Passing The Test. We teach that you are saved by faith alone but what does this mean?

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1 Passing The Test (Mark 6:7-56 March 29, 2015) Passing The Test Mark 6:7-56 One of the great dangers of Reformed Protestant churches like ours is that we can flirt with almost giving the impression that you get saved by passing an exam. What do I mean? We teach that you are saved by faith alone but what does this mean? At times we seem to reduce this great doctrine to a checklist of beliefs. If I believe the right things I am saved. What things? If I asked you this question what do you have to believe in order to be saved? what would you say? You are well taught so most of us would say something like we have to believe these truths: God Man Jesus Grace God That there is a God who is holy yet loving, all-powerful yet compassionate. A God who can and will save sinners. Man 1

2 Jesus Grace That every man and woman has sinned against this holy God and stands condemned and unable to do anything to save themselves. That Jesus is God become man in order to live a perfect life, die a substitutionary death to pay the penalty for His people and rise again. That salvation comes as a free gift and not by works and is made ours by faith. This answer probably gets you an A+ in Bible College but what I need you to see this morning is that Jesus wants more. Head knowledge is not enough. These truths have to change your heart. One of the passages that many of us who are weaned on Paul struggle with is this passage from James 2:17 24: So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Luther just couldn t get this passage. He struggled with this so much he wanted the book of James taken out of the Bible. But it contains some incredible truths. The demons believe the right things about God but are not saved. True faith affects the way we live. Abraham didn t just believe God He had faith enough to offer up Isaac. Jesus knows that only this kind of faith will survive the trials of life. We saw earlier in Mark that Jesus choose twelve men to learn His message of salvation. They heard demons declare You are the Son of God. 2

3 They saw Jesus perform the miracles of deity. But did they believe in the core of their being that Jesus is the God who saves? That He would provide their needs and guide them in the storms of life? Did they have the kind of faith that endures? They were going to face some stern tests Jesus needed to know if they were ready. When you read the Gospels we find that throughout His ministry Jesus often gave His disciples what basically amounts to spot tests. Did they truly understand who He was or not? Were they ready for the task at hand or not? Our passage this morning is one of those spot quizzes. Before we look at the passage I want you to note that Mark has structured this in such a way that we are meant to realise this whole section belongs together. The episode of the death of John the Baptist is sandwiched in between Jesus sending out the twelve and their return. Their return begins the episode of the feeding of the 5,000 and then the miracle of walking on water ends with a reference to the feeding of the 5,000. This whole section belongs together and it makes one major point: The deity of Jesus must change the way we live - or we don t really believe it The deity of Jesus must change the way we live or we don t really believe it. Or to put it in other words Does your faith have works? We are working our way together through the Gospel of Mark. We have seen that this book focuses on: 3

4 JESUS: THE GOD WHO CAME TO SAVE Jesus: The God who came to save We are in the midst of a long section which reveals: The heart of the gospel 1:16-10:52 What we have seen is that the heart of the gospel revolves around the question of who Jesus is. Mark tells us: Jesus is Lord Jesus is God Jesus is Saviour Our passage this morning comes in the midst of the section that declares to us that: Jesus is God 3:7-8:30 This week s passage deals with tests of faith for the disciples concerning their understanding of who Jesus is. Did their faith in Jesus affect the way they lived their life? So turn with me in your Bibles to Mark 6:7. Our text this morning divides up into four sections. The first section deals with: The task The trials The test The truth 4

5 The task The task Jesus gave to the church is to understand the gospel of salvation and take it to the world. This began with the call and training of the Twelve. Some of the disciples had been following Jesus for over two years. But for others their time with Him had been much shorter. It had only been around three months since Jesus formally called the Twelve to follow Him. They had heard Him teach, they had heard Him proclaim the mysteries of the Kingdom and they had seen Him perform the miracles that authenticated His claim to be God. But the clock was ticking. In a little over 12 months Jesus would be crucified and the task of reaching the world would be theirs and Jesus would not be there to guide them. So Jesus called the Twelve, removed their training wheels and gave them a task to proclaim the gospel through Israel. Notice a couple of things. They were being trained to continue the mission of Jesus. Back in Mark 1:15 Jesus began preaching that men needed to repent and believe in the gospel. That is the same message the disciples took to Israel. Jesus authenticated His message through miracles such as casting out demons and healing. The twelve were given authority over demons and the ability to heal the sick. What Jesus said and did they would now say and do. They were sent out two by two which was a common Jewish practice. But of most significance is that this was a faith ministry. They were sent out with very little they had to trust Jesus to meet their needs. When I go somewhere for just one night I usually end up taking enough stuff to last a month. I am a chronic over-packer and my wife is probably worse. 5

6 The Twelve were told to only take four things on their journey a tunic, a belt, sandals and a staff. And they were told not to take any bread, a knapsack, money, or even a second tunic. Why? The things they were to take were the same four things the Israelites were instructed to take on their flight from Egypt in Exodus 12:11. Just as the Israelites were to trust God to provide in the wilderness so the Twelve had to learn that Jesus, the God who came to save, would provide for them on their mission. The God who provided for Israel in the wilderness will provide for them now. It is a crucial lesson for us our God will supply our needs according to His riches in Christ. We have to learn to trust Him. This is exactly the same lesson a young Hudson Taylor had to learn. When he reflected on the time when he was preparing to head to China as a missionary, he wrote: To me it was a very grave matter to contemplate going out to China, far from all human aid, there to depend upon the living God alone for protection, supplies and help of every kind. I felt that one s spiritual muscles required strengthening for such an undertaking. There is no doubt that if faith did not fail, God would not fail. When I get out to China, I thought to myself, I shall have no claim on anyone for anything. My only claim will be on God. How important to learn, before leaving England, to move man, through God, by prayer alone. Hudson Taylor set Himself to trust God to provide in every instance. To give money to the poor when he had no obvious resources. To never ask for his salary from his absent minded employer. To place himself in God s hands in every contingency. He learned to rely on God. Jesus was teaching the disciples this very lesson. They went out with the message empowered from above. You might think that men who could heal the sick and cast out demons would find willing listeners. But Jesus knew if you tell men they are sinners for the most part this news does not fall on welcoming ears. Men hate being told they are sinners so Jesus said if they don t want to listen just shake the dust off and move on. 6

7 Jesus was training the disciples for the task that would take up the rest of their lives. And the main lesson this trial run was designed to teach them was that they could trust Jesus to supply all their needs. If you look down to verse 30 we see the disciples returning from this ministry. But in between Mark adds the account of the death of John the Baptist. Why put this here? What does this have to do with the training of the Twelve? We find the answer in this second section which deals with: The trials If we are obedient to the Great Commission we are going to run into some really tough times. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul talks about the lashes, imprisonments, hunger, stonings, rejection he faced as an Apostle. Jesus knew that when you preach the gospel properly many will hate you. Some will want to kill you. And the only thing that will help you through this time is faith that Jesus will work all things together for our good. Jesus, the God who saves is on our side. As a stark reminder of how tough the Great Commission can be, Mark gives the example of John the Baptist. John preached that men needed to repent of their sins to find forgiveness and it cost him his life. Jesus knew that if you preach the gospel clearly many will be enraged. At the end of John 15 and the beginning of John 16 Jesus was giving His final instructions to the Twelve. He told them: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul said: Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, If you tell people they are sinners. That their adultery and pornography and homosexuality and greed and anger and gossip and laziness that these are sins that anger a holy God then they will tell you that you are a prude, a religious nut, you are dangerous, you are out of step with society, you are homophobic and bigoted. 7

8 Men hate the light and they love the darkness. And point this out publicly and you have an enemy. You might think that a message of salvation would be welcomed by a perishing people. No! because part of the true gospel is a call to repentance and men love their sin. Yes a few will listen and cry thank you but most will hear it and cry how dare you! And as an example Mark points to the demise of John the Baptist. When stories about Jesus and His disciples began to filter in stories about the One who preached repentance and sent His disciples to preach repentance when they reached Herod his guilty conscience began to bother him. People were asking the great question concerning Jesus Who is this man? Some said that Jesus was, John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. But others said, He is Elijah. And others said, He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old. But when Herod heard of it, he said, I know who it is John, whom I beheaded, has been raised. Herod heard about this man and His disciples preaching repentance and his guilty conscience immediately said John the one I beheaded for preaching repentance he is back from the dead. How did John come to be beheaded? He ran afoul of one of the most vicious families in history the Herod s. Here is the family tree of the Herod s. There are four Herod s we need to look at this morning. The first is Herod Antipas one of the sons of Herod the Great. 8

9 Herod Antipas was married to the daughter of Aretas, the king of the Nabatean Arabs. However, when he was on a visit to Rome he met up with his half-brother, Herod Philip. But it was Philip s wife Herodias who caught his eye and he fell madly in love with her. If you look at this chart you will notice that Herodias was actually the daughter of yet another son of Herod the Great making her the niece of both Herod Antipas and Herod Philip. What is significant is that Phillip was the poor Herod. He had been disinherited by his father and lived in Rome as a private citizen. Herodias quickly realised that Antipas was besotted with her and she saw an opportunity to move up the social order to get herself a Herod with some real money and power. She told Antipas that she would marry him if he divorced his wife. Antipas wife found out about the plan and fled back to her father who was so enraged by this insult to his daughter, that years later in AD 36 he attacked Herod and defeated him. But in the meantime Herod Antipas and Herodias had divorced their first spouses and married. So if you look at the chart Herodias was Antipas niece, his sister-in-law and his wife. That is one sick family. Finally, to complete this incestuous little brood we need to look at Salome. She was the daughter of Herodias by her first marriage to Herod Phillip. Salome must have learned something from her mother because she eventually ended up marrying Herod Phillip II who was her great uncle. The Herod s were totally inbred through adulterous and incestuous marriages. Enter John the Baptist. He preached that it was not lawful for Herod to have married his brother s wife. It is biblical, it is right, but it enraged Herodias. Who was John to tell a Herod what he could do and could not do? If Herodias had her way John would have been killed there and then. 9

10 But look at verses 19 and 20: She wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. Herod knew that John was a godly man. He sensed that the words this man spoke were true. His words convicted him. Matthew 14:5 also tells us that Herod feared the multitudes. They saw John as a prophet. It wouldn t do to go killing prophets. And so he tried to juggle all the balls. Putting John in prison but protecting him from the clutches of his wife. Herodias nursed her grudge until an opportunity came. Herod was giving a banquet all the nobles and generals were there. These were parties of the flesh. Food, alcohol and sex. There was sensuous dancing but it was the slaves who normally did it. But on this occasion Salome a royal came out and danced seductively. Herod loved this. He was such a great guy his step-daughter would even do this for him. He saw her willingness to dance for them as an extraordinary favour bestowed on him on his birthday. He and the other men obviously enjoyed the sensual entertainment. He is feeling good fairly drunk and he makes a rash vow. Ask me anything up to half of my kingdom and it is yours. This is the same vow Xerxes made to Esther. Herod saw himself as a great ruler like Xerxes. Salome knew this was the chance her mother had waited for. She ran out and asked what should I ask for? Herodias knew what to ask for. Ask for the head of John the Baptist. Salome added her own little flourish. I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod would have known instantly that he had been played. But he couldn t back out now. 10

11 He had made his boast before the nobles and the generals. They wouldn t care about the death of a Jewish hillbilly like John. They would care if Herod broke his vow. Herod was caught. He didn t want to kill John but coward he was he gave the order bring John s head to me. They brought John s head on a platter. Herod gave it to Salome who presented it to her mother. If you preach the gospel correctly if you preach repentance and sin many people will find your words offensive. No one likes having their sin pointed out. So unfortunately instead of trusting Jesus some have chosen to water down the gospel. Robert Schuller declared that in terms of growing a church: Making people aware of their lost and sinful condition is the very worst thing a preacher can do. Many pastors even some fairly good ones have shied away from teaching on sin because it makes the unbelievers, the seekers uncomfortable. They are supposed to be uncomfortable. You need conviction before you can be saved. It is part of the gospel. And some of us will face real persecution for speaking the truth. Jesus knew this. And He knew the only thing that would preserve us through this time is a true faith. A faith that knows our God is working all things together for our good. The disciples and the church and you and I need to have this faith. Nothing else will do. This brings us to the third section which deals with: The task The trials The tests The truth 11

12 The tests Jesus has given the disciples their task. John s death showed them there will be trials. Now it is time to test the resilience and strength of their faith. Is their faith in Jesus as God going to stand up to the trials that will come? In verse 30 we find the Twelve returning from their mission. I am sure they had some tough times rejection, ridicule, persecution. But, you imagine being given the power to cast out demons and heal. A huge part of them must have been saying wow we are on the right side here. A little later Jesus sends out seventy-two followers and when they come back they are rejoicing saying even the demons are subject to us. But did this translate into a faith that trusts in the face of tremendous obstacles? Jesus decided to take them away for a debrief. They crossed the Sea of Galilee again and went to a desolate place. The problem is that Jesus is such a magnet that word got around about where He had gone and thousands headed around the sea to where He was. Jesus is amazing He had come away to be with the disciples but He saw this multitude sheep without a shepherd lost men and women and instead of ignoring them He ministered to them. He cared for them. He made time for them. But as He taught the day fled. And the disciples began to wonder what will happen? The crowds had come on a whim. They hadn t packed supplies. Everyone is getting a bit hungry and edgy. There were no Kebab stands out there. If they were going to eat they would have to head off into the surrounding villages and buy food and since it was getting late they had to go now. This was a key moment an opportunity for a spot test. Did their faith extend to trusting Jesus to do the impossible and provide? Remember, they had just gone out on their mission with no bread and no money and God had supplied their needs. 12

13 Now, here they were in the wilderness with no bread and even if they had the money nowhere to buy food for the crowd. Their head reads the events of Exodus and says I believe God provided for His people in the wilderness. But now they were with God in a wilderness and had no food. Did they believe Jesus was God and could and would supply all their needs? Did they understand that the God who provided bread and meat in the wilderness was the One with them in this desolate place? So Jesus responded to their suggestion with, OK the crowd is hungry so you give them something to eat! This was a test. The disciples had been around Jesus for a long period of time. They had seen countless miracles. Healings, miracles of nature, even a resurrection from the dead. And if you think back to the beginning of Jesus ministry you will remember Satan challenging Jesus with the words, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Satan knew that if He wished Jesus could command the rocks to become food and in this way feed the crowd. Jesus was God, He could meet their needs if only they would turn to Him. This was the test. Would the disciples seek to meet the need in their own flesh or had they learned one of the most vital lessons they would need? Would they turn to Jesus and allow Him to meet their needs? I m sorry to tell you, but their heavenly report card for this test read F. They failed miserably. Look at v. 37: And they said to him, Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? This is probably a sarcastic question. Jesus we would need two hundred denarii which we don t have and somewhere to buy bread for this huge crowd and in case You missed it there is no mega-bakery out here. It is so easy to knock the disciples for a lack of faith. But, we know Jesus is God. We believe He rose from the dead. We believe our God can do anything. Yet how many times have we failed to trust His power and provision? When a disaster looms in your life, what is often your first response? What do I have to do to deal with this? What resources do I have to cope? 13

14 If the situation is seemingly impossible, we might offer up Jonah s prayer, God help me! but we offer up the cry only because that is what Christians are supposed to do rather than because we truly believe that God will intervene in our lives. Difficulties are a real test of our faith. Do we have the faith to trust God? The disciples failed the test. Now Jesus is going to show them the answer. Verses 38 44: And he said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out, they said, Five, and two fish. Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. This is an incredible miracle of provision. As God fed the Jews in the wilderness during the Exodus so Jesus fed the Jews in the wilderness during His ministry. Jesus is God. It must have been an amazing sight to see those five loaves and two fish broken, multiplied and feeding the crowd with twelve baskets left at the end. Surely they got the point? So Jesus gave them a retest. What had they learned from the lesson of the loaves? John tells us that the crowd saw Jesus feed them and decided this is too good to be true and tried to make Him King by force. But, Jesus is not there to just perform miracles on demand so He sent the disciples back and He withdrew to pray. Jesus was praying and looked out on the sea. There He saw His tired disciples straining against the wind. Once again the wind had come up. This time it was directly against the disciples. Literally, they were tortured at the oars. This was incredibly hard work. 14

15 His heart was moved and He intended to help them so He came to them walking on the sea. Jesus came at about the fourth watch of the night. The fourth watch was from 3am until 6am. He had been praying through the night as He often did. Jesus came to the disciples walking on the sea. You don t need to understand the law of gravitational attraction to know that this is a miracle. Men do not walk on water! Jesus intended to come near to the disciples for them to see Him and look to Him in faith. But, verses 49-50: When they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw Him and were terrified. On one level you can understand their terror. The problem is Jesus wanted them to see Him and know who He was and put their trust in Him. Listen to Job 9:8 11: [God] alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. The One who walks on the waves and comes near His people is God. Jesus had calmed the wind He could do it again. Did they believe He could and would do this? The disciples failed this retest. When you have seen Jesus perform the miracles of deity surely seeing something that is impossible a man walking on water leads you to think Jesus not ghost. Surely they remember the One who speaks and the wind and the waves obey Him? Surely they remember the One who performed the miracle of the loaves? Verses 50-52: Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And 15

16 they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Jesus sought to settle their hearts Take heart it is I. It is at this point that Matthew adds the episode of Peter walking out on the water to Christ. Jesus then got in the boat and stilled the storm. Yet, their first reaction was to be astonished. Matthew tells us that they worshipped Him saying, You are certainly God s Son. But, at this point this is head knowledge not heart. The truth was they didn t really grasp who He was in the core of their being. They did not understand the miracle of the loaves. In fact failing to learn from all these miracles actually hardened their hearts. If men continue to reject the truth about Jesus if they fail to trust Him it is a dangerous place to be. We come now to the final section which deals with: The truth Look at verses 53-56: When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. There is no rest for the Son of Man. He has prayed all night and helped the disciples to shore. It is the crack of dawn. But immediately He is recognised and He is besieged by the sick seeking healing. Awhile back I heard on the radio that Zayn Malik was leaving One Direction because he wanted to be a normal 22-year-old, out of the spotlight. Singers being mobbed is nothing compared to the Son of Man ministering to the sick. They came from everywhere and if they couldn t walk they begged friends to carry them. They wanted to just touch the fringe of His cloak like the woman with the haemorrhage. Your heart has to be getting fairly hard to see this ministry and not realise the truth right before your eyes. Jesus is the God who came to save. 16

17 This God can supply all my needs. I can trust Him. When you come to us to be baptised or to become a member the first thing we ask you for is your testimony. Yes we want to know what you believe. But we don t want to just know if your head knowledge right we want to know has faith in Jesus changed the way you live your life? The deity of Jesus must change the way we live or we don t really believe it. If you truly believe that Jesus is God then your life declares: This world is not my home. I live for eternity not today or tomorrow. I can trust Him with my life, my family, my money, my career. He will supply my needs. He comes first not me. Faith without works is dead. True faith in Jesus changes the way we live every facet of our lives. And this faith is never in vain. I have failed this test so many times I couldn t tell you. But here is what gives me hope. The disciples failed so many spot tests the passage we looked at today, Peter denying Jesus, doubting Thomas, missing the resurrection but finally they got it. It changed their lives. They lived for Him. They died for Him. Finally, their faith was living and real. Every one of the disciples faced tests, persecution, hardships that you and I are unlikely to face but this true faith sustained them to the end. My prayer for me my prayer for you is that the truth of the God who saves might work its way into every fibre of our lives and transform us from within into those who live for the Kingdom and can carry out the Great Commission entrusted to every one of us. We will face some tough times marriage, health, finances, family, life. But we have Jesus the God who saves. Our God can do anything. 17

18 And with faith He will sustain us through anything this world throws at us. This is what calms the storms of life, this is what lets you sleep at night, this is what brings us safely home. This is what Jesus wants for us. 18

19 Passing The Test (Mark 6:7-56 March 29, 2015) Main Point: The deity of Jesus must change the way we live or we don t really believe it. Read: Mark 6:7-56 Read James 2: How do you reconcile the doctrine of salvation by faith alone with James teaching? What do you need to believe in order to be saved? Is believing this enough or not? What is the relationship between faith and works? How can you tell if your faith has the works that save? What task did Jesus leave the disciples to do? What parts of that task belong to the whole church? In Mark 6:7-13 what was the main lesson Jesus needed the Twelve to learn? Is this a lesson we need to learn today? Application: Are there things that you turn to more than God in the tough times? How can you learn to trust God and not human means in the trials of life? Why did men hate Jesus? What is it about our message that makes them hate us? Why do some churches water down the gospel? How can we make sure we don t do this? How does faith get us through the trials and persecutions that come our way? Why did Mark include the episode of John the Baptist s death where he did? What do we learn from this? Application: What times of persecution for preaching the gospel have you faced? How have you dealt with this? Anything you would do differently next time? What was the nature of the test the Twelve faced in verse 37? Considering the miracles and provision they saw on their recent ministry (vv.7-13) why was it so hard for the disciples to believe Jesus was God who would provide? 19

20 When Jesus gave them another opportunity to trust Him coming to them on the water why did they fail that test as well? Application: What tests of faith have you failed? What could have made you trust God? In what ways should our faith change our lives? How did the disciples finally learn to trust? How can we learn to trust God that He will work all things together for good for us? 20