Mark chapter 12. Our reading will begin at verse
28 of Mark chapter 12. The title of this message is No More Questions. No more questions. No more questions. Mark 12 verse 28, And one of
the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together,
and perceiving that the Lord Jesus had answered them well,
asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, the first
of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely
this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There's none other
commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto Christ,
well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God,
and there's none other but he. And to love him with all the
heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with
all the strength and to love his neighbor as himself is more,
now listen to this, is more than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices. This is a Jew talking. This is a Jewish leader talking. This is a teacher of the scriptures
in that day talking. Now you think about this. And
when Jesus saw that he answered respectfully, discreetly, he
said unto him, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. Not
far. And no man after that does ask
him any more questions. No more questions. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who
knows all men, who needs not that any man testify what's in
a person, is looking directly into the face of this man, this
eternity-bound soul. And he says, you're not far from
the kingdom of God. You're not far from the kingdom,
but you're not in it. It makes me just tremble. You're not far from the city
of refuge, but you're not in it. You're not in it. You're not far. You may be just
down the road, but you're not in it. You're not far from his love,
but you're not in it. You're not far from his grace,
but you're not protected by it. You're not far from salvation,
he said, but you're not saved. I tell you, this has got to be...
How people can flippantly and carelessly read a passage like
this and go on about their business, I don't understand. Maybe I feel
like I'm closer to eternity than somebody else, but I just can't
understand how you can read that and not be troubled by it and
not be interested in it. I just don't know. A man reads a passage like that,
good sermon, Reverend, thank you. It goes on about his business. But this has got to be the most
frightening, fearful place to be, not far from the kingdom
of heaven. Not far. That's got to be the
most frightening, frightening position in which to be. Like
Judas. You realize that Judas literally
kissed the door of heaven and perished? He kissed the door. Christ said, I am the door. By
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Judas walked up in
that moment and kissed the very door of eternal life. and went
out and perished. Or like the rich young ruler
who came and stood and talked with the Lord Jesus Christ and
asked the Son of God. He didn't ask Peter, James, and
John. He didn't ask me. He didn't ask
some common, unlearned individual. He asked the Son of God, Good
Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And my Lord told
him. He told him. And he turned and
walked away. He literally turned and walked
away. Or like Demas. I think about
Demas. I was running through some of
these illustrations in the scriptures this morning. Demas. Do you know
Demas is mentioned twice in the Word of God as an associate,
as a companion of the Apostle Paul? My, how I would have liked to
have been a companion of the Apostle Paul. This man ate with
him, slept with him, walked with him, talked with him. When he
was in prison, one time he said, Demas and Timothy and Luke are
with me. He was with Timothy and Luke
and Paul. And these men are all in glory
and he's in hell. Think about it. And he was with
them. He loved this present world.
He just loved the world. He couldn't turn it loose. I wonder, do you suppose that
eternity, do you suppose that eternity, I know eternity is
unbearable. Our Lord said, where the worm
dies not and the fire is not quenched. where men cry for suicide. They cry for death and can't
die. They cry for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and
hide them from the face of him that sits on the throne. They
can't die. They can't die. They're always
dying and never die. But I wonder if eternity perhaps
will be more unbearable for those who had the light and would not
walk in it. I wonder, suppose it will. The
Lord said, he that knoweth to do his master's
will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many stripes. And
did he not say it would be more tolerable for the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah in judgment than for those cities in which his
greatest works were done? Do you suppose eternity will
be more unbearable for men and women who flirted with the truth, who played with the truth, who
gave a nominal agreement to the truth and would not embrace it,
would not, just could not come to a place of committal, of union, living union, and submission
to the Son of God? it may be most unbearable. For those who, like Esau, sold
their birthright for a mess of porridge or a moment of pleasure, what about Pilate, who stood
face to face with the Son of God and was warned from every
hand about who this man is? And then finally, out of frustration,
he just took a pan of water and washed his hands and said, I
want nothing to do with this man. Just consider me innocent
in this whole thing. I wonder if he's still not wringing
his hands, trying to get the blood of Christ off his hands.
I wonder. Or maybe Agrippa, King Agrippa,
as he sat and considered the words of this
great soldier of Christ, Paul the Apostle. He listened to him very carefully.
And he said, and he looked at Paul and considered what Paul
was saying and what Paul, who Paul was and who Paul, what he
had been and what he was, and the clarity of that message.
And Paul said, this wasn't done in the corner, old boy. This
wasn't done in secret, Mr. Agrippa. And then he looked around
at some of those hoods he ran with, and those characters in
his kingdom, and he looked back at Paul and he said, almost you
persuade me to be a Christian. You got more than these fellas
have. But you know he never sent for
Paul again, did he? Ever did. One of the interesting things
about this scripture is the man to whom the Lord speaks these
words. Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. Not far. If you go back a few verses in
Mark 12 verse 13, it says they sent unto him certain
of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch him in his words. And
when they would come, they say unto him, Master, we know that
thou art true, thou carest for no man. For thou regardest not
the person of men, but teachest the right way of God in truth.
Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar? And our Lord dealt
with these Pharisees. He dealt with them very frankly.
He said, render unto Caesar the things of the Caesars. to God
the things that are God. He asked one of them for a coin,
and the man held out the coin. He said, whose inscriptions on
that coin? He said, well, Caesar's. Well,
he said, you render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.
Render to God the things that are God's. Put them to silence.
And then a little later on, the Sadducees, verse 18, then come
to him the Sadducees, which say there's no resurrection. These
Sadducees didn't believe in a resurrection. And they had this problem to
present to him, trying to trap him in his words. And they said,
well, they said, here's a woman married to a man, he dies, and
she marries another man, he dies, and she marries another man,
he dies, and she does that five, six, seven times. Who's going
to be her husband in the resurrection? Well, he said, you do err. And
this is where most people err. He says, you don't know the Scriptures.
You don't know the Scripture. You haven't taken the time to, under the leadership and inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, to even find out what God said. And another
reason you err is because you don't know the power of God.
You don't know the power of God. What God can do, what God will
do, what God is able to do. Paul did, he said he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him. Abraham knew, he said he's able
to do all that he promised. He's able. Well, he put these
men to silence and then in verse 28 it says, and one of the scribes
came, one of the scribes came, and heard them reasoning together. Now, at first I thought all these
men were from the same situation. You see, the chief priest had
come to him over here in the previous chapter and he had put
them to silence and they left. And these chief priests and elders
sent these Pharisees. They sent these Pharisees, that's
what it says in verse 13, or verse 12, Mark 12, 12, look. And they sought to lay hold on
him, but feared the people. They knew that he had spoken
the parable against them, and they left and went their way.
That's these chief priests and elders. They left, and they sent
these Pharisees. They sent these Herodians, and
they sent these Sadducees, and he put them to silence, and this
scribe was standing over there, listening. That's the picture
I get. See if you don't get that picture
in verse 28. And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, and perceiving that he answered them, not us, but
them well, he asked him, Master, what's the greatest commandment
of all? Now this man, note this now, this man, his conversation
is different, his manner is different, his attitude is different, Totally
different. And our Lord talked with him.
They exchanged. The man said something, Christ
said something, the man said something, then Christ said something.
It wasn't like Paul, these Pharisees and Sadducees where he just put
them to silence. Moved them away. But this man
talked to him. He talked to him. And this statement, finally the
Master summed up their conversation with the statement, you're not
far from the Kingdom of God. Well, I'm interested in this,
and one of the reasons is purely selfish, purely selfish, because
I certainly don't want to be not far from the Kingdom of Heaven. So I want us to look, first of
all, at the man. Let's look at the man. Maybe
we know some men like this man. Maybe we are a man like this
man. Well, we know very little about
him except, number one, he was a scribe. It tells us that. It
says one of the scribes came. He was a scribe. Well, I can tell you what the
scribes, who the scribes were. First of all, their duties, the
duties of the scribes was the preservation of the Word of God.
Scribe. Their duty was to preserve this
book, John. The transcriptions, the transcriptions
and interpretations of the scriptures were given to these scribes.
He was an educated man. He was a well-read man. He was
a scholar. He was a man who knew the Scriptures. This man was a student of the
Scriptures, and yet he was not in the Kingdom of God. My Lord
said that. He said, you're not far from
the Kingdom of God, though you're a student of the Scriptures.
Now, a man came to Spurgeon one time, and he had in his hand
a Bible, and he said, Mr. Spurgeon, He said salvation is
to be found in this book. And I'm going to take this book
and I'm going to read it until I find salvation. Well, that's
a pretty good idea, because it indeed is found in this book.
The gospel, the redemptive glory of God, the purpose of God in
mercy and grace is found in this book. But a man can know, he
can have a head knowledge of this book and still not know
the Christ of this book. I've met many of them. I've met
many theologians who could just argue you clear out of your shoes.
They knew all of the facts, dates, names of kings, kingdoms, tribes,
all these things, but didn't know Christ. Didn't even manifest
the Spirit of Christ. In fact, our Lord said that to
the Pharisees. He said, listen, you do search
the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life,
but they are they which testify of me. I'm just saying that the
Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies which were to reveal
Christ, all of these Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies and
rituals and feast days and holy days and tabernacle and Levitical
laws were given to reveal Christ. And these very things became
a stumbling block to these men. Instead of leading them to see
Christ, they became the end and they kept them away from Christ. And in the same manner, this
book, which is to lead us to a knowledge of Christ, if we
make the book the end, and the rules the end, and the laws the
end, and the doctrines the end, it prevents us from coming to
Christ. You see what I'm saying? Oh yes,
it certainly will. It certainly will. The Bible
is a means to an end. It is not the end. The Word of
God is given to reveal Christ. The Word of God is not my object
of faith. And if I make it such, it becomes
a stumbling block. It becomes a snare and a trap.
So this man, you ever hear this statement, well, boy, he sure
knows his Bible. You ever heard that? Well, this
man sure knew his Bible. He knew his Bible. Because he'd
been writing it for years and years and years and years and
years. They didn't have printing presses. He wrote it. Alright, secondly, let's look
at this man's knowledge. The man's knowledge, verse 32.
And the scribe said unto him, when the master gave him the
two commandments, the scribe said unto him, well master, master,
He called Jesus Christ Master. That's respectful, isn't it?
He didn't call him Jesus. He called him Master. He recognized
he was a teacher. He recognized like Nicodemus
that he'd come from God. He said, Master, thou hast said
the truth. There is one God. This man acknowledged
there's one God. Without a moment's hesitation,
without any disbelief, without any confusion, this man said
there's one God. And I'm sure he could have added
there's one God of creation who is the father of Moses and Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob and David. Wouldn't he have said that? Well,
certainly he would have. There's one God. There's one
God. And then he resisted all idolatry. Listen to what he says here.
And there's none other but him. I shall have no other God beside
me, before me. I shall not make unto thee a
graven image. He resisted idolatry. He would have no quarter with
idolatry. And then thirdly, this is what's
astounding. I told you to listen carefully
as I read verse 33. Listen to this man. And to love
him with all the heart, love that one God. beside whom there's
none other, and to love him with all the heart, and all the understanding,
and all the soul, and all the strength, and to love his neighbors
himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices,
more than all the sacrifices on Jewish altars slain. Now that
is a concession. In other words, this man is saying
this, the state of a man's heart is of more importance to God
than all outward works and deeds and ceremonies. That's exactly
what this man is saying. Well, you say, Preacher, that's
what I believe. Well, my dear friends, that's what I believe,
too. And our Master said, you're not
far from the Kingdom of God. Think about that now. Isn't that
interesting? There's one God, none other but He, There are
no idols, and to love God with a heart is more important than
to keep the Sabbath day. To love God with a heart is more
important than all the whole burnt offerings, and to love
one's neighbors himself is more important than all the deeds
of religion. That was unusual. That's unusual
today, let alone in that day. Isn't that right, Cecil, for
a man to acknowledge these things? And yet the Master said, you're
not far from the kingdom of God. Let me show you the third thing
about this man. Thirdly, his attitude. Now look at verse 34.
And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, that is, respectfully,
he was different from the rest. He didn't come there with them.
He was there on his own and he was an observer, he was a listener.
He was listening to the conversation between these men and Christ.
And when our Lord had put the Pharisees to silence and put
the Sadducees to silence, this man saw that he answered them
well. He was impressed. And he didn't
get angry. He didn't get angry. He didn't
sulk. He didn't argue. He recognized
the wisdom of Christ. He saw that he answered them
well, and when Christ spoke to him, he said, that's the truth. How many times I've preached
and I've heard people say, that's the truth. That's the truth. Amen. That's what this man was
doing. Amen in Christ. Amen. That's the truth. That's the
truth. You have spoken the truth. He
appeared to have a lot of spiritual perception. appeared to. He appeared to, he believed in
one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said he
loved God, he agreed with the message of
our Lord to love God and love his neighbor, and he agreed with
inward godliness, and yet And yet, verse 34, and when Jesus
saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, My friend,
you're not far from the kingdom of God. Now, wherein did he fail? Preacher, how do you know that
he failed? Well, my Lord said so. Pretty definite when the Master
looks at a man and says, you're not far from the kingdom of God.
I can't do that. I had a preacher friend say one
time he could listen to a man talk and tell whether he's saved
or not. I can't. I can't see the heart,
but my Lord can. In fact, the Scriptures declare,
let me show you several Scriptures. Turn first of all to John 2.
John chapter 2. In John 2 verse 23, the Scripture
says, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover and the feast
days, many believed in his name, many made a profession, many
walked the aisles, many made a decision, many, many, many
believed in his name. Many joined the bandwagon when
they saw the miracles which he did. They got taken up in this
thing. But Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew
all men. He knew the hearts of these people.
He needed not that any should testify of man. He knew what
was in man. I don't. You don't. He did. He
looked at this man and said, you're not saved. With all your
knowledge and perception and understanding and wisdom, you're
not saved. You're not part in the kingdom
of God. Look at John 6. Listen to him
here in John chapter 6, verse 42. John 6, John 6, 42, listen to
this. Our Lord is speaking to the religious
leaders here. He said in verse 42, but I know
you. But I know you. These religious leaders had the
people fooled. These were the Pharisees who
made long prayers and stood on the street corners and read the
scriptures and wore their phylacteries wider than anybody else's, you
know. made great parade of their fasting and tithing and so forth,
and had the people fooled. It's like the disciples said
to the Lord one day, well, if they're not saved, who is? Who
can be saved? And they had the people fooled,
just like our religious leaders today are conning people, fooling
them, deceiving them. But the Lord said, I know you.
I like that. I know you. They don't, but I do. I know
you. You've got everybody fooled,
but I know you." He said, I know you, you don't have the love
of God in you. I know you. I know you. I know you. Luke 16, he said
this, I'll just quote it for you, Luke 16, 15, he said, you're
they, this is what he said to those religious leaders, you're
they. You're they who justify yourselves in the eyes of men. But God looks on the heart. And
that which is highly esteemed and commendable in the eyes of
men is an abomination to God Almighty. I know you. So when did he fail? First of
all, the Lord knew his heart. While his mouth was saying all
these things, Lord, Lord, your hearts are far from me. He called
him Master. He said, you've answered well,
you've spoken the truth. These are things that proceeded
from his mouth. And the Lord said, I know you. But now here's
two things that interested me, two statements that are so revealing.
Verse 34, watch this. And when Jesus saw that he answered
discreetly, respectfully, he said to him, you're not far from
the kingdom of God. And this is shocking, listen.
And no man after that asked him any more questions. What do you
get from that picture? Well, this scribe came along. He came along and he heard our
Lord talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Herodians
and how he skillfully and scripturally put them to silence. And he thought
he answered well. He answered well. That's great wisdom. And so he
edged up, and he said, Master, he said, which is the greatest
commandment? See, the Jews put a lot of stock
in the law, the law of Moses, commandments. Which is the greatest
commandment? And the Lord said, well, the
first commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
mind, soul, and strength. And the second is likened to
it, to love thy neighbor as thyself. And in another report of this,
he said, and on these two hang all the law and the prophets.
And he said, you know, you've said well. That's the truth. That's the truth. There is one
God. There's one God. And if there's one God, we're
to love Him. And to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves
is more important than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
And our Lord said, well, now wait a minute. You're not far
from the kingdom of heaven. And what'd he do now? He didn't ask
him another question. He didn't ask him another question. That astounds me. That astounds
me. This man, he didn't inquire anymore. He just, he left with the rest
of them. He had no further interest. And
today, let me tell you this, let me apply that. I've found
men and women to have all kind of interest, keen interest in
all sorts of religious questions. I got mail all this week. I could
tell you some of the questions that were asked me involved prophecy
in the millennium. Let's see if I can remember some
of them. Is it going to be a millennium, a thousand years? Will it be
a thousand years between the resurrection? Another question
had to do with whether we're to literally wash feet. Another
question had to do with whether or not a person had to be baptized
to be saved. You remember some of them. It
was a week of questions. I've been writing letters. A
week of questions, and I tell you this, and if you can answer
these questions for them, and put these things to rest, and
to try to turn their attention and begin to talk about the kingdom
of God and how God can be just and justify the ungodly and how
that God must, in His righteous law like you prayed and in His
holy justice, be satisfied, there's no more questions. They don't want to talk about
those things. They'll be glad to stand and talk to you all
day about preachers, Churches, denominations, Sabbath days,
prophecy, millenniums, feet washing, prophecy, second coming, they'll
talk all day if you'll argue those things. But when you turn
the thing around like our God did, now all these questions,
you're not far from the Kingdom of God. Let's talk about that
a little bit. No more questions. No more questions. No more questions.
No more interest. No more inquiries. No more. But he turned and walked away. Do you have any questions? Are you seeking to know him?
Do you have a desire for the understanding of the mysteries
of the Kingdom of God? Are you interested in those things?
I'm awfully interested in where Cain got his wife. That's always
bum-fuzzle me. Preacher, what about the heathen?
Well, let's talk about us heathen and how we can come to know God
through Christ. You know, this man is so different
from a man in Philippians 3. Turn over to Philippians 3. Now,
here's a man of whom it could not be said, dark not far from
the kingdom of God. This was a man who was in the
kingdom of God. This was a man in the kingdom
of God. The Apostle Paul. And I want you to listen to him.
In verse 8 of Philippians 3. And just compare the two. Now
here was a man standing toe-to-toe, face-to-face with the Lord Jesus
Christ, and he'd asked these questions, and the Lord answered
well, told the truth, the man admitted it, and had no more
questions. No more seeking, no more inquiries,
no more No more desiring to know. Listen to Paul, Philippians 3a. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And I
do count them but dumb that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. that I may know Him. No question
here about giving tribute to Caesar or who's going to be married
to whom in the eternal resurrection or the laws. It's that I may
know Him, Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings be made conformable to His death if by any means
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I'd
already attained. I haven't already arrived. I'm
not already perfect. I'm following after, I'm seeking,
I'm searching, I'm inquiring, I'm learning, if that I may apprehend
or lay hold upon that for which I am laid hold of by Christ.
Brethren, I have not arrived, I don't have the answers, I count
not myself to have apprehended, but bless your heart, this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind. forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before. I'm pressing toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, how refreshing it would be
in places I go to find a hungry heart, a seeking center. Somebody wants to know something
about Christ who's just full of questions about Him. How can God be just and justify? How can He be clean that's born
of a woman? Depth of mercy, can there be
mercy still reserved for me? And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who Him to death
pursued? Questions, questions, questions.
Sit all night and talk about them. But there's no questions. No more questions. It's amazing
how you can go Not here, I thank God He's raised up some people
whose thirst is never quenched and whose hunger is never satisfied. Isn't that right? That's where
you are, John. Never satisfied. I'll be satisfied
when I wake with His likeness. Preach some more, teach some
more, talk some more, point to Him some more. I've often had
people preach a sermon on Sunday morning, stand back to their
door, somebody come out, tears in their eyes even. Boy, I tell
you, we can really fake it in this day. Tears in their eyes. Look at me and say, picture what
you got to me this morning. You got to me this morning. And
they go out, and I come in here and sit down. Sunday night, I
think, I start looking for him. I didn't get to him too well,
did I? No more questions. No more questions. Have you ever
tried to witness to someone, you know, on the job, or at work,
or somewhere, you know, and you're talking religion, and you bring
in, but do you know Christ, you know? No more questions. No more
questions. That's this fellow right here.
No more questions. I got some questions. I got about
a million of them. I won't answer them. I know you have, Cecil Rhodes.
You've been teaching for 30 years, but I bet you can come over there
to that log house during the week and I'll find you still
trying to find some answers about His mercy, His grace, and His
love. And that man, that gray-haired
man sitting there, and some of the rest of you have sat here,
service after service, these young men, they got an appetite. They got questions. I tell you,
if you got questions about the mercy of God, shoot them. We'll
find out together. But I don't want to talk about
that foolishness to you. Genealogies and all these other
things. Here's another thing about this
man, I'll quit. Listen to, start here at verse 38. Now watch this, our Lord, here
He is, and He's carried on this conversation. The Master looked
at Him and said, well, with all your religious background, with
all your understanding, you're not far from the Kingdom of God.
But He didn't have any more questions. And He walked away. And then
the Lord turned to the people and had something to say about
that fellow. Yeah, He did. Let's read it. And Jesus answered, verse 35,
and said, while he taught there in the temple, How say the scribes... Now that's who that man was,
a scribe. How say these scribes that Christ
is the son of David? For David himself said by the
Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Almighty God said to
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies
thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth
him Lord, and whence is he then his son? And the common people
heard him gladly. These scribes couldn't answer
that question, could they, Cecil? They didn't know how that Jesus
Christ could be the Son of David and the Lord of David. Do you?
Well, you say, no, I don't. Well, why don't you ask somebody?
No more questions. They'll find out. Under us a
child is born, a son is given. Anybody know the answer to that?
In the same breath He calls him the Father, He calls him a son? In the same breath He calls him
a child? He calls him the everlasting
Father? The Prince of Peace? You think there will be a millennium? Would you like to be a preacher?
Boy, I tell you sometimes, he was made to be the son of David,
the seed of David. He's declared to be the son of
God. He's God in human flesh. I can't
explain that. I just know that's the answer
to the question. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in human flesh. seen of the angels, justified
in the Spirit, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, and the Word was with God in the beginning, and the
Word was God, and all things were made by Him, and that Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. And that's what
our Lord said to these scribes. As that scribe walked off, I
have no more questions, our Lord turned and He said to these fellows,
These fellas talk about things they don't know anything about. These fellas talk about things
they don't know anything about. That's most pastors today, talk
about things they don't know anything about. Preachers. They
don't know anything about it. They talk about Christ is the
son of David. And when they wrote the very
thing, they said David said to the Lord, David's Lord said to
David, To the Lord, he said, sit thou
on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. And then verse 38, now watch
this. And he said to them in his doctrine, beware of these
scribes. Beware of them. Beware of these
religious teachers. Now here he describes them. Number
one, he says, they left to go in long clothing. What's that? They like to dress different
from everybody else. They like to wear peculiar, strange,
different clothes, long clothing, to be taken notice of. They want
a distinguishing mark. They want a religion that'll
catch the eye. Secondly, he said they love salutations
in the marketplaces. They like to be called Reverend,
Doctor, Rabbi, teacher. They like for people to note
their position, their knowledge of religion, and their particular
office. And thirdly, verse 39, and they
love the chief seats in the synagogue. They'd rather sit at the speaker's
table. They like to be up in front of people. They pray to
be seen of men. They fast to be seen of men.
They give to be seen of men. They liked to sit at the head
tables at the feasts. They loved the uppermost rooms
at the feasts, the head tables. In the tabernacle or in the temple,
these rooms were there, and these men were religious leaders, and
that's where they wanted to be. They loved that. And verse 40,
now watch this, they devoured widows' houses. You ought to
look that up in some of the commentaries. You talk about the Swaggart's
and Baker's and Shula's and all the rest of them. You know what
the commentaries say about that? They devour widows' houses. Listen. These scribes, these religious
leaders, clear back yonder, their husband, the man of the house,
died. And these men would prey upon
these widows and come to them seeking to be caretakers of their
income and of their houses and land. in the name of God. And then they would take, gradually
prey upon this woman's religion and emotions and finally take
over their houses and their lands and their savings and their incomes. That's today's TV picture. Devouring
widows' houses. promising them heaven, promising
them a special place in heaven to empty their savings and send
it to them. That's what these fellows are.
And for a pretense, I tell you, don't do your praying on television
holding hands. Get in a closet and shut the
door and talk to God. But for a pretense, they make
long prayers. Now watch this. and they shall
receive the greater damnation." The greater damnation. In conclusion,
these men have a religious profession and a position, and they're faced
with a high cost of discipleship. That's what this man was standing
there, and he heard Christ. But he had on his long garments,
and he had his respect, and he had his credentials, and he had
his titles. And I'm sure through his mind,
it went through his mind, the cost of discipleship of following
this man. And that contributed to his leaving
and walking off. But the Apostle Paul said, what
things were gained to me, I count but loss for Christ, for whom
I've suffered the loss of all things. Have you got any questions? I wonder if somehow we've wandered
by and heard this message. Somehow heard this message, maybe
for the first time just heard this message, wandered by and
heard this message. Maybe we'd like this man been in religion
for years, but here we're confronted with this message. The Christ
of God, the blood of redemption. discipleship of faith, we heard
this message. I believe the wise course would
be to entertain some questions, don't you? Let's find out about
it.