She's coming. If you will take your Bibles
now and turn with me to Mark chapter 9. I titled the message this morning,
The Gospel, in a few words. I don't know how well folks know
the Bible and some of you have been reading the Bible since you were
small children or having the Bible read to you. Some of you
maybe haven't. Some of you maybe are just beginning
to get acquainted with it. But there's a little book about
halfway through titled Ecclesiastes. This is the preacher. And in
Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verses 1 and 2, we're told how to conduct
ourselves in worship, in the house of the Lord. We go in to
worship Him, and as we do, He tells us how to conduct ourselves,
how to act, what to do. He doesn't leave it up to us
to invent things, but he tells us how to worship him. And here's
what he said. He said, come and be more ready
to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools. For they consider not
that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and
let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God.
For God is in heaven. He's in heaven. And thou upon the earth, therefore
let thy words be few. And as I thought about these
verses, and the brevity that our Lord used to address his
disciples, and thought about different men that I read by,
different men that have their sermons recorded in books. And I believe it's nothing but
our flesh and natural reasoning that causes us to overload men
and women with biblical facts and doctrinal teaching when it's
taken us 30 years to learn it, and we throw it out on a congregation,
and after about the third point, they're just kind of looking
at each other like, what? I don't think we're doing them
any good at all. Fact is, I think we're doing
harm. I think also that we think through
much speaking and arguments we can reason men and women into
believing the truth. You can't reason a person into
believing faith is the gift of God. And while it comes through
preaching, it don't come through much preaching. It comes through
preaching. But we tend to want to do that. We want to sit down one-on-one,
butt and hold somebody, and argue. We think if we argue enough,
give them enough reasons, enough truth, enough whatever, we can
reason them right into the kingdom of God. But it's just not so.
And Paul tells us over and over that he did not come He told
the Corinthians, when I come to you, he said, I did not come
with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you
the testimony of God. He said, my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. It was in demonstration
of the spirit and power. And how did he sum up his preaching
to them? Do you remember? He said, for
I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. We preach the person and work
of our Lord in the plainest words possible and then wait for the
Lord to do his work. I can't go beyond that. It's not a sign to me to go beyond
that. But rather to just to declare
it, just to say, and all I'm saying is what God has said.
I don't have anything original. I don't have anything of me.
Also, we preach not ourselves. We preach Christ. I don't have
anything original to say. I'm just saying what the Lord
said. So let's read these three verses
here in Mark chapter nine with this on our mind, the gospel
in a few words. Mark chapter nine beginning with
verse 30. And they departed thence and
passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should
know it. For he taught his disciples.
And he said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is
killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not
that saying, and were afraid to ask him. Now as briefly and as plainly
as I can, I hope to point out four things in these verses that
we all need to take note of. First of all, I want you to notice
the sovereignty of God in the revelation of his glory, in the
declaration of his gospel, the sovereignty of God. It says, I read this to you,
he passed through Galilee And he would not that any man should
know it. He went right through Galilee. And he told his disciples, don't
you tell a soul that I'm here. That's the sovereignty of God. And this was the son of God.
This wasn't an ambassador or this wasn't a minister appointed
by God, this is the son of God, this is the eternal word made
flesh. And he declares his sovereignty
to his disciples by telling them that no man should know it. And
the reality of salvation, it's just so contrary to the thinking
of religious men and women They all think and believe that it's
the will of God for all men, without exception, to believe,
and that's just not so. That God'll keep right on begging,
keep right on pleading with men to believe, though they heard
it and cast it aside, and heard it again and cast it aside, They saw the son of God do things
that no man could do. God verified or ratified his
son. This is my son. And he did so
with miracles. That's what Peter told him on
the day of Pentecost. He did this as you yourselves
also know it. He did these things. God did
these things by him in your midst. raised the dead, cleansed the
lepers, gave sight to the blind, gave ears to the dead, cast out
demons. He did things that no man could
do and he did it right before your eyes and you still cast
him aside. My friend, it's a dangerous thing
to hear the gospel and then just set it aside. like they did on
Mars Hill when Paul preached to them. And when he come to
the resurrection, some said, that's enough. We'll hear you
again another time. I've had enough. We're just gonna
set this aside. And I couldn't tell you how many
people just since I've been here as your pastor, I couldn't tell
you how many people have done that very thing. We'll hear you
again. We'll hear you again. I'll be
back, I'll be back. But they didn't come back. And
some of them went out to meet the Lord. It's a dangerous thing to hear
the gospel and just set it aside. The scripture said, he that believeth
not shall be damned. That ought to raise a hair up
on the back of your neck. Listen to this one out of the
book of Proverbs. He that being often reproved,
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy. God said, you said it not on
my counsel. You would none of my reproach.
I told you things to help you. I told you things sufficient
to turn you. But you didn't want my counsel.
and you wouldn't have any of my reproof. Therefore, they shall
eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their
own devices. I don't know how you look at
it, but my friend, hearing is a great privilege. Not everybody's
permitted to hear. None of those in Galilee who
had seen the Lord's miracle so many times, none of them was
permitted to hear Him again. He said, you don't tell them
I'm here. He passed through Galilee and
those who had seen the display of his power and glory and heard
his gracious words went back to their old customs, went back
to their old religion, went back to their old priesthood. Paul said this over in the book
of Hebrews, he said, if God took the willful transgressors under
the law, the law was read to the people, the punishments were
read to the people, the whole law declared to them, and the
soul that sinneth shall surely die, that's what the Lord said.
And the willful transgressors of that law were taken out with
two witnesses, And they were stoned to death. Now listen. He said, Of how much
sore of punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite under the Spirit of grace. How much sore of punishment,
suppose you, shall he be thought worth? So let the impact of those words
go home to you. I would not that any man should
know it. He passed right through their
midst. And this is the sovereignty of
God and the revelation of his glory. And if God has been gracious
enough, to reveal himself to you. Don't you dare cast it aside. Don't treat it like it's just
something common and ordinary or something that all of a sudden
you were able to produce in yourself. Don't treat it that way. This
is the gift of God, the gift of God. And it's His sovereign will that
permitted it. And then the second thing I want
us to see is the title that He gives for Himself. He taught
His disciples. He didn't teach anybody in Galilee.
He didn't say another word to them. For He taught His disciples
and He said unto them, The Son of Man. The Son of Man. What's that mean, the Son of
Man? Well, everything that God would
have sinners to know begins here, the Son of Man. Man is ruined by the fall. He
lives out his days under the curse of God. He is by nature
a child of wrath, even as others. That's what God said. I know
what men say, but this is what God said. Paul said, let God be true and
every man a liar. The death of his daddy Adam has
passed upon all men. They're all born with a fallen
nature. They come forth from the womb
speaking lies. They go astray as soon as they'd
be born. There's no fear of God, Paul
said, before their eyes. And but for God, all would be
lost. It would perish in their own
ignorance, all these sons of Adam. Perish in their own ignorance
and rebellion. But in Ephesians 2, having stated
the death, what that death was, you hath he quickened who are
dead in trespasses and sins. And then he goes on and tells
us what that death was all about, and he sums it all up, saying
we were the children of wrath, even as others. even as others. And then he says this, but God,
but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together in Christ by grace, ye are saved. And hath raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, And he did all of this that in the ages to come
he might show the exceeding of riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. Now the Son of Man is a unique
title and it's given to Christ as the representative and substitute
of his people. Paul said he's the head of the
body, the church, who is the beginning. Beginning. In the beginning, God ordained,
chose, whatever word you want to say, appointed a head. And that head is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the federal head. And it's by way of Him that provision
is guaranteed to the whole house of God. That's the hope of man. The hope of man. Christ, he is
the beginning. We're heirs of God, Romans 8,
17, and joint heirs with Christ. We wouldn't even be heirs were
it not for Christ. There would have been no son
of man but for Christ. And when Adam fell, God would
have closed the book and destroyed everything that was but for Christ. Son of man, that's the hope set
before us and to whom all the prophets gave witness. And what
a glorious thing indeed to discover that God, the son, God's own
son, is also the son of man. If you look at that phrase, now
when he says son of God, it's all capitalized, but when he
says son of man, just the son is capitalized. Man's still in
little layers. But he's the son, God's son. But he's also the son of man.
He's the beginning. And then the third thing I want
us to see here is the means by which the son of man shall accomplish
his salvation. The disciples no doubt looked
upon Jesus as David served him in a pattern. This is what they've
been taught. They looked on him just as they
looked on David and read about David in the prophets. David
came from a lowly beginning, and then by the grace and power
of God was given favor by the people. He was met with strong
opposition and fault, but God established him as his elect
in power. And these disciples were just
waiting and just kind of biding their time, so to speak. Waiting
for him to take the throne in the power of God and overcome
all their enemies and return Israel again to those former
days of glory. When they were number one in
the earth and all men feared the nation of Israel, they feared
God. This is what Peter and John and all of them, this is what
they believed was going to happen. That's why they were so disappointed
when Christ died. They said, we thought that he
would be the Messiah. We thought he was the Messiah. It took that away from them.
Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, the
Spirit of God revealed that to him. Why all of a sudden did
he say, we thought he was? Now we're disappointed. Because
he died. He died. They weren't expecting
him to die. They were expecting him to be
exalted to the throne. The nation of Israel was going
to be formed again. Jesus was going to be their king.
Now you know that Jesus is the same word for Joshua in the Old
Testament. Joshua led them into the promised
land, got them the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ, and now
comes Jesus, the New Testament Joshua, the real Joshua. He's
the deliverer, and this is what they expected of him. But the Lord said something totally
contrary to their thinking. In Mark chapter nine, verse 31,
he said, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they
shall kill him. I'm going on this morning for
30 minutes talking about his death. He did it in 15 seconds. He said, the Son of Man is gonna
be delivered to men, and they're gonna kill him. They're going
to kill him. He's not going to sit on the
throne on this earth. There's not going to be an earthly
kingdom. None of these things that you're thinking is going
to come to pass. What's going to come to pass is the son of
man is going to be delivered. Well, who's going to deliver
him? This is God coming into the flesh. God. What's he going
to do with him? He's going to deliver him into
the hands of men. And when it does, they're gonna
kill him. So picture, if you can, a big
puzzle. And these men have been working
on this puzzle for years. They've been working on it for
years, trying to put it all together. Now there are just a few pieces
left, and when they pick up those last pieces, they don't fit. You ever put a puzzle together
and get frustrated? You just want to, after a while,
just take your hand and make that thing fit. That's what they
were trying to do with all these preconceived notions. They're
trying to make them fit. That's what Every natural man
does when he hears the gospel. He's got all these preconceived
notions, things that he's heard over the years, all this luggage
that he's carrying with him. And he hears the truth for the
first time and the pieces of his puzzle won't fit. And he
tries to force them, he just tries to beat them into place.
I know this is gonna, no it ain't gonna fit. It ain't gonna fit. Religions work for centuries
putting their puzzle together, but the pieces that they have
left just won't fit. And the problem is the same as
the disciples here. They don't understand the death
of Christ. That's the problem. If a man
understood the death of Christ and why that death had to be,
he wouldn't be talking about universal love and universal
salvation. Christ said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save, who? His people from their sins. But no, we got this idea in our
head and we're gonna make it fit no matter what. And the only
way they can make it fit is just keep writing new additions to
the Bible and taking things out. But they're so ignorant they
don't know what to take out. They don't understand the death
of Christ. If they preach His death as an
atonement, then His death must be effectual because this is
the Son of God. There's no way that God could
turn down the death of His Son as insufficient. They can't preach
that. And since they believe that he
died for all mankind, then everybody must be saved, because his death
was sufficient. And since that can't be, they
move entirely away from the death of Christ and start working on
man's faith, saying, well, he didn't believe. And that's what
made the death of Christ of none effect. They won't fit. None of these
things will fit because that exalts faith above the atonement
of Christ. And all the while it's obvious
that the problem is that they're ignorant of the death of Christ. They're ignorant of the death
of Christ. And this is why Paul was determined to know nothing
among them Save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Nothing's
going to fit. Nothing's going to work. Nothing's
going to comfort you until you understand the death of Christ. Who is this man? Why did he come? What did he do? And where is
he now? Everything that God has purposed
from eternity culminated in the death of Christ. Paul talked
to the Ephesian elders and told them that he knew that he was
about to die, that his ministry was about to come to an end. And he said, I testify to you
the gospel of the grace of God. And then he defines that clearly
as the person and work of Christ. And he said, I have not shunned
to declare unto you the whole counsel of God. The whole counsel
of God culminated in the death of Christ. He's the lamb slain, scripture
said, before the foundation of the world. We were justified
in the purpose of God before the world was. And the redemption
he accomplished on the cross he declares to be eternal redemption. And I hear terms by preachers
like this. Eternity past. And eternity future. My friend, eternity is eternity. It's past and future. See, we're just a little dot. Just this little dot, just this
little space in eternity that we call time. And it had a beginning
and it'll have an ending. But God is eternal and everything
he does is eternal. Notice how his death is worded
in the text. I don't know if you picked up
on that when I read it or not. He didn't say the son of man
shall be delivered. He said the son of man is delivered. But he wasn't delivered yet.
Pilate hadn't laid hands on him yet. He hadn't been turned over
to the chief priest yet. But it said here that he is.
Well, how easy in God's eternal purpose. Son of man is delivered into
the hands of men, and though he was not delivered at that
time, yet he speaks of it as if it were something already
done. And this deliverance is unto death. And though it was
brought to pass by man, it is according to God's hand and his
counsel, Acts chapter four, which he determined before to be done. And then lastly, and I'll hurry
up, after that he is killed, it says he shall rise the third
day. And nearly everybody I've ever
known believes in the resurrection. If you don't think they do, just
get in your car and drive around on Easter morning. Everybody
believes in the resurrection. I've been hearing about the resurrection
and celebrating it from time to time, going out and hunting
Easter eggs when I was a kid. Sometimes when I was a little
older kid, I'd even get a new suit or something on Easter.
Couldn't just wear your old clothes, you had to wear something new. But the resurrection is a meaningless
doctrine until you understand who the Son of Man is and why
he came. In Romans chapter four and the
last verse, I think it's verse 25, he said, he was delivered
for our offenses. And he was raised again for our
justification. Oh, you mean when God raised
him from that tomb. And I read it to you out of Ephesians
two while ago. He raised us up together with
him. And when he stepped on that cloud,
we was with him. And when he ascended up to glory,
we were with him. And Paul said, we're seated with
him right now in glory. Already seated. The victory's
already won. We're seated at the right hand
of God. All is amen. It's a meaningless doctrine until
you understand something about who the Son of Man is and why
He came. Paul said, if Christ be not risen,
our preaching's vain. Ain't no reason to preach. If
He's still over in that tomb, if this whole thing was a trick,
if this whole thing was fake, where are all men most miserable?
Our preaching's vain, your faith is vain. If Christ be not risen,
we're yet in our sins. And all those who have already
died and went off, and we glean comfort knowing that there was
a good hope for them in Christ, they're just perished if Christ
be not raised. In fact, if all our hope is based
on an earthly Christ, With earthly blessings, we are of all men
most miserable. But now he is risen, Paul said. He's risen. And therefore he
is the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Oh, I tell you,
thank God he rose from the dead. And we were raised up with him.
Boy, that's good news to me. I'm telling you it is. Well, preachers, what do you
think God's gonna do with what you had to say this morning?
I don't know. I don't know. I know what he
can do, but I don't know what he will do. I don't know. But if he chooses not to demonstrate
these things to you and in you, there ain't nothing further I
can say. Ain't nothing I can add to it.
This is the gospel. This is what we preach over and
over and over. Somebody says, that's all that
man knows. They just go down there and rehearse
doctrine. They just keep going over the
same old thing. Well, I tell you, there ain't
nothing new to add to it, is there? And we don't have to see
the glory in what we hear. Isn't that funny how you just
read the same thing that you've read for years and all of a sudden
it just, boy, how sweet it is. Man, I mean, it's just like that
first grape you picked off that person. Oh, man, that thing's
so good, so good. And here you've been knowing
it all these years, and God just made it fresh. He calls it the
times of refreshing. That's what he calls it. Thank
God for it. All right, thank you.