The Ministry, Message, and Messiah in the Book of Mark Week 12:
"Conviction of Conscious Choices Cause Change or Continuation of Your Current Situation.” (Mark 6:14-29)
June 14, 2015
Crossroads Community Church
Rev. Ricky A. Rohrig Sr., Founding Pastor
Have you ever heard the expression what is your conscious telling you? Life is all about choices and we have to make them plenty of them every day:
• If you are going to get up when the alarm goes off or sleep in
• If you are going to bathe or not
• What to eat for breakfast, or to even not eat
• What clothes you’ll wear
• What time you need to leave to get wherever you’re going by whatever time you need to be there
And these are just the many few you make in the morning. One of the great things about God is He gives us free will. He allows us to make our own choices, but with every choice we make there is a consequence, some good and some bad. While God will not make our choices for us I do believe He wants and desires for us to make the right choices in life. If you are a Christian today who has made a conscious choice to have a personal relationship with Jesus, God helps guide our choices through the Holy Spirit.
You even had a choice to come to church today and to this particular church. You can choose to make the service all about you today and what you need or want, or you can choose to make it all about God glorifying Him, lifting up the name of Jesus, and letting the Holy Spirit have His way with you, me, us , and in this service today.
So today I believe God has a rhema word for us today, a right now word you and I.
Life truly is about choices and today I am going to minister and teach about the consequences of choices, that is our topic, our text comes from the book of Mark chapter 6, verses 14-29, and the title of the message is, “Conviction of Conscious Choices Cause Change or Continuation of Your Current Situation.” (Mark 6:14-29.)
That’s a mouth full and the text today may be a little complicated or confusing to
understand, so let’s unpack it together. If you remember last week Jesus was instructing His disciples on how to go door to door. Because the mission was being carried out, the fame about Jesus was being heard and this is where we pick up today’s text,
Mark 6:14-29
14 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.
Matthew 14:1
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch (TEHT-rahrk) heard of the fame of Jesus,
• This was a son of Herod the Great. Herod the Great died probably in the first year after the birth of Christ, and left his kingdom to his three sons, of whom this “Herod Antipas” was one, the Jewish ruler of Galilee and Perea from 4 BC–AD 39. The title “tetrarch” literally denotes one who rules over a “fourth” part of any country. It came, however, to signify the governor or ruler of any province subject to the Roman emperor - Robinson, Lexicon.
15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.
• Elias – Elijah from the OT. Whose name means "My God is Yahweh."
• According to the Books of Kings, Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the Canaanite idol Baal.
• He also had God perform miracles for him, which included raising the dead, bringing fire down from the sky, and having himself be taken up, "by a whirlwind." (2Kings 2:11) In the Book of Malachi, Elijah's return is prophesied "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5)
o So they thought one of two things, that this was Elijah and the end was imminent or it was another prophet that was one who prophesied such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, or others
• At any rate they did not think it was Jesus Christ the Messiah
16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
• People had their opinion but Herod was certain it could only be one person, John the Baptist, the innocent man he killed had been risen from the dead
o Imagine the emotion that would be going through Herod
17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.
• Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother Herodias was a granddaughter of Herod the Great. She was first married to Herod Philip, by whom she had a daughter, Salome, ((suh-LO-mee) the one that danced and pleased Herod. The, she was married toher second husband (Herod Antipas) who were both sons of Herod the Great by different mothers, making them both her uncles as well as her spouses. Josephus says that this marriage of Herod Antipas with Herodias took place while he was on a journey to Rome.
18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.
• He stopped at his brother’s; fell in love with his wife; agreed to put away his own wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of Petraea; and Herodias agreed to leave her own husband and live with him. They were living, therefore, in adultery; and John, in faithfulness, though at the risk of his life, had reproved them for their crimes. Herod was guilty of two crimes in this act:
o 1. Of “adultery,” since she was the wife of another man.
o 2. Of “incest,” since she was a near relation, and such marriages were expressly forbidden, Leviticus 18:6,16,20
Leviticus 18:6,16,20
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.
20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.
19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:
• She held a grudge against him because he was preaching something that was convicting her
• We don’t like to be told we are wrong
o Herodias went to the next level, instead of changing (repenting) which would have been the right thing to do
o She wanted John the Baptist dead so she did not have to feel guilty
• You can always try to run from the one who is giving you correction or even try to eliminate them from your life, but you cannot out run God or even your problem(s) eventually they will catch up with you
20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
• So Herod had a dilemma, his wife wanted John dead to clear her guilty conscience, but Herod found no fault in the man and actually liked and respected him
21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
• Herod had a birthday party for all upper echelon
22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
• That is, “Salome,” (suh-LO-mee) her daughter by her former husband. This was a violation of all the rules of modesty and propriety. One great principle of all eastern nations is to keep their females from public view. For this purpose they are confined in a particular part of the house, called the harem. If they appear in public, it is always with a veil, so closely drawn that their faces cannot be seen. No modest woman would have appeared in this manner before the court, and it is probable, therefore, that she partook of the dissolute principles of her mother. It is also probable that the dance was one well known in Greece - the lascivious and wanton dance of the Ionics.
23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
• This was not uncommon in this era or scenario
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, the head of John the Baptist.
25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.
• She had already had a premeditated plan, plotted by her mother
• Her mother was using her daughter, to get through to her husband, to have an innocent man killed, because she was wrong, caught, and exposed of her sin
o Getting rid of John would not get rid of her un-repented sin
o When we are wrong we should not simply get angry, try to get revenge, or even. We should welcome reproach or correction gladly and then want to change and get “right” with God
26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.
• There was a predicament here, if you look back and see Herod did not want to kill John because of the following he had, he was afraid of the masses
• But now, he had no choice because he gave his word in front of others and would look foolishly if he did not follow through
• Another bad choice
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
• See how sin escalates he ends up killing an innocent man
28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
• On a wooden platter
• Notice she gave it directly to her mother
o Here again the daughter was just a pawn in her mother’s sinful game
29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
You see life is all about choices…
• God gives us free will (the ability to choose)
• You can choose to serve God or you can choose to ignore God
• Have you tried/or are you trying life without God?
• How did/or is that work out for you?
• God specializes in second chances
• Remember there are consequences for your choices (good and bad)
You need to know…
You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman. – Max Lucado
Before we get to our moment of decision I would like to tell you this story…
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF YOUR ACTIONS
Author Unknown
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Thanks!"
There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days.
I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable. "I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life, for better or for worse. God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.
• So what choices are you facing?
• What choices are you making?
• Are you thinking about how and who’s those choices will influence?
• Are you going to live for God or live for yourself?
The ultimate choice you have to make if you have not already is where are you going to spend eternity?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If you haven’t made a choice to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ I pray today is the day you make that choice
Or maybe you haven’t fully committed to live for Jesus 100% I pray that is the choice you will make today
Finally, if you have a situation in your life which seems unbearable, unsolvable, or unattainable, I pray that you would choose to let your church family pray for and with you.
The choice is up to you and I pray you choose wisely because the consequences are eternal, good or bad.
We all have opportunities in our lives and some we will miss…
But, if you have miss knowing Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior as your personal Lord and Savior you have missed the best gift you could ever receive and everything in the world!
