Message preached at Covenant Reformed Baptist Church 3/17/2019. Audio - https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=317191641230
THESIS: What Christ gave to the Apostles to do – isn’t
always exclusive to them. All Christians have a responsibility to be witnesses
for Christ.
Introduction
Good Afternoon!
As you turn to Mark chapter 6 I want to remind you where we have been and keep the
context before you. In Mark 6:1-6 we see he Lord returning to his hometown and
the people rejecting him a second time. Remember how I showed you the reference
to their being offended is their being scandalized by him? Isn’t this the son
of Mary? Aren’t his brothers and sisters with us? Where did he get such
teaching/training? It is in this rejection our account follows and has
connection with. Before we read the passage I also want to remind you of Marks
overall theme and audience. The theme is found in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give His life a ransom for many.” The audience is to
Romans – the pagan people of Mark’s day. Follow along as I read Mark 6:7-13:
Scripture
reading: “And
He called the twelve to Himself, and
began to send them out two by two, and
gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a
staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— 9 but to wear sandals, and not
to put on two tunics.10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. (Mark 6:7-13)
Back in August of 2017 we looked at the calling of these men. I’d like to read Mark 3:13-14 also, “And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.”
So what we see here in Mark 3 – in the calling is beginning to be fulfilled in our passage today. The Lord has been grooming these men for at least a year – possibly up to 2 years at this time, and now they are given their marching orders and sent out. Notice how Mark explains this – we are told that Jesus called the 12. Who are these men? The twelve. Mark doesn’t say twelve disciples, nor does he say twelve apostles. Mark’s usual term for the men is the 12 with no other identifier.
I.
Commissioning Instructions (Mark 6:8-11)
A. Sending them: And began to send
them out: ἀποστέλλειν
Here Mark uses the word ‘send’ which
has as its underlying Greek the word apostellein.
This is the same root as the Greek word for apostle. What you see here is
Jesus commissioning the 12 to go – which is apostleship. To be an apostle is to
be a sent one. In a very real sense I can ask you to go to the grocery store
and you become the sent one. That’s the very ordinariness of this word.
Theologically an apostle is much, much more. And here is the theological
development. The sent ones are those
who go out with a particular message, from a particular Master, and do their
work in a particular way.
B. Two
by two: true legal witnesses (Deu. 19:15) and traveling companionship
Christ sends them out in pairs. There
are at least two reasons for this; They can have a true witness. In Deuteronomy
19:15 we are given specific instruction that it is by the mouth of two or three
witnesses a matter may be established. This is a legal statement. So that we
can say – whatever their message is – it will have weight. Secondly, they will
be traveling with someone. This task may not be an easy one, you will need another
to help in the work. This is a common Jewish practice when traveling – never
travel alone! But it is also a matter of wisdom – you never know what may
befall you!
C. Three
categories:
1.
What to leave and what to take,
He specifically charged them “take nothing for their journey…no bread, no bag, no money in
their belts.” Positively they were to take a staff,
sandals, and one tunic. We hear tunic and have this vague idea of some
sort of clothing. A tunic is a loose fitting shirt that goes from your
shoulders to the knees generally. What
these things speak to is the trust these apostles were to commit themselves to.
They were not to trust in their preparations – what they brought with them. No
bread. Think about this – when you go hiking for example, don’t we pack light?
But we don’t overlook staking at least a bit of trail mix or a beefstick –
something for the trip, just in case. The men were not going hiking. No bag!
Talk about traveling light! You don’t need that extra stuff – leave it all
behind! No money! This is getting out of hand? I can’t even take my ATM card?
What if I have needs? We are not going on a pleasure trip or a hiking trip. We
are on a mission. And that’s the point. Christ tells them exactly how to
prepare – and it will leave them vulnerable. This reminds me of Matthew 6:19-34
where we are told not to lay up treasure here where moth and rust destroy.
We’re told not to trust in money. We’re reminded that God provides for the
lilies of the field and he will provide for you! It is in God we trust so we
say – but do we?
2.
How to conduct yourselves, and
In verse 10 we read, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place.” What this
is about is actually fairly simple. These men were to go to various cities and
preach the gospel. So, without regard for where they would stay they go to the
prominent place for preaching and teaching – and preach! As they do people
begin to stand listening until a crowd has formed. Inevitably someone will
invite them to stay at their place. So this is God’s appointment. Some worthy
person inquires of them, “Stay with us. We’ll provide food and shelter for
you.” Good enough. Yet one day’s message is not enough. Not all heard the message
the 1st day – so on the 2nd and third day they continued
to preach and each day people will ask them – Stay with us. They were not to go
from house to house - as though looking
for the best accommodations. I have traveled in a musical group and on a
mission trip as a student at Moody. On the music tour and the mission trip we
have a whole variety of accommodations. Some guys got private rooms, others
maybe not. On the mission trip it was even more dramatic. Mr. Hanna strictly
charged us to eat whatever was put before us and with a smile, so to speak.
This became an issue one time in México. I roomed with Danny. One morning for
breakfast Carmen our host made for us poached eggs. However, they were made a
little too ‘soupy’ for Danny! But we had the instruction. Earlier in our trip
in Nicaragua Mr. Hanna had given us the warning. And I recall one meal in
particular which was not so good. Some sort of cubed vegetable which seemed to
be overcooked and hard to eat. Terrible flavor – no salt! I toughed it down but
it was no picnic! I won’t forget however when Mr. Hanna told us how much these
people sacrificed for us to eat as well as we had… So here was Danny – not able
to eat a soupy poached egg. When Carmen wasn’t looking we swapped glasses. I
was hungry. Imagine however if I had complained about the meal in Nicaragua?
What kind of witness would I be? Or what if Carmen had discovered Danny’s
indiscretion? How might she have felt? What would our ‘ministry’ have
communicated to her?
3.
What to preach.
We’re told in verse 12, “So they went out and preached that people should
repent.” That’s a simple
and straight forward message. Turn from your sins! The Kingdom is at hand!
II.
Marks Point in this account?
A. The
apostles are to be true witnesses.
What kind of message is preached when the preacher steps out
of the pulpit? This is what the Lord is concerned with as he gives them such
instructions. Do they truly trust in the Lord? Do you see how it is that not
only the message preached communicates, but so does the life? What if every
night they stayed in another home, based upon previous accommodations? Or
worse, they favored one over another! Even James warns us against this (Jam.
2:1-4). Our message is not to be delivered in a light manner. People’s lives
are at stake! When Christ gave such instructions as for what to take and how to
conduct themselves – it spoke not only to their personal mannerisms – but also
to God. This message is not their message. It is given by the Lord himself and
they are sent ones – ambassadors for Christ. As ambassadors they represent the
sending party, Christ himself. It is His message.
B. We
are to be true witnesses.
Just as these apostles were sent out with a message of
repentance so are we. Our message is the same. The One sending us is the same.
We are sent out to bring a message of repentance to a dying world. We are sent
to bring a message of healing – not physical but spiritual healing for the
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
This season we live in is eschatologically called the last
days. From Peter in Acts 2 and II Peter 3:3, Paul in II Timothy 3:1, Hebrews
1:2, James 5:3 we read it IS the
last days. Yet from the time of John the Baptizer we read that the Kingdom of
Heaven is at hand! How much closer are we to that final day?! Is the world
ready to receive Him? Are you! Our witness must be a true witness – as much as
the apostolic witness was to be true. Do you take seriously the mandate to take
the gospel into all the world and make disciples? What about the world you live
in – even here in Greenwood Wonder Lake, Woodstock, Lake in the Hills, Crystal
Lake, Harvard – even in these places people are dying every day. Do you take
seriously the ambassadorship he’s given you?
III.
Final review and Mark 6:30
A. Literary
Intercalation – review and illustration with Mark 5:21-43 Jairus’ daughter and
the woman with the issue of blood. (Story A – Story B – Story A)
Earlier in January this year we looked at the accounts of
Jairus’ daughter and the woman with the issue of blood. And at the time I
mentioned a literary device I called intercalation or more simply, insertion.
This is where Mark weaves one account into another account and though the
accounts are woven into each other historically – there was a tremendous amount
of providentiality involved in the matter. What I mean to say is that this is
not simply a literary device, but through it we are instructed further on our
Lord’s divine hand. For example, how long did the woman have the issue of
blood? 12 years. How old was Jairus’ daughter when she died? Again 12 years.
Though it appears that these to women never meet, their lives are inextricably
linked through this intercalation. And in this account it is the faith of
Jairus and the faith of the woman which is compared. Jairus with his amazingly
sure faith, and this woman, with her terribly deficient faith.
Well – I didn’t tell you earlier, but our account this day
also has a brief intercalation. For our story has not yet completed. Look at
Mark 6:30-31 below –
B. Mark
6:30-31, “Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told
Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 And He said to them, “Come
aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.”
This conclusion seems innocuous enough, but consider how the
intercalation changes the intensity of everything. Look at story number 2, the
death of John the baptizer (Mark 6:14-29). How does it inform us? What do we
know of Johns’ ministry? Mark 1:1-8 tells us all about it and we know the
message – Repent! For the Kingdom of heaven is at hand! This wild preacher of a
man took the message to a degree I doubt you or I ever will! He ate
grasshoppers and wore some pretty rough clothing! There was no denying his
ambassadorship. One wonders about the authority of the message we give when we
hardly sacrifice at all in our testifying. We have a message which is the same
as Johns – The kingdom of Heaven is at hand! How much more urgent is it since
time has passed! We know not the day nor the hour He will return! Might he
return this evening?
IV.
Conclusion & Challenge
Remember the idea of our being true witnesses - undistracted,
undeterred. Let’s set ourselves to the task at hand and preach the truth. To
preach repentance means the message will not be popular. If we tell them they
need to turn that implicitly says they are turning from something – you have to
identify it! It’s sin. We must preach against sin! There is no other way to get
to the gospel but to go by the way of sin. There is no good news for a man who
does not see his sin.
By the way – if you think today in this room – that you are not
such a bad guy, or gal, whether you believe you are a Christian or not – you
don’t know the gospel! There is none righteous – not even one! If you have even
the smallest of sins, you are damned forever. The only answer is to take
Christ. It is He that is the gospel. Christ is the power of God for salvation.
For it is in Him we have our sins forgiven, but if you don’t see your sin you
have no hope.
Yet if you see your sin – the blackness of it – the wickedness
of it, now you are ready for the gospel. Just as a jeweler places the diamond
ring on black velvet, so you are ready for the gospel when you see the darkness
of the stain of sin in your life. And this is the message we bring. Christ died
for sinners!
But consider that
message. If the sinner does not see his sin – he’s offended. He is scandalized.
He rejects this offer of forgiveness and may even become hostile to the
messenger. If the teacher is persecuted, so will be the student. And speaking
of the word witness - the Greek word which means witness is actually μάρτυς
from which we get the English word martyr. The very meaning of martyr comes out
of the witness of Christianity where every one of the apostles suffered. All
but John died for the witness. And John himself was boiled in oil. He was
supposed to die. But since he survived, double jeopardy in Roman law prevented
him from being tried again and he was eventually set free.
Yet in story 2 we have
not a passing reference to John the baptizer – but the very accounting of his death as a martyr! This is the
point! If we are true witnesses for Christ – we may indeed suffer and some of
us will die! Are you prepared to suffer for your Lord? Look at the church in
China – particularly Early Rain Covenant Church. This is
the church where Chinese official have arrested over 100 members – not only the
Pastors and staff. To my knowledge only a few have been set free. Their
building locked up, they now meet in homes or outside.
Would you open your home
to meetings – what if it meant possible police activity inside? Are you ready
to suffer for this message? By the way – religious freedom is actually enshrined
in the constitution in China. This is according to Bob Fu, whose book, “God’s Double Agent” I recently read. He
has a ministry here in the States called China Aid to help some escape such
persecution.
There is nothing wrong
with wanting a peaceful life – but what our passage is about is a message which
will not be received well by many. Yet it is our message – and lives are at
stake! Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!!!
