Mk. 9:38-50
Theme: Your sincerity to God’s work shall be rewarded
Text: Ester 9:20-22; James 5:13-20; Mk. 9:38-50
Introduction: The investigative journalist Anas Ameyaw Anas has over the years clearly revealed the lack of sincerity in the life of many Ghanaians. Sincerity is an important Christian virtue needed for effective Christian witness. The apostle Paul acknowledged this truth when he prayed for believers “that they may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ”. (Philippians 1:10) In the ESV it is translated “that they may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ”. Sincerity is a description of a person who has integrity. A person of integrity is pure, honest and blameless, both at home and outside the home. A person who lacks integrity is dishonest, selfish and greedy. As a nation we have many hypocrites among us who appear to have integrity when the truth is that they lack integrity. As a nation we need people of integrity, people who are honest and cannot be bought, people who value character more than wealth, and people who do not compromise the truth. A sincere person will not accept a bribe or do what he knows is wrong neither will he behave like a greedy, selfish hypocrite. Many people appear or are seen as being sincere until they are brought into the light and exposed by their actions. All over Accra you can buy what you are told and what appears to be pure honey. It is only when it is exposed to the light that you see and realise that it still has wax or other remains in it. Needless to say pure honey tastes much better than impure honey. Your life should be pure and blameless and not contain any wax or impurity for your sincerity to God’s work shall be rewarded.
Step One: God’s assigned work – Belief in Christ
a) Belief He restores our godly nature
Sincerity to God’s work demands we know what that work is. God revealed His assigned work when Jesus declared “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29) God’s work is to believe in Christ for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and it is only our belief in Christ that can deal with our sinful nature and restore our godly nature.
b) Belief He has paid the penalty for sin
God’s assigned work is to believe that Christ has paid the penalty for sin. It is to believe that our salvation does not depend on anything we can do or have done but on what Christ has done for “By grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God”. (Eph. 2:8) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16)
c) Belief Christ died to give us eternal life
Christ took our place to give us His place. He was made sin and died in our place to give us His life “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Rom 6:23) “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. For whoever believes in Him is not condemned”. (John 3:17)
Illustration: God has given every man an assignment in life that begins with believing in Christ. Belief in Christ is necessary as it is the only way to be empowered to fulfil God’s assignment. God’s work must be done God’s way and in God’s power and in God’s time. This is the Lord’s prescription for success and fulfilment in life. Everyone wants to be successful and find fulfilment in life but many want to do it their way, in their time and in their power instead of in God’s way, in God’s time and in God’s power. The assignment of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth was “to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” and He fulfilled His assignment God’s way, in God’s time and in God’s power. God gives all of us an assignment and fulfilling our assignments releases His abundant blessings and provisions. God placed Mordecai and Esther in positions where they could fulfil their assignment to save the Jewish people. Anything that Mordecai and Esther did that would not bring relief to the Jews from their enemies would have meant failure to fulfil their God given assignment. When they fulfilled their assignment the result was salvation for the Jews that they celebrated with feasting and merry making.
Application: God has given each one of us an assignment here on earth. Unfortunately we spend most of our time doing what we want and neglect God’s assignment. Let us find out God’s assignment and fulfil it and thereby release God’s abundant provisions and blessings.
Step Two: Sincerity to God’s work – A new life
a) A renewed mind
Our sincerity to God’s work demands a new way of thinking and a new way of life based on the Word of God. This is only possible with a renewed mind. The renewed mind aligns one’s thinking to the Word of God and acts in accordance with the will of God instead of contrary to His will. The only way to renew the mind is through constant reading and meditation on the Word of God.
b) A walk of faith
Sincerity to God’s work demands a walk of faith to fulfil the Scriptures that declare “The just shall live by faith”. (Rom. 1:17) Faith brings us into the spiritual realm, into God’s presence, where we can walk according to the Spirit and have access to God’s abundant provisions and blessings.
c) A life of blessing others
Sincerity to God’s work demands a life of blessing others. When God fills our cup till it overflows it is only because we are to be a blessing to others. God blesses us to be a blessing as we share the good news and meet the needs of the needy.
Illustration: A renewed mind will make us glorify Christ and not want the glory for ourselves. When the disciples objected to another person doing the same work they were doing it could only be because they wanted the glory for themselves and did not like to see anyone else with the same powers they had been given. Today many people are more concerned about themselves and appropriating the glory of God to themselves than about God. Sincerity is the true mark of a disciple and in the words of Paul they “are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word”. (2 Cor. 2:17) They understood the reason for preaching the gospel. They knew it was an assignment from God and that they would be held accountable.
Application: As believers we must daily judge our conduct in the light of God’s Word as “it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path”. (Psalms 119:105)
Step Three: God’s reward for your sincerity – His promises to bless
a) We become God’s beloved children
God rewards our sincerity by fulfilling His promises to bless us. Our belief in Christ gives us a new nature and a new status as God’s beloved children. The evidence of our sincerity is our obedience and obedient children always bring joy to their fathers, who then readily respond to their requests and their needs.
b) We become more than conquerors
As God’s beloved children we have been given the weapons we need to defeat our enemies and are more than conquerors. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when our obedience is complete”. (2 Cor. 10:5-6) As God’s children “we are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world”. (1 John 4:4)
c) We have access to the provision of the New Covenant
As God’s beloved children we have become heirs of all the promises of the New Testament. We are reminded of this whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper that we are partaking in the fullness of the life of Christ.
Illustration: All the provisions of the New Covenant have been bequeathed to us for our use to glorify the name of the Lord. Our response to God’s abundant provisions can only be that of prayer, praise and thanksgiving. As believers we often limit our prayers to asking and fail to follow the example Elijah and other men of prayer who went beyond asking in prayer to proclaiming the Word of God. When we are sincere to God’s work and speak the Word of God it is as if God Himself is speaking. God will always fulfil His word and through it bless us to become a blessing. The greatest blessing a believer can share is to witness about Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Application: We are God’s beloved children and He rewards our sincerity to make others see the blessedness of serving Him and fulfilling His assignments.
Conclusion: Our Lord Jesus Christ wants His disciples to be sincere and not become a stumbling block to others or to stumble in their personal walk with Him. This sincerity is seen in the life of Corrie Ten Boon, a Dutch Christian woman. She and her family hid Jews during the Second World War to save them from Hitler’s death camps where many of them died. They saw it as their Christian duty. They knew they could be killed for doing so but could not do otherwise because of their love for Christ. When the Germans found out what they were doing the family were sent to a concentration camp. Corrie Ten Boon lost her whole family in a concentration camp where they were maltreated and their existence made a living hell. In spite of all the suffering she continued to serve the Lord. After the war she continued to preach the good news. One day her ministry took her to Germany and after a very successful meeting she was approached by a man who wanted to shake her hand. Suddenly she froze as she recognised the brutal Nazi that had been their tormentor in the concentration camp. She just could not bring herself to shake his hand. After what seemed like eternity her sincerity to God’s work made her reach out and shake the hand of her former tormentor. She had won a soul to Christ and according to her she felt a love, peace and joy that she had never felt before in her life.
Personal Response: You can also experience that love, peace and joy in your life. Let your sincerity to God’s work bring praise, honour and glory to God Almighty, the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
