Pastor Mike : THE FINAL COUNTDOWN : A Ministry of CHRIST-LIVES MINISTRIES

His miracles, His teachings, His compassion and His power were all clear evidence that the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament had appeared. Yet, when Israel saw Jesus, they refused to accept Him as their Messiah, their Lord or their Savior.

Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders in Israel, Mark 8:11. He was rejected by the nation as a whole, Mark 6:3. He was even judged to be a mad man by His Own family, Mark 3:21. This total rejection is summed up by the Apostle John when he said, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not,” John 1:11.

Even as Jesus was attempting to reach Israel, He was also trying to teach His disciples. Jesus spent many months teaching them, displaying His power and revealing His identity to His men is powerful ways. For the longest time, they were blind to His identity. Even though they saw Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, control the forces of nature, multiply bread and fish and raise the dead; they still could not grasp just Who Jesus was.

Mark 10:35-45

THE HIGH COST OF BEING NUMBER ONE

Intro:

Mark 10:35-45

King James Version

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.

36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?

37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

40 But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.

42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.

43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:

44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

This text is designed to teach us the truth that not everyone who finishes first is victorious. Sometimes those who take the last seat, those who willingly finish last, are the real winners in the game of life.

I think it is clear from reading the Gospels that our Lord’s disciples were anything but humble men. They were always in the business of trying to promote themselves. On several occasions, Jesus sought to combat that mentality, but they never seemed to get the message.

In this passage, we see selfish ambition in all of its ugliness. James and John come to Jesus asking for the top seats in His kingdom. Jesus uses this event to teach us all some valuable lessons about leadership, service to others and forgiveness.

As we move through this text today, I want you to see the thoughts that come out of this passage. I want you to see A Selfish Petition; A Somber Proclamation and A Spiritual Pattern.

As we consider these thoughts, I hope you will see that being first can cost you all you have. I want you to see that being a servant to others is more of a blessing, in the end, than being served by others.

Mark 7:31-37

WELL DONE!

Intro: The passage opens with Jesus leaving the Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon headed back to Galilee. But, Jesus and His men do not go straight back to Jewish country. Verse 31 tells us that they went to “Decapolis”.

Mark 7:31-37

King James Version

31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.

33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;

34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

If you look at where they were and where they were headed to, you would see that Jesus and His men took the long way around. In fact, going through Decapolis to get to Galilee is like going through Atlanta to get to Charlotte! Scholars tell us that a journey of this nature might have taken as long as eight months on foot.

If this trip took that long, it would have represented about 20% of the Lord’s total earthly ministry! That is eight months of the Lord’s ministry of which we have no record. What was He doing? We can only speculate, but I would imagine that He was teaching them and training them for the difficult days ahead. When He and His men return, Jesus finds Himself under increasing attack by the Jews. This will be one of the last opportunities that He will have to be alone with His men before He goes to Calvary to die.

It is also interesting that Jesus goes to Decapolis. If you will remember, the people of that region had asked Jesus to leave their country, Mark 5:17. Jesus had cast a legion of demons out of the Gaderene Demoniac. Those demons had entered into a herd of swine and the pigs had all drowned. The people of Decapolis had rejected Jesus and forced Him to leave.

It was a Jewish tradition to bring small children to a great rabbi so that he could bless them and pray for them. It was also common for parents to take their children to the synagogue, where each of the elders would take the child in his hands and pray for the life of the child. This is much the same thing that we still do today when we dedicate a child and parents to the Lord.

These parents are severely rebuked by the Lord’s disciples. Apparently, they felt that the Master’s time was too valuable to spend on small children. Jesus, in turn, rebuked them for their attitude regarding these children. He told the disciples in no uncertain terms that little children were what the kingdom of Heaven was all about.

It is appropriate that Jesus should give us this teaching about little children just after He spoke about the marriage relationship. The statement “and they twain shall be one flesh” (Matt. 19:15) is literally fulfilled when a married couple come together to produce a child.

This sermon, which was delivered by Jesus, is also recorded in Matt. 24-25 and in Luke 21. In this sermon Jesus talks about the end of time and the events which surround the end of the world.

This passage is one of the most difficult to interpret in the New Testament. Because of this fact, various false teachings about the end times, the Second Coming of Christ, and even about salvation have arisen.

Too often what we claim to be and what we really are is miles apart. We call this condition “hypocrisy”.

This word comes to us from the ancient Greek language. It was used to describe actors in a play. Ancient actors would carry different masks in their hands as they acted. The masks were attached to sticks and could be held before the face as needed. A smiling mask suggested humor, a frowning mask suggested sadness, etc. These actors were called the “hypocritos”. This word means “one who wears a mask”.

We use the word today to refer to people who pretend to be one thing when they are actually something else. People who pretend to be your friend while stabbing you in the back are hypocrites. People who live one way at church and another way at home are hypocrites. People who attempt to do wicked things under the radar while acting like all is well are hypocrites. Now, there should be no people like that in the church, but sadly, there are some in every congregation.

Ill. Some people claim there are too many hypocrites in the church. I say there aren’t as many as they claim. It is just an excuse they use for not coming to church. When you hear that kind of talk just say, “Oh come on, one more won’t make any difference”. Just say, “It is better to spend a few hours with them in church and to spend eternity with them in Hell”. Just say, “If a hypocrite is standing between you and God, the hypocrite is closer to God than you are.”

Hypocrites are nothing new! In this passage, Jesus has an encounter with a whole group of hypocrites. They have come from Jerusalem, v. 1, which was like the Vatican of its day. They came to watch Him in order to find fault with Him and His ministry. When they arrive and begin to watch Jesus, it does not take them long to find something to complain about.

Mark 6:14-29

THE DEATH OF A CONSCIENCE

Intro: This passage is one of the saddest in the entire Bible. It records the events surrounding the death of John the Baptist. He was a special man, chosen for a special mission. He was the “forerunner” of the Messiah. He was the fulfillment of several Old Testament prophecies. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the last martyr of the Old Testament period and the first of the New Testament period. He was a powerful preacher. He was a fearless prophet. He was a true man of God. As Jesus Christ Himself testified, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist,” Matt. 11:11.

John was one of the Bible’s documented accounts of reincarnation. In Matthew 17:9-13

And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 11And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

While this passage reveals the details of John’s death, it also records the death of something else. This passage records the death of a conscience. Our text speaks of a man named Herod. He was a wicked man who ruled over one-fourth of Palestine at the time.

Our text finds Jesus returning to Nazareth. He is going home again. Our Lord’s return to His hometown does not go the way one might expect it to. After all, Jesus is something of a celebrity at this time. He has been going around the countryside preaching, teaching, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, and controlling the forces of nature. He has proven something extraordinary and very different about Him.

Of course, the last time Jesus was in Nazareth, things didn’t go well for Him. He went to the synagogue and preached from Isa. 61. (Luke 4:16-20) In that service, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Jewish Messiah. The people of Nazareth rejected His message and tried to kill Him by throwing Him over a cliff! He left Nazareth and preached in other places in Galilee. Now, a year later, He returns to the place He was so cruelly rejected. He wants to give His family, friends, and neighbors another chance to receive Him and His message. That is grace! (Ill. I am amazed that God would give you and me one chance, much less opportunity after opportunity, to believe in Him and His Gospel! Thank God for His good grace!)

THE AMAZING POWER OF FAITH

This section of Mark’s Gospel is filled with impossible cases.

The disciples thought they would die in the storm, Mark 4:38, but Jesus could calm the storm with a simple command. No one could tame the demoniac, but Jesus set him free from his bondage with a simple command.

As we move through the rest of the events in this chapter, we will soon discover that Jesus is more than adequate for every situation. There are no incurables with Him.  There are no hopeless situations with the Lord!

THE MASTER OF THE STORM

It had been a long and challenging day for the Lord Jesus. The events of this day began in Mark 3:20. He had a confrontation with the Pharisees, v. 22-30. His friends and family thought He had gone crazy and tried to kidnap Him, v. 21; 31-35. Jesus also taught the people in parables, and He had spent time explaining His parable to His disciples.

Today, our lesson comes from Mark 4:35-41, and I have entitled it The Master of the Storm.