the great disappointment post-Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was that period that began in Europe in which philosophy and rationalism dominated the writing and thinking of the day. And there was this great hope and promise that if we could finally get to objective data then we would move past so many of our problems. 

In fact, Thomas Jefferson who was influenced by Enlightenment thinking wrote in 1789:

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government…

But as history has shown, this isn’t the case. In fact, the findings from a research project undertaken at the University of Michigan in 2005 and 2006 was outlined in the Boston Globe a few years back.

And the project was this—it set out to understand in the political realm how people interact with facts. And what they found overwhelmingly is that facts mattered very little. What matter most in interpreting data is your personal beliefs and opinions.

Now it’s easy to point the finger at the other side. And say, “see you are so convinced despite the facts!” And fail to realize that you yourself are vulnerable to the very same problem.

It’s part of our fallen thinking. As the researchers observed our tendency is to look for things that affirm our positions and dismiss the things that would threaten them. If I can be so bold as to say it, “we like to be right.”

The researchers documented interactions with liberals and conservatives alike. The most stunning part of the research was this: when a position is very strongly held, evidence that contradicts doesn’t weaken, but rather strengthens the wrong position. 

The more data came and challenged the held beliefs, the more deeply entrenched they became.  Why? Because once we believe something we are deeply committed to it, and will re-interpret everything around us to bolster our position. More opposition means doubling down on our confidence.

This is the same challenge that is going on in the minds of those who hear Jesus speak of the kingdom of God. Jesus is bringing alternative facts, if you will. He is changing expectations. He is flipping long-held, long-entrenched perspectives on their heads.

And whenever that happens you have two options:

1. Change expectations
2. Challenge Jesus (outright rejection, modify Jesus, soften Jesus)

When the Word of God confronts your long-held and comfortable perspective. You have doctrinal positions and perspectives on life and ministry that you don’t hold because you learned them from Scripture. 

But rather you can look at facts that are plain and re-interpret them to your own advantage.

As you know, our typical approach at CBC is to dive into a book of the Bible and work through it verse by verse. There are so many benefits of this, but one of them is the depth of insight that we gain as we spend time in a context.

It takes time to get bearings. The longer we follow an author’s course of action the more we can appreciate what’s going on than when we parachute in on a few verses and then jump back out. Of course, it’s God Word and a single verse by itself is still edifying, but this morning as we make our way through a large chunk in Mark 4 I think you will see my point.

In fact, I wrestled this week with how to tackle this section—specifically whether to take it one small paragraph at a time or to bite off the whole enchilada. We are going with the latter. The whole enchilada.

The reason, is because it seems the most appropriate in serving Mark’s original purpose—the mega theme here that he is driving home. Each of these parables we will look at today (there are four them that are grouped together, with the parable we studied last week), are best understood together.

The point that Mark is making is this: the kingdom which you are all longing for is here. But it isn’t shaping up to what you had in mind, and you can only see it or hear it (i.e. understand it) by faith. Your eyes can’t see it, your ears can’t hear about it.

This is the secret Jesus is revealing in v. 11—it’s about the kingdom. What’s the secret? It isn’t that there is a kingdom, but rather how it is being manifested.

George Eldon Ladd said,

That God would bring in his kingdom was no secret. All Jews looked forward to it. The new truth, now given to men by revelation in the person and mission of Jesus, is that the Kingdom which is to come finally in apocalyptic [i.e., destructive] power, as foreseen by Daniel, has in fact entered into the world in advance in a hidden form to work secretly within and among men.” 

The kingdom was expected with the Son of Man coming in judgment to subdue enemies and secure borders. And instead it begins secretly within and among men. Totally different beginning than was expected.

That’s the big idea of today’s message.

The point that Mark is making is this: the kingdom which you are all longing for is here. But it isn’t shaping up to what you had in mind, and you can only see it or hear it (i.e. understand it) by faith. Your eyes can’t see it, your ears can’t hear about it.

Mark’s Approach:

In Chapter 4, Mark weaves together a handful of teachings on the kingdom (five to be exact). We tackled the first one last week (the parables of the soils). 

In the middle of the first teaching, the parable of the soils, Jesus interrupts himself to give us the significance of parables in general (vv. 10-12). Namely, that Jesus is hiding truth from some, and revealing it to others. 

Next Mark inserts the meaning of this parable—the explanation (vv. 13-20), which is shared privately to the disciples and his close friends. Then Mark jumps back into the flow and moves right back to Jesus addressing the crowds through parables.

Some scholars panic here that Mark has missed something because he jumps from the private instruction to the disciples (vv. 10-20) and then by the end (vv. 33-34) He is back with the crowds, with no explanation.

Instead of assuming Mark is confused, we are going to assume that Mark is giving an account the way we commonly do. He is starting off in a direction, and then part way into the story realizes, “I want to take a brief tangent here to clarify something, then I am going to get back to the main point I was making.”

So, the parable of the soils may have been followed by these other parables, but as Mark is organizing the content he chose to give the purpose of parables, and the explanation of this one to us before moving on.

The bird’s eye view of Chapter 4 is as follows:

• The setting for Jesus’ teaching ministry (4:1-2)
• The stories of Jesus’ teaching ministry (4:3-32)
• The summary of Jesus’ teaching ministry (4:33-34)

Today we will continue working our way through the stories of Jesus’ teaching ministry. Here is our outline for today:

Jesus Gives 5 Defining Features of the Kingdom of God

1. The subjects of the kingdom (4:3-20)
2. The stages (4:21-23)
3. The selectiveness (4:24-25)
4. The spread of the kingdom (4:26-29)
5. The start of the kingdom (4:30-32)

Mark 4:21–34—21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” 26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” 33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples. 

Each year in the U.S., there are on average about 610,000 deaths due to heart disease. That’s one person every 42 seconds. And although death will eventually take each one of us, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 25% of these deaths were preventable.  

By preventable they are basically saying someone died before age 75. 150,000 people die each year, not because their body has aged to the point of wearing out, but because they have lifestyle decisions that have contributed to a weak heart. The rest of their body outlasts the cardiovascular system. 

And the concern for the Center for Disease Control is this: if people would just pay attention to the risk factors and manage them we could extend all of these lives. And so, they have infographics and educational resources encouraging people to pay attention to the warning signs of heart problems. 

Things such as an unhealthy diet (high in sodium especially), a lack of physical activity, obesity, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. If these are prevalent in your life and you aren’t doing something about it, then you have a heart that is being destroyed and you will die prematurely. 

I never met one of my grandfathers. He died at a young age. Not from cancer or an accident. But it was due to not taking care of his heart. There were avoidable warning signs, but he persisted in his lifestyle. He ignored the warnings.

And so, it is spiritually. We can’t see our heart, but we can see warning signs that there are problems.

Satan’s goal is what? Deception. He wants to confuse. 

• Convince genuine believers they are not saved… doubt, fear, worry, confused = ineffective
• Convince false believers that they are saved… all is well with my soul when it is not= inoculated

In today’s passage, we have one of the clearest explanations in Scripture of diagnosing our spiritual heart condition.

It is a very simple passage to understand. Growing up I misunderstood and applied this passage. The take-a-way for me was: work on the soil of your heart. There is an application here, but this isn’t the main point of the message.

King Jesus is here proclaiming His kingdom and the message is—receive the message of the kingdom.  Why this parable? Why located here by Mark? Because it is setting the tone for the rest of ministry. Jesus is giving His listeners categories so that they can process the various responses to Jesus.

Jesus is saying right here, over the next year and a half of my ministry life as I proclaim truth people are going to respond to me differently. And so, it validates that Word of God, even when people reject it.

Mark’s 4 Elements in Recounting the Parable of the Soil

1. The context of the parable (1-2) setting
2. The content of the parable (3-9) story
3. The consequences of the parable (10-12) significance
4. The clarification of the parable (13-20) substance

Mark 4:1–20—1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” 13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 “The sower sows the word. 15 “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”