I’m Certain About It

READ: Mark 9:49-50

CHALLENGE:  Live with Certainty

Last week we looked at how we are all accountable for our own actions because we will all stand before God someday.  That’s certain.  A final destination of heaven or hell is a certainty.

(trans.) Here is another one ….

1. YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS

You will all be salted with fire.  What does THAT mean?  They say that this is one of the most difficult verses in all of Mark to translate. Fire could be used of persecution or testing. 

Obviously, fire is used for final judgment in the prior verses.  This seems to be a different fire than that of final judgment.  It’s clearly not saying that NO ONE is going to heaven.  So, what is this use of the word “fire”? 

When you do the right thing, you’ll face persecution.  All believers will be salted with fire.  Some believe that this is a reference to followers of Christ offered up in fiery persecutions.  An apocalyptic text reads, “And then all will pass through the blazing river and the unquenchable flame.  All the righteous will be saved.  But the impious will then be destroyed for all ages. 

If you look at the analogy.  Your life is the steak and someone shaking out salt of trials on you.  We will be touched by the flames in this world.  So let’s look at the concept of fiery ordeal.  Yes, there’s ultimate judgment but perhaps hell hunts the believer in this life.  Jesus said that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church so there will be opposition and setbacks.

You’re not going to shine a light unopposed.  The lighthouses of the world face storms – all get tested and battered and that’s their position in the world.  The break walls get hit by waves.  So hey, lighthouse, you’re going to see some storms. 

Couldn’t these fiery trials be spiritual warfare?  Darkness opposing light?  If you look at Ephesians 6, what do we learn?  Part of spiritual armor is the shield of faith and what is the purpose of that shield?  It’s about extinguishing the fiery arrows of the evil one.  We learn that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against dark forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Sometimes it seems like flesh and blood but there are other forces pulling the strings. 

In ancient warfare, they would dip arrows in pitch, light them on fire, and shoot them at the enemy.  The shields were partially made of leather that they would dip in water so they could extinguish the flaming arrows.  That’s what faith does – it handles the darts that Satan shoots.  At some point, you’re getting spiritual arrows shot at you. 

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that some of the things that we experience are straight up from evil because the darkness will want to snuff out the light of truth.  If you’re making progress in your walk with God, perhaps the devil will throw a marriage problem at you.  Or get you thinking about stuff you don’t need to be thinking about. 

So, when you’re living for the Lord, don’t be surprised by trials.

1 Peter 4:12-13 – Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 

We should not be surprised at “fiery ordeals” that test you.  Christ suffered opposition as well. 

These people were insulted and assaulted because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  Part of Roman culture was Caesar worship.  The Christian could not bow to the image of a man but that had social and economic consequences.  It was an ordeal.  It could be that because you were no longer going to the pagan temples and festivals that you were excluded too.  The believers were no longer running wild with the world and they suffered because they were Christians.

1 Peter 4:19 – So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

This is the answer in the storm – just keep doing the right thing.  I just had this conversation with a gentleman.  I said, it’s never wrong to do the right thing.  You only regret it when you don’t do what you should be doing. 

Your Creator is faithful!  And that idea of faithful means that He keeps His word.  He’s consistent.  He answers prayer.  He provides needs.  He gives strength.  He keeps us going.  Continue to do good.  You don’t quit doing good, you press on for the Lord!  I love those encouraging words!  God still loves you and He is faithful to you. 

When you’re doing the right thing, you’re going to come under the attack of the evil one and we should expect it.  It’s par for the course so don’t be surprised. 

I want to focus on God first of all.  Then on what God wants me to do.  My creator is faithful.  I will be faithful to him.  Lock your focus on that. 

There is another aspect to fire too.  It’s going to test our metal.  If you want to know what you’re really about, come under strain.  I don’t know what my kayak can do because I paddle flat water.  I know what it can handle because I’ve been rocked by waves. 

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 – For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

Our works are going to be tested by fire.   If what we’ve built lasts and endures then that’s a solid building materials.  These are all the good things for the Lord that we do.  They are the things that remain.  All the things that I did just for me will not remain – it’s wood, hay, and stubble.  I don’t want my life going up in smoke because I lived it selfishly!  We have to live for eternity and when we do, those good works stand after testing.

Illustration.

A work that endures shows the strength of God.  My work will be tested by fire.  What will remain. 

I believe personal lives also get tested and in the test we have a chance to get stronger. 

James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.  It’s not “if”.  It’s “when”.  The times of testing are the things that mature us in life.  When you follow God, you get stronger through the trials, not weaker.  

The strongest grain trees are the ones in the wind not the ones in the valley.  They are on the peaks.  Trials reveal character.  What was the character of Jesus on the cross?  Father forgive them for they know not what they do.  In the utmost agony, he told a repentant sinner that they would walk together in paradise. And think of the beauty of that.  You’re going to be walking with God in paradise and that’s the power of faith.  You can get through the fire.

You look at Job’s life.  That was a test and it originated with Satan wanting to see what Job was made of.  He frustrated Job but Job continually came back to wanting to talk to God and faith in God.  You keep coming back to the truth and the truth will set you free. 

You’ll be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the flaming furnace.  That is so powerful!!  God preserved them in the flames.  And why were they in there?  Because they wanted to do the right thing.  Just keep believing.

I’ve often told people, no matter how upside down life feels.  Just do the right thing and you’ll wind up on your feet.  But you need to keep doing the right thing.

• YOU DO INFLUENCE PEOPLE

V50 – “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Salt makes a difference and we want to continue being salt.  “Salt played an important role in the ancient world.  The rabbis considered it necessary to life.  The world cannot live without salt”. 

In the dead of winter, our driveway will turn into a glacier.  And that’s not a big deal except that the driveway is on a hill.  So, I’ll get rock salt and pitch it out and you hear it cracking and melting.  Salt has power! 

You salt food and it’s a game changer.  I love foods that are a conduit for salt – French fries!  Rice!  Baked potatoes.  Steak!  You taste it.  If we lived in the old days, we’d be packing meat in salt to preserve it.  Our job as Christians is to be a preservative.

Illustration

We have to help team Jesus along by being a great example.  Don’t lose your saltiness. 

On another topic.  If you feel that you’ve blown it in life and that you have no saltiness left, that’s not true.  Come to Christ and live right and your light will shine brightly in the darkness that used to travel with you. 

Ezekiel 33:14-16 –  And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right— ¹⁵ if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.

I’ve known people who were so bad by their own admission.  I would read this to remind them that God gives people second chances.  None of your sins are remembered against you when you turn to Christ and follow him.

So, if you’ve lived badly but then return, can you influence the world in a positive way?  Absolutely! You have no idea of the impact you can have.  Satan does.  That’s why he would lie that you cannot make a difference. 

A certainty is that you make an impact by doing right – we influence each other. 

• PEACE IS POSSIBLE

Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each other. We should be influential and hopefully we are.  We shouldn’t be encouraging bad behavior, we should encourage good behavior. 

Be at peace.  Peace means harmony and the absence of warfare.  It’s making a choice to live at peace.

It shows the relational nature of Christianity.  You have to listen to your teammates and keep in pace with them.  I’ve always been an enormous proponent of getting other perspectives and being sensitive to your teammates.  I don’t believe in going against the counsel of the group and if you ever did, it had better be something biblical or a hill you’d die on. 

I appreciate our musical team and their job is so much different from mine.  I get up here and I only have to worry about remembering things.  They are so dependent on each one being in exact time and they do it with such grace.  It’s an incredible talent. 

You can’t have a musical team and someone playing to the beat of their own drummer.  It only works if you are playing together.  It’s harmony. 

• Peace is in Doing Right

Let’s start at home.  Peace means that I’m doing the right thing first and foremost.  If I’m spending us into oblivion or cheating or intentionally breaking stuff in anger, that’s not going to be good.  And sin separates and it causes problems between people.

Knowing that the family is doing the right thing is ultra helpful. 

Peace is possible in light of mission.  The mission is Christ as opposed to self-interest.  As we follow Christ that should align us as Jesus is way more important than personal wants.  I’m doing what’s right and what God wants me to do. 

• Peace is in Being Considerate

Peace means that I’m listening.  My wife said her back hurts.  That means I need to be sensitive and making sure that I’m picking up and helping her.  If she says the music is too loud, I don’t notch it up louder.

Illustration

In marriage we’re supposed to be unified.  That means if what I’m doing is driving a wedge, I shouldn’t be doing it.  Right?  Do less dumb stuff and you’ll get along a lot better. I made a decision a long time ago that if Jeri didn’t like me doing something that I shouldn’t be doing it.

I’ve learned that when she says, “Do you want to stop at Starbucks for coffee” it means that she wants to.  That took a while to figure out.  But I’m all about the peace.  I hate it when she’s mad at me because then I’m like the puppy who’s in trouble and getting ignored. 

Romans 12:17-18 – Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

As much as is possible keep the peace.  It’s not always possible because not everyone is really into peace.  But do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  You have to consider what other people think to and when you do, you’ll be much at peace.  It’s not rocket science, it’s just basic consideration. 

• Peace Comes When You Control What You Control

I’ll throw one more at you quickly.  Don’t try to control others.  Control what you control and leave the rest with God.  You will drive yourself crazy if you try to drive the thinking or actions of others.  I do not.  It’s a free country and you are entitled to your own opinions and so am I. 

Do your best, control yourself, God can take care of the rest and and at least give you the strength to deal with it. 

Romans 14:17 – For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

The kingdom of God is about this …

This is what God wants in the kingdom.  It’s not eating and drinking.   It’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the HS.  Do right, seek peace, and there will be joy!