Sermon
#49 Series: Mark
Title: Three Spiritual
Evils
Text: Mark 11:27-33
Readings: Office:
Larry Criss Auditorium: Rex
Bartley
Subject: The
Pharisees Question The Lord’s Authority
Date: Sunday Evening - April 26, 1998
Tape # U-65b
Introduction:
The
title of my message is Three Spiritual Evils. You have the
text before you in Mark 11:27-33. In this passage of Scripture we see our Lord
Jesus Christ walking in the temple with his disciples, teaching and preaching
the gospel. As he walked back and forth through the house of God, a multitude
gathered around and listened intently to his every word.
The
event recorded here took place the day after our Lord cursed the barren fig
tree and drove the money changers from the temple, two days after his entrance
into Jerusalem.
In
the crowd listening to our Savior’s doctrine were those chief priests, scribes,
and elders who were determined to destroy the Master, his doctrine, and his
people.
Once
more, they thought they had a perfect opportunity to discredit him. The Lord
Jesus had come into Jerusalem accepting the praises of men as the Messiah, the
Christ of God. He entered the house of God, drove out the money changers, and
set things in order as the Master of the house. On top of all that, he called
the house of God his house. Thus declaring himself to be God! Now, as he taught
the gospel of God in the house of God, contrary to the accepted traditions and
customs of the Jews, these great, respected, scholarly infidels, who were the religious
leaders of the Jewish world, asked the Lord Jesus the source of his authority.
Read the story with me (Mk. 11:27-33).
Mark 11:27-33 "And they come again to Jerusalem: and
as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the
scribes, and the elders, (28) And say
unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this
authority to do these things? (29) And
Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and
answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. (30) The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. (31) And they reasoned with themselves,
saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe
him? (32) But if we shall say, Of
men; they feared the people: for all men counted
John, that he was a prophet indeed. (33) And
they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith
unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Proposition: When the religious, spiritual
leaders of a church, denomination, nation, or age do not know God, when
spiritual leaders are really infidels, those who blindly follow their blind
guides do so to the eternal peril of their souls, and to the eternal peril of
all who are under their influence!
Divisions: I want to show you Three Spiritual Evils, which stand
out glaringly in these verses, as beacons to warn us.
1.
The
Evil Of Spiritual Ignorance
2.
The
Evil Of Spiritual Arrogance
3.
The
Evil Of Spiritual Dishonesty
I.
The
Evil Of Spiritual Ignorance
You
may think, “Pastor, how can you say that spiritual ignorance is an evil? Can a
person be faulted for his ignorance in the things of God?”
Yes,
a person can and should be, indeed shall be, held accountable by God for that
which he could have known and should have known, had he simply walked in the
light God gave him. Do you understand the implications of what I have just
said? Not only will God Almighty hold
you accountable at the day of judgment for everything you have heard and
despised concerning the gospel of his dear Son, he will hold you accountable
for everything you could have heard had you chosen to do so!
Those
things are true of all men; but they are especially true concerning those men
who assume the responsibility of teaching others, and preaching to others, and
leading others in the name of God.
A. That man who speaks to, teaches, leads, and preaches
to others in the name of God better have a firm, well-grounded assurance
concerning few things.
Speaking
to you as I now do, in God’s name, I assume a tremendous weight of
responsibility. Knowing what I do of God’s character, his Word, and the
seriousness of this business, I would not dare speak another word, or continue
another day in the work of the ministry, if I were not certain of these things.
I say to any man, old or young, who is just chomping at the bit to be a
preacher, before you assume this work, you better be certain that…
·
You
know God and the gospel of his grace.
·
God
has called you and sent you to this work.
·
You
have a message from God.
·
You
faithfully proclaim God’s message.
You
see, though you are responsible for your own souls, standing here as a watchman
over your souls I am also responsible for your souls.
What
does all that have to do with this text? Just this…
B. These chief priests, scribes, and elders stand
before us as glaring examples of the fact that THOSE WHO HOLD HIGHEST PLACE IN
THE RELIGIOUS WORLD ARE OFTEN TOTALLY IGNORANT OF THE THINGS OF GOD.
These
men were not peons. They were the most highly trained, specialized religious
scholars, selected from an elite group of elite men. They were not just
priests, they were the chief priests. They were not just teachers, they were
the scribes. They were not just elders, they were the elders.
1.
These
men were regarded by the religious world of their day as the very source and
fountain of all spiritual knowledge. They were, for the most part, direct
descendants or Aaron; and they could prove it.
2.
Their
doctrine had the full weight and force of mainstream, historic Jewish
tradition; and they could prove it.
3.
But
these men did not know God from a box of rocks!
Spiritually,
they were totally blind. They had the Scriptures memorized, categorized, and
compartmentalized; but they had absolutely no understanding of the message of
the Book. They could tell you everything you could want to know about God and
his Son, the Christ, the Messiah, except one thing. They could not tell you who
he is! They could not spot him when he stood in their midst!
C. Spiritually knowledge comes by divine revelation.
I
wonder if we will ever learn this. In spiritual matters nothing matters except
spiritual matters. Worldly approval, academic scholarship, historic approval,
celebrated fame, religious order, religious tradition are all meaningless.
Indeed, these things are an absolute hindrance unless we are taught of God. 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. Christ must be revealed in us!
Once that happens, once
Christ is revealed in a person, he is unceasingly taught of God and convinced
of three things. These three things are the most important truths we ever
consider. They are infinitely deep. We can never fully learn them. Yet, if we
are taught of God, we will never cease to learn them, as long as we live in
this world. They are…
1.
Sin
- My Own!
2.
Righteousness
- Accomplished by Christ!
3.
Judgment
- Finished at Calvary!
John 16:8-11 "And when he is come, he will reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) Of sin, because they believe not on me; (10) Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no
more; (11) Of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged."
Romans 8:1 "There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
2
Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made
him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
D. As you care for your soul and for the souls of your
families and all who may be influenced by you, TRY THE SPIRITS TO SEE WHETHER
THEY BE OF GOD (1 John 4:1-3).
1 John 4:1-3 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone
out into the world. (2) Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God: (3) And every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is
it in the world."
Spiritual
ignorance, ignorance of Christ and his gospel, among preachers, teachers, and
religious leaders is an inexcusable evil by which multitudes are being led to
hell. When blind men are led by blind men, both fall into the ditch.
II. The Evil Of Spiritual
Arrogance
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. Their only concern was their own position and power! They
said, “By what authority doest thou these
things?”
They
could not refute his doctrine. They could not make any charge of wickedness
stick. They could not deny the power of God displayed in his works. The only
thing left was to challenge his right to do the things he did in the name of
God. They were asking…
·
By
what authority do you preach? Who ordained you?
·
What
right do you have to curse a fig tree, created by God?
·
How
dare you come into the house of God and set things in order, without consulting
us?
Nothing makes a
lost religious man more arrogant, insecure, envious, and malicious than the
sight of another man doing the will of God…
·
Preaching
the truth of God, he refuses to preach.
·
Consecrated
to the glory of God, while he is consecrated to nothing but himself.
·
Secure
in the place of God, while he senses nothing but insecurity.
·
At
rest in the will of God, when he cannot find a moment’s rest in his soul.
It is spiritual arrogance, especially among religious
leaders, which keeps men from bowing to the truth of God when plainly
confronted with it; and the embarrassment of having that wickedness exposed in
their own hearts makes those who normally appear to be so sugary sweet raging
persecutors. It was the spiritual
arrogance of these men which drug them down to hell.
·
Everyone
acknowledged that John the Baptist was a prophet of God; but these fine men
were not about to sit at the feet of such an unacceptable teacher.
·
Because
they would not hear God’s servant, they could not believe God’s Son. - Christ
declared and displayed, in undeniable ways, his messiahship and Godhood; but
they refused to believe him. It would simply have cost them too much!
·
Because
they refused to hear God’s messenger and refused to believe God’s Son, they
despised God’s ordinance - believer’s baptism.
Spiritual
ignorance always leads to spiritual arrogance; and spiritual ignorance and
arrogance always produce…
III. The
Evil Of Spiritual Dishonesty
Those
who are, by their willful unbelief, prejudiced against the truth of God, in the
attempt to justify themselves will, without hesitation lie and act in
dishonesty to their own consciences. Like these chief priests, scribes, and
elders, they will display this dishonest behavior in the name of honoring God
and in the house of God. There is
nothing dishonest men will not do to save face before men. Our Lord did not
ask these men a hard, perplexing, question. He just asked them whether John’s ministry was of God or of men.
Mark 11:29-30 "And Jesus answered and said unto them,
I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what
authority I do these things. (30) The
baptism of John, was it from heaven,
or of men? answer me."
These
men did not even think about giving a plain, honest, strait forward answer.
Immediately, they put their heads together, not to find out the truth, but to
figure out how to save face. Look at verse 31.
Mark 11:31-33 "And they reasoned with themselves,
saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe
him? (Why don’t you believe me?) (32) But if we shall say, Of men; they
feared the people: for all men counted
John, that he was a prophet indeed. (33) And
they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith
unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Rather
than speak the truth, they told a direct and obvious lie. They said, “We
cannot tell”.
Now,
let me see if the Lord will enable me to bring this home to you to whom it is
directly applicable. There are some of you sitting before me right now, some of
you who now hear my voice, who behave exactly like these men. Rather than
simply bowing to Christ, you lie to yourself, to me, and to God. You attempt to
justify yourself in your unbelief and soothe your conscience, by saying…
·
“I
want to believe, but I just cannot understand the doctrines of the gospel.” Who cannot understand satisfaction and
substitution?
·
“I
am really trying to believe, but I just can’t.” Who cannot fall, if he is willing to fall?
·
“I
really want to be a Christian and serve the Lord, but not right now.”
Can I be perfectly honest with you? This may shock you.
In fact, I hope it does. I hope it shocks you right into the arms of Christ.
Your problem is really this - YOU’RE A
LIAR! When you say, I cannot believe on Christ”, the real truth is you will
not. I can prove that to you from the Word of God.
Your real problem is that
you love darkness rather than light (John 3:19) and have no desire to change.
Therefore, you refuse to come to the Light. If you were willing to live up to
the light God has already given you, if you were willing act upon the knowledge
you already have, you would soon know the doctrine of Christ, come to Christ,
and walk in the light with Christ (John 7:17).
John 7:17
"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself."
My friend, your problem is more than an inability to
believe. Your problem is that you are so full of hatred toward God that you
would rather call God a liar (1 John 5:10) and go to hell than admit that you
are yourself a liar.
Application: Oh, may God give you an honest heart. Of this
much I am sure…
·
An
honest heart is a believing heart.
·
An
unbelieving heart is a dishonest heart.
I
appeal to you once more, (Oh, may God the Holy Spirit speak to your heart!),
before you slip out of this world into eternal hell, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Romans 10:9-13 "That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. (11) For the
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (12) For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call
upon him. (13) For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
God
help you now, to believe on his Son. If you do, you have everlasting life. May
God grant it for Christ’s sake. AMEN.