Saved From What?
Mark 9: 42-50 & Matthew 13: 47-52
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The New
Testament Witness of the Apostle
Peter |
Max A
Forsythe | |
Today I have some Good News for you, but also some Bad News as well. To begin with, I want to put two images into your mind to prepare you to hear God's perfect revelation:
The first image is entirely fictional. Let us suppose there were a large wedding celebration to which dozens of people had been invited. The alcohol was flowing, the dancers were enjoying themselves and the gossipers at the tables around the hall were as catty as normal. All of a sudden, sirens are heard outside and several doors and windows of the hall are broken in by the Volunteer Fire Department. The Chief rushes in and announces that they have come to save the party hearty crowd. But, no smoke is in sight, no flames are evident and there isn't a hint of catastrophe! How do you suppose the fire fighters would be welcomed in such a case?
A second image, which while fictional may also prove historical in certain instances. A group of men are deep in the tunnels of a coal mine. There has been an explosion, the lights have gone out, the air has stopped circulating and the canary refuses to sing. The hours go by, the canary is barely breathing, the air is slowly becoming toxic. The men, who have gathered at the nearest end of the tunnel to safety are waiting and listening for any sounds of rescue. A day and a half of darkness have gone by and all the batteries in their lights have gone out, suddenly mechanical equipment and the shouts of rescuers is heard a long long way away. Will they live long enough to see the light break through at the end of the tunnel? Yes, in this story a rescue is effected and when workers break through and announce that they have come to save them, brave men break down and cry in thankfulness for their salvation!
(Now these images are not my invention, I heard them first from either R.C. Sproul or James Kennedy)
Those stories my friends illustrate the great watershed in personal experience in our day. The great majority of humans haven't a clue that they need to be rescued. Only those whom God is calling to Himself finally realize their desperate need for Jesus Christ. And the great tragedy of our time is that most of the population in this country have never realized their need for salvation because, the Word of God has been shut up and kept as far from the public life as possible. In addition, times have been good, there has been very little poverty or suffering here in America these last seventy years. Yes, there are rumors of war and even acute human suffering somewhere else. But, here in America - what human experience have ever challenged the Baby Boomer generation and their children? Apart from the possible Y2K potential at the end of the year, there is little to worry about. Like the party crowd that I first described - it is exceptionally difficult to gain a minimal audience that will even listen to the lessons of history and especially to the hard lessons described in Holy Scripture. People just don't want to hear about heaven and hell, especially the latter.
If you took a survey of the general population, you would find that the majority probably believe in salvation by death. By that I mean, when everyone dies they go to heaven and perhaps have to spend some minimal time repenting from not loving as long and as well as they might have. If this is where your heart really is, I must speak truthfully from Scripture and challenge your thinking. Yes, I have broken into your religious party and would plead with you to listen to your need of being saved! Like the householder in our passage from Matthew I must show you treasures from both the Old and the New Covenants of Scripture.
I must speak about the absolute holiness and righteousness of the Father God revealed in the Old Covenant passages. Our God is an awesome God as a modern spiritual song goes. In His absolute holiness, no human can stand or even long live. Remember Moses, Isaiah and the Apostle John? What were their reactions to standing in the presence of our God? "Woe is me!", said Isaiah and John fell down as if dead. Moses, too was protected by the hand of God so that he could live!
Since the time of Adam, all of mankind has been in this sinful condition where God's the purity of God's holiness would cause instant death if any one of us were in His immediate presence! To Moses, God revealed the Law summarized in ten principles. Those commandments have three applications.
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By the law all men are judged and at the end of the age found guilty! Even the elect of every nation who belong to Christ. However, by the grace and mercy of our God the righteousness of Christ who was crucified in our place covers over our manifold sins. And while the vast majority will receive justice - those who belong to Christ will receive mercy instead!
Well what of the worldly wicked who know not our Lord? The Gospels report the words of Jesus, the Son of God in all of their severity to warn us to make certain of our salvation! In our passage in Matthew the furnace of fire is written in the Greek "geenna" or Gehenna in the theology commentaries and topical indices. Now Gehenna, which is normally translated as the fires of hell is a New Covenant reference to one of the valleys near Jerusalem. Originally the Valley of Hinnom was where baby sacrifices were offered to Moloch in the time of Ahaz and Manasseh. During the reforms of Josiah the valley was turned into the garbage dump for the surrounding area.
Thus we might say quite literally that hell in this image is God's final trash dump for all the human refuse who have no regard for Him, His commandments or His only Son!
Today, we have "neat and tidy" landfills where suburban garbage is tucked away out of sight. years ago, there were township dumps where scavengers cleaned up the edible garbage and accidental and purposeful fires consumed what could be burned. In the rural areas some people still burn junk mail, sacks and packaging. Whenever broken branches, moldy grain and last season's garden cleanings are thrown in, you can get a smoldering fire for several days on end. You can smell it forever, it seems. And if you stir it up, deep down inside the coals glow ominously like the real fires of hell. Once, I threw a dead animal into a trash fire. I quickly learned the hard way that they should be buried instead.
I think that Jesus had this Jerusalem dump, which probably smoked for over a thousand years is the proper image He would have us remember. Hell, if it is to fit this image, is not a flash fire, where everything is burnt to a crisp and the ashes are blown away. No indeed, it is a dump fire where the refuse of humanity who will not worship the God of heaven are thrown for all eternity. And just as in those old dumps, rodents and bugs worked in and around the smoldering ruins, so will the broken spiritual remnants of worldly humanity be subjected to eternal punishment.
If you, your family or friends ever have a curiosity to understand what Jesus is talking about, may I suggest that you find one of those metal dumpsters to spend a night! If you aren't brave enough to do that, just open the lid and look in! Let's imagine a brief tour as you may describe it to someone who is worldly enough that they should see a sample of their final home.
Oh, look - someone has tossed in some pampers. There is some moldy food, broken glass, fragments of metal, newspaper and old books. There is a broken plastic doll, some old clothing that hasn't been washed and even the contents of someone's ash tray. While the lid is open, enough air gets in to encourage the fresh ash and a little smoke begins to smolder. Not hot enough to start a fire, but enough to burn slowly for a long time. Near the smoldering fire, some wildlife rustles through the trash. Is it a rat, mouse or only a spider, don't worry - the snake just swallowed it whole! Just as you think you have seen enough a homeless pervert grabs you from behind and throws you in, hoping to share some body fluids with you.
That would be hell you say? Exactly what Jesus means when He uses the word Gehenna. Only the reality is much worse than any example we can imagine. We are reminded in our passage from Mark that those who go down to hell do not die and the fire is not quenched. This is a place to be avoided at all costs. And Jesus tells us in Mark that it is better to enter the Kingdom of Heaven maimed rather than into hell whole. Now, let me give a general caution here. This passage is not to be taken literally. Do not cut off a limb, do not gouge out an eye to seek purification. Symbolically, what Jesus means here is that whatever bad habit or sin you enjoy - it must be put away through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even though we cannot merit salvation by complete obedience to the Ten Commandments, we are certainly encouraged to try! Some years ago, I had a small card on my classroom door which read: "Beware of Calvinist". Most people never paid it any mind. But one student took the trouble to look it up and he told me what he had discovered. A Calvinist, he understood was a person who utterly understood that they were saved only and completely by grace, but then went on to live as if their ordering of life was the means of salvation.
Unfortunately, much of the church misunderstands the true meaning of the Good News. There are many religionists who presume that holiness can be learned and the door to heaven opened by that means. Well do we need to hear the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, (if he is still in your Bible?) He tells us "as it is written in the Old Covenant:
There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God,
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.'"
"Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit",
"The poison of asps is under their lips";
"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness,",
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3: 10-20
Today I would remind you all of the most elementary lesson in the Theology of the revealed wisdom of our God and King through His only Son - our Lord Jesus Christ and applied in our hearts by His Holy Spirit. Again, I quote from Paul:
"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2: 1-10
And that lesson is the necessity of our being saved through the new birth from spiritual death and being destroyed for all of eternity. Well has it been said that the twice born die only once physically, but those who have been born only once do indeed die twice both physically and then spiritually at the end of the age. In our time, far too many organizations which pretend to be churches have lost the sense of this lesson. There are far too many congregations which style themselves as New Testament Churches where only a minimal good news is preached. As a result, the Old Covenant scriptures where the absolute holiness, majesty and authority of our Triune God is taught, is often ignored because our continued failure and even ability to keep any one of the commandments perfectly, condemns us and thus prevents us from standing in the presence of our Holy God.
This we really do not want to hear. So naturally, the bad news that describes the fallen nature of all humanity is glossed over and forgotten. Even the spiritual activity of the Third Person of the Trinity is ignored and our means of salvation is shifted to doing the best that we are able to earn our way into heaven. What a damnable heresy to be heard in any of Christ's Churches, as if any one of us except Christ were capable of perfection! Lets turn to the third chapter of John where Jesus instructs Nicodemus (A teacher of Israel):
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" .
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3: 3 & 5-8
Again from Paul in his letter to the Romans:
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors - not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
Romans 8: 12-17"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." ... "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
Romans 8: 26-30
What more can I say - You and I cannot convince any human being of the truths just explained from Scripture. We must leave the conviction and application of our texts to the great teacher that Jesus left behind when He ascended to glory. May the Holy Spirit contend with your spirit and that of those you love and may He give the means of salvation. Amen.
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Resources Used | |
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Allen, Willoughby. |
The International Critical Commentary:
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Barclay, William. (Not for Theology!) |
Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark. |
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Cole, Alan. |
Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries: |
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Ewing, W. |
"Gehenna", The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. |
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Jeremias, Joachim. |
"geena", Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. |
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Sproul, R.C. et.al. |
"Hell", New Geneva Study Bible. |
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Tasker, R.V.G. |
Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries: |
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The New
Geneva Study Bible (NKJV) | |
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Mrk 09a |
18 April & 08 October 99 |