Each Sunday we have talked about a “command.”  They are not suggestions, not advice, not thoughts.  We are commanded.  And the overall command is in the great commission: “Go ye therefore and make disciples.”  The primary reason Jesus left His disciples here on earth was so that they could make other disciples.  How were they to do that?  Well, it begins with praying for the world and leaders in the world, you pray that God would send out laborers into His harvest, beginning with you. 

          It begins with a love, an affection for unbelievers, eating with sinners, because you recognize them as the sheep you have lost, the coin you have missed, the son you long for.

          It all begins with communicating your testimony and simply saying, “here’s what happened to me.”  “Here’s what God has done for me.”

          It begins by explaining to someone the gospel – how their sin has shut the door between them and God; how Jesus died for their sin and can forgive them; and how God supplies His grace to those who come to Him in faith and ask for His mercy.

          Then you invite them to join you as a disciple.  You command them to believe, to receive Christ, to repent, you “implore” them, because this is not an option, this is a command.  The very fact that you are sharing with them your testimony and the gospel is a demonstration that you are under a command.

          Here’s where we have been:

          Prayer

          Affection

          Testimony

          Gospel

          Obedience

          This is not PETCO or PETGO, but PATGO.  Evangelism is PATGO.  Is your life a PATGO life?  Evangelism is not something we put on for a day, or a zeal we get for a moment in time, but a lifestyle.

          I want to talk today about the “command” part of the gospel, the “O” in PATGO.  The gospel includes obedience to a command.  I want to show you how Jesus and Paul use a command to make the gospel clear.  Because things aren’t always the way they appear. 

I.  Some don’t understand their sinfulness.

          The rich young ruler in Mark 10 came to Jesus with a question that indicated that he was thinking about eternity. 

            17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" 18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 "You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' (7) 'Do not murder,' (6) 'Do not steal,' (8) 'Do not bear false witness,' (9) 'Do not defraud,' (10) 'Honor your father and your mother.' (5) " 20 And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches 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 man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?" 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

          A.  The man had excellent qualities.  He wanted to “inherit eternal life.”  That’s a good thing to interrupt one’s schedule for.  His came running.  How many people come running to Christ?  He knelt.  How many people kneel in the dust?  It didn’t matter that Jesus was thronged with crowds, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t dignified to run and kneel, he knew that Jesus had the answers to his question.  And he wants answers.

          Think about his approach.  If someone came running up our aisle and knelt here desiring to know how to come to Christ, what would you think?  “Say a prayer and join the church, brother!”  “Praise God.”  “You are in.”

          And yet, Jesus didn’t say, “repeat this prayer after me and you are in.”  He started off with the man’s use of the word “good.”  Jesus said, “why do you call Me good?”  That’s a strange question to be asked by Someone who never did anything wrong.  Some have suggested that this statement means that Jesus is distinguishing Himself from the absolute perfect goodness of God, meaning that He wasn’t God because He wasn’t as good as God.  But that doesn’t fit the rest of the book of Mark, where He claims to be God – and demonstrates His power and righteousness.

          I think what He is saying is, “do you understand what you meant when you used the word, “good?”  He observes that the man is using “good” in a superficial way and turns him to the commandments to help him understand good – and bad.  We see how the man understood “good” in the next few verses.

          B.  The man believed that he was “good.”  Jesus says, “you’ve got to define goodness in light of the commandments,” and then lists six commands.  He lists commands 4-9 and probably 10 (“do not defraud”).  Why does He list the second part of the decalogue and not the first part, “Love the Lord your God,” “thou shalt have not other gods before Me,” “don’t take the name of the Lord God in vain,” “keep the Sabbath day holy?”  Why doesn’t He list those?  Perhaps because the last six are the easiest in which to recognize disobedience.       Why does Jesus give him the commandments, instead of saying to him, “trust in Me and follow Me?”  Because he won’t really see the need for salvation in Christ until he understands his sinfulness.  God intended for the Law to show a person his sin.  Romans 3:20 says, “through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”  This man wasn’t even in the “N” category of NPR.  He didn’t realize his need.

          We see that when he says, “all these I have kept from my youth.”  He apparently is familiar with them; he apparently has done something right; he hasn’t been a bad guy.  But it is a little strange that he thinks that he is scoring a perfect “A” on all six commands.  “You have never committed adultery, or looked on a woman to lust after her?”  “No, I never have.”  “You’ve never committed murder, or hated another human being?”  “No, I am perfectly clean there.”  “You’ve never stolen anything or borrowed it and not returned it?”  “Never, sir.”  “You have never lied, twisted the truth, mislead someone about the truth?”  “Not for a moment.”  “You have never defrauded someone, cheated them, or coveted what they had?”  “Not at all.”  You have always honored and obeyed your parents?”  “Absolutely.” 

          What does his response indicate?  It shows that he doesn’t have a clue as to what goodness is.  He has no concept of his sin and disobedience.  You say, “but maybe he is that good; maybe this guy was totally awesome!” 

          That’s the way Jesus responds.  Notice Mark’s comment in verse 21, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”  He didn’t look at him and scorn him and say, “you scumbag, you don’t know the first thing about sin or your disobedience.  You are corrupt to the core.”  I think the command Jesus gives him comes out of His love for the guy, his desire to help him see himself honestly.

          And what does He say?  The man expects Him to tell him something he needs to add to his life.  Matthew 19:20 says the man asked the question, “what do I still lack?”  “I’ve done everything; I’m good, and I am still dissatisfied, or still worried about the future.”  “What do I need to add to make sure that I am heading for eternal life?” 

          C.  Jesus commands him to downsize – to subtract from his life his possessions.  Why?  Is Jesus telling the man that he will be saved by giving everything away?  You can’t go to heaven if you own anything?  That would be salvation by works.  No, salvation is by Grace, it is a gift from God.  It’s not based on what you can do.  So why the command to sell?  The command develops out of what the man has stated to Jesus – “good master,” “all these things I have kept from my youth up”  The man said, “you’re good, and I’m good.  What do I need to add to make it?”

          And Jesus replies, “good, if you have obeyed all the commandments, you won’t have any trouble with this commandment.  People who Love God with all their hearts, have never coveted, have never hated their neighbor, have loved their neighbor as themselves, have obeyed their parents all their lives, will have no trouble with this next command:  Go sell everything, give it away, and come follow Me.” 

          Do you see what that command does for the man?  It opens his eyes to the fact that he is covetous.  He can’t part with his money and possessions; he loves them.  And loving neighbor as yourself?  He probably doesn’t do that either.  And loving God with all his heart?  Absolutely not; he would rather have his money.

          And calling Jesus “good?”  What do you mean, “good?”  If Jesus was “good” as God is good, the man would not only kneel, he would get up and obey.  To this man, what was “good” was his money.  That was worth all.  That was worth more than this discussion on eternal life.  And he left, disappointed and sorrowful.

          As he left, he was probably muttering to himself, “I didn’t think you would attack my money.  Why wasn’t the command to ‘trust in Me?’” It was.  Get rid of your riches so that you can really trust in me. Do you see verse 23?  “How hard it will be for those who possess wealth to enter the kingdom of God.”  Wealth makes it very difficult to trust God, because you are always in the back of your mind trusting your wealth.

          Do you understand this?  Suppose Jesus pointed His commandment at you and said, “sell your house and possessions, eliminate your mutual funds and savings, and give them away so that you can honestly trust Me to meet all your needs.”  Trusting Jesus Christ is not just adding a life insurance policy.  It’s repenting of what you are doing, how you are living, committing yourself to Him to become His disciple and obey Him.  When a person says, “I want You in my life to give me eternal life, but I will stay where I am with my possessions, thank you,” he is speaking in contradictions.  He doesn’t understand eternal life.  In fact, he probably thinks he has it now.  His statement is an oxymoron. 

          To invite Jesus to be your Lord, and then to do what you want to do is ridiculous.  You don’t say, “not so, Lord.”  It’s hard for rich people like us to enter the kingdom of heaven, because it is hard for us to understand the gospel.  This man thinks he is obeying the commandments, but he is obeying them as a rich man.  His trust and obedience is not in God, it is in his riches.  And what Jesus is showing him through the command is his disobedience.         The command was not given so that the man might get saved.  He is not saved by getting rid of everything.  He is saved by coming to Christ.  But he is not going to come to Christ until he recognizes his uncontrollable covetousness.  The man is a prisoner to his stuff. 

          Do you know any people like that?  Prisoners to their stuff?  It’s like the man saying to Jesus, “what can I do to get to Waldorf, MD?”  And Jesus responding, “you can’t get there from here.”   “What do you mean, ‘I can’t get there from here?’   I can get anywhere I want to go.  There is no place that I can’t access.”  Our riches give us that notion, that there’s no place we can’t go, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.  That notion slowly closes the door to our understanding of the gospel, because the gospel presents truth that can’t be accessed except by a sinner.

          Jesus gives the command so that the man might get unsaved.  So that he might recognize his covetousness, so that he might come to understand that he hasn’t kept those other five or nine commandments, and that he doesn’t love the Lord with all his heart.  Then he will understand his need of Christ’s Grace.

          Application – what does this interview say to us?  It says, “things aren’t always the way they seem.”  Just because a person comes running up to you and says, “tell me how to be saved,” doesn’t mean he is ready.  The only person who ever did that to me was a teenager back in the early 70s.  I can still see him running up to me in the church parking lot and saying, “tell me how to get saved.”  I explained the gospel and prayed with him and discipled him for a year in which he seemed to really know Christ.  But 15 years later I talked to him on the phone one night and he said that he thought he really came to trust Christ about 10 years later. 

          So what do we do?  We can’t make commands like Jesus did, since we can’t read peoples’ hearts.  But we can make sure that people understand that they are not going to make it to heaven.

          My suggestion is that when a person uses the word, “good,” check out their understanding of it.

          “How good do you have to be to get to heaven?”

          “Quite good.”

          “Well, how good is that?”

          “Very good.”

          “Would you say close to perfect?”

          “Yes, probably.” 

          “Are you that good?”

          Once you get a person to define in his mind the goodness that God expects, then you ask if he is that good.  That might help him see his sin.  As long as people think, “God is going to weigh the good against the bad and I have done a lot of good,” chances are slim that they will see their need of Christ’s death on their behalf. 

          Most people find it quite insulting for you to tell them that they are a sinner.  Even Christ didn’t do that with this rich man.  Al Capone, a gangster from the 30s involved in all kinds of heavy duty crime, believed at the end of his life that he was a “good guy” at heart.  Can you imagine that?  He hadn’t defined the word “good.”

II.  Some don’t understand God’s provision.

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18 "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."

          A.  The woman already understood her need.  She was already past the “N” part in the “NPR” presentation of the gospel.  Why was she at the well at noon?  Because he was an outcast and probably found it more comfortable to come at that time.  She had probably heard about her sin from many people.  After all, you can’t have five different husbands in a small town without a newspaper write up, and people talking about it and probably trying to convict her of her sin.  Plus if you are now living with someone you are not married to, it’s hard to keep that secret.  So she knew what the world knew, that she was a sinner.

          Jesus approaches her with hope – living water as a gift.  He will freely give her living water.  In verse 15 she asks for the water: “Sir give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”  She still doesn’t understand what kind of water this is, but she wants it.  But as soon as she asks for the water, Jesus gives this rather strange command – “go get your husband.”

          B.  The command was part of receiving the gift.  Notice her response to Jesus’ command.  She says, “I don’t have a husband.”  Jesus replies, “that’s a strange response.  What do you mean, you don’t have a husband?  You’ve been through five husbands, you are on number six, and you aren’t even married to him, and you say, “I have no husband!”  “You should have said, ‘which one?’”

          What is Jesus doing with this command?  The same thing He was doing when He commanded the rich ruler: revealing her sin.  He can’t forgive her sin until she admits that she has it, until she admits the extent of it.   The command opens the door to the closet of sin in her life.  She knew that she was a sinner.  But she didn’t know how much He knew.  He’s pointing out that even though He knows how bad she is, He still offers her living water.

          C.  She needs to understand that God will forgive even her!  Have you ever noticed how hard it is to accept forgiveness?  To recognize that you have been forgiven?  People come to Christ and yet have trouble believing that He will actually forgive their enormous debt of sin.  Jay Adams says, in his book More than Redemption, “a high majority of our problems today involve forgiveness.  Not only being forgiven but giving forgiveness to others.  Jack Winslow, head of a large British mental institution, declared, ‘I could dismiss half my patients tomorrow if they could be assured of forgiveness’” (from Jay Adams, More than Redemption, 185).

          Jesus issued the command, not only so the rich young ruler could understand the sinfulness of his sin, but so that the woman at the well could understand the wonderfulness of His promise – that He still wanted to forgive her in spite of the enormity of her sin.

          Application – Ever heard the names Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahlmer?  Both these men were grotesque murderers.  Ted is reputed to have killed more than 30 young women and Jeffrey more than 15 young boys.  And yet, there were reports that both of them trusted Christ as their Savior before being executed.  Would it “bother” you to see either one of them in heaven?  If it bothers you to think about it, you are thinking about it the wrong way.  Maybe the question should be, “would it bother you to see yourself in heaven?”  No one is good enough.  In fact, every one of us is a disaster when it comes to being genuinely “good.”  And yet the Grace of God extends even to us!

III.  Some don’t understand their Responsibility.

          Acts 16 records a rough day in the lives of Paul and Silas.  They were out presenting the gospel, but they ran into a storm of opposition. 

            22 Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

          In jail, at midnight (25), Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns! They are bruised and bleeding from a beating, and yet praising God for His mercy to them.  Suddenly an earthquake un-jails the jail.  And the jail keeper, realizing that he was losing all his prisoners, was ready to commit suicide.  Paul cries for him to stop because it wasn’t necessary – all the prisoners were still there.  The man comes running in and falls down before Paul and Silas – just like the rich ruler in Mark 10. 

           Where would you say this jailer is in his understanding of the gospel? Remember the “NPR” scale?  “Our NEED,” “God’s PROVISION,” “Our RESPONSIBILITY.”  Does he recognize his need?  Absolutely.  Does he recognize God’s provision?  Probably so.  He had heard Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God along with the prisoners (25).  I’m sure he knew why they were there in his prison.  What he didn’t understand was his responsibility.

          Thus his question, “what must I do to be saved?”  The rich ruler asked essentially the same question but he wasn’t at the same place in his understanding of the gospel.  He didn’t recognize his need.  The woman at the well said, “Sir, give me this water,” but didn’t recognize the awesome breadth of God’s provision, that it included even her.  This man probably understands more of that, but now doesn’t know what to do.  And the answer to his question is a command – “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

          In each situation the command was designed to help the person understand the gospel.  Salvation is an issue of SUBMISSION, OBEDIENCE.  The communication of the gospel depends upon inserting a COMMAND, because it depends on an unbeliever understanding that he/she has to obey!   The command is a key in the thinking of an unbeliever.  If you are sleeping in a burning building and someone comes in and says, “let’s discuss your options,” “would you like to try a different room?” you may not understand the urgency of the moment.  But if someone comes and says, “GET OUT – NOW,” the nature of the command tells you something about your danger. 

          In a similar way, God uses commands to penetrate the darkness that fills the minds of unbelievers.  Thus we need to get over the fear of people rejecting us, and make gospel commands crystal clear.  When John the Baptist came, he preached “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  That’s a command.  When Jesus Christ began preaching, His message was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  That’s a command.  When the 12 disciples were sent out to preach, their message was,  “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  That’s a command.  When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the application of his message was, “Repent and be baptized,” a command.

          Jesus said to the rich man, “Go and sell all that you have;” to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again;” to the woman at the well, “go call your husband;” to the man with a withered hand, “stretch forth your hand;” to the 10 lepers, “go show yourselves to the priest.”  To the jailer Paul said, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” to the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). 

          We face strong temptation to soften this command.  And so you can hear the gospel presented as if to say, “You know, if you would like to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior” that would be nice.  Or, “have you ever tried God?” as if we are conducting an experiment to see if God is better than “another” brand.  God doesn’t say, “If you would like.”  He commands the world to repent, to believe in His Son Who died for them.  It’s not optional.  It makes the difference between heaven and hell, a life of incredible Grace, or a life of emptiness, and loneliness, and eternity apart from God.  And that is an option?  Who would ever want that option?  That’s like being presented with the “option” of going to live in North Korea.  Who would ever see that as an option?  Only those who don’t know what North Korea is really like.  That’s the problem here.  People don’t understand what their options really are until we clarify them with a gospel command.  The command shows that their “options” are in reality non-options.  The choices are only heaven or hell, obedience or judgment.

          We are the ones chosen to inform the world of what their options really are, to inform the world that there are really only two possibilities, if not heaven, hell, not a neutral grey area.  What a privilege to have in our hands the “word of LIFE!”

07/29/07, BBC am