CHRIST CREATIVE BAPTIST CHURCH
A SERMON PREACHED ON SUNDAY
MARCH 21, 1999
BY
THE REV. DR. GEORGE ST. ANTHONY FERGUSON, SR.
AUTHOR: Mark
THEME: Jesus Christ, The Servant
DATE: 50 AD
TEXT: Mark 10:23
All of us should know that God is omnipotent. All of us should know that God is omniscient. All of us should know that God is omnipresent. God is all powerful. God is all knowing. God is everywhere. And because God is all in all, God can do anything He wants to do. God can move mountains. God can change the flow of rivers. God can change the course of history. God can do whatever God wants to do. God can do anything but fail. But inspite of His all encompassing power, there are some things that God has decided He will not do. God has decided He will limit Himself not because He cannot do it. God has decided He will limit Himself because He will not do it. In the grace of God, He has decided to allow us to do somethings for ourselves. And in the gospel of Mark, Jesus demonstrates how God decision to limit Himself affects us. So on this Youth Sunday as we head towards Easter, Jesus told me to preach on the topic, What God Will Not Do For You.
Our lesson is found in the 10th Chapter of the gospel of Mark. As we begin this sermon, I want you to understand that there are four gospels and Mark is the second one. Most scholars to include me think that Mark is the oldest written gospel. Mark or John Mark was a young Jew who became a believer in Christ under the ministry of Peter. Acts 12:12 states his mother was Mary. Mark was the nephew of Barnabas and he went with Paul and Barnabas on their 1st Missionary Journey. But he turned back. Paul prohibited him from going with them on their 2nd Missionary Journey and Paul and Barnabas fell out over the issue. But later on while in jail, Paul said Mark was profitable to him for the ministry. But Mark was a son in the ministry of Peter. The gospel of Mark reflects Peter’s view of Jesus. And the gospel of Mark is the gospel of action. The gospel of Mark appeals to the man or woman of action. The gospel of Mark appeals to the Jew or Gentile who believes in doing and not just saying. And in the gospel of Mark, we see Jesus moving in Nazareth. We see Jesus teaching in Galilee. We see Jesus preaching in Jerusalem. Jesus was always on the go. Jesus was always on the move. Jesus was always doing something. Mark said suddenly Jesus went somewhere. Mark said immediately Jesus was in some place. Mark wants us to know that Jesus Christ is the Servant of God who is on the move. And as Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to walk in Jerusalem just like John, he came to Judea crossing the Southern part of the Jordan River. When he got to Judea He began to teach the people. The Pharisees came to ask Him if it was lawful to divorce your wife. They did this to tempt Him. But Jesus said only because of the hardness of their hearts did Moses include divorce in the Jewish Law. Jesus said but from the beginning of the creation it was not so. God created us male and female to be one. That why in all Christian weddings the preacher ought to say what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. God’s ideal is one man and one woman for life. But Jesus knew that all of us have sinned and continue to fall short of the glory of God. And after these hard hearted Pharisees left, a rich man came to Jesus to ask Him a question. This rich man is commonly called the rich young ruler. And V17 says, “And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” My 1st point is this: When You Want Jesus, You Ought To Run To Jesus. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die for our sins. Jesus had blessed the little children despite the fact that His disciples tried to keep them away. Jesus said suffer the little children to come unto me. And after blessing the little children, a rich man came running to Jesus as Jesus was in the road that led to Jerusalem. He is called the rich young ruler because he had much possessions with him when he ran to Jesus. Most old men would have walked to Jesus. But while Jesus was walking in the way, this rich young ruler came running to Jesus and kneeled down before Him. This young man was so impressed with Jesus that he ran to Jesus. This young man was so impressed with Jesus that he kneeled down before Jesus. This young man was so impressed with Jesus that he called Him Good Master. And you need the Lord
YOU OUGHT TO RUN TO THE LORD
YOU OUGHT TO KNEEL BEFORE THE LORD
YOU OUGHT TO PRAISE THE LORD
YOU OUGHT TO WORSHIP THE LORD
YOU OUGHT TO PRAY TO THE LORD
YOU OUGHT TO ASK THE LORD HOW TO GET SAVED
YOU OUGHT TO ASK THE LORD HOW TO GET ETERNAL LIFE
God so loved the world... God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. If you don’t ask Jesus to save you, you will go straight to hell. Can I get a witness up in here. What God Will Not Do For You.
Now on the surface, this young man looked like he was truly interested in being saved. On the surface, this young man acted like he was truly interested in being saved. On the surface, this young man sounded like he was truly interested in being saved. But always remember, man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. To our detriment, we look on what it looks like to us but God looks at what it be like in our heart. That’s why we always want the best looking male or female even though they may be rotten to the core and bad to the bone. Remember, beauty’s only skin deep. The man actions looked good on the surface, but Jesus was looking at the man’s heart. And his heart was not all right with God. So Jesus challenged the man and said, why do you call me good? There is none good but one and that one is God. Now, you might ask what a minute preacher, I thought Jesus was God and I would say you are right. You might ask, I thought Jesus is good and I would say you are right. God is a good God... God is good how many times? All the time. So what is going on with Jesus? Jesus knew that this man was more impressed with the things He was doing than with Jesus Himself. Jesus knew that this man was more impressed with the things he could get from Jesus than with Jesus Himself. Jesus knew that this man was more impressed with the humanity of Jesus than with the diety of Christ. He was not happy with Jesus alone. Do you know that most of the people who followed Jesus back then only followed Him for the things He did for them. They followed Jesus for His healing. They followed Jesus for His preaching. They followed Jesus for His teaching. They followed Jesus for His feedings. And even today too many Christians only want Jesus in their lives for what He can do for them. But the song says Lord we praise you, not for all the mighty things that you have done. Lord we worship you just for who you are. So because this rich young ruler refused to see Jesus just for who He was, Jesus told him not to call Him good. Jesus told him not to call Him master. If only this man had seen Jesus as the God man sent by God, his heart would have been right. If only this man had seen Jesus as the Messiah, his heart would have been right. If only this man had seen Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man, his heart would have been right. But his heart was not right. So Jesus said you know what the 10 Commandments say. The Commandments say do not commit adultery. The Commandments say do not kill. The Commandments say do not steal. The Commandments say do not bear false witness. The Commandments say do not defraud. The Commandments say honor your father and mother. Notice something in this list. Jesus focused on the six Commandments that deal with human relations. These six commandments deal with the law of love that says and you shall love your neighbor just like you love yourself. Jesus told the man, you know what the 10 Commandments require of you. If you love your neighbor like yourself, you will not commit adultery. If you love your neighbor like yourself, you will not kill. If you love your neighbor like yourself, you will not steal. If you love your neighbor like yourself, you will not bear false witness. If you love your neighbor like yourself, you will not defraud others. If you love your neighbor like yourself, you will honor your father and mother. And the rich young ruler answered Jesus and said, Master, all these things have I observed from my youth. In other word, the rich young ruler was saying that from the time I was a teenager, I have always observed to do these things. He was saying I have always loved my neighbor as I love myself just like the Law of Moses required of me. How many of you can say you have always loved your neighbor just like you love yourself from the time you were a teenager. Well, this man did. So V21 says, “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” My 2nd point is this, “Jesus Loves Us With An Undying Love.” Notice that Mark says that Jesus looked at that man and loved him. Jesus saw the man and loved him. Jesus beheld the man and loved him. Jesus had compassion on him. Jesus had mercy on him. Jesus showed grace to him. So Jesus, realizing that this man was still not totally free in his service to God, told him one thing you lack. Don’t you wish Jesus could tell you that you only lacked one thing? Jesus told him one thing you lack. I know he wondered what it was. Was it a lack of forgiveness? Was it a lack of grace? Was it lack of going to worship service? It was none of that! Jesus told him to go his way. Jesus told him to sell what he had. Jesus told him to give whatever money he made to the poor. Jesus told him if you do all of that then you shall have treasure in heaven. Jesus said where your treasure is there shall your heart be also. Then Jesus said once you sell what you have and give to the poor I want you to come, take up your cross and follow me. The words come, take up your cross and follow me means that Jesus was directly inviting the rich young ruler to be His disciple. Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow me. Jesus told Matthew to follow me. Jesus told Philip to follow me. Now if you search the record, you will find that Jesus only gave an individual invitation to those he wanted to make one of His 12 disciples. And Jesus may have been inviting this man to be the disciple to replace Judas after Judas betrayed Jesus. And discipleship is what God wants all of us to do once we come to Jesus. Jesus told us if we truly want to be His disciple we had to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Paul told us to be followers of Christ. Paul told us to follow him as he follows Christ. Jesus loves us with an undying love.
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE SAVED OUR SOULS
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE HEALED THE SICK
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE RAISED THE DEAD
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE OPENS BLINDED EYES
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE DIED ON THE CROSS
JESUS LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
Yes, Jesus loves me... I’m talking about What God Will Not Do For You.
Now you would think that because Jesus Himself invited the man to discipleship, he would jump at the opportunity. But that is not what happened. The Bible says that he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved because he had great possessions. He was not sad that Jesus invited him to discipleship. He was sad that Jesus told him to sell what he had with him and give it to the poor. Jesus did not tell him to sell everything he had in life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had brought for the up coming Jewish Passover and to give the money he made to the poor. This man being a rich man had brought several prized heifers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to be sacrificed and he did not want to sell it for less. But his deeper problem was that he had made a god of his possessions. He knew the price of everything but the value of nothing. Remember in his statement of his religiosity, he said he had keep all 6 of the 10 Commandments to love his neighbor just like his love himself. But he had not kept one of the other 4 Commandments. God said you shall have no other gods before Him. God said you shall not make any graven image. God said you shall not take the Lord’s name in vain. God said you shall remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Guess which one of the Commandments he failed? He failed the first one. And because he failed the first one, he did not love the Lord his God with all his heart and all his soul and all his mind. Paul said if you fail one Commandment, you fail them all. And V23 says, “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” My final point is this, Jesus Will Not Save You If You Walk Away From Him. Notice that the man ran to Jesus happy when he wanted something but walked away sad when he refused to do what Jesus asked him to do. He would not share his possessions with the poor because his possessions were his gods. And this man is so much like most of us. We don’t like what Jesus ask us to do in order to be saved or in order to be His disciple, so we walk away from church and from God. This man walked away from salvation. This man walked away from eternal life. This man walked away from everlasting life. This man walked away from discipleship. This man walked away from Jesus. And did you notice that Jesus did not run after the man and said wait a minute, you misunderstood me. Jesus did not run after the man and said wait a minute, let me give you something easier to do. Jesus gave him an opportunity but he did not accept it. Jesus gave him a chance but he did not accept it. Jesus gave him a choice but he did not accept it. And I came by to tell you that God is not going to do everything for you. There are a few things in your life you have to do for yourself. God ain’t gonna save your soul if you don’t believe in your heart and confess your mouth the Lord Jesus. God ain’t gonna make you a disciple of Christ if you don’t take up your cross daily and follow Him. God ain’t gonna open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing if you don’t tithe. God ain’t gonna reward you richly in heaven if you don’t build on the firm foundation of Jesus with gold, silver and precious stones on earth. God ain’t gonna make you a ruler of much in heaven if you are a bad and unfaithful servant on earth. Ain’t gonna might be bad English but its good theology. God can do anything He wants to do. God can do anything but fail. But in the grace of God, He has decided to limit Himself when it comes to saving you and making you a disciple. God is a perfect gentleman and He has decided to limit Himself in your life when it comes to you making choices. God has given you free will to choice right or wrong. If you don’t believe me let me call the roll. God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the middle of the Garden of Eden and told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruits or they would die. But they disobeyed and look at the mess we are in now. God told the children of Israel behold I place before you life and death, blessings and cursings, choose life and live. Moses asked who is on the Lord’s side? Joshua said choose you this day whom you will serve but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Elijah said how long will you be halt between two opinions, if God be God then serve Him; if Baal be God then serve Him. God will not make you choose to serve Him. If you choose right, the blessings of God will flow in your life. But if you choose wrong, the curses of God will fall on you and you will have hell to pay. And I’m gonna treat you just like Jesus treated this rich young ruler. I’m gonna tell you what you need to do to be saved. I’m gonna tell you what you need to do to grow in grace. I’m gonna tell you what you need to do to be a disciple of Christ. But I will not make you come to Sunday School. I will not make you come to Prayer Meeting. I will not make you come to Bible Study. I will not make you come to Church. I will not use cheap pastor tricks to force you to do what you don’t want to do for the Lord. I will not run after you and say wait, wait you misunderstood me. You have to want to do the will of God. Only what you do for Christ will last. You see, God knows that when you do His will because you want to do His will, then you will give Him your best. You will give Him the glory. You will not give sparingly, grudgingly or of necessity because God loves a cheerful giver! Choice is the one area in our lives that God has allowed us to be totally responsible. God could have made you a robat but he made you a thinking, feeling human being. And God will never run after you to make you change your mind. Jesus did not run after the rich young ruler to get him to change his mind. Jesus did not run after Judas to get him to change his mind. Jesus did not run after the disciples who chose not to follow him anymore to get them to change their minds. Jesus will let you go, bad decision and all. This reminds me of the story of a woman who lived down from a damn. One night, the damn broke and a woman came and told her, get out, the damn is broken. But she said she was trusting the Lord. As the water rose she went to the second floor. A man came in a boat knocking on the window and told her, get out, the water is rising. But she said she was trusting the Lord. As the water rose she got up on the roof. Another man came in a helicopter and lowered a rope and told her, climb up, the water is still rising. But she said she was trusting the Lord. Finally the water engulfed the house and she drowned. When she got to heaven, she asked God why He let her die. She said, I was trusting in you to save me. To this God said but I tried to save you three times. That was me in that woman at the door. That was me in the man in the boat. That was me in the man in the helicopter. You were looking for a supernatural miracle but I sometimes my miracles come naturally. You made the wrong choice. And if you look at the story of the Prodigal son you will see that his father did not run after him to get him to change his mind. He made a bad decision and the father let him go. But when the Prodigal son came to himself in the pig pen, he went back to his father. The father did not make his son change his mind, but when the father saw his son he ran to him. He put a robe on his back, a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet. He killed the fatted calf and gave a party. How many of you know that the angels in heaven celebrate when one sinner comes to Jesus? And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus said, children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Why? Because most rich folks make their riches their god. The disciples were astonished out of their mind and said, Who then can be saved? You see the disciples like most Jews and most Black folks today thought that being rich was the main sign of God’s blessings. But being rich can either be a sign of God’s blessings or Satan’s control. Money means nothing when it comes to God. But Jesus said, with men it is impossible but with God all things are possible. See you once were dead but now you are alive. You once were lost but now you are found. Amazing grace how sweet the sound... As I go to my sit down, I want you to know that the mind is where the battles for your life will always be fought. Paul said let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Paul said be not conformed to this world... Paul said but we have the mind of Christ. God will keep you in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him. The choices you make in your mind today will determine the quality of your life in the future. Don’t let your mind play tricks on you. Focus your mind on Jesus and you will be blessed. And it was His focused mind that made Jesus live a perfect life for God. In the Garden of Gathsemene, Jesus did not want to drink the bitter cup. His mind was playing a trick on Him. But Jesus said not my will but thy will be done. Jesus made the decision to do His Father’s will. Jesus died... God ain’t gonna make you a Christian, God ain’s gonna make you a disciple of Christ unless you open up your heart and take up your cross daily. And I just want to ask you one question: “Will you choose to follow Jesus or will you choose to play games with the Lord?” The doors of the church are open.
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