Leave or Go
Mark 9:19, “He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.” [1]
Mark 13:3, “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, bPeter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" [2]
I. How Long
A. Fully God
B. Fully Man
Mark 13:32, “But of that day and that hour knoweth jjno man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, kneither the Son, but the Father. 33 cTake ye heed, lwatch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” [3]
II. What To Do
A. Trust
B. Obey
Mark 16:19. “So then pafter the Lord had spoken unto them, qhe was received up into heaven, and rsat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every here, sthe Lord working with them, and tconfirming uthe word with wsigns following. Amen.” [4]
III. Determined
A. Heaven
B. Earth
Introduction: There is a man who was in the hospital expecting to wake up in a recovery room. He had a simple surgery, if there is such a thing. When he came out from the anesthesia there was a tube in his throat. When he tried to take it out a nurse tied his hands down.
His wife and daughter were in the hall watching the man in the ICU fighting with the people who were trying to help him. They escorted the man’s family to a waiting area.
When he calmed down, they told him that he would get the tube out when his oxygen level improved but there had been a complication. He was to have a respirator for about four days to bring his oxygen saturation back to normal.
The man demanded that it would not happen and insisted on signing a DNR (Do not revive). My brother died of cancer when he was very young. He wrote a living will requesting no long-term life sustenance. He didn’t want a breathing machine or feeding tubes. I made a covenant with myself of agreement.
The nurse who tied me down said that my situation was different than my brother’s had been. I was going to improve. This was the third time that they had zapped me to bring my heart back into rhythm. I thought enough!
When I was 13, I made peace with God and decided to trust Him; it apparently was the beginning of testing. How much do I really trust God? Do I only trust God when I get what I think I want, or do I trust Him to allow myself to go through whatever life may throw? In that ICU that afternoon I was ready to leave. It was a breakthrough. God is in charge of when I go to heaven, and I won’t go until He is ready for me to be ready.
There is that adage, “When the going gets tough the tough get going.” I will add something to that. But they don’t leave until they are ready to go!
This is not to say that we shouldn’t have living wills. I believe that it is important to make your final arrangements yourself while you can. In the ICU when they are taking out the ventilator to put on a respirator; it is not the time to make decisions known in writing. God knows when He will allow you to go it is not up to you to decide when you will leave.
This message today is what God spoke to me. That is how God speaks through prophets. If someone tells you that God spoke a message to give to someone else and not first to the person, run away from that person. If the message is not personal to me then it is not for me to preach to you. I pray God blesses His word.
Scripture: We will examine several passages of scripture today from the gospel of Mark. The title of this message is “Leave or Go.” It is a question really. Do you want to leave the place where you are or are you ready to go to that better place.
Message: Jesus was fully God. Many people either do not know that or they undervalue the idea of Jesus’ divinity. He left heaven to come here. Have you ever been somewhere that was so wonderful that you didn’t want to leave that place? I have been to many places, and they have been beautiful, but Moncure is my home.
When I was a small child, we lived in the suburbs of Washington DC. It was neat living there and it was wonderful having siblings and cousins, aunts and uncles, my grandfather, mom and dad. It was a time that is etched in my memory, and I take that with me wherever I go. It was not home. When Momma and Daddy moved and brought their youngest child here with them, this is home.
Let’s set the stage for Mark 9:19. Jesus had taken three of the disciples with Him up to the peak of a mountain. The three disciples were what we refer to as Jesus’ inner circle. Peter, James, and John were with Jesus throughout His ministry, yet Jesus wanted them to see something about where He had come from. Jesus was in His glorified body with people from heaven in their glorified bodies.
He took His friends to see what his life was like before but then Jesus had to descend from that heavenly place back to the world and this is what Jesus said when he came down the mountain. 1st Scripture: Mark 9:19… “He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.”
I have flown several people to the outer banks through the years. Ocracoke is a special place to me with special people. I enjoy taking people there so they can get a view of the outer banks that few people see. We enjoy sharing so that others can see what we enjoy. That is why it is essential that we share the gospel otherwise people will not see us at all. Jesus wanted those three guys to understand. They didn’t at the time it was happening. Peter thought he must do something!
After God spoke, it was time to go back to this temporary reality. Jesus had to face the problems that He came here to die for to save. The disciples down the mountain could not eradicate the demons from the boy. His father was insistent.
Jesus’ response, “How long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” [5]
I don’t want to make light of it, but Jesus lost His temper. You see Jesus is totally God, yet Jesus was totally man. How long am I going to have to put up with you!
Have you ever felt that way about people you love. Don’t lie to yourself! Jesus for that instant was probably homesick. He had recently been reminded of home.
The disciples were wondering too. When is all this going to end? When are we going to see you do what we thought you would do for us?
I am impatient. Years ago, I thought it wise to pray for patience. Mark Gore is a dear friend of mine. He was my contact at Mayo Plant back when I was a consultant to Progress Energy. Mark is a Christian brother. Everyone knows that I am impatient. Mark and I were talking about why things seem to take so long after a decision is made. I told him that I was praying for patience. With that, Mark told me that his wife Cathy said that patience was not something to pray for because that really means you are asking God to try you and test you. Getting through trials is how we gain patience.
Peter was not a patient man. Neither were any of the disciples. Listen as we hear Mark 13:3-4 … “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, bPeter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?” [6]
Read on for yourself to learn Jesus’ response. They asked first about the timing. Then they asked about the signs. Notice carefully that Jesus responded to the signs but hedged around giving them the answer to when.
We better heed the signs for sure. They are all around us even now. The signs that Jesus mentioned are here and they are coming more frequently with each breath we take. It is amazing to watch. It is amazing to see how people are blaming each other for what Jesus told us would happen. More than any time in human history, we should be showing love for each other now and not showing blame for each other now. We are created in the image of God. Mankind decided against that. Jesus came to bring us back to love each other and Him. More than ever before we are looking towards each other to fix the mess we made.
Did Jesus ever give them a definitive answer about the when part?
Jump to verse 32. the end of Jesus’ explanation. “But of that day and that hour knoweth jjno man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, kneither the Son, but the Father.” [7]
He didn’t tell them. Jesus said that even He didn’t know at that point in time. In Philippians 2:7, Paul declared that though Jesus is God, when Jesus came here, he humbled Himself. It says that Jesus made of Himself of no reputation. This literally means in today’s English that Jesus emptied Himself.
God does not forget. Let us not confuse that. God is omniscient which means He is all knowing before, now, and afterwords, God knows everything, and He forgets nothing. It is why forgiveness is such a miracle that only the Holy Spirit can impart on us to give to others. Jesus is God. Jesus is omniscient. So how could He come here as a human?
Jesus chose to empty Himself of certain divine attributes such as omniscience when He came here. He chose not to know things until it was necessary for Him to know them and then God the Father restored those things to Jesus’ consciousness.
So bottom line, at the time the disciples asked Jesus the when thing, Jesus didn’t know. If it wasn’t important for Jesus to know, maybe it’s not so important that we know either. We will know when God decides that we need to know.
What did Jesus tell them and us that we are supposed to do in the meantime. “33 cTake ye heed, lwatch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” [8] That is what Jesus did. Since Jesus didn’t dwell on the calendar, He concentrated His time on recognizing what was happening around Him. He watched and when He saw something that He could trust God His Father with, Jesus prayed. Why should we not think that is what we are supposed to do too. Trust and obey. The old hymn says, “There is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”
Jesus answered their questions as He answers ours today. One day this will be over and one day we will leave this place. That is a fact. It is a fact that God The Father alone has control of. We do endure things here and now that if we had the control to decide, we would leave off. Not because the destination is better in our mind but because this is just too much or at least we believe it is.
From Mark starting at the beginning of chapter fifteen through the end we read of the things that happened during the last period of Jesus’ earthly life. He endured more hatred and trouble than we can imagine and yet Jesus trusted and obeyed.
Then when it was time for Jesus to go to heaven, God took Jesus home to heaven.
Mark 16:19, “So then pafter the Lord had spoken unto them, qhe was received up into heaven, and rsat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, sthe Lord working with them, and tconfirming uthe word with wsigns following. Amen.” [9]
We see here that Jesus indeed went to heaven and was received there and He is there now at the right hand of God The Father. Heaven has always been. He is preparing our place for us there, but heaven has always been long before this orb that we live this temporary life on here.
So, what did they do when Jesus left? What do we do here on earth? Do we simply wait and brood about how bad this is? NO! We go forward with the existence that we have here and now. We preach everywhere and anywhere when we are invited to tell the truth. Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life. God will be with us. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit and He is working with us and through us. As far as signs, it never ceases to amaze me how even in what you might think of as the little things, God shows me that He has me and will not let me go. His signs are all around me. That is my prayer for every one of us.
Invitation: Are you ready to leave? I don’t know that. Neither do you. Only God knows when you are ready to go. When He is ready, you will know. Until then watch, pray. OKAY?
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mk 9:19). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
b See Matt. 17:1.
[2] Ibid, Mk 13:3–4). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
jj Acts i. 7.
k Comp. John 5:20. Rev. 1:1.
c ver. 9, 23, 33. See Matt. 7:15.
l Luke 21:36. Eph. 6:18. Heb. 13:17.
[3] Ibid, Mk 13:32–33). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
p Acts 1:3.
q Luke 24:51. Acts 1:2.
r See Ps. 110:1.
s ver. 19. Comp. Heb. 2:3, 4.
t Heb. 2:3.
u See Luke 1:2.
w Acts 5:12. & 14:3. Heb. 2:4.
[4] Ibid, Mk 16:19–20). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[5] Ibid, Mk 9:19). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
b See Matt. 17:1.
[6] Ibid, Mk 13:3–4). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
jj Acts i. 7.
k Comp. John 5:20. Rev. 1:1.
[7] Ibid, Mk 13:32). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
c ver. 9, 23, 33. See Matt. 7:15.
l Luke 21:36. Eph. 6:18. Heb. 13:17.
[8] Ibid, Mk 13:33). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
p Acts 1:3.
q Luke 24:51. Acts 1:2.
r See Ps. 110:1.
s ver. 19. Comp. Heb. 2:3, 4.
t Heb. 2:3.
u See Luke 1:2.
w Acts 5:12. & 14:3. Heb. 2:4.
[9] Ibid, Mk 16:19–20). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
