Seeking God’s Will or Opposing It?

Seeking God's Will or Opposing It?

Please take your Bibles and turn with me to Mark chapter 8. For our scripture reading this morning, we'll begin the reading in verse 31. In verse 31, we read, 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 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 men. And 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 will 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? For 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.

Today is Palm Sunday, and on this first day of the week, we see that Jesus Christ was going into Jerusalem with this understanding. He was going into Jerusalem with this understanding and his heart and mind as he had already taught his disciples that he must suffer many things. He would be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes. I believe Jesus knew prophecy very well, better than any other human being has understood the prophecies. And yet he learns, he learned all of this in a way that we learn it. He was a human being. He didn't just come into this world already having all of the knowledge and the sins as far as a human man, he went through the learning process, and yet without sin, he was tempted in all points, yet without sin. And he came to this understanding very early because he did not sin and disobey the will of the Father.

He came to understand, even at the age of 12, we see that he's understanding, I must be about my Father's business. Do you not know? And yet, part of the Father's business then when the parents came along was for him to be subject to them under their roof. And so he did. And for the time, most of his life, as far as the years, the number of years of his life are not recorded. We have a few things said about him in his early years up to 12 years old. And then after that, we see him when he enters into his public ministry. And for those final three and a half years, certainly the gospel accounts record much of, well, at least what is pertinent for us to know of that ministry that he had in those years.

You'll turn over with me to John 12 for a moment, John 12, verse 12. And John 12 and verse 12, I'd like to read here. It says here, on the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, let's be reminded what that term means. Save us now, save now or please, save us. Hosanna blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon as it is written, fear not daughter of Zion. Behold, the king cometh sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him.

Isn't it something that afterwards they got better clarity of the fact that what Jesus already saw with clarity, that these things must come to pass as it has been prophesied, as the scriptures have foretold. These things must come to pass. And yet we see the crowd crying, Hosanna, save us, O King, save us. Yet in verse 23 of John 12, we'll read this. In verse 23, Jesus answered here in verse number 23, he says this, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Jesus answered them saying, the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

He was not at all distracted by these chants, these cries for them to save them as their king. He knew that even though they didn't understand, and those gathered there that day, would even later on he would pray Father forgive them for they know not what they do. He knew what he must do. He knew what was before him. It was in the heart of the Father from the very beginning that he would be born to die for sins. And yet the human thinking is, well, the way you overcome sin is you fight this great battle, and you just overpower the enemy. Well, there was a great battle that was to be fought, but it was not in the way we typically think of the battle to be fought. The battle was fought and won at the cross. Through weakness, he conquered, becoming the perfect substitute, the perfect sacrifice for sin. Jesus conquered death, hell, and the grave.

We noticed that this crying out, Hosanna, crying out, Hosanna blessed is the king of Israel. Even the disciples did not, yes, they believed on him. But they didn't fully understand yet what was all about to happen. In fact, they said, we're not going to, Peter would say, I'll never forsake thee. And yet in the shock in all of the moments he denied that he knew the Lord, he was afraid. He was afraid. And Jesus had already said that Jesus reminded them that the shepherd is smitten, the sheep will scatter. The sheep will be scattered. And that proved to be true that when the shepherd was smitten, the sheep were scattered.

But in Isaiah 53, we read this morning Psalm 22, we think of passages like Psalm 118, others. But there in Isaiah 53, Jesus was thinking back no doubt in his mind as he spoke these words in our text in verse 31 this morning. And in Mark chapter 8 verse 31 when he began to teach them, what does it say here? He began to teach them that he must, the Son of Man must suffer many things. Well, he's the Son of Man, Daniel speaks of. And he must suffer many things that Isaiah spoke of. He must be, as it says here, rejected of the elders. This was all foretold by Isaiah, wasn't it? And be killed and after three days rise again in Psalm 118. It talks about the leaders would reject the cornerstone. All of this has been foretold. All of this has been prophesied ahead of time and yet there's a lot of messianic prophecy that pertains to the triumphant reign of the king as well. There's a lot of prophecy that not only talks about the suffering of the servant, but the reign of the king. And so all of this sort of was in one conglomeration, if you will, in the mind, well how is he going to suffer and save and also reign as king?

That's why Jesus was teaching them his disciples. I want you to be prepared. This is going to happen. I want you to be prepared. I must be obedient to the death of the cross. I want you to be prepared for this. And yet they were woefully unprepared. They were ill-prepared, not because of the Lord's fault, but because of their own hearts. How many times would he say to them, oh ye, of little faith? Oh ye, of little faith. We've been looking at faith on Sunday morning, on Sundays here for the last couple of weeks and we're looking forward to doing so. But the faith, what did he do? We said he brought that child into the midst and said, become like this little child. The faith of a child. How many times we thought it was he that should save Israel? Well it was he and I am here that's speaking for thee. I'm the one speaking to you. He came to say, but just not in the way that they had imagined it would come to pass.

Jesus did not live for the approval of the religious elite in Jerusalem. The religious, they had created their own religion. They had veered off. They had turned to the right hand, the left hand, from what the scriptures had said. And they had made void those scriptures through their own traditions. They had piled all that he had told all these other things that were added to and even taken away from what God had said in His Word. And Jesus knew that that would be the brick wall, so to speak, that he would run up against. And he did. They sought many times to kill him, but his hour had not yet come. It was only when God the Father's plan, his hour had come that he permitted it to occur. Permitted his death on the cross just in the time of the Father.

Well, John 8:29 tells us that he sent me, he that sent me is with me, Jesus said. He that sent me is with me the Father has not left me alone. For I do always those things that please him. Jesus' one burning desire, consuming desire was, I have come to do the will of the Father. I have come to do the will of the Father. That's going to lead me straight into the gauntlet of death on a cross. At the hands of the religious elites and yet in the plan of the Father, in the plan of the Father it will be accomplished.

One of the great things that Jesus was tempted with in His earthly ministry was will you bow to popular opinion? Will you bow? Will you bow down to popularity? You know, if you just worship me, Satan said, I give you all the kingdoms. He was tempted in all points like we are with pride, with the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. He was tempted with those things and yet without sin, without sin he navigated. He went through those test things saying I must be about my Father's business. I must do the will of him that sent me. I must work while it is day because my hour is coming. My hour is coming when the plan will be finished. It will be over. And I must finish the will of him that sent me. And we know that he did. He said those words, those final words on the cross, it is finished. His entire life, ministry, but also the final, ultimate, obedient sacrifice of His sinless self on our behalf to the glory of the Father. It is finished. He knew this was His Father's will. He knew that it must be accomplished. If we were to be saved, there was no other way for us to be saved. We could not save ourselves through our own good works because they are all those filthy rags in God's sight, our righteousness.

But back in our text in Mark chapter 8, we see in verse 32 that he spoke that saying openly, the saying openly that he must be killed after three days rise again. And what happens here? We see in verse 32 that Peter took him and began to rebuke him. Now we must understand Peter's motive in this. He is thinking, Lord, I love you so much. Do not go to the cross. I don't want you to die. Why do you have to know? No, forbid it, I don't want you to go to the cross and die. You know? You can empathize with this, I guess, as a human being. It is a love that you love someone so much. You don't want to see them die. You want them to live, don't you? And in some ways maybe that is a selfish thing because you want to continue with joy. The fellowship with them, you want to continue with joy. The joys that you have together over a life for children, for parents. And yet there is a time appointed for all of us an hour that we must go that we must face death. And Jesus' hour was a unique one. It was unique in the sense that he willingly, he was not trying to save his life. He was trying to lay it, he was laying it down for us. He was laying his life down for us.

So he goes into this, but Peter doesn't quite understand. Why, hope, but why? And so no more, don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. But when Jesus turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, verse 33. He rebukes him. Now, don't mistake this as he's hating Peter. This is not. He loves Peter very much. Obviously, he said unto him, get thee behind me Satan. And we know that the term in the Greek satanas for Satan is the word literally. He's an adversary. He says, you're becoming in your arms to me, an adversary to me accomplishing God's will. The Father's will, you're a stumbling block. You're in my way. As much as I love you, Peter, I must rebuke you for the things that you are telling me because I am going to do the will of my Father. I'm going to do it.

And so what do we see here in verse 34? He says, but when they call 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? Well, Jesus is teaching them. This is not only a cross for me, but it's a cross for you. Just because I have to die doesn't mean I leave you comfortless as he would say in another passage of scripture. I'm with you always, but that with you always includes the fellowship of suffering. It includes, if we believe in his name, we must also suffer for his namesake. We must also be willing to take whatever misunderstandings, accusations, insults, railings, reviling might come for the sake of believing on him because he is. Jesus Christ is the dividing line of hearts. He is the, I don't know a better way to say that he's polarizing. Because hearts will either accept him or reject him.

And we notice here that he says, you must take up your cross. You must deny yourself, he that will come after me, whosoever will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life. What does that mean? To save your life. Well, basically it includes a lot of, well, living for the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. I want to make a name for myself. I want to gain a lot of things for myself. I want people to respect me. And at the end of the day, what am I worshiping? I'm worshiping the God of my own emotions, the God of my own image and status. I'm worshiping something else other than God's saving grace through Jesus Christ. And the only net faith must be in truth. My faith has got to have that which is solid to rest upon and it must have the truth to rest upon. And the one who is the truth is Jesus Christ. He told us the truth about ourselves. He told us the truth about our past, about our future. He does not lie to us. He tells us who we are and what we can experience if we simply deny ourselves and follow him.

He talks about here in verse number 34. Well, go back to verse 33 for just a moment. He said, Jesus said to Peter. He makes this statement. Now, savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. What he's telling Peter is, you're loving the human things more than the eternal things. We all love family. I love food. I love gardens. I love, you know, watching the sun come up in the morning. I like a lot of things about life. It's great to be alive, isn't it? It's wonderful. But we must not love anything in this world more than the one who made it all possible. The one who died to redeem us after we through Adam had sinned, that dissipated. We had turned, as Isaiah said, every one of us to go to our own way. We have gone and made sort of a worship of our own path, so to speak. Redevan, the path of the one that created us and loves us. We have exalted our own sort of idols, if you will, over the creator of all things. And we've exalted the creature, the creation over the Creator.

Now, Jesus says here that you're savoring and what you're saying to me, I hear in those words that you love this earthly life more than the eternal one. You love this earthly life. There's nothing wrong with loving life. Solomon talks about, you know, rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Just enjoy the things that God has given us, but remember, there's going to come an end to all of these temporal things. They must pass away. Remember thy Creator, He told the young people in the days of thy youth. Remember your Creator. Love Him. Serve Him. Fear Him. He says, fear God and keep His commands. This is the conclusion of the whole matter.

Well, Jesus goes on here. He says, you're savoring not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. So let's jump through it again to verse 35, Whosoever will save His life. In other words, He lives for. Paul will talk about those that serve their belly. That's their God. They serve temporal things. That's what they live for. That's what the man who tore down his barns and built bigger ones. There's nothing wrong with having some food storage, but that's not to be your God. Trust God. He can take it all away in a moment as He did with Job. Be diligent like the ant. Trust God. Don't trust your preparations and your provisions in your store. Trust that God will provide. And when you make a God out of even legitimate things, we might say, and that becomes your God and you worship it. And that's your security. We better listen if God begins to rebuke us and say, you're an adversary to what my plan is for you. Listen up. Listen up.

Well, what shall it profit a man in verse 36? What is it going to profit a man if he will gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? You know, they knew that Jesus had come to save them. The disciples did from their sins, but the crowds expected a political savior. They expected someone who had emancipated them from Rome. And yet it would only be after Jesus' crucifixion, burial, resurrection that they would understand it. And especially after Pentecost, they would see it with clarity. He came not to reign as king, as some sort of earthly king right now. He came to die for sin. He came to save us from our sinful selves, our only shame that we might live for him and take our cross and follow him. One day he will return. The same Jesus will come back.

But we must not live. We must not live for physical health, first of all. Heal my body. That's what the crowds wanted. They got excited when Jesus healed their bodies. They got excited when Jesus fed their stomachs. They got excited when he spoke. They wanted peace and safety. They even took him one time and would make him king, or they were going to go and take him and make him their king. And he fled out from their midst. He abandoned them. That's not what he had come to do. I've come to call sinners to repentance is what he said. I have come to seek and save that which was lost. Trust the Lord with the faith of a little child. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And all the things we have a lot of needs, as you have children, you have a lot of needs in your house or you have to feed people, right? You've got to provide money. You've got to provide food. You've got to do a lot of things. You get older in life and you get a lot of medical bills and you get more physical needs. And we're going to have enough money to take care of all these things as I get older.

What we're going to observe this morning is all about as Christians, but when again believers is our heart in the posture of Peter's Lord? No, no, no, no, I want to preserve this. I want to preserve that. Or is it in the posture of Lord whatever your will is? That's my will. Take my life and let it be. I will gladly give up anything that will keep me from seeking first your kingdom and righteousness. I trust that all other things will be added unto me. I am not living in anxious fear and worry or living for the favor of men. I'm living with the consciousness. Lord, you'll provide for all of our needs. We're going to put you first. We're going to seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness. We seek first the kingdom of God as we partake of this Lord's supper. May we do it worthily today. May we do it with clean conscience, pure conscience, childlike faith, knowing that whatever the future may hold, God is in control of him. When we are in that posture of childlike faith toward him, all sin under the blood, there is greater reality, no greater place to be in our lives. May we not in anything we're thinking in our minds, anything we're saying with our mouths, anything we're doing at this time, may there not be anything that comes between us and the Lord that we would put ahead of him and make an idol out of it and say, this comes before God, not. May the Lord have first place.

Let's bring our Heavenly Father as we draw to a conclusion, Lord, there is more that we surely could say about these things, but we want to come to the Lord's table now and partake of this symbol, these symbols of the body and blood of our Lord. There is no saving power in the bread and the juice, Lord, but it is an outward testimony we are making together as a body of believers that we're going to proclaim our Lord's death till he comes, and that all is well between our soul and the Savior. There is nothing that is more important to us, nothing that thrills our soul more than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our peace even when there is fear and worry that surrounds us, we're trusting you. As we partake of this Lord's supper this morning, we are in our hearts proclaiming that He is the truth. There is no other one that has told us truth, unmixed with error, Lord, than our Lord and Savior has done. He is the truth that we need for our hearts. We thank you, Lord, that we can have a good conscience as we come this morning up your heart, that is such a friend to our faith, the good conscience, faith and a good conscience. Help us to keep those things straight, Lord, in our lives. May we not put anything else ahead of faith and the good conscience as we live day by day. Before we come before you one day and we'll give an account of our stewardship, how we have handled these matters. And Lord, we just pray your blessing upon these moments as we conclude. In Jesus' name we ask, Amen.