Unto Death

Mark 6:14–29 ESV

14 King 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.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For 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. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for 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. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For 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.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And 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.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Unto Death

Our world is becoming more and more hostile towards Christians; change in culture over the years

This is nothing new. (story of Hugh Latimer)

In July of 1553, Mary 1 became the Queen of England. She would later be better knows as Bloody Mary. This goes back further than her lifetime though. He father, Henry 8th, separated from the Roman Catholic church because of doctrinal issues. This greatly angered Catholics. His son, Edward 6th, continued his fathers work. But when Mary took the throne, she reversed everything her father and brother did and returned England to the Roman Catholic church. All of the priests in England had to affirm the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church. Most did, but many refused. By doing so, they signed their own death certificates leading to nearly 300 people being burned at the stake. This is where Mary got the nickname, Bloody Mary. The Bishop of Worcester (Wooster) at the time was Hugh Latimer. He caught the attention of Bloody Mary by being very outspoken for the need for an english translation of the bible. He also denied many prominent doctrines of the Catholic Church that were anti-biblical. This led to his death sentence. He was burned at the stake alongside friend and Bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley. Latimer, at the burning, is quoted as saying, “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”

Opposition to Christianity is nothing new. It is growing in our part of the world on a daily basis. But it was around 100 years ago, 500 years ago, and as we see in our passage today, in the time of Jesus.

Learn from our predecessors

Main Point: Obedience to God will bring God glory, but it can bring you death

Christian life is all about death; death of Christ, dying to ourselves, willing to die for the glory of God(maybe even lose your head)

Probing question: Are you willing to live out your faith at any price necessary?

Opposition Will Fear You, But God Will Be Glorified

Hearing stories of people in fear from the hurricane in WNC

One of the greatest fears our world has today is truth

Mark 6:14–16 ESV

14 King 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.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

Mark tells us about a man named King Herod; the title “king” is actually sarcastic because he requested Emperor Augustus to give him the title, and he was turned down

He was Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great; he ruled over 1/4 of his fathers kingdom, Galilee and Perea until AD 39.

As we read this passage, we see that Herod did not know how to handle John; there was this fear of John when he heard of the work of Jesus

But Herod really didn’t know what to think when he heard what was happening; was it John, Elijah, prophets of old. (it’s a bird, it’s a plane)

They heard about the miracles of the apostles and of Jesus and they did not know what to think. There was this air of fear.

It’s easy to fear what you do not believe in; don’t understand, confused

Kid’s fear trying new food; there is a great level of unbelief that they will like it

Also fear things we understand and do believe in; taxes, raising children, death

Herod was in fear because he knew John; afraid that the man he killed was back; maybe to continue ministry, maybe to seek revenge on him. He was haunted by the things that he had done.

Our sins may haunt us; but when we are saved, God forgives us of our sins. We may have to face earthly courts because of our sins, but at the moment of salvation, the heavenly court dropped your charges.

We don’t need to defend ourselves as believers. People may fear us, but God will be glorified.

1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Let our works speak for themselves. Opposition will fear you, but God will be glorified.

Opposition Will Try To Silence You, But God Will Be Glorified

First amendment (right to free speech); supreme court case (1969) Tinker vs Des Moines; 3 students wore arm bands in protest of Vietnam were suspended from school. The local court and the US court of appeals sided with the school. It wasn’t until they went to the supreme court that the students were told that they had the right to free speech.

I am not saying we should support or oppose a war. But that when people are opposed to you, they will try to silence you

Mark 6:17–20 ESV

17 For 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. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for 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.

We have a few people we are looking at in this verse. Herod, emperor; John, preacher; now Herodias, Herod’s sister in law who he married.

Herod was one of 14 children of Herod the Great with one of his 8 wives; Keeping up with the Kardashians is nothing compared to this family

Herodias was the daughter of one of Herod the Greats sons; Herod the great killed her father, took the kids from the dad and gave them to his children. She became Phillips wife. Phillip and Herodias were engaged to be married when he was 20 and she was 8. So she was both his wife and his niece.

She divorced Phillip to marry her brother in law and uncle, Herod, the man we are reading about in our passage.

It is very hard to keep up with the family affairs; just know that they were all steeped in sexual sin

John was outspoken about this; v. 18 “had been saying”; he did not just mention it and move on; John had talked to Herod about this more than once.

But Herod feared John; John was a righteous man; many contrasts between Herod and John; hair-coated prophet, robed ruler; simple, flamboyant; righteous, debaucherous; moral, spineless

If you read this, you may think that Herod was okay with John, it says he heard him gladly. We see though that he had another controlling force behind him

Herodias wanted to live opposite of what John was saying; and Herod wanted to please this woman by doing what she wanted

Because of their fleshly desire to live in direct opposition to the truth of God, John was thrown in prison

We do need to be extremely honest with ourselves in regards to being silenced. We, in America, do not experience this like others have. John was throw in prison and, as we will see in the next verses, lost his head so that he was silenced. Paul went to prison. Hugh Latimer was killed. We have brothers are sisters all over the world that are having to sneak into church to avoid police and military that would stop them if they were caught, because they don’t want people to hear the truth of the gospel. We didn’t have people outside of our church with military rifles trying to stop us from coming in this morning and we are able to sit and hear the truth of the gospel.

what is the truth of the gospel? (gospel pres.)

when we speak the truth, when people hear the truth, when people believe the truth, God is glorified

Opposition may try to silence you, but God will be glorified

Opposition May Try To Kill You, But God Will Be Glorified

I don’t want to berate this, but when you speak the truth of the gospel, people might try to kill you

Foxes book of martyrs is about people dying for the truth

Maybe you used to think that in your lifetime, you would never see America come to the point where Christians were being killed for their faith

I am not trying to put fear into you, I want to try to prepare you; fear vs faith

Finish up this passage;

Mark 6:21–29 ESV

21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For 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.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And 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.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Let’s go through this

Herod threw a big birthday banquet; notice that the guest list was only men

He invites his step daughter in; she is basically enticing him and trying to attract him; this sexual sin is not contained to individuals but it is running rampant through the entire family; it seems to know no bounds and has no end to the lengths that they will go to so that they satisfy their flesh

Do you think you are no better than Herod? have you never done whatever you could to satisfy your flesh. Herod, just like us, is a sinner. He is a rebel against God and the only way for that to end is for true belief to come to him

He goes so far to try to obtain yet another woman that he should not be with, that he offers half of his kingdom

She goes to her mother, who apparently knows about this attraction between them and approves, and her mother, who hates John the baptist, tells her that she needs to ask for John’s head. And that is exactly what Herod gave her.

And the disciples went and buried him in a tomb when they heard it.

John did not back down from truth; we must live our lives the same way; even when our lives may be at risk, live it for the glory of God

John glorified God till his dying breath

similarities between John and Jesus; John was introduced as the forerunner of Jesus, and he truly was in a lot of ways

both killed by politicians who were cowards that were afraid of other people

both were killed as a result of political manipulation

both were righteous men and innocent of any crimes punishable by death

The difference is that John died because of mans sin and Jesus died for mans sin

Conclusion

Do you believe that Jesus died for you sin? Does your life reflect this profession?

Our lives should be lived to reflect that we are willing to die for the truth of the gospel.

Our big take away today is simple, reject our flesh and live by faith

Live in a way that we are obedient to God

Obedience to God will bring him glory, but it might bring you death

In the shifting tides of this world we are living in, it is becoming more and more evident who are truly followers of Jesus.

The church in America is not dying, we just seem to be purging out unbelievers who are not willing to live in obedience to the scripture

Our call is one of death

Live your life ready to die for the gospel