and sit down and the kids can come up here. Children, come on up. Children's Choir is gonna sing for us this morning. We appreciate all the hard work that they put into practicing and preparing and getting here early on Sunday nights to be able to participate in this group. So we do appreciate that and appreciate their ministry this morning. ♪ The hill far away stood an old crowning cross ♪ ♪ The apple of suffering and shame ♪ ♪ And I bowed that old cross to the parish in France ♪ ♪ For a world no one considers the same ♪ ♪ Tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and my sorrows, tell my joys and ♪ Then all the big roads I will ever return ♪ ♪ And share in the great world that He made ♪ ♪ And He'll call me someday to that home far away ♪ ♪ Where His love and forever I'll share ♪ So I took His hand as I began To lead Him to the altar in Christ Amen. Thank you, kids. You can go ahead and we'll dismiss the little ones to go to class with Mrs. Shore. And very nice to appreciate your ministry this morning. And the rest of us, please, can open up our Bibles again to Mark chapter 10. If you have a church Bible this morning, that's page 1044. Mark chapter 10. Parker, would you go ahead and just close at least this front door this morning? I'm not sure that anybody's coming in this morning, but just in case they do. Yeah, just move the fire hydrant or the fire extinguisher. That one. You can close both if you want. All right, we'll let him get set, but I do appreciate the kids. Thank you kids again for your hard work. That sounded very nice. You guys are coming along in your ability to sing and use your voice for the Lord. It takes courage to get up here and to stand in front of the church and sing. And so I appreciate you doing that. All right, and just pray God will bless you for that. There's a street artist. I don't know if you saw this man or seen anything that he's done, but his name is have you ever seen anything that banks he has has created he's quite clever, you know, I'm not a big fan of graffiti. But I don't mind if it's actually a wall mural or something of real art that somebody's put up and they put it up. Somewhat with permission, or I guess as this guy is so famous and it's worth so much, nobody really cares if you want to paint my door, that's fine. Because several of his works have sold for over $500,000, okay, over half a million dollars. So what he does is actually pretty amazing as far as art. This past week, he was in the news because he painted the European Union Circle of Stars, and there's a man standing on a ladder in the painting, and it's almost like life-size on the side of this building, and he's chiseling out a star. The pieces are falling down, and there's kind of a crack running through the whole thing, and it's a really subtle crack. You know, I like art. We enjoy painting with Alec. And you look at what this guy does. And I mean, it's incredible. And he did it overnight. He did it in the dark. He did it on this. You look at what he painted on. He's not painting on a nice, pristine canvas. He's painting on the side of a building or he's painting on an old rusty door or something. He's very skilled at what he does and what he paints upon in the art that he creates. What I want to look at today, and it's not specifically this, we're not going to follow this idea of painting straight through this today, but as we get started, I want to think about this. Just like Bansky, Banksy can take whatever it is, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's clean, as long as he can get the rust off the surface, as long as he can get the dust off the surface, as long as he can get anything that would contaminate his paint off the surface, the master painter Banksy, which he is as far as street art goes, can create something incredible on any canvas. And what I want us to consider today is that God can use us. God doesn't need something incredible and something pristine. And God doesn't need a pristine environment. And God doesn't need pristine conditions. All that God requires today to be able to use you is that your life is clean. The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. And if that's taking place, if God by a work of redemption and a work of his grace has saved us, and if as a believer, I'm living a holy life, I'm living a sanctified life, a separated life. And guess what? It doesn't matter. I can't look at my life and say, well, I'm not that great of a canvas. Well, you know, you don't understand. There's this about, no, wait a second. God's a painter. All he needs, just like Banksy. is he just needs it clean. That's why the Bible says in 2 Timothy 2.21, If a man therefore purge himself from these, from the unclean things, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meat for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. That idea of meat for the master's use, it's convenient. It's kind of like your favorite tool. You know, that thing that is in your shed or in your garage or in your cupboard that you pull out because it's so convenient. You're so used to it. It's just easy for you to use. God says what's easy for him to use is a vessel that is sanctified. As long as it's clean, it doesn't matter what it is. God can make an awesome work of art. And so this morning, our text is Mark chapter 10, and as I was reading Mark chapter 10 this past week, what stood out to me is that all through this chapter, the human author and the Holy Spirit point out to us as a reader the flaws in the canvases that God uses. I'm struck as I read Mark chapter 10 that every single story except the last, and we'll talk about that, has a failure, you could say, not a failure necessarily, but a flaw in the life of the disciples, the ones that God was gonna use in an incredible way. And I was reminded as I read that who God uses. So the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1, 26 and following, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men, after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Just like I started with the illustration of Banksy, none of those walls can go, you know, Banksy use me because I'm a great wall. No, you're this huge monstrosity. Or you're this rusty door that people just walk by, never looked at, never paid attention to, until the master put his hand upon it, and then the master's work is so glorious they can't help but look. But there's nothing about that of itself without the Master's touch that did anything. And God has said in this passage, before we get proud about who God chooses for service, is if you stop to think about, can I be proud about the fact that I'm lacking human wisdom? Because not many wise men after the flesh, not many academics, God chose the foolish things. Can I be proud of the fact that I'm lacking human strength? Not many mighty. Can I be proud of the fact that I'm not of an honorable heritage? Boy, if you knew my family history, and I praise God, as I could say about my family, I praise God for the family heritage that He's given to me, and not everybody has the family heritage that I have. And I'm not saying it's exceptional, but my dad's in the ministry. I had aunts and uncles in the ministry. I praise God for that. But, you know, and that's not nobility in the sense of what the text is speaking about. Nobility as in, you know, I'm a son of the nobles, you know. I have this great heritage. No, not many noble. God just chooses peasants. You know, He just mostly chooses people that are kind of low down. And so today, as we think about who God uses, we're reminded as we begin that God doesn't choose us for our greatness. He chooses us to show His greatness, that no flesh had glory in His presence. So as we come to Mark chapter 10, think about who these men vocationally were. These men were fishermen, just working class. These men, one of them, Matthew, was a tax collector. Probably the best trained would be Luke, he was a physician. Then later on, you got this, what you would look at and say, well, he's gonna be the best speaker, the Apostle Paul, because he was religious, but he hated Christians, he killed Christians. So you look at these guys and think, wow. Reminded again of who they were. But as we find them here in Mark chapter 10, they've been three years in the school of Jesus. For the last three years of their life, as they've walked along, they've been walking with the Savior. I mean, this is God incarnate. This is God in the flesh that they are walking with and talking with. And the God that designed that stone, the God that designed that tree, the God that made that sea out in front of them is the God that's with them. Three years they've been trained by Jesus. And graduation, you could say, is the following week as they enter into Jerusalem for the final week before the death of Jesus. I mean, school has been in for three years, but it's about ready to end because the professor, the teacher, is about to be killed. Praise God, he's gonna rise again, but then he's gonna ascend into heaven just a month after that. I mean, this is the end of the term. There's not a lot of further education that's gonna take place with the Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples as they continue to walk with him physically. It's not gonna happen. And I'm struck by the fact, as I read this passage, Mark chapter 10, that Jesus didn't give up on these men, even though surely he saw the same flaws that we see today. And what I wanna do this morning is just encourage you that God can use you. Just be reminded today that we don't need in our church mighty, noble, strong. We just need canvases that are clean, that God can look at and say, you know what? I'm gonna do something on that canvas. that's going to bring great glory to my name. So God can use you. Don't quit. God can use you. And we're going to consider this from Mark chapter 10 this morning. Let's pray and ask God to bless his word. Father, I thank you for the grace that you give. Father, I thank you for the power of the word of God. I thank you especially for the person of the Holy Spirit. And Father, what we need is that sweetness of His presence, just like a drink of refreshing water. Lord, we all know what that is, to be satisfied and to take that into us, I pray, in the same way today, that we just drink of the Spirit of God. Father, I pray, remind us that you don't need greatness, you don't need talent. God, you just need a cleansed canvas that's ready to be used. And so as we see the flaws today, we're not trying to magnify the errors in the lives of these men. But Father, we're reminded that they're just men, and they're just like us. Lord, they struggled the same way. They had the same makeup, and we're gonna see things in their life that we're gonna look at in our life and say, you know what, I can see that in my life too. And Father, when we do, it doesn't mean it's okay. It doesn't mean it's something to honor. It just means that, God, you can use us. And so I pray, Spirit of God, that you'd help as I speak, help me speak clearly. Father, I pray that you give wisdom and I pray that you give us ears to hear today. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen. All right, so we're looking at God used them even though. God used them even though they were this way. So the first one is, God used them even though they did not know everything. They didn't know everything. And so go with me to Mark chapter 10. And again, we're going to read a lot of scripture today because we're just going to read through the story of what's taking place. So Mark chapter 10, verse one says, and he arose from fence and cometh into the coast of Judea by the farther side of Jordan and the people resort unto him again. And as he was want, he taught them again. And the Pharisees came to him and asked him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Okay, is it okay for a man to divorce his wife? Tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. Okay, so just to get us in the story, there's the Pharisees and the chief priests and these people, religious leaders, they want to trip Jesus up. And so they try to trick him and say, they knew that this is a touchy topic. And so they say, is it okay for a man to divorce his wife? And Jesus says, what did Moses say? And they said, okay, well, Moses said it was okay to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. And there might be times today in the text where we stop, we talk about something that isn't necessarily what we're preaching upon, but can I say right there that there's times where God may allow something in our life that he only allows because of the hardness of our heart? It's not at God's best. It's not what God intends. It's not what God wants. But because of the hardness of our heart, God says, fine. Remember that Israel had a king, didn't they? Was that God's plan? No. It's because the people said, well, we want a king. And God tried to tell them, look, it's going to cause all sorts of problems. We demand a king. And God goes, okay. Got to be careful, don't we? But God suffered it because of the hardness of your heart. And then He expounds and He gives them a simple biological lesson. He says, but from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. It's very sad that in our society today that we need the same simple biology. That God has created man, that God has created woman, that God gave us gender distinction, that God gave us those two special entities to complement one and to complement the other. And he said, for this cause shall man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife. Okay, there's a lot we could talk about, but today the idea of leaving a cleaving doesn't happen, does it? I mean, children stay in their parents' home until they're 35, 40, you know, and it's a tough day to get a home. It's a tough day to get out on your own, but there is an idea of us coming to adulthood and us taking a bride or taking a husband and setting out anew, no longer under mom and dad, but a separate entity that God has given in marriage, and cleave unto his wife." My dad is a pastor, preacher, and I remember my dad, as he'd get to this text, he'd talk about two dirt clods. As he talked about marriage, great, huh? And two dirt clods that when it rains, they become one. And that's the idea of leaving and cleaving that when somebody gets married, that God takes those two lives and he puts them in separately together. If you tear them apart, you tear parts of them apart. You can't separate them because God has put them together. That's the idea of this idea of cleaving. And so, that's what the word says, therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Why is marriage such a high esteemed relationship? Guess what? Because it's under God. Alec is going to celebrate his 50th, alright? When is that, Alec? When is your anniversary? 8th of October, okay? We've got to remember that. It's their 50th. 50 years. That's incredible. 50 years, what God hath joined together, that's honorable. Our young people today need to look at that and say, that is honorable. God did that, okay? This isn't what we're gonna look at specifically, but marriage is such a wonderful thing that God has given. Then verse 10 says, and in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Okay, the Lord is explaining it. He said, when somebody gets married, if they separate, divorce, and they marry somebody else, they committed adultery against that former spouse. Jesus said it. See, I don't have to run to somebody and say, what is right, what is wrong? Well, this is something that the Lord very clearly taught, but what I want to point out is this. Did you notice that the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Him a question? And the disciples are listening, and they're listening to how Jesus answered this, and they get back to the house, and what did they say? Can we have some more information about that? And what I want to point out, and what I already mentioned, is that the disciples didn't know everything. Oh, they're great men of God. God's gonna use them in a remarkable way. But they didn't have all the answers. They had to go to the Lord and say, Lord, we need some private tutoring on this. God, the God man, please help us to know what it is that we should do. We've already looked at the scripture this morning. Not many wise men after the flesh. You know, there are exceptions to that. I think about William Carey, the father of modern missions, and I really think he's an exception to that statement, not many wise men after the flash. Although Carey didn't have a formal education, he was self-taught, but he translated the Bible into six languages, and portions of it into 29 other languages. Adonai Judson did have a formal education, at what became Brown University in the States, a college of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He went there when he was 16. He graduated as valedictorian of his class at the age of 19. He compiled the first ever English Burmese dictionary and translated the Bible into Burmese. And I look at guys like Adonai Judson, and I think of that phrase, not many wise men after the flesh, but there's an exception. I look at the biography of R.G. Letourneau, and R.G. Letourneau was an incredible inventor. I mean, the machines that he designed rivaled, his competitor was Caterpillar. Have you ever heard of Caterpillar? R.G. Letourneau's company rivaled that company as far as making huge earth-moving machines. He made a machine that would clear-cut a rainforest with trees up to four feet thick at an acre an hour. I mean, incredible machines, walking oil rigs, OK, that would walk on the seabed. This guy designed these things. I look at that and think, wow, you know, there's an exception. Not many wise men after the flash. But I could look at that and you could look at that and you'd think, man, God can't use me. I didn't achieve that in school. I'm not, you know, when it comes to smarts, I'm not the, you know, the brightest person or the smartest person. And I think today, if God had chosen all intellectuals, if God had chosen all these really brilliant men and they're the disciples of Christ, that today we'd look at that and think, I can't serve God because look who He chose. But I praise God that we can look at these men and not that they were foolish, but the wisdom they had was not their own wisdom. Back when I was in college, I made some verse signs and I laminated them and I put them up on my bunk and I put them up on the back of our door. And one of those verses still, I think I still know it, Acts 4.13. It says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they'd been with Jesus. They looked at these guys, And these guys are bold preachers. They're standing toe-to-toe with these theologians of the day, these false religious leaders that know the Bible. And they're just standing in the power of God. And they look at Peter and John and they go, you guys are stupid, foolish, unlearned, ignorant men. But they marveled and they took knowledge they'd been with Jesus. Guess what? If any man lack wisdom, let him what? Ask of God. See, we don't need smarts to serve God, because God will give us all the smarts we need. And that's what the disciples knew, isn't it? What did they do? They had a question. They couldn't figure it out. They went to Jesus and said, Jesus, tell us more about this. When you have a question, you don't have to be the smartest, but you ought to go to your Bible and say, but I'm going to seek that out. I'm going to find that. But can I encourage us today that God used them even though they didn't know everything? And you may feel like, oh, there's so much I don't know. Okay, well, let that learning process take place, but God can use you. And then God used them, even though they didn't do everything right. They weren't perfect. Oh, we're gonna see today flaws that we're looking at, but lacking academics, that's not really a mistake, that's just the way we are. But these men, they made mistakes. They weren't perfect men. The Bible says that even good men fail. It says this, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. But then what does it say? Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. See, even good men, as they're trying, they wanna please God, they wanna obey God, they wanna succeed serving God, but even good men fail. but God, by his grace, helps him out. You know, like I've said before, there's a poem that I've memorized from Spurgeon's lectures to my students. It's a book that he wrote to preacher boys. And it says this, they in the heights are not the ones who never erred nor went astray, who strode unswerving to their goals along a smooth, rose-bordered way. Nay, those who stand when first comes dawn are those who stumbled but went on. See, God doesn't expect today perfection in the sense of, I never make a mistake. God expects perfection in the sense of maturity, striving to mature and be godly. And so here we look at our story in Mark chapter 10, verse 13. It says, they brought young children to him that he should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased. He said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and he blessed them. Let me say really quickly about what Jesus said about being a little child, that it doesn't mean if you didn't get saved when you're a little kid, you can't get saved. It's not what it means. It means that a child has very childlike faith. Mommy and daddy say something, don't do that because this is what's going to happen. They agree with mom and dad and say that's what's going to happen. They come to church and they hear the Bible stories and they hear what God can do and they take it and they just accept it, they believe it because God said it. And what God is teaching through Jesus in that passage is that Somebody to get saved just has to have that simple childlike faith to get saved. Except they become, as a little child, they can't get saved. But look what happens. Here they come, and you got these well-meaning parents, wow, I just can't wait to get my kids to the Lord Jesus. And they're bringing the kids in, and maybe the kids are messing about. And the disciples go, no, don't bother the Lord with them. And Jesus gets, upset, it displeased him greatly. And he says, no, suffer the little children to come on to me. Let them come. We were at the mall in Livingston at the outlet side. We went into a chocolate shop, whatever one it is. And I noticed the lady was kind of tense and kind of upset. And I wasn't really sure why. We're just walking around, looking around to see what we want to get. You know, the kids were touching some things, but not making a mess or something like that. But Katie said, as we went out, she said, yeah, that lady was running around behind us, you know, straighten everything up just perfect. And she's, you know, so nervous. And I'm thinking, wait a second, it's a chocolate shop. I mean, you can expect kids to come in and you want them to come in. Why? Because the kids are going to be the ones begging mom and dad. Hey, mom, dad, let me get buy some of that chocolate. Right. It's a shop for kids. That'd be like somebody at a toy store being paranoid about the shelves getting messed up by kids. You can't be that way. Why? It's for kids. Guess what? There's some churches where kids come in and people are paranoid. What are the kids doing here, you know? Listen, what's church for? It's for kids. And so the Lord has to correct them and get them thinking right. and show them their mistake. You know, this isn't the first mistake they'll make. It's not the last. It's the same week that Peter is going to reprove Jesus and take him and rebuke him. In Mark 8, 33, it says, Jesus turned about, he looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou sabrest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of man. What if you're Peter? That's tough, isn't it? What if you're Peter and you're so zealous and you just, you mess up, you say it wrong, and the Lord turns you around and says, get thee behind me, Satan. It's a bit devastating, isn't it? You know, back when I was in high school, college, I worked at McDonald's and I did the different jobs that were there, but one of the jobs I had was working the drive-through window And people come in, I take their order, they go on and collect their order further up. But the eye of the sky comes through, and it strikes me that he was, if I remember correctly, he was a younger man, and there were others in the car. And it was obvious this guy was intoxicated. I mean, his speech was slurred, the way he was saying things was just, it was obvious that he was intoxicated. And I'm thinking, this guy is driving a vehicle. This is dangerous. So I went to my manager. He's a good friend of mine. I said to him, Jeff, I really think this guy's intoxicated. He said, well, we could we'll pull him over. We'll call the police and ask them. And they said, just leave them parked there. Don't give them their order yet. We'll come over and we'll check. Guess what? They came. They checked. And my friend, my boss came to me and said, Ben, he wasn't intoxicated. You know what? I felt kind of stupid. I did. I was devastated. You might think, well, that was stupid. I was devastated. And I don't know whether he was acting, you know, in front of his friends, having a good time and, you know, pulling my leg. But I was so sure. But guess what? I was wrong. And I went home that night and I'm telling you, it really, It grieved me to have messed up so bad. I felt bad for that guy. What I put him through, if he wasn't acting, maybe he just had a speech impediment or something. I felt bad for my boss and I felt really foolish. You know, sometimes that just makes you want to quit, doesn't it? You ever mess up? I want to serve God. I want to please God. But I failed. You know, at this point, the disciples can look at what Jesus does. They're saying, no, no, don't bother the master. And Jesus is upset. And he says, no, suffer the little children to come unto me. And they can either receive his correction in instruction or in their pride, they can resent. Praise God, they humble their heart and they submit to the Lord. And the Bible says Hebrews 12 verse 5, you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you is unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. You know, if we're like Peter, we're gonna mess up a lot, and I don't mean that in a bad way to look down on Peter, but I'm thankful for Peter in the Bible, because Peter was zealous, he wanted to get it right, he wanted to get it right, but so often in wanting to get it right, he got it wrong, and the Lord had to come and say, Peter, you're wrong. And Peter had to be back to the point where God could use him. And I'm not saying this morning in any way that failure's okay, but I am wanting to emphasize what Scripture emphasizes here, is that God can use us despite failure. So don't think today, well, I just messed up, God can't use me. Listen, God can restore you and he can use you if you'll let him. And so God used them even though they didn't do everything right. Then God used them even though they vocalized unbelief. God used them even though they vocalized unbelief. Verse 17 says, and when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him and asked him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why callest me thou good? There is none good, but one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. and come take up thy cross and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and he went away grieved, for he had great possessions. Now you look at this story and you see this man, and you see somebody coming to Christ, Master, what must I do to have eternal life? And you think, praise God, there's another disciple. And then the Lord says, all right, tell me about it. He said, I've kept all the law. And I don't know that Jesus agreed with that. I know he says, okay. But then he says, one thing that you lack, go and sell all that thou hast and come and follow me. You know, most churches today, contemporary churches would just say, hey, that's great, you wanna serve God, come on, it doesn't matter, nothing matters. You know, just God loves you. God loves you, just come as you are and stay as you are. But that's not the gospel of Jesus, is it? Jesus looks at him and says, boy, you're lacking something. Go and sell everything you have and come and follow me. And the guy goes away sorrowful. Now, I'm a disciple and I'm watching that. I look at Jesus and I go, this is how I would think. If Jesus can't reach him, I can't either. Isn't that discouraging? Sometimes I might feel like I'm a bad witness, but if I had Jesus with me and I saw somebody reject Jesus, I mean, I'm struggling with unbelief. I'm already beginning to put the question in my mind that we're gonna see come up here in just a second. So this is taking place. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. Well, now it's gotten tougher. Not only have I seen this guy reject Jesus, but now Jesus turns around, he looks at me and he goes, It's really tough for rich people to get saved. Are you starting to struggle with the idea of the gospel? How can somebody get saved? You know, Jesus couldn't reach them. Now He says, it's tough for rich people to get saved. Then He makes it even tougher. And so the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again, he saith unto them, children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God? It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. All right, the eye of the needle has been a big discussion. It's either this small door that the camel could not possibly fit through, or it's the eye of a needle, like we think of it. Either way, it's not possible, is it? When's the last time you watched a camel walk through a small door or through an Ivanito? It's impossible. And so not only has he said it's really tough, not only have I seen the man reject Jesus, but now he turns around and he goes, it's impossible. And now the disciples are starting to talk amongst themselves with this statement that Jesus gave them. They're gonna vent their frustration And so they're astonished out of measure, and they say among themselves, who then can be saved? Wouldn't you say that today? Can I tell us this morning that everybody in our community is rich? It's true. I'm not saying there's not people that don't have needs, but you think about what we have in modern day Britain, we're rich. There's people in Africa that have a bowl of porridge in a mud hut. and if they've got shoes, that's great. See, we're rich. We're in a society that's rich. So again, I look at it and I'm with the disciples here, I'm going, wow, who can get saved? And so, then the Lord says this, Jesus looking upon them, saith, with men it is impossible. Now he's made a definite statement. Right, he's illustrated it, and you look around and go, that's impossible, and then he says it. With men it's impossible, but then he goes on. He says, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Okay, now think about the disciples. They've voiced their frustration. Have you ever done that? I gotta be honest, I have. We've put out, since we've been here, we've put out a quarter million flyers. The vast majority have been put through door by hand or handed to somebody. Okay, we have this morning in church, praise God, just over maybe 20 people. And I'm thankful for it. But you know, I look at that and I say, who can get saved? Who can get saved? I mean, we give the gospel, we give the gospel, we give the gospel, we pray, we pray, we pray, we work, we work, we work. It's not, it's impossible. Or I can believe what the Lord said, with men it's impossible, but not with God. For with God, all things are possible. See, had Jesus ever demonstrated that God was a God of impossibility? Remember that first miracle that Jesus did? He turned water into wine. We know the story. I don't need to read it for us this morning. His mom says, whatsoever he saith unto thee, do. And the servants come, they draw out water. And he says, take it to the governor of the feast. And when they pour it out, it's not just wine, it's the best wine. Is that possible? No, that's impossible. You know, walking on water, is that possible? Remember that story on the Sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus Christ comes walking on the sea, drawing Nian to the ship, and they're afraid, but they're looking at him walk on water. They had demonstrated to them that the impossible is possible with God. They stood there, at that grave of Lazarus, the friend of the Lord Jesus. They'd seen him weep and then walk up to that stone, roll the stone away. Lazarus come forth. And this guy, you'd be a little bit scared, right, to see this guy wrapped in grave clothes coming up. But he's alive. Unwrap him, unbind him. He's alive. See, Jesus said with men it's impossible, but not with God, because with God all things are possible. And again, I ask the question, have they ever seen the impossible done? And the answer is yes. Have we ever seen the impossible done? Guess what, the answer is yes. If you're here saved today, you can look in the mirror and say, I've seen the impossible done. I got saved. It's a miracle of God's grace. Anytime that takes place, it's a miracle of God's grace. And so this morning, you might think, God can't use me. I just get frustrated. because of my unbelief. And I'm, again, not saying this morning that it's okay for us to be in unbelief, but I would say this to us. It's okay to let God build our faith. It's okay to let God challenge us and say, hey, that's impossible, but not for me. And so let God encourage you today. God can use you. He can build your faith. And then God used them, even though they struggled with pride. Verse 28, then Peter began to say unto him, lo, we have left all and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's. But he shall receive an hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last first. Remember the story preceding this one? Remember that rich guy? And Jesus said, go sell everything that you have and come and follow me. So we're right after that story, and Peter starts to say, he starts to say, Lord, we've left all and followed you. What's he saying? And I don't want to read too much into this, but there's a bit of pride in that, isn't there? God, we've done that. God, we've done that. And the Lord doesn't rebuke Peter, but I wanna point out that it seems like he cuts him off because it says Peter began to say. Peter started to say. And the Lord just says, and I just wanna remind you guys, yeah, God's gonna bless that, but many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. You know, did Peter struggle with pride? Though all men forsake thee, yet not I. You know, let me ask you, do you struggle with pride? Yeah, I do. It's part of the battle that we face every day, but God can't use pride, can He? And so what does He have to do? He has to bring us back to a position of humility so that He can use us. Overconfidence can get us in trouble. A youth pastor in New York City, I used to, I mentioned recently, I think Thursday night, we're talking about cities, we're talking about the city of God coming down from heaven and how I enjoy cities and I take people in and show them Manhattan. And I was doing that with my brother and sister-in-law. Soon after 9-11 took place, just a few months afterwards, we were down at Ground Zero, where the towers came down. And I just called my mom and I said, mom, we're down here in New York City and we're at the where the towers came down. I just told her about it's really quiet, like a morgue, you know, just very quiet, very somber and right in the heart of the city. And she said, well, be careful. You know, my pride, I said, mom, what could happen? It's a beautiful sunny day. I looked up. I mean, sun is shining. I've got my brother-in-law Jason with me. Jason, at that time, could bench press like 350 pounds. He was a strong guy. Mom, what could happen? Then we went down to Battery Park. And down at Battery Park, you've got to cross the road to get out there to look out and to see the Statue of Liberty. It's very southernmost tip of Manhattan. It's impossible to get across this intersection. It's probably one, two, three, four, probably six lanes across, OK, with a turn lane right here and a walk light. And sometimes in the States, unlike here, the walk light is consecutive with a turn light of some sort. And so the problem was this. I had the green man, as it were. OK, it's white in the States, but the green man, I got the green man. And these cars are just coming around me, coming around me. But I'm a New Yorker. You know, I live there. And New Yorkers, if you don't take what your pavement or whatever. You don't take it. You don't get it. I mean, you got to be forthright or you're not going anywhere in New York City. So I'm stepping out. I'm getting further out, further out. And I've got gloves on. It's wintertime. And I've got a leather jacket, like suede with jacket on. And I mean, this car cuts around me so close that it almost hits my toes. I mean, I went like this. Boom, like that. And I hit the car. It was this close. And this was just a reaction. I wasn't mad. I was just like, whoa, like that. And thankfully, the cars after that stopped. And we're going across, and I'm walking. And in the back of my mind, I'm kind of hearing a car stop and a door close. And I turn around, and this big guy, I mean, big guy, comes walking around. And you've got to realize, right in this intersection, there's tour buses. I mean, there's everybody in the world is here. And this guy comes up to me, and I turn around. I think I go, you've got to be kidding. And he just shoves me like that. And this is the neat part. Over his shoulder, as soon as he shoved me, I saw the grill on this car light up, and I hear, whoop, whoop. And there was an unmarked police car that God put there. It was my guardian angel to get this guy. All right, funny story. I was fine. I was fine. So we lived overconfidence. It can hurt. You know, overconfidence. Mom, it's fine, what could happen? Overconfidence. You know, the Bible says, pride cometh before a fall, in a haughty spirit before destruction. If you think today, God, I'm really something. God, I've left all to follow you. Wait a second. Careful, pride. Pride. But I want to, here's my point. God will use you just like he used Peter. But God will also take us down to a place of humility. Peter's gonna have to go through some really tough stuff because of his pride. God's gonna have to restore him so that God could use him. Two more, real quick, okay? God used them even though they were afraid. Verse 32, it says, they were in the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them. And they were amazed, and as they followed him, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve and began to tell them what things should happen unto him. and saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes. They shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles. They shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, shall spit upon Him, shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again. Okay, question. If you're walking with Jesus to Jerusalem, and He says, I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to be beaten, I'm going to be... all these things are going to be happening, what are you going to do? You know what the Bible says about them? It says they're in the way. That's the path that Jesus is in. He's ahead of them. It says they followed him, but it says they were afraid. You know, it's okay to be afraid. You might be scared today to knock on somebody's door and say, you know, I'd like to invite you to visit my church. You might be afraid to say to a relative, look, I just, I want to tell you what God's done in my life. He's saved me. I've accepted Jesus Christ, my savior. Fear is okay if we don't let it keep us from serving God. See, if there's something that God wants me to do and I don't do it because I'm afraid, that's when I'm messed up. We look at the disciples, we think of them, they're fearless, you know, they're going into Jerusalem with Jesus. No, they're afraid, but they're still going with Him. And then God used them even though they were jealous one of another. For sake of time, I'm not gonna read the story, but this is where the two sons of Zebedee say, Lord, grant to us that we can sit on either side of you in glory. And Jesus says, are you able to die the death? I'm gonna die. And they say, we are able. And he said, you are able and you will die that death. But then the other disciples get upset, and they say, why are you asking to sit there? What about us? And they start to argue, and you think, how petty. The Lord's three years in the school of Jesus, they're on their way to the crucifixion of Christ, and they're fighting about who's gonna be greatest. And this is where Jesus says, look, the greatest among you is gonna be the one that serves. And we talked about it in Sunday school. It doesn't matter today what that person does, what that person does, what that person does. What matters today is what you do. God can use you. He's got to deal with that envy, jealousy, but God will use you. Now the last story, okay, and I'm not preaching on this story today, but the last story in Mark chapter 10 is the story of blind Bartimaeus. Remember in that story, he's crying out, he's crying out, he's crying out, and what happens? There's people that are saying, shh, shh, you're troubling the master. Can I say this? I hope it wasn't the disciples, because in every other story in Mark chapter 10 it is. But I don't think it is here, okay? But somebody is messing up again, saying be quiet. Now the point is this this morning, you might look at your life and say, God can't use me, I'm not that smart. Banksy doesn't need a nice door even. This is a nice door, but I've seen the door that Banksy painted, and it was a rubbishy, rusty door that obviously he had to clean before he could do anything with it. And you might look at your life and say, no, God can't use me. I'm not academically that bright. You know, I don't have all these degrees. Wait, does God need that today? No, he used these guys. They had to go to him and ask, Lord, explain this to us more. Will you trust God to use you even though you don't know everything? Will you trust God to use you even though you don't do everything right? It's not that we want to fail God. It's not that we want to mess up. It's that when we mess up, we got to get back up and say, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord to pull it in with his hand. So I'm going to get back up and I'm going to serve God. Failure is not okay. But staying in failure is. Right? I mean, I said that wrong. Staying in failure is not okay. And it's not that failure is okay, but we all fail. And so we gotta get back up and say, God can still use me. We trust God, even though sometimes you get frustrated by unbelief. God, nobody's getting saved. Okay, so what? So I'm not gonna do door to door anymore. So I'm not gonna pass out flyers anymore. So I'm not gonna witness anymore. Because nobody gets saved. Wait, are we gonna trust God, or are we gonna give in to unbelief? We trust God despite your struggle with pride. God, help me to have humility. We trust God to use you despite your fear. God, please help me to stay in the way with you. We trust God despite your struggle with envy of others. God, just help me to be thankful for my place in your church, my place, doing, God, what you want me to do, because God wants to use you if you'll be used of him. As we look at these men here this morning, we're reminded God used them. He can use us. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would take the truth of the Word of God, as we've looked at it this morning, to encourage us. Father, I'm encouraged as I think about your ability to make a glorious testimony to the grace of God in anybody's life that's clean, anybody's life that's pure, anybody's life that's surrendered. Father, there's going to be failures, there's going to be flaws, there's things that you're going to have to deal with. But God, you're willing to use us. I pray this morning, if in somebody's heart they've stopped serving you, Father, they've resisted you, they've let things creep into their life that are keeping them from being clean so that they can be used of you, then I do pray this morning that the Spirit of God would speak to their heart. And Father, that in the quietness of their heart, just now in this moment, they would deal with those things that are hindering them. Father, maybe they've let fear take them out of the way. They're not following. Maybe they let pride get a stranglehold in their life. So they're not humble. They're not teachable. They're not yielding. Father, it's one thing to say, this will happen because we're human. It's another thing to say, I'm going to stay in this. So I pray, Spirit of God, may the truth of the word of God be deeply applied to our hearts today. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. 366, have thine own way, Lord. 366, have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. 366. And standing with me, please we sing, 366.