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Scripture Reading: Mark 10:1-31
In this message we shall continue to consider 10:1-31. In this portion of the Gospel of Mark we have four matters: the Lord’s coming to Judea (v. 1), the teaching against divorce (vv. 2-12), the blessing of young children (vv. 13-16), and the teaching concerning the rich and the kingdom of God (vv. 17-31). In the foregoing message we pointed out that three matters that may frustrate our entering into the kingdom of God are marriage, oldness, and riches. We have seen that if we are replaced by Christ, we surely shall have the way to handle these matters properly. Let us now consider in more detail what the Lord says in 10:2-31 concerning marriage, oldness, and riches.
When God created man, He did not create all the people He needed for His purpose at the same time. If God had wanted to create a great number of people at the same time, He certainly could have done so. He could have created billions of people. However, this was not God’s way. Instead, God created a couple and charged them to multiply and replenish the earth. According to God’s ordination, the propagation of mankind takes place through marriage. Marriage, therefore, is second only to God’s creation.
We should never despise marriage. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all.” Marriage is holy, and we must honor it.
Mankind was brought into existence through God’s creation, and God ordained that mankind be propagated through marriage.
We need to see that marriage is honorable and holy, for it is ordained for the propagation of mankind for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Apart from the creation of man and the propagation of mankind through marriage, there cannot be the fulfillment of God’s purpose. We need to look at marriage from this point of view. If we consider marriage in this way, we shall honor it. We shall realize that marriage is for the propagation of mankind so that God’s eternal purpose may be fulfilled.
In our marriage life we need to be honest, faithful, and pure. If we are not honest, faithful, and pure, we shall offend God in a very serious way. According to the Bible, God condemns fornication and adultery. Hebrews 13:4b says, “Fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Fornication and adultery are second only to idol worship as sins that are most offensive to God. Therefore, we need to care for marriage in a proper way before God. We need to see that fornication and adultery damage the proper propagation of mankind. This is the reason that God does not allow divorce.
Because marriage is such a serious matter, I would caution the young people against entering into it in a hasty way. Young people, before you get married, you need to have much prayer and consideration. Do not simply consider marriage from your point of view. You need to consider marriage especially from God’s point of view. Do not get married in haste, for once you are married, you no longer have any alternative. Divorce is highly offensive to God.
Since we are on our way to enter into the kingdom of God, we especially need to be firm in our standing regarding marriage. We need to realize that once we are married there should not be any divorce.
All married people should be “blind” to the shortcomings of their mate. They should not try to learn the faults of their spouse. All the investigating concerning the other party should be done before the time of engagement. After you are engaged, and especially after you are married, you should close your eyes to the defects of the other party and be blind. Unless you are willing to be blind in this way, you will not have a proper married life.
According to 10:2, the Pharisees questioned the Lord Jesus “whether it is lawful for a man to put away a wife.” When He asked what Moses commanded them, they replied, “Moses permitted us to write a certificate of divorce and put her away” (v. 4). This commandment was not a part of the basic law, but a supplement to the law. It was given by Moses, not according to God’s ordination from the beginning, but temporarily because of the hardness of man’s heart.
In 10:5-8 the Lord goes on to say, “In view of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, He made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. And the two shall be one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.” Here the Lord’s word not only recognizes God’s creation of man, but also confirms God’s ordination of man’s marriage, that is, one male and one female to be joined and yoked together as one flesh, inseparable by man. The commandment concerning divorce given by Moses was a deviation from God’s original ordination. But Christ takes us back to God’s ordination in the beginning.
In 10:9 the Lord says, “What therefore God has yoked together, do not let man separate.” Here we see that divorce is not merely against the law of God; divorce is against God Himself. What God has yoked together man should not separate.
On the one hand, marriage is a necessity. On the other hand, married life is difficult. Nevertheless, we must learn to love this difficulty and even care for it with affection. This means that we should love our marriage and take good care of it. Otherwise, we shall be hindered in entering into the kingdom of God.
We believe that God is true, and we also believe that His Word, the Bible, is true. Hence, we must honor what God says in His Word concerning marriage. It is a serious matter not to handle our married life properly. Failure to take care of our married life according to God will keep us from entering into the kingdom. Yes, we now are on our way to the kingdom. But whether we shall actually enter into the kingdom in the coming age is still pending. According to chapter ten of Mark, whether we shall enter the kingdom in the coming age depends in the first place on the way we handle our married life.
I have given much thought as to why the record concerning the Slave-Savior’s blessing the young children (vv. 13-16) is inserted into chapter ten. As a result of my consideration, the Lord enlightened me to see that this indicates that those who are on their way to enter into the kingdom of God should not become old. Instead, they should be young, even as young children.
Perhaps the most difficult thing for Christians to deal with regarding entering into God’s kingdom is their oldness. Much of the teaching, doctrine, and theology among today’s Christians is old. If we would enter into the kingdom of God, we need to be young and fresh.
I am very concerned whenever I see the saints in the Lord’s recovery becoming old in their spiritual life. Thirty years ago, you may have been young and fresh, but now you may be old. Today Christians are held back from going on with the Lord by their oldness and also by their old teachings. These teachings may be fundamental and even scriptural and correct, but they are old.
In 10:14-15 the Lord Jesus says, “Allow the young children to come to Me; do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a young child shall by no means enter into it.” Having said this, the Lord took the young children in His arms and blessed them (v. 16). We see from this that the Lord Jesus treasured the young children and embraced them. By taking the young children in His arms and blessing them, the Lord was indicating to His followers that they should not become old, that they all should be as young children in order to enter into the kingdom.
In 9:38 John, one of the sons of thunder, said to the Lord, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name who does not follow us, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” The fact that John forbade someone from casting out demons in the Lord’s name was an indication that John had become old, spiritually speaking.
The disciples of John the Baptist also became old. They followed John for not more than three years. But even in that short period of time they became old and eventually formed a religion. The same thing in principle may happen among us today. I am concerned that oldness is creeping into the Lord’s recovery. Once oldness comes in, we shall no longer be fresh day by day.
We may use the gathering of manna in the Old Testament as an illustration of our need to be new and fresh every day. The principle with the gathering of manna was that it was gathered one day at a time. Except for the Sabbath, any manna that was left over for the following day would stink and bring forth worms. This portrays our need to be refreshed and renewed daily. Day by day we should become newer and fresher.
I believe that the truth in the Gospel of Mark can be presented in an even fresher way than in these messages. We, of course, do not change the truth. However, we can have a fresher way of presenting the truth. For example, although the earth remains the same, the means of transportation has improved. In a similar way, God’s truth does not change, but the way to present this truth should be newer and fresher all the time.
God’s kingdom has come in a new way. It was necessary for the Pharisees and scribes to be reborn in order to enter into the kingdom of God. What does it mean to be reborn? To be reborn is to be renewed. Because oldness has nothing to do with God’s kingdom, we must be reborn, renewed, in order to enter into the kingdom.
A great problem among Christians today is their oldness. Many turn to old expositions or cling to the old teachings of their denomination. Lutherans, for instance, may check matters by what Luther says. No doubt, justification by faith is a basic item of the truth. However, with respect to this truth we need to be renewed and refreshed.
In one of the foregoing messages we spoke of Christ as our entire, universal replacement. Before that message was given, I had never used such an expression. It was while I was speaking that this expression came forth. I do not know of any other expression that is so helpful in conveying the truth of Christ’s replacing us. I use this as an example of not staying in our old knowledge.
We all should be new, and the teaching among us should also be according to new light. We have seen from chapter seven that the Lord Jesus is a Surgeon operating on our heart and exposing its condition. Is this not a new, fresh understanding of the Lord’s dealing with our heart?
I do not want to be old in any way. Neither do I want to be limited by old ways of expressing the truth in the Word of God. Before 1949, we never spoke about being one spirit with the Lord, and we did not use the term “life-giving Spirit.” Further, we never mentioned anything about the sevenfold, intensified Spirit. All these are new expressions among us.
Even the matter of calling on the name of the Lord is new, as far as our practice is concerned. When we were in China, we did not emphasize calling on the Lord’s name. Some claim that I invented this. I did not invent calling on the Lord’s name. At most, I discovered this matter in the Bible. As early as Genesis 4 men began to call on the name of the Lord. By the Lord’s mercy, He has used us to discover this matter, but we surely did not invent it. A great many saints have been blessed by calling on the Lord’s name. But even our calling should be new and fresh.
In a previous message we saw that prayer is actually a matter of “not I, but Christ.” Have you ever heard that prayer is a matter of not I, but Christ? I can testify that this understanding of prayer is new to me. This is a further illustration of our need to be new, young, and fresh.
Be assured that in the future more new things will come forth, and more striking terms and expressions will be used. Through new terms and expressions we may receive more light and grace. Therefore, let us not keep our oldness, but daily be renewed and refreshed.
We have seen that two matters that can hinder us from entering into the kingdom of God are the way we handle marriage and oldness. In 10:17-31 we see that riches are another thing that can hinder us.
In verse 21 the Lord Jesus looked at the man who had asked Him what he should do in order to inherit eternal life, and He said to him, “One thing you lack: go, whatever you have, sell it and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” When I read this many years ago, I was troubled. As a student, I was concerned that I would not be able to fulfill the Lord’s commandment to sell everything. Gradually, by studying the New Testament, I came to see that Paul did not instruct the Corinthians to sell all their possessions and give to the poor. Paul did not tell them, “Corinthians, if you mean business with the Lord, you must sell all that you have and give to others.” Nowhere in Paul’s writings is there such a word. However, Paul does emphasize the fact that none of the believers should be under the bondage of wealth. We should not be bound by riches in any way. Rather, the slavery of riches must be nullified. We are not for riches; riches are for us. We must be free from our material possessions and use our riches for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Of course, as human beings, we need money in order to live. But we never should be enslaved to money. Money should not be our master. Rather, money should be under our management and should be used for God’s purpose. If money is not under our control and if it is not used for God’s purpose, then we shall be enslaved to it. As a result, we shall not be able to enter into the kingdom of God.
If we are filled with Christ, we shall be able to handle the matters of marriage, oldness, and riches. We shall handle marriage with Christ, we shall deal with the matter of oldness with Christ, and we shall manage money with Christ. This means that in the matters of marriage, oldness, and wealth we are replaced by Christ so that we may enter into the kingdom of God.
May we be impressed with the truth that the best way to handle our married life is to take Christ as our replacement and to experience His death and resurrection. Likewise, the best way to keep ourselves new, fresh, and young is to take Christ through His death and resurrection. Furthermore, the best way to handle our money is Christ with His death and resurrection. If we do not have Christ and His death and resurrection, we shall not have the way to handle the three matters of marriage, oldness, and wealth. The only way to handle these things properly is to be replaced by Christ through His all-inclusive death and His wonderful resurrection.
