I'll open your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9 and verse 30. So we continue along here. We've been talking about some things that we need. We're gonna need Jesus forever. We talked about that. We need prayer and faith while we're here on this earth. And all of those things kind of come together now as we finish out Mark chapter nine, where our Lord is gonna address some other issues. You know, the world, or the world's view, let me say of being great, is in no way in agreement with God's view of being great. And in our time, in these modern days, there are a lot of churches that are struggling with this. They've taken a very worldly view of what being great is all about. They measure themselves with the three Bs, I think it's called, bodies, buildings, and budgets. And just taking a very worldly view of what makes a great church, a great congregation, what makes a great disciple. You know, the world wants no part in an obedience that leads to death. Being last and the servant of all. Letting others do what we cannot. Or in pursuing a life of suffering. And these last verses here, Mark 9, addresses all of these issues. Today, we're going to look at obedience. The title of the message this morning is Obedience in Everything. Now, we're gonna pinpoint three specific things, but we should be obedient in everything, every phase of our life, everything we do, everything we say. But if we'll really focus on these three things, that will help us greatly in being obedient to God in such a way that pleases him. So let's look at our passage. Having taken care of the demon-possessed child, and giving some instructions to his disciples, as we saw last week, as to why it was they couldn't cast out that particular demon. We now move on, and our Lord moves on. In verse 30, we read, and they departed thence, and passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples and said unto them, the son of man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him. Let us pray. Our kind and most gracious heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the privilege we have to gather in this place as a congregation of believers. And I pray, Lord, that you would bless and receive our efforts to worship you here this morning and indeed that already they have been pleasing in your sight. And we pray for your Holy Spirit to teach us, Lord, from your word in this portion of the service. And Lord, teach us about obedience and how to be obedient in everything indeed. Not by the world's standards, of course, but by your word, by your standard, by your principles, by who you are, by spiritual things. Lord, I just pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. All right, so let us begin to look here. The first thing in verse 30 that I wanna point out is that we must have obedience in our walk, in our walk. It says in verse 30, and they departed thence and passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it. So a little background as to what's happening here. Up until this time, much of our Lord's time has been spent with the masses. He has spent some time with his disciples, of course, too, but he spent a whole lot of time with the masses, with the people who are coming to him. He has been teaching them. He has been healing some who needed healing. He has cast out demons. He has performed miracles. And great crowds have clamored around him to be around him during this time. But he breaks away from all that now. And secretly, privately, begins a journey south to Jerusalem. He's gonna pass out of Galilee and he's gonna come into Judea. He's gonna come to Jerusalem. and it will be on this, the end of this trip is gonna result in his crucifixion, and then of course his resurrection. So he knows, I think clearly, where he's headed and why, and he separates himself from the people so that they cannot find him, and he and the disciples begin their journey to Jerusalem. Now, the disciples really don't have any clue as to what's happening. As we've already seen, we'll see again here this morning in this passage, they don't understand what Jesus is about to do. In fact, they may be thinking, and they may have gotten excited when he told them, let's go south towards Jerusalem. They may have gotten excited thinking, now's the time. Now he's gonna become king. He's gonna take the throne. This is it. and they may have been very excited about that. The Bible doesn't say that, but because of what they believed and what they don't understand, as we see in this passage, it would be easy for us to see that that's probably what's on their mind. And so, as Jesus says, they depart, they pass through Galilee. He doesn't want anybody to know about it. Now, our Savior knows exactly what's going on. I believe this. He knew the will of the Father. was for him to go to Jerusalem. At the appointed time, there was a specific time agreed upon, I think, from the foundation of the world, where Jesus would be sacrificed for the sins of his people. It would coincide with that particular year's Passover, as it does, and all of that's set, and there's nothing that's gonna change that. Had it been left to the Jews before this, they would have already killed him. They were that angry with him. They were that threatened by him. They were already ready to do that. And he had avoided that because it wasn't his time yet. But now it's gonna be his time, okay? And our Lord knows that. And he is being very obedient here. in this walk to Jerusalem. This is a literal physical walk, but I believe it has for us lessons for our spiritual walk in Christ. So he's beginning that final journey to Jerusalem. He doesn't want anyone or anything to distract him or deter him from that journey. He has a single-minded focus on the will of God and his obedience to that will. He also wants to spend time alone with the disciples to teach them about what was going to happen. Not so much that they would understand it before it happens, but afterwards, and certainly after they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they will be able to look back on that teaching and more clearly understand what it was he had been telling them. And that would strengthen their understanding of what the crucifixion was all about, what his resurrection's all about. And by the way, they would be cleared up on this issue of whether or not he was going to become a physical king Okay, as so many of the Jews thought I guess all the Jews thought he would Or that the Messiah would so anyway He is very single-minded here in his obedience to the will of God and so should we be Our walk of obedience is very important for several reasons first of all It pleases God. When we walk obediently, when we obey God, that pleases Him greatly. And I'm going to tell you something, that ought to mean something to us. That ought to matter to us. That ought to stir our hearts so that we walk even more obediently to God. When you think about all that God has done for us, When you think about what might have happened to those who are believers, and let me be specific, we, by rights, we deserve to go to hell. But we have been spared from that. We have been delivered from sin. We have been delivered from any finality that the grave might hold. We have been promised eternal life. And that ought to cause us to want to please mightily The God who has done that for us. That ought to be the desire of our hearts. Some people look at obedience as some great drudgery, that God is some sort of kill joy. If you're gonna follow God, then you won't ever have any fun in life because he takes the fun out of everything. That is absolutely the wrong way to look at it. You see, God has delivered us. from those things that do take the ultimate joy out of life. And he has given to us an abundant life. And when we are freed from the penalty of sin, then we are free to live the way we were originally created to live to begin with. And there is freedom in that, and certainly great joy. And we should understand that it pleases God for us to walk in obedience to his will. Another thing that this says, it fulfills his purpose in us. I believe that God has a purpose for everybody, even more especially for his elect. If you are one of God's children, God definitely has a purpose for your life. We may not clearly understand it. It may be murky to us at times, but God definitely has a plan for us. And walking in obedience is the only way for us to achieve that plan in an ultimate sense. And so we ought to strive to walk with a single-minded focus for that purpose. Also, it is a testimony to those around us. When they see us walking obediently, that is a testimony to others. Whenever you have the drastic falling away of a nation from God into sin, such as the United States of America has experienced over the last few decades, It is because God's people are not walking obediently as they should be as an example to others. There was a time in the United States when communities were centered around the church. The most important person in the community was the pastor because of his spiritual leadership for the people in the community. We've gotten away from that. because people are pursuing sin instead of obedience. And I'm talking about God's people in many cases. For us to walk obediently will result in a blessing for the community in which we live. The presence of God's people brings blessings upon all people. if we walk obediently. Now, God's people always be blessed far more than those who are not of God, but still, as the scriptures say, it rains on the just and the unjust, right? The more obediently we walk, then the more blessings our own communities will see. It serves as a testimony, and it serves as an influence on those around us. It also keeps us focused on the spirit and not on the flesh. And I want you to turn now to Galatians chapter five. I wanna read some verses there. Galatians chapter five, we'll start reading at verse 16. Galatians chapter five, verse 16. This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You see that? We struggle with that lust of the flesh part, don't we? If we're gonna be honest with one another, we all have struggles with that. How do we overcome that? The Apostle Paul talks about that spiritual warfare that's going on within each one of us every day. Okay, the spirit and the flesh waging war against each other. How do we get to where the spirit overcomes the flesh? Well, we need to walk in the spirit of God, and that will prevent us from fulfilling the lust of the flesh. You cannot be neutral. And I think a lot of Christians want it this way. They want to just kind of hang out in the middle. Every now and then get some sin in, okay? And I don't really mean to make light of this, but it is kind of silly when you think about it. You know, I can get some sin, I can go to church and be all right. How many of you know people that live that way? They feel like they can do anything they want to during the week, but as long as they go to church on Sunday, everything's gonna be all right. Oh no. Oh no, that's not what we're called to do as believers in Christ. So we need to walk in the spirit, and that will exclude the lust of the flesh. If you're thinking spiritual thoughts, then your mind's not gonna be as apt to run to evil thoughts, okay? He goes on, for the flesh lusteth against the spirit. You see, we can't hang out in that neutral place Because our flesh is not gonna let us. The flesh is not gonna be content with that. The flesh is always gonna be pulling us to do sin. To sin against God. Okay? And that pressure's always there. You can't live in a neutral place. It's not possible. The flesh lusteth against the spirit. And The spirit against the flesh. The spirit you are given, the spirit we have, spiritual life we are given, which means the Holy Spirit then is living in us, won't sit back and just let the flesh take over. So there's war there that must happen. And you can't avoid it. Some people wanna duck their heads and try to pretend it doesn't happen, I guess, but it's going to, every day. And what we've gotta learn to do is discipline ourselves so that the spirit is winning those battles every day. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. You get pulled, okay? But if you be led of the spirit, you're not under the law. Meaning the law, the penalty of the law, does not apply to you anymore. Why is that? Because Christ paid that penalty for us. It's done, it's paid for. So that aspect of the law doesn't mean anything to us anymore. And then some Christians will jump up at this point and say, okay, good, that means I can do anything I want to. It's already been paid for. Oh no, that's not the right attitude at all. And that's not what your heart that you're given with your spiritual life is gonna want anyway. Your heart's gonna want to obey God. It's gonna want to follow God. What it means then in this verse is we're not bound by the law. We've been given freedom. And that freedom means that we can choose to serve God. that we can choose to walk in obedience. And that's the choice that we need to make every day. And it goes on, verse 19, now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. Of the witch I tell you before, as I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Those things describe people who are bound for hell, who have not been born again, and who do not have the promise of eternal life. That describes their lives. And those people aren't going to heaven. They're bound for hell. So those things should not be used to describe the life of a believer. Now, will there be occasion when we commit some of these sins? Yes, there will be. But that should not mark the lifestyle of our lives, okay? We shouldn't be dwelling in these sins with no turning away from them at all. If we do commit them, there should come a repentance on our part, a turning away from them and back to Christ. There should be a going to Christ for a cleansing so that we can continue to walk in Christ. And there should be a burden on us when we commit one of these sins. But those who do not have Christ, there is no burden on them. They don't feel the weight of their sin. They just pursue more and more and more sin. And these things describe their lives. So what should describe the life of a Christian? Look at verse 22. Very familiar passage should be, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. These are the things that should be made manifest in the life of a believer. because you have been born again, and because the Spirit of God is changing you, and because you are being transformed from the old man that you were into the new man that we are in Christ, these are the things then that should be used to describe our lives. So if you were to give a survey to the people you know and ask them to describe your life, would you find more of those things from verses 19, 20, and 21? Or would you find more of those things from verses 22 and 23? You ought to do a little self-evaluation. And see, I'm not suggesting that you go around and hand out surveys to people and ask them this. I'm just saying, what would they say if that were the case? Evaluate yourself. Do some self-evaluation. See what you see in your life. I promise you, God will help you with this. Because God's desire is for us to demonstrate these fruits of the Spirit. Verse 24, and they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. And this comes back to what I'm saying in this first point. We need to walk obediently. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Oh, believers, we have to break step with the world. And we have to fall in the step behind Christ, following his example, walking as he walked, okay? Talking as he talked, doing the things that he did as much as we possibly can. Will we ever be exactly like Christ? No, we will not. But he is that standard that we must strive for. And the only way we can strive for that standard, and the only way we can walk in obedience is to keep our eyes on Christ and follow his example. If we get our eyes off of Christ and we look to this world, then we're gonna start walking like the world walks. And that ought to be such a travesty to us that we tremble at the thought that that might happen. We ought to be encouraged to walk in obedience after Christ. Secondly, let's look at verse 31. We must have obedience in our teaching Verse 31 Jesus as we've said he's walking in obedience to his death To his death Are you willing to walk in obedience to Christ, even if it means you're going to your death. There have been so many martyred for Christ over the centuries. I've said many times to you that most of the names, Christian names, that you read in the New Testament died a martyr's death, almost every one of them. and there have been many more since. And there are those today, I was reading something a few weeks ago, in the month of December in Nigeria, something like 1,000 Christians were killed by Muslims there. There are people that die every day for Christ, even yet. We don't see that in our country yet. But could you do that? Could you walk that obediently after Christ, even if you knew it meant that you would die? That's what Christ is doing here. And he. If we let me just interpose this, and if we do, if we get to that point, how many of us would be so focused on that we block everything else that we just I'm going to die and we'd be telling about I'm going to die. They're going to kill me because I'm preaching. That's all we would think about, maybe. What's Christ thinking about? He's thinking about that, obviously, but what's he doing here in this verse? It says, for he taught his disciples. He taught his disciples. I'm thankful for our Lord's obedience in everything. I'm thankful that he did teach those disciples. Even though they didn't really grasp what he was telling them on this occasion, they, as we've said, would later. I'm thankful that he taught them these things. Because in teaching them, and by putting this in his word, we can learn these things. And we can learn more about what Christ did for us. For he taught his disciples and said unto them, The son of man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. This is the second of three predictions that our Lord gives to the disciples concerning his death and resurrection. The first one we saw in chapter eight. You see this one in chapter nine. We'll see the third one in chapter 10. But he tells them this in Mark's gospel three times. Jesus is teaching them, he's instructing them on what was about to happen. And indeed, this is very difficult for them to understand. So what is about to happen? What is he teaching them? First of all, look what he says, the son of man. So he refers to himself as the glorious son of man from Daniel. You might write this down. We've looked at this recently, but Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 and 14, Daniel says, I saw in the night visions and behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. So that is Christ, the son of God being brought before God, the father. Verse 14 it says and there was given him dominion and glory in a kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed every Jew in the day of Jesus here was familiar with that passage of scripture and because that reinforced their belief that the Messiah was going to be a physical king that ruled over them. In fact, not only over them, but would bring all other nations under subjection. That's what they were looking for, a physical king. But as we know, because of how things transpire and other teachings in the New Testament, we know that this is talking about a spiritual kingdom. This is a spiritual king. And that indeed this son of man is who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And so when he says that to them, the son of man, I'm sure their ears perked up and they really began to listen because I believe they're thinking this might be it. This might be when he's gonna take that throne in Jerusalem. That's why we're headed that way. It's the time. And they got excited. But then they got really confused because of what he says next. The son of man is delivered. Delivered. That means he would be betrayed, surrendered to, sent to an execution. That's the meaning of this word. Now when we consider that word delivered means betrayed, we immediately will think here of the betrayal of Judas. But I don't think that's what he's referring to here. He's using this word to refer to the father in heaven who is going to give him up for the elect, for the sake of the elect. Why do I say that? you'll probably want to turn to Romans chapter eight, verse 31. I say that because the scriptures say that. Romans chapter eight, verse 31 and verse 32. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? That's a wonderful thing to remind yourself of day in and day out if God's for us who can be against us When we look at the forces of evil around us today and the things that they are getting away with it seems We can become downhearted dejected even depressed So we must remember if God be for us who can be against us Nobody can and he explains this verse 32 he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? That word delivered in verse 32 is the same Greek word that we find in Mark chapter nine, verse 30, or 31. And it is very plainly telling us, he that spared not his own son, who is that? That is God the Father, is going to give his son over, going to surrender him, and in that sense betray him so that he might die for the sins of his people. Why would he do that? Why would God the Father have his own son killed I'll tell you why. So that he wouldn't kill us. That's the only way we could be delivered. This is the only way that could happen. It's either you die for your sins or a perfect sacrifice dies in your place for your sins. If you die for your sins, You're gonna spend eternity in hell paying for that. Dying and dying and dying and dying. Jesus took care of that on the cross for those who are his people. Strong words. This is strong doctrine. I remind you of Abraham and Isaac. God instructed Abraham, take Isaac, the promised son, and offer him as a sacrifice, where I tell you to. What did Abraham do? He did everything necessary for that to happen, including binding Isaac and placing him on that altar, and he was prepared to kill him when God said stop. Why did God have Abraham do that? So that Abraham could understand what God was going to do for him someday. in Christ Jesus. That's what God has done for us all. He has given his own son so that we might have everlasting life. Shame on us when we take this great salvation for granted. Shame on us when we lose sight of what it costs our Savior for us to have everlasting life. Back to Mark, he says, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, into the hands of men who are going to kill him, murder him. In fact, this is the most egregious murder in the history of all of God's creation. Never has one perfectly innocent been murdered as Jesus was. Never has one been taken through a trial system. We've got this impeachment trial thing going on right now. And wherever you stand on this, there are those who see it as very unfair to President Trump because there are no real charges brought against him, yet he is being tried for these things. And that's so unfair. That's not a drop in the bucket compared to what happened to Jesus. Jesus was tried three times by three different groups, found guilty, and he had done nothing. And then he was sentenced to death. He's going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. I said the father is going to give the son over for this to happen. Let's talk about the son for a moment. The son was willing for it to happen. He wanted to go to the cross so that he could pay for the sins of his people. There's never ever been a greater display of love than that. He loves his people so much that he was willing to endure the punishment for their sin on that cross. The father is sending him, the son is obediently going for him. And while all of this is about to happen, The son is taking time to teach these things to his disciples. We too must be obedient to teach the truths of God's word, even those that are the most difficult. That means we must study the word and that we must be faithful to live it as well. 2 Timothy 2, verses 14 and 15, of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. May every one of us be faithful to teach the full counsel of God's word. pastor and congregation, teachers and students, parents and children. All of these are very important places to teach God's word, to rightly divide the word of truth. And I wanna focus for just a moment on parents. And, you know, to some degree, grandparents too, and other relatives. It falls upon us to make sure that our children hear the word of God. Do not depend on others to do that for you, even your church, because it is your responsibility first. What they should be learning at church, what they should be learning from preaching, should be to build upon what you have already taught them. Take that seriously. Take that, spend time rightly dividing the word of truth with your children. I'm thankful for our Sunday school teachers here and their efforts to do this. We have much to be thankful for in that regard. But it's a very serious command, and we must be obedient in the teaching of God's Word. And then finally, we must have obedience in our understanding. It says in verse 32, but they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him. Now, they're not at this point obedient because they are confused. They are in a spiritual fog or darkness where they just simply can't understand what Jesus is talking about. Now we can't hold we can't judge them here. I don't think we shouldn't look at them too harshly here Because if we have been chosen to be the disciples of the lord and been walking in their place We wouldn't have been any different than what they are We now have the advantage of the completely revealed word of god We know what's going to happen We know what comes after we see all these things much more clearly than they were able to Now let's do talk though about some of their issues here and why they didn't understand They they had this Is mostly due to their preconceived thinking of what the Messiah was supposed to be and do and They are locked into the idea of a king who will reign over them physically, as we've said. They cannot reconcile Daniel 7, the glorious son of man, with Isaiah 53, the suffering servant. To them, this is two different things. They cannot see how they both will come together in one person. Okay? They are locked into some preconceived idea about these scriptures. We must avoid walking into preconceived ideas that shut us off from a fresh understanding of the word of God. Do you know everything there is to know about the scriptures? Do you know everything there is to know about God? Well, of course we don't. So why do we act sometimes like we do? We've, boy, and we're real good, we'll think we've got something all figured out, got that down, lock that up, I'll move on to something else. We need to be careful. God can still show us more about that thing from his word. The word of God has truly amazed me over the years. Every time I think I've looked at a passage and kind of figured it out and I know what's going on, preached a message on it maybe. I find myself at some later point in time looking at that same passage and there's something totally new there that I never saw before. Why is that? It's because we're dealing with an infinite God. We're dealing with a God who is above everything, who is beyond our imagination in what he can know and do and be. And he has revealed to us in his word what he wants us to know, but he doesn't give it to us all at once. And over time, his Holy Spirit will teach us more and more and more. So be careful about preconceived ideas, and this includes things we hold dear, such as the doctrines of grace. I think there's always something new to learn about total depravity, about irresistible grace, all of these things. So don't lock yourself in. Now, be careful. Be careful. Make sure that what you're learning is in abeyance to the scriptures. But if it's in the scriptures and you see it afresh, believe it, learn it, be obedient in your understanding of the word of God. We're told to be not conformed to this world, in Romans 12 too, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. One more thing about these disciples, they were afraid to ask him about it, probably because they had just been rebuked for their lack of understanding and faith, and they were hesitant then to bring something else up. I can understand that on their part, But maybe it's because they simply didn't want to say something stupid because they were that confused. With God, I tell this to students in my history classes at Akron, there is no such thing as a stupid question. That's more than doubly true with God. If you have a question about something, you don't understand something, take it to the Lord. Seek the Holy Spirit of God to help you understand it. Look, search the scriptures. And God may be pleased to reveal to you some understanding there. But don't just set it aside. Dig into it. Don't be afraid. We're told in John 16, verses 13 and 14, how be it when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. Holy Spirit is here to guide us into all truth. Understand this. If you have gleaned any iota of truth at all. It's because the Holy Spirit of God did that. He helped you with that. He made it happen. Everything we learn about God will come through the Holy Spirit of God. Because he is, that is one of his responsibilities is to teach the people of God about the things of God. look to the Holy Spirit of God. Let me sum all this up by saying we need to be obedient to God in everything we do and say. The first thing that must happen is you must be born again, and that's all of God. You can't do anything about that. But once God has given to you spiritual life, then You need to grow in your understanding of Christ to the point where you are converted, to where you make a profession of faith in the Lord as your Savior, to a point where you follow the Lord in baptism, scriptural baptism, and you become part of a Bible-believing, God-believing church. And then you can grow. And then you can really learn what it means to be obedient to Christ. How obedient do you wanna be to Christ? That's the question we need to ask ourselves. And remember the standard is the Lord Jesus Christ, who was obedient unto death. Remember that. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our kind and most gracious heavenly Father, we thank you, O Lord, for this time together here this morning. And Lord, I just pray that you would take these words of yours, of your scripture, and write them upon our hearts, oh Lord, that our understanding might be strengthened and deepened, that we might grow in the grace, in your grace. And Lord, help us truly to be obedient in everything we do and everything we say to your honor and glory. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.