The battle of the Heart. Mark 10
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Knowing I will have to answer to God for all that I say makes me weary every-time that I step behind the pulpit testing myself that I am rightly dividing the Word of Truth. This week we come to a man with all these works of flesh but void of an assurance of where he was going to spend eternity.
in recap of last week.
I want to make an effort this morning in making sure that I am clear so that my words may not encourage sin and adulterous acts in Gods eyes by misleading words. Dealing with marriage we must always have on our forefronts of our minds and hearts the divine standard for our marriages. It should always revert back to how Gods design and intent was in it and that be what we always strive for.
Let me share a short snip bit I have in my wedding ceremony. After studying for last Sunday and preparing to perform a wedding, i thought it important to touch briefly on the issue.
We have come together in the presence of God to witness the joining together of this man and this woman in the bond of marriage. This sacred relationship of marriage was established by God in creation, in the beginning, when he saw that it was not good for man to be alone and gave him a helper. It is said that the two should leave their father and mother and become one flesh. This marriage that God instituted was between one man and one woman, and is not to be entered lightly, but soberly and deliberately in reverent fear of God knowing the divine standards of the covenant.As a prevalent practice in our day divorce has ravaged many homes and has wreaked of great devastation. As Jesus in the New Testament defended the purity of marriage and those that have endeavored upon this sacred road, he did so, against the unlawful separation of the two testifying that from the beginning this was not so. Divorce was not in God’s design of marriage. But rather He states that what God has put together let no man separate. I think this becomes pretty self explanatory. So this covenant being performed today is with the understanding of Gods design that this is your spouse till death do you part. You must have set in your mind, “Im ready to do what it takes to fight for my marriage, my spouse and my family in sickness and in health, poverty or in wealth, in the face of despair, through the midst of pain, and while swimming in the waters of uncertainty I will fight. Without Christ at the center I will leave my home open to attack from the evil forces that war in my flesh and in the world against God and his laws.” There will be days you will want to quit so you must prepare and be ready to fight against these infiltrations. For this day you are declaring unto the enemies of God I am going to honor the Lord, the creator of heavens and earth, through the sacred bond of marriage that He instituted knowing that the enemies seek to pervert and destroy this bond. So BE READY and never forget that greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world. You are not doing this alone, so Seek to honor the Lord in all you do and we will help you.
Every person that has a spouse should know that in Gods design this is your mate for life. Anything that falls short of that is a deviation from the divine intention. Your mind set should be baby Im in this for the long haul. Every young person in looking for a spouse look with the intent of life on the horizon.
In hard times it should not be first thought, “I’m no longer happy, or I didn’t sign up for this, Im leaving,” because that is the natural inclination of our hearts. It should be on your knees Lord have mercy on me and help me?” May the divine standard be what you fix your eyes upon continually and thats when you will most glorify God in your marriage. otherwise you may find yourself hoping that your spouse may fail so that you may have an out. That is sin.
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
There are too few testimonies that can say I weathered the storm and seen God do the impossible. That when all told me to leave I stayed. When my heart grew weary and low the Lord picked me up that I may press on. Only to my amazement to learn that God has never left me and never quit loving me. To a point where my Joy no longer was hindered on what those I love thought of me, the circumstances that surrounded me, the money in the bank account, or the house that i live in. This is when the impossible begins to transpire in my life. A difference begins to be made in my walk with the Lord and rightly following with my spouse. So when you get hit with the worst it does not throw you on your back seeking to be loosed from this enemy but will bring you to your knees pleading at the throne of the sovereign almighty for your spouse with whom you are one flesh. Let us all strive for the contentment found in Christ that we may begin to turn this trend of divorce around beginning here with us in this sanctuary.
So how are you praying for your spouse? Whats your personal devotion life look like? And is your greatest satisfaction in your life found in what God thinks of you not your spouse. Ultimately we could ask what has your heart? for this was the very down fall to why moses permitted divorce…due to their hardness of hearts.
This is what we get to this morning.
.
Pray.
Good teacher.
Is seen as someone worthy of instruction but fell short of the promised Messiah, the Son of God. He was looking for hope in his deeds and failed to see the hope before his Eyes.
What must I do?
This is a question greatly determined by the disposition of a mans heart as to what is motivating his thought.
For instance this man is asking what else must I do to secure this salvation
Whereas in the book of acts you hear the men responded to the message preached after cut to the heart…what must I do considering the predicament that we find ourselves in as rebels against the law of God.
In this mans life we notice that there was an uncertainty in his confidence of where he would reside after death.
There was an uneasiness that left him unsatisfied that he had arrived.
Jesus knowing the mans heart he repeats the commandments...
Do no commit adultery
Do not murder
Do not steal
Do not bear false witness
Do not defraud
honor your father and mother
All these would stem from the root of worship God above all else. having no other Gods among us. Of loving the The Lord God with all your heart, mind and soul. If He is your governing authority then these are going to be the offspring.
After this the rich ruler says these things i have done since my youth.
If eternal life could be granted by good works to the point of even obeying the commandments of God, then certainly this man would have had the confidence of knowing that he had eternal life. Yet it still leaves him asking. What else must I do? Anyone that is coming to God with what must I do and the following is not humble submission to the throne of God begging for mercy but rather in the pride of heart seeking to earn favor by merit will always come up short.
He testifies that he
James begins to help us lay this out a little deeper for us...
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
James 2:10-
So to become a transgressor of the law all you have to do is stumble in one point.
This right here nips in the bud the thought that as long as my good outweighs my bad than I am good to go.
This problem begins to compound even more when you consider there is none good no not one. That we all come forth from the womb speaking lies.
thats not good news is it?
Do not be deceived there is no man born of an earthly father and mother that has fulfilled the righteous command of Gods law. But we all have transgressed
Jesus even amplified the standard or clear up the mucky water of their day in defining that even to lust in your heart was to commit adultery. Or that to have anger in your heart is to commit murder.
Can you imagine your whole life believing you were good because the courts never condemned you as a murderer only to find that at heart you were according to Gods standard. This will be true of all who desire their sin stains to be clean from works of the flesh.
According to Gods standard to
This man had a heart issue. He was lacking faith in God and rather than trusting in God he was trusting in the works and securities of the flesh.
Listen to Jesus’ response as he helps this man see his transgression against a Holy God.
You lack one thing.
which is enough to become a transgressor which brings a heaviness and uneasiness upon a mans conscience proclaiming him guilty. Hence why he still was striving for the assurance of his salvation through his works. Works cannot alleviate a guilty conscience.
Jesus doesn’t battle the man with the symptoms or the fruit of his life but rather strikes the ax at the root of this mans life. His heart.
He didn’t look at his Sunday school attendance, He didn’t look at his prayer list, his year end tithe sheet, or his family line. Rather He gets to the heart of the issue.
V.21 Jesus looking at him, loved him...
Take note of the counsel of a heart motivated by love. Didn’t cover up sin. but rather lovingly revealed the truth. that the truth may set him free.
Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Take up your cross and follow me.
This man went away sorrowful for he had many possessions. This man was confronted with his heart and what truly owned it.
Die to self and pride. Forget the earthly merit, and follow in faith Jesus Christ.
This is not a passage that teaches to have money or possessions is a sin but rather when it possesses our heart.
We must note
For the mere obtaining of these things does not qualify for sin.
For instance thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.
This is a command void of the possessions whatever they may be yet it possesses the heart of men.
Look even farther down the line to see Jesus’ discourse of the conversation to his disciples after the man had left.
And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!
Mark 10:
How hard for those who TRUST in riches.
Listen to Job’s discourse when he is making his case known before God.
“If I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much;
If I have observed the sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.
Job 31:24-
As a side note to our marriages
“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
Or lifted myself up when evil found him
(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for a curse on his soul);
job 31:29-
This man in our story had a heart issue that he was confronted with as we all do. He was trusting in his own abilities and works rather than in Christ.
This is why Paul said as he described his former life, his earthly merit and zeal, before he was saved...
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
philippians 3:7-
I count those deeds as rubbish for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Be weary oh man or woman if you are trusting in the works of your hands as the means of your assurance for eternity.
Pray that God would inspect your heart and reveal where you have fallen and repent in dust and ashes.
Jesus describes these as it would easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Disciples answer and say who then can be saved?
For with man this is
For with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.
It all our evangelistic efforts may this be tattooed on our eyes that what we see as impossible does not hinder the hand of the almighty God.
That we may fully know that if it weren’t for God there I go for he work the impossible upon my heart.
And we are praying that he would work the impossible upon the lives upon those we minister. Thats my prayer for the ears of those who do not know the Lord.
But we cannot end here for there is another side to this coin. For how easy this is for us to look at this man and say. Oh foolish man you should have known your works couldn’t have saved you, but all along you lacked faith.
James brings out an interesting contrast we would do good to wrestle with, for many of us may find ourselves on this playing field.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
James 2:14-
James 2:
Be weary if you are testifying that you believe or testify that you have faith but the works of your life or rather your obedience is telling otherwise. Rather James says that if they are missing altogether it your faith is dead. Non-existent. Not there. If your faith is void of obedience to the word of God altogether not perfectly, then i would do some serious soul searching.
As He rightly sums up as the body without the spirit is dead. So Faith with works is dead also.
its not that a man secures his salvation by works. We had just seen that in the rich young ruler. Rather it is the revealing factor of where your faith resides. Its the offspring that comes in a life devoted to God. Or better put in a man or a woman that is born of the spirit. There will certainly be signs.
They go hand in hand. Two sides to the coin and the pride of man at heart is the revealing factor. One side is trusting in his works to earn the merit the other discounts them altogether and says it doesn’t matter how i live which unveils he’s not trusting at all.
Let us not forget even the demons believe and tremble. They acknowledge Jesus as God but do not serve him as such.
There will be many in the end who will say Lord look at all these works we did in your name and He will say, “Depart from you workers of iniquity.
flee from money and it may fall in your lap. Run towards money and you will have a hole in your sack
This morning let it be known that there is hope for the downcast. For the worst of sinners that have a list of wrongs that never ends. there is hope.
In the one who did live the perfect life and bore on his shoulders the sins of us all upon the cross. He died the death i should have died as a rebel against the king. As he rose from the grave conquering sin and the grave the Bible says that there is only one way to eternal life and it is through the door of Jesus Christ.
You must repent were you have fallen before the King and turn towards him faith believing in Jesus Christ as your only hope. Plea for mercy at the cross that you may be forgiven.
the dispersion. By persecution but as well by leaving by deception of the truth. A wandering away from God.
Sunday School. What is it that defines trials?
without the right backdrop we may wrongly define what a trial is upon differences of perspective. there are those motivated by wrong ideology and it brings them a since of happiness thinking that they are doing a noble work though faced with adversity.
such as because LGBT would identify that their trial is to help the world see the discrimination that is against those who
Why is it those who spring from a faulty foundation have more zeal and passion for something that is false (even willing to embrace persecution) and yet those who know the truth are the ones fearful to speak? Does anyone else see the issue here?
Let me take this a step farther.
Why are they willing to give their time, their talents, their treasures to this agenda and we have to pull tooth and nail to receive the same devotion for the things of God?