Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

If you have your Bible, let me invite you to open with me to the book of Mark chapter 9.

If you do not have a copy of God’s word just slip up your hand and one of our church members will be glad to bring you one.

We will begin reading in Mark 9:42-50 here in just a moment.

Before we turn there, however, I feel the need to offer a disclaimer, or perhaps a warning.

It is our practice here at St. Rose Community Church to work through books of the Bible systematically one passage at a time.

This practice helps us in several ways.

It helps us not to skip over things in the Bible.

It helps us to maintain a Spirit of humility as we submit ourselves under what God has said no matter what he has said.

We want to be informed by, and led by, God’s words about himself, and not our own feelings or opinions.

We know ourselves…

We know that we don’t naturally want to hear all of what God has to say.

By our nature, we actually would like to either ignore or perhaps twist some of what God has to say.

We want to mold him into our image, rather than conform to his.

This morning we come to a text in Scripture that is not necessarily difficult to understand… but it is difficult to accept.

This morning we find very clearly taught the reality of hell.

It is teaching that we do not necessarily like.

It is a teaching that we are not comfortable with.

But it is a teaching that is absolutely paramount to our understanding of the Gospel.

The consequences of ignoring this doctrine that we study today are eternal.

In fact, without a proper understanding of today’s text, we will let our friends and family perish forever.

We will not be very thankful for our own salvation.

We will treat sin lightly.

We will both self destruct and allow the most beloved in our life to continue down the path of destruction.

We are tempted to diminish, overlook, and underplay sin and hell at the expense of our own lives and of those we love.

so lets read this morning with a Spirit of humility, and lets ask God to help us to see clearly big eternal realities.

Lets Pray

Last Sunday, we studied a conversation between John and Jesus.

In that conversation, John told Jesus that he actually tried to stop another follower of Jesus from casting out a demonic Spirit.

We saw that his motivations were not necessarily pure.

Because of his pride, he likely left this individual a little confused.

Could you imagine if John, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, came and tried to stop you from doing ministry in the name of Jesus with little to no explanation?

John’s pride had consequences not only for himself, but for this new and learning follower of Jesus.

Its unclear whether Mark makes a thematic jump here to record a related teaching of Jesus, or whether this is the same moment of teaching.

Regardless, the connection is clear.

Sinning in such a way that causes others to sin or stumble is very serious.

Truth #1 Causing Someone Else’s Sin is a Serious Offense

Jesus has absolutely been gracious and forgiving to all who come to him in faith and repentance…, but that does not mean that Jesus is indifferent or tolerant of sin.

The language he uses in this section is meant to be shocking.

A millstone is a massive wheel-like bolder used to crush grain so heavy that only strong burden bearing animals could role it…

To have a millstone hung around your neck and then thrown into the sea would mean a very quick trip to the bottom of the ocean.

Listen to how one commentator puts it.

Mark 9:42 (Mark (NIGTC)): To be the cause of another’s spiritual shipwreck is so serious an offence that a quick drowning would be preferable to the fate it deserves;

Jesus’ words here are meant to shock us into self-analysis.

How could we possibly be the cause of someone else’s sin against a Holy God…

How could our actions cause someone else to stumble and falter spiritually?

What would this look like in our lives?

The text doesn’t get more specific, but the applications are plentiful.

How could we be guilty of such an accusation?

Allow me to provide just three examples of what this would look like…

We are guilty of this when we provoke others to sin with us

By provoke, I mean you actually invite others to sin along with you.

You provoke others to sin every time you engage in sexual activity outside of the context of marriage.

Young man or young woman, when you seduce or participate in sexual acts with your significant other outside of marriage, outside of the will of God… you are not expressing your love for that person… you are expressing your hatred of them.

You are showing them that you care more about your physical fix and your selfish pleasure then you care about their soul and their spiritual condition before a Holy God.

We provoke others to sin when we are impatient and quarrelsome in such a way that invites them to join you.

We provoke others to sin when we act out in anger and we are looking for a response.

We are wanting the other to act in a sinful way so we can be justified in all the things we want to say to them.

We provoke others to sin when we invite them to join us in what we are doing because it makes us feel better about our own sin.

Sin loves company.

But not only are we guilty of this when we provoke others to sin with us.

..

We are guilty of this when we set the example with our own sin

Whether you like it or not, if you claim to be a Christian you are a representative of all that that title stands for.

Those around you who are closest to you, and even those who are only observing you from a distance are making judgments about what they believe about Jesus and his worthiness by how you value him with your own life decisions.

You may not like this because you want to believe yourself to be totally independent.

You want to say things like, “I don’t care about what other people think”.

You may want to believe that your decisions don’t have consequences.

But its a lie.

Your actions effect those around you either positively or negatively.

Whether you want to be or not, the very fact that you are a baptized believer in Jesus makes you a representative of Jesus and his church.

And people will plunge themselves into further self-destruction because of your example…

....or they will be drawn into the goodness of Jesus and into spiritual growth because of your example.

The closeness of your walk with Jesus or lack there of will affect more people then just you this week.

No one exists in a vacuum … and according to Jesus a quick drowning would be better than to lead others away from the Lord Jesus with your actions.

We are guilty of this when we provoke others to sin with us

We are guilty of this when we set the example with our own sin

and finally

We are guilty of this when we ignore or even celebrate someone’s sin.

The society we live in is shaping our view of morality whether we want to admit it or not.

The chief moral code of today is tolerance no matter the cost.

In fact, the culture around us no longer just demands our tolerance.

They demand our celebration of self-destruction.

The unforgivable sin, is to believe that a particular action is sin.… and it is seen as an unloving thing to disagree with someone else’s decision to self-destruct.

This is the case with all decisions and all relationships, but it is especially the case with our loved ones who are pursuing sexual sin.

No matter what the culture around you says….

It is not hatred to warn someone you love of the seriousness of their sinful decisions.

It is not hatred to believe and warn that someone’s drug addiction is destroying them.

It is not hatred to believe and warn that someone’s belief in a false God is destroying them.

It is not hatred to believe and warn that someone’s abandonment of the church is destroying them.

It is not hatred to believe and warn that homosexuality is contrary to God’s design and has real consequences in this life and the next.

It is hatred, however, to look the other way or to even celebrate the decisions of loved ones who are plunging themselves further and further into sin which God so avidly warns against.

Don’t buy the lie that says the best way to love someone is to celebrate their own self-destruction.

There is a way to lovingly, and respectfully, and consistently be present in someone’s life while maintaining a firm and clear conviction that their life decisions are contrary to the will of God and are spiritually dangerous To their own souls.

And it is spiritually dangerous I think of proportions that we often refuse to accept.

Sin is not something to be played with.

Listen as Jesus expounds.

There are several truths to be deduced here.

Truth #2 Hell is Real

Do you believe that?

Everything about our culture wants to erase this doctrine from Christianity.