Impossible VS Unlikely
- Kids keeping their room clean
- Not getting 2nd round of dessert this Thanksgiving
- Not being outraged by strangers online
- Starting a new diet and giving up in the first week of this new year
We’ll come back to IMPOSSIBLE shortly
Week 3 of series:
THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL:
That individuals who exercise true faith in Christ will surely attain physical, material, and financial prosperity in this life.
Can insert ANY cultural agenda as “_____ Gospel”
Scripture says what it means to say, not what we want it to say
Today’s verse of concern is Mark 10:27…
Mark 10
27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”
The key phrase is…
ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE (with God)
The question is…
Is Jesus talking about difficult, unlikely, or impossible things?
Things that SEEMED impossible until our modern area
- The Internet
- Online shopping
- Movies
- Communicate (Cell Phones)
- Flying in a plane
- Modern Transportation
- Most medicine
But those things are NOT impossible
- They are our everyday reality
Sometimes things that seem impossible actually aren’t
The Prosperity view of IMPOSSIBLE
RED FLAG – Dropping GOD off “All things are possible”
- Now just All things are possible
- Need a car you can’t afford – “All things are possible”
- Want that Job that you desire – “All things are possible”
- Want that date that you can’t seem to get – “All things are possible”
- Etc…
The problem with this style of gospel, or any other than the real one, is…
We want to apply the truth of God to a situation that is OUR will but not necessarily God’s will
We’ve been reading these verses in their proper context…
This story takes place in the Gospel of Mark
- Jesus and his disciples are traveling from place to place
Mark 10
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.”
20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”
Rich young ruler Was righteous by the rules
- He did all the “right things”
- His wealth would have been seen as a blessing
21 Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
Jesus CHALLENGES his assumptions about eternal life
- Gives him a new command
- To DIE to himself
- To TAKE UP HIS CROSS
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
Why would this be?
- Because wealth brings AUTONOMY
- Power
- Influence
Ultimately it brings a feeling of SELF-SUFFICIENCY
24 The disciples were astonished at his words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
The disciples are SHOCKED!!
- They believe that wealth was a sign of BLESSING from God
We often think the same thing don’t we
- “They have it all together”
- “God must really love them”
Jesus is Teaching them HOW TO THINK about righteousness a NEW way
- It is not something that is always seen like a jewelry
Understanding where Jesus was going, they ask the BIG QUESTION
26 They were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved?”
If THIS CAN can’t be, then WHO’S GONNA MAKE?
27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With man it is impossible…
What is the CONTEXT of this sentence?
- What question is Jesus answering?
WHO CAN BE SAVED!! That’s the impossible thing
What’s Jesus’ answer…. IMPOSSIBLE!
- Not improbable, not unlikely… impossible
You cannot save yourself
- You can’t buy your way in
- Can’t GOOD DEED your way in
- Can’t HOPE your way in
- Can’t SERVICE your way in
- Can’t PRAY your way in
Learning that not everyone can be trusted
- Friends
- Adults
- Parents
Jesus dropped a bomb on their theology and understanding of salvation and God
- They believed that the LAW was their salvation
- If they followed the rules JUST RIGHT
- Did everything they were supposed to
- God would bless them and give them salvation
But the law was for another purpose
- To show them that they could NEVER measure up
- Even at their best, they would still make it about themselves
Jesus Kept talking…
27 Looking at them, Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”
The point of Jesus saying this is to bring in the REALITY and GRAVITY of our situation
Let me say it this way…
It takes a GREATER FAITH to believe God for the IMPOSSIBLE than it does for the improbable
How does this work itself out in our lives…
UNLIKELY PRAYERS vs IMPOSSIBLE PRAYERS
Unlikely:
- Big promotion – Work harder
- Lose weight – Eat less
- Win the big game – Practice more
- Car of your dreams – Save more
Impossible:
- Salvation of a family member/dear friend
- Heal a family member you love what all hope is lost
- Bring revival to our city
- Forgive when you have been hurt by the ones who promised to protect you
- To overcome the sin that is destroying your life
- Overcoming loss and believing that you will have JOY again
- Forgiving your enemy – Blessing those who curse you
- Loving your neighbor as much as yourself
Those things are IMPOSSIBLE,
“…but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”
The sin of the Rich young ruler was the sin of SELF-SUFFICIENCY
- He wants his salvation to be of HIS DOING
- His righteousness with God to be of HIS DOING
- He wanted Jesus to confirm his status as a self-made and a SELF SUSTAINED man
We often do the same thing because most of our “IMPOSSIBLE PRAYERs” are “MAKE ME MORE SELF-SUFFICIENT PRAYERS
St. Patrick
- Born approx. late 300s AD
- He was kidnapped by Irish raiders at 16
- Became a slave for 6 years
- Faith grew throughout his imprisonment
“In a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I used to get up for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm, and there was no sloth in me — as I now see, because the Spirit within me was then fervent.”
- Escaped and returned home to study Christian theology
Felt God call him in a dream back to Ireland to witness to his captors
To a nation with little Christian witness and steeped in animistic religion, including human sacrifice, ceremonial bestiality and idol worship.
Because of his captivity, he Knew:
- The language
- The Culture
Because of his faithfulness to God:
- Thousands of former pagans commit their lives to Christ as Lord and Savior
- Irish Christians led the way in evangelizing Europe for a hundred years following his death
That’s IMPOSSIBLE
- Not just “unlikely”
Let’s finish this story…
New Peter, the spokesman of the group, speaks…
Mark 10
28 Peter began to tell him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father[i] or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time —houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions —and eternal life in the age to come. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Jesus understands that when you truly follow him, you are choosing to no longer be self-sufficient
- You have to trust Him
- Depend on Him
Jesus promises that whoever gives their life to him will NEVER BE WITHOUT
- Because NOTHING is impossible for God