Looking in the book of Mark,
I was thinking there as Brother Thomas was speaking about the
love that we ought to have to one another. And I came to my
mind that one of the greatest detriments to loving one another
as we ought to love one another is when we get it in our fleshly
mind that we do love one another. as we ought to love one another.
You know, when you get to the place where you think you have
done what you ought to do, then you have missed the point of
what John was saying there. Because who can describe the
depths and the wideness and the richness of the love of God towards
his chosen people? and what is the limit to which
we would go in our love one to the other. May he work such things
in us and make us to be those indeed that love one another
as we ought to love. Now I think this is a true thing
that we know how we ought to love, but it is our greatest
lament that we do not love one another as we ought to love.
and it is true that god works in us both the will and to do
of his good pleasure and one of the ways in which he works
in us is to constantly remind us how far short of perfection
that we are we strive for it we desire it and that is the
work of the spirit in us because it gives us that desire that
uh... wanting to be pleasing in the
Lord's sight. But the moment that a man comes
to that place where he says, well, now I'm pleasing in the
Lord's sight, he has missed the mark, has he not? Because we're
striving to enter in at the straight gate. We hadn't got in there
yet, but we are striving to enter there. There is a broad way which
leadeth unto death, and many go in there at. which few people find, as the
Lord said. Now we're looking here in Mark
chapter eight, and we're fixing to look at his
dealing with a blind man. And he cometh to Bethsaida, and
they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the
town. And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon
him, he asked him if he saw any ought or anything. And he looked
up and said, I see men as trees walking. After that, he put his
hand again upon his eyes and made him look up and he was restored
and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house,
saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town. And Jesus went out and his disciples
unto the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And by the way, he asked his
disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And
they answered, John the Baptist. But some say Elias, and others
one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Peter answered and saith
unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they
should tell no man of him. And he began to teach them that
the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the
elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and
after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly
and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. But when he had
turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter,
saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men. And when he had
called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto
them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
and the gospels, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit
a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and
sinful generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed
when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels. Now we see him coming into Bethsaida
and as we have pointed out numerous times, he didn't go to Bethsaida
on a happenstance. He wasn't there by chance. He wasn't there because he was
planning to go somewhere else. He was indeed going somewhere
else, but he was going to Bethsaida because there was a blind man
in Bethsaida. Now this blind man didn't know
who he was, but he knew who the blind man was. That's a glorious
thing. You know, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. Long before we ever know Him,
He knows us. If we belong to Him, then He
knows He saw us as He saw Nathanael. He said, I saw thee when thou
wast under the fig tree. Now that was quite a shock to
Nathanael because Nathanael thought he was all alone. He thought
that he was in meditation before God. But the Lord knew him. long before he ever knew him.
And so this blind man was not a stranger unto the Lord. The Lord had made this blind
man's eyes exactly as he wanted them to be. He was blind. Now there are many who tell us
that the maladies and illnesses and deformities and all of these
things that occur in the world are the work of the devil. and
that he has caused all these things to come to pass, but the
Lord made us exactly as he would have us to be. He made Adam just
like he wanted Adam to be. Now some say, well, you know,
Adam messed up the whole plan of God. It was God's plan to
make this, put this man in this garden and for things to just
go like a fairy tale, and Adam messed it up. I'm telling you,
God made Adam just like he wanted him to be. He made Adam in order
that he might demonstrate the glory of his grace and the salvation
of sinners. Adam was the first sinner. And
so indeed, he has brought that sin upon men. But this has not
been a thing that has taken God by surprise, nor did he institute
the concept of redemption as a result of what Adam did. Because
before Adam ever sinned, the Savior was the Savior. He was
ordained unto this end, unto his purpose. And so it is with
this blind man. So he took the blind man by the
hand and led him out of the town. Now what if this blind man, I
think sometimes people might think this is silly, but I don't
necessarily think it is. What if something had happened
to this blind man in his youth and he had lost his arm? What if he'd lost both arms?
Could the Lord have taken him by the hand? No. Now the thing,
what I'm pointing out is, he had a hand because God gave him
a hand. And the Lord led him by the hand
that he made. And he brought him out. He took the man by the hand,
the scripture says. And he led him out of the town.
And when he had spit on his eyes, Now there's another case, you
know, in the scripture when the Lord made, spat on the ground
and he made clay and he put it on a blind man's eyes. He didn't do that here. He spit
in the man's eyes. Now can you think of, that's
pretty much about as low a thing as could happen insofar as men
are, it's the most humiliating thing. But think about this,
the blind man didn't know any different, did he? See, men often
take a front at things, but you see a sinner in the presence
of Almighty God, he's just, and he doesn't take a front at that.
Now you, you know, you go and you preach the doctrine of God's
sovereign grace to religious men, and they'll turn on you. They'll rend you. They hate it.
They don't want you to talk about God choosing a people. unto salvation,
and reprobating others unto damnation. They don't want to hear that.
But you take a sinner, somebody that's broken hearted before
Almighty God who knows that his only hope of salvation is to
be found in the mercy and grace of Almighty God, he's not going
to balk at that. He can't balk at it. Because
all he can do is be as the publican, oh God be merciful to me a sinner.
I mean, theology was not the thing that motivated the old
public, was it? No, it was the knowledge of his
sin. And you see, that's the place where the Lord, in his
mercy, brings men. Now, I think theology is a great
thing. And I think sound theology is
a great thing. And I think that poor theology
is a terrible thing. You know, anything that does
not bring glory to God, but I'm telling you, theology will not
save you. It will not necessarily bring
you to a place where you may know about salvation. But when
the Spirit of God blows upon a man, as the Lord said, the
wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound thereof, but
you can't tell where it's coming from. When the Lord breathes
upon a sinner and shows him that he is a sinner, then he'll begin
to call upon the Lord. And he doesn't care what theology
you may come tell him. He just wants to hear something.
He wants to hear about the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. And so,
here was this man. He was blind. He couldn't see.
He didn't seek the Lord out. He didn't say, Lord, give me
sight now we have some blind men in the scriptures that did
do that and the Lord would teach us different things with different
people but he took this blind man by the hand and he spit in
his face spit in his eyes now he has the right to do that does
he not? I mean if the Lord wants to spit in your face what can
you do about it? and if the Lord in mercy spits
in your face you won't take offense at it either because you know
you deserve. What could really and truly,
how humiliated could you be and it be too much? I mean if a man
knows himself to be worth, to have no worth. before the Lord,
as far as he has nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross
I cling, naked come to thee for grace, helpless look to thee
for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash
me, Savior, or I die. Is it not a mercy if the Lord
should spit in our face? I mean, think about this man
here. And so the Lord spat in his face,
put his hands upon him. And he asked him if he saw anything.
And he looked up and he said, I see men as trees walking. Now
what did he mean? He said, I can see, but I can't
see. I mean, I can see more than I
ever could see. Now isn't that like, that's just
how it is, is it not, when the Lord brings us center from darkness
to light? I mean, he doesn't cause a man
to see everything clearly all at one time, does he? I mean
I look back on my own life and I think of the gross ignorance
that I walked in for so long but yet the Lord in his mercy
and kindness was wooing me and drawing me and teaching me and
there was never a moment in my life when I was not exactly where
the Lord would have me to be. What a glorious thing. And so
he could see me in his trees walking. Now could not the Lord
have just given him perfect 20-20 vision just like that? Well sure
he could have. But he would teach us that he
can do things just exactly like he wants to. Now some people
say, well that's cruel. Why didn't he just go ahead and
give him eyes to see? Because he wanted for the man
to know exactly how far from seeing the bigger picture he
was when he was there, but he could see a little. He didn't
know the answer, just like the man who was crippled from birth,
and he comes in there, or was blind from birth, and they were
gonna put him out of the synagogue, and he said, this man's a sinner. He said, well, whether he's a
sinner or not, he says, I don't know. But he says, I know one
thing. He says, as I was blind, now I can see. And so it is that
the Lord gives men sight, and He does not give every man the
clearest of sight immediately. In fact, I don't believe He gives
any man the clearest of sight immediately. I mean, think of
the Apostle Paul. I mean, the Lord blinded him, did He not?
And then He gave him his sight back, but Paul didn't know everything
all at once. But the Lord taught him, took
him into the desert, and He taught him. And after this, he put his
hands again upon his eyes and made him look up and he was restored
and he saw every man clearly. Oh, what a glorious thing when
the Lord is pleased to bring a man to see things clearly.
Now we see through a glass darkly even at the present moment. But
oh, what a glorious thing it is to see the glories of Christ
revealed in the word of God. Now, I don't know everything.
I mean, like Job there. Job knew some stuff, but he didn't
know what he needed to know. And you know, that's what we
pray for, is Lord teach us what we need to know. You know, not
what we want to know. See, Job had enough knowledge
that he could sit around and he could argue with his friends
and he could maybe even prove his point to them or whatever.
But that wasn't where the Lord wanted Job to be, was it? No,
he was... See, the whole instance of the
book of Job is about the Lord bringing Job to where He wanted
him to be. Now, Job thought he was doing
pretty good to start with, didn't he? I mean, he was a man of astute
evil. He prayed for his family. I mean,
he was an upright man. But he wasn't where God wanted
him to be. Oh brethren, when you get to thinking that you're
where God wants you to be or that you've arrived at some place,
now it is a true thing that we can all look at our lives and
we can say we're not what we once were. But we cannot say
we are what we hope to be. And so this man, the Lord gave
him his sight. He saw every man clearly and
he sent him away to his house saying, neither go into the town
nor tell it to anybody in the town. Don't go make a fanfare
of this. Keep it to yourself. And Jesus
went out and his disciples to the towns of Caesarea Philippi.
And by the way, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men
say that I am? Because And he knew, did he not? I mean, when you read in the
scripture and the Lord's asking questions of his disciples, he's
not asking the question, so he might know, so he might get the
information. He's asking the question so that
he might teach his disciples what they need to know. It's
just like prayer. You know, prayer is not so that
we can get God to do what we want him to do. Now, that's the
picture most people have of prayer. It's like God's a big vending
machine, and you can just put in your faith money up here,
and then wait down here at the slot, and it'll come out. But
you see, the whole purpose of prayer is not so that we might
change the mind of God, but so that God, in His mercy, might
change our mind to be in conformity with His will. Thus we pray,
not my will, but thine be done. And so it is, that's the purpose
of that, even as the Lord asked this question, whom do men say
that I am? And they said, well, some say
you're John Baptist. Remember Herod, he thought that
maybe that's who he was. And some say Elias and others,
one of the prophets. Now a lot of people still say
those things, do they not? I mean, there's a lot of people
that believe, oh yes, Jesus was a great prophet. Well, no, he
was not a great prophet. He is the prophet. He's not one
of a group. He is the prophet. He is the
word of God. And he saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? Now, that's the important question
that he would ask them. And that's the important question
that we would ask one another. Who do you say that Jesus Christ
is? Because therein is the crux of
the matter. Do you believe that he is almost
God? Or that he might be God? Or that he's kind of like a secondary
figure? Whom do men say that I am? And
Peter, Answered and said unto him thou art the Christ now in
one of the other gospels in fact I think two of them. He says
thou art the Christ the son of the living God But and and the Lord said to
Peter Peter flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my father
which is in heaven See, Peter couldn't have even had that little
bit of knowledge that he had. Now, Peter thought that he had
great knowledge of who Christ was because, see, Peter had been
taught what Christ would do when he came into the world. And the
Jews believed that when Christ came, he would just set them
free from all their oppressors. And Peter, he's just chomping
at the bits for a good fight. because that's the kind of person
he was. And so he was excited about this. Oh man, we finally
found the Messiah and he is going to lead us to conquer our enemies. Now just think about it. The
Lord just told him. He just confessed that he knew
that this was the Christ. We believe thou art the Son of
God. Thou art the Christ. The Lord told him, flesh and
blood didn't tell you that. And then he charged them that
they should tell no man. And he began to teach them. Now,
when the Lord began to teach them, think about this. Here's
Peter. He confessed, I ought to Christ,
son of the living God. We believe it. We're all in. Peter said, everybody's gonna
depart from you, but I won't, buddy, I'm here, I've got it.
And the Lord then started teaching them what was gonna happen. Peter wasn't having any of that.
Because you see, that wasn't in Peter's playbook. That wasn't
in what Peter anticipated. That wasn't what Peter wanted
the Lord to do. And he began to teach them that
the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the
elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and
after three days rise again. Well, that doesn't sound like
a very good playbook to Peter. And he took the Lord and I said,
Lord, you know, you haven't read the book. I mean, this isn't
what the elders and the people, you know, the Pharisees, this
isn't what they've been teaching us. Because when Messiah comes,
he's going to triumph. And so what did the Lord say
to Peter? Get thee behind me Satan. Wow! Now was the Lord
saying that Peter was satanic? Was he putting a curse upon Peter
or something? No, he was pointing out the fact
that such concepts that deny the redeemer of sinners, the
one who would pour out his life's blood for sinners, be rejected
of men, those messages that come against that are from the devil. That's from the powers of darkness. Paul said it like this, God forbid
that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ. He
said, if any man come preaching to you any other message than
what you have received, let him be accursed. Now, brethren, we
don't, I'm not wanting to condemn anybody. That's not my purpose
ever. But I'm telling you this, Any
message that men preach that is not Jesus Christ and Him crucified unequivocally is an accursed message. I mean, it's not a partial message.
Now, the Lord can use whatever He is pleased to use. He does
in consternation of men, because He doesn't need men. But I'm
telling you the gospel, there's only one gospel. And that is
that Jesus Christ died for his elect people. He paid the price
for their sin. And he will deliver them out
of the darkness in which they are. And will present them faultless
before the throne of God. There is no other gospel than
that. Now there are many messages out here. But that's the true
message. That's the only message. Jesus
is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father
but by me. Now I don't believe men are saved
by the gospel. Men are not saved by hearing
a man preach the gospel. But the Lord has sent the gospel
to be preached by men to bring life and immortality to light. so that we might declare the
unsearchable riches of Christ. And the Lord is pleased to cause
men to hear that message and rejoice in it. And how he does
that is his business in his own time and according to his own
purpose. But he rebuked Peter. He said, for you don't savor
the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. See,
men want to pat one another on the back and say, oh, well, you
know, come along, you're doing fine. And though we don't necessarily
agree on all these things yet, I'm going to pat you on the back,
and you can pat me on the back, and we'll just all get in a rowboat
and go to heaven together. Brother, there's one message. There's one Lord. There's one
faith. It's one baptism. It's found in Christ, in Christ
alone, not Christ plus something, not Christ plus free will, not
Christ plus your choice, but it's Christ. And that is the
message. And the Lord would rebuke Peter
when he said, you don't savor the things that be of God. And
when he had called the people unto him with his disciples,
he tells them something very startling. Whosoever will come
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall
save it. Now that's pretty strong words, is it not? But is it not
true that as the Lord gave the example of pure self-denial,
is that not what he calls his people to? I mean, we're called
to deny ourselves. Now, a lot of people like to
think of that as, well, you know, well, you know, I kind of like
eating pork, but I'm gonna quit eating pork. I'm gonna deny myself. Or I'm not gonna do this, or
I'm not gonna do that. That's not to deny oneself. That's
to be religious. See, to deny oneself is when
a man smites you on the right cheek to turn to him the left. When a man sues you at the law
to take away your coat, you give him your cloak also. Because
you see, the one thing you don't want to do is be humiliated before
men, is it not true? I mean, we want to triumph. I mean, it's just not within
us to deny ourself. We want to come out on the top
end. But to deny oneself is the very
essence of what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Not to live for ourself, but
to live unto His glory. Whether therefore you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of Christ. Brother
Thomas spoke there a moment ago about eating the meat sacrificed
to idols. Now, Paul said, look, you can
eat any kind of meat you want to. It don't matter what it was
offered to, where it came from. He said, you can eat it. But
he said, if it's going to cause your brother to stumble and make
him get to thinking, well, it's all right to worship these other
gods, then he said, I won't ever eat any more meat. He said, I'll
become a vegetarian if necessary. See, that's what it is to deny
ourself for our brethren's sake. Now, that's not a simple thing
to do. You know, for a man to think,
well, you know, I'm gonna practice self-denial, it gets back to what we started
off with. It's that ought to stuff. When you get to thinking
you have done that, then you've missed it. because to deny one's
self is the most difficult thing that a man will ever do in this
world. And it only is accomplished as
the Spirit of God works in his people, both willing to do of
his good pleasure. What shall it profit a man if
he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? You know what? So you gain, you triumph
in some fashion. or a great achiever. Nothing
wrong with achievement. You know, whatsoever thy hand
findeth to do, do it with all you might. If something's worth
doing, it's worth doing right. All those things are true. Nobody
would argue against them. But we must do so with the underlying
knowledge that all these things are passing away. What good are
they? We sang about it in a song there
a moment ago. They are of no use whatsoever. What can a man give in exchange
for his soul? Therefore, whosoever shall be
ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation. Now brethren, are we ashamed
of Christ and His Word? How are men ashamed of when they
seek to conform to the ways of the world? What the world says
is right. What the world says is good.
The values that the world has. And it slips in among us easily. But we're not looking to the
world for our pattern, but to Christ. Oh, that He might give
us grace that we might do so. For whosoever, He says, shall
be ashamed of the Son of Man, so shall the Son of Man be ashamed
when He comes in glory. Men who, he said, love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. For if a man
love the world, the love of the Father's not in him. Now different
people define the world in different ways and that, but this is, boils
down to this, anything that would keep a man from a full desire
to walk in the ways of Christ. is of the world. It's not of
any use. Because that's the place that
the world would bring us, is into bondage. There's freedom
in Christ. We're free to serve the Lord.
What a glorious privilege that is. Oh, that he might work that
in us.