Filtrar por gênero

Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts

Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts

Dr David Petts - Pentecostal preacher, former AoG Bible College Principal
Religião e Espiritualidade

Dr David Petts is an international speaker and author who is best known for his 27 years as Principal at Mattersey Hall Bible College and his in-depth but easily understood teaching on the Holy Spirit. Now retired, he enjoys preaching locally and sometimes further afield. These podcasts are your opportunity to experience Dr Petts' teaching first hand!

268 - 268 Mark 10:1-12 Jesus answers questions on divorce
0:00 / 0:00
1x
  • 268 - 268 Mark 10:1-12 Jesus answers questions on divorce

    Talk 29   Mark 10:1-12   Jesus answers questions on divorce

    Welcome to Talk 29 in our series on Mark’s gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 10:1-12 where Jesus answers questions on divorce, and in so doing teaches us key principles about the nature and sanctity of marriage. Of course, in a talk of this length, it won’t be possible to go into the subject in great detail or to refer to the wide variety of opinions that are held on the matter.  But in my view, there are some things that stand out very clearly from what Jesus has to say, and it’s those things that we’ll be concentrating on today. So let’s begin by reading Mark 10:1-12.

     

    Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."

     

    So far Jesus’ ministry has centred largely on the region of Galilee, but now, and for the rest of Mark’s Gospel, it has transferred to the region of Judea where the people were very different from those in Galilee. But whatever the region, some things never change. Jesus continues to teach. Crowds come to listen. And the Pharisees are determined to catch Jesus out by asking him trick questions. And it’s in that context that we need to understand his teaching on divorce in this passage.

     

    We need to bear in mind that the Pharisees had seen on several occasions how Jesus was radically reinterpreting the Law of Moses. They were so annoyed about this that they were already trying the find ways to have Jesus killed. (Mark 3:6 tells us that they had begun to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus, because he had healed a man on the Sabbath day). John the Baptist had already been executed by Herod for speaking out against divorce and adultery (Mark 6:17-28). So it seems likely that the Pharisees’ purpose in testing Jesus in this way was to have him killed.

     

    That’s why we mustn’t see Jesus’ reply to their question as a full-blown theology of marriage and divorce, but rather as a wise answer that avoided the trap the Pharisees had set for him. However, what Jesus does say reveals vitally important truths on the subject, as we shall see as we work through the passage. But before we start, just one more thing. Matthew’s account of the same incident (Matthew 19:1-12) includes a little more of Jesus’ reply than we find in Mark. For example, in verse 2 where the Pharisees ask Jesus, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Matthew’s account includes the words for any and every reason.

    And in verse 11 Matthew includes the words except for marital unfaithfulness. This, of course, does not mean that Matthew is contradicting Mark. He is simply including more of what Jesus actually said, and we’ll be taking this into account as we seek to understand what Jesus was saying. And in case you’re wondering why Matthew, Mark and Luke sometimes have slightly different accounts of the same incident, it’s probably worth mentioning that each writer had a different audience in mind. For example, Matthew was writing for a largely Jewish audience while Mark, who was probably based in Rome, would have had a readership that was largely Gentile.

     

    But now, putting Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts together, let’s look at the implications of what Jesus says about marriage and divorce. The Pharisees begin by asking Jesus, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" The question was relevant because at the time of Jesus there were two schools of thought among the Jewish rabbis. The followers of Shammai maintained that only unchastity or adultery were grounds for a man divorcing his wife. On the other hand, the disciples of Hillel allowed divorce for the slightest reason – even something as trivial as bad cooking!

     

    Jesus answers their question in Matthew 19:11 where he says that divorce should be limited to cases of porneia ­– adultery or marital unfaithfulness. But his first response to their question is to ask them, What did Moses command you? To which they say, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. But in saying this the Pharisees are not being honest with the text of the very passage they are referring to. All that Moses says in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is that if a divorced woman marries another man, and if he also divorces her, she may not be remarried to her first husband.

     

    Jesus, however, refuses to get embroiled in an argument about the interpretation of the Law of Moses, but tells them the reason why it was given: It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law. (Notice incidentally that Jesus interprets the scripture by looking at the reason for which it was given in the first place. When we’re interpreting scripture it’s always important to ask why it was written). Even the Pharisees had acknowledged that Moses had permitted divorce. He had not commanded it. Now Jesus explains why Moses had permitted it – because your hearts were hard (v5). 

     

    But what does Jesus mean by saying because your hearts were hard? Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately sick (ESV). This is true in all generations because of our fallen nature, and at the time of Moses that was particularly evident in the context of marriage, because men saw themselves as free to put away their wives for any reason, no matter how trivial.

     

    And it’s important to note that there was no provision in the law of Moses for a wife to divorce her husband! Men tended to view their wives as their property – something which may be reflected in the tenth commandment where women are listed as things that should not be coveted, alongside houses, servants, oxen and donkeys, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour (Exodus 20:17).

    So man’s heart was hard because of his fallen nature, and this was reflected in the way they viewed the role of women in general and their wives in particular. But Jesus takes the Pharisees back to long before the law was given and reminds them that divorce was not God’s intention from the beginning. In verses 6-9 he says:

     

    6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

     

    He is referring, of course, to Genesis 2:22-24, which says:

     

    22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

     

    So in going back to Genesis Jesus sidesteps the trick question set by the Pharisees and takes the opportunity to reveal the true nature of marriage and God’s purpose in it. From his answer we see very clearly five things.

     

    1. Marriage is between male and female

    In verse 6 Jesus says that at the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

    Now notice what he says in verse 7:

     

    For this reason (i.e. because God made them male and female) a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife.

     

    Here Jesus is quoting directly from Genesis 2:24. Now in both the Hebrew of Genesis and the Greek of Mark’s Gospel, the word translated as wife in our English Bible is exactly the same as the word used elsewhere for woman. So both the Hebrew and the Greek literally say,

     

    A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his woman.

     

    This shows very clearly that from a Biblical perspective there can be no such thing as a same sex marriage. It’s a contradiction in terms.

     

    2. Marriage is a uniting of male and female

    Now let’s add verse 8 to verse 7:

     

    For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his woman, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one.

     

    This is an obvious reference to sexual intercourse, where a man and a woman are physically united. They become one flesh. But more than that, they are no longer two but one. The implications are surely more than physical. God’s intention for marriage is that the love husband and wife have for each other should result in unity, not merely of the body, but of purpose, intention, faith, heart, mind and soul. How different from the attitude of the Pharisees is the New Testament teaching that husbands should love their wives as their own bodies, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her (Ephesians 5:25-33).

     

    3. Marriage is intended to be permanent

    It’s interesting that Matthew makes something clear that is not obvious in Mark’s account. In 19:5 he records Jesus as saying that God said the words recorded in Genesis 2:24. It was the Creator himself who at the beginning said, They will become one flesh. And on the strength of this, Jesus says in verse 9, What God has joined together, let not man separate. Jesus is not referring here to what happens in the ceremony we call a wedding. He is referring to what God said at creation. God intends marriage to be permanent, and so should we.

     

    Two or three years after Eileen and I were married, a fifteen-year-old girl in an RE lesson I was teaching asked me a question: Sir, how do you know you will still love your wife in 10 years’ time? To which I replied, Oh, that’s easy. Because I’ve promised to. Love is more than a romantic feeling. It involves an act of the will. And for a Christian, knowing that in God’s sight marriage is for life should be the determining factor in the decision to keep on loving and to stay married till death us do part. But where does that leave the matter of divorce?

     

    4. Divorce was a concession but not God’s perfect plan

    As we’ve already seen, even the Pharisees acknowledged that Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife (v4). In the next verse Jesus does not deny this but says that it was only because of their hardness of heart, which we’ve already talked about. God’s perfect plan was that people should stay together. But because of the weakness of our human nature, he allowed divorce in certain circumstances, but NOT for any and every reason as the followers of the school of Hillel were teaching. But that brings us to our final point.

     

    5. Divorce for any and every reason followed by remarriage leads to adultery, except where there has been marital unfaithfulness.

    We’ve already mentioned that Matthew includes some words of Jesus that are not recorded in Mark. In Matthew, Jesus says:

    I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

     

    In the Greek, the word for marital unfaithfulness is porneia. This word has a fairly wide range of meaning (adultery, unchastity, prostitution etc.) but is invariably connected with some form of sexual activity. That’s presumably why NIV translates it as marital unfaithfulness. This appears to be the only basis on which Jesus allows a man to divorce his wife – or presumably a wife to divorce her husband. I say this because Mark 10:11-12 indicates that what applies to the husband applies to the wife too. But how does all this apply to us today?

     

    First, let me say that I’m well aware that sincere Christians have very different views on this and that we all need to tread carefully as what we teach may have a serious effect on the lives of people who are divorced or who are facing very real problems in their marriage. But, having said that, as Christians we must take the teaching of Jesus seriously and should never attempt to water down what he has said. We also need to bear in mind that there are other NT passages which deal with the subject of marriage and divorce and in this short talk I have not attempted to deal with them.

     

    What we have said with regard to this passage is that in the answers Jesus gave the Pharisees he was not attempting to give a full-blown theology of marriage and divorce. He was answering a trick question based on how Deuteronomy 24:1 should be applied in the context of first century Judaism. Nevertheless, what he says relates beyond the context of the day because he takes us back to God’s intention for marriage from the very start. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It is the uniting of that man and woman in a lifelong relationship. Man must not separate what God has joined together.

     

    Nevertheless, there are, Jesus tells us, certain circumstances in which divorce may be permitted. Those circumstances are cases of marital unfaithfulness, a term which, as we have seen, can cover a variety of forms of sexual activity. But is this really the only legitimate basis for divorce? Could the term be extended to mean unfaithfulness of a nonsexual nature like persistent physical violence, for example? If a man commits adultery, he is breaking the covenant that he made with his wife. Would he not also be breaking that covenant if he beat her black and blue? Would she not have the right to divorce him?

     

    If we insist on the letter of what Jesus said, we would have to say no. But Jesus’ example teaches us (as we have seen in this passage) to look beyond the letter of the law to the reason behind it. To say this is not to legitimate divorce for any and every reason. But such an approach does allow us to consider the spirit rather than the letter of the law and to apply it with sensitivity and compassion to those who find themselves, through no fault of their own, in an impossible marital situation.

     

    I offer this suggestion in a spirit of humility, knowing that there will be those who radically disagree. All I can say is that after more than 60 years in church leadership I know that there is no easy answer. Every case is different and church leaders need to pray for wisdom and the help of the Holy Spirit in seeking to understand the scriptures and to apply the principles that the Lord Jesus has taught us.

    Fri, 17 May 2024 - 23min
  • 267 - Announcement The Home Call of Eileen Petts My tribute to my wife

    About Eileen – a tribute to my wife by David Petts

    Eileen was born on 6th January 1939 in Stockport, Cheshire. Her parents, Cecil and Sarah Littlewood, were from a Methodist background but were not regular church goers. However, they did send Eileen to Sunday School, and when they moved to Dagenham their nearest church was Bethel Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God or AoG) and it was there that, at the age of seven, Eileen accepted Jesus as her Saviour. From that moment on she never doubted and unswervingly followed the Saviour she had come to love so much.

    When the family moved from Dagenham, she attended Hornchurch Baptist Church where she was baptised in water at the age of fifteen. I was attending Elm Park Baptist Church and when we were both 18 we met at a joint youth rally held in the local park. That meeting turned out to be the beginning of a wonderful sixty-seven year long relationship. At that time I was expecting to become a Baptist minister, but in September 1959, having heard about the baptism in the Spirit from some Pentecostal friends, we both started to attend prayer meetings at Dagenham AoG and were both baptised in the Spirit in the very church where Eileen had received Jesus as her Saviour.

    We were married three years later as soon as I had graduated from Oxford, and moved to Colchester where I became the pastor of the AoG church in Straight Road, Lexden. Eileen held down a very responsible administrative job in the Colchester Education Office until Deborah and Sarah were born (1964, 1965). Although a busy mum, Eileen always made room in our home for the thirty teenagers who crowded into our small lounge every Sunday afternoon for Bible Class and who had come to Christ in the youth meetings we held in our church.

    In 1968 we moved to Basingstoke where I had accepted the pastorate of the AoG church. During the ten years we were there Eileen was responsible for setting up and running the pre-school playgroup for 40 children held five mornings a week and teaching the teenage Bible class on Sundays. She also played an active part in organising and preparing the meals for up to 150 teenagers at the New Forest Pentecostal Youth Camp we held annually during the 1970s.

    During this period my ministry was becoming increasingly in demand both nationally and internationally, and, although she now had three young children, Jonathan having been born in 1970, Eileen never complained, but totally supported me in all the Lord was calling me to do. And that support became all the more important when I was appointed to be the principal at Mattersey Hall Bible College.

    Eileen served as Matron of the college from 1978 to 1999. Her responsibilities included supervision of all kitchen and domestic staff, organising the rotas for the regular domestic duties undertaken by the students, and attending weekly Faculty meetings. Although she was well equipped for these responsibilities by her administrative skills and experience, she often felt rather inadequate for the task and constantly depended on the Lord to help her. But by far her most important role was as my support, encourager, and advisor throughout the 27 years I led the college.

    Eileen was very conscious of the privilege the Lord had given her in fulfilling this role, especially as, when the children were grown up she was able to travel with me in connection with my responsibilities representing Assemblies of God attending meetings of the Pentecostal European Fellowship and the World Pentecostal Fellowship. She greatly appreciated the fellowship with other like-minded Christians around the world, especially at the annual EPTA conferences where we met with other Pentecostal Bible College workers from across Europe.

    When I retired from Mattersey in 2004, we moved to Devon and became members of Brixham Community Church (AoG) where Eileen used her gift of hospitality in organizing garden party cream teas for the over sixties, barbecues for the neighbours, and serving coffee after church on Sunday mornings. She also continued to travel widely with me both in ministry and on holiday.

    Sadly, this all came to an abrupt end when Eileen was left severely disabled by a massive stroke in June 2016. Despite all the frustration that this caused to a woman who had previously been so active, Eileen never lost her sense of humour and was convinced that God had a purpose in what he had allowed to happen, knowing that one day she would walk again. That day has now come, and, no longer in a wheelchair, she stands in the presence of the Lord she loved and served for so many years.

    Although I am missing her already, I am full of joy, knowing that she is now where she wanted to be. Until we meet again in Heaven, I will remember her for her love, her faithfulness, her devotion, her patience, her sense of humour, her impact on our children’s lives, her smile, her perseverance in suffering, her courage in face of adversity, and above all, her childlike trust in Jesus and her total commitment to him. I thank God for the precious gift of Eileen and the privilege of being her husband for sixty-two years.

    The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

    Fri, 08 Mar 2024 - 07min
  • 266 - 267 Mark 9:30-50 Self-denial and total commitment

    Talk 28  Mark 9:30-50   Self-denial and total commitment

    Welcome to Talk 28 in our series on Mark's Gospel. Today we're looking at Mark 9:30-50 where Jesus teaches his disciples lessons that are essential for all those who would follow him. The passage begins with the statement that Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples (vv30-31). And, as we look at the passage, we discover that what Jesus is teaching is self-denial and total commitment. But first, let’s read the rest of the passage, beginning in verse 31.

    He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

    33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

    38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." 39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

    42 "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

    Jesus begins by reminding his disciples what he has already told them more than once. He is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise (31). The disciples don’t understand this yet, but it will be essential that they do. The reason Jesus came to earth was to die on the cross to save us from our sins. It would involve self-denial and total commitment – saying No to self and Yes to God. And this would be the example he set for his followers (1 Peter 2:21). And now he is teaching his disciples in advance that following him will mean following his example of self-denial and total commitment.

    And in today’s passage we see various ways how Jesus challenges us to do the same.

    The challenge of self-denial

    There is to be no self-seeking among the followers of Jesus (33-37)

    In our last talk we saw how the disciples were arguing with the teachers of the Law. Now we discover them arguing among themselves (v33). And they’re arguing about who was the greatest. We’re not told the details, but it may well have been over who they thought would get the best positions in the Messianic kingdom Jesus was about to bring in. Perhaps Peter, James and John felt they had a claim to greatness because of the privilege they had had to be present at the transfiguration. We know that James and John had aspirations like that because of what we’re told in the next chapter where they ask Jesus:

    Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory (10:37).

    But to such ambition Jesus replies:

    If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all (9:35),

    and taking a little child in his arms he says:

    Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4) and adds:

    Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me (Mark 9:37).

    Selfish ambition may bring glory to oneself, but it doesn’t bring glory to Jesus. It only causes division and dissention among the followers. So there is to be no self-seeking among the followers of Jesus, but, closely connected to this, our passage also shows that there is to be no competition among them either.

    There is to be no competition among the followers of Jesus (38-41)

    In verse 38 John tells Jesus that they have seen a man driving out demons in Jesus’ name but that they stopped him because he was not one of us. But Jesus replies

    Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

    It’s certainly possible that the disciples’ reason for stopping the man was well intentioned. They knew that as his disciples they had been specially chosen by Jesus and that he had designated them apostles (Mark 3:14). They had been in his close company since he first called them to be fishers of men. What right had other people to think they could speak in Jesus’ name (i.e. with his authority)?

    Their motivation could well have been like that of Joshua in Numbers 11:28, when out of loyalty to Moses he asks him to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying because they had not been in the Tent of Meeting when the Spirit had come upon them as the rest of the elders had been. To which Moses replied, I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.

    Moses was secure in his God-given position of leadership and had nothing to fear from what may have appeared to be a challenge to his authority, and how much more secure was Jesus in the knowledge that he was God’s well-beloved Son. He had nothing to fear from a man who was not one of his immediate disciples driving out demons in his name. And a person using his name to do so could not possibly say anything bad about him (v38).

    But what does he mean when he says, Whoever is not against us is for us? Did he not say on another occasion, He who is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30)? Of course there is no contradiction in these two statements. In God’s sight there are only two kinds of people in the world – not Jew or Gentile, not male or female, not black or white, not rich or poor etc. – but those who are for Jesus and those who are against him. Neutrality is not an option. And on that hangs our eternal destiny.

    But Jesus’ statement also implies that there are those who are actually for him whom we believe to be against him. The Lord knows those who are his. We’re reminded of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10 who protested to God that he was the only one left who was following him and to whom God replied that there were 7000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (v18). I’m sure that when we get to Heaven we’ll be surprised at some of the people we meet there!

    So we need to be careful that we don’t assume that Christians who worship differently than we do, or who do things differently from us, are not really Christians at all. Of course we need to contend earnestly for the precious truths of God’s word, but our motivation in doing so should never be for the reputation or position of our own group or denomination. For example, I don’t believe that infant baptism is scriptural, but that does not mean that some of those who practise it are not being powerfully used in healing and evangelism. Jesus said that anyone who gives you a cup of water (i.e. seeks to help you in the simplest way) …because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward (v41). There must be cooperation, not competition, among the followers of Jesus.

    But that brings us to the second major challenge that Jesus presents to his disciples in this passage – the challenge of total commitment.

    The challenge of total commitment (vv42-50)

    In these verses Jesus warns his disciples about the seriousness of sin. Our sin can, not only keep us out of Heaven, but also keep others out too. He challenges us to a life of total commitment, a life that pleases God.

    Verse 42 contains a strong warning about causing anyone else to sin, especially those who are children, but it could also be taken to refer to those who are young in their faith. A spirit of competition among Christians or a personal ambition for greatness can easily do just that. Such attitudes are a poor example to set to new believers. There’s the twofold danger that they either follow the example we are setting, or that they will be completely put off the faith because of it.

    Sin is so serious that in verses 43-47 Jesus uses what may seem like an extreme illustration to make his point. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off… if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off… if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. In other words, Get rid of anything that causes you to sin. If your sin is not dealt with, Jesus says, only hell awaits.

    If this seems harsh, we need to remember that Jesus has already provided a way for us to get rid of our sin. That’s why he died, taking the punishment our sins deserved. We get rid our sin and its consequences when we receive Jesus as our Saviour. Heaven, not hell, is our destiny. But that does not mean that the moment we become Christians we start to live sinless lives. In fact, if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves (1 John1:8), but,  thank God, If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

    But God’s promise of forgiveness does not mean that we should go on sinning. Our sins are forgiven, but sin is still serious. That’s why Jesus tells us to cut off anything that causes it. And cutting something off can be painful. Giving up something we enjoy or someone we love may well be costly, but if we know that it or they may lead us, or others, into temptation, we also know that it will be worth it in order to maintain our right standing with God.

    As we’ve already pointed out, our sin can affect the eternal destiny of others if it leads them to follow our example or abandon the faith. That’s why Jesus says in verse 50:

    Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.

    As Christians we can make a real difference in the world we live in, rather like salt changes the flavour of food (Matthew 5:13), and just as salt preserves food from decay, we can counteract the moral decay we see in the world around us. If, like the disciples in today’s passage, we’re arguing and quarrelling among ourselves, how can we expect to influence the society in which we live? If we cannot live at peace with each other, we will lose our saltiness and we’ll be of little use in the Lord’s service. That’s why, as we’ve already seen, there must be no self-seeking or competition among the followers of Jesus. He challenges us to self-denial and total commitment.

    And if that seems hard, just remember that that is exactly what Jesus did.

    Tue, 07 May 2024 - 17min
  • 265 - 254 Mark 6:1-13 Preaching the gospel in a hostile environment

    Talk 16   Mark 6:1-13   Preaching the gospel in a hostile environment

    Welcome to Talk 16 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’ll be looking at Mark 16:1-13. We’ll be concentrating on verses 1-5 where Mark tells us that Jesus was unable to do any mighty miracle in his home town because of the people’s unbelief, and then we’ll see how this relates to verses 6-13 where Jesus sends out the twelve apostles. We’ll begin by reading verses 1-6.

     

    1 Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour." 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith…

     

    1 Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples.

    Jesus leaves the home of Jairus and travels with his disciples away from the shore of Lake Galilee to his home town of Nazareth. He had been born in Bethlehem, and, as we’ve seen in previous talks, the base for his ministry was Capernaum, but he was always known as Jesus of Nazareth because that is where he had been brought up. So by Jesus’ home town Mark means Nazareth.

     

    2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue

    He does in Nazareth exactly what he has done elsewhere. He begins to teach in the synagogue. By saying that Jesus began to teach Mark is indicating that Jesus might well have continued to teach there if only the people had accepted him. Mark doesn’t tell us here what Jesus’ message was, but he would expect us to assume that it was in line with what he has already told us in Mark 1:14-15:

     

    … Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!

     

    But the people of Nazareth would not believe the good news. They took offense at him (v3). Why? Because the good news is Jesus! They were amazed. They asked, Where did this man get these things?  They recognised that he had been given wisdom and acknowledged that he worked miracles. But they could not look beyond the fact that they had known him as the carpenter. So in verse 3 they say:

     

    3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”

    Despite the supernatural evidence of the miracles they had heard about, they refused to look beyond the natural. Yes, he was the carpenter. Yes, he was the son of Mary – if they had heard the story of his virgin birth, they had clearly not believed it.

    Yes, he was the half-brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and his sisters. But didn’t the miracles show that he was so much more! He was, in the opening words of Mark’s  Gospel, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

     

    And they took offense at him.

    The verb that’s used here is closely connected with the noun skandalon which is frequently used in the New Testament to mean a stumbling block or something that trips you up. What tripped up the people of Nazareth was their refusal to see beyond the humanity of Jesus. And Paul, using the same word in 1 Corinthians 1:23, tells us that the Jews in general stumble at the message of Christ crucified. There is a danger that our preconceived ideas prevent us from seeing the whole truth about Jesus.

     

    4 Jesus said to them, "Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour."

    This reminds us of Luke 4:24 which records Jesus as saying, No prophet is accepted in his home town. Note the word accepted. The problem with the people of Nazareth was that they refused to accept Jesus. It’s interesting that Luke’s account of this whole incident is far more detailed than Mark’s. He tells us that Jesus read from the passage in Isaiah where it says:

     

    The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour (Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2).

     

    Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus went on to say, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (v21), and that the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the way he spoke. As in Mark 6, their amazement sprang from the fact that they knew his family. Their familiarity with his humanity prevented them from seeing his divinity. They had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed in Capernaum and were expecting him to do something similar in Nazareth (v23).

     

    But Jesus knew that they would not accept him, and provocatively stated:

    I tell you the truth… no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian (vv24-27).

     

    As a result, Luke tells us that:

    All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way (vv28-30).

     

    So they not only refused to accept him. They actually tried to destroy him! But, perhaps surprisingly, Mark leaves out all this detail and simply tells us in verses 5-6:

     

    He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith…

    Does Mark really mean that Jesus could not do any miracles there? Couldn’t Jesus do anything? We may be tempted to say that Jesus could have but chose not to do any miracle there. But that is not what Mark says. The Greek literally means he was unable to do. So how do we explain this? Of course, God can do anything, but he has sovereignly chosen to work in response to faith. Jesus only did what he saw the Father do (John 5:19). He was unable to work outside of the parameters by which God has chosen to operate. So he was unable to do any miracle (literally, powerful thing) there because of their lack of faith, although presumably a few sick people had enough faith to be healed.

     

    I personally believe that this teaches us a very important principle. We know from experience that miracles seem to happen more frequently in some places than in others and we wonder why. The answer lies in this passage. Community unbelief inhibits the miraculous. If even Jesus could do no miracle in a place because of unbelief, we must not be surprised if we find that the same is true for us today.

     

    But why is faith so important? The answer lies in the message of salvation. Salvation is by faith. Jesus preached, Repent, and believe the good news. He came because God loves us. He came to give his life a ransom for many. He came to take the punishment our sins deserved, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. He knew that we would never be good enough for Heaven by our own self effort. That’s why he made a way for us to be saved by faith. Accepting Jesus, believing in him, is the only way to be saved. That’s why faith is important.

     

    And that’s why Jesus worked miracles and why he commissioned his disciples to do so. He came to die for us. He wanted people to have faith in him for salvation, and miracles encourage faith. They give a practical demonstration of God’s love for us. By working miracles Jesus was giving people every opportunity to believe. But if they refuse to believe despite the evidence of the miracles, they will have no excuse when they stand before God on the day of judgment. Our eternal destiny is determined by whether or not we accept Jesus. But sadly, for the time being at least, the people of Nazareth would not, and so Jesus leaves them and goes around teaching from village to village (v6). But now let’s read verses 7-13.

     

    7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

    7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits

    We know from Mark 3:14-15 that Jesus had already chosen his twelve apostles so that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These verses express Jesus’ purpose in choosing them, but it’s not until now in chapter 6 that Jesus actually gives them that authority and sends them out. God’s timing is so important. He often reveals his purposes for us before he intends us to begin to fulfil them. And he gives us the authority we need as and when we need it. In the case of the Twelve, it was almost certainly so that they might have time to learn from his teaching and example before he gave them authority and sent them out to preach. It was by following him that he would make them fishers of men (1:17).

     

    The specific instructions Jesus’ gave on this occasion are recorded in more detail by Matthew, where it is clear that this was a specific mission to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:6), but not at this time to the Samaritans or the Gentiles. That would come later. And where Mark only mentions that Jesus gave them authority over evil spirits, Matthew includes authority to heal every kind of sickness and disease, to cleanse lepers, and even raise the dead.

     

    Some Christians take the view that these passages are intended to indicate that as Christians we all have the right to ‘take authority’ over these things, but that ignores the fact that nowhere in the Bible are we told to take authority. We only have authority if we are given it. Even Jesus’ authority was given him by God (Matthew 18:19). The fact that Jesus gave this authority to twelve specific disciples at a specific time and for a specific mission does not automatically mean that he has given it to you or me today.

     

    Indeed, these very disciples, after Jesus had ascended into Heaven, had to wait to receive the power of the Spirit. In the Gospels they worked miracles with a specific authority given them by the Lord Jesus, but in Acts he would continue to work miracles through them as they were led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so it is with us. We can, and we should, expect the Lord to work through us in miraculous ways, but only as we are led by the Spirit.

     

    The fact that he sent them out in pairs provides us with a wise example of how we should work today. Teamwork is essential. However great our gifting or experience, none of us is infallible, and we all need the wisdom, support and encouragement that comes from others who work alongside us. This principle was followed by the disciples in Acts – e.g. Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas etc., although Paul’s apostolic teams were often larger than two. The basic principle is that we should not go it alone.

     

    8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.

    Again, these instructions were given with regard to a specific mission, and we should certainly not assume that when we go out on evangelism we must never take any money with us and that we should wear sandals rather than shoes! But we can certainly learn from the principles Jesus was teaching.

    We can trust the Lord to meet our needs as we seek to proclaim the good news. How can we have faith to work miracles if we cannot trust God to provide for our basic needs? The Christian life is by faith from first to last.

     

    10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

    Amazed at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth (v6), Jesus was only too aware of the opposition that he and his disciples were facing. Nevertheless, people must be given the opportunity to accept him, or to reject him. So he sent his disciples out to preach the good news to the surrounding villages, knowing that some would not listen. The disciples were to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against those who rejected the message.

     

    This was something Jewish people did when passing through a Gentile town or village. It was a sign that they were distancing themselves from them because they were different. They were the people of God. But Jesus’ disciples were not visiting Gentile towns or villages on this mission (Matthew 10:5). They were visiting Jewish villages. So by shaking the dust off their feet the disciples were showing the Jews that there is a distinction between those who believe the good news and those who reject it. Only those who accept Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, are truly the people of God.

     

    In most cultures today shaking the dust off one’s feet would mean nothing to those who might be watching, but as Christians we need to show by what we say and how we live that we are different from those who deny Christ. We have a different lifestyle and a different destiny.

     

    12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

    We saw in Mark 1:15 that Jesus’ message was, The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. The miracles were the evidence. They helped people to believe. Sadly, as we have seen in today’s passage, there were those who refused to believe despite the evidence. Could this have been because they were not willing to repent? It’s much the same today. There’s plenty of evidence for the truth of the Christian message, but many refuse to believe it because of the implications it has for their lifestyle.

     

    So what can we learn from this passage about preaching the gospel in a hostile environment? Follow the example of Jesus. Proclaim the good news. Expect miraculous confirmation of the message. Miracles demonstrate God’s love and make it easier for people to believe. Remember that Jesus gave his disciples authority for that specific mission. After he had returned to Heaven they received their authority from the Holy Spirit. As we keep filled with the Spirit he will lead us and empower us. The Holy Spirit will enable people to repent and believe, but he will not force them to do so. If people adamantly refuse our message we should move on to those who will accept it. Whether they accept it or reject it, it’s our responsibility whether people accept it or not to tell them the truth. We are not to blame if people refuse to accept Christ. But it is our responsibility to point out the consequences of doing so.

    Fri, 05 Jan 2024 - 24min
  • 264 - 266 Mark 9:9-29 Jesus heals a demon possessed boy

    Talk 27    Mark 9:9-29      Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy

    Welcome to Talk 27 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. In our last talk we were considering what we can learn about Heaven from the story of Jesus’ transfiguration at the top of a high mountain. Today we’re looking at Mark 9:9-29 where Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy. In verses 9-13 we read how, coming back down the mountain, Peter, James and John ask Jesus about a verse in Malachi which said that before the Messiah came, Elijah must come first. In Matthew’s account Jesus identifies this ‘Elijah’ as John the Baptist who had already been rejected and put to death for what he had preached. And Jesus then reminds his disciples that it would also be necessary for him to suffer too.

     

    But verses 14-15 tell us that at this point they saw the other disciples and …a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. And that …as soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

     

    When Jesus asks them what they’re arguing about (v16), a man in the crowd answers.

     

    Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not (vv17-18).

     

    I expect that most of my listeners will be familiar with this story, but let’s just remind ourselves of the details by reading verses 19-29:

     

    19 "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."  

    20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.  

    21 Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered.

    22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."

    23 "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

    25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."

    26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead."

    27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

    28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

    29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

     

    This passage teaches us four main things:

    ·      The desperate condition of the boy

    ·      The cause of the problem

    ·      The inability of the teachers and the disciples

    ·      The secret of Jesus’ authority.

    The desperate condition of the boy

     

    He was unable to hear or speak

    He was possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech (17)

    Jesus says, You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him (25).

     

    He suffered violent convulsions

    Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid (18)

    When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth (20)

    The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out (26).

     

    His life was often in danger

    It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him (22)

     

    His condition was longstanding

    Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered (21).

     

    His condition was incurable

    They saw the other disciples and a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them (14)

    I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not (18)

     

    The cause of the problem

    The passage makes clear that the boy’s condition was caused by a deaf and mute spirit that needed to be cast out of him. However, the symptoms of his condition were very similar to certain forms of what we refer to today as epilepsy. As a result, some have assumed that all those with epileptic symptoms have a demon that needs to be exorcised. However, since epilepsy is usually treatable with the right medication, and since it seems unlikely that demonic forces could be controlled by medical means, this view is clearly mistaken, especially bearing in mind the pastoral difficulties that would almost certainly arise if this theory were put into practice.

     

    Equally mistaken is the view that demons do not exist and that in those days, without the knowledge that we have today, people mistakenly assumed that all sickness was caused by evil spirits. But if that view were correct we would have to conclude that Jesus himself was mistaken when he said:

    You deaf and mute spirit …I command you, come out of him and never enter him again (v25).

     

    So what’s the solution? Quite simply, in some cases epileptic symptoms may result from the activity of evil spirits, but that does not mean that they always are. It’s interesting that in Matthew 4:24 those having seizures are distinguished from the demon-possessed making it clear that they’re not the same. But Jesus healed them all. Prayer for healing is always appropriate, but we need always to be led by the Holy Spirit in how we pray. Attempting to cast out something that isn’t there will cause more harm than good.

     

    But this passage reminds us how evil Satan is. We see how he torments and tries to destroy. As Jesus said in John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. And as we look around us at the world today we see abundant evidence of his work. Not only the thousands of lives being destroyed in war zones like Ukraine and Gaza, but the young people being led astray by his lies in so many different ways leading them to do things that are contrary to God’s natural created order of things. The Holy Spirit has clearly stated that

     

    …in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4:1)

     

    and this is undoubtedly being fulfilled before our very eyes. Satan not only works through demon possession, but by putting perverse ideas into people’s heads that are even now being taught to the children in our schools, and have led to an unprecedented crisis in mental and emotional health.

     

    The inability of the teachers and the disciples

    When Jesus came back down the mountain, he found the disciples and the teachers of the Law arguing. When he asked them what they were arguing about, the boy’s father answered telling Jesus about the desperate condition his son was in and his disciples’ inability to help. So it seems that the argument was about the boy.

     

    We don’t know the details of the argument, but perhaps the teachers of the law were challenging the disciples’ authority to drive out the demon. But if so, why didn’t they drive it out? In Matthew 12:27 Jesus acknowledged that some of the Jews were exorcists. We don’t know the answer to these questions, but what is clear is that while they were arguing, the boy was still being tormented. Could it be that even today people are suffering because we Christians are too busy arguing with the opposition rather than using the authority Jesus has given us to set them free?

     

    But that brings us to why the disciples couldn’t drive it out. Mark 6:31 tells us that they had already cast out demons. However, on this occasion they were unable to do so. The Greek verbs used in verses 18 and 28 imply that they were not strong enough and did not have the power to deal with this demon. The passage gives us two reasons why:

     

    ·      Lack of faith (v19) Cf Matthew 17:20 Because you have so little faith.

    ·      Lack of prayer (v29).

    So which was it? The answer must surely be both. There is no contradiction here. Faith comes by hearing from God, and prayer, communing with God, is how we hear from him. It’s through prayer that we know what God wants us to do and receive the faith to do it. But that brings us to:

     

    The secret of Jesus’ authority

    Notice:

    The authority with which Jesus speaks

    in verse 19: Bring the boy to me.

    In verse 25: I command you, come out of him

     

    The immediate reaction from the demon

    in verse 20: When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion.

    In verses 26: The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.

    Matthew 17:18  Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

     

    Why did Jesus have such authority over the demon?

    It’s clear from these verses that Jesus had total authority over the demon. But why? Not just because he was God, because it’s clear from verse 19 that he expected his disciples to have been able to do it. The secret of his authority lies in the answers he gave the disciples when they asked why they had been unable to do it. Because of the communion he had with his Father through his prayer life, Jesus had faith. Look at verses 22 and 23 again. The boy’s father says, If you can do anything, take pity on us… to which Jesus replies:

     

    ‘If you can'? …Everything is possible for him who believes.

     

    The emphasis here is on the word if, not on the word you. Jesus is not saying that if the father can believe, the boy’s healing will be possible – though that is not to deny the importance of having faith when we come to God with our requests – what Jesus is really saying may be paraphrased as follows:

    You are doubting if I can, but I assure you that I can because I believe, and everything is possible to those who believe.

     

    Jesus works the miracle, not because of the father’s imperfect faith, but because he himself had faith. He had faith in his own authority because he lived his life under the authority of God. That’s how he had conquered Satan in the wilderness. He knew what the Father wanted him to do, and he did it. He only did the things he saw the Father do (John 5:19). He was a man of authority because he was a man under authority (Matthew 8:8-10). The secret of his success lay not in his deity but in his submission as a man to the absolute authority of God. With that kind of authority, there is no need to argue as the disciples had. When we know we have heard from God, and only when we know it, we have authority to speak the word of command knowing that in Jesus’ name, with his authority, we too can drive out demons and heal the sick (Mark 16:15ff). But there are no shortcuts, no magic formulae. This kind can come out only by prayer and the faith that results from hearing from God.

    Fri, 26 Apr 2024 - 18min
Mostrar mais episódios

Podcasts semelhantes a Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts