Good morning. Let us turn to
number 42 in a spiral. Open up our service this morning. Let us praise the name of Jesus.
If you all could please stand. Let us praise the name of Jesus,
prophet, priest, and sovereign king. To him render adoration,
laud and homage to him bring. Let us praise the name of Jesus,
God incarnate from above, came to save his chosen people, sent
by God in covenant love. ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? ? Who upon Mount Calvary ? ? Shed his blood and sealed our pardon
? ? Died from sin to set us free ? ? Let us praise the name of
Jesus ? ? Risen, conquering, gracious friend ? Advocate and
mediator ? All our hope on him depends let us praise the name
of jesus for he brought us to his fold come exalt his name
and worship may the savior be Be seated, please. Thank you, Bert. If you'd like
to open your Bibles with me to Mark chapter 3, Mark chapter
3, we'll continue our study in this wonderful gospel account. Good morning. Some of you may
not know that Armida has been in the hospital this week. She
is 93 and had pneumonia. She's back home doing better.
But I was so encouraged to hear Reynaldo and Laura tell me that
she didn't want to do anything but listen to Cody preach. That's
all she wants to do. And she didn't want to watch
TV. She just wants to listen to the gospel. And I thought,
you know, that's the way it ought to be for all of us, isn't it? Fred and Billy, good to have
y'all with us for a few weeks, a few months, however long they
said they're gonna be here till the ice melts in Kentucky. So
that's a good thing. Fred and Mary Jane will be back
next Sunday, Lord willing. All right, let's ask the Lord's blessings
on our time together. Our heavenly father, we're incapable of expressing
the kind of gratitude and praise and worship that we ought. We ask, Lord, that you would
be pleased to bless us in spite of that shortcoming and the inability
that we have. We pray for your grace and for
your mercy. We pray, Lord, that you would
be pleased to open the windows of heaven Pour out a blessing
of your grace. Pray that you would open what
no man can shut. Lord, open your word, open our
hearts, open our understanding. Pray that you would cause us
to be so fixed on Christ that he would be everything to us. We pray for our sister, Armida,
and we ask, Lord, that you would continue to give her an abundance
of your grace and strength and comfort her heart in Christ. Lord, we pray for our meeting
coming up. We ask that you would bless Jesus
Christ, Todd, Donnie, John, and Clay. Give them messages that
would exalt Christ and that would cause our hearts to be strengthened
in Him. Pray for ourselves and ask Lord
that you would prepare our hearts for the blessings that you would
give us that weekend. Pray for our friends and family
members that we've invited and ask Lord that you would bring
the lost and cause them Lord to hear. We ask it in Christ's
name. Amen. It is somewhat amazing that Mary,
the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, who knew beyond any shadow
of a doubt who he was, she knew when she conceived him that she
had never been with a man. She heard the voice of God tell
her that that child, that thing in her was conceived of the Holy
Ghost. She had watched him like no one
else. As a mother would watch a child,
how amazing it must have been to watch the Lord grow up and
watch him interact with people and with his brethren. And yet,
when he begins his public ministry, she joins in with his brothers
and sisters saying that he is beside himself. That's what we have recorded
in verse 21 of Mark chapter 3. And when his friends, and that
word friends is brethren or kinsmen, heard of it, they went out to
lay hold on him for they said, he is beside himself. And then over in verse 32, and
the multitude sat about him and they said unto him, behold, thy
mother and thy brethren without seek for thee." I want you to
come out. Who is my mother? Who is my brethren?
That's what the Lord said and he waved his hand to the crowd
and said, those that hear and believe me, they are my family. I've titled this a radical religion. And that's what the gospel is. It is a radical religion. I can only imagine that Mary
must have been thinking, you know, we're simple people. And
all this publicity and all this confusion is a bit much for us. Our routine life of obscurity
is being disrupted. Can't we just keep things the
way they were? We were comfortable. We were
content. We felt safe and secure with
the way things were, with the status quo. And what you're doing
is turning our world upside down. And the conclusion that she and
her brethren came to was Perhaps the Lord was a little bit too
radical. Maybe he had gone too far. We're not surprised that a man
like Festus would have said the same thing about the apostle
Paul in Acts chapter 26, after Paul preached the gospel to Festus,
the governor. And the scripture says that he
cried out with a loud voice and he said, Paul, thou art beside
thyself, for much learning hath made thee mad." And Paul said,
I'm not mad. I'm speaking the truth. And I'm
speaking sobriety. I'm not out of my mind. I'm not
taking this thing to an emotional extreme. I'm very sober-minded
about telling you the truth. You think I've become mad about
it, but I haven't. And then when Stephen preached
the gospel in Acts chapter seven, they were so enraged by him that
they murdered him. They stoned him. Peter and John were accused by
the Sanhedrin of turning the world upside down and threatened
with their lives to quit preaching in Jerusalem. Why? Because this message that you're
preaching is too radical. It's just upsetting everybody's
apple cart. We like things the way they were. Paul said, I have suffered the
loss of all things and do count them as dung. that I may win
Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness, which is by the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Most folks are satisfied with
about $3 worth of God. You know, just enough to salve
the conscience, just enough to give them a false hope, just
enough to make them feel moral and, you know. The gospel doesn't allow for
that. The gospels, you're either all in or you're all out. It's
everything or it's nothing. And the natural man is offended
by it. He's offended by it. Christianity, true Christianity,
is a radical religion. Now, lest I be misunderstood
by that statement, it's not radical. like Islam or some forms of fundamentalism
in that it insists that everybody adhere to it. At the point of
the sword, you will become a Christian. Like Constantine trying to convert
the Roman Empire, the worst thing that could have happened is threaten
people to become Christians. No. We believe in the first amendment. We believe in the freedom of
speech and we will fight for a person's right to believe whatever
they want to believe. We're not radical in that sense. And we're not radical like some
forms of Buddhism and Buddhism Amish and, again, some forms
of fundamentalism that insist that its adherents cloister themselves
in some sort of society or commune where they've separated themselves
from the world. No, the Lord made it clear that
we are to be in the world, yet we're not of the world. He told the church at Corinth,
he said, I didn't tell you to separate yourself from the world. You'd
have to come out of the world. You'd have to create your own
little commune in order to do that. That's not what I'm talking
about. It's not radical in that it insists
upon some sort of strange behavior or customs in its dress or in
its diet or in its ceremonies. We're not radical in that regard,
but it is radical in that it refuses to compromise what it
believes. You might be surprised for me
to tell you this, but I listen occasionally to NPR in my car
on the radio. I mean, it is liberal, liberal,
liberal left-wing ideology. And the vehemence and the hatred
that they all, without exception, even the commentators, have towards
our president is so obvious. And it's so clear as to why they
feel that way. It's because of his unwillingness
to be politically correct. And their idea is that, you know,
we're just going to believe everything and anything and let everybody
have their own way. I wrote down a quote from one
of the commentators. I hope I can find it here. Here it is. He said, I dare to
listen to all opinions and ideas because I'm committed to find
some common ground on which we can all stand. Priding himself in his liberal
ideology to be broad-minded and consider everybody's opinion
so that we can find some common ground where we can all stand. Well, he wouldn't find any common
ground here, would he? And that's where we are radical. There is no common ground. You
have friends and family members just like I do who will say things
like, can't we just agree to disagree? And we have to say, I can't even
agree to that. Can't we find some common ground
on which we can agree? I'm sorry. The Lord has taught
me the truth. Say, if you will, that I'm beside
myself. Say, if you will, that I'm being
narrow-minded. Make the accusations all you
want, that I'm being cruel and unloving and uncompassionate. It's not true. I'm speaking the
truth in sobriety. Turn to me to Nehemiah chapter
six. I make reference to this occasionally
and I want us to read it this morning. You see, the gospel will change
everything. Paul put it like this. He said,
old things, when we become new creatures in Christ Jesus, All
things are passed away, yea, all things, all things become
new. It's a radical idea to have all
of your religious opinions that you held to before the Lord taught
you the gospel to be turned into dung. But that's what Paul was
talking about when he said, I've suffered the loss of all things
and do count them as dung. All those religious opinions
that I had, all that work mentality that I had, all that free will
ideas that I had, it belongs in the toilet. That's what he
would say. That's radical. That's hard language. How many
times the Lord would make statements like, if you don't eat of my
flesh and drink of my blood, there's no life in you? None. And the scripture said, and these
were hard sayings, they could not bear them. And his disciples
left him. And he looked at his own 12 and
he said, aren't you gonna go with them? Will you leave me
also? What'd they say? Where shall
we go? You alone have the words of eternal
life. We know and are sure that thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. You've shut us up
to this radical religion. We've got no options. We can't
compromise. We can't consider any other opinion. We can't find any common ground
with anyone else. When Nehemiah brought the children
of Israel back from Babylon and rebuilt the temple and the city,
the city walls. And that's the picture of the
church. This church is walled. It's interesting in Nehemiah
chapter 6 that even after the walls were finished, the gates
were still open. The gates had not been finished.
And that's the way it is. The inhabitants of this city
live in the city. And yet the gates are open. Anyone
can come in. And anyone can go out. But we don't want to do it. And the walls represent the inflexibility
and the limits of this gospel truth. You see, when God teaches
you the gospel, everything changes in terms of what you think about
yourself. What you think about yourself.
You thought, well, I can do something. At least I can make a decision.
And then the Lord taught you the gospel and you were radically
convinced that I was dead, dead in my trespasses and sins. I
couldn't do anything. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't
look. I couldn't see. I couldn't decide. I couldn't do anything. Now I
understand that I am in need of regeneration. God has to breathe
life into me. sovereignly and make me willing
in the day of his power. That's a radical idea. I thought, I thought, and that's
our problem, isn't it? You thought, you thought that
I was altogether as thyself. I thought I was dealing with
just a God that was kind of like me and he could be reasoned with
like I can be reasoned with. But I now know that He is absolutely
sovereign. He has the sovereign right to
do with me whatsoever He wills. And that everything that happens
in this world, in heaven, under the earth, in the world to come
are all controlled by His sovereign hand. I'm completely dependent
upon it. You see, it's a radical religion.
There's no room for compromise. There's no room for exceptions. There's no room for political
correctness. There's no room for any common
ground whatsoever. I told you I had a neighbor who
died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 50. A perfectly
healthy looking man. But a couple months before he
died, sharing the gospel with him, and he looked at me and
he said, boy, sounds like to me you guys are either all in
or all out. And I said, well, yeah, that's
kind of the gist of it. Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 1, now
it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian
and the rest of our enemies heard that I had builded the wall and
that there was no breach left therein." That's important. There's no breach. There's no
exceptions. There's no loopholes. There's
no cracks in the wall. It's a solid wall. though at the time I had not
set up the doors upon the gates." The doors are open. That's Samballot and Geshem. Now these were men that were
descendants of those who were left behind when 70 years earlier
the children of Israel were exiled to Babylon. Those who were exiled
to Babylon remained separate from the Babylonians. So now
when Nehemiah and Ezra bring the children of Israel back from
Babylon, those are just as pure Jewish as they were when they
left. But those who were left behind, now the way of war then
I guess has been that way for a long time. The conquering nation
or the conquering king would oftentimes bring people from
other nations and mix them. in order to water down their
culture and their religion. And that's exactly what Nebuchadnezzar
did. And so those Jews that were left
behind after the exile were mixed in with other pagan cultures.
And now Nehemiah comes back, they're calling themselves Jews.
These are the descendants of the Samaritans. This is where
the Samaritans came from, Sanballat and Tobiah. And, but here we
have 480 years earlier, 450 years earlier, they wanted to be considered
to be Jewish, but they could not prove their lineage. You
had to be able to prove your lineage. That's why the genealogy
in the Old Testament was so important. And their genealogy by now was
so messed up, they couldn't prove that they were Jewish. And they
were jealous of these Jewish half-brethren that had come back
from Babylon, and they wanted to find some common ground. So
Sanballat and Gashem sent him to me saying, come, let us meet
together in one of the villages of the plain of Ono. Oh no, I can't meet you there. They wanted to find some common
ground, but they thought to do me mischief. You see, that's
why we can't compromise the gospel because it would do us mischief. This is not a matter of us trying
to keep people out. We don't want to keep anybody
out. We cry to the world, come. The
Spirit and the bride say, come. Why are you being so inflexible?
Because this is my salvation I'm protecting. This is the glory of my God I'm
protecting. You're welcome to come. I'd love
for you to come. And I sent messengers unto them
saying, I'm doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why
should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you? And
they sent unto me four times after this sort and I answered
them after the same manner. They just kept persisting. Yeah, it took probably 15 years. before my immediate family quit
trying to get me to listen to their views and sit down with
them and have a religious conversation and go to their religious meetings. It took that many years until
they finally just gave up. Here's what they'll do, isn't
it? He kept sending the same letter. And what did Nehemiah
say? He just kept giving them the
same answer. He didn't change his message, did he? Verse five, then sent Sambalad
his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter
in his hand, wherein it was written, it is reported among the heathen
and Gashmu saith it. Of course, Gashmu, you know,
He's a pagan. He said it, so it must be true.
We don't believe what you say, but we're going to believe what
he says. That thou and the Jews think to rebel. Y'all are just
being proud. Now there's nothing more humbling
than the gospel. Well, it's not a matter of pride. For which cause thou buildest
the wall that thou mayest be their king according to these
words. You're just trying to set yourself
up as king. You're just promoting yourself.
You know what they say? Nothing's changed, has it? It's
exactly the same. When we insist on the truth of
the gospel, like Mary, well, he's just beside
himself. He's gone too far. Can't we just
find some common ground? In verse seven, and thou hast
also appointed prophets to preach for the Jerusalem saying, this
is the King in Judah. In other words, you're pretending
to be preaching the word of God, but those are your prophets.
You put your words in their mouth to promote yourself. I know what
they say. I know what some of your family
members say about me, about this church. Hadn't changed, has it? Hasn't changed a bit. And now shall it be, and here's
the, you see, those who are threatened by the opinions of the world, well, they could never preach
the gospel. And it's, the Lord said, don't be surprised
if they persecute you for righteousness sake. I told you this way it
was going to be. They killed the master, surely
they're going to treat the servants just as bad. It's to be reported
to the King according to these words, come now therefore, and
let us take counsel together. Now they've resorted to threats.
Now it's not, you know, let's just find some common ground
and we'll all get along. We're all Jews. No, we're not
all Jews. And so now, because they refused
to submit to that plea, now they've gone the next step and threatened
them. Then I sent unto him saying,
there is no such thing done as thou sayest. Somebody falsely
accuses you and the gospel and your pastor and your church and
your Lord, stand up for him. Paul did. Paul stood up to Festus. Festus had the power to have
him put to death. Paul said, I'm not, I'm not mad. I'm telling
you the truth. but thou faintest them out of
thine own heart. You're lying. You're lying. You've made this up in your own
imagination of what you're saying about us is not true. For they all made us afraid saying
their hand shall be weakened from the work that it be not
done. Now, therefore, oh God, strengthen
my hands. The Lord sends these threats.
And when they first come, we are threatened. We are afraid. Everybody, to some degree, fears
another man. And then that fear causes us
to turn to him and say, Lord, strengthen us. Give us resolve
to not compromise this gospel. Afterwards, I came, verse 10,
into the house of Shimei, the son of Deliah, the son of Mehetabiel,
who was shut up. And he said, let us meet together
in the house of God, where in the temple. And let us shut the
doors of the temple, for they will come to slay thee. Yea,
in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, should such a man
as I flee, And who is there that being as I am would go into a
temple, to the temple to save his life? I will not go in. I'm not gonna hide from them. God's my keeper. He's my protector. If he wants them to take my life,
the Lord said, don't fear them who can destroy your life and
take your life. They're not to be feared. but
fear him rather who has the power and the authority to cast both
body and soul into hell. Fear God, not man. And lo, I perceived, verse 12, that God had not sent him. See,
this guy came, these men came as emissaries of God. They said,
the Lord has spoken to us and he's revealed to us that you're
supposed to go into the temple and hide yourself. But I perceive
that God had not sent him, but that he pronounced this prophecy
against me. For Tobiah and Samballot had
hired him. Therefore was he hired that I
should be afraid and do so and sin. And that they might have
matter for an evil report that they might reproach me. My God,
think thou upon Tobiah and Samballot according to these, their words
and on the prophecies of Noah, Noah, Daya and the rest of the
prophets that would have put me in fear. So the wall was finished. The
wall was finished. In the 25th year of the month
of Elul, in 52 days, And it came to pass when all our enemies
heard thereof and all the heathen that were about us saw these
things. They were much cast down in their
own eyes and they perceived that this work was wrought of our
God. Moreover, in those days, the
nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah And the letters of
Tobiah came unto them, for there were many in Judah sworn unto
him. But he was the son of the law of Shekinah, the son of Arah,
and his son Jehonim had taken the daughter of Mishulam, the
son of Berechit." These were family members. These men had
intermarried and they had relatives. You know, what's the threat?
You're going to sacrifice your blood family for your church
and for your gospel? You're going to do that? I'm
sorry. I must. Also, they reported his good
deeds before me and uttered my words to him to buy assent letters
to put me in fear. So they worked on the wall with
a, with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. The sword of the spirit is the
word of God, isn't it? We have one final source of authority
and we cannot compromise what God has said. And the question
that we ask in every situation, what sayeth the scriptures? What
does God say about it? Because that's where I have to
stand. We have an inflexible standard
by which we judge all things. Now, I know what the world says
and the religious world even will say to that, they'll say,
well, that's your interpretation of the Bible. My experience has been over the
years that the people that make such a statement don't have a
clue what the Bible says. They've not read it. They don't
resort to it. They don't reflect upon it. Because
the truth is that the Bible is not complicated. It's very clear. It's very simple. You see, it
doesn't take a degree in theology. It doesn't take a great intellect
to understand the Bible. It's been said that believing
God is not a matter of IQ, it's a matter of I will. And the I
will comes when God makes you willing. When God makes you willing,
you just believe what God says. So it's not, you know, let the
theologians split hairs over their doctrine all they want.
We just believe what God says. That's it. They're hard sayings, I know.
When the Lord teaches them to you, there's not a religion in
the world radical as the gospel. There's common ground to be found
in every religion of the world, some common ground. And generally
it has to do with free will and good works. The Lord said before Abraham
was, I am. and they took up stones to stone
him. That's too radical for us. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man can come to the Father
except by me. That's radical. Isn't there some exception to
that? No. No exception. No exception. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy and whom I will? Hard. I said, that's radical. The disciples
came even after the Lord had identified them as his true family.
The disciples came to the Lord one day and they said, ah, Lord,
you have offended the Pharisees. Can't you just soften it a little
bit? Can't you just take the edge
off of it? Can't you figure out some way
to take the offense out of it? Don't you know that you're upsetting
everybody? And the Lord looked at them and
said, every tree which my father hath not planted will be rooted
up. Leave them alone. They are blind guides leading
the blind and they're all gonna fall into the ditch. Now you
wanna end up in the ditch with the Pharisees, Then just find
the valley of Ono and sit down and compromise with them. And
that's where you end up, isn't it? Or you can be like Nehemiah,
with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God in one
hand and a trowel in the other hand, and refuse to come down
a great work he has given me. I cannot come. You're welcome to come. The gates
are open. Please come. And if God's pleased to teach
you the gospel, you'll understand why I'm this way. th th