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,
backing 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 trap if they could with a chief priest, 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 and 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 Talk to them about the gospel of God's
grace, what folks call the doctrines of grace. And they say, yeah,
I believe that, but I can't preach that here. 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. And 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 liars. 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 answering,
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. 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 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,
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, but what
you could have heard. You can back off. Oh yeah, spiritual
ignorance is something that is blameworthy. It's blameworthy. Now those things that 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. Just,
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 gonna 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 preaching. 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 is your wife. I don't care if
the reason is the church, the deacons, the elders, the denomination,
the tradition. 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 1. Well,
preacher, if 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 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. These fellas 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 priests. They weren't just teachers, they
were scribes. They were not just elders, they
were THE elders in the church. These men were regarded by the
religious world of their day as being the very source and
fountain of all spiritual knowledge. If Ted Koppel were 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 decrees. They were, for the most part,
the direct descendants of Aaron himself, and they could prove
it. They had the pedigree. They could show you. Abraham
is my daddy. Right here is 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 have always believed. 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 do? 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 who will 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, but 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 things you can ever consider. These three things. They're infinitely deep. We cannot,
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 eight, when
he 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. of 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 God. 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. And 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
your sin. He just keeps on making you see
your sin. That's what keeps you coming to Christ. He just keeps
on skipping 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 sits 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. Now, 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. They're 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 farm. 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, all
the preachers in our town talk about Christ coming in the flesh.
This confessing that Christ has 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 Armenian church. That's exactly what he said. That's
exactly what he said. You're going down there and worship
with Antichrist. You're going 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. I was 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've 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 in hell. And lost daddies who
are responsible to lead their families in the worship of God
meet their lost sons and their lost wives and their lost children
among the dead. 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.
What will the people say? What will the people do? 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 man, or
worse yet, from hell? By what authority do you preach?
I've been asked that a few times. Who ordained it? Where did 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, you know
anybody? He said, well, Don Fortner might
be interested. Told him about me, this was back
years ago. They said, started talking 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 those reform schools
down in North Carolina. For you who don't remember what reform
schools were, 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 son of God? What right do you have to curse
a fig tree created by God? I'm 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.
And 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 him we
cannot tell. These chief priests, these scholars,
these academics, these scribes, these elders of the church, I
just can't tell. Liars, what they are. 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 doctrines 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 is the gift of God. Yes, it is. And the reason you
can't is because you won't. It's 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 just 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 going to hold you accountable.
for your ignorance, your arrogance, and your dishonesty with yourself
and with him.