The Lord's Day Bible Message Outlines
August 9, 2009
Pastor Dana Johnson
"....every
sacrifice will be seasoned with salt." -Mark
9:49
For everyone will be seasoned with
fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with
salt.
1. Notice the wording
that the Lord uses to refer to the future state of glory for
His people:
a. 43, 45
enter into life
Mark
9:43, 45 - "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather
than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that
shall never be quenched." 45"And if your foot
causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to
enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast
into hell, into the fire that shall never be
quenched."
b. 47 enter the
kingdom of God
Mark
9:47 - "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one
eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell
fire."
c. He dismissed his
first wife and stole his brother Philip's wife Herodias
(their brother's daughter).
Mark
6:17 - For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John,
and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his
brother Philip's wife; for he had married
her.
2. We learn something
important (three times) about Hell: it is a place to be
avoided.
a. Jesus'
description is terrible
Mark
9:44 - "Where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is
not quenched.'"
b. It is better to
suffer some loss in this short life than to suffer the
loss of everything in eternal Hell.
3. In this provocative
instruction Christ is not teaching the way to become a child
of God and of Heaven.
Mark
9:43-48 - "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is
better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having
two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be
quenched; 44where 'Their worm does not die, and
the fire is not quenched.' 45And if your foot
causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into
hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched;
46where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is
not quenched.' 47And if your eye causes you to
sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom
of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast
into hell fire; 48where 'Their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.'"
a. In all
ages salvation is by faith, not by works.
Ephesians
2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Romans 4:1-5 - What then shall we say that Abraham our
father has found according to the flesh? 2For
if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to
boast about, but not before God. 3For what
does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness." 4Now to
him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as
debt. 5But to him who does not work but
believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
accounted for righteousness.
b. The faith that
saves is a living faith that demonstrates its genuineness
with works of righteousness.
James
2:17, 26 - Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have
works, is dead. 26For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also.
4. Therefore, Christ's
graphic instruction is referring to the appropriate steps of
personal sanctification taken by His children.
a. The
language is exaggerated (hyperbole) for emphasis and is
obviously figurative.
b. Notice the world
"if."
c. The doctrinal
term we use for this behavior is mortification.
Romans
8:13 - For if you live according to the flesh you will
die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of
the body, you will live.
Colossians 3:15 - And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be
thankful.
5. Jesus describes
mortification as a sacrifice.
a. This seems
to capture the imagery of Isaiah 66:20, 24.
20
- "Then they shall bring all your brethren for an
offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in
chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My
holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "as the children
of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the
house of the LORD.
24 - "And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses
of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their
worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They
shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
b. The sacrifice is
only "seasoned" with fire (of self-discipline) in
contrast to the unquenched fire of Hell.
c. The sacrifice is
seasoned with the preserving quality of salt
(self-discipline) in contrast to the thorough decay
experienced in Hell.
d. This becomes a
sacrifice that is acceptable to God.
Romans
12:1-2 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God.
(All
Scripture quoted is from the New King James
Version)
|