Thank you, Carol. Well, many of you have probably
heard that Don Fortner passed away last night. Don has been
a dear friend of mine for over 40 years. He's been a dear friend
to this church, a faithful preacher of the gospel, and I benefited
so much from having this man as our friend, and so is this
church. I was actually thinking that he preached back in Grace
Chapel on Limestone Street. And he preached back on American
Avenue and here many times. And we're thankful the Lord has
blessed us to know this man. And we remember his family. What a blessing he's been. And
he's now in the presence of the Savior, beholding his face in
righteousness. And we're thankful for that. Also, I believe that I heard
tonight that three weeks from today we can once again meet
publicly. And I certainly look forward
to that. Look forward to being able to see everybody once again. Been a long time, hadn't it?
Would you turn to Mark chapter six? I'd like to read the story
of Herod and John the Baptist. And I've entitled this message,
many things, not the one thing. And I think you'll see that as
we read this passage of scripture together. Verse 14 of Mark chapter
six, and King Herod heard of him, the Lord Jesus, for his
name was spread abroad. And he said that John the Baptist
was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works to show
forth themselves in him. Others said that it is Elias,
and others said that it is a prophet or is one of the prophets. But
when Herod heard thereof, he said, it's John, whom I have
beheaded. He is risen from the dead. For Herod himself had sent forth
and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison Herodias' sake,
his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John
had said unto Herod, it's not lawful for thee to have thy brother's
wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel
against him and would have killed him. But she could not, for Herod
feared John. Knowing that he was a just and
an holy, and observed him, and when he heard him, he did many
things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was
come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high
captains, and chief estates of Galilee. And when the daughter
of the said Herodias came in and danced, and pleased Herod
and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, ask
of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swear
unto her, whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I'll give it thee,
under the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and said unto
her mother, what shall I ask? And she said, the head of John
the Baptist. And she came in straightway with
haste unto the king and asked, saying, I will that thou give
me by and by in a charger, a platter, the head. of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry,
yet for his oath's sake and for their sakes would set with him,
he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent
an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he
went, beheaded him in the prison and brought his head in a charger
and gave it to the damsel and the damsel gave it to her mother.
And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up
his corpse and laid it in a tomb. Such is the end of the man whom
Christ said, of them born of women, there is risen no greater
than John the Baptist. His life ends with his head being
served on a platter. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy son and we ask in his name that your gospel
would be preached to us in the power of your spirit and that
you'd give us hearing ears. Bless this time together for
your glory and for our good. Lord, we can't come into your
presence without some awareness of our sins. And we pray for
forgiveness and cleansing for the Lord's sake. And Lord, we
ask that you would accept our thanksgiving. We're so thankful
for who you are. We're so thankful for the salvation
that's in your son. Lord, we would remember the Fortner
family at this time that you draw near unto them. And Lord,
we would remember the Clarks that your healing hand would
be upon her according to your will. Lord, give us grace to
love you more and love one another more. In Christ's name we pray,
amen. Now I would like to read verse
20 once again of Mark chapter six. For Herod feared John, knowing
that he was a just man and unholy. and observed him. And when he
heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. Now, what I take from that is
that Herod was a religious man. He heard John the Baptist preached
and it moved him to do many things. I believe that he represents
the religion of most individuals. Most people have enough religion
to make them uneasy, to make them feel guilty, and even miserable. Such was Herod. He was impressed
with John the Baptist. He heard him, and it motivated
him to do many things but not the one thing. Herod had a great
respect for John the Baptist. Now, who was this man? Herod. The Lord referred to him in Luke
chapter 13, verses 31 and 32. The same day there came certain
of the Pharisees saying unto him, saying unto the Lord Jesus,
get thee out and depart hence for Herod will kill thee And
I can't help but think of what the Lord thought when somebody
would say something like that to him. And he said unto them,
go ye and tell that fox, that deceitful, cunning man. That was our Lord's assessment
of his character. Go ye and tell that fox, behold,
I cast out devils and I do cures today and tomorrow and the third
day I shall be perfected. He tells this petty king that
I cast out devils. You can't do anything to me.
I do cures and the third day I'm going to be raised from the
dead. Now you will remember that Pilate
sent the Lord to Herod during his trial. He heard that the
Lord being from Galilee was under Herod's jurisdiction. And Herod
was happy to meet him. He'd heard many things about
him. He'd heard about all the miracles the Lord had performed. And he wanted the Lord to perform
a miracle for him. He wanted to see this. But when
the Lord Jesus wouldn't answer him a word and refused to perform
a miracle for him, the scripture says that Herod and his men of
war sat him at nought." They made fun of him basically and
said, you're an imposter. And they sent him back to Pilate.
And the scripture says in Luke's account that Pilate and Herod
were made friends that very day. For before that day, they had
been bitter enemies. Enemies become friends when they
are united in their opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
let me tell you two things about Herod that we can see from this
passage of scripture. Number one, he was a man controlled
by his lusts. And number two, he was a man
who was overcome with the fear of man. He was dominated by the
lust of the eyes, more concerned about what men see than what
God sees. He loved the praise of men, more
than the praise of God. Now we read in verse 14 of Mark
chapter six, and King Herod heard of him, the Lord Jesus, for his
name was spread abroad, and he said that John the Baptist was
risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves
in him. Now he was concerned. I believe
he was somewhat frightened when he said this, because we find
out what he had done to John the Baptist. Verse 15, Others
said that it's Elias and others said that it's a prophet or is
one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof,
he said, it's John, whom I had beheaded. He didn't have any
doubt about it. He is risen from the dead. Now, why was it that
Herod had John beheaded? For Herod himself had sent forth
and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake,
his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her." Now that
was wrong then and something like that is wrong now. For someone
to take their brother's wife and marry them themselves, it
was scandalous. For John had said, verse 18,
unto Herod, it's not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. There's no way you can justify
this kind of conduct. Then Herodias, the wife, had
a quarrel against him. She had a grudge against him.
She was upset that he made this judgment. I'm sure she was thinking,
who is he to judge me and all the different things people would
think. And she had a grudge against him and would have killed him.
She hated him and would have killed him, but she could not
for Herod feared John. This is what stood in her way.
Herod had this great respect for John. He feared John. Now
he didn't fear John's God. He didn't have the fear of God
because if he did, he would have looked to Christ. He would have believed
on Christ only. So he didn't have the fear of
God, but he did have some kind of slavish fear of John as a
holy man and a righteous man. And he saw, knowing that he was
a just man and an holy, and he observed it. And when he heard
it, I imagine he heard him over and over again. When he heard
him, he heard the man preach. And the scripture says, when
he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. When he'd hear John the Baptist
preach, it inspired him. It motivated him. It scared him
into doing many things. many attempts to reform his life
and start living in such a way as he thought would make him
more savable or more likely to be saved or in a savable condition. He did many things. He didn't know anything about
a salvation that was done. All he knew was doing and he
did many things. He heard him gladly with pleasure,
Now, I don't believe he really understood what he was saying,
but somehow he was impressed with John. He feared him, he
admired him, and when he heard him, he did many things. Oh, the many things people will
do to make themselves right with God, so they think. Verse 21,
and when a convenient day was come that Herod on his birthday,
made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief of states
of Galilee, all the big shots. And when the daughter of the
said Herodias, now this is his stepdaughter, the daughter of
his wife. And when the daughter of the
said Herodias came in and danced, and I'm sure that it was some
kind of provocative and suggestive dance, it pleased Herod. He was inflamed with this and
those who were with him. And then he makes this ridiculous
promise after being pleased by the dancing of this young girl.
Maybe he was drunk, I don't know, but he makes this ridiculous
promise. Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt
and I'll give it thee. I'm so pleased with you that
whatever you ask me, you've got it. And he swear unto her, verse
23, whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I'll giveth thee unto
the half of my kingdom. I'll give you half of this entire
kingdom. And she went forth, verse 24,
and said unto her mother, remember her mother's the one who held
this grudge against John the Baptist and would have killed
him if she could, but Herod prevented it and kept him in prison. And
she went forth and said unto her mother, what shall I ask?
And she said, the head of John the Baptist in a platter. And she came in straightway with
haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give
me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry. Oh, the remorse and the regret
he felt at making such a stupid promise. He felt like such a
fool, and he had this high estimation of John the Baptist, and he was
exceeding sorry. Yet, for his own sake, and for
their sakes would set with him, he wouldn't reject her. wouldn't
do the right thing because he didn't want to look bad. He was
more concerned about what they thought than what God saw and
immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his
head to be brought and he went and beheaded him in the prison.
I try to put myself in John the Baptist's place, there he's sitting
there a bunch of Men come in quickly, we gotta get his head
off quick and get it back. He's brought down, they behead
him, put his head in a platter, and brought his head, verse 28,
in a charger and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it
to her mother. Sweet revenge, she thinks, I've
got the last word on him, as she looked at his head on that
plate. Now, John, or Herod, admired
John, and did many things enough to make him feel guilty, feel
uneasy, try to do whatever it is he thought he needed to do,
but he never did the one thing needful. As a matter of fact,
we find out from Josephus that this man died in political disgrace. And I'm sure that this was always
on his mind what he did to John the Baptist. He did many things,
but he didn't do the one thing. Now I'm going to read or tell
you a story. We're going to read a few scriptures,
but I'm going to tell you the story about the rich young ruler. It's
found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This rich young ruler, a very
moral man, a man who thought he kept the law. He came running
to Christ, not just walking, running. He was in dead earnest.
And he said, good master, what good things shall I do? There's
that word do. He didn't understand about what
had already been done by the Lord Jesus Christ. All he knew
was do. What good things shall I do that
I might inherit eternal life? And the Lord said, why callest
thou me good? There is none good, but one only,
that is God. Now, why did the Lord Jesus say
that? The Lord Jesus is good, yes, but he knew that that man
was coming to him as another man. He didn't have any understanding
of who the Lord Jesus Christ really was. He was saying, I'm
a good man, but what can I do that I can reach your level of
goodness and become a man like you? And that's why the Lord
corrected him. He said, there's none good, but
one, that is God, but You know the commandments. And he named
the commandments, the commandments of the second table, everything
except for covetousness, and said, keep these commandments. And the man replied, all these
have I kept from my youth. And you know, he really believed
that. He demonstrates such an ignorance of the law, or he wouldn't
have said anything like that. But he believed in his heart
that he had kept the commandments of God. What a man this man must
have been. And the Lord looked upon him,
and the scripture says he loved him. That lets me know that this
is somebody the Lord saved. I know people argue against that.
They say, well, he loved him as a man. This is a man the Lord
ended up saving. It never says of any of the Pharisees,
the Lord loved them, but this man was one of his elect. Now
he's going to go away temporarily, but he's going to come back.
I know he does because the Lord loved him, but he said to him, he said,
yet lackest thou one thing. Go and sell what you have and
give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. and
come and follow me. And this young man did not realize
that he was eaten up with covetousness because when he heard that, he
couldn't comply with the command and he went away very sorrowful
for he had great riches. But the Lord said, you lack one
thing. And if you lack the one thing,
you lack everything. One thing thou lackest. Now this
young man had done many things, but he hadn't done the one thing. Now we have a passage of scripture
in Luke chapter 10. This is the Lord Jesus at the
house of Martha and Mary. And we read beginning in verse
38 of Luke chapter 10. Now it came to pass as they went
that he had entered into a certain village and a certain woman named
Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about
much serving. And if the Lord in the flesh
was in your house, I would imagine you'd be and I would be the same
way. Martha was cumbered about with
much serving and I can see her looking at her sister and starting
to become irritated. You know, there's a time and
a place for everything, she was thinking. I'm not begrudging
her sitting and hearing his word, but not now. There's a lot to
do and she's sitting there doing nothing while I'm doing everything.
She was cumbered with much serving And she did something we ought
not ever do. She told the Lord what to do.
Lord, does I not care that my sister has left me alone? Bid
her therefore that she help me. You don't tell the Lord what
to do under any circumstance. He's the Lord, but she did. And she was somebody the Lord
loved. John 11 points out that Jesus loved Martha and Mary and
Lazarus. And look what he said to her,
verse 41. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful, anxious, and troubled
about many things. Just like Herod did many things,
she was thinking about the many things that needed to be done. You're careful, you're troubled
about many things, but one thing is needful. Now, these are the
words of the Lord. One thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen that good
part, which shall not be taken away from her. And the one thing needful is
hearing the word. Mary chose to sit at Christ's
feet and hear his word. I think it's interesting, Martha
was critical of her for that. But the Lord gently rebukes her
and lets her know there's one thing that's needful. Not two things, not three things.
There's one thing that's needful. Now in Psalm 27, these are the
words of David, the man after God's own heart. And he says
in verse four, of Psalm 27. I love the simplicity of this
statement. David says one thing, Psalm 27
verse four, one thing have I desired. Now remember who's speaking. This is David. This is the man
after God's own heart. And he says, one thing have I
desired of the Lord. And that will I seek after that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord. Do you know the only way you
can behold the Lord is if you're in him and to inquire in his
temple. Now, when he's talking about
dwelling in the house of the Lord, He's not talking about
dwelling in a building made of stones and gold and timber and
wood. He's talking about dwelling in
the Lord Jesus Christ. One thing have I desired, that
I may dwell, that I may inhabit, that I may sit, that I may abide,
that I may remain in, that I might tarry in, that I might continue
in, that I might be still in the house of the Lord. Christ Jesus is the house of
the Lord. David says, one thing have I
desired, to be in the house of the Lord. I don't wanna be anywhere
else. Now, what this is talking about
is abiding in Christ. Now, little children, abide in
him, John said, that you may have confidence and not be ashamed
before him at his coming. The only way we will not be ashamed
before him at his coming, the only way we will have confidence
is if we abide in him. Now in the ark, that ark was
big, plenty of room to move around, but there was one place you wanted
to be when the rain came down, in the ark. When God came through
Egypt to judge the firstborn, there's one place you wanted
to be, in the house with the blood over the door. And when God passed through,
there's one thing he was looking for. He didn't say, when I see
your faith, he didn't say, when I see your intentions to start
living a better life, he didn't say, when I see your remorse
over your sin, he said, When I see the blood, that's the only
thing he was looking for. Oh, don't miss that. That's the
only thing he was looking for. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Now, whatever many things you
may be thinking of doing, forget them. One thing. Paul put it this way in Philippians
chapter three, verse nine, Oh that I may win Christ and be
found in Him. That's the same thing David said
when he said, one thing I've desired of the Lord that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord. I want to simply be found in
Christ. That's the highest desire you
can have. to simply be found in Christ
so that when God sees you, all he sees is Jesus Christ. He is the one thing needful to
be found in him. Now, I'd like to read a couple
of verses from Romans chapter five, beginning in verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, Judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Now understand, by the offense
of that one man, you don't have to look anywhere else. Here's
the root of your problem. You were in him. By the offense
of that one man, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
You were condemned. I was condemned when Adam was
condemned. We were in him. He was our head.
Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation, even so in the precise same manner by the righteousness of one."
I love that. The righteousness of one. The
free gift came upon all men and the justification of life. For
as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, So by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Now there are not two places
to look. There is the righteousness of the one. There is the obedience
of the one. That's the one thing that's needful. This is the righteousness that's
David spoke of in Psalm 71, 16, when he said, I've made mention
of thy righteousness, even thine only. This is the one thing. Oh, many things won't do you
any good. What you and I need is the one thing, his righteousness,
his obedience. Now, I love what the writer of
the Hebrews said in Hebrews 2, 11, both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one." There's the oneness
that's needed to be one with Christ. Now, I don't understand
how I can be one with Christ, but the Bible says we are one
with Him. Both He that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. Not simply close together,
but one. No connecting point, one in him
for the which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. Now, would you want anything
else rather than to simply be found in him, found united to
him? You see, you can't serve two
masters, only one. Christ is either all or he is
nothing at all. nowhere in between. Now you remember that merchant
man seeking pearls in the plural, and then he found one pearl of
great price. Now no doubt he'd done many things
to obtain those many pearls, but when he'd found the one pearl,
infinite price. He no longer was a man of pearls,
but a man of one pearl of great price. You have the one pearl,
you're not even interested in the pearls. He got rid of all
those. He sold all he had to have that one pearl. Now I'd like to read a passage
of scripture. I've already quoted one of the scriptures from Philippians
chapter 3. beginning in verse eight. Yea, doubtless, Paul says. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss. Garbage. And notice how he considers
these things. Garbage. For the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but dumb. Whenever I hear someone speak
of what they've given up for Christ, it really troubles me. What you've given up is dumb,
nothing more. Paul understood that. That I
may win Christ and be found in him. not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, I don't want to have anything to do with
that, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith, that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made
conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, I pursue,
if that I may apprehend that for which also I'm apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do." Now hear him,
not these two things I do, this one thing I do. Forgetting, forgetting those things which
are behind. Good things, bad things, good
experiences, bad experiences, forget them, forget them. What a blessing it would be to
forget them. and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Now, what is this
prize? What is this high calling? Winning
Christ and be found in Him. What could be higher than that?
What could be more glorious than that? Winning Christ and being
found in Him. This one thing I do, forgetting
what's behind and reaching forth unto that which is before, the
prize of the mark of the high calling of God, simply being
found in Christ. Highest aspiration there is. And the highest aspiration you
can have. Back to our friend Herod. We feel sorry for him. We really
do. I know I'm no better than Herod.
You better know that. Herod and me and you have a lot
in common. Herod did many things, but he
didn't do the one thing. And let me tell you this, if
he would have done the one thing, if he would have come to Christ
for all unsalvation, the Lord makes this promise, him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. If Herod would have
come to Christ, he wouldn't be cast out. And let me tell this
to me and you. The one thing needful for me
and you is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody says,
well, what's that mean? Well, him that cometh to me,
the Lord says shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. To come to Christ is to believe
on Him. The one thing needful for me
and you to do right now is to believe on Him, to believe who
He is and what He did is all that's needed. The one thing
needed to make me perfect and accepted before God. Oh, may
we be delivered from doing many things and do the one thing. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would bless your word. And deliver us from this doing
of many things. And do the one thing. Trust thy
son. Oh Lord, if we're unable to do
that, we know everything will be fine. Bless us for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray, amen. Lord willing, see you Sunday
morning.