The Rewards of Discipleship

Introduction: Context and Overview of Mark 10

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, May 31st, 1987, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Now let us turn together to the 10th chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark chapter 10.

0:27 And I shall read in your hearing, as I have done for the past two Lord's Days, this entire section. Though we are concentrating on the last segment of it, it is all of one fabric. And looking out and seeing some who are with us today who are not with us for the exposition of the previous sections, at least the reading of those sections will, I trust, help you to feel the pressure of the context as we come to the last section. Mark 10, verse 17.

1:02 And I shall conclude the reading. Starting at verse 31.

1:07 Writing with respect to the activity of our Lord, Mark tells us, And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? None is good save one, even God. You know.

1:35 You know the commandments. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.

1:42 Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and your mother. And he said unto him, Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth.

1:57 And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him. And said unto him, One thing you are lacking. Go. Sell whatsoever you have, and give to the poor.

2:10 And you shall have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.

2:18 But his countenance fell at the same. And he went away sorrowful. For he was one that had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they, They that have riches, enter into the kingdom of God.

2:42 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answers again, and said unto them, Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished, exceedingly, saying unto him, Who then can be saved?

3:17 Jesus, looking upon them, says, With men it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed you. Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake and for the gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life. But, many that are first shall be last, and the last first.

4:22 Now it is evident to any thoughtful reader of the portion read in your hearing that there are three basic units of thought in the section which I have read in your hearing. Verses 17 to 22 contain the account of our Lord's dealings with the rich young man. An account which ends with the heart-breaking description of this man who came seeking Christ with the most important concern upon his mind under heaven, the concern of eternal life. The paragraph closes with the tragic account of him leaving Christ, leaving the life that was offered in order to cling to his God of money. He went away sorrowful, for he was one that had great possessions. Then in the next major section, verses 23 to 27, we have a description of Jesus' subsequent dialogue with the disciples. A dialogue in which our Lord underscores, on the one hand, the peril of riches, and yet on the other hand, the possibility of salvation for all,

5:45 even for a rich man whose entrance into the kingdom is as unlikely as forcing a camel through the eye of a needle, and yet even that is not impossible with God. Now these two units in this section have been expounded and applied, and we come this morning to the third unit of thought, verses 28 to 31, in which we have what I have chosen to call, our Lord's teaching on the rewards of sacrifice and the surprises of grace. The rewards of sacrifice and the surprises of grace. Now as we come to consider these verses, let me urge upon you to make every effort to try to approach them feeling upon your mind and upon your spirit, yes, upon your very emotions, the flow of thought that is funneled into these verses from the preceding sections. The disciples have beheld the young rich man walking away, most likely with stooped shoulders joined to his sad countenance. They have seen the spectacle of a man walking away from him in whom alone there is life, to try to suck some conscience,

The Exclamation and Question of Peter (Mark 10:28)

7:15 isolation from his shackles. And then they have been shattered twice, Mark tells us, that they are amazed and they are exceedingly astonished as Jesus comments upon the sad spectacle of the rich man walking away with his riches and says how hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of God. And then they become more exceedingly astonished when our Lord uses that graphic, even somewhat grotesque illustration of verse 25 and yet closes on this wonderfully encouraging note that though this is impossible with men, the salvation of any soul, how much more one who has the peculiar encumbrances of riches, what is impossible with men is possible with God. Now then, that brings us to verses 28, to 31, this final unit, which begins with what I'm calling the exclamation and question of Peter. Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed you. And in the parallel passage in Matthew 19, there is this very significant addition.

8:40 Matthew 19 and verse 27, then answered, Peter, and said unto him, Lo, we have left all and followed you. What then shall we have? And so I have entitled the first heading of our study this morning the exclamation and question of Peter. Now as is so often the case in the Gospels, Peter took upon himself to be the spokesman of the twelve.

9:13 And Mark tells us, and this is one of Mark's distinctive literary strokes, that Peter began to say to our Lord. Verse 28, Then began Peter to say unto him. Now this indicates either a transition into a new area of thought, it may be Mark's way of apprising us, that a new or an additional avenue, you have thought is about to be opened up, or it may suggest that Peter was only beginning to make what he hoped would be a much longer speech and commentary, only to be cut off by the answer of our Lord. But whatever sense in which Mark uses the word began, it is clear that what Peter did was to make an exclamation, and also to raise a question. Now look at his exclamation, or his sudden outcry. Peter began to say unto him, Behold!

10:29 Lo! As though he made a discovery, and now he wants the Lord to be privy to his discovery. He's been following this interaction between the Lord and the rich man. He's heard the Lord say, If you will go, sell all that you have, give to the poor, come, follow, you will have treasure in heaven.

10:53 And after coming back to some measure of mental composure, after being shattered to the point of amazement and exceeding astonishment, as we saw in our study last week, Peter begins to put two and two together, and he says, Wait a minute. Our Lord said to that man, If he would go, sell whatever he built, possess, give to the poor, come and follow him, he would have treasure in heaven.

11:24 Lo! Exactly what we've done. Lo, Lord! In our situation, we, and in the original the emphasis falls upon we, even we, in contrast to him, we have left all, and are in, of being followers of you.

11:48 Lord, we have done what you asked. Now granted, Peter and these others had no, riches, with the possible exception of Matthew as a publican. He may have been a relatively wealthy man, and there are some indications that he did have some wealth. He had a large banquet hall, into which he invited the Lord and many others after his conversion.

12:15 But by and large, when we read the account of the calling of the twelve, they are not notorious for their wealth. As someone said, all Peter, James, and Andrew, and John left, was a bunch of fishing nets, rotting fishing nets, and probably some old boats hung together with bubblegum. But be that as it may, whatever a man possesses as his livelihood, in a sense, those things are his riches. They may not be great in the world's estimation, but holy fishing nets, not H-O-L-Y, but those with holes in them, and rickety old boats, if that's all that Peter possessed, he did, indeed, forsake all to follow Christ.

13:00 Mark gives us the very record of that in the first chapter of his gospel. And so it suddenly dawns upon Peter and the others, and Peter, speaking as their spokesman, makes this exclamation, Behold, we have once for all forsaken all, and we stand, we're in the post following you. And after the exclamation, he then raises the question recorded by Matthew, What? Then shall we have?

13:31 We never remember you giving us the kind of promise you gave to that man who just a few minutes ago walked away with sad countenance and stooped shoulders. Lord, we never remember you saying to us as you did to him, if he would forsake all and follow you, he would have treasure in heaven. We have done that. We are following you.

13:56 What then shall lay behind Peter's asking that? Well, I'd like to know.

14:09 But I don't know. It's sort of like Pevee is saying, Do you know why we wear a skull cap? He said, I don't know. I don't know.

14:17 And it's at this point that the interpreter and the expositor must be very, very careful reading things in that he has no warrant to read in. Some have suggested that maybe Peter is here expressing his fuzzy thinking about how human works have some virtue, and he's, you know, making an honest inquiry. Lord, we've done all of that. Shall we have to based upon the fact that we have forsaken all to follow you?

14:47 Others suggest, no. It may simply be the longing for an affirmation from the lips of the Lord, asking for an added word of assurance that they are indeed his own, and they shall have the treasure that was promised to that man if he would repent and believe, and that there was no mercenary spirit in Peter's question at all. Well, judging from the way our Lord responds, when Peter needed to be rebuked because Peter was so quick to speak, the Lord was more quick to rebuke him than others. In one point he called him Satan.

15:24 Get thee behind me, Satan. When Peter said, Lord, far be it from you to go the way of the cross, he said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. And you remember earlier when they were disputing one with another, who's going to be number one in the kingdom and who's going to be hot shot? The Lord was not beneath rebuking his own.

15:44 But here his response is all gracious. And therefore I have to assume that our Lord either overlooked the defective thinking that lay behind the question and was woven through the texture of the question, or he saw in that question an honest, straightforward, desire for an affirmation that they were indeed the possessors of the kingdom. And he responds with a response that is all gracious. So then we see, first of all, in the passage, the exclamation and question of Peter.

The Peculiar Solemnity of Christ's Response (Mark 10:29)

16:24 Now then, secondly, verses 29 to 31, we have the response of our Lord. After Peter exclaims, Behold, we have...

16:35 have left all and are following you. What then shall we have? The response of our Lord comes, and it has four major elements in it. First of all, notice its peculiar solemnity.

16:51 Verse 29. Jesus said, Verily unto you. Now this word rendered verily in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, almost always in John. Verily, verily.

17:09 The double verily. Verily is our word, amen. And when it is used by our Lord, if you'll take a concordance and look up the word amen, or translate it verily in the older translations, and look up every saying introduced by the word verily, or verily, verily, you will find without exception, it was all by our Lord to...

17:39 by way of affirmation or confirmation, a peculiarly solemn truth. Our Lord never used it as kind of verbal filler. He used it deliberately to say, in essence, if you ever listen to any of my words, listen to what I now am about to say. Whenever you have the word verily, you have incarnate truth as the one who is the...

18:19 to speak of... you must not lose sight of.

18:27 So when you have vision underlining inspired words, you better pay attention. That's the point. It's not man arbitrarily saying, these words of Jesus are more important, I think I'll underline those, and these are less important. It is Jesus himself taking the highlighter and underlining his own words.

18:51 And so whatever is to follow in the response of Jesus comes with pixelinity. This is why Hendrickson universally, in his own translation that he gives in his commentary, renders it, I solemnly...

19:11 and that of the impact of this word, man or verily, I declare... Now then notice, secondly, in the response of our Lord, not only its peculiar solemnity, but the people envisioned in his response.

The People Envisioned in Christ's Response: What They Left and Why (Mark 10:29)

19:34 At the left, house or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for my sake, and for the gospel's sake. Who are the people envisioned in this description? Well, Mark omits what Matthew includes as a firm response that had unique application to the twelve. It has to do with sitting upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, in the regeneration.

20:18 And at this point, I'm glad I'm not preaching through Matthew, because it would be a rather lengthy thing to open up the significance of those words. But since I'm not expounding Matthew, but Mark, I can pass over then. And what Mark does, is he records by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the words that do not have peculiar application to the twelve, but have general application to all the things that are in the gospel. All is, and all over you have anyone who fits the description of verse 29.

20:55 Notice the people envisioned. Who are they? Three questions we ask of the text.

21:03 What have they left? Look at the text. There is no man that hath left brethren, sisters, mother, father, children, or possession. We find the passage begins with house and ends with lands, and in between you have relations, brothers, sister, mother, children.

21:33 And in Luke 18.29, you have an undisputed reference to wife. The reference to wife in Matthew is a textual problem. It's not found here at all.

21:44 So who is our Lord envisioning in this passage? He's envisioning people in all ages and in all circumstances, wherever the message of Christ and His gospel goes, who have left, both in what sense have they left? Well, in two senses. They have left them in terms of an idolatrous attachment to them.

22:18 Every single person of Christ in every single age of the Christian church, as in every single person in becoming a disciple, relinquished all his relations. How do we know that? We know that from Luke chapter 14 verses 25 and following. Luke 14.25-26.

22:47 If you have never been brought to the place where there has been a fundamental leaving of possessions and of relations in terms of an idolatrous attachment to them, you have never become a true disciple of Christ. Because He tells us He recognizes none as His disciples but those who have come to that kind of leaving. Now there went with Him great multitudes, and He turned and said, unto them, If any man comes to Me, and hates his own father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot disciple, not relinquish idolatrous attachment to his relations, cannot be My disciple. Why? He has not opened his heart to receive Me as God. Religious love and confidence.

23:55 And He goes on further in this 14th chapter to say, verse 33, Therefore, whosoever he be of you that renounces not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple. That takes in your possessions. So I'm envisioning a people who have left possessions and relations. And in what sense have they left them?

24:24 In every case, they have left them in terms of an idolatrous attachment to them. If they had not, they'd never become His disciple. They are not Christians. Matthew 10, 34 and following is an additional commentary upon this.

24:41 However, in some cases, this leaving resulted in an actual forsaking of one or more in the realm of possessions or of relations. You see, in the case of the rich young ruler, what Jesus demanded was a heart forsaking of the idolatrous attachment to things and possessions. Which, in his case, could not be realized without a literal forsaking of them. But not in all cases.

25:18 Is the literal, actual giving up of the title to lands and home essential? Nor does it come in the will of God, the actual severance of relations so deep and intimate as father and children, children and parents, husband and wife. But in some cases, it is not. But in some cases, it is not.

25:38 But in some cases, it actually results in this actual departure from people and from things. That's what it meant for the disciples. It says they left their relationships when Jesus said, come, follow me. In the days of His flesh, that literally meant attach yourself to me and wherever I go and your projected career, all of that be abandoned.

26:12 Now that's the second question. Who is our Lord? Who is our Lord envisioning? Well, we've looked now of what they've left, possessions, relations.

26:24 In what sense they've left them now. This is crucial. For what reason have they left them? For what reason are they left?

26:32 Look at the text. There is no man that has left these various possessions and relations for my name. In Matthew's Gospel, all you have is for my name's sake. For the kingdom of God.

27:00 Here in Mark, you have the fullest expression. He says people have left possessions and relations. Inwardly, all of them in principle have left an idolatrous attachment to them. Some of them have actually been called upon to sever contact and ties.

27:23 But it's done for my and for the sake of the Gospel. Now what does that mean? Well, it means either. They have done so in conjunction with the provisions and demands of Christ in the Gospel.

27:46 And so in order as He's presented in the Gospel. They have inwardly forsaken every idolatrous attachment to people and things. And they've done so for sake of Christ who alone can save sinners. And who demands the sinner's heart.

28:08 They have forsaken these for His and for the Gospels. Or it could mean that for His sake. That is, in order to be attached to His person. And having been attached to His person.

28:28 They now want others to come to the knowledge of Him. And for the sake of the proclamation of the good news about Him and His salvation. For the sake of the Gospel and its propagation. But in either case, this much is clear according to Mark's language.

28:51 It is clear that in Mark's language. The reason for which they have left possessions and relation. Has to do with the person of Christ and the Gospel of Christ. And I lean to the interpretation.

29:12 It gives it the wide possible application. In every age of the Christian Church. Down to the last soul who will be united to Christ. Before His return in glory and power.

29:26 That here our Lord is showing. That there is no such thing as true attachment to His person. Apart from the context of the Gospel. And there is no true saving response to the Gospel.

29:40 If it does not result. In our being attached to His person. As someone has said without Him. The Gospel would be nothing.

The Gospel as the Locket for Christ's Person

29:49 And without the Gospel. We would know nothing of Him. Let me try to illustrate it this way. And here I date myself.

29:59 But a little bit of ancient history won't hurt some of you. When I was a young man. One of the ways. That a couple would often show a very serious commitment to one another.

30:10 Is that the young man. Would not. Only give. The young woman maybe his class ring.

30:16 And she would take a neutral gold chain. And stick it through a ring. And wear it around her neck. And if you saw a girl with a class ring.

30:24 That was a sign of sort of pre-engagement. But someone who had a little more means. And a little more class. Might go out and purchase.

30:34 His young lady friend. A locket. Often shaped. In the shape of a heart.

30:40 And in that locket. He would put. A picture of himself. So his person would be enclosed in the locket.

30:49 And then the locket had a cover. And a clasp. And would be closed. All you would see.

30:54 Would be the chain. And then the gold shaped locket. But of course. If she wanted to show off her bow.

31:01 She would flip open her locket. And let you see. The person. Whom she was treasuring near her heart.

31:09 So the locket was a means. To hold the picture of the treasured one. You see the empty locket. Was sending out a false signal.

31:20 Any woman who wore a locket. With no picture of a man in there. She was sending out the signal. There's someone who's given his heart to me.

31:27 And whom I treasure in my heart. That was a lie. If you opened the locket. It was blank.

31:31 She was speaking a lie. By wearing that locket. But she wasn't about to just take some crazy glue. And stick a picture of her boyfriend.

31:38 Here in the middle of her chest. The locket carried it. Now you say. What's the point of the illustration.

31:45 Just this. According to the structure of Mark's language. The gospel is the locket. In which the person of Christ.

31:54 Is treasured. And contained. No one will know Christ. In any other context.

32:02 But in the locket of the gospel. It is in the gospel. That Jesus Christ is set before sinful men. We do not have dealings with Christ.

32:13 In terms of any aspect. Of his own inherent glory and power. As the eternal word become flesh. We have to do with him.

32:25 In terms of the gospel. The message of God. The sinful man. That he so loved the world.

32:33 That he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believes in him. Should not perish. But have everlasting life.

32:42 And that gospel contains. Those propositional truths. That Christ died. The just for the unjust.

32:49 He died for sinners. He was buried. He was raised again. From the dead on the third day.

32:56 And it is the gospel. Which is the power of God unto salvation. But you see. At the heart of the gospel.

33:05 Is the savior himself. And in the gospel. It is not the propositions. That are offered to us.

33:12 As the object of our faith. It is Christ himself. Who is offered as the object of our faith. We are to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

33:23 As many as received him. Him that cometh unto me. Come unto me. And are heavy laden.

33:32 So you cannot separate. In biblical terminology. The gospel. And the person of Christ.

33:38 And here our Lord. In the people envisioned. In this response. He describes them as those.

33:47 Who for the heart. Have relinquished all. To possessions. For him to the gospels.

34:00 Now to bring it home. To the theater of your own conscience. Let me ask you very simply. Is in terms of what we know of him.

34:11 In the gospel. In your heart. There are some who say. Look I don't want any propositions.

34:21 About God being holy. And the law being broken. And sin deserving wrath. And Christ is the God man.

34:28 Coming through the virgin's womb. Living under the law. Dying under the curse. Being buried.

34:34 Being raised. Wait a minute my friend. There's no way to have that person. But in the locket of the propositions.

34:44 Of the gospel. That's why Paul says. If anyone tampers with the shape of the locket. Let him be accursed.

34:51 Ephesians 1.8 and 9. Anyone tampers with that divine. Locket of the gospel.

35:00 Let him be daily conveyed. In the propositions of the gospel. But there are many who say. Oh yeah.

35:10 Gospels. Gospel. I believe that. Believed it all my life.

35:14 What's the big deal. Do you love Christ. Do you know Christ. Do you treasure Christ.

35:19 In your heart. Rattle off the propositions. Of the gospel. But they know nothing.

35:23 Of attachment. To the person of Christ. You must not separate. What God has joined.

35:34 Here in the text. It is clear. Do you see it. There is no man.

35:38 That has the power. Of the Holy Spirit. But there is no man. That has the power.

35:42 Of the Holy Spirit. But there is no man. That has the power. Of the Holy Spirit.

35:46 But there is no man. That has the power. Of the Holy Spirit. But there is no man.

35:50 That has the power. Of the Holy Spirit. But there is no man. That has the power.

35:56 There is no man. That hath left power. And brethren. Oh sisters.

36:05 No mother. No father. For my. And for.

36:10 The gospels. With the solemnity of the statement. The people envisioned. Now look at.

The Promise Issued: Present and Future Rewards (Mark 10:30)

36:16 The promise issued. In verse thirty. Look at the promise issued. For all.

36:20 Who fit. That description. Inwardly. They have relinquished.

36:24 All idolatrous. gospel. Look at the promise, verse 30. But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life. Now you'll notice that the promise focuses upon two time periods. Do you see that? Now to come. Now this terminology that splits up all of human history into what we would say time, eternity. That may not be the most accurate, but that's terminology

37:15 we use. Jesus used it in Matthew 12, 32, when he was speaking of the unpardonable sin that shall find no forgiveness now, nor to come. We find the terminology in Ephesians 1, 21, Christ is exalted, head over all things pertaining to this present age of that which is to come. And 1 Timothy 4 and verse 8, godliness has promise concerning this life, this age, and that which is to come. So let's look at the promise in the two categories in which Jesus gives it. What's the promise for the present age? He says, I promise you two things. Anyone who fits that description, who has forsaken possessions and relations for my sake in the gospels, here's the promise for the present age. A superabundant compensation of the very

38:19 things left for Christ's sake in the gospel. Do you see that? He shall receive a hundredfold brethren, sisters, mothers, and children, and lands. Now the word hundredfold, is a definite for an indefinite. Those of you who were in Sunday school will remember that Mr. Dixon prayed, Lord, a thousand and one things enter our minds. Some of you remember him using that? That's a very definite figure, not a thousand, but a thousand and one. Now did any of you come up to him later and say, now Mr. Dixon, I have a problem. I couldn't say amen to your prayer. Because really, did you keep a notebook and this past week, every time you thought a thought concerning this world and this present life and these responsibilities, and this morning, just as you entered, take out a calculator and total them all up and it came to a thousand and one? Did any of you come to him and say that? Of course not. You knew he was using the

39:19 figure of speech, in which he took a very definite number, not a thousand, but a thousand and one, that definite number to represent what? An indefinite number, but certainly a large amount. When he said, Lord, a thousand and one things crowd in upon our minds, you know exactly what his figure of speech meant. He said, Lord, a thousand and one things crowd in upon our minds, you know exactly what his figure of speech meant. Now that's what Jesus did here. He said, here is the promise to everyone in any possessions and relations for my sake in the gospel, in this age he shall have a superabundant compensation of the very things left for the sake of Christ and for the gospel. Now what does that mean? Well, it means that every single believer, every true disciple, does in principle, has promise fulfilled on his behalf without exception. Without exception, yes. How can that be?

40:25 For this simple reason, that the moment you are attached to Jesus Christ, you become part of the family. Remember in chapter 3, some of you way back to chapter 3, when he said, who are my mother and my brethren? And he pointed to those who were hearing and obeying his word. He said, here is my family.

40:46 Well, the moment we are joined to Christ, we are brought into his family. Now follow closely. And if it's me of those who have relinquished from the heart, meant to people things, all their possessions and relations now exist for whose sake? For Christ's sake and the gospels. Well, if they exist for Christ's sake, they exist for the sake of all who are Christ's. So the moment I come into the fire, I will take my bulletin that is put out by one of the missionary organizations concerned. to convey information about Russian Christians who are in prison for the sake of Christ. And I were to read the name of a credited Christian man who has spent the last seven years in prison,

41:56 who has literally been forced to forsake wife and houses and lands and children for the sake of Christ and the gospel. As I were to tell you, we've received a bulletin that this man has been released. He's coming out of Russia, but he has no home in which to go to get established, but he has some relative in this area. How many of you would be willing to open your home?

42:20 I think hands would go up all over the place. Why? Because sitting there right now, though you never heard of him or know of him, you have a secret line of credit that is made over to every fellow believer throughout the whole earth. So that if anything you and love and assist can meet the need of a brother or sister in principle, you've already put their name, next to the line of credit, and it's yours.

42:51 And if providence puts you in the place where you need to make a withdrawal, it becomes evident that the line of credit was there all the time. And some of us have proven this in our experience. We go to strange countries and people we've never seen and they open their homes to us. They become our brothers.

43:10 Some of them old enough, they mother us to death and they care for us and they brother and sister death and they house and land us to death. What? Why?

43:21 Because in their hearts. You see that? And so this does have a literal fulfillment for everyone in terms of principle.

43:39 Mother, mother, land, Moses for my sake in the gospel, but shall abundant compensation of the very things left for Christ. Listen to old Bishop Ryle who's caught the heart of this promise. There are few wider promises than this in the word of God. There is none.

44:05 And certainly in the New Testament which holds out such encouragement for the life that now is. Let everyone who is faint-hearted in Christ's service look at this promise. Let all who are doing hardness and tribulation for Christ's sake study the promise well and drink out of it comfort. To all who make sacrifices on account of the gospel Jesus promises a hundredfold now in this.

44:33 They shall have, find in the communion of saints new friends, new relations, new companions, more loving, faithful, and valuable than any they had before their conversion. Their introduction into the family of God shall be an abundant recompense for exclusion from the society of this world. This may sound startling and incredible to many ears, but thousands have found by experience that it is true. How blessedly true is this promise.

45:10 Notice Jesus says, Notions or relations for my sake in the gospel hundredfold now. Receive that in the pledge and promise of Christ. And it's only a matter of how much of it God allows you to tap in your experience according to his own providence and his own perfect plan. But there's a second thing promised for this age.

45:51 Do you see that? And only Mark adds, he adds this stroke in our Lord's promise. He says, We, in other words, the opposition of the ungodly, which is promised as an inevitable accompaniment of discipleship. Lenski renders it this way and makes this comment, in company with persecutions.

46:22 These persecutions are really the butter on the bread. For by then we are more strongly assured that we are God's children, than by the other blessings he sends us. Persecutions alone are able to lift us up into the company of the prophets to share in their high reward. Matthew 5, Rejoice when all men speak evil of you.

46:49 Why? For so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. He says, Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. And so, our Lord, our Lord promises in this life, not only this superabundant compensation of the very things we've relinquished for his sake in the Gospels, but he promises persecution and opposition from the world as an accompaniment of the very blessings he brings.

47:21 Why? Well, there are many reasons, not the least of which, if only he had promised, or if he had promised only a hundredfold of houses and brothers and sisters and lands, we might begin to think that we were something other than strangers and sojourners. But the Lord is determined ever to keep us conscious, as Peter says, that we are strangers and sojourners. We have here no abiding place.

47:52 We of Pitta make our way to the celestial city. And so our Lord says, As surely as you have as his promise superabundant possessions, in kind of the very things relinquished for his sake in the Gospels, you shall have them with persecutions, if you are a true disciple. Now, you see, that cuts at the heart of the abuse that the health, wealth, and prosperity people might make of this text. It's with persecutions.

48:26 Why? Because as a true disciple, whose heart will not touch men, to holy man, a holy woman, with a heavenly perspective, and your very life will be, and your very life is a rebuke to an ungodly, earthbound, sensual world. And therefore all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But then he says there's also a promise for the age to come.

The Principle Announced: Surprises of Grace (Mark 10:31)

48:59 You see the second category? And in the age to come, eternal life. That is the full blessedness of the life provided by God in redemptive grace, a perfected spirit, from which every last stain and taint of sin has been removed, a glorified body, body and spirit joined in their glorified state, in the new heavens, in the new earth, in the presence of God and of the Lamb, and all that is redeemed. And I must restrain myself here from even quoting those sections out of the book of the Revelation, in which the wonderful picture of that eternal state is set before us. Now that's the promise of our Lord. Now having looked at his response in terms of its peculiar solemnity, the people envisioned the promise given. Very briefly now, the principle announced in verse 31, the principle announced in verse 31, but many that are first shall be last, and the last, in the light of Pastor Bob's lesson of the previous hour, if you have the old 1901, you'll notice the words that are, are put in italics, to show that they are supplied, to make it smooth English.

50:25 A literal word-for-word rendering from the Greek makes very little sense, but many first, or many shall be, first and last. What does the Lord say? Well, if you look up this saying, you'll find it's used in at least two other contexts, and in each case, there's a different point of emphasis, and so it's a very difficult knot for the interpreter to untie. In one setting, our Lord is clearly emphasizing that the last may mean totally excluded from the kingdom, Luke chapter 13.

51:05 In the parallel passage in Matthew 19, Jesus follows with the parable of the workmen and the wages, in which the emphasis is upon the surprises of grace. The man who went out to work at the last hour received the same wages as the man who bore the heat of the day. God is underscoring when he repeats that, the first shall be last and the last first, that in the economy of grace, though there is reward for sacrifice, we must not think in terms of purely mercenary terms. Grace pervades the whole of God's economy of dealing with sinners, and I believe that principle is at least announced here and probably should be understood in terms of the passage of the parable that follows in Matthew chapter 20, in which there will indeed be surprises. We must not think that we can perfectly assess those who have truly inwardly forsaken houses, lands, mother, father, for Christ's sake in the Gospel, for standing there that day when Peter said, Lord behold, we've left all and we have followed you, but in his heart

52:31 he was still wedded to his money. He was a thief! He was a cop! And when the circumstances were ripe, he would betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

52:43 But the others didn't know it right up to the eve of the betrayal. When Jesus said, one of you shall betray me, they didn't all turn and say, aha, I bet it's Judas. They said, Lord, is it I? It could be that the Lord is saying, look, here's the promise.

52:58 No one, no one has left house or brethren or sisters, mother, father, for my sake in the Gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold now and in the age to come eternal life. But Judas was coming up into first rank. He had special responsibility. He was treasurer of that little itinerant band.

53:18 Many that are first shall be last, and there last would mean utterly excluded from the kingdom. It could mean that the surprises of grace and those who were last, those who did not seem to have forsaken, those whom providence bound perhaps to their nets and to their boats, who did not seem to have been willing to make the same sacrifice that Peter and others made. What shall we have, the Lord says, if you have indeed forsaken for my sake in the Gospels? You shall have your due reward now and in the world to come.

53:55 But there will be great surprises of grace. Many first shall be last, and many last first. Don't be smug and self-congratulating. My disciples, don't be presumptuous in assessing what you think is reality in others.

54:14 God alone knows the human heart. And in the final day, the day when the householder comes to make rewards to his servants, there will be surprises of grace. Well, that's the basic content of the passage, and as we close this morning, let me seek to highlight very quickly what does all of this say to us. It's not been the easiest passage to expound, but I've sought to open it up as I have looked to God for help and grace in the exposition.

Abiding Message: God's Largeness, Christ's Honesty, and Incentives for the Unconverted

54:50 What is its message to us? What does it say to you? And what does it say to me as we sit here this morning in this building? What is the abiding message of this portion of the Word?

55:02 Well, first of all, surely it calls us to consider the largeness of God's heart revealed in the blessings promised to all true disciples. As I've pondered these words, no man hath left, but he shall receive a hundredfold. I had to say, Lord, your heart is large, your hand is prodigal in the gifts it confers upon your own. Lord, what is possible has become actual with us.

55:41 We've left all and become attached to you. And though Peter may have asked out of a mercenary spirit, the Lord lets him know that grace provides richly and lavishly and with prodigality. 1 Timothy 4.8 Godliness has promise of the life which now is and of the life which is to come.

56:06 And in the dynamics of grace as we have seen all houses and lands of all of the people are mine. All that is sacred in family relationships are mine. And after all of them, the consummate glory and bliss of eternal life. Surely, dear people, we have to think of a verse like Romans 8.32.

56:33 He that spared not his own son, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? Consider the largeness of God's heart to us. And then secondly, it calls us to consider the honesty of our Lord in dealing with His people. He was not only honest with the rich young ruler.

56:54 He was honest in answer to Peter's question, what shall we have? He was honest about the blessings, but also honest about the persecutions. He was honest that there will be surprises of grace in the last day. And oh, dear people of God, we need to bless our Lord that He is honest in His dealings with us.

57:17 He will not deceive us into thinking that we can have His kingdom on lesser terms. He says to us, if we would have an idolatrous attachment to people and things, we cannot be attached to Him who is incarnate God. You cannot be His disciple. And then thirdly and finally, it calls the unconverted among us to look at the powerful incentives to becoming a true disciple of Christ.

57:45 Jim Elliot said, perhaps they are his best known words, he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose. He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. What do we give up? An idolatrous attachment to people and things.

58:15 This world, it must be given up. But when we give it up, what do we get? We get what we cannot lose. You are going to lose all this anyway.

58:25 What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world? You would be no fool to give it up what you cannot lose. Oh dear unconverted friend, why do you remain such a pauper? You pity us poor Christians.

58:47 Don't pity us, we pity you. We have houses and lands and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and even nuns but shall have just in terms of what we have got now you don't have. You don't have enough influence to have the line of credit we have got. And we have got it all on the basis of the standing of another not ours.

59:28 No credit rating can destroy that standing. No! And then, listen, listen, whatever persecutions we have with it, they are only for a time and they can only touch the body and grieve the human spirit. But we have eternal life awaiting us where there is no crying, no sighing, no tears, no pain.

59:54 And what awaits you, my unsafe friend, weeping, wailing, gushing of teeth out of darkness, the company of demons and the devil in the damned forever. What a fool you are to remain a non-Christian. Oh, dear unconverted friend, don't you see? Isn't this enough to make you jealous and say, I must have?

60:19 And words see in the next paragraph have already set his face to go up to Jerusalem and die that he might secure with his own blood every promise that he made to his own. This promise comes, if I may say it reverently, dripping in the blood of the everlasting covenant. It can no more fail than God can deny the virtue of the blood of his Son. Oh, my unconverted friend, I plead with you.

60:56 Look at how impoverished you are. Not only forgive, but you have his favor. You have his praise that all that is needful he'll supply. And in the midst of the irksome persecution, and troubles, you've got a constant reminder the best is yet to come, and in the age to come, eternal life. Dear Christian, what in the world are you doing going around with a long face? Do you see what you are? What's yours?

61:50 Who we are? The words of our Lord will be laid hold of in fresh actings of faith, and that our very joy and holy abandonment in the light of who we are and what we have will make non-Christians jealous. And that's a bit of a biblical motive. Paul says, I hope to provoke my fellow Jews to jealousy as I extol the mercy of God to Gentiles.

62:16 You say jealousy is a motive enough to go to Christ? God is not at all fastidious, friend, just so long as you leave the world in sin and get to Christ. Any motive that will get you to leave your sin in the world and get to Christ is a legitimate motive. May you go to him this morning in possessing him all the glorious things that are ours, not for anything, not for any virtue in us, but only for the virtue that is in Christ.

62:46 Let us pray. O our Father, we thank you again for the richness of your word, for the wonderful privileges that are ours as the people of God. May we understand more clearly and enjoy with greater abandonment our privileges in Christ that others beholding us may be made hungry and thirsty to know you as by grace we have come to know you. Do deal with the unconverted among us who think like that poor, fine, rich man that their riches can somehow fill that ache and that void that can never be filled with anything but yourself. Bless your word, we pray, to the comfort, the encouragement of your own and to the conversion of those who are strangers to your grace. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.