A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND

PROCLAMATION

“And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebub!  By the prince of demons He is driving out demons.’  So Jesus called them over to Him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.’ ”  Mark 3:22-25 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to Mark, a companion Simon Peter. (1 Peter 5:13)   While in the synagogue, Jesus had healed a man who was possessed with an impure spirit. (Mark 1:21-28)  On another occasion while He was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath, a man with a shriveled hand was there and Jesus healed him. (Mark 3:1-6)  Jesus and His disciples left the synagogue and went to the lake and large crowds followed them. (Mark 3:7-12)  Even when they went into someone’s home, the large crowds followed them. (Mark 3:20)  The scribes and Pharisees also followed Him, but they were plotting against Him. (Mark 3:6)  They said that He could drive out demons because He was a demon.  That was when Jesus said that Satan could not oppose himself and still stand.

APPLICATION

The old saying, “united we stand, and divided we fall” applies to teams, families, countries, and kingdoms.  If we stand together and support each other, we will succeed.  If we fight against one another then we will fail.  We should not tear other believers down; we should help to build one another up.  None of us will succeed if we act like crabs in a barrel. 

WE WANT TO HEAR WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

Proclamation:

“‘Well done, my good servant’, his master replied.  ‘Because you have trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of …’”  Luke 19:17 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  As He was passing through Jericho on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus stopped and blessed the house of Zacchaeus, a wealthy chief tax collector. (Luke 19:1-10)  Then Jesus told a parable to those who had followed Him about a certain nobleman and his servants. (Luke 19:11-27)  After this He continued on to Jerusalem.  When He got there, He entered the city on the back of a colt as the crowd cheered. (Luke 19:28-38)

Application:

In this parable the nobleman represents The Lord Jesus, The Christ, and we are the servants.

Each of us has been blessed with various different abilities and we each have been given an assignment according to our ability to handle it. (Matthew 25:15)  Those of us who faithfully discharge our responsibilities as we work for The Lord will be rewarded.  He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your Master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21 and 23)  

THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN

Proclamation:

“In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers.  They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest … a Levite … a Samaritan … Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man …’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”  Luke 10:25-37 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke begins this chapter by stating that Jesus appointed seventy-two additional men to go out two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go. (Luke 10:1-24)  Then Luke presents the parable of the Good Samaritan which Jesus told them.  The parable was in response to a second question that an expert of the law had asked Jesus after his first question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He then asked, “And who is my neighbor?”  The parable states that three men came upon a man in need who had been robbed and beaten.  The priest and the Levite passed him by but the Samaritan stopped, offered him assistance, and took him to a place where he could be cared for and paid for the care. (Luke 10:33-35)  Luke ends the chapter by giving an example of how we can get so involved in the busy-work until we miss out on the most important part of why we are here. (Luke 10:38-42)

Application:

Sometimes, like this young man, we do and say things just to justify ourselves. (Luke 10:29)  We know what The Bible says about something and yet we still have questions as he did. (Luke 10:25-29)  Jesus, The Christ, makes it clear that we should do what The Bible says. (Luke 10:26)  He also tells us to help those who are in need. (Luke 10:37)  All too often we, the people of the church, see people who are in need of assistance and we just pass them by.  It is possible to help people in many ways including, but not limited to, giving them money.  We are blessed in order to be a blessing to others.  Jesus said that as we treat the least of the people, He takes it as if that is how we have treated Him. (Matthew 25:35-45)  Knowing what The Bible says does not do us any good if do not live by what it says.

THE HEART IS THE PROBLEM

Proclamation:

“… There went out a sower to sow … as he sowed, some fell by the way side … and some fell on stony ground … and some fell among thorns … and others fell on good ground … He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  Mark 4:3-9 (KJV)

Explanation:

These words are from the parable of the sower which were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, to His disciples, and the crowd which had followed Him, as He sat in a boat on the sea of Tiberias as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Mark.  Parables are earthly stories with a heavenly meaning designed to conceal the heavenly truth from worldly non-believers.  Everyone who hears The Word of God will not understand what they hear.  The sower is the preacher or teacher, the seed that he sowed is The Word of God, and the ground is the heart of the hearers.  The way side is the hard, trampled dirt of the pathway.  The seed which landed there did not grow or produce any fruit.  The stony ground had very little soil.  The seed which landed there grew quickly and died quickly without producing any fruit due to its poor foundation.  The thorns are the weeds.  The seed which landed there grew but was choked by the weeds and died without producing fruit.  The good ground is fertile soil.  The seed which landed there grew and produced fruit with many seeds, a thirty to one hundred fold increase.

Application:

I was blessed to preach this sermon on Sunday, November 20, 2016.  In summary, this is what The Holy Spirit shared with me.  The way side represents the hard-hearted people who hear The Word of God but reject it and refuse to believe it. (Mark 4:14-15)  The stony ground represents the shallow, superficial faint-hearted people who get excited when they hear The Word of God but quickly forget it. (Mark 4:16-17)  The thorns represent the heart of worldly concerned fickle people who put their worldly concerns before The Lord God and the excuses they offer when any sacrifice is required in service to The Lord. (Mark 4:18-19)  The good ground represent the receptive heart of the true believers who become hearers and doers of The Word.  Their lives are changed and they exhibit a Christian life style with Christian conversation and behavior.  They produce fruit by sharing The Word of God with the lost and telling them about Christ. (Mark 4:20)  All of us fall into one of these four groups of people.  The question is, with respect to The Word of God, are you hard-hearted, superficial, fickle, or a true believer?  There are eternal implications based upon your decision, please carefully consider the above and choose wisely.    

Who We Really Are Determines What We Do

"In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him...Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man...he said "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."  Luke 10:25-37 (NIV)

Luke, the physician, recorded this parable regarding the good Samaritan which Jesus spoke in response to a lawyer who was questioning Him.  The lawyer asked Jesus who was the neighbor that he should love as he loved himself.  After Jesus told him the parable about a man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road.  He told him that a priest walked past him and did nothing.  A Levite, a religious person who worked in the temple, also walked past him and did nothing.  A Samaritan, a non-religious person of a different culture, saw the man as he was walking by, had compassion for him, cleaned and bandaged his wounds, took him to an inn, and took care of him.  Then Jesus asked him which man of the three was a neighbor to the beaten man.  When the lawyer answered "The one who had compassion for him", Jesus told him to go and do likewise. 

The point is that our title, or position, or religious affiliations do not determine our behavior.  Our behavior is determined by the convictions within our heart.  "Who we really are inside determines what we see, and what we see determines what we do." (Unknown)  If we have the Christ-like compassion for others within us, then we will do what we can to help those who are in need.  If we don't have it within us, then we won't help others.  The lawyer asked Christ "who is my neighbor?"  The much more important question for us today is, "who are we?"   Who we are will determine what we will do.  If we love our neighbor as ourselves, then we will help those that we can.  Those who help the poor are lending to The Lord God, and He will repay the debt. (Proverbs 19:17)  He who blesses others shall himself be blessed. (Proverbs 11:25)  If we give, then it shall be given back unto us, and we will receive more than we gave. (Luke 6:38)  Let us share with those who are less fortunate and in need.  Remember the words of The Lord Jesus, it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)

Familiarity Breeds Contempt Not Respect

"When Jesus had finished these parables, He moved on from there. Coming to His hometown, He began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. 'Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?' they asked. 'Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't His mother's name Mary, and aren't His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all His sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, 'Only in His hometown and in His own house is a prophet without honor.' And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." Matthew 13:53-58 (NIV)

After Jesus spoke the seven parables, the people in His home town, who thought that they knew Him well as a boy and as a young man, questioned where He learned all that He spoke. They took offense at Him because they felt that He was nothing special.

It is hard to get respect and honor from people who knew you "way back when," especially if they did not have a very high regard for you then. People will frequently remind you of your past when your present situation, and your future, is brighter than theirs. This is especially true if they feel that they were better off than you were in the past. The best thing to say to them is, "Thanks be to God, I have moved on from there." Remember, we are not here to get the praise of men, we are here to please God and to give Him glory.

What Effect Did The Word Of God Have On You?

Jesus taught "... many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." Matthew 13:3-8 (NIV)

What did you do with The Word of God when you heard it? Some heard The Word and rejected it, some liked it but it did not change their life, and some let their friends and the world have more influence over them than The Word. What kind of "ground" are you? The best way to answer this question is to look at the "fruit" that it has produced in your life. When the seed, The Word, fell on good ground, it produced good fruit.

The fruit that we produce is the evidence of God in our lives. The fruit of The Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) We need to cultivate within our lives a greater receptivity to The Word of God in order for it to grow within us, to produce good fruit, and produce a changed life which will give God glory.