Finding Purpose in Pain: The Sovereign Plan Behind Suffering

• Suffering and Divine Purpose [00:31:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that suffering, exemplified by John the Baptist and Jesus, is not random but predetermined by God for salvation.
• Rejection and Persecution [00:34:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > Discussion of Jesus being rejected by his own hometown and family, highlighting the emotional and social pain of ministry.
• Authority of Jesus and Believers [00:36:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > Exploration of Jesus' authority over sickness and demons, and how believers share in this authority through the Gospel.
• Evangelism and Discipleship [00:43:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > A call to action regarding the responsibility of believers to share the Gospel, noting the statistic that few believers have led others to Christ.
• Evangelism and Authority [00:43:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that believers share the authority of Christ to proclaim the gospel, noting that only 5% of believers have led others to Christ.
• Overcoming Fear in Witnessing [00:44:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the fear and inadequacy believers feel when sharing the gospel, using a personal anecdote to illustrate reliance on the Holy Spirit.
• The Power of the Word [00:50:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, citing Romans 1:16, and that the Holy Spirit works through the spoken Word.
• Hearing and Obedience [00:54:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the Greek word 'akuo' in the context of Herod hearing John the Baptist, distinguishing between hearing sound and hearing with the purpose of obedience.
• John the Baptist and Herod [00:52:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the biblical account of Herod's reverence for John, the incestuous nature of Herod's marriage, and the subsequent execution of John the Baptist.
• The Death of John the Baptist [00:57:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical narrative of Herod's vow and the execution of John the Baptist, linking it to the suffering of Christ.
• Prophetic Fulfillment (Elijah) [01:01:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > Explains the connection between John the Baptist and the prophet Elijah, noting that John came in the spirit and power of Elijah to restore hearts.
• Meaning of Suffering [01:03:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > Uses 2 Corinthians 4:17 to argue that momentary affliction is actively producing an eternal weight of glory, countering the idea that suffering is random or pointless.
• Evangelism and Transformation [01:07:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > Shares a personal anecdote about a letter from a mother whose alcoholic son and she both found salvation, illustrating that suffering can lead to eternal glory and that encountering Jesus causes inevitable transformation.

• Sermon Illustration [00:30:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his past experience doing special music with his sister-in-law, noting his deep baritone voice versus his wife's bass voice, to connect with the hymn 'It Is Well'.
• Sermon Illustration [00:32:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical narrative of John the Baptist's beheading and Jesus' rejection by his family in Nazareth to illustrate the reality of suffering and lack of recognition.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account in Acts 3 where Peter heals a lame man, using it to illustrate the authority believers have in the name of Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites a statistic that only five percent of believers have ever led another to Christ, using it to challenge the congregation's evangelistic engagement.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a personal story from his freshman year at Appalachian Bible College while working a VA hospital job. He describes getting lost in the hospital, freezing in fear before entering a room with a lone patient, and then using the 'Romans Road' method to share the gospel. He notes the man's emotional response but reveals he never heard back after sending follow-up letters, promising to finish the story later.
• Sermon Illustration [01:07:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story from 50 years prior where he wrote a letter to an alcoholic man. He later received a letter from the man's mother, who thanked him because her son had accepted Christ and she had also become a believer, illustrating the power of the gospel to transform families amidst suffering.
• Sermon Illustration [01:04:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of tent camping—putting up and taking down tents—to illustrate the transient nature of our physical bodies ('earthly home') compared to the eternal building from God.

• Pastoral Charge [00:44:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to listen to a personal testimony regarding their own feelings of inadequacy and fear when proclaiming the gospel.
• Pastoral Charge [01:09:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > To seize spiritual opportunities immediately before they pass.
• Pastoral Charge [01:10:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > To engage in private devotion and self-encouragement based on the sermon's truths.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:00:00] Welcome to Eastside. I'm glad that you can get a peek into one of our services and join us in this way.
[00:00:14] My name is Tom. I'm the pastor here at Eastside, and I am so looking forward to our service this morning.
[00:00:21] We're a gathering of Christ followers, and we want to make Jesus known, the glories of our God known in everything that we do.
[00:00:31] And I hope that you can catch some of that in this service.
[00:00:36] If there's anything that we can do to help you, please reach out.
[00:00:41] Our service will begin shortly.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:00:43] First this morning, if you're looking up here on stage and you're like, where's everybody at?
[00:04:06] Well, everybody's either sick or gone or something's going on this morning.
[00:04:10] Pastor Tom and Sarah and the kids, they were off this week on vacation, which is good.
[00:04:16] So apparently they had a great time.
[00:04:19] So they will be back actually this afternoon.
[00:04:22] So we're a little bit sparse this morning, but that's all right.
[00:04:26] God is still here with us, and we're still going to praise him.
[00:04:29] So let's stand together.
[00:04:30] We're going to begin singing what we were just playing, Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
[00:04:34] Listen to words as we sing.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:07:21] Okay, now I'm first.
[00:07:24] Okay, two announcements real quick.
[00:07:26] The first one is we've been talking about table talk for a while.
[00:07:31] Table talk, just to rebrief you, is basically you willing to say, I want to get together with two other groups in this church, and you don't know who those two other groups are, but you're willing to do that one time in May or June, and if you're willing to
[00:07:51] help to coordinate that group of three, you just let us know, check the box saying I'm willing to coordinate it. If you're not, you just want to like, I don't know, I just want to, yeah, I'm willing to
[00:08:02] get together with two other groups that I'm scared to know because I've seen them for months and months, but I have no idea anything about them. Careful, you might have to get with me. And I have
[00:08:16] been scary before, but it's okay. Once you get to know me, it's not quite so bad. Ask the people who know me. Not Pam. She knows me too much. But if you're willing to get with other people and you
[00:08:31] want to be part of Table Talk, in May and June, we're having our first round. And so if you're willing to do that, just sign up in the back saying, yeah, I want to be part of that. I want
[00:08:40] to get together with two other groups of people. And maybe it's a lunch. Maybe it's a dinner. Maybe it's the park. The three of you, three groups are going to figure out what it is you want to do.
[00:08:51] It doesn't matter. You're just willing to get together one time in May or June. Then you can say, yeah, I'm never doing that again. You get your name off the list. Or you say, I lived through
[00:09:04] that. I'm willing to do it one more time. And then we'll keep you in the list and we'll give you a different group of people to get together with in either July, August, or August. We'll figure that
[00:09:16] piece out last. We got to survive this first one first. So if you want to be part of Table Talk, sign up in the back. It doesn't have to be, you can be a group of one. You can be a group of 10.
[00:09:26] It doesn't matter. But you are willing to get together with Table Talk. Just sign up in the back and we'll, this week, we're going to send out letters saying, hey, here's your other two people that you guys are going to get together with. And then you got to figure out something
[00:09:40] for May and June that you're going to go to coffee or whatever. It doesn't matter. But when you do that, you might actually find out something about these other two people that you didn't know. I
[00:09:51] don't know. So that's what Table Talk is about. The second announcement, real quick, is in the media team, if you were like, yeah, there's no way I would get up front. There's no way I want to
[00:10:03] teach a Sunday school. But you kind of want to serve. You want to do something. You'd like to be behind the scenes. We got a spot for you. There's a lot of things that happen behind the
[00:10:15] scenes. You wouldn't believe all the stuff that happens behind the scenes. And we would love to have you help us behind the scenes do stuff. So the media team's got a bunch of things. You don't
[00:10:24] have to have any experience, nothing. You got it. All you have to be is willing to do stuff and just see me afterwards. We'll figure out what it is that you want to start with. We'll start with
[00:10:35] something really, really easy. It doesn't take much and nobody will turn around looking at you if something goes wrong. That's the safest place to be. Robert is in the spot that people turn around and look at him. So you don't want to be in that chair. You probably don't want to be in
[00:10:53] jake's chair with the sound but there's a bunch of places that that you can serve nobody's going to look at you that's serving behind the scenes that's really really important so if you want to
[00:11:02] get involved you want to serve come see me afterwards i'd love to have you part of the

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:11:06] media team discipleship opportunity there i take that discipleship opportunity and mess the slides up every once in a while just to keep you know robert humble so so every time it messes up you guys turn around and look at everybody else typically you should just keep looking at me
[00:11:25] because it's usually my fault so anyhow the rest of the announcements that we have tonight at five o'clock the women's bible study is continuing um uh sarah will be back pastor and pastor and sarah are planning on being back this afternoon so um that bible study will happen at five o'clock
[00:11:43] this afternoon it's a six-week thing through philippians if you haven't been involved yet you can jump in at any time so that's this evening at five o'clock here here at the church this thursday we've got the pregnancy resource banquet coming up um excuse me with crossroads
[00:12:01] which which is the name of the center in statesville that that is putting this on we've been announcing this for some time um this is their annual fundraiser and our church typically goes in and helps serve at the banquet. They need a lot of people to be there to greet the people as
[00:12:18] they come in. We hand them drinks. We don't do anything with the food. There's a team that does that. We basically keep the drinks filled. And it's an awesome time. You get to listen to the
[00:12:31] speaker that is there. And if you've never done it, it is an amazing time. You need to go. If If nothing else, when you hear them speaking, you see what God is doing there.
[00:12:41] It's an amazing thing.
[00:12:42] So we have had a sign-up sheet in the back.
[00:12:45] If you have not signed up, that's fine.
[00:12:48] We're going to have a meeting right after the service, and I'll announce that.
[00:12:53] Amy, remind me.
[00:12:55] But we will announce that, that right after the service, we are going to have a meeting up front to give you a few more details on that, what time to be there, what we're doing, and all that jazz.
[00:13:05] So please come. If you are, I'll announce this again as well, if you would just like to go and attend, then we have to know that as well because they have to plan a seat for you and hopefully we
[00:13:18] can still get that in there, but we would have to know. So let us know that as well. Please, we need a good amount of people for this. If you can help us, it would be absolutely tremendous. So that is
[00:13:29] coming up this Thursday. Then we have if you have not noticed, go down to the other building. They started work on the bathrooms down there. Sydney and I were commenting as we went down there
[00:13:41] today. The guy's bathroom down there has been totally gutted and it's got new floors down there which is kind of cool.
[00:13:49] Sydney's like, man it's been the same color ever since I've gone here. And I'm like, it's been the same color ever since I've gone here too. But the work is going on down there if you want to see the work in progress going down, and that's happening,
[00:14:01] which is awesome. June 15th through 19th is going to be our skills camp. We've had announcements about that. Be sure to be inviting people to that. If you want to get involved and help, please let us know. We could use all the help that we could get there. And then looking far
[00:14:19] out ahead, July 19th, we're going to have a kids water day here, so keep that in mind. There are going to more details as we get closer to that date but that's coming that's coming up as well
[00:14:28] so hopefully we've got everything there and we will continue singing let's stand together again

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:14:34] we're going to sing yet not I but through Christ in me let's stand as we sing sometimes I want some

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:19:05] of those words just smack you right in the face as you sing them we're going on to it is well with my soul how many is this your favorite favorite hymn this is my if I pick out a hymn this is
[00:19:15] probably my favorite hymn of all time.
[00:19:17] I love the progression of this song.
[00:19:20] A lot of us know the story of this where the tragedy that happened with the author of this song.
[00:19:27] And he wrote it where his family had died and he writes, it's well with my soul.
[00:19:33] How do you say that?
[00:19:36] It's only through Christ that we can say that.
[00:19:38] I love the progression of this.
[00:19:39] When peace like a river attendeth my way.
[00:19:41] And it talks about the sorrow and the trials and everything.
[00:19:44] but then he immediately goes to my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part by the whole, I won't quote it all, we're going to sing it but talks about my sin being nailed
[00:19:56] to the cross, every bit of it and then it says one day I'm going to see him isn't this awesome, let's sing if you would it is well with my soul

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:20:04] in those circumstances where things

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:24:10] are not just this, this song is based off of some you'll see the words to that within this song and so before we sing this cindy's going to come read psalm 46 for us so
[00:24:33] listen to these words of the psalm itself and then as we sing you'll hear those words in there as

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:24:38] well so god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth gives away though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam though the mountains tremble at its swelling there is a
[00:24:56] river whose streams make glad, the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage,
[00:25:10] the kingdoms totter. He utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought the desolations
[00:25:22] on the earth. He makes war cease to the end of the earth.
[00:25:27] He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. Be still and know that I am God.
[00:25:34] I will be exalted among the nations.
[00:25:37] I will be exalted in the earth.
[00:25:39] The Lord of hosts is with us.
[00:25:41] The God of Jacob is our fortress.

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:25:44] It's a simple song.
[00:25:45] You won't have any trouble with it. Sing with us if you would.
[00:25:47] Be still.

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:26:07] The earth is shaking.
[00:26:14] though mountains turn to dust be still no you are not forsaken your god is ever near

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:26:26] oh child do not fear behold be still love that part that says the lord of angel armies makes

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:29:02] me think of you remember i think it was elisha that was in the city and the servant came up to them and said we're surrounded by this army what's going to happen and and he prayed and said open
[00:29:13] his eyes and what did he see he saw angel armies all the way around protecting them so it's awesome all right pastor jim's gonna come up it's hard to not be called pastor after being pastor forever
[00:29:25] right so 35 years yeah that's all it takes right so i'm going to read um passage um for uh in prep for his message out of 2nd Corinthians 4 we're going to read verse 16 and then we're going to
[00:29:40] go through 2nd Corinthians 5 1 if you'd like to turn so 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 16 says so we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day
[00:29:54] for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the
[00:30:07] things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
[00:30:20] hands, eternal in the heavens. Good morning. That's a good sign. Got a response. It is well with my

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:30:44] soul ricky i gotta tell you what you said that's one of your very favorite message or uh hymns this morning it was certainly one of mine and um many years ago before my wife and i were even married
[00:30:57] i used to do special music with my sister-in-law periodically and i had very deep uh baritone voice versus you know at least bass and uh tremendous tremendous message in that hymn isn't there yeah the title of the message this morning and i see it's not up there but the title of the morning
[00:31:24] the message this morning is suffering is not meaningless think about that suffering is not meaningless i don't know about you but when i'm suffering or there are those around us that are suffering i don't know i want out of it don't you and when it seems like it's being prolonged
[00:31:52] it's like my goodness lord what do you got in mind here what's going on why those are good questions to ask really why but you know this passage of scripture that pastor asked me to
[00:32:11] preach through this morning in mark chapter six is really the story of john the baptist and the time when he was beheaded and don't think that there wasn't some suffering going on there But it's also the fact that John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus Christ and his forerunner.
[00:32:34] And when Jesus Christ was martyred, there was some tremendous suffering going on there.
[00:32:40] Suffering that you and I perhaps have no idea of.
[00:32:43] Not just a physical suffering, but an emotional suffering, a mental suffering.
[00:32:49] there is the the suffering of having taken the sins of the whole world upon him at the same time that's past present and future think of the weight of that and him bearing the weight
[00:33:05] of that sin your sin my sin the sins of the world but he is the one who came to take away the sins of the world. And he took that upon himself willingly. That has always boggled my
[00:33:26] mind. And so I want you to understand the idea is that suffering is not meaningless. As a matter of fact, the martyrdom of both John and Jesus was predetermined by God. It was predetermined that
[00:33:46] God would do that himself.
[00:33:48] It was predestined by God in order to provide salvation for sinful mankind.
[00:33:55] And it was prophesied all the way back in the book of Genesis, the third chapter.
[00:33:59] That's always been the providence of God, the plan of God, and the plan of God can never be unfulfilled because God is God.
[00:34:12] He is sovereign.
[00:34:14] And we see this in this passage of Scripture as well.
[00:34:19] I want to give you the context that's going on here so you can understand some other suffering, if you will.
[00:34:26] Jesus, having demonstrated His miraculous power and His authority over sickness and death and demons, was now in His hometown of Nazareth.
[00:34:40] And there in the hometown of Nazareth, He was rejected.
[00:34:45] After people were standing and seeing the marvelous works that he was doing and his miracles and the way that he had lived his life, and they said that he taught with authority and he didn't understand all of that.
[00:34:59] How is this possible that even in his own hometown and beyond that, his own family rejected him?
[00:35:07] Think about this for a moment.
[00:35:10] It says in Mark chapter 5 and verse 43, Jesus said to them, a prophet is without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.
[00:35:25] And in fact, in fact, not even his brothers or sisters, but his brothers believed in him until after his resurrection.
[00:35:36] Do you think that hurt?
[00:35:40] Yeah, that hurt.
[00:35:41] Imagine that, to being rejected by your own family.
[00:35:43] because you have a purpose, a purpose in this, and that is to sacrifice your life, not just his death, but as throughout his entire life was a sacrifice for us.
[00:36:04] Well, then that brings me to this idea of being perplexed by Jesus' authority.
[00:36:10] We're going to be taking a look at Mark chapter 16, verses 14 to 20 in just a moment, But before we read this scripture, let's turn to the Lord and ask him for his help in understanding this passage of scripture.
[00:36:23] Father, today we are here not just to worship you, Lord, but to learn of you and learn from you and from your word, which carries great authority and power for our understanding.
[00:36:40] And I pray, Lord, today that we would have the things of this world, whether it be our own personal pain, whether it might be an emotional pain, no matter what it might be, Lord, that it would be set aside
[00:36:53] for us to be able to concentrate on the truth of your word.
[00:36:59] Find it, Lord, to be applied to our own hearts and our own lives that we might become more and more like you.
[00:37:06] And, Father, that we might be able to have that truth of your word to share with others. We'll thank you for it in Jesus name. Amen. Well let's look at this passage the first verses from from verse 14 to verse 20. That's where we're going to begin and it's kind
[00:37:25] of got a strange beginning there because if you don't know the context it says King Herod heard of it. Well heard of what? We're going to tell you in a few minutes just kind of hang on to that
[00:37:35] question. Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name or his authority had become known, and some said, John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. But others said, he is Elijah. And others said, by the way, Elijah being, you know, that
[00:37:56] great prophet who himself was allowed to have miracles by God. And others said, he is a prophet it like the one of the prophets of old. But when Herod heard of it, he said, John whom I beheaded
[00:38:10] has been raised. For it was Herod who had set and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother's brother Philip's wife, because he that is Herod had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife
[00:38:33] and Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, but she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe when he heard him.
[00:38:49] He was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. The point being is this, is that Jesus Christ's name and reputation had been established throughout the land at that point.
[00:39:05] And here it is that he is not even recognized by his own family, not just as this good prophet, but as the Messiah, the sent one of God, even though they grew up with him.
[00:39:22] Which says this to me, you can spend time knowing all about Jesus and not know Jesus.
[00:39:31] That's why we're looking at this series of messages to see Jesus.
[00:39:37] to see him as he is, the Savior of mankind, the Messiah, the Christ of God.
[00:39:46] This is who we're looking at today and who we should be seeing in our lives.
[00:39:50] And we want our friends and our relatives, our associates and our neighbors to know this Jesus in this way as well, that they might have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[00:40:01] But these people then were looking at his authority.
[00:40:07] They looked at his identity.
[00:40:08] And they looked at his power in verse 14, but they didn't see Jesus.
[00:40:16] They were perplexed.
[00:40:19] They wondered who he was.
[00:40:21] But see, he had not only taught with authority, but he also displayed the power of God over sickness, death, and satanic powers and nature.
[00:40:34] during those months when he had been preaching and carrying out the message of God prior to this time.
[00:40:45] And so they saw that, they saw what was happening, they recognized what was happening.
[00:40:50] The news had gone out, needless to say, but they still didn't know Jesus.
[00:40:59] I want you to see the context here, because just prior to this, and it's going to help make sense here, is from nazareth jesus had commissioned the 12 that his disciples to preach repentance and then
[00:41:11] he gave them authority over unclean spirits and they gave him his power to heal he taught them this fact that they must therefore go forward because they were commissioned by jesus christ to do the bidding of God in declaring repentance to the people.
[00:41:37] Now, here's something that was very interesting there also, is the fact that if the people rejected them, then what they would do is that they would shake the dust off their sandals to say, God has nothing more to do with you.
[00:41:52] That's kind of a scary thought, isn't it?
[00:41:58] We're going to see an illustration of the authority and power of Jesus Christ a little later on in Acts chapter 3, in verse 6, and here is Peter, who heals a man who is lame from birth. We say
[00:42:12] Peter did it, but we really know there was Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ's power, his authority.
[00:42:18] Peter comes into this man, and he said, I have no silver, I have no gold, but what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. When he said,
[00:42:32] in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he was saying, that is the authority that we have over this sickness. That is the authority that we have over this, this satanic world. This is the
[00:42:46] authority that we have. And my friends, you and I carry that same authority in many ways, not to go out and perform miracles, but to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with folks. Look at
[00:43:01] Now look, Guy, for just one moment, please.
[00:43:03] If we are used of God to see someone trust Jesus Christ as Savior, we have just witnessed a miracle of someone who has gone from death to life.
[00:43:24] And so Jesus commissioned those 12, and He commissions us as well.
[00:43:29] And He gives to us His Spirit that indwells us, and He gives us His Word to proclaim.
[00:43:37] and this is the authority that you and I have today who know Christ as Savior and the responsibility commensurate with that and so I have a question for you this morning and before I even ask you
[00:43:54] this question I want to tell you this there is a very sad statistic that I have found many years to be true and that is perhaps only five percent of all believers have ever led another to Christ
[00:44:10] that means 95 of all believers have never led another to jesus christ so what are the chances that you're one of those today i'd say it's a high percentage wouldn't you yeah so here it is
[00:44:33] have you ever had the opportunity to proclaim the gospel but you felt unprepared you felt inadequate. And as a matter of fact, you felt fearful. Well, I'm going to tell you what I have been there. I understand completely. I really do. And I want to kind of tell you a little story that
[00:44:55] happened to me personally about that. And then I will come back and I will finish the story for you towards the end of this message. So pay attention. I was in Bible college, a freshman in Bible
[00:45:10] college and if you know anything about a freshman in bible college they don't know a thing but i had a work study program through the va in beckley west virginia i went to appalachian bible college
[00:45:25] and bradley and so i would go to those to there and i would get my assignments from the chaplain and he would tell me you know what patients that i needed to visit and what i could do here what i
[00:45:37] could do there and i had a certain period of time i was supposed to be doing all this in and so I had done my rounds and very often whenever I was done with my rounds I would go up to the
[00:45:48] sixth floor of the VA and I would meet especially with those guys from World War II see my daddy served in World War II and if you didn't know anything about me you know that I'm career
[00:46:00] military and so I would go up there and I would sit and I would listen to these guys and and talk to these guys and pray with these guys and it was just really really neat so I had finished my
[00:46:11] rounds on a particular day, and I was on my way up, and so I had some papers in my hand, much like I've got papers right now, and so I got on the elevator, and I punched a button for the fifth,
[00:46:23] for the sixth floor, because that's where those guys were, those long-term patients, and all of a sudden, the elevator doors opened, and I'm still looking down, and I just got off the elevator, started walking down the hallway, but as I began to walk down the hallway, all of a sudden,
[00:46:40] and I went, adi, adi, adi, where am I?
[00:46:46] And I looked to my left, and it was an open door, and there was one man in a two-bedroom hospital unit.
[00:46:55] He had his back to me, and I froze in fear.
[00:47:03] Now, I'm not telling you that I was scared, my knees were shaking or anything like that.
[00:47:08] I now know that I froze in fear because my Lord had me at that point, at that moment, to go in and talk to this man and so having overcome that fear I walked into that room
[00:47:22] I pulled up a chair in front of him I never looked at his face never looked prior to that time I had gone to Romans road and in my bible because I know what's going to happen is I'm going to get
[00:47:44] up and get in there and I start to get tongue-tied I went to Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 and I put on there, okay, now go to Romans 5.8. Now, and then when I got to Romans 5.8, I opened up my Bible,
[00:47:56] and it would say, okay, now go to the next passage, then go to the next passage, and go to the next passage. Why? Well, I'll tell you why, because I know me. Things don't always stick, do they?
[00:48:10] So I got in front of him and began to work through Romans Road, Romans 3.23. We're all sinners, right romans 5 8 god shows his love for us in that while we're still sinners christ died for us
[00:48:27] that's the gospel that's the gospel romans 10 9 declares jesus as lord and then believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead and you will be saved not you may be you will be
[00:48:45] And here's the result we see in Romans 6.23.
[00:48:51] The wages of sin is death.
[00:48:55] But there's a conjunction of contrast there.
[00:48:59] The gift of life, of eternal life, is through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:49:07] No other way.
[00:49:09] There's no other way that you can ever get that because it was provided by Jesus Christ and given by Jesus Christ.
[00:49:17] And then I added to that 2 Corinthians 6, verse 2.
[00:49:23] Now is the accepted time.
[00:49:26] Now is the day of salvation.
[00:49:30] You see, at that particular moment, I finally looked up into this man's face and the tears were running down.
[00:49:39] And I really didn't even know what to say at that particular moment.
[00:49:43] Other than to pray with him and to pray that God would utilize those words that had come forth from me, but truly from Jesus Christ.
[00:49:59] Because you and I can do nothing without the Holy Spirit.
[00:50:04] That is our power. That is our authority.
[00:50:06] That's the one who truly is working in us.
[00:50:09] It is the Holy Spirit who literally brings people into that right relationship with Jesus Christ who saves those people.
[00:50:17] It's not me. It's not my great argumentation.
[00:50:20] nothing other than the truth of the power of the word of God spoken to these people.
[00:50:29] What a lesson I learned that day about the power of God's words.
[00:50:35] As a matter of fact, Romans chapter 1 and verse 16 says this, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, who believes.
[00:50:50] And so I wanted to follow up with him.
[00:50:55] And the next day I came into the hospital and I had some discipleship materials with me.
[00:51:02] And I went up there to the fifth floor.
[00:51:04] I found his room and he was gone.
[00:51:09] And I'm like, oh, no, I'm too late.
[00:51:12] But as God would have it, I went down to the records room.
[00:51:18] And one of the other Appalachian Bible College students were working in the records room.
[00:51:23] and I asked for this man's address, which they're not supposed to give me, right?
[00:51:28] You know, here's these laws.
[00:51:31] And I told him what the situation was and he wrote it down and left it on the counter and I, of course, picked it up.
[00:51:39] So I wrote this man a letter and I wrote out the things that he needed to know about the assurance of salvation and to begin the discipleship process.
[00:51:50] Never heard a word back.
[00:51:52] Nothing.
[00:51:52] I had no idea what God was doing.
[00:51:57] But I will tell you the rest of the story later.
[00:52:04] That's kind of a little Paul Harvey thing, right?
[00:52:06] He did it a lot better than I do.
[00:52:10] But here it is.
[00:52:12] I want you to see then as now that there is a speculation as to who Jesus is or Jesus' identity.
[00:52:21] because there are many people who claim the name of Jesus Christ, but they really don't even know who he is because they've not encountered Jesus Christ.
[00:52:35] And so some said, we're back in Mark chapter 6 and verse 14, some said, well, it's John the Baptist who's been raised from the dead.
[00:52:45] You know what? I don't think John ever did a miracle, did he?
[00:52:48] Not to my knowledge.
[00:52:50] Correct me if I'm wrong.
[00:52:53] But so they're leading us off on John the Baptist because he was a great prophet the second thing they said others said well he's Elijah another great prophet who did miracles and still others he is a prophet like one of the prophets of old
[00:53:09] but Herod said John whom I beheaded has been raised and that explains his frame of mind we see that in verse 20. Herod feared John knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. He kept him
[00:53:30] safe. Kept him safe from what or who? Herodias. I got to tell you something right now. I can't imagine being married to that woman. Killing her. Wanting to kill her enemies. Yeah. And willing to
[00:53:55] do it. But here it is. He feared John knowing that he was a righteous and holy man that he kept him save from Herodias. And when he heard him, he was greatly perplexed. In other words, he was
[00:54:09] puzzled. He didn't understand what John was talking about, and yet he heard him gladly.
[00:54:17] I want to take a moment and talk about that word heard, or hear. In the original language, it is the word akuo, from which we get the word acoustics. But there are two ways, literally,
[00:54:29] in the scriptures that are identified by that. You need to know by the context what it meant.
[00:54:34] to hear is to hear a sound a sound and that is the sound like a coup or acoustics or the second one would be to hear with a purpose of obedience and when it comes to the word of god
[00:54:54] oh i how i pray that i always listen and that you always listen and when you hear the truth of the word of God, you do so with the purpose of obeying it. Because to obey is better than
[00:55:12] sacrifice, isn't it? And that's what the word says. Yeah. And so when I see this then, here's Herod's frame of mind in the fact that he feared John. That word in the original language there
[00:55:31] is phubeo, which means then that it might be called that he has a great phobia of John. He's scared to death of John, but that's not the way it's used here in this context. Instead, he had
[00:55:47] a reverence or an honor for John because he recognized that John was a righteous man. He was a holy man of god and when he was in his presence he recognized that he felt it i would i would tell
[00:56:09] you for for the for a couple of moments here in the past i have been in a place where um you know the pastor walks into the room and a conversation changes immediately and i think you can get the
[00:56:24] point from that huh but here it is john repeatedly shined the light of christ into the sinful darkness of Herod's life. And Matthew 5.16 says this, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Well, notice this,
[00:56:44] that the light that you and I have is light that is refracted because it is truly the light of Jesus Christ. And so it is the light of Jesus Christ that is shining out from us. We don't
[00:56:57] generate that light. He is the light of the world. We are not. And so their marriage, the marriage of Herod and Herodias was not only incestuous, it was adulterous. You see, Herod the Great was Herod's father, and the grandfather of Herodias, making her Herod's niece and his brother
[00:57:26] Philip's wife. Scripture was clear about that.
[00:57:31] This is a mess. This is a mess. And that's what the darkness of this world is like, isn't it? So Herodias hated John and wanted to be rid of John. She wanted him dead.
[00:57:46] And her opportunity came when Herod's pride and drunkenness made a foolish vow to Salome, his stepdaughter.
[00:57:54] That brings us then to the flashback to John's death. So John kind of hid the main point there in verse 14, but now he gets down to it in verse 21. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his
[00:58:12] nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. You're going to have to figure out the kind of a dance she was doing herself, all right? I'm not going to spell it out for you. And the king said
[00:58:27] to the girl, ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you. And he vowed to her, whatever you ask me, I will give you up to half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother,
[00:58:41] for what should I ask? And she said, by the way, without hesitation, the head of John the Baptist.
[00:58:47] verse 25 and she came in immediately with a haste to the king and asked saying i want to give i want you to give me at once the head of john the baptist on a platter this is some family and the
[00:59:07] king was exceedingly sorry but because of his oaths and his guest he did not want to break his word to her and immediately the king sent sent uh an executioner with orders to bring john's head
[00:59:20] he went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother and when his that is john's disciples heard of it they came and he
[00:59:31] took his body and laid it in a tomb that ought to be familiar to us as well because that's precisely what happened with jesus christ and so the reason that mark showed particular interest in what herod
[00:59:46] and herodias did to john is seen in mark chapter 9 verses 9 to 13 if you want to turn there very quickly please go ahead here it is as they that is jesus peter james and john because they were up
[01:00:00] there on the mount of transfiguration together where jesus took them they were coming down the mountain he charged them to tell no one what they had seen until the son of man had risen from the
[01:00:12] dead so they kept the matter to themselves questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. I mean, here is their teacher, their Lord, it's all of this, their master.
[01:00:26] He going to die? And they asked him, why do the scribes say that first Elijah come? And he said to them, Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the son of man
[01:00:40] that he should suffer many things and be betrayed with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come and they did not they they did to him whatever they pleased as it is written of him
[01:00:57] in other words it's previously in the old testament scriptures it's laid out and matthew 17 13 adds this to kind of help us round it out then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them
[01:01:10] about john the baptist and so the progression we see of thought is this elijah came before the last day to restore the hearts to preach repentance that's one of the things why and we see that in
[01:01:27] malachi chapter 4 verses 5 and 6 you'll have to look at that later but i want you to realize that there is a near and prophecy going on here and sometimes it is really difficult to suss all of
[01:01:39] that out to figure out how does all this fit together it takes some study it takes some time but Christ was saying here literally is this that in John there is a likeness and prophetic spirit of Elijah and had
[01:01:54] already come unrecognized much as Jesus Christ himself unrecognized who said I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness make straight the way of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said in other words
[01:02:10] Isaiah had prophesied that this was going to happen so here's an interesting observation i find in verse 26 and the king was exceedingly sorry but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her that is to salome well the it is
[01:02:34] interesting to me that the only other time that mark used the word perilupos the greek doesn't that impress you? Perilupos was when he was referring to the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. The suffering of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane when he sweat great drops
[01:02:59] of blood. That's exceedingly sorry. That brings me then to the last point, and that is people's suffering is not meaningless in that second Corinthians passage that we've already seen.
[01:03:19] But I want to read it to you.
[01:03:20] So, we do not lose heart, though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
[01:03:30] For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
[01:03:39] As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.
[01:03:43] For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
[01:03:51] Now pay attention closely to chapter 5 and verse 1.
[01:03:55] For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
[01:04:06] I don't know about you, but I used to love to go camping.
[01:04:09] We'd go tent camping in particular, but you put up a tent and you take it down.
[01:04:14] You put up a tent and take it down.
[01:04:17] Well, guess what is going to happen with these physical bodies, folks?
[01:04:22] It's brought up.
[01:04:23] It's brought down.
[01:04:26] When we're born, we're destined to die.
[01:04:29] Unless, of course, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ returns for us in the meantime.
[01:04:34] Hoorah.
[01:04:34] I want you to realize this, however.
[01:04:41] Not all affliction seems momentary.
[01:04:47] Right?
[01:04:49] Not all affliction seems momentary.
[01:04:53] or light. But in comparison to eternal glory, it is all, all suffering is meaningful. It is meaningful. It is appropriate then for those who are suffering to weep with those who weep.
[01:05:20] Second Corinthians 4.17 does not say our momentary light affliction will be followed by an eternal weight of glory. It says our light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. It is happening. It is happening because that's what God is doing in us.
[01:05:42] And so the term here, and we see that verb is preparing, is present tense. It means that our suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory now. And very often, folks, through our
[01:05:58] suffering, because suffering causes us to turn to God for help. And here's this eternal weight of glory. Eternal weight of glory is perpetual abundance, fullness of bliss, and perfection that is lived out in the very presence of God. And so even a lifelong affliction is God working us
[01:06:29] to prepare us to eternally live in his presence listen we know that for those who love god all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose but what's the
[01:06:48] context of that passage of scripture it is suffering it is suffering and so god is looking for our ultimate good in this, and suffering is not meaningless. We can rejoice in the face of suffering knowing that the things that are seen or experienced now are transient, much like these
[01:07:11] tents we're living in. They're transient, but the things that are unseen are eternally. Are they eternal? And so either you suffer with the eyes of the world, or you suffer with the eyes of Jesus
[01:07:25] Christ and you will not lose hope. Suffering is not meaningless. I want to tell you the rest of the story very quickly. I promised it. Here it is. I had written that letter to that man's home
[01:07:45] and I couldn't even tell you what his name is at this point. It's been 50 years, Brittany.
[01:07:52] And I never heard a thing back until about two months, maybe three months later, somewhere in particular vicinity and I got a letter from someone and I didn't recognize who it was even from and I began to open up this letter and it was from this man's mother and she was thanking
[01:08:13] me for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with her son who'd been an alcoholic all of his life you think that mother suffered watching her son slowly kill herself or kill himself perhaps you can identify with that. But I want you to understand this as well. She was thanking me for that, and she
[01:08:38] said, my son has been so transformed by his salvation that I could not resist, and I too have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. Do you have fear of sharing the gospel? An opportunity comes, which by the
[01:08:57] way, I want to tell you very quickly, is the fact that opportunities have a shelf life. You either take that opportunity or it will never come again you might get another opportunity but that one is
[01:09:08] gone hurrah come on you want to hear the rest of this okay here you go we can rejoice in the face of suffering and suffering is not meaningless and so here it is that she had suffered but now she
[01:09:32] also had Christ as her Savior and she could look forward to knowing her son and that she was going to experience an eternal weight of glory.
[01:09:50] And so no matter what you have or what you will experience in this life, the death of a loved one or perhaps you've been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease or the trauma of a divorce
[01:10:02] having that prodigal son or daughter you fill in the blanks what causes you to suffer you fill in the blanks folks it is not meaningless embed these truths in your own heart preach them to yourselves get alone with the lord
[01:10:31] and preach them to yourself for god is still on the throne god is still giving to us his presence in his glory. So very quickly, when people truly encounter Jesus and they see Jesus and trust him
[01:10:50] alone for their salvation, transformation is inevitable. They can declare that they have been saved, but if there's no transformation in their life, then they're dead inevitably without Jesus Christ.
[01:11:10] When people encounter Jesus, striving loses its power, hiding loses its appeal, and amazingly, sin loses its grip.
[01:11:26] And when people encounter Jesus, they are confronted with the truth about God and the truth about themselves and the fact that we are all sinners at the very same time.
[01:11:39] That is the power of grace.
[01:11:43] Let's pray.
[01:11:44] Father, this morning, how I praise you and thank you for the truth of your word.
[01:11:49] I thank you, Lord, for the opportunity that I have had today to share this poignant message with your people.
[01:11:57] And how we are looking to you, Lord, and praising you and worshiping you because you are the God of authority.
[01:12:05] You are the God of power.
[01:12:07] You are the God who overcomes and banishes and has taken sin.
[01:12:11] oh God thank you in Jesus name amen

[01:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:12:16] we had picked out a song for the end that as we got into this we realized it didn't really go with the message we're going back to and doing that new song again be still and know that I
[01:12:34] am God which goes right along with that message God's in control stand with me if you would we're going to end the service with be still

[01:13:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:13:03] Lord, we thank you that you see us, you know us, you know what we're going through.

[01:16:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:16:00] Lord, may we lean on you.
[01:16:01] May we look to you this week as we leave.
[01:16:03] In your precious son's name we pray.
[01:16:05] Amen.
[01:16:06] You're dismissed.

[01:16:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:16:08] Thank you for joining us online today.
[01:16:10] And I hope the service was a spiritual blessing to you.
[01:16:14] If we can be a help in any way, please reach out to us.
[01:16:18] And if you would love to learn more about our church, you can find us online at visitebc.org.
[01:16:28] Visitebc.org, you'll find our website.
[01:16:30] You can also find us on social media and on YouTube.
[01:16:33] And then also, if you're in the Mooresville area, I would love to invite you to come join us in person next week and we can worship the Lord together.
[01:16:42] God bless.