Transcription downloaded from https://sermon-library.fbcmustang.org/sermons/103836/what-will-you-do-with-jesus-pt-1/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. Here through Mark's Gospel.

[0:17] And we spent the last couple of weeks looking at this section of Mark 3 where we really see the three different ways that people respond to Jesus.

[0:29] As we've looked at the last few Sundays, this trilemma that was written about by C.S. Lewis, it was mentioned by a pastor named John Duncan about 100 years before that, that you see Jesus either as a liar, as a lunatic, or He is Lord.

[0:53] Jesus says that He's God. He says He can forgive sin. He says that He is the way to heaven. He says that nobody can make it to heaven except through Him.

[1:05] If that's not true, then either He thought it was true and He just was out of His mind, or He knew it wasn't true and deceived people, or He said it and it is true and He said it and it is true, in which case means He is the Lord of all lords and the one that every knee will bow before.

[1:28] And so we've been walking through this section where we see all three of these responses. Some respond to Jesus by saying that He is a lunatic, He's out of His mind.

[1:42] We saw that in chapter 3, verse 21. And when His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying He is out of His mind. This is His own family.

[1:55] Others thought that He was a liar, that He was demonic. Verse 22, The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons He cast out the demons.

[2:13] They thought He's just a fraud, they said. That's the accusation. Some said that Jesus is a lunatic, He's out of His mind, and others said He is satanic, He is demonic, He is a liar, He is a deceiver, He is a blasphemer.

[2:33] And some rightly believe that He is Lord. We look this morning in verses 31 to 35, And His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to Him and called Him.

[2:53] And a crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, Your mother and your brothers outside are seeking You. And He answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers?

[3:07] And looking about at those who sat around Him, He said, Here are my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.

[3:21] Now remember, as we looked at a few Sundays ago, this is what Mark often does when he writes. As you read his gospel, you will see him often begin a story, interrupt it with another event, and then come back and complete the story.

[3:36] You see that all throughout the gospel of Mark. And so as you read chapter 3, really verses 20 and 21 are the first part, and it picks up then in verse 31.

[3:52] Jesus is at the house, and the house is very crowded, and He can't even eat, it's so crowded. His family has heard what Jesus is doing, and they go down to seize Him, to take control of Him.

[4:03] They think He's out of His mind, and then verse 31, the mother and brothers of Jesus show up. What I want you to make note of are three things this morning as we look at the end of chapter 3.

[4:16] First, we see an earthly perspective. An earthly perspective. Verse 31, His mother and His brothers came.

[4:27] They show up. They're at the house. Now remember what they've been hearing. They've been hearing that Jesus is traveling village to village. They know that He's got to be tired.

[4:39] They know that everywhere He goes, massive crowds are there. They're getting word that He often can't even eat because it's so crowded, and there's so much demand upon His time.

[4:50] They know that He is challenging the religious leaders of the day. He is saying that things that are sin are sin, and He's calling out arrogant religious leaders who have taken what God has given to them, and they have turned it on its head, and instead of serving others, are instead using their position just for power and control.

[5:14] So here is Jesus who is traveling. He's away from home. He really has no true home at this point. He is, in their mind, exhausted and worn out. He's not eating well.

[5:26] He's making enemies. The religious establishment is against Him, and now they hear the message He's preaching, and they conclude He's just kind of lost it. We've got to go rescue Him.

[5:40] Chapter 3, verse 21 says, they came to seize Him. It means to take into custody. It's the word you would use to arrest somebody. They're going to go arrest Him, His own family, take Him by force if necessary, into their own custody, and get Him back home in Nazareth and be able to talk some sense into Him.

[6:04] That's their perspective. Remember, as we looked at a couple of weeks ago, this is an honor-shame culture. It's hard for us to even fully grasp that.

[6:18] It's such a significant part of understanding the Gospels. People would do all they could to act in a way that was seen as honorable, all they could to avoid being shamed in what Jesus is saying and the things He is doing in the eyes of His brothers.

[6:37] They are shameful, and they are bringing shame upon Jesus and bringing shame upon the family because of the things that He is saying and the things that He is doing. And so the family is making this journey 20 to 30 miles.

[6:53] It's going to take them a while, even at a brisk pace to get there, but they arrive, and their thought here is, let's go to the house where He is. It won't take us long in town to find out where He is, and we'll go get to Him, and we'll just take Him into custody.

[7:05] We'll just seize Him. We'll grab Him and say, you're coming with us. But when they get there, the house is so crowded. The house is so full. And we know that back from verse 20.

[7:19] It said the crowd gathered and they couldn't even eat. The people couldn't even get a meal together. It was so crowded. There were so many people everywhere they turned. So when the brothers and when His mother shows up there at the house, they can't get to Him.

[7:37] And the initial thing they say, this initial information seems innocent enough, verse 32, the crowd sitting around Jesus.

[7:49] Somebody makes it to Jesus. The words beginning to make it from outside through those in the doorway, through those that are on the inside, to those sitting by Jesus.

[7:59] And somehow the message gets to Jesus in verse 32, saying, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. Now, that feels pretty innocent enough, right?

[8:16] That's not bombastic. That's not controversial. I mean, if you were somewhere at a restaurant and the waiter came to you and said, hey, your mother and your brothers are in the lobby that they need to speak with you, you might be concerned.

[8:34] You might be afraid that something bad has happened, but it wouldn't seem like an unreasonable request. Your mother and your brothers are outside and they are seeking you.

[8:47] That's the word that gets to Jesus. While it may seem urgent and it may be important and it may even be worrisome if you got that message, you wouldn't receive that message and do anything other than get up and go say, I wonder what my family needs.

[9:08] But remember why they've come. Mary, his mother, has been faithful.

[9:19] The angel has appeared to her and told her a long time ago about how she's going to carry the Son of God.

[9:32] She knows that she was faithful and there was no immorality between her and Joseph and she knows she got pregnant and she knows the word of the angel was true and so she has been told from the very beginning and has proven evidence to trust that this really is who the angel said the baby would be.

[9:58] Mark doesn't tell us a lot of what she is thinking. Perhaps she came along just because the brothers were there.

[10:08] Perhaps she was worried about her son. Maybe her own thoughts are strong but she wants to go and help. Maybe she's getting influenced by the brothers.

[10:20] Mark at this point doesn't tell us. All we know is that his own brothers were not believing in him. Scripture has already told us that. And the mother and the brothers show up and the message is your mother and your brothers are outside and they are seeking you.

[10:41] They are seeking him. And Mark has already told us what they're seeking him for. It's verse 21 to seize him.

[10:54] They're not seeking him to have a conversation. They're seeking him to arrest him. Not arrest him in a police sense of putting him in jail but that's the same word you would use if you were going to.

[11:07] They're taking him into custody for themselves. They're seeking him but they're not seeking him to understand his message. They're seeking him to try to get him away from his ministry.

[11:22] It's just an earthly perspective. Their thought is we have a brother who's going around saying he's God who's telling people he can forgive sin.

[11:39] He's not eating. He's not sleeping. He's making enemies. The most influential religious leaders of the day are out to destroy him.

[11:54] We think our brothers lost it. We've got to go seek him to get him away from this ministry. We've got to seek him and take him away so he'll quit saying these things.

[12:09] Remember his brothers did not believe in who he was at this point. They will. But they don't. Not yet. So if you've got a brother saying he's God and you don't believe him, you think to yourself, we better get this guy to stop.

[12:30] He's making our lives miserable. I mean, do you want to go to school next month and somebody say, oh, Mr. Smith, are you the one with the brother who thinks he's God?

[12:46] Oh, Miss Johnson, are you the one who has the son who goes around telling people he's God? I mean, if people don't believe in that, it makes your whole family seem out of your mind.

[13:03] Well, that's why the brothers have shown up because they thought, verse 21, that he was out of his mind. Everything about them is just an earthly perspective.

[13:15] But what you get secondly is a heavenly response. To their earthly perspective, Jesus gives a heavenly response. The message says, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.

[13:30] Verse 33, Jesus answered them, who are my mother and my brothers? at first, it almost sounds harsh.

[13:44] It sounds a bit dismissive even. But you have to remember why the brothers have shown up. The brothers have shown up to get Jesus to stop talking.

[13:58] The brothers have shown up to put an end to all this talk about Jesus forgiving sin and being from God and being eternal.

[14:13] Heaven, in the form of Jesus here, gives us a very important perspective that we cannot afford to miss this morning.

[14:26] Someone says, Jesus, your mother and your brother are outside. They're seeking you. And Jesus says to him, who are my mother and my brothers? brothers. Now, in my mind, when I read this story, I can't help but think about the messenger.

[14:41] Mark doesn't tell us anything about him, but somebody had to say that to Jesus. Your family wants to talk to you. And Jesus says to the messenger, who is my family?

[14:52] And the messenger boy is like, I don't know what to do. I just, I'm just passing on the message. But Jesus says this out loud for a reason.

[15:09] Who are my mother and my brothers? Because this becomes the central issue of the conversation.

[15:24] Who is related to Jesus? Or to say it this way, who is truly in his family?

[15:40] This is the most important question you can consider this morning. Who is in the family of Jesus? And for most they would say, well this is a no-brainer.

[15:55] Who are your mother and brothers? We know who your mother and brothers are. The Bible tells us his mother's name. The Bible tells us his brother's name. Tells us he had sisters.

[16:08] We don't know their name, but we know there's more than one. Who are your mother and brothers? That doesn't seem like a hard question. We know who they are. But Jesus has given a heavenly perspective here.

[16:22] that those who truly belong to him are not those who are in the same family or household necessarily.

[16:41] They're not those who have the same background and tradition. He's going to tell you who truly are a part of his family.

[16:53] That's the third thing I want you to see is the Lord's definition of family. And he says in verse 34, looking about at those who sat around him, he said, here are my mother and my brothers.

[17:12] For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister mother. Jesus is redefining what family is all about.

[17:33] He's giving a picture of a spiritual family which is more real and more lasting than any earthly family.

[17:48] And he says in verse 35, whoever does the will of God, he is my brother. Why? Because Jesus is God. Whoever's with me, the way to be in God's family, Jesus says, is you must belong to me.

[18:08] Now who can say that? Only one who himself is Lord. God is Only if Jesus is truly Lord can he say that you must belong to him if you are going to be welcomed into God's family.

[18:31] Our culture that we live in today is obsessed with heaven.

[18:47] If you don't believe it, just do what I do and talk to families all the time when someone dies. I didn't say they're obsessed with Jesus.

[19:02] I'm not saying they're obsessed with God's word. I'm saying they're obsessed with heaven. Our culture has this strange mentality of we can ignore the Bible, reject the Bible, disbelieve the Bible, curse the God of the Bible, and then when someone dies, of course, they're automatically welcomed into the heaven of the Bible, which makes no logical sense whatsoever.

[19:28] If you don't believe what the Bible teaches you claiming that is your home and your hope, and if you do believe in heaven and don't believe in the one who said here's how you get there, why do you believe in heaven?

[19:42] That may be you today. You may disbelieve the Bible and not even truly love Christ and not have submitted yourself to his lordship, but in the back of your mind, if you were to have a heart attack and die tomorrow afternoon, you think you're going to heaven because why?

[20:00] Because you were at church on Sunday? Because you are an American? Because you memorize the books of the Bible? We have no shortage of reasons why we think heaven must be ours, but Jesus makes it clear the only way heaven is yours is if you belong to him.

[20:19] So some thought he was a lunatic, his brothers, some thought he was a liar, the religious elite, and yet Jesus says, I am Lord.

[20:33] What does it mean to do the will of God? Well, Mark's already told us. Go back to chapter 1, verse 14 and 15. After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God saying, time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.

[20:58] How is it that you belong to God when you repent and believe the gospel? One of the hardest moments of my life was so long time ago.

[21:15] I was doing a funeral and the family told me that the one who died said he is not a believer he was adamantly opposed to the things of God he did not believe the Bible he hated the things of God we know he's not a believer for many obvious reasons that makes that funeral service exceedingly!

[21:38] Difficult! so we did the funeral service and tried to share some words about his life that were honorable not as a believer but as a father or as a husband and then you share the gospel because there are people in that room who like that man if they were to die would be separated from God you preach the gospel and you don't go out of your way of course to be hurtful or insensitive but you have to be faithful to the truth and after the service was over a lady came up to me and she said you did not tell us that we have the hope of knowing that that man is in heaven today and she said this is the first funeral I ever heard where the preacher he is in heaven how dare you not give us the promise he is in heaven and

[22:40] I said ma'am the testimony of his family is that he did not believe in Jesus Christ the savior and she said you're telling me that's the only way to get to heaven and I said that's exactly what I'm telling you see it's a it's a culture that's obsessed with heaven not because they love Jesus they want to be able to ignore him all their life and then get what happens that only is given to those who are connected to him that's no new thing for our culture in Jesus day you've got people who were obsessed with religion but they did not want to hear the truth Jesus says if you are mine and if you belong to

[23:40] God the way you belong to God is by being a part of my family and the way you're a part of my family is you repent and believe verse 35 for whoever does the will of God whoever believes whosoever will you mean even the people from a different town than us even the people with different backgrounds than us Jesus says whoever repents and believes believe with all my heart that God is sovereign I believe with all of my heart salvation is of the Lord and I believe in all of my heart in proclaiming every word of scripture Mark 3 35 whoever does the will of God whoever does whoever repents whoever believes that's the one who is of

[24:50] God which means if someone does not repent and does not believe it doesn't matter where they are on Sunday mornings they don't belong to God and it doesn't matter how nice they are and doesn't matter how good of a student they are and doesn't matter how good of a citizen they are heaven is not something that you earn heaven is something that's freely given by grace through faith for whoever repents and believes now here's the interesting thing I don't have the right to say whoever belongs to me belongs to God you don't have the authority to say that you are the standard that you are what makes the family only the one who himself is

[25:52] God can make such an audacious claim which is why it's been rightly said Jesus is either a liar a lunatic or he's Lord from this passage we've looked at these number of weeks let me just give you a few implications to make note of this morning few implications that come from this passage here in Mark 3 number one there is no neutral response to Jesus there is no neutral response if you don't believe he's Lord then make that your declaration if you do then submit yourself repent believe in him but there is no neutral response and some may say but but pastor I just I just kind of think of Jesus as a good man Jesus doesn't give you that option he's claiming over and over and over that he is

[26:52] God we're we're just three chapters through we're just two page turns into the gospel of Mark these last several months and Jesus has already over and over and over made it abundantly clear he says he's the only way to salvation if that's not true this is not a good man if he's not the lord of all lords he is not a good teacher there is no neutral response you either believe he is a liar he is disillusioned or the only other appropriate response is to say this is indeed the very son of God number two implication from this passage our spiritual family matters far more than most of us realize our spiritual family matters far more than most of us realize you were as a little kid maybe going to church and you heard people say things like well there's brother so and so there's sister so and so and you like brother who talks like that people at your school don't introduce can you imagine you in the playground

[28:17] I'm brother Christopher it's nice to meet you you look like you got two heads why do you come into the church do they use terms like oh there's brother so and so here's why because we're part of a spiritual family and this matters far more than most of us even realize see we live in a culture where people have made their earthly family an idol we have made gods out of our children and we've sacrificed in many cases what God calls and commands under the umbrella of family and while doing so ignore and neglect this truth from the very words of Jesus that your spiritual family matters so much look one of the sweetest things if it's the

[29:27] Lord's will is to be married if it's not the Lord's will for you that's wonderful the Lord all throughout history has done amazing things to those who aren't married you don't have to be married to be useful for the kingdom but if it's the Lord's will for you to marry it's a wonderful thing and I made a covenant with my wife until death parts us and one day it will and if the Lord wills it and he doesn't will it for every married couple!

[30:03] but if the Lord wills it it's a lovely thing to have a baby and to raise children many of us in this room have given every ounce of effort we have into raising our kids it's a wonderful godly noble beautiful worshipful thing but long before my sons belong to me they belong to god and forever they will belong to him as their heavenly father and what most of us don't understand is biblically how important our spiritual family really is Jesus says don't be stuck just on the earthly but notice in verse 34 who my mother and brothers are it's these who believe it's whoever repents it's whoever does the will of god so

[31:19] I'll just ask you this morning how are you treating your spiritual brothers and sisters you know the old adage I don't love the church I just love Jesus you understand that there's nothing that could be more of a false gospel than that there is no such thing if you don't love the family of god the love of god is not in you that's straight from the scripture how are you treating your brothers and sisters and let me say also don't underestimate the significance of being a spiritual mother or father there are adults in this church who on Sundays and Wednesdays and other times too but primarily those two days sit in classrooms with an open bible and teach our children and teach our youth the bible and for some of these children and teenagers it is the only spiritual training they receive from adult ever because we've got children and teenagers who come to our church and their parents aren't believers and their parents may be nice people and they may take good care of their kids in an earthly sense and they may go to their kids games and cheer them on and provide for them

[32:58] I don't want to in any way make light of the significance of that it's a good thing to love and nurture your children but if you don't feed their spiritual soul you can never make up for that and we've got moms and dads in this church spiritual mothers and fathers who on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights and Wednesday nights and Tuesdays and Thursdays and all different events that we do in ministry of our church are spiritual parents to children that's huge we've got people who teach our teenagers some of those teenagers go home to families who will never ask them what they learned in church because they don't believe what their child learned in church and the only mother or father in the faith some of them know are those who are their spiritual mothers and fathers here at the church which is why those of you who teach

[34:00] Sunday school and those of you who teach Awana and parents stay out and on and on and on that's why what you do is so much more than filling a position you you you are fulfilling a calling and for some of you you are the spiritual father and mother of these children and now these teenagers and my contention is for so many they greatly undervalue the significance of our spiritual family you need to love your spiritual brothers and sisters and honor your spiritual fathers and mothers and the adults in this church should never see this as anything other than the most amazing privilege that we get to sit down with our young people and help them understand who their heavenly father is our spiritual family matters far more than most of us realize number three

[35:21] Jesus welcomes you into his family if you believe in him Jesus welcomes you into his family if you believe in him this is an amazing thing Jesus says who's my family my family are those who believe in me who belong to me now watch this you're talking about such characters as Zacchaeus the wee little man right was a cheater and Jesus said I'm going to your house today you remember the song my wife learned it I'm going to your house for tea not going to your house for tea going to your house today that's how the song goes I keep trying to help her learn it the right way it's embarrassing Jesus says I'm going to your house because if you repent and believe in me you're in my family even if you were a cheater not just

[36:25] Zacchaeus but we're talking about Matthew the tax collector a sellout Matthew all of your countrymen despise you if you'll follow me you're one of mine your own family want something to do with you you can be in my family Jesus welcomes into his family those who believe Peter the denier Peter called down curses to say the night Jesus is arrested he doesn't even know who he is and yet Jesus will welcome him as his own brother Mary Magdalene filled with demons through repentance Jesus will welcome her as a sister and what of those in this room what about our sin what about our past what about our failures and yet all in this room whoever in this room would repent and believe are part of the family of

[37:53] God I'll tell you my testimony in a just a second here the choir sang about it actually the lyrics our choir sang said his will is stronger that's why I got saved I was a sinner God's grace was stronger that's true for everyone in this room that's a believer is God sovereign over salvation sure he is Bible makes that clear salvation there for whoever calls the name of the Lord you bet the Bible makes that clear and what that means is that there's nobody who's too good that they don't need Jesus there's nobody too bad that he can't save them what it also means is there's no one on this planet that can get to heaven any way other than Jesus number four change is possible change is possible this is a very important part

[39:05] Mark 3 21 his brothers thought Jesus out of his mind John 7 verse 5 not even his brothers believed in him until the resurrection and after the resurrection his brothers believe change is possible my brothers and my sisters in this room live in the sweetness of knowing God changes lives he changes lives and then lastly the family of God is incredibly inclusive and undoubtedly exclusive the family of

[40:05] God is incredibly inclusive and undoubtedly exclusive here's what I mean the family of God is inclusive whoever believes in him not just in this church not just in this nation not just those who are just like us whoever believes whoever repents it's inclusive it's every nation every tribe every tongue one of the amazing beauties of heaven is going to be when God has saved in his sovereign grace people from every nation every tribe every tongue every people group all who are there for one reason the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ what an amazing thing that's going to be saved it's not just this denomination and not that one it's not just churches with this worship style but not that one it's those from every nation every tribe every people group every corner of the earth where they believe in the

[41:20] Lord Jesus Christ they do the will of God to give evidence they were true believers whoever that's true of they will be saved the family of God is incredibly inclusive you don't have to be brilliant aren't you glad you don't have to be wealthy you don't have to be the who's who it's inclusive young old all nationalities all throughout history God's family is incredibly inclusive and undoubtedly exclusive because it's only through Christ there is no other way there is no other gospel there is no other savior there is no other name given whereby man must be saved only in

[42:28] Jesus it's inclusive and if you repent and you believe you're welcome to know his family and it's exclusive it's only through Jesus not good works not sincerity not generosity not hospitality not church attendance not rule following it's exclusive only through Jesus Jesus so before you today are the same things that were before the people in Jesus day Jesus said he's the only way to heaven

[43:30] Jesus said he alone is the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through him and Jesus said all the father have given to me not one will I lose and Jesus said whoever does the will of God he is my family for some they think he's out of his mind and needs to be quiet for others they think he's a liar and leads people astray and for some they see him for who he is king of kings lord of lords and the only savior for all who believe

[44:39] I wonder if even this very moment if those in this room who do not know him as savior this very moment would call upon the name of the Lord in your heart right where you sit not trusting in your works not trusting in your family not trusting in your background not trusting your nationality not trusting in anything that you can do but saying to yourself I'm a sinner he is a savior Jesus would you forgive me and he would welcome you into his family your own family may want nothing to do with you your friends may have turned their back on you you may go to work tomorrow in office and you feel all alone Jesus says you believe in me you are in my family forever would you even this day trust in

[45:47]  Christ alone who saves those who repent and believe Lord we thank you today for your word we thank you for your grace we pray that your Holy Spirit would accompany the proclamation me we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we