God's Prosperity Gospel

[0:00] Welcome to Built on God's Word, the preaching and teaching ministry of Highland Park Baptist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Elder Lee Roberts teaches on Mark chapter 10 verses 28 through 31.

[0:13] ! We're going to finish that larger section tonight by looking at Mark chapter 10 verses 28 through 31.

[0:38] To set the context though, let's go ahead and read all the way from Mark chapter 10 verse 13 through verse 27. Starting with Mark chapter 10 verse 13, it says, And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them. And the disciples rebuked them.

[0:55] But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

[1:11] And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. And as Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

[1:24] And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery.

[1:35] Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.

[1:46] And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, You lack one thing. Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.

[2:00] Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.

[2:13] And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

[2:29] And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.

[2:44] When we looked at Mark 10, verses 13 through 16, we saw that Jesus saved those who recognize that they are helpless and hopeless without him. Verses 17 through 22 showed us that to receive eternal life, people must make following Jesus their top priority.

[3:03] Verses 23 through 27 showed us that anyone's salvation is a miracle of God's grace. The key verse to that section was verse 27.

[3:15] Responding to the disciples' question about who can be saved, that's where Jesus said, With man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.

[3:26] By now, the disciples' heads were spinning because Jesus made them reconsider everything they thought they knew about who gets into heaven. Unlike what the rabbis taught, Jesus told them that instead of being a sure ticket into heaven, wealth often is a stumbling block for getting into heaven.

[3:44] The people certain of getting into heaven are the ones who realize that they have no hope to reach heaven unless God takes mercy on them. As usual, Peter was the spokesman for what the other disciples probably were thinking, and so let's look at the verses we'll cover tonight.

[4:01] Here are Mark chapter 10, verses 28 through 31. Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you.

[4:12] Jesus said, Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life.

[4:39] But many who are first will be last, and the last first. You probably noticed that the title of this lesson is God's Prosperity Gospel.

[4:51] God's Prosperity Gospel is much different than the false prosperity gospel that is promoted by the likes of Joel Osteen, Joseph Prince, or any other health and wealth, blabbit and grabbit false teacher.

[5:03] We'll see that as we go through the lesson tonight. Here's the main idea for tonight's verses. True believers demonstrate Christ's character by prioritizing God's will above their own.

[5:17] Once again, true believers demonstrate Christ's character by prioritizing God's will above their own. We'll break tonight's verses into three sections, starting with just verse 28.

[5:31] And in Mark chapter 10, verse 28, we see the surprising prioritization. The surprising prioritization is what we'll look at first. Here is verse 28 again.

[5:46] Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you. The ESV's translation of Peter's first word softens it too much.

[5:58] The New American Standard and Legacy Standard translations get closer to the meaning. Both of those say, Behold, we have left everything and followed you.

[6:10] The original word there was a word used for sudden emphasis. Peter realized how different the disciples were from the rich young ruler or the rich described in verses 23 through 27.

[6:24] Going back to the ESV, Matthew's account of this same episode shows us that Peter asked Jesus a question after his first sentence. Listen to Matthew chapter 19, verse 27.

[6:39] Matthew chapter 19, verse 27 says, Then Peter said in reply, See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?

[6:52] Some people criticize Peter here for his words. They claim that Peter was being self-centered or perhaps even thinking about worldly material things.

[7:02] People who take this view interpret the question as what's in it for us? That interpretation feels a little too harsh because think about what has just happened.

[7:14] Jesus has just turned the disciples' lifelong thinking upside down by destroying everything they thought they knew about how to obtain God's favor. Peter's question seems to be a genuine question.

[7:28] He realizes that the disciples' situation is much different than the rich people, yet Jesus just said that salvation is impossible for humans. Peter seems to be asking, Where does that leave us?

[7:43] You haven't described our situation. How do we know if we're truly saved? How do we know if we will inherit the kingdom? That view is supported by the fact that Jesus simply answered Peter's question.

[7:57] If Peter had been thinking about things from a worldly materialistic viewpoint, we can be confident that Jesus would have rebuked Peter for asking the question. Just a few chapters ago in Mark 8, verse 33, Jesus called Peter Satan when he expressed a wrong idea.

[8:16] But here, Jesus simply answers the question. Before we look at the answer to Peter's question, let's consider Peter's first statement in the section, and that is, We have left everything and followed you.

[8:32] Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his first disciples. Mark 1, verses 16-20 told us about that.

[8:42] And in these verses, Peter was still known as Simon. So listen to Mark 1, verses 16-20. Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

[9:02] And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately, they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.

[9:21] And immediately, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. Then in Mark 2, that's where Jesus called Matthew, who also was known as Levi.

[9:37] Listen to Mark 2, verses 13-14. Jesus went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.

[9:49] And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, Follow me. And he rose and followed him.

[10:01] In Mark 3, Mark summarized the calling of the remainder of the twelve. Listen to Mark 3, verses 13-14. through 15.

[10:12] And Jesus went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, so that they might be with him, and he might send them out to preach, and have authority to cast out demons.

[10:30] The common theme of these passages is that when Jesus called, the disciples came. Many left behind what would have been lucrative jobs.

[10:43] Peter's statement in our text tonight is correct. The disciples did leave everything to follow Jesus. They knew that Jesus was God in human flesh, and that surprising priority for the disciples fits our main idea.

[10:57] The disciples prioritize God's will above their own will. You might be thinking that that is only part of the main idea because I said the main idea is that true believers demonstrate Christ's character by prioritizing God's will above their own will.

[11:15] So let's look at how the decisions that the disciples made reflect Christ's character. Listen to Jesus' own words and look at Jesus' own actions to see that.

[11:29] For example, here is John 6, verse 38. Jesus said there, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

[11:43] Remember what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus was arrested and crucified. Here are Mark chapter 14, verses 33 through 36.

[11:58] And he took with him Peter and James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death.

[12:11] Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

[12:23] And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.

[12:33] From a human standpoint, we again see a surprising prioritization when Jesus expects us to put God's will above our own will.

[12:44] But you can see that Jesus only is asking us to do what he already has done. And that's the significant difference between God's prosperity gospel and the false prosperity gospel.

[12:58] In the false prosperity gospel, humans ask, how much will we get by following Jesus? In God's prosperity gospel, which is the true prosperity gospel, God asks, how much are you willing to give up to follow Jesus?

[13:16] Jesus. Moving to the second section of tonight's passage, Jesus will answer the question that Peter asked in Matthew chapter 19, verse 27.

[13:29] Again, that question was, what then will we have? Jesus answers the question by teaching about the supernatural prosperity. So the supernatural prosperity is your second heading.

[13:43] look at Mark chapter 10, verses 29 and 30 again. Jesus said, truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.

[14:22] The word translated truly at the start of verse 29 is amen. We know from our earlier studies in Mark that when Jesus uses that word at the beginning of his teaching, the teaching that follows is something that Jesus really wants to emphasize.

[14:39] Here Jesus is emphasizing what will happen to people who are willing to give up various relationship and things for Jesus' sake and for the gospel's sake.

[14:51] Someone who has left all these things has not necessarily renounced them but has certainly reordered his priorities. Peter still had his wife some 25 years later as did other apostles and Jesus' own brothers.

[15:06] Many times though they made heavy sacrifices for the sake of Christ and for the gospel. Our Mark passage tonight echoes what Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 through 39.

[15:22] Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 through 39. Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

[15:35] I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and the person's enemies will be those of his own household.

[15:52] Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

[16:08] Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. All believers become part of the church, the body of Christ.

[16:21] While many lose their earthly families when they become Christians, they find that they have gained the heavenly family and are given many relatives in Christ. Mutual caring has marked the true church of Jesus Christ since its inception on the day of Pentecost.

[16:39] When the church was born, it consisted in part of pilgrims who had come from Jewish settlements outside of Israel. After their conversion, the new believers did not want to go home because there were no churches except for the one in Jerusalem.

[16:54] They stayed, some of them permanently, in the homes of the believers who were already there. Those believers fed them, housed them, loved them, and cared for them.

[17:07] Years later, the apostle Paul would travel all over the Mediterranean region collecting an offering to take back to the Jerusalem church so that it could continue to care for the needy believers there.

[17:20] You can read about that in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. Jesus is talking about a two-part miracle here. The first part is the miracle of the new birth which leads to the second part, the miracle of a new family.

[17:38] People who are new creations in Christ form a new community in Christ. Back to our Mark text, we need to notice something else about Mark chapter 10 verses 28 through 30.

[17:51] each item given up in the first list is repeated in the second list except for one, and that's fathers. A disciple of the Lord who is cut off from home can have any number of sisters and brothers, but he does not need multiplied fathers because he already has a father in heaven.

[18:13] We do need to recognize, though, that being part of a solid church also gives us several earthly spiritual fathers and mothers. Being part of a church family that cares for us shows how God makes up for the loss of earthly family members who may disown us when we follow Jesus.

[18:35] However, Jesus also says in Mark chapter 10 verses 29 and 30 that believers will receive houses and lands in this life. That promise of receiving multiple houses and lands is where the prosperity gospel preachers like to hang out.

[18:54] They focus on material things, but one way the false prosperity gospel goes wrong is by making the material things the main reason for following Jesus.

[19:06] As we have seen in the cross references and in the earlier sections of Mark, God's true prosperity gospel calls us to be willing to give up everything to follow Christ.

[19:18] In God's true prosperity gospel, following Jesus is the goal. God promises to meet our material needs, but those material needs are secondary.

[19:30] In the false prosperity gospel, material needs are the goal, and the command to follow Jesus, if it's taught at all, becomes secondary. secondary. But our verses here in Mark clearly say that if we give up house and land, we will get the houses and lands plural in this life.

[19:51] And that's straight from Mark, not a false teacher like Jesse Duplantis. So how do we reconcile what the Bible says here with Jesus' command to be willing to forsake everything to follow him?

[20:04] Well, the answer goes back to being part of a church family. A good church family steps up to meet the needs of other church members when necessary.

[20:15] And in that sense, we gain houses and lands. The early church modeled such behavior. Listen to Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 45.

[20:30] Acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 45 say, And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

[20:42] And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

[21:01] look again now at Mark chapter 10 verses 29 and 30. We have yet to talk about two other blessings that Jesus promises his followers.

[21:13] I'm going to read those verses again. Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.

[21:46] One of those blessings that we have yet to discuss is easy to spot. That blessing is eternal life. The other blessing is harder to spot because we don't often think of it as a blessing.

[22:00] That other blessing is persecution. The Bible is clear that persecution for Jesus' sake is a blessing. Our passage in Mark happened after Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.

[22:15] Listen to what Jesus said about persecution in that Sermon on the Mount. These verses are Matthew 5, verses 10 and 11. Jesus said in Matthew 5, verses 10 and 11, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[22:37] Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

[22:55] Here's what Paul later wrote to the believers in Philippi. These verses are Philippians 1, verses 29 and 30. Paul said in Philippians 1, 29 and 30, For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

[23:27] Peter learned the lesson that Jesus was teaching him here in our Mark passage. Listen to what Peter later wrote in 1 Peter 3, verses 13-17.

[23:40] Peter wrote, Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.

[23:52] Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you.

[24:06] Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

[24:18] For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Let's pause for a moment to think about how our willingness to suffer, if it is God's will, reflects Christ's character.

[24:34] We just read 1 Peter 3, verses 13-17. Listen to 1 Peter 3, 17 again, together with 1 Peter 3, 18.

[24:46] Peter said, For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

[25:10] We saw earlier how Jesus prayed that if it were God's will, he could avoid the suffering that awaited him. We know that it was God's will for Jesus to suffer God's wrath.

[25:23] Jesus suffered God's wrath to pay God's penalty for the sins of everyone who trusts in Jesus for eternal life. And if you put your faith solely in Jesus' sacrifice for your sins against God, Jesus has brought you to God, as Peter points out in 1 Peter 3, verse 18.

[25:42] That's another way of saying that Jesus has given you eternal life. That eternal life is the other blessing that Jesus promises us in Mark 10, verse 30.

[25:57] Listen to this quote from J.C. Ryle. He said, To all who make sacrifices on account of the gospel, Jesus promises eternal life in the age to come.

[26:11] As soon as they put aside their earthly tent, they will enter a glorious existence. And in the morning of the resurrection will receive such honor and joy as past man's understanding.

[26:23] Their light affliction for a few years will end in an everlasting reward. Their rites and sorrows while in the body will be exchanged for perfect rest and a conqueror's crown.

[26:36] They will dwell in a world where there is no death, no sin, no devil, no cares, no weeping, no parting. For the former things will have passed away.

[26:50] God has said it and it will be found true. Then Ryle continued, Where is the saint who will dare to say in the face of these glorious promises that there is no encouragement to serve Christ?

[27:05] Where is the man or woman whose hands are beginning to hang down and whose knees are beginning to faint in the Christian race? Let all such people ponder this passage and take fresh courage.

[27:18] The time is short, the end is sure. Heaviness may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Let us wait patiently on the Lord.

[27:33] Ryle's quotes illustrate another difference between the false prosperity gospel and God's prosperity gospel. The false prosperity gospel promises your best life now.

[27:45] God's true prosperity gospel promises your best life later. You probably can tell from the lesson so far that I researched how the false prosperity gospel teachers explained tonight's passage.

[27:59] I wanted to do that to keep you from having to do that. I must admit that I was wrong about one thing, though. I expected the false prosperity gospel teachers to skip over the reference to persecution.

[28:13] They didn't skip over it. The common false teaching about the persecution reference was that when God blesses you with more material things, people will become envious.

[28:27] And other people's envy is the persecution that people experience. That is how they explain what persecution is like. But you can see on the surface just how absurd such teaching is.

[28:42] All except one of the apostles died a martyr's death. They weren't killed because someone envied their material prosperity. In fact, we see no evidence that they had material prosperity.

[28:57] Listen to what the last apostle, the apostle Paul, said in Philippians 3, verse 8. In Philippians 3, verse 8, Paul wrote, Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

[29:16] For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I might gain Christ. None of the apostles was martyred because of envy.

[29:30] They were martyred because unbelievers hated their message. Unbelievers hated their message so much that those unbelievers wanted to silence the true gospel message and such hatred persists to this day.

[29:45] When Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him, he is telling us to be prepared to die for his sake. When we are prepared to die if necessary for Jesus' sake and the gospel's sake, we will receive eternal life.

[30:00] And that is God's prosperity gospel. And God's prosperity gospel truth comes straight from God's word. The question for every person is, whom will you believe?

[30:12] Will you believe a greedy false teacher who twists scripture for personal gain, or will you believe the actual word of God? Remember the main idea.

[30:24] True believers demonstrate Christ's character by prioritizing God's will above their own. We just considered how our willingness to suffer on God's behalf reflects Christ's character.

[30:36] But how does our willingness to give up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or lands or children reflect Christ's character? That question may already have you thinking about Philippians 2, verses 3-11.

[30:54] Listen to Philippians 2, verses 3-11. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

[31:09] Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being found in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

[31:41] Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[32:02] You may also be thinking about 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9. Here is 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

[32:26] Jesus will never ask us to do something more than he already has done on our behalf. So far, we've seen the surprising prioritization and the supernatural prosperity.

[32:41] In the last verse of this section, Jesus will provide the sovereign placement. So the sovereign placement is the last thing we'll look at.

[32:52] We see that in Mark chapter 10 verse 31. Here is Mark 10 verse 31 again. But many who are first will be last and the last first.

[33:08] John MacArthur said, the Lord's concluding statement, but many who are first will be last and the last first means simply that all believers will wind up equal possessors of heaven's treasures.

[33:21] in Matthew's account of the episode that we're studying tonight, Jesus followed his teaching with a parable. That parable illustrates the principle that all believers will be equal possessors of heaven's kingdom.

[33:41] Turn to Matthew chapter 20. We're actually going to read the entire parable. That parable comes in Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 16.

[33:54] Jesus is talking here in Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 16 and he said, For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyards and after agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day he sent them into his vineyard and going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace and to them he said, You go into the vineyard too and whatever is right I will give you.

[34:28] So they went going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour he did the same and about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing and he said to them Why do you stand here idle all day?

[34:45] They said to him because no one has hired us. He said to them You go into the vineyard too and when evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman call the laborers and pay them their wages beginning with the last up to the first and when those hired about the eleventh hour came each of them received a denarius Now when those hired first came they thought they would receive more but each of them also received a denarius and on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house saying Those last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat But he replied to one of them Friend I am doing you no wrong Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

[35:41] Take what belongs to you and go I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?

[35:53] Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first last Does that verse sound familiar there at the end?

[36:05] It's the same thing he closed his teaching with We could spend an entire lesson on this parable In fact we have covered this parable twice on Wednesday nights and you can find those full lessons on the website or the podcast For our purposes tonight suffice it to say this The parable shows that all people who repent from sin and trust in Christ receive the same salvation no matter when they are saved and no matter how long they serve God after that salvation The day in the parable represents a person's lifetime All workers receive the same pay whether they started work at the beginning of the day the end of the day or somewhere in between So this parable illustrates the principle that all believers will be equal possessors of heaven's kingdom However, I would be selling Mark chapter 10 verse 31 short by failing to point out a secondary principle that the verse illustrates

[37:08] God's sovereign placement of people is much different than how typical human beings look at things Scripture tells us repeatedly that God humbles the proud but God exalts the humble Jesus said those words himself Listen to Jesus' words from Matthew chapter 23 verse 12 Jesus says Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted The same or very similar words are repeated in James chapter 4 verse 6 and 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5 All of these New Testament citations summarize Proverbs chapter 3 verse 34 So listen to Proverbs chapter 3 verse 34 together with verse 35 Toward the Scorners He is scornful but to the humble

[38:10] He gives favor The wise will inherit honor but fools get disgrace In Christ's kingdom there is a big reversal of every earthly standard of position rank and importance God does not evaluate things the same way that fallen humanity does as citizens of God's kingdom His children should think more like Him than the world The original apostles illustrate the principle of God exalting the proud while humbling the exalted Listen to this quote from J.C.

[38:49] Ryle about Mark chapter 10 verse 30 How true were these words when applied to the apostles There stood among those who heard our Lord speak a man who at one time seemed likely to be one of the foremost of the twelve He was the one who appeared more careful and trustworthy than any He had charge of a bag and kept what was put in it And yet that man fell away and came to a disgraceful end His name was Judas Iscariot Again there did not stand among Lord's hearers that day who at a later period did more for Christ than any of the twelve At the time when our Lord spoke He was a young Pharisee brought up at the feet of Gamaliel and zealous for nothing so much as the law And yet that young man in the end was converted to the faith of Christ and labored more abundantly than all

[39:50] His name was Saul who became the Apostle Paul Well might our Lord say the first will be last and the last first Jesus prioritized God's will above his own Jesus expects and requires true believers to demonstrate his character by also placing God's will above their own That is hard to do and we can only do that with the help of the Holy Spirit The promise that God made to Israel applies to all believers Here is Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 27 Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 27 says In the New Testament Jesus promised the Holy Spirit's coming in John chapter 16 verse 7

[40:51] Here is what Jesus said in John chapter 16 verse 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away If I do not go away the helper will not come to you but if I go I will send him to you and of course the helper there is the Holy Spirit God's true prosperity gospel is different from the false teacher's prosperity gospel and that is a good thing As we finish the larger section from Mark chapter 13 verse 31 consider how different Jesus is teaching is from what humans typically think Jason Meyer said the gospel is not about bad people becoming good but dead people becoming alive the gospel is good news not good advice we do not boast in what we do or what we give up but in what we gain through what

[41:54] Christ has done for us we put to death the things that would lead us away from Christ as our chief joy so the question we all have to ask ourselves is are we willing to follow Jesus regardless of what he may ask us to give up some people will be those people recognize that because of their sins against God they are helpless and hopeless against God's wrath those people will trust only in the method of salvation that God has provided and that's Jesus atoning sacrifice for the sins of everyone who trust in him others who trust in something other than Jesus will go a race sad like the rich young ruler did listen to what Jesus said himself here are John chapter 3 verses 16 through 21 Jesus said for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of

[43:19] God and this is the judgment the light has come into the world and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil for everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God let's pray father we thank you for this reminder of what it takes to get into your kingdom and lord we recognize we can do nothing on our own to get into that kingdom we must rely on the only method of salvation that you have provided and we praise you lord for providing that salvation help us always be mindful that in your kingdom the first will be last and the last first and help us praise you for that help us share that news with the others that we come across in

[44:26] Jesus name we pray amen