Sermon Synopsis
In Mark 10, the Lord Jesus confronts human hardness of heart on divorce by returning us to God’s original design and authority in marriage: what God has joined, we must not separate. He then rebukes the disciples for blocking children and teaches that the kingdom is received by grace, with the humble trust of a little child, resting in the Father’s perfect care. The rich young ruler illustrates the tragedy of trying to earn eternal life while clinging to earthly treasure, and the Lord clarifies that salvation is impossible with man but possible with God alone. Finally, Christ assures His followers that sacrifices made for His sake and the gospel will not be forgotten—God will reward His servants at the proper time.
Please note: This transcript is provided as a reading aid and is not a verbatim record of the sermon.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. I want to thank the saints of the assembly who are praying for me—for His Word to be spoken—and also to the assembly and the team who were very helpful and coordinating during this period.
Before we begin our study today, let’s look at our Lord and ask for His help.
Father, we are glad that we could come into Your holy presence this morning and to behold the greatness of Yourself and Thy beloved Son. We are thankful,
Father, for it is Your Word that is powerful than a double-edged sword. Your Word is spirit and life, and the Lord Jesus Christ is this Word. And now as we look into it, Father, You help us, Lord, through Thy Spirit to understand it, and to leave this place encouraged—as the disciples on the Emmaus road—where our hearts are burning because You spoke to us. We want to thank and praise You and give You glory and honor in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Last week we looked at Mark’s Gospel chapter 9. And today when we go to Mark’s Gospel chapter 10, the background is: it’s almost now six months have passed. The Lord Jesus Christ was ministering in Judea, and He’s now closer to getting to Jerusalem. And we see the record of Mark chapter 10. And here again, the disciples—and we—have a great opportunity to learn lessons that the Lord intended for us.
So we’re going to go to the first part of Mark’s Gospel chapter 10, where the Lord addresses divorce, but He also brings the fundamental teaching on marriage.
So we’ll start in Mark’s Gospel chapter 10 and we’ll start reading it:
“Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of Jordan; and the multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.”
Time and again we notice that whenever the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching, there is a group of people who don’t come there to learn. But let’s look at verse 2: “The Pharisees came and asked Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’”
If you read Matthew’s Gospel, it says their question is whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason, and they did that to test Him.
Well, what were these relentless enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ getting at? While I was going through the preparation, I learned that there was a prominent rabbi called Hillel, and this man lived during the period of the Lord Jesus Christ as well. And his teaching was that you can divorce your wife for any reason, and the basis of his teaching was taken from Deuteronomy.
So the Lord asked them this question in verse 3, and He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” So this took them to Deuteronomy 24.
And they only picked a part of it. And they said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her.”
Now if you go to Deuteronomy 24:1–4, you will find very interestingly that this entire passage does not talk about divorcing a wife for any reason.
When you look at it, Deuteronomy 24:1 says:
“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house…”
So they took this one word called uncleanness—in some versions it is given as indecency—and then they interpreted that you can divorce your wife for any reason.
But if you look at the passage, what God was doing is He was setting, through Moses, a moral code. Because what happens is: let’s say a man finds that his wife is sexually immoral and he divorces his wife, and she marries another man, and that man finds her to be sexually immoral and he divorces her—then Moses told them, you cannot—he told the first husband—you cannot remarry this woman. Or let’s say the second husband dies; that also did not give the permission for the first husband to remarry the divorced woman.
That is the context in which this was given.
But at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ, these people took this law and then they interpreted: you can divorce for any reason.
We look at how the Lord addressed this in verse 5:
“And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote this precept.’”
So if you look throughout the Old Testament, the children of Israel—especially the men—they had a record of marrying foreign women and treating women with absolute disrespect and abuse.
It’s so bad that when it comes to Malachi 2:16, the Lord speaks out. The Lord explains how He sees divorce. Let me read Malachi chapter 2 verse 16, and the first part:
“For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce.”
This is exactly how the Lord sees divorce.
In fact, when you read Matthew’s Gospel chapter 19:9, the Lord gives one exception. And He says:
“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
So it is very clear from the Word of God that we are not allowed—God doesn’t permit divorce to take place. And if divorce is taking place, He doesn’t permit for a remarriage to take place, except one party is a victim of sexual immorality.
So how do we take this into the New Testament, and how do we see that in our own lives?
Before we go there, I want to mention one thing about how the Lord addressed it. He took them from divorce and straight away got them into the foundations of marriage. In other words, He brought them to whose authority this marriage was established, and why it was established.
So in Mark’s Gospel chapter 10, the Lord says:
“But from the beginning of the creation…”
Whenever we read the word beginning, it talks about the source—who started, who has the authority to speak into that matter, and who has the sovereignty over this matter. And it is the Lord.
And we see the Lord Jesus Christ took them right back to Genesis chapter 2. And there He says:
“From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.”
And for all of us we have to have a very clear understanding: it was a male and a female. And also, God did not make Adam version one, version two, or version three—so that when one another fails He would fix another.
It was very clear: He did not make a man for a man, or a woman for a woman. This is very clear. When the Lord made it, it was a male and a female.
And then what did the Lord do? He says:
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.”
He’s bringing two people together. God is bringing two people together.
And why did He bring it? We all know that He brought them so that they would do God’s purpose—which is to multiply, which is to govern the earth, to subdue the earth. He gave them a job to do. He gave them a work to do.
And that was the reason He put them together: so that they may know Him, that they may love Him, they may trust Him, and then they may obey Him—and then they would do His plan here on this earth.
So He took them right to the basics.
And we see that God has an ordained plan in the Scriptures. In Ephesians chapter 1 it talks about God’s eternal plan. And then we read in Ephesians chapter 1 that He:
“chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
This talks about the omniscience of our Lord. It talks about the omniscience of our Father. He has a plan. He can see from the beginning to the end. And He has already planned who He’s going to create and put them on this earth.
And keeping this greater vision, He has put you and me on this earth so that we would fulfill His plan through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And not only that, when we read in Hebrews chapter 2:10, God’s plan was to bring many sons to glory—many daughters to glory. That is exactly God’s plan.
So we see the Lord Jesus Christ clearly explaining to them the foundation of why marriage was put, and then He gives a command and He says:
“Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
And this “no man” is the couple themselves. Here the advice is a command. What God has joined—so whether we have got to know one another (as couples) and then got married, or whether we made that commitment on the stage, or in another church, or wherever it may be, in the presence of the Lord—the command is: He has joined together, and we ourselves have no right to separate it.
After the teaching, the Lord Jesus goes away along with His disciples. And I’m sure the disciples might have had this question in mind: what happens if a divorced man and a divorced woman gets married?
And the Lord Jesus Christ tells them in verse 10:
“In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter.”
So in verse 11 He says:
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
And I’m sure that you and I would not like to have our records in heaven written as one who have committed adultery.
So then we have this practical question: how do we deal with conflicts? How do we deal with a conflict that can potentially lead to divorce?
And Paul addresses that in 1 Corinthians chapter 7—sorry—7:10, and I’m reading verses 10, 11, and 15:
“Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband, but even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.”
I think it is self-explanatory. It is very clear. We are not given the permission to divorce the wife.
And not only that, there are exceptions—like as the Lord Jesus Christ said when there is a case of adultery, yes, there is an exception.
There’s also another exception. Paul even says that if you are a couple and one of them come to know the Lord, you don’t need to divorce your unbelieving spouse because it is the Lord who sanctifies and keeps it.
But if the unbelieving spouse chooses to divorce, then it gives liberty to the divorced believer to get married. That’s the exemption that we see in verse 15:
“But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.”
So the first lesson that we learn today is that God has put the family for a purpose. Throughout the Scripture, if you look, God only used the family to fulfill His purpose.
Adam and Eve were a family. Noah was a family. Abraham was a family. Moses had a family. So it is throughout the Old Testament. And then when you come into the New Testament, we see again Mary and Joseph. Then you come into the New Testament church: it is the husband and wife.
And we are all put together to do His purpose, and not our purpose down here on this earth.
So it’s very clear for us this morning that we need to pray to the Lord to protect our relationships because the devil is not going to be happy to see us finish well.
So whether we are young or whether we are old, we need to pray and ask the Lord to help us finish well.
We move to the next part. The next part is very interesting.
If you observe: after He talks about the family, we see children being brought to Him. So we go to verse 13:
“Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them.”
Mark says to touch them, but Matthew adds it and says to pray and touch. This is very interesting.
What is very interesting is the reactions of the disciples. We see in verse 13:
“But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.”
And you wonder: why did the disciples behave this way? Why are you not letting a baby be brought in, or an infant to be brought into the Lord?
It is because of their religious belief. By the time the Lord Jesus Christ was on this earth, there was apostate Judaism where they believed that a child cannot work or earn for their salvation. They have to grow up. They have to become a little bit accountable. Only then they can work out their salvation.
So for them, bringing a child to God was insignificant.
These disciples were policing the crowd. They were determining who will get access to the Lord. They were determining the priority of it.
And what was the Lord Jesus doing at that point of time? When He looked at them, it says He was greatly displeased. In another translation, He was indignant. He was angry.
And then He told His disciples:
“Let the little children come to Me, do not forbid them; for such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
“And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.”
If you notice this, the Lord Jesus Christ—last week—when we saw, He told them not to stop someone sharing and doing His work. This time, He is telling them to allow the children to come inside.
This must have been a big shocker for these disciples, the Pharisees, or whoever was watching, because the kingdom of God is open to the little children.
It also gives us a peace when we think about what happens to the little children—or the infants—when they pass away.
This is a perfect illustration that salvation is by grace alone. God alone decides when the child is below the age of accountability and they are not able to make a decision. God alone decides.
You know when the psalmist wrote in Psalm 51:5, he says:
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
So it is only the grace of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross which God applies on the little infant and takes the little child into His kingdom.
He embraces them into the kingdom.
That is an illustration of salvation by grace. The child doesn’t need to do any work. Neither you and I need to do any work.
At the same time He said:
“Whoever receives the kingdom like a little child…”
If we don’t receive it like a little child, we will not be able to enter into the kingdom.
Kindly excuse me—my throat is running dry.
You know, I was listening to a message by a man of God called Adrian Rogers from Love Worth Finding. And when he talked about this “little child syndrome”—we are talking about adults coming to the Lord as a little child. We are not talking about little child coming to the Lord. We are talking about adults coming to the Lord as the little child.
And then I was thinking: what are all the things that we as adults have in our mind before we come to the Lord? Do we come like these little children who were sitting in front? Do we come like that little baby over there—completely trusting God, completely coming to Him as a child comes to the parent?
And there was one word that Adrian Rogers said that caught my attention. It said: God by nature is a Father.
And then I recognize myself as a sinful man. The Word of God is very clear: there is no perfect father on this earth except one Father, and that is our heavenly Father whom the Lord Jesus Christ introduced to us as the perfect Father.
So as I was listening to the message, it became very clear: as a perfect Father, He longs to care for us. It is His duty and responsibility to care for us.
And when we recognize that, immediately the anxiety leaves, the worry leaves, and then there is an anticipation to let the Lord have His way—to let the Father have His way—because His plan is the perfect plan. His ways are perfect. His love is perfect.
You know, human fatherhood is not the reflection of a divine fatherhood. Neither did God use the human father as an analogy to tell us who He is. But rather, He is the one by nature who is the Father.
And then we see: as a Father, He cares for us. He says, “I will take care of your need.” He says He will take care of our soul. He says He will take care of all that is required for us to live here on this earth, and tells us to by faith focus on His Son so that we will learn from Him, and then we will live life here by faith.
Not only that, He’s a Father who is available at all time. Just imagine as an earthly father how much limitations we have. We have two, three children all coming to us at the same time—we will not be able to attend to all the children equally at the same time. That’s our limitation.
But think about this entire world: if every person in this world can call “Our Father” at any time—at any time—He will be able to listen and respond.
This morning we sang about how great is our God and how great is our Father. And the more we think about Him, the more it gives us the confidence to walk.
And not only that, when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, He gave space to His Father because the Father always have a sovereign plan. Even this morning, when we read about the incident at Cana, He said to His mother, “The hour has not come.” He was giving space to His Father for His sovereign responsibility to take place.
At the garden of Gethsemane, He did the same thing: “If it is Your will, take it out—if not…” He was willing to go through it.
So we need to give that space.
And not only that, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Paul says:
“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God…”
Whatever situation He takes us through—the first song that we sang talked about the highs and lows of life—whether it is through pain or whether it is through joy—whatever circumstance He takes us through, He takes us through because He is our Father.
You know, if you have a thermometer like a doctor has, and when we go into the Word of God and we put the thermometer, we should see that thermometer where our anxieties, fears, and worries are all zero. Why? Because we trust in our Father.
Our Father gives us the confidence to move on.
We go to the next part. The next part is: you will see the impact of a person living their life to earn their salvation or work out their salvation.
So the Lord finished with talking about marriage and divorce is not permitted. He talked about allowing the children to come into His kingdom, and for the adults to come to Him like a little child by faith.
Now we will see another incident of a young man who comes in having worked out his way, and he wanted to have eternal life.
So we’ll get into the story in Mark’s Gospel chapter 10:17.
“Now as He was going on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’”
We are familiar with this story. Very often we read it.
This young man was a rich young ruler of a synagogue. He had a lot of wealth. He had position. He had power. He had everything that is required by the world today to be recognized and respected and valued. He had everything.
And then we see he came running down and he knelt.
You know, sometimes when we read a story, we wish like that people can come to the gospel. Many times when you go out to reach people, you almost feel they are wearing a sign called “please don’t disturb me.” But when you look at this man, he came running like—you know—he wanted it.
You know, I was reminded of Psalm 106:15, where the children of Israel had this experience:
“And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into the soul.”
There was a dissatisfaction in this young man’s life. He came and asked for eternal life.
But the Lord Jesus Christ did not address the eternal life question there. Instead, He listened to what that young man addressed the Lord as. He said, “Good Teacher.”
So the Lord had to zero in on the word “good.” And we need to see why.
He asked this young man in verse 18:
“Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
Now we wonder: why did the Lord Jesus Christ pick on that one word “good” and attribute it to God alone?
We know the Lord Jesus Christ is God. The point is: why did He do this?
You see, the background of this young man is: he was a ruler of a synagogue. This young man would have read God’s Word. And if he had read Psalm 14—let me read Psalm 14—this is where Paul takes and writes in Romans chapter 3: “There is none… no, not one.”
So Psalm 14:2–3:
“The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.”
The same truth is repeated in Psalm 53:1–3. The same truth is in Psalm 5. Same truth is in Psalm 140. Same truth is in Psalm 10. Psalm 36 has the same truth.
Even in Isaiah 59, you find the similar truth.
So a man who is from a synagogue—who are handling the Word of God—should know that there is none righteous, not he himself.
He was comparing the Lord Jesus Christ with any rabbi. He would have done this to any rabbi. He would have gone in and gone on his knees because that’s the way you earn to your next life.
And then the Lord wanted to help him.
So He points out the second half of the commandments. And then He listed out the second half of the commandments.
And then you see this young man thought he himself was good. You know his answer to the Lord is:
“Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
You know, when you and I have the entire counsel of God’s Word, and we know in Romans 7:7 Paul says:
“I would not have known sin except through the law…”
And he says, “I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’”
So the entire reason the Lord Jesus is presenting him the law is for him to recognize his own sinfulness, and not the goodness that he has assumed.
And you know even in that same chapter 7:18 Paul says:
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…”
And then Paul explains the conflict: the good he wants to do, he does not do; and the evil he doesn’t want to do, that he practices.
So when we read about this, it very clearly shows that this young man had an outward appearance. I assume that outwardly he is able to morally be right.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ was on this earth teaching the children of Israel, we read in Matthew’s Gospel: He took everybody to look into their hearts to understand the law.
So He said: when you look at a woman lustfully, you commit adultery inside your heart. When you are angry against your brother, you are committing murder inside your heart. And when you are looking at wealth in a covetous way, you are serving two masters. You cannot serve two masters—you will love one and you will hate another.
That’s reality of life.
So He presented those truths to them.
And here, the same truth is presented to this man, but he could not realize that he was a sinner.
So then the Lord takes him through the greatest command—but He does not tell the greatest command—He gives him a challenge. He tells him something to do: to come to Him.
You know, this is the gospel message the Lord Jesus Christ had for everyone:
“Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”
So here He made the denying very specific to this individual. He said:
“Go your way, sell whatever you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
He missed this point completely. This young man, he missed this point completely.
You know, this young man had to make a choice at this point of time. If he has to do whatever the Lord Jesus Christ has said, he will lose his position. He will lose his pride. He will lose his possession. He will become nothing.
So he counted the cost.
In a second, it didn’t even hesitate him. In a second, he was sad. He got up and he walked. He left.
In one second, he made a decision that his love for money—money was his god. That was his first priority, not the love of God. And a heart for others was not there.
And in one second, he made the decision and he left.
The Lord Jesus Christ then looks at His disciples and He tells them in verse 23:
“How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”
And now notice what is the disciples’ reaction in verse 24:
“And the disciples were astonished at His words.”
Now we need to ask this question: why were the disciples astonished? What was so astonishing about what the Lord Jesus Christ said?
Now we will see the reason why this young man got up and went.
You know, in the verse the Lord Jesus Christ says:
“Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.”
So what was this belief system that was there?
The belief system is: the more money you have, it is a symbol that you are blessed by the Lord—you are one step closer to eternal life.
So you can earn through your good works. You can earn through your money. You can put some pennies and help the poor. You can make sacrifices at the temple—and you are invited to the first class.
You know, first class like a flight—they invite you, right? “We now welcome the passengers who go into the first class.”
So they had a belief that God will give them a welcome to enter eternal life. They had worked for it.
And so the disciples were astonished. They were astonished—how come?
Then they asked the question to the Lord:
“Who then can be saved?”
Because the entire worldview is: if you have money, you have already made your entrance into eternal life.
So the disciples were shocked.
And we need to look at verse 27. Here the Lord says:
“And Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.’”
Even last week we saw the same thing. This is again another example for us to say: salvation is of the Lord. We don’t do anything to earn it.
Let me quote from a Bible teacher called Vernon McGee. He says this:
If you can work for your salvation, then God owes it to you. But my friend, God never saves by any other means except grace. He has never had any other method of saving. And if you ever get saved, it will be because you believe God, you accept Christ as your Savior, and you believe that God has provided salvation for you.
You know, when we read Romans 5 and 6, repeatedly six times it says it is a free gift that is given to us. And we come in humility acknowledging our sinfulness, and by faith we receive it.
We go into our final section. In the final section, the Lord talks about how a master pays his servants—or rewards his servants.
We look at verse 28–31:
“Then Peter began to say to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’”
“So Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’”
You know, I titled this as: The wages for His sake and His gospel.
This young man missed the point. And I think as believers we should also not miss the point here.
When the Lord Jesus Christ asked him to sell and come, He was talking to him about a life after salvation. He was talking to him about transferring his wealth to a place where no rust, or moth, or thieves can come and take it.
He missed the entire point. Though he was a businessman, he never could see the economy principle of God asking him to invest for eternity. He missed it.
And I think even today many of us as believers miss it because there is a tragic confusion between faith and work.
Though we understand faith without works is dead.
You see, the Bible translators, when they were translating the Bible, they missed a lot of words for better understanding of people. But when you look at the Greek—the original version—the meaning was not changed.
So let me give you a few of the stewardship responsibilities.
When we come to the Lord as His servants, He is giving us a responsibility to do. And we see the words that He used are very clear about it: we are a steward, and we have been given a responsibility.
So what happens is: God says, “I’ll pay you back.”
The first word that he uses—a Greek word called antapodidōmi—in Luke 14:12–14: He says when you invite someone for a meal, don’t invite people who can pay you back, who will call you back. But He says invite the poor.
And then he uses a word called misthos. Misthos means wages. “I will pay you”—where?—at the resurrection of the just.
So what God is saying is: your heart to the poor is what I’m looking at.
And you know in Proverbs 19:17 it says:
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.”
And God is not a debtor to anyone. He says: “I will pay back.” I will pay back. That’s the word that is used. It’s a wage that is used.
And not only that: when you and I are persecuted and when we endure it, it is another payment that we’ll receive.
So guess what?
When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we are not going to be judged for our sin. Rather, we are going to be rewarded for the work that He has entrusted to us.
That is exactly what He’s going to reward us for.
He has given us an opportunity to reach out to the poor—which will be repaid.
There is another word I wanted to say about possessions.
In Luke’s Gospel 12:13 and Matthew 6:19 and all, the Lord says:
“Lay up treasure for yourself in heaven.”
It is a financial investment.
And when you and I give the Lord’s given money back to the Lord for His work, we need to have a heart in it.
This morning we prayed—for example—for the evangelistic fund. Do we have our heart in it? “Yes, I have given so that the kingdom of God will expand.”
That heart is required. That prayer is required for God to account it as our investment. It has to be done out of love. It has to have an understanding with the Lord in His mission.
There is another word also I will say, which is Matthew 16:27. He says kata… practice—which means proportionate for work.
In Matthew 16:27 this is what the Lord says:
“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his work.”
So proportionate to what we do for the Lord, we will be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ.
And not only that, in Revelation chapter 2:23, the latter part, the Lord says:
“All the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and the hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works.”
The payday will come when the Lord Jesus Christ resurrects us, or when He takes us home, and He rewards us. He pays us for the work that we do for Him.
You know, when we read Ephesians chapter 2, it’s very clearly said: we are saved by grace alone. Salvation is by grace alone. We don’t do anything to it.
But when we enter into eternal life, the reward that the Lord has to give to us is something that we need to work for Him—for His sake and His gospel.
So like we saw last week, whether it is in our workplace or wherever we are, we can be a witness to Him.
So Paul writes to Galatians 6:9:
“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
And we know in 1 Corinthians 13: when we do it out of love, God rewards us.
So in conclusion today, the Lord has taught us a number of lessons.
Number one: it is God who has put us together. He’s not talking to unbelievers. It is God who has put us together—and we need to finish well. Divorce is not an option. We have to finish well.
The second is that we have to understand the heart of the Lord: not only receive the little children, but we also have the responsibility as grown-up adults to come to Him as the little children.
Whether we are 90 years old or whether we are 100 years old or whether we are a baby, we come as a little child to the Father—so that in His arms He bears us all the way home.
And not only that, we saw that salvation cannot be earned by anything that we do.
Finally, we see the Master is waiting to pay us. The payback will be the day when we see Him and when we hear from Him:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Let’s bow our hearts and thank the Lord for His Word.
Father, we are thankful for Your Son who is our perfect example of how He related to You as the Father, and how He did Your work on this earth—how He has taught us this morning through His Word.
We are so grateful, Father, for the precious truths You have taught us this morning.
Thank You, Father, that You are a Father who has a heart to give and give and give. You are a rewarder of those who seek You. And we are thankful for the greatest reward we celebrated this morning, who is our precious Lord and Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank You, Father, that it is He who is in us, who lifts our spirits, who gives us the strength to go through pain and suffering and loss.
Thank You, Father, for Your heart of forgiveness. You never remember our sins, for it was paid on the cross. You never bring it back because it is settled on the cross. Oh, who will have a heart like You? You have not withheld anything from us.
Father, we are thankful for the grace that You have provided to us. Thank You for the Spirit of God whom You have given to us. Thank You for His patience with us. Thank You for His kindness with us. Thank You for the way He comes alongside with us to help us.
Thank You, Father, for enabling us as an assembly to do Your work. We pray for every individual who’s involved in this assembly to do Your work. Father, thank You for them. We are thankful for their labor of love for You. Thank You, Father—as they do it—eternity awaits for their rewards.
Now as we leave this place, Father, we leave in peace that You will help us to take these truths and walk out as those disciples experienced—that the Lord has lifted up our spirits—and we’ll go out in confidence on You and on our Lord Jesus Christ, led by the power of the Spirit.
In our Lord Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.