For months, I knew I was going to be preaching again at some point, probably, and I was just praying they would not ask me to videotape a clip with Freddie. So Vince, thanks for doing it, bro. We love Freddie. But I just privately panicked that I would ever have to do that. Oh Lord. Good morning, Cross of Grace, and good morning to all our guests. I'm Tom. It is a joy to be with you this morning.
Let's pray together. Amen. Lord, the nature of your word at times is striking and it catches us off guard. We are expecting or hoping for something else as we read through your Word, and yet we find ourselves in texts like today, and it seems like a massive interruption. Holy Spirit, we are dependent on you to work during the public preaching of the Word. We put all our trust in you, Jesus. And at the end of it all this morning, I pray, Jesus, that you would be magnified, that you would be lifted up, and that we would be changed, and our response would be to worship you as the one exalted, the very Son of God. That's our prayer, Lord, as we consider your word this morning. In the name of Jesus, amen. Amen. You may be seated.
I ended— I ended the text this morning. I used a phrase, and even when the phrase came out of my mouth, I thought, that, that waters the text down already. I said, we'll consider your word, Lord. By the way, the Lord's word considers us. In other words, we— when we come to the word of God, it's not something that we're going to look at and evaluate and ponder about, which we do, we do those things, but that's not in the end what's actually occurring. The Word actually looks at us and ponders, if you would say, over us and examines us, and in this case it exposes us, but the joy is it changes us. So let that Let this weird interruption of text have its full effect on you. When you leave this morning, be moved by what we've heard in God's Word.
I'm going to quote from a hymn or a song that's been sung over the years, "Come Thou Fount." We sang it earlier. I think I'm going to read through part of it for a particular reason.
I'm just gonna pick it up right here. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Prone to hear you and not heed it. Prone to scorn you in your love. Prone to wander. Prone to wander. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be. Let your goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. Jesus sought me while a stranger wandering from the heart of God, and he rescue— he to rescue me from danger, and he used his own precious blood.
So here's why I actually read this. First, I hope— well, my hope is that it serves you. But it's actually to inform my heart as I consider the text. I said it again. As the text actually examines me. If you and I have not wandered from the faith, it's still true. The song is still true. We wander from the Lord. We— when we hear the song, we're like, yep, that's me. I'm prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. But when we hear things, prone to leave the God I love, or to hear you and not heed it, scorn you in your love, that seems pretty harsh. That's just a song though. It's not the everlasting word of the Lord. Well, our text today actually has that effect.
6 · Tom shares a personal story about joy over small normalcies returning (coffee being made at church again) to illustrate the mingled experience of joy and sorrow in his current life, preparing the congregation for the emotional texture of the sermon
You know, when I came this morning, I had this crazy world that I was living in, I have right now in my life, I have a pronounced sense of progressive joy like I haven't had in a long time. I know you're probably wondering why he's just said joy and he's tearful because of my gratitude. So I arrived this morning remembering that I had left the house without my coffee, but because of all the changes that are beginning to lighten up and starting to free up. Someone has begun to make a rogue cup of coffee in the kitchen. You all probably walk in now. If you're familiar with our church, we used to do coffee every Sunday, and out of concerns over the last year, we stopped for a while. Well, someone has fired up the coffee pot again. Don't look at me. I was standing around a couple weeks ago and I had one of the church's coffee cups. Like, those that have been here a while, like, oh, that looks familiar. Like, hey, there's coffee. And I'm like, "No." Because there's a rogue pot in the kitchen. I couldn't offer it to everybody. I walked in this morning and found the smell of coffee in the air. And so I have this private joy of arriving this morning that there was gonna be someone who made coffee, and they did. I didn't have time to get a cup.
7 · Tom shares the intrusion of grief into his joy, noting that seeing the church grounds reminds him of Richard Moreno and his own brother's suffering with COVID
But when I pulled up, um, Also in the midst of this pronounced sense of joy is a pronounced sense of I can't get away from the sorrow and grief. Now, if you've heard me preach on the matter of suffering, I'll avoid it like the plague. In arriving this morning and knowing that part of what we're gonna hear this morning, we're gonna get to that, is suffering, I was surprised again pulling up, just seeing the church building It's manicured well, and Richard Moreno used to be the guy who took care of it. And I immediately picture my brother in the hospital fighting the effects of COVID pneumonia. And so my joyful, happy, silly heart is greeted with, I can't believe this family's walking through this right now. I can't believe that we are, as a church, walking through this right now. So it's an interruption to us.
8 · Tom surveys the immediate context of Mark 9:42-50, noting the pattern of Jesus' authority displayed in miracles, the transfiguration, and exorcism, followed by the disciples' prideful argument about greatness
This text has this effect on you and I when we're reading through the text. It's, it's a lot of things to look at, a lot of things to expound and discover and dig out of the text. But this one seems like a hard turn to me. Let's consider the context just for a minute of this text. Is following the second time in which Jesus has said something that the disciples do not understand, that Jesus is going to suffer. He tells them he's going to suffer, he's going to die, and he's gonna be raised again. Time and again, the authority and power of Jesus in the book of Mark. If you're wondering what Mark is preaching, it's preaching that Jesus is high and lifted up, and there is nothing that holds authority over him. He holds the authority over it all. Jesus' indescribed glory is revealed as he's transfigured right before the eyes of 3 of his disciples on the mountain. Chapter 9, verse 3 says, his clothes became radiant and Elijah and Moses appeared to him, and then they spoke with Jesus. Following many miracles, he then speaks again in sovereign authority in this text, or right before this text, the lifelong— he speaks in sovereign authority and the lifelong oppressive demon is commanded and cast out of a boy forever. It's gripping. And that's followed by the disciples turning and arguing about which one of them is gonna be the greatest. And then we get to verse 42.
9 · Tom expounds Mark 9:42, using Kent Hughes to paint the vivid historical horror of millstone drowning
Verse 42 says, whoever casts one of these little ones who believe in me in sin, it would be better for him if a great, great millstone was hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. The disciples would quickly understand how horrific this scene is. Maybe for you and I, we're not getting this. But in the midst of all— imagine you're the disciple and you are with Jesus. You're experiencing these amazing miracle after miracle after miracle. He says he's gonna die and he's gonna raise again. And it's just mind-boggling, but it's thrilling. It's scary as well. But nothing, at least up until this point, has this effect for Jesus himself. The Savior's come to save. Not to judge, does something that rocks them. Jesus would quickly— excuse me, disciples would quickly understand how horrific the scene would have been. Kent Hughes, the commentator on Mark, writes that the disciples would recall the fate— he quotes this part— the fate of the leaders of an insurrection under the early zealot leader Judas the Galilean, whom the Romans drowned in a lake. Hughes comments that in the apostles' imaginations, they could see the drowned bodies of the victims tethered by the neck at, to great millstones as they swayed to and fro in the currents of the sea. That's the scene that it conjures up in their mind. If you cause these little ones to stumble, This is what you get. Kent Hughes refers to this, you know, his authority over demons is revealed in the scriptures. His authority over creation is revealed. And in every one of these scenes, we see Jesus progressively and moment by moment being lifted higher and higher and higher. Well, in this text, His terrifying authority is revealed.
10 · Tom identifies Jesus' target audience for the warning: not merely children, but "little ones who believe" — new and humble believers
We're shocked by what Jesus would say. There's a terrifying authority about his words. We are arrested by Jesus' terrifying warning of God's imminent wrath on those who would cause these little ones to stumble. And these little ones, by the way, in the text is actually a little more clear. It's not just the children in the scene a little before. But certainly includes that. But it's little ones that believe, meaning new believers, humble believers, those that are new in the faith. Do not cause them to stumble, because it would be better if your body was dangling from the seabed. That's pretty hard. I came looking for coffee a little bit this morning, and I get this. The warning is clear. Do not cause them to stumble.
11 · Tom connects Jesus' warning in Mark 9 to Paul's warning in 1 Timothy about false teaching that causes dissension and deprives believers of truth
He has already pointed to receiving child in the illustration of receiving the kingdom in humility. He does it again in chapter 10 that Vince preached on last week, and yet he adds to the little ones, those who believe. Please don't forget that in this context. It's super helpful to me. Don't cause them to stumble, followed by the horrific scene of our Certain punishment if we do, and he doesn't qualify any of it. Paul's words to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 through 5 read like this. Paul writes to this young pastor, says, if anyone teaches a different doctrine, it does not— that does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and he understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and depraved and deprived of the truth.
12 · Tom asserts that the disciples' tendency to wander manifests in disregarding new believers, and counters the notion that foundational truths are merely "basic" — they are the core gospel that must be hammered home continually
What Jesus suddenly says, because what he can see his disciples so desperately need is they are beginning in that sense to wonder and not understand wander— excuse me— wander from the Savior and his teaching, and it's ever so brief. They begin to wander, and one of the ways that they're going to be tempted to wander is to disregard the new believers in their midst. What we teach new believers is not simply basic Christianity. Please understand what I'm hoping to say with this. We do teach basic fundamentals of the faith, but even those words We start with the fundamentals. We camp on the fundamentals, and we will die preaching the fundamentals. Spurgeon will say, "We're going to keep hammering the same nail over, and over, and over, Jesus and Him crucified."
13 · Tom applies the warning concretely: examine whether we are leading new believers into legalism, license, controversy (especially over COVID), or other ungodly distractions
Causing young believers to stumble by being ministers of false gospels, maybe taking it a little bit further, Legalism, in other words, teaching these young ones that they must obey to earn righteousness, to gain entrance into heaven. Or sinful, quote, Christian, quote, freedom, couching sin in Christian permission. It's one of our propensities as well. How about the use of our tongue? Or that post that we did go ahead and hit send even though our wives said don't. Hm. Maybe to be more direct, we should consider this: In all my interactions with young believers in particular, what could be leading them to stumble into an unhealthy craving for controversy and quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction? Consider just this last year. We can pick one topic on COVID pandemic. What have we done? This last year alone provides plenty opportunities for us to examine our own heart. They've become believers in Jesus, and we stumble them off course and away from Christ and into something else. Scripture's calling ungodliness.
14 · Tom tells a personal story of sharing the gospel with a young man on a flight to California
So I was on an air flight. I got to do this. I've got to cram this into the message, but you have to hear this. Since January, there's been— this is only God's doing, but there has been multiple opportunities for me to share the gospel with someone I have no idea who they are, complete strangers. One of them was a young man on a flight. And super fast and super quick in this flight is we're on our way to California to meet with pastors in the region. I'm laughing at myself over this. The Lord just opens the door wide up. He's already— he finds out I'm a pastor short because Todd and I are joking on the plane. One of our other elders, we're cutting up, you guys are friends, yep, but we also serve together as pastors. And so he immediately, Pastor, he's under conviction. He's feeling guilty. Oh, I need to get back to church. And it's a super common conversation with people. Yeah, you know, I feel like the Lord is calling me back. You know, the fact that I'm sitting next to you, I'm like, no, actually before you got on the plane with me, the Lord was calling you back. But here I was talking to this young man. I had opportunity to share my faith, share my testimony and so on. Now look, I'm just gonna expose myself a little bit, but hey, this is what we get to do. Because I think the seriousness of the text demands that I be honest about this. So I get to share my faith. I feel like I'm being led by the Spirit. There were those phrases when you're sharing your faith, you're like, wow, where did that come from? And privately I can see he's being won over and he's being humbled by this. And I can tell he goes quiet and he's wrestling with it. His girlfriend, who's from California, he's a Texan, his girlfriend's from California, they're headed back to see family. So I have like a mountain of humor that's just like rolling in me. Waiting to say something stupid. If you know me, I'm just waiting for my chance. Well, my chance came. We started flying in over— I think they're called— is it called the Chocolate Mountains in California when you're flying in? I think it is. And there was a white, a white layer of clouds, and we're way above this white layer of clouds. Could not see a thing except for the peaks of these dark mountains. He's gone quiet under conviction about his need for the Savior. We're getting close to landing, that's how close we are to the airport. And I make this comment to him. I don't know if I should laugh or I should cry. I said, oh, and by the way, this is important. I had found out in the conversation he was a Trump supporter. Real quick, I think it was the hat. So I looked out the window and I elbowed him and he, He kind of looks over at me. His girlfriend and him were whispering about something. I have no idea what it was. But I ended that with this. I said, "See these clouds out here? It's like a blanket of liberalism over California." Look, I'm not judging you if you're laughing. I'm just like, yep, you come eat with me.
15 · Tom shepherds the congregation by confessing his foolishness in potentially derailing a gospel conversation with political commentary
You're going to find out later in the message. What a fool I was. That if this young man is wrestling with his faith, for me to lead him astray into whatever political view I hold. The saving grace is getting off the plane, he reapproaches me and says, "Thank you for what you said." I said, "What, the liberal comment?" I didn't say that. I could tell he was still under conviction. And I just pray that God would wash all, what Chuck Mosey referred to years ago, that the young man would spit out the bones and hold on to the meat. That's gonna be an act of God because I led him somewhere else.
16 · Tom signals a structural shift from the terrifying warning of verse 42 to the holy demands of verses 43-48, introducing the next major section of the exposition
So we have this terrifying warning. Do not lead new believers away. Following this warning, we have Jesus's holy demands, verses 43 through 48.
17 · Tom expounds Mark 9:43-48, interpreting the hyperbolic imagery of cutting off hands, feet, and eyes as a call to radical repentance in three domains: what we do (hands), where we go (feet), and what we see or take in (eyes)
Now, when we were reading the text earlier, It seemed like the turn, it was sharp, and then now it seems like it goes even further and harder and with the accelerator pressed. As far as I would be, or at least that's the way it lands on me. It's like, oh my gosh, I'm in jeopardy of God's wrath. And he drives it home all the more. Jesus' holy demands are revealed very clearly. Clearly in the text. If you're a disciple of Christ, if you are a follower of Christ, these words are for you. They're for me. He goes on about hands and feet and eyes and gouging them out, cutting them off, getting rid of them if they cause you to stumble. It's crazy. Early Misapplication of this led to unbiblical self-mutilation. So, so bad that one of the original creeds had to come out with a statement saying, "Do not cut off your hands or arms or gouge out your eyes or other body parts," because we misunderstood what Jesus was saying. The point is, It's all-encompassing areas of our lives. So Jesus goes after first, don't lead the new ones astray. And he says, now, in these areas of your life, you turn away from sin. Hands, feet, and eyes. What you do would be hands. What— where you go That would be the feet. What you see or behold, or what I would say or describe as like a take in, mull around. What you do, actual and effect. Where you go, actually, you know, real place, but also in the thoughts. And what you see, actual and considerations and pondering. Things that we actually see, that we surf into. Intentionally, or where we would drive intentionally, or walk intentionally, but also in our minds and hearts of where we would go.
18 · Tom acknowledges that the text does not resolve the tension between works and grace — it simply commands holiness without explaining how grace makes obedience possible
The takeaway from this is work— the one I just had to write up front— works and grace are not resolved in this text. So look, if you're anything like me, thank God for the gospel of grace that came to a young legalist like me. At a young age, I'm trying to earn my way into God's favor and failing it every step of the way, but thought I was doing pretty good until Chuck Mosley shares the gospel faithfully with me in a youth meeting, and the Lord uses the proclamation of the gospel to break through a young, sinful, lost, legalist heart to save me. Because the gospel of grace is Jesus is the one actually making it possible. You will never get in on your own. But the text doesn't resolve that for us. Jesus says, take it serious and do not sin.
19 · Tom identifies four theological realities the text establishes without resolving: sin is horrific to God, hell is real (described via Gehenna imagery), heaven is real (the repeated "enter life"), and repentance is the call
The warning is clear. Sin is really that bad is the other part of the takeaway. Sin is horrific actually in God's eyes. He'll have nothing to do with it. The scriptures actually describe that God will not behold sin. I do not know in God's sovereign providence rule how he will not behold sin. I'm going to ruin part of the story. How is it possible the Lord would take on sin and bear it for us at the cross? Well, it's not resolved in this text yet. Hell is also real, that place where Gehenna is a picture of the unquenchable fire. It's like the city dump constantly constantly on fire, burning bodies that are thrown in, or bodies thrown in so that they would be consumed. It's just a constant black smoke billowing into space. Hell is real in the text. It goes on at length to describe hell. I can't go into a doctrine of hell, but if you're wondering where part of our doctrine of hell comes from, it comes from this text and others. But it's also— heaven is real. It talks about if you Enter life, enter life, enter life is repeated. Heaven is a real place. It's the hope for the believer in Christ. It's the hope for those who have turned away from sin and placed their faith in Jesus Christ. It's the hope for the disciple.
20 · Tom asserts that repentance is the call for all people — believers must turn from sin in every area of life, and unbelievers must turn to Christ or face eternal, unquenchable wrath
So then we begin to be, begin to see some of the relief in the text. Heaven is possible. And repentance is the call. Turn away from sin in all areas of your life. There is no area in my life that the Lord has, like, no purview into. I can't, like, hide this thing over here, like, hey, I can hold my political views to the disregard of anybody else around me, Thanks the Lord. Hmm. I can't do that. But what's remaining as we get to the end of the statements, particularly in verse 48, is the promise of wrath to unrepentant sinners remains as well. You may be here this morning and you have not believed in Christ for salvation. This is a terrifying warning for you. If you refuse to believe in Christ, the Scripture says your end is eternal and it's unquenchable. You cannot get away from this. You can't just be buddy with Jesus a little bit, thumbs up with maybe Satan you'll live with one day. The matter is more dramatic than you can imagine. It's more devastating than you could even imagine. It's forever. It's not my call. It's Jesus' call to you. Repent and turn to him.
21 · Tom asserts that the call to radical holiness applies equally to believers and unbelievers — no one may presume on grace
Every unbeliever, the message is clear. Turn away from your sins. Do whatever it takes. But the message is exactly the same for the believer. The message is clear. Turn away from your sins. Do whatever it takes. Jesus has called us to be holy disciples, not slippery grace disciples, not presumptuous on the grace disciples. Romans 6:1, Paul would say, "By no means." The question is being asked, "Well, if grace abounds when sin abounds all the more, well then I can sin, then I get more grace." It's a foolish way of thinking, but we privately function like that anyway. Let the Word say, "By no means." Let the terrifying warning beginning with a call to holiness say, "No means." By no means. Gospel remedy and gospel resolve are certainly made available to us in the scriptures. Grace for us and our turning away from sin is made possible by a Savior who had no sin, who became sin for us, bore the wrath of God in our place. That's the gospel remedy. If you're wondering, well, it's too impossible for me to get into heaven, Jesus is telling them You cannot get into heaven on your own. You need me. That's the message you and I need to hear. We need to hear that we are not worthy to get into heaven on our own. One of the greatest kindness truths that Jesus preaches to his followers and rejecters is that you are not worthy enough to enter heaven, so I have come from heaven to make it possible for you. Repent and believe in me, and through me alone you will see heaven.
22 · Tom signals a structural shift from holy demands to the theme of suffering in verse 49, framing the progression not as worsening but as deepening hope and grace
We've just looked at Jesus' terrifying warning, Jesus' holy demands, and now we get to Jesus tells us that we will suffer. It almost seems like it just keeps getting worse, but it's actually getting better. Getting more hopeful and gracious on the Lord's part. In this life we will suffer.
23 · Tom expounds Mark 9:49, interpreting "salted with fire" as a promise of suffering for Christ's sake
He uses this phrase in verse 49, "For everyone will be salted with fire." So that shift in the text to salt, how many of you thought, "That's weird. I've never heard this before. What in the world does it mean to be salted or salted with fire?" There's actually two saltings going on, and 49 is one, and 50 to the end is the other salt. Let's look at the first one, and that is Jesus tells us that we're going to suffer. Being salted with fire means you're going to suffer for my sake. It's used elsewhere in scriptures we don't have time to get to, but his point is very clear. There's going to be suffering in our following of him. So he says, if you're gonna be my disciple, well, the warning is clear. Turn away from sin and follow me. And you're going to suffer because this is real for the disciples. It's going to come after the resurrection. These men get it. These women get it. They understand Jesus is the Savior and has come, has come in grace. They cannot be saved by the law. They— he has made a way for them to get into heaven. They get to go and tell all the world this. And yet in the midst of all of that, they're going to suffer and suffer greatly. In fact, it's going to mark believers.
24 · Tom pastorally confesses his own avoidance of suffering and his initial refusal to read a book on grief after the loss of his grandson Calvin
Now, if you're anything like me, you're going to avoid suffering. Why would we not want to avoid suffering? I'm going to quote from a book in just a second, hopefully, if I have time. That I refused to read when I got it. Here's the title of the book: "Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy." And the author has lost his son named Cam, and so he writes about his suffering. And we had been given this gift when our grandson Calvin had passed away. He lived 20 minutes, died on our daughter's chest. And since then, which actually began before that, I could tell I don't want that. I want to get away from that. I don't want to see it again. I cannot fathom that and open my eyes as a pastor that there are many young couples that have walked through the same thing. And we just say, "We're very sorry. We're sorry this happened." You'll get a very different response from the Wilkins family now when you talk to us. It was on the heels of our other daughter-in-law losing their child, right on the heels of me losing my brother. I'm telling you, we cannot get away from suffering.
25 · Tom asserts that it would be a disservice to avoid preaching on suffering when Jesus himself promises it
When I was given that book, I thought, "I don't want to read it because all it's going to do is bring up suffering." And here we find ourselves in the text where Jesus says, "You're going to suffer." Look, it would be a horrible disservice to you if we did not tell you what Jesus tells you. If you're coming to church hoping to run from and get away from suffering, you cannot get away from it until Jesus finally peals back heaven and pulls us in where there is no more suffering. But until then, we're gonna feel it, and we're gonna feel it deeply. You may be young and in the room, and I love that. I remember being young and in the room. But it began for me when my dad was 49. He gets cancer and he dies, and that's when the suffering began for me. And ever since then, I'll bet you I've been running. If you're a psychologist, if you're a grief counselor, you can help me on this one, because I've been running. I don't think I'll ever stop running on this one. We suffer as Christians, and we also suffer for being Christians. What I mean is Christians are going to suffer, but we're also going to suffer for being Christian.
26 · Tom grounds the promise of suffering in the eschatological timeline: suffering persists until Jesus returns in glory (Revelation 19) to vindicate his people and make all things new
In this life and until Jesus returns with healing in his wings and makes all things new and heaven— brings heaven and sorrow is finally wiped away, we're gonna suffer. In our witness until Jesus, the word of God rides in with his robe dipped in blood, leading heaven's armies arrayed in white linen out of Revelation 19, and lays waste to his enemies and vindicates those who have suffered for his namesake. We're going to suffer. The reason I said it was kind of us to say this is because Jesus has a driving point for the reason. You will be salted with fire.
27 · Tom tells a story of being called to comfort a family at the bedside of their teenage son dying of an overdose
Here's part of the reason. I got a call at the church years ago from Amy, an RN who was one of the members during that time. She was an RN at UMC, and she said, "Come quickly. Come and comfort a local family that's gathering in the ICU." She was one of the nurses in. And gather around, the families gathered around the hospital bed that held their teenage son. He's on life support due to a drug overdose. I didn't know them. They were strangers to me. And they were just about to turn off the machines. So I get this call. I'm a pastor. I preach the gospel. We've been to multiple funerals. Over and over and over again. If you're old enough, if you're old like me and Chuck and Vince, if you're old like us, in your Bible it has a section in there about funerals at the front. If you got a good old Bible, it's like, ah, write down your funerals. It's like, why would you write that down? I hate phone calls like that, but there is something that happens in my heart. It just breaks me. What do I say to a family that's about to lose their son? It's already lost him to a greater degree, but now they're going to say goodbye. How do you comfort someone like that? The cloud of suffering and grief looms on our planet, and it's going to continue to do so.
28 · Tom asserts that suffering drives believers to Christ himself, not to explanations
His salting— his salting of us draws us to the center of our faith. Himself. We wait and we lament and we humble ourselves before Him as He tarries, and we cling to His Word, the Gospel, and it holds us fast. Now I'll read from the book I didn't want to read from, if I can find it. He writes, for me, I've asked God a thousands of questions and have never received an answer. I have accepted that I never will understand why my little boy died at the age of 3. For the rest of my life, I'll live with that mystery. Too often people think that our peace will come from an answer to why. In reality, peace and comfort flow from the question of who. My comfort comes in what has been revealed to me about the character of God through his word and through his son Jesus, the very image of the living God. The explanation of Cam's death remains a secret thing to me and belongs to God. What has been revealed, what belongs to me, a child of the King, is God's word. Out of his word flows the promise of his goodness, his wisdom, and his holiness. That's what we say to those that suffer. We say what the Lord has said. I am only gonna allow this for a while, but joy will come in the morning. Believe in me and follow me and you will see.
29 · Tom signals a structural shift to the second "salting" in verse 50, framing it as the purpose for all the preceding warnings, demands, and suffering — the humble mission Jesus is preparing his disciples for
We've looked at Jesus' terrifying warning, his holy demands, and he tells us that we're going to suffer. And here's, I would say from the text, the main reason he's done it. Verse 50, the next salt.
30 · Tom expounds Mark 9:50, interpreting "have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another" as Jesus' call to be a preserving and peaceful influence in the world
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will it make it salty again? Here's the statement: "Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another." Jesus calls us to a humble mission. Holds out the terrifying warning, calls us on crazy holy demands, and has told us we're going to suffer. And the trajectory is, I'm calling you to be humble disciples who are going to tell others about me. Jesus calls us to be in the text a preserving and peaceful influence in the world. The preserving aspect of salt is being used in this text and then says at peace. At first it seemed very disconnected to me. I thought, yep, the disciples are having trouble. They're arguing about who's gonna be the best. And then that's interrupted by, well, if you cause any of these little ones to stumble, you're gonna pay for it big time. And by the way, you're gonna pay for it big time if you don't turn away from your sin. And be at peace with one another. To me, that last part seems very disconnected, but it's not if we realize the point of the text is that he is purifying us to be a preserving, lasting, peaceful effect on the people around us. He's calling us to be humble missionaries, humble disciples. Gospel change in gospel mission.
31 · Tom asserts that Jesus is actively sanctifying the church, binding wandering hearts to himself, granting peace with God and neighbor, and sending the church on mission
Jesus is at work right now, changing us and has bound our wandering hearts to him, like we just sang earlier, and he's gonna salt us, granting us peace first with himself and then with others, and then says, go and be good to them like that. What a great hope we have in that. Revealing Jesus's terrifying holiness and authority, heeding Jesus's command to live Holy lives and embracing the certainty of suffering humbles us and shapes us into the preserving peaceful influence in the world.
32 · Tom illustrates the mission with his own family's testimony: suffering has equipped them to comfort others
I said a minute ago, if you talk to the Wilkins family now about the loss of a child, we're going to provide a little bit different help and comfort for you. The only way that was made possible is because of what we've walked through as a family, and who knows what we're going to walk through again. In the future. But the end goal, the end goal is that Jesus would be exalted, that his authority would be very clearly held up, that we would turn and worship him. How do we get there with proud liberalism over California comments versus what he's called us to in this? Here's what he's actually saying. Be to the people around you something and speak of things that will last, real things that will last, and that's Jesus. Lead them to the eternal one, the preserving one. If you're a good reformer and you love the preservation of the saints and you're like, yeah, he's going to save me until the end, yeah, he will. He will save you to the end. John Piper, I'm gonna completely mess up this quote, but John Piper says, yep, we're gonna get into heaven smelling like smoke. Our robes are gonna be seared, are gonna be singed at the base and dipped in blood. That's how we get in. We get in by the skin of our teeth and worse, but he takes us in because he promises to do so. If you and I, quote, run that race to the very last and we can barely draw a breath, there's going to be a moment that we are quickened into heaven and then we will see what we cannot see fully now, but we get to taste of it now. Jesus is exalted and the one on high.
33 · Tom applies the sermon by calling the congregation to examine their witness: Do they leave people with peace and with something lasting (Jesus)? He contrasts his own failure on the airplane with the call to be salt and light, and urges obedience in response to grace — not as legalism, but as the natural response of the forgiven heart
Also, he's called us to lead them into rest and peace. Consider how beautiful that must sound. Has— when we've encountered those around us, have we left them with a peaceful departure? And have we left them with something that will last and keep pointing them to Jesus? Chuck said earlier, don't be like him, sitting next to someone without thinking about them. Well, don't be like me, sitting next to some young man who needs to know about about his need for Jesus and then ruining it with some political comment. Do this instead. Remember that our hearts are prone to wander. Lord, we feel it. To leave the God I love, to hear you and not heed it, to reverse, to reverse the song like the song actually does and say, Lord, help me to heed it. Let you and I ponder the text now for a minute. Help me to obey. Help me to obey. So grateful for Vince. Vince gave me input last night as we went through this, said, yep, the text says a lot of things. He says, but it says obey. Part of our heeding, or part of our hearing and believing in the amazing grace of God is being like the sinful woman thrown at his feet when he forgives her of everything and says, go. Go now and sin no more. So heed what you've heard.
34 · Tom concludes by synthesizing the sermon's movements: a holy God calls his people to holy lives and a humble mission, all for the purpose of exalting Jesus — the Lamb of God who lived, suffered, died, and rose in glory
We have a holy God. He's put us on a holy call. John, you can come up and save this. I've gone like way over. And also he's called us to holy lives. And he's called us on a humble and holy mission. Our humility and repentance, our holiness, commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ, has at its very reason and motivation the exaltation of the Lamb of God who came and lived a truly holy life. He truly suffered and died, and he rose again in glory. The one now high and lifted up, Jesus.
35 · Tom closes with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to accomplish what the preacher cannot: superintend the preaching, cause the Word to take root, and change the congregation to be salt and light
Let's pray. Holy Spirit, accomplish what I could never accomplish, and that is superintend the preaching of the Word. Let only the meat remain, and that is Your eternal Word. Holy Spirit, do such a work in our hearts this morning that we would leave with a renewed desire to heed what we've heard, to turn away from sin, be watchful around new believers, but that we'd go in a preserving and a lasting and a peaceful way to those around us. Lord, they are everywhere around us, and I pray that you would open our eyes to the desperate, suffering, dying world around us. It's not just in our families; it's in their families as well. It's not just in our bodies; it's in their bodies as well. They need a Savior. They need you, Jesus. Change us. Change us to be in your image, but change us so that we'll go and that we'll declare your name to the nations. Be with us, Lord, and help us. Jesus, you be exalted and glorified at the preaching of your word. Amen.