Mark chapter 10 when we ended our Study last week um you'll remember that Jesus was approached by a young man of some Financial significance who wanted to know from him how he could be sure you know that he was um on his way to obtaining eternal life and as Jesus spoke with this man it became apparent that uh the young man was attempting to earn his way into heaven and um and that's why he came to Jesus and said what must I do because when you're trying to earn your way to heaven you can never
have Assurance you can just never be sure you know if you're trying to be a good person if you're trying to be religious if you're trying to like you know make the grade you never know if you've made the grade and so it becomes kind of this Perpetual question mark and so this young man came to Jesus and and sought that insurance and Jesus challenged this young man who thought that it was possible to be good enough and to keep the law he challenged him with um his understanding of the law and and and um
and you'll remember how that that kind of turned out for the young man it says he went away sorrowful because Jesus's challenge kind of hit at the heart of where his heart really was um and then Jesus spoke to his disciples later about how difficult it is for those who have wealth in this life to enter the kingdom of God you remember that some people wonder what that's all about why is it being wealthy is such a challenge or whatever to somebody getting saved and and it's very simple actually people who have wealth tend to
like it and that means they have a hard time giving it up there's a there's a statement I wonder if you recall in Matthew chapter 6 let me put this on the screen for you Jesus said where your treasure is there your heart will be also you guys remember that statement that's one of the reasons right there why it's so challenging for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God because their treasure tends to be their wealth and that's where their heart is focused and when their heart is focused on their wealth um it's pretty
tough to focus on anything else so we're going to get into this part of the chapter now here in chapter 10 the disciples are listening to all this they've heard this conversation that Jesus had with this young man of significant wealth they heard what Jesus said about the young man saying it's more difficult for you know or rather it's easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy or a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven they're Amazed by all of that and and Peter picks up on
the fact that what Jesus is talking about is is surrendering being willing to surrender what we have in our lives and give them to God for the sake of the Kingdom for the sake of following Jesus Christ I don't know if you've ever had to give anything up in order to follow the Lord but Peter kind of you know dials in on that you know and he so he decides to say something about what he's perceiving if you look in verse 28 with me Peter says began to say to him see we have left everything
and followed you now the reason I read that verse with that emphasis on the the word we is because actually in the Greek it's considered to be emphatic meaning that it is meant to draw a distinction or a contrast between Peter and the disciples and this rich young man who is probably still walking away you know you know they can probably still see him walking with I suppose with his shoulders slumped and and feeling all you know disheartened and so forth and the implied question that Peter is asking at least implied as it relates to
Mark 10 is so what do we get in return because we've left everything you know Lord to follow you I say that it's an implied question actually if you read this conversation in Matthew's account it's more than implied let me show you this one from Matthew chap 19: 27 then Peter said in reply see we have left everything and followed you what then will we have I love Peter I I I mean you have to love him and kind of want to smack him all at the same time because you know he's just he's just
out there he's one of those people that's just nothing held back here I am I'm Pete and so he's like well Lord you know perceiving that we're talking about surrender here uh We've surrendered everything so what do that mean than for us sort of thing you know and I love the response as we get in this the response that Jesus gave to Peter is a very interesting one notice look at verse 29 with me Jesus said truly I say to you there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or
father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a h hundredfold I know it goes on talks but stop there for just a moment because I want to focus on what Jesus has said here because this is really a very amazing statement he he he's he and we we read this and we wonder immediately did he mean that I mean I've actually heard Bible commentators look at this verse where Jesus said Hey listen you come follow me you whatever you give whatever you surrender whatever you give up in
this life I'll return it to you a h hundredfold and I've heard some commentators say well he didn't mean that literally just kind of a nice way of saying you know checks in the mail sort of a thing you know but I think it's literal I I I I believe Jesus means what he says and says what he means and the reason is is because no matter what we leave behind or what we give up for the sake of the Gospel or to follow Jesus I have found that he gives back so much more than
we could possibly give and I'm sure some of you have experienced this you know Sue and I have experienced this to some degree over the years because you know at the Lord's leading you guys know you know we settled here in Ontario a little over 26 years ago and it seems like crazy to even hear that coming out of my mouth that it's been that long but you know many of you who know us know that um we settled here uh frankly at the time a little bit contrary to the wishes of some of our
family who are about 1500 miles away and they you know my mother bless her heart she would call me pretty regularly and just say you know Paul there's lots of churches in our area too and kind of a kind of a thing like you know it's like you can get a job at this windco or something you know um but this is this is where God this is where God put us this is where he led us and so in a very real sense we kind of had to leave our respective families in order to
you know come here and pastor this church and and I say leave or we left them in the sense of you know we we didn't really get to be close to our family during life's stuff and even as it continues to go on you know the four kids that we raised in this area basically got to see Grandma and Grandpa like maybe maybe once a year here um and sometimes there there were years that they didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa and and you know when when their grandparents were younger they would try to
get out here and see them and but it was a challenge you know and it was something that we kind of knew that that we you know gave up because you know the the kids didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa Grandma and Grandpa didn't get to see the kids growing up except through just the occasional pictures that um you know they were sent and that sort of thing but you know as I stop and think about all those years particularly of child raising and obviously those years are still going on today um I see
that whatever we did give up to follow the call of the Lord by coming here to Ontario God has more than made up for I mean a h hundredfold um by you the body of Christ the family of God and I and I mean that sincerely I mean our kids grew up again without their their their grandparents in the sense of my parents and Sue's parents but when I think of all the wonderful standin grandmas and grandpas you know that came into our lives over the years and just grabbed our kids when they were little
and just hugged them and blessed them and and spent time with them and encouraged them um my kids actually had lots of grandparents growing up they were just people in the body you know people who you know were here uh and and in some cases still are here at Calvary Chapel and whatever family time we missed with not having our siblings or our cousins nearby because none of them live around here the Lord has more than made up for by people like you just hanging out and being in our lives and filling us you know
with love and encouragement and prayer when we've needed it I mean so the body of Christ has more than filled what would have otherwise been a void in our lives and so that's why I really believe that what Jesus said here about him returning a h hundredfold whatever is given up for the Lord I think it's true I think it's literal I think well I know this no man is going to be you know uh giving things to God that he's not going to repay God's going to be no man's debor in other words you
know um he's going to he's going to take care of what he owes and if somebody has given that kind of a thing the Lord is going to he's going to bless back now some of you may have noticed that one of the blessings and I use that word blessing one of the blessings he talks about here one of the rewards he talks about is mentioned as we kind of keep reading here um and he talks about the the uh the things that that are going to be given back hundredfold he says uh here in
verse uh 31 um I'm sorry verse 30 I'll just read it again you know who will not receive a h hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in uh uh the age to come eternal life is it interesting how he pops persecutions on the end of all these blessings and we're kind of like you know one of these things is not like the other right what is that all about we were talking about all these good things going on and and suddenly he's talking
about persecutions like oh and by the way I'm going to throw in some persecutions in there for you there just to kind of you know make things fun and we're kind of like that's a good thing yeah it's a good thing I don't think the disciples would have been able to understand that at the time Jesus said it there was a time they came to understand you know what I think that's a good thing let me show you a passage from Acts chapter 5 beginning of verse 40 look at this it says and when the
Sanhedrin had called in the apostles they beat them and charge them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go then they meaning the apostles left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name obviously referring to the name of Jesus in other words they walked out of that council chambers having been beaten and threatened within an inch of their lives by these guys who by the way had successfully turn Jesus over to you know the procurator and had him put to death and they
walked away from that meeting rejoicing rejoicing that they'd been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ interesting isn't it they remembered how Jesus I'm sure had spoken earlier of rewards when it comes to suffering check out this passage from Matthew 5 beginning at verse 11 it says bless are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you he says there's a reward awaiting
in other words when Jesus allows persecutions to come into your life he's allowing it for the purpose of bless bling you later on and that is why Paul wrote to the Philippians and I've always loved this statement from Philippians chapter 3 he said I want to know Christ I want to know him I want to know the power of his resurrection and I want to know the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings that's that's a term you see that you and I kind of read in the in the Bible and we kind of go I
don't know what that's all about exactly Paul knew that this was a blessed condition that had been offered to some people in Christ to be able to actually share in the sufferings of Jesus because they knew that there was a great reward that was coming uh because of those things interesting isn't it and then Jesus adds this comment look in your Bible in verse 31 kind of tacked here on the end of it but many who are first will be last and the last first and and he doesn't explain what he means and that's one
of the reasons why it's really nice to be able to have other gospel accounts because again if we if we read this conversation in Matthew we know that this statement here in verse 31 actually got tacked on to the end of Jesus telling a parable and it was the parable of the vineyard you guys remember that one I'm going to you don't need to turn there let me read it for you just listen while I read okay he says for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in
the morning to hire laborers for his Vineyard after agreeing with the laborers for a daus uh day which was the common amount of money people would get paid for a day's work back then he sent them into his Vineyard and going out about the third hour he saw other standing idle in the marketplace and said to them hey you go into the vineyard too and whatever is right I'll give you so they went going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour he did the same and about the 11th Hour which is just
about the end of the day he went out and found others standing and he said to them why are you standing around here doing nothing and they said because no one has hired us and he said go go into the vineyard literally with like an hour left in the day to work and when evening came the owner of the vineyard said to his Foreman all right call the workers pay them their wages beginning with the last up to the first and those who uh when those hired about the 11th Hour came that was the guys
who only worked about an hour it says that each of them received a daus now when those hired first thing in the morning came they thought oh well we're going to receive a lot more because each of them also oh oh excuse me but each of them also received a Daenerys and on receiving it they grumbled at the Master of the House saying these last guys only worked an hour and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat but he replied to one of them friend
I'm doing no doing you no wrong did you not agree with me for a Daenerys take what belongs to you and go I choose to give to the last worker as I gave to you am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me or do you be Grudge my generosity and then this statement so the last will be first and the first last by the way this Parable really really messes with some people's idea of fair play and I've had people you know ask me about this on occasion I go
what's going on with that but I think that the meaning of the parable although there may be some aspects of it that are yet to be discovered as it relates perhaps to some specific meaning for the nation of Israel um you and I look at this Parable and it becomes for us a a reminder uh that we can expect to see some surprises on the day that our Lord begins to kind of roll out the rewards you know at the the the beima or the BMA seat judgment which for you and I is the the
only seat of judgment that we will stand before right because Jesus already paid the penalty for our sins so there is no judgment seat of Christ as it relates to sin but we will stand before God in the BMA judgment which is a judgment of rewards and when that happens expect the unexpected that's basically what this Parable is kind of you know uh telling us so it's probably good that we prepare ourselves right now yeah I don't know exactly how this Parable is going to play out in real time but we can never forget that
we serve the one who says to us listen my ways are not your ways and your ways are not my ways my thoughts are not your thoughts and on and on and on and we need to remember that going into it and understand that there's probably going to be some surprises you know some of the people that we thought were going to be like on the top of the Heap you know when it comes to the reward thing they're going to be last and some of the people that we didn't even know who they were
were like what who's that never heard of that person never saw their stuff on the internet you know they didn't write any books you know no Classics you know it could have been some Widow somewhere living in some Eastern European country who spent the majority of her life on her knees just praying and none of us ever knew nobody ever knew but God knew and their their last in terms of you know how the world would perceive their importance and and and all these other but in the kingdom of God they're going to be first
and you and I need to just understand that kind of going in to this whole thing so expect the unexpected you know verse 32 keep looking with me in your Bible there it says and they were on uh the road going up to Jerusalem remember they're heading there for the last time and Jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed and those who followed were afraid all kinds of emotions going on with the disciples as they approached Jerusalem but I want you to notice something that I think is significant about verse 32 did
you notice here it says that Jesus was walking ahead of them did you see that they're not walking in a big huge group well the disciples might be but Jesus is walking on ahead verse 32 and they were on the road going to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking ahead of them these guys are back here kind of having an emotional meltdown about everything that's he's said and everything that's going on and Jesus is just up there walking heading to Jerusalem and I think it's significant if you can kind of picture that in your mind of
Jesus walking ahead of the disciples they're lagging behind as a group and I'm sure they're wondering how in the world Jesus can be so determined you know in his pace and his Direction he's been talking about all these rotten things that are going to happen once he gets there so why why isn't he avoiding the whole place all together that's our human reaction you know usually to knowing that there's difficulty up ahead it's like whoa you turn you know well Luke actually uses some interesting language at this same juncture in the ministry of Jesus as
I put this on the screen check this out from Luke 951 it says when the days Drew near for him to be taken up it says he set his face now that's how the ESV puts it to go to Jerusalem and and and you'll notice on the screen here I've capitalized the words that phrase he set his face because that was a a Jewish idiom used it that time to speak of a a determined sort of a a focus to you know going I'm going to do this I'm going there nothing is going to stop
me and that's the way Luke describes Jesus walking ahead of the disciples and these guys lagging behind biting their fingernails and whatever all else worrying about what's going on it says Jesus was focused heading to Jerusalem so if he knew what was going to happen while he was there why was he so focused on getting there you know why was he so determined why was he so just you know well it's tough for us to understand because like I said it doesn't seem like anybody in their right mind would willingly want to walk toward the
kind of stuff that Jesus was going to deal with there but the writer of Hebrews actually gives us a beautiful statement to explain for us why Jesus walked in such a determined fashion toward Jerusalem up on the screen take a look at this one from Hebrews chap 12 it says that for the joy that was set before him Jesus endured the cross despising the shame that's it right there for the joy how in the world somebody can be determined determined focused to go where they know there's going to be difficulty hardship trial death humiliation all
the things that went along with his suffering on the cross is because of what you see in Hebrews 121 it was for the joy it was for the joy there was and you say what what Joy what Joy is there in suffering listen for Jesus it was a deep and settled Joy Jo knowing that he was in the center of God's will even in the midst of suffering now I want that to kind of sink in for just a moment to your hearts in the center of God's will even though it included suffering and some
of you might be wondering if the center of God's will could ever include suffering I there there are people in the body of Christ who believe that it cannot and I've talked to them and and you know that they'll they'll quote verses like every good and perfect gift comes from above never any suffering never any hardship that's never the will of God that that that that there should be suffering in our lives and I get that and believe me I love to embrace it because I don't like suffering any more than the next guy but
I want you to notice here the problem is you know we have to deal with the Bible First Peter chapter 4 uh it gives us some wonderful insights where Peter writes therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good meaning while continuing to do good so what is Peter saying to us here he's saying that it's very possible for you to know to know that you are in the center of God's will even though you are going through a great deal of suffering now here's here's
where this is going to get a little bit dicey with some people's hearts and Minds because some are going to ask why in the world would God want somebody to suffer I mean that sounds kind of sadistic is that the God we worship who lays out this path in front of us and every so often that path includes just you know blocks of time that is full of suffering and difficulty and hardship and he's kind of like laying it out saying yeah that's good for you you know just you can go through that and it'll
you know build character don't you love it when people come up to you you know when you're going through a hard time and they say Well it builds character you just want to deck them don't you you know it's like so is that what God is like you know he's like well he needs me know we need to build some character so he's going to throw some junk in our path and so forth listen I am not suggesting that God wants people to suffer I'm not saying that at all what I'm saying is that when
we follow Jesus Christ and we purpose to stay in the center of his will living in this Fallen World suffering will happen Okay that's what I'm saying I I'm not saying it's God's will in the sense that now it's my will that you suffer for a while I'm saying that when you are in his will when you determine when you purpose in your heart I am going to walk according to the will of God that is going to bring suffering into your life it's just it's just the way it goes right and here's here's how
Jesus explained it John chapter 15 um verse 19 here's what Jesus said he said listen if you were of the world in other words part of this world the world would love you they'd say yeah one of us she's one of us but because you are not of this world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you right there it is he explained it to you and I why is that difficulty coming my way when I'm doing my level best to say Jesus I want your will in my life because
you're you're living in the will of God in the midst of a world that is out of his will a world that is under the Dominion temporary though it may be of the evil one and here you are living for Jesus what do you suppose is going to happen it's going to be hard it's going to be very difficult like Jesus said the world's going to hate you if you're if you're living that way and that is called suffering according to God's will okay that's what Peter means by suffering according to God's will suffering in
the in other words suffering in the midst of his will living in the midst of his will and suffering because of it look what it goes on to say in verse 32 here in your Bible it says and taking the 12 again he began to tell them what was to happen to him saying see we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles and they will mock him and spit
on him and flog him and kill him and after 3 days he will rise you kind of wonder what should the disciples typically respond how should they respond to Jesus when they hear something like that here's how James and John respond and James and John the sons of zebede came up to him and said to him teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you and he said to them what do you want me to do for you and they said to him grant us to sit one at your right hand
and one at your left in your glory I mean this isn't a big request we're just throwing it out there I want you to notice specifically what they're asking I mean look at the wording there at the end of verse 37 notice they don't ask Jesus they don't say Lord we just really want to share in your suffering right what do they say we want to share in your glory we want to share in your glory they want the two most prominent spots to the right and to the left of Jesus Jesus so how's Jesus
going to respond verse 38 Jesus said to them you do not know what you are asking can you stop there for just a moment give me your attention just for a second because this is this is the response that comes to an individual whose heart is Thoroughly planted in the carnal the material the worldly you know where selfish ambition rules the day the response that they're going to get from God every single time when they talk to him is you don't even know what you're asking you know I from time to time I get I
get notes and emails from people who've watched our stuff online I say from time to time it's almost daily now but from time to time I'll get notes specifically saying how they've prayed people have prayed uh for something and they'll talk about uh their anger toward God because he didn't answer their prayers according to you know their their expectations how they thought that he should answer they'll say well you know I prayed and I prayed for this and this this and God didn't do this thing and so and and they're expressing a real and very
you know genuine sort of an anger toward God related to that what's interesting is they never I have never yet had someone write to me and say but you know I wonder if I even know what I'm asking this is what Jesus told to James and John when they asked out of the the the basis of their carnality and their worldly attitude he said you guys don't even know what you're asking so why is it that we don't take this verse and we don't apply it once in a while to our own prayers and why
don't we ever ask the question hm I wonder if I know what I'm asking the reason we don't ever ask that is because and it never enters our minds is because we've come to a place in where where we think we we know what's best when we ask something of God we ask it because we believe that what we're asking is best I believe James and John thought that what they were asking was the best that's a good thing right and Jesus comes back and says you don't know even what you're asking but what and
and and we do the same thing we're we're putting more stock in what we think is best then we are trusting God that what he knows is best that's why we get mad and frustrated when God doesn't you know take care of us answer those prayers you know called arrogance you guys and we all suffer from it shortsightedness we suffer from that too it's one of the reasons Jesus taught us modeled for us a prayer that ought to be or at least a line that ought to be tagged on every single one of our prayers
and that is not as I will but your will be done I I honestly believe that is the most powerful Faith filled statement that you and I can make to God In Prayer we get done asking about something that is just near and dear to our heart and then we say but father as always not according to my will but let it be done according to your will listen if Jesus can model that that idea knowing that he is going to the Cross you and I can mod that we can we can say that in
our own prayers as we submit to his perfect will above our own limited perceptions of what we think might be best so Jesus asks James and John we're in the middle of verse 38 and he says are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized and they said to himwe are able that's probably the most you know horrifically overstated statement in the Bible you know yes Lord we are a because they're thinking Glory right they're just thinking Glory so basically what they hear
Jesus saying is can you guys handle the glory and they're like we're able we've been practicing talking to the other guys think we've got them convinced that we're the two top dogs so yes I I believe we're ready humbly I'm saying that but I believe it they have no clue what Jesus is even talking about drink baptism you know so Jesus goes on and he says to them and Jesus said to them the cup that I drink referring by the way to the cup of suffering he says you will drink and with the baptism with
which I am baptized now he's referring to death he says you will be baptized but to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to Grant but it is for those for whom it has been prepared I know Jesus just let the air out of their tires but you know it's kind of interesting isn't it one day you and I are going to get a chance to see who's on his right and on his left and it's not going to be James and John and and and we're all going to be able
to see it we're going to be oh oh we're going to remember you know we're probably not going to even recognize those people they're probably going to be those ones who we thought were last and then they're first you know so it says in verse 41 that when they heard it when when the 10 heard it in other words what James and John had asked they began to be indignant at James and John and Jesus called them to him and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lorded over
them and they're great ones exercise authority over them but it shall not be among you but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all for and I love verse 45 for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many Jesus came as a servant he didn't come to be served I like being served that's why we like going out to eat by the way right in our culture is
that fun somebody else does all the preparation they you know you get there and and then we're all we're all indignant if there's like a crumb on the table and we're like we get the waitress could you have somebody come and clean this table for us here you guys weren't ready for us and we're having this is probably going to figure into the tip or lack thereof right because you know we're I'm I'm here to be served Jesus reminds us here he came to serve and he is the perfect example of that that selfless life
who gives his life as a ransom by the way the Greek word for ransom refers to a payment to release slaves or captives from Bond AG I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a payment to release the captives from their captivity I love that very quickly and they came to Jericho and as he was leaving Jero with his disciples in a great crowd bmus a blind beggar son of tus was sitting by the roadside and when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to
cry out and say Jesus Son of David have mercy on me me and many he rebuked him telling him to be quiet but he s he cried out all the more son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call him and they called the blind man saying to him take heart get up he's calling you and throwing off his cloak he sprang up and came to Jesus and Jesus said to him what do you want me to do for you and the blind man said to him Rabbi let me recover my
sight Jesus said to him go your way your faith has made you well and immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way do you you know that this is the very last healing that you're going to read in the go Gospel According to mark this is it it stops here as far as healing people in this sort of a way we see in this passage the incredible Insight of this blind man yeah I said Insight in a blind man who calls out to Jesus saying son of David which is his Messianic title
right speaking of him as the Messiah King who is to to be expected by saying you know son of David Jesus Son of David barus is expressing great faith and Jesus calls him up says what do you want me to do that Jesus didn't ask that because he didn't know he said it because he wanted bmus to give voice to his faith Lord I want to recover my sight and and and of course Jesus responds by giving him according to his request and I want to just end with this one last statement about faith because
faith has been greatly maligned in the body of Christ I want you to remember something faith is the necessary means for seeing Miracles take place there must be Faith but listen it is never the cause of those Miracles God is the cause of every miracle that ever takes place faith is the means to to to see those things happen but God is the cause him and him alone we've heard some interesting and rather ridiculous statements over the years about encouraging Believers to have faith in their faith I literally used to have a little pamphlet written
by someone I won't mention who it was but it was titled have faith in your faith and I I saved it because it was so dumb and and you know it's like no have faith in God right faith is the necessary means but it is not the cause
