Last week talked about how Jesus took twelve common men and pulled them in close to himself. He trained them personally, he certified them to go share the good news. We learned Jesus brought them in close for the main purpose of knowing him….that Jesus was the beginning and end. From that position of having sat at the feet of Jesus, he would send them out to preach the ‘good news’.
After Jesus death and resurrection he told the disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
The disciples had a model to work from, they where taught by the master himself. When the Holy Spirit came upon them they would teach with a new boldness and the gospel would spread over the entire earth, even to Rocklin CA, as we are proof this morning.
So we determined this was what the mission of the church was to equip and share the Good News, we gather and study to share with others, we have fellowship and read our Bibles…to share the Good News. It all starts with Jesus and it all ends with Jesus.
This week we are still in Mark 3:20-30 (Read)
Jesus is again in someone’s house and such large crowd has gathered that Jesus and the disciples are unable to eat. Jesus is so busy trying to meet the demands of the crowd he is seen as wearing out, so his family shows up and tries to take him home, thinking he has lost his mind.
The interesting point here to observe is how families, those closest to us will become some of our toughest opponents to the Christian life. I have always wondered about this, but think for just a minute….they know you. They know all about you and when you start living for Christ, they will be the first ones to point to you, your short comings. So how do you deal with it? You love them…you show them Christ. I think it’s important to remember Jesus’ own family ridiculed his beliefs…We are to respond with love when negatively attacked and remember over time they will accept you and your beliefs, so stay true to you faith.
Starting in verse 22, we get into the meat of this story. The scribes have come down from Jerusalem (Which sits high in the mountains) and the teachers of the law accused Jesus of being possessed by Satan himself. In other words the reason he could cast out demons, was because he was powered by the ‘chief’ demon. So to discredit him, in trying to deny him as messiah, they call him the ‘prince of demons’…in other words Jesus power was from Satan and not from God.
Remember the more effective you are in your Christian life, the more extreme will be the attacks of the enemy. Even the most ridiculous accusation will convince some when it's cleverly packaged to sound sincere and concerned. Stand firm for the truth, even when clever attacks come
Jesus carefully picks apart their augment, how Satan drive out Satan? How can a house divided stand? How can you rob a house with first tying up the strong the man?…then he say a few verses that have taking literally by many Christians.
Mar 3:28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."
Many people have been held captive by this verse by saying they have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. They feel their lives have been such a wreck, that God never forgive them. I don’t believe a Christian today can commit the ‘unpardonable sin’. I believe it was a time period sin, in that the Pharisees witness the power Jesus and refused to believe. Even when the Pharisee’s saw the work of the Holy Spirit, they still didn’t believe, thus sealing their fait.
So what can we take from this message…
First, those closest to you will test your faith. They are the ones who watched you grow and now cannot accept your beliefs. Remember to stand firm in your faith, to love them with the heart of Christ and over time they will learn to accept your new found faith.
Take encouragement from the fact that Mary came and tried to pull Jesus away, she knew who he was and still tried to inter fear. James, Jesus brother was most likely one of Jesus half-brothers and he would go on to lead the Jerusalem church, and become know as ‘old camel knees” because of the callous he built in prayer.
Secondly, the enemy doesn’t want you to share Christ. The enemy wants us to be quite. The enemy will say and do anything to keep us quite. We must be united in the message, we must be of one heart and mind in sharing the gospel with the world. Nothing else matters, not you, not me, only the gospel. The enemy wants to divide our house, to get us fighting and squabble over things that take our time and energy. Anything to distract us…to get us off target…We cannot allow this to happen. The Church is about the spreading of the gospel, to Know Christ and to make Christ known.
Thirdly, There isn’t a sin today that you cannot be forgiven from, I believe that. I believe Satan has used this verse to personally bring people down and keep them out of the picture. Satan will bind you in your own prison if you let him. The Bible says…
Col 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Satan has no hold on you, you have been forgiven of all you sins if you have put your faith in Christ.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We will have victory in Christ, victory in our families, victory in our church and in the world. We just need to follow the example Jesus gave us.
I just want to encourage you this morning, this message has a theme running through it, it’s a house divided can not stand. Your family will try to divide us from Christ, Satan will try to divide us from Christ in Church, and lastly he will use our very own past sins to make us think we are ‘unforgivable’ or unworthy.
This morning I want you to know there is nothing that can divide us from the Love Christ.
Rom 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Pray
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