Irvin, Clinton: A Walk With The Lord

I have this, uh, loudspeaker here. Mark's Gospel, chapter eight. These seats up here aren't any higher priced. Uh, we're going to use our imaginations today, I hope. At least that's, uh, what I'm going to endeavor to do. You know, God has given us a wonderful mind. Can do all kinds of things. Uh, but one of the things it can do is imagine. It- we can take our mind and put us any place we want. And, uh, you know, a simple illustration of what I'm speaking about, just take your mind now and put it in the door of your kitchen. You see the refrigerator, the stove, the sink, and whatever else is there, you know exactly where it is, although you're here. And, uh, down through the years, I've traveled through this country and been in certain places for a period of time, and as well as my memory will allow me, I can take my mind and place me right back there and see. Now, those things have changed, but I see them as they were, and and you have done the same thing. So what we're going to do, we're going to change ourselves today, and we're going to be the disciples. And we're gonna take our minds, and we're going back to Palestine. And we're going to take a trip with the Lord, uh, towards the end of his ministry in the upper part of Palestine. And that's what we have in, uh, Mark chapter eight. And we're going to begin our thoughts at verse twenty seven. But you will notice back in twenty two that we've just come from Bethsaida. Bethsaida is on the northeast coast of the Sea of Galilee, and we're going in verse twenty seven up in the area of Caesarea Philippi. That's on the west side of the upper Jor- the east side of the upper Jordan. And so we're going from Bethsaida up the east coast of, of uh, the Jordan, about twenty five miles up. And then, uh, we're going, uh, in chapter nine and verse two two, up a high mountain. And we're going to assume, as the evidence is here from its, the place it's placed, that we're talking about Mount Hermon. And if that's the case, we're going another fifteen miles or so up. And then we're going to come down in, uh, verse fourteen of chapter nine. We're going to come back to where the disciples were around Caesarea Philippi. And then in verse thirty of chapter nine, we're going to walk through Galilee with him. And then, uh, last of all, in verse thirty three, we're going to Capernaum with him. Now, if we went on and looked, we'd see in chapter ten and verse one that that's the end of his ministry in the upper regions of Palestine. From there, he goes down to the east side of Jordan in Judea, and from there he goes up to Jerusalem, and at Jerusalem we see him there in the city, in the temple, in the house of, uh, at Bethany, and f- and finally in the upper room with his disciples. But we're just going to be considered this, uh, part of this last trip in the upper part of Galilee. That's where he spent most of his life, up in Galilee and the other side of, uh, which is on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, and on the those parts in the east. We're going to look at both of them today. Now, on this trip, we're going to be alone with the Lord most of the time. So what we're doing with our imaginations, he's speaking to us. Now he's speaking to Is- Israelites, of course, and so the tone of his conversation many times is in relation to Israel and the kingdom. But the principles he established are the same as he, and the ones that he is teaching his disciples are the ones that are going to continue on in this period of the church period. And there's a very interesting progress of teaching here. And so we see that, uh, when we start out in Caesarea Philippi, in verse, uh, thirty one, he's spe- speaking to his disciples, it says he began to teach them. And then, uh, when we get, uh, down to verse thirty four, we see that a group of people join the disciples. And then when we get to chapter nine, we see something unusual happens. He takes just three of those disciples on that trip to the top of the high mountain. And then when he comes down, uh, in verse fourteen of chapter nine with those three disciples, he f- finds a great multitude with his disciples. And then, when he goes over into Galilee, uh, in verse thirty, he's with his disciples alone. And he goes through Galilee, and it doesn't say much of what he taught them, but the one very important thing he tried to impress upon them, and yet they couldn't understand. And finally he ends up in the house in Capernaum. And so let's just look at and listen to him as we make this trip. In verse twenty seven of chapter eight: And Jesus went out and his disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist, but some say Elias, and others one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answered and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and of the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly, and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of man. Now, in each one of these little sessions with the Lord, we're just going to take out one thought or two, perhaps. And here's, here's the thought. It's a double question. Whom do men say that I am? Well, that question's still asked today. Whom do men say that I am? And you're able to get any kind of an answer. These people answered in the light of, uh, past history of Israel. Today, of course, we have left the history of Israel, and we're in the day of the Gentiles. So one of the answers, as you well know, is, well, he was a good man, or something similar. You even hear, uh, certain times, I don't know why you hear it much anymore, but you used to hear it a while ago when things were that way in, in our country, that they said, they they said that, well, he was a man with new ideas. It it kind of the idea that he was a rebel because he was preaching that there was going to be a change in Israel, and so they, uh, equate him with people today who try to change ideas and whatever. This is what men say that he is, and whatever men say that he is is wrong, because he wasn't Elias. Uh, in a sense, he could have been said as one of those prophets, uh, because he was prophesied as the prophet, but he wasn't one of those prophets. And so whatever man says today is the same as what men said in that day. But the question that the Lord had in mind when he asked them, that was just an opening up of the conversation. The question was this, whom do ye say that I am? And of course, we have this first revelation, uh, from one of those who traveled with him. Peter says, thou art the Christ. Uh, there was another person used these words, and that was, uh, Martha. She said, I believe that thou art the Christ. Uh, but Peter, uh, already, in spite of, as we look down here and see he has some other ideas that aren't, uh, in accordance with the Lord's. He had seen one thing, that this person that he had walked with for almost three years now was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God. And so, uh, when he began to teach them then, now that he has this revealed from them, he began to teach them because the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, he was come to set up the kingdom, but he hadn't come to set up the kingdom. He come to show his mercy and his grace, as Jacob was telling us in the meeting before, and he was going to show the mercy and the love of God, not by setting up the kingdom as the head of the kingdom, but by dying on a cross. And so it says he began to teach them. You know, the words of scripture are always very important. He began to teach them, and the reason it says he began to teach them is because when we get over in chapter nine, we see, uh, once again that it says that he taught them in verse thirty one, And he taught his disciples and said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and they were afraid to ask him. So he began to teach him. And you know, there's a little lesson in this for us, isn't it? Down through the years after we're saved, he begins to teach us, and he never ceases. And so little we understand from time to time, but his heart is always the same. It's not our lack of understanding, but it's his love, and he continues to teach. And as we read this word, we see him teaching us that, uh, he was going to suffer. And of course, this is what we've been thinking about for the last hour. He suffered, and he bled, and he died. He was rejected by those who are his own people, and so he went to the cross. They nailed him to the cross, but that, that wasn't the end. He was to be killed. But the Peter's words are borne out, thou art the Christ because on the third day God raised him from the dead. Now, uh, turn over to Acts chapter ten. Just a few thoughts on... the person of the one who we're walking with this morning. This is Peter now speaking, and, uh, now he's not thinking of the kingdom, but, uh, the Lord is still teaching him, and what he's teaching him is that, uh, he is Lord of all. And so that's what we read here in, uh, Acts chapter ten. As he comes to these, uh, Gentiles, it says in verse thirty four, then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is the Lord of all. He wasn't only the Lord, the Messiah of Israel, but he's the Lord, the Savior of all mankind. So now the Gentiles who have been outside, uh, the councils of God as a group of people are brought in with Peter, the one who he began to teach back in those hills around Caesarea of Philippi. Now, our next, uh, uh, change is in verse thirty four, and it says that when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul. Whosoever therefore shall be, or, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Now this great truth has been re- revealed. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. So what's the next thing? The question there was who or whom. The question here is what? In view of this revelation, what are the listeners going to do with it? And so there's a choice to be made because he's going to the cross. He's going to be killed. He's going to leave this scene after he's resurrected. But what is he going to leave behind? He's going to leave followers behind. So the choice has to be made. Am I going to be a follower? If I am, I have to take up my cross and follow him. And so that takes me, that makes me make a decision. How am I going to follow? Where am I going to follow? And so, there's two questions, and that's all it needs to determine the answer. What shall it profit man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? You know, the teaching of the Lord as he speaks to us is wonderful, isn't it? And here, in a question, he gives the answer, and yet he doesn't tell us what to do. He says, you think. What's it going to profit you if what you're occupied with is this world, and you lose your own soul. A decision has to be made. Is he the Christ? And if he is, then his demand is for followers. And then, if you can't answer that one properly, or those he spoke to, he gives them the other side of the question. What are you going to give in exchange for your soul? And again, the answer has to be made by us as we walk with him there around Caesarea Philippi. If our soul is not redeemed by putting our trust in the man of Calvary. How are we going to redeem it? And the word of God tells us that there will be no redemption. There's no remission of sins except in accepting the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. Now, the next little story, we have to be certain disciples. We have to be either Peter, James, or John, because God is going to make a tremendous revelation, and he has a particular purpose now in leaving the people aside and leaving the rest of the disciples aside. And so we see in chapter one of ver- chapter nine, verse one, he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death till they see the com- kingdom of God come with power. And then what he says comes to pass. And after six days, Jesus taketh with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain, apart by themselves, and he was transfigured before them, and his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can write them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say, for they were sore afraid. Now, when we don't know what to say, what's the best thing? Don't say anything. But of course, Peter spoke out because, and it's recorded here for us, for two things. If you don't know what to say, don't say anything. But the main thing is the lesson that there's no comp- one comparable to this man that we're walking with through Caesarea Philippi, and now that we're on a high mountain with. Verse seven: and there was a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no man anymore, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen till the Son of Man was risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from among the dead should mean. That was something new to them, the rising from among the dead. There was going to be a resurrection, they knew that, but what about a resurrection from among the dead, which leaves all the other dead there? And that's what was going to happen. And so he takes these three men and he reveals his glory to them. And, uh, after Peter's question, the, the other two men disappear, and they see no man save Jesus only. And then they hear a voice, and it says, hear him. Now, you know, the scriptures, we go down and see it, we see ourselves all the time in it, don't we? Because in the next verses, uh, in verse eleven, it says, and they asked him, saying, why say the scribes that Elias must come first? And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first and restoreth all things, and how it is written of the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be sought it not. But I say unto you that Elias indeed has come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed as is written of him. And we read in another gospel that they understood he spoke of John the Baptist. But here, they had this voice from heaven that said, hear him. Forget these other two you want to build a tabernacle for. And what's their question? Well, what about one of these other ones? But thi- this is part of their learning process. And... now, why did he take three of them? Well, turn over to Acts chapter and We read about one of them. Acts chapter twelve and verse one. Now about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. Now, why did he take James? Here he, one who had one of three people left in this world who had seen the Lord Jesus transformed into his glory and had heard with his ears the voice of God. Why'd he take James? Well, I think it's obvious why he took James. To tell us that we never question what God does. And whatever he does, even when we are not able to understand the answer, it's right. Now turn over to, uh, First Peter chap- or Second Peter chapter one. Why did he take Peter? Peter's writing, uh, to Jewish Christians, and it's left here for us, and he says, uh, I know certain things that I've told you, but I'm going to remind you again. And this is the emphasis that he puts on these things. Verse sixteen: For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his glory. For he received from God the Father an honor and glory wi- when there came such a voice to him from the excellent gl- glory, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mountain. Now, of course, what we see in the Bible and what we believe is the exercise of faith, but God doesn't give us any chance to fail in our faith. And so he not only tells us of the things that are his, but he gives us a witness, a human witness of his beloved son, who had just told them that he was going to be killed, but that he was going to be resurrected again. And then they saw him in that future glory. And Peter tells us that what I'm telling you now is something that I learned from experience. Now turn over to First John chapter one. What about John? John gives us a lot of information about the Lord, and here in his, uh, first letter, he repeats the same thing. Here's these qualifications. Peter, with his writing, what is his qualifications? I was an eyewitness of his majesty and his glory. And John, what is his qualifications? Verse one of the first chapter. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of God. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard do we declare unto you. So God in his wisdom, he took three men, and he showed them the Lord in his glory. Now if God in his wisdom has given us a brain, and we can read these words here, and we can visualize the Lord in his glory. Not the same as the eye, but enough to make us think and to give us a hope that that one who died on Calvary's cross, his tomb is empty, and he is glorified on the right hand of God, and one day he's going to manifest that glory to this entire world. But before that, we're going to see him in his glory. Hear him, is what God said. Now, they come down from the mount, those three, and in verse fourteen of chapter nine of Mark. And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. And he asked the scribes, what question ye with them? Well, the question is this. There's a man who has a son, and he's deaf and dumb because there's a, a, a evil spirit dwelling within him. And he came to the disciples, and he told them his problem because the Lord wasn't there, and he wanted the disciples to cast the devil out. Now, undoubtedly, he had heard of the disciples because the Lord had given them this power, and they had gone through these regions and done such things, but they were not able to do it here. Why weren't they able to do it here? Well, the Lord says the- this kind only comes out with prayer and fasting. But why is it recorded here? Well, here's the reason. The man is speaking to the Lord in verse twenty two, and he says, and oftentimes it, that is the evil spirit or the devil, it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. You know, you always marvel, don't you, when you see the way the Lord does things. You remember when he said to Peter, uh, why'd you tell them what we pay tribute? We don't pay tribute, we're the children. Children don't pay tribute, but just so you don't get in trouble and get down to the sea and cast your, uh, hook into the sea, and the fish that comes up will have something to give to these people that want tribute. Well, now look at this. Here's a man comes to the Lord. He doesn't know he's the Christ, maybe, because he says, if thou canst, do this. And the Lord turns it exactly around, and he says, the if thou canst is not if I can, but it's if you can. If thou canst, believe, and it shall be done. And that's the exercise of faith that God is once again distributing this, uh, showing us here in this miracle. Well, you know what they said to him, uh, before in this gospel? They said he does everything well. He makes the dumb to speak and the deaf to hear. And that's what he's doing here, but the Lord says that this isn't whether I'm able to do it, but it's whether you are able to believe. And that's the mark of his people from the day that he first put man on this earth until the last day that they exist on this earth as we know it. Faith. It's the only thing that God accepts or approves. And so he says, you know, faith is something that we have, but we always have to ask ourselves, how much do we have? The Lord says, ask anything and it shall be done. He talks in, in, uh, hyperbole so often. He says, ask this mountain and it'll be removed. But you know, uh, faith involves knowledge, and you don't ask God to move a mountain unless there's something in it for God, not for you, so you can walk on flat ground. He won't remove that mountain. But if there's some way that it suits his purpose, and we had faith, we could move a mountain just by asking. So that's the lesson here. If thou canst, make him whole. No, if thou canst believe, he shall be whole. And so he was. And then there's another, a beautiful picture, you know, the Lord cast out the foul spirit, and it looked like the boy was dead. And they said he's dead. And the Lord took him by the hand and lifted him up. And that is the first exercise of faith, because we're walking spiritually in this world, dead in trespasses and sin. And there's only one way to move into the life that God has for the people of this earth, and that's accepting the Lord Jesus as their own personal savior. And when we do that, he takes us by the hand and lifts us up, and we pass from death unto life. Now, we leave that scene, and he goes to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and he walks through Galilee, and keeping in mind that these are his last days in that area, it says in verse thirty, and they departed thence and passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it. He just wanted to be alone with those that were following him. And he taught his disciples and said unto them, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. Well, you know, one of the things the Lord was doing with his disciples, he was giving them knowledge that they couldn't understand then, but would in the day to come. As you know, we read in John's gospel, he said, those things that I've told you, the Spirit of God, which then will indwell you, shall bring to your memory what I have told you. And they walked in the light of what they learned on this trip. Now, he's recorded these things for us that we might walk in the light of what we can learn, and what we can learn is in this last part. He then takes him in verse thirty three, and he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them, what was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace, for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be greatest. What happened on the Mount? Now those three, we read that they kept what they saw to themselves, but at least two of them were a part of this question, because it tells us that it's recorded in another gospel. What they had seen in the Mount, forget Elias and Moses, there's only one. There's only one to listen to. And what's their question? Who shall be greatest? Do you think that question disappeared with this story? No, no. That question is still asked today, if not in word, in action, and in deed. And so what does the Lord de- do? He takes a question that has really no purpose and is self-centered, and he turns it into the marvelous way that God is dealing with his people. He takes a little child in his arms, and then he says, he tells us over in Matthew in the same place that except you become as a little child and be converted, you shall never see the kingdom of heaven. But he has another lesson to, to teach us here, and so he's teaching us, why did we ask that question, who shall be greatest? Hoping, of course, the answer is that I'm going to be the greatest. Why did he ask it? Because the one that's going to be the greatest is going to be the least. And the one that's going to be the least in his things down here, not the least in knowledge or the least in activity, but the least in his mind. That's what Paul said, didn't he? I'm the least of all saints. And people today say the great Apostle Paul, it's a misnomer. He was the least of all saints, and the least becomes the greatest. And so he says, this is a little child. Now, he's going to take the lesson of little further. He says, if anyone offends... Uh, uh, to go down here to verse forty two. I'm going to pass over one thought and go to verse forty two. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. If anyone offends, if anyone traps. That Greek word is the same thing that they use when they speak of a snare or a trap. There has to be something that springs it. That's the word. That's the catch. That's the spring of the trap. Anyone that endeavors to trap one of these little ones. Well, who are the little ones? Those that believe. That's his people in this world. No profit in this world. They're the little ones of this world, but they're protected by the God on high. And so we hear him tell us that now as we come to the end of this journey in the house in Capernaum. That he protects us. And then there's a little warning here, and it's an unusual one. He says in verse forty three, if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. He says in verse forty five, if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. That's strange language, isn't it? But that's the language of God. He says it's better to be lame, to be maimed, to only have one eye and be in the kingdom of God, because there's no profit in this world. But there's an end to this world, and if it's not in the kingdom of God, it's in the lake of fire where the worm dieth not. And there's nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. That's the warning, but we're not going to cut off any hands today, or cut off any feet, or we're not going to pluck out any eyes, because the warning is given for the other sides of the story. So let's go over to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three and verse twenty three. You know what the hand is? That's what does things. Solomon says, whatever the hand finds to do, do with all your might. The hand does things. Well, here's what we're to do. Not cut off the hand, but to use it. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men. Now, what about the foot? Turn back to chapter one. What's the foot for? Well, it's to walk. And so in chapter one, we say that the Apostle Paul is praying for those Christians there, and it's recorded that we might enter into it in verse ten, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Now, what about the eye? Second Corinthians chapter four. There's There's a a lot we could talk about on any of these, and especially the eye. Eye hath not seen what God has prepared for them that love him. But there's other things the eye hasn't seen, and that's what we're to use our eyes for.