The title of my message this
evening is Three Spiritual Evils. My text will be Mark chapter
11, verses 27 through 33. In this passage of scripture,
we see our Lord Jesus walking in the temple, apparently pacing
back and forth, walking as he spoke and taught the people.
He taught them the gospel of God's grace, preached the word
of God to them, explained to them the meaning of his doctrine
and of his mission in this world. And as he paced back and forth
preaching the gospel, a multitude began to gather around him, his
disciples were with him, and these crowds listened intently
to every word. Never a man spoke like this man.
He spoke as one having authority. Now the event recorded here took
place the day after our Lord had cursed the barren fig tree
and had driven the money changers from the temple. It occurs two
days after he had ridden into Jerusalem and been announced
the king and that one who had come in the name of the Lord
to deliver and save his people. In this crowd of folks who were
gathered around, listening and watching as they always were,
laying a track if they could, were the chief priests, the scribes,
and the elders of the people. Once more now they thought they
had a perfect opportunity to discredit the master. The Lord
Jesus had come into Jerusalem accepting the praises of men
as the Messiah of God, the Christ of God. He entered into the house
of God and drove out the money changers and drove them out,
setting things in order in the house of God as he who was the
master of the house. Indeed, he called the house of
God his own house and thus declared himself plainly to be the son
of God. Now, as he taught the gospel
in the house of God, contrary to that which was the accepted
tradition and the customs of the Jews, these great, respected,
scholarly, religious infidels, who were the religious leaders
of the Jewish world, dared to question the Son of God about
his authority. And this is where the story takes
up. Read it with me in verse 27. They came again to Jerusalem,
and he was walking in the temple. And there come to him the chief
priest, and the scribes, and the elders, and saying to him,
by what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee
this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, I will ask of you one question, one question. Answer me. And I will tell you by what authority
I do these things. Now here's his question. The
baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? That's not
so tough. Nothing deep, profound, or mysterious
about it. Was it from heaven or from men?
But these fellows didn't even think about giving a direct answer. That wasn't even a possibility.
They didn't even think about answering honestly. Look at the
next line. And they reasoned among themselves.
If we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then did you
not believe him? Or why didn't you trust me? If
we say the message of John was from heaven and John was talking
about him, he's going to say, why don't you trust me then? And if we
say of men, look at this, they feared the people. Now, lest I forget to say it
when I get to it. Such men as these are always
motivated, always motivated in everything they do, either by
the favor of the people or the fear of the people. I can't tell
you how many times I've talked to preachers, talked to them
about the gospel of God's grace, or called the doctrines of grace.
And they say, yeah, I believe that, but I can't preach that
either. They fit the category. They fit
the category. I don't care who they are, what
they claim. A man who dares, who dares, dares
hold back the truth of God for fear or the favor of men is a
false prophet and a deceiver of your souls. Read on. For all men counted John that
he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto
Jesus, We cannot tell, liar. They're just lying. Rather than
acknowledge the truth of God and lose their position, rather
than acknowledge the truth of God and lose their influence,
and lose their rank as religious leaders, they'd rather lie and
go to hell. We can't tell. And Jesus answered
and saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority
I do these things. Now listen carefully, please
listen carefully. When religious spiritual leaders
of any church, any denomination, any nation, or any age do not
know God, when spiritual leaders are really themselves infidels,
Those who blindly follow their blind guides do so to the everlasting
peril of their own souls and to the eternal peril of all who
are under their influence. Now that's a serious, serious
matter. So I ask for your attention as
I show you from this text of scripture these three glaring
spiritual evils. First, we have before us here
the evil of spiritual ignorance. You may think, well, Pastor,
how can you say that spiritual ignorance is an evil? Can a person
be faulted for his ignorance in the things of God? Oh, yes.
Oh, yes. A person can and should be, indeed,
shall be held accountable to God for that which he should
have known and could have known had he simply been willing to
walk in the light which God gives him. Now, I hope you understand
the implications of that statement. Not only will God Almighty hold
you and I accountable in the day of judgment for everything
we have heard but despised. He will also hold you accountable
for everything you could have heard had you simply been willing
to hear the word. You who have the blessed privilege
of having established in your midst a gospel church and a gospel
ministry, and you willfully neglect the opportunity of hearing the
instruction of God's word, well then, I'll go to church next
Sunday. We can go next month. We don't need too much religion.
God Almighty is going to hold you accountable, not only for
what you have heard, what you could have heard. You back off. Oh, yeah. Spiritual ignorance
is something that is blameworthy. It's blameworthy. Now, those
things I've just said are especially true with regard to those men
in positions where they assume the authority and the responsibility
of preaching to others, teaching others and leading others in
the name of God. That man who speaks to who teaches,
who leads, who preaches to others in God's name, better have a
firm, well-grounded assurance of certain things. Speaking to
you as I do now in God's name, here I am. Now, either these
things are so or they're not, I leave that to you to decide
for yourself. I stand before you as a man who
professes to be sent of God with a message from God for you. Now,
if I am, you better hear the message. If I'm not, you better
not ever hear me again. That's just that simple. But
standing as I do in this position, knowing what I do of God's character,
of God's word, and of the seriousness of this business, I would not
dare speak another word. And I would not continue another
day in this business of the gospel ministry if I were not certain
of certain things. I travel around the world and
across the country, up and down this land, and I meet a lot of
young men who are just chomping at the bit to be preachers. Oh,
let me at it. Let me at it. I'm ready. Well,
before you assume this work, you better be certain you know
God for yourself. Be certain you know God in his
true character. Be certain that God has called
you and sent you to this work. It's not something you have assumed
for yourself, not something you've, you just kind of push things
aside now. Now here I am, I'm going to do this. Make certain
that you have a message from God. Someone asked me recently,
how do you know you've got a message from God? If you don't, don't
speak. Just don't do it. Just don't do it. It's my responsibility
as a messenger to have a message. That's my responsibility. It's
my responsibility, Rex Bartley, every time I speak to you and
your family, every time, every time I speak to this congregation,
to have a message from God that must be delivered. Now, I can't
conjure it up, but it's my responsibility to have it. And if I don't have
God's message, I've got no business with you, none whatsoever. And
be sure you faithfully proclaim God's message. Compromise, Ron, for any reason
is inexcusable. It's inexcusable. It's inexcusable. I don't care what reason you
give. I don't care if the reason's your wife. I don't care if the reason's
the church, the deacons, the elders, the denomination, the
traditions. It's inexcusable. Let that man be damned who will
compromise God's glory and God's truth. That's exactly what Paul
said in Galatians chapter one. Preachers, that's the case. You've
just damned most preachers I know. No, but God has. That's just
the way it is. That's just the way it is. Preachers,
preachers are the most dangerous things in this world who don't
know God. But what does all that have to
do with this text of Scripture? These chief priests, scribes,
and elders stand before us in this text as glaring examples
of the fact that those who hold the highest place in the religious
world are very often totally ignorant of the things of God.
Now these fellows were not PRs. These fellows didn't ride in
town on a cabbage truck. They were somebody. These were
the most highly trained, specialized religious scholars Selected from
an elite group of elite men. They weren't just priests. They
were the chief priest. They weren't they weren't just
teachers They were scribes. They were not just they were
not just elders. They were the elders in the church
These men were regarded by the religious day the religious world
of their day is as being the very source and fountain of all
spiritual knowledge if Ted Koppel We're having a nightline show,
wanting to know what the trends in religion were. These are the
fellows he'd call. They'd be right there with their credentials
and their degrees. They were, for the most part,
the direct descendants of Aaron himself. They could prove it.
They had the pedigree. They could show it. Aaron's my
daddy. Right here's my genealogy. This is where I came from. Where'd
you come from? This is where I got my degree. Where'd you
get yours? Their doctrine had the full weight and the complete
force of mainstream historic Jewish religion. This is what
our fathers always did. Right here we can show you. Right
here it is. Who ever taught that? Man, what
you're saying, nobody ever believed that. Where do you get that in
history? Which of the church fathers taught
things like you did? I get those questions all the
time. These fellows had the mainstream force of history behind them.
They had just one problem. They didn't know God from a box
of rocks. He was standing right in front of them, and they didn't
know Him. They had the scriptures. memorized and categorized and
compartmentalized and they had absolutely no understanding of
the message of the book. They carried it around, sewed
it in their garments, showed everybody how spiritual they
were, didn't have the slightest idea what the book taught. They
could tell you everything you could ever want to know about
all the historic facts of the Scripture. They could tell you
about the prophecies concerning God's Son, the Messiah. They
could tell you about all the things that were predicted concerning
the Messiah. They could tell you everything about Him except
one thing. They couldn't tell you who He was. Couldn't tell
you who He is. They didn't have any idea. You
see, spiritual knowledge comes by divine revelation. Comes by
divine revelation. I don't know whether we'll ever
learn this or not. Spiritual knowledge comes by divine revelation.
In spiritual things, nothing matters except spiritual things.
Nothing. Worldly approval, academic scholarship,
historic approval, celebrated fame, religious order, religious
notoriety, religious tradition, they're all absolutely meaningless. In fact, they are positively
harmful and detrimental apart from the revelation of God the
Holy Spirit in your heart. We know nothing until God by
his spirit causes the light of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ to shine in our hearts. Until that happens, we
don't know anything. But once that happens, once Christ
is revealed in a person, he is unceasingly taught of God and
convinced of certain things. Turn to John chapter 16. Here are three things which are unequivocally the most
important thing you can ever consider. These three things. They're infinitely deep. We simply cannot fully know them.
And yet if we're taught of God, we will never cease to learn
them, as long as we live in this flesh. And when He, verse 8,
when He is come, the Spirit of truth, He will reprove the world,
that is, He will convince God's elect through all the world,
Jew and Gentile, of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Now, it doesn't
say here he's going to convince you that smoking cigarettes is
bad and not wearing shorts is righteousness. He explains plainly
what he's talking about. Somebody looks at this and says,
well, he convicted me that this was sin. He convicted me that
was sin. That's not the way the Spirit of God works. Listen to
what he says. I've sinned because they believe
not on me. Righteousness because I go to
my father and you see me no more in other words sin has something
to do with is intimately connected with unbelief and Righteousness
has something to do with and is intimately connected with
Jesus Christ ascending up to heaven and taking his seat on
the throne of God and of judgment Because the prince of this world
is judged Righteousness has something to do with the prince of the
world being judged and condemned But what's he talking about?
When God, the Holy Spirit, reveals Christ in you, he convinces you
of your sin. It's the most painful, shocking
experience a human being can endure in his soul. And it's
continual. He just keeps on making you see
yourself He just keeps on making you see your sin. That's what
keeps you coming to Christ. He just, he keeps on stripping
you. He keeps on laying bare your corruption. He keeps on
convincing you of sin and of righteousness. That is
of righteousness accomplished by the son of God. not of how
you can do something to get righteous. Oh, no. He convinces you that
Christ, who was made to be sin and having shed his blood for
the atonement of sin and raised from the dead and now ascended
up on the right hand of the majesty on high, that man who sets in
glory, he has accomplished righteousness by his obedience in death. And
that's the only righteousness there is. And he convinces you
of judgment. Not judgment to come. Not everybody
knows that. God stamped that on your heart
in creation. That's the reason everybody's scared to death to
die. That's not the conviction of the Spirit. The conviction
of the Spirit is that He convinces you that your sin, because of
Christ's righteousness and obedience before God, has been judged already. The prince of this world is gone. He has nothing in him. There
is therefore now No condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
You understand that? The Spirit of God keeps on convincing us
and teaching us constantly of our sin, of Christ's righteousness,
and of our freedom from condemnation because of Jesus Christ's finished
work. Now, as you care for your soul
and for the souls of your families and of all who are under your
influence, I urge you, children of God, try the spirits, whether
they be of God. Listen to what John said in 1
John 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit. He's not talking about ghosts.
He's talking about the spirits of the preacher. Ghosts and spirits
don't come talk to you. If they do, you need to check
into the funny bar. Believe not every spirit, but
try the spirit. Don't believe every preacher.
Just because a man comes with a Bible in his hand and he looks
impressive and he looks pious and he acts so sugary sweet,
don't believe every preacher. Try the spirits, how do you try
them? By the word, by the book of God. Try them whether they
be of God because many false prophets are going out into the
world and that was back yonder. Now then, he says, hereby know
you the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God Well preacher
all preachers in our town talk about Christ coming in the flesh
This confessing that Christ's come in the flesh is confessing
that Jesus Christ came into the flesh and accomplished exactly
what he came here to accomplish and Everyone that doesn't confess
that John says is not of God, but is that spirit of Antichrist?
You mean these preachers who deny the efficacy of Christ's
blood atonement? And deny the efficacy of God's
grace in him? And deny the efficacy of his
righteousness? And the efficacy of his settlement
of judgment? Of his being judged for us and
now our being free from judgment? You mean they're anti-Christ?
You get something else out of that text. You get something
else out of it. That's exactly what the text
is saying. Well, if that's the case, we ought not go down to
that Arminian church. That's exactly what it says. Exactly
what it says. You're going down there worshiping
Antichrist. You go down there, you worship at the foot of Antichrist.
Spiritual ignorance, ignorance of Christ and his gospel among
preachers and teachers and religious leaders is utterly inexcusable,
a horrible evil by which multitudes are damned day by day. When blind
men lead blind men, they both fall into the ditch. Sitting
out on my patio late this afternoon just before service, and I thought to myself, what
a day it will be when lost preachers stand before
God Almighty and meet They're lost hearers, face-to-face in
hell. Boy, he won't be so sweet then.
When lost mama, who led their little girls in their little
religious exercise, and in their religious programs, and in their
religious plays, and in their religious skits, and have departed
and taken them directly, willfully away from the truth of God, meet
their daughters face to face with them. And lost daddies,
who are responsible to lead their families in the worship of God,
meet their lost sons, and their lost wives, and lost children,
among the damned. God save you from that torment. Secondly, Spiritual ignorance is an evil
that leads to spiritual arrogance, which is an even greater evil.
Here is a group of men pretending that they are doing
God's service, daring to challenge the incarnate God himself about
his authority. moved by nothing but envy, jealousy,
arrogance, and pride. They were not even slightly motivated
by the glory of God. They only considered one thing. They might fire me. They might
take away my pension. I just got a few more years to
go with the association, with the convention, with this church,
with this domination. Man, I'll be set for life. I don't want
to wreck that. By what authority do you do these
things? They couldn't refute his doctrine.
They couldn't make any of their slanderous accusations stick
concerning wickedness. They could only challenge his
authority. They could only say, now, who
sent you? Are you really sent from God, or just from men, or
worse yet, from hell? By what authority do you preach?
I've been asked that a few times. Who ordained it? Where'd you
go to seminary? Church asked about a man one
time years ago. Congregation down in Alabama was looking for
a pastor. They asked him, said, do you
know anybody? He said, well, Don Fortner might
be interested. Talked about me, this was back
years ago. They said, talked to him, said, well, where did
he go to school? and called Henry on one of his
days when he wasn't being as nice as he always is. He said,
I don't know, I think he went to one of the reform schools
down in North Carolina. For you who don't remember what reform
schools are, you don't need to know. But where'd you get your
credentials? We didn't ordain you, how could
you have any authority? We didn't put our hands on you,
how could you be a son of God? What right do you have to curse
a fig tree created by God? God, I told you that. How dare
you come into the house of God and set things in order without
consulting us? After all, we're the chief priest
and the scribes and the elders. You see, nothing makes a lost
religious man more arrogant, more insecure, more envious,
more malicious than the sight of another man doing what he
won't dare do. doing the will of God. Preaching
the truth of God, he refuses to preach. Consecrating himself
to the glory of God while he's consecrated just to himself.
Secure in the place of God while he has no security. At rest in
the will of God while he can find no rest for his soul. In
spiritual matters, especially among religious leaders, this
arrogance is that which keeps them from bowing to the truth
of God. Their arrogance kept them from believing John. Everybody
said he's a prophet, but man, he wears a coat of camel's hair,
and he eats locusts and wild honey. You can listen to him if you
want to. I won't listen to that nut. He didn't come from anywhere.
And because they wouldn't hear God's prophet, they couldn't
believe God's son. They would not believe on the
son of God, of whom John spoke, and believing not God's son,
they would not submit to God's ordinance of believer's baptism.
Now, here's the end of this thing. Spiritual arrogance, ignorance
leads to spiritual arrogance. This spiritual ignorance and
arrogance always produces the evil of spiritual dishonesty.
Our Lord asked them a simple question. John's baptism, is
it of God or is it of men? And as I said, they didn't even
think about telling the truth. That was not on the option list.
That was not even considered. They got their heads together
and said, now if we say it was of God, he's going to ask us
why we don't believe on him. And if we say it's of men, people
are going to throw us out of our office. So let's tell them we
cannot hold them. These chief priests, these scholars,
these academics, these scribes, these elders of the church, how
do you take care of them? Liars. Look at that. Liars. Liars. Now let me see if I can
bring that home to you, to whom it is directly applicable. There
are some of you who hear my voice right now, and you, rather than
bowing to Christ, you lie to yourself and lie to God, attempting
thereby to soothe your conscience. You say, I want to believe, but
I cannot understand the doctrine of the gospel. Is there anybody
here who cannot understand somebody taking somebody else's place?
That's the doctrine of the gospel. God the Son took the place of
his people before God Almighty, satisfied justice, and brought
in righteousness. Now, is there anybody who can't
understand that? Well, for you to say you can't,
you're a liar. You're lying to yourself and lying to God. And
I'm not going to let you rest in that. Well, I'm really, I'm
really trying to believe. But I just can't. After all,
faith's the gift of God. Yes, it is. And the reason you
can't is because you won't. Exactly right. Is there anybody
here sitting or if you're standing up who has not the ability to
fall? If you're willing to fall? I don't know if I can fall down
or not. I believe I can do that. I do believe I can if I'm willing
to fall. If I find something beneath me
upon which I'm willing to fall. Let me tell you something. You say, I want to believe but
I can't. You're a liar. If you're willing to fall on
the Son of God, you'd fall on Him. You'd fall on Him. And God's gonna hold you accountable.
for your ignorance, your arrogance, and your dishonesty with yourself. For me, I fall on him. God help you too,
for Christ's sake. Amen.