Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: M. Foreign.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: Welcome to Hope for Today, a weekly Bible teaching program that will bring you
[00:00:09] Speaker A: hope for every day.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: It's a privilege to be with you and study the Word of God together. Thank you for being there and listening to Hope for Today, a program produced by Heralds of Hope. We are a small media ministry and we believe our time together in the Word will benefit both of us.
If you would summarize Jesus teaching with a word or two, what words would you use?
As I reflect on the life of Jesus and his teaching, I would say his life revolved around his kingdom. He talked a lot about it in public, privately to his disciples, continually teaching them and us more about his kingdom. Our, uh, title today is Kingdom Values. Please go with us to Mark chapter nine and Bible teacher J. Mark will give us three values which are prevalent in his kingdom.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: Core values aren't just words on a page. They're guiding principles that shape our actions and our decisions.
At Heralds of Hope, we have core values, and they include our commitment to the authority of Scriptures, our pursuit of organizational excellence, and our dedication to growth. Those are deeply ingrained in our culture.
Our commitment to the authority of Scripture is the bedrock of everything that we do.
We believe the Scriptures are God breathed. They're inerrant and infallible.
So we open the text and we let the text determine the subject.
The divine wisdom of the Scriptures guides our understanding, our teaching and its application.
We want our listeners and our readers to become passionate followers of Jesus Christ. And we want there to be visible fruit of holy living.
As we continue studying Jesus life, we observe his core values in today's text. Mark chapter 9 and verses 30 to 41. Jesus communicates kingdom values to his followers.
Listen as I read that text.
Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know it, for he taught his disciples and said to them, the Son of man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And after he is killed, he will rise on the third day.
But they did not understand this saying and they were afraid to ask him.
Then he came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, what was it that you disputed among yourselves on the road?
But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.
So he sat down, called the 12, and said to them, if anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.
Then he took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms. He said to them, whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me.
Now John answered him, saying, teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in your name.
And we forbade him because he does not follow us.
But Jesus said, do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon afterward speak evil of me.
For he who is not against us is on our side.
For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose. And his reward.
In this portion of Scripture, Jesus highlights several kingdom values that can transform our lives and our service.
The first kingdom value I see is anonymity.
In our previous episode, we examined the various kinds of faith that were present in the healing of the demon possessed boy.
And so, immediately after that notable miracle, Jesus leaves the region with his disciples. And the reason for his secrecy was twofold. First of all, he wanted uninterrupted teaching time with the 12.
And secondly, the renewed predictions of his death. In Jerusalem, he taught his disciples and said to them, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And after he is killed, he will rise on the third day.
As in the earlier predictions of his death. He reiterates the rising on the third day.
But the 12 were skeptics regarding his death and resurrection, even those three that were part of his inner circle. And just like they had been afraid to ask him what he meant after they came down from the Mount of Transfiguration, they continued here to be afraid to ask him.
Now, some may think the concept of anonymity is misplaced, especially as it applies to Jesus.
After all, didn't he attract massive crowds of people wherever he went?
But did you ever consider that Jesus never did things intentionally to be noticed by other people?
Isaiah wrote about him, Behold my servant, whom I uphold.
He will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
That's Isaiah, uh, 4212 Jesus physical appearance also tended toward anonymity. Here are more words from the prophet.
He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2 3 you3 might recall that when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Judas had to tell them, the one I kiss, he's the one you need to arrest.
Jesus evidently blended in with those around him in his personal appearance. And distress.
You know, our bent toward selfishness leads us to place too much emphasis on physical beauty.
That physical beauty is often used to manipulate people into serving us.
People should be attracted to our character more than to our appearance.
Our radiant countenance should draw people's attention to our faces.
And I believe that is what attracted people to Jesus.
Can you and I embrace the kingdom value of anonymity?
And then there's a second value that I see. It's humility.
Now, to the unsaved person, humility is not a virtue. In fact, it's often misunderstood as weakness.
We are born with a bent toward pride, and only a genuine encounter with Christ can break that sin within us.
Humility, I believe, is closely related to anonymity.
Would you have struggled to exercise humility if you were a follower of a miracle working rabbi?
I know I would have. After all, Jesus has many followers. But he picked me as one of the 12.
I must be exceptional.
When the disciples and Jesus arrived at Peter's house, Jesus asked them, what were you arguing about among yourselves as we traveled?
They responded with silence because most likely they were ashamed he had discovered their rivalry about who would be the greatest in the kingdom.
So Jesus gathers the twelve around him and he says to them, if anyone wishes to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.
Try to imagine how that shocked them.
Everyone knows that if you want to be first, you have to put yourself forward.
To illustrate his words, Jesus picked up a child and he made that child the center of attention.
Now we know that the 12 didn't consider children to be important.
But picture this child sitting on Jesus lap. He's oblivious to prideful thoughts or actions.
What a rebuke to the attitudes of those 12.
This humble, simple trust is the condition Jesus said for entering the kingdom. Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. That's Matthew 18:3.
And so I ask, do you value the children in your life?
Are you willing to be seen as least in heaven's kingdom and serve without recognition?
I think of the Words of Philippians 2, 5, in your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness.
Jesus had every right to be first and every right to expect to be treated as royalty.
And yet he died on a Roman cross. Like a criminal freely giving his life for our sins.
There's tremendous irony there. The spotless Lamb of God lowered himself to redeem us wretched, hopeless sinners.
This is the kingdom value of humility, and it leads us naturally to the final value in this text.
That value is inclusivity, as Jesus teaches the 12 and they view the child sitting on his lap. John's mind is active and something is bothering him. He says, teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.
Jesus responded to John's statement, stop hindering him, because no one who works a miracle in my name will carelessly speak evil against me, because the one that is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
This is the kingdom value of inclusivity. It is the universal brotherhood of all genuine believers, and it crosses all the barriers of race and class and sex and economic status.
Every service done in the name of Christ for his glory, no matter how small, will receive a reward.
If the church is to be victorious, all believers must work together.
Paul wrote in Romans 12 for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.
How human of us to be like John, to want to protect our turf.
I find it a challenge to embrace my biblical convictions and applications wholeheartedly and without apology, while at the same time humbly admitting that I don't have exclusive rights to the truth.
While I may disagree with some details about how you live out your faith in Jesus, I know that God uses diverse people to accomplish his plans and purposes.
M if you're not violating clear biblical principles and commands, then I must accept that as legitimate. I believe that's the message of this text.
In summary, we must be as inclusive as possible while maintaining the exclusivity that the Scriptures and Jesus demand.
So what about you and me? Are we willing to be unknown in the eyes of the world or even in the community of Christ followers?
Or do we seek attention and prominence?
Are we willing to adopt the ethos of Jesus when He said, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many?
Are we willing to confess with John the Baptist, he must increase, I, uh, must decrease.
Are we willing to accept the diversity of the global body of Christ and recognize that all those who genuinely embrace faith in Jesus and have a role in building his church, Are we willing to celebrate the efforts of other people to share the gospel, even when those efforts might overshadow our own?
If you and I can understand and embrace these kingdom values, our service to Jesus will be authentic, powerful and effective.
May God help us to embrace the Kingdom values that Jesus taught.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Thanks JMarc for reviewing these three kingdom values. Think about that last point, JMarc said. It's a kingdom of inclusivity, a, uh, brotherhood of all genuine believers that crosses all barriers of race, class, gender and economic status.
This is incredible. There is nothing else like his kingdom. Nothing has stood the test of time and continues to grow and revolutionize cultures.
Has His Kingdom changed your allegiance? Has seeking His Kingdom first revolutionized your life?
We would love to hear more about your story.
Our email address is hopeheraldsofhopeuh.org or you can contact us via our website. Go to heraldsofhope.org we would love to hear from you. The life of Jesus was centered on his kingdom and he told us, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you as you go. May this be your focus and goal.
