What Does God Want? (Mark 3:13-15)
Hello! Today, the title of the message is going to be, “What Does God Want?” from Mark 3:13-15. The reason why I want to talk about this is because, I was praying to God, “God, what do the remnants need to know? What do You want to say through me?” and while I was praying for this message, I remembered a Bible lesson that someone I know gave to kids recently. She doesn’t go to this church, but pretty much, she sat a bunch of junior high kids down, and she talked about the Bible passage where Jesus turned water into wine. She was talking about how wine was super important for a party, what it’s like to have a party, and she gave the kids two takeaways from that passage.
But the first takeaway is that Jesus Christ is God, so He has the power to turn water into wine, and that’s true. The second thing she said was that, God wants us to have the best things so that we are not embarrassed, so that we look good in front of people. But then I thought to myself, “I get embarrassed all the time, does that mean God doesn’t want me to enjoy His blessings? Does that mean God is not with me? I don’t always have the best things, does that mean God is not with me?”
So, that’s why I wanted to talk about, what does God want? There are four parts of this verse that I want to break down for you guys. The first part is that Jesus called you, and it’s to be with Him, so that they can go out and preach and He gave us the authority to drive out demons.
1. Called You
2. To be w/ Him
3. Preach
4. Authority to drive out demons
First, let’s talk about what he called us from. This is a general summary of Mark 3:13-15, but from where did Jesus call us?
1. Called You
1) From Where?
Where are we that Jesus has to call us to Him? And as you guys know, we are stuck under Satan.
(1) Satan John 8:44
In John 8:44, it says, “You belong to your father, the devil,and you want to carry out your father’s desires.” So, everyone, when they’re born, is born of Satan, but what does Satan do? He was a liar and a murderer from the beginning which means he lies to us to spirituallky kill us.
– 2 Corinthians 11:14
In 2 Corinthians 11:14, it says Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, meaning that Satan is going to make himself look beautiful, he’s going to make his lies look beautiful, to do what? Murder us. How does he do that?
(2) Sin Gen. 3:4-5
He makes us sin. In Genesis 3:4-5, he went to Adam and Eve and said, “Hey, God is wrong. You’re not going to die. God knows that when you eat that fruit, your eyes will be opened and you’re going to be like God, you’re going to know the difference between good and evil.”
-> me to be like God, good v. evil, know
So, it’s a sin for me to be like God, thinking that I know the difference between good and evil. How do we know something? How do we ever come to know something? It’s from what the world tells you, it’s from what your family, your friends, and your parents tell you, but when you follow after what the world tells you, do you know what that is?
* Eph. 2:1-3
In Eph. 2:1-3, it says it’s a sin when you live, following after the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Following the world is following Satan. When you follow after Satan, what happens? You’re definitely not following God, right? So you’re separated from God.
(3) Separated from God
– Isaiah 59:2
In Isaiah 59:2, it says that your inequities, a fancy word for saying sin, has separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. Tell me honestly, when you guys are mad, how many of you guys think first, “I have to listen to God”? When you guys are super sad, how many of you guys’ first reaction is, “I have to listen to the message”? It’s not, right? It’s because when we’re mad or sad or when we’re caught up in our emotions, it’s when we’re centered on ourselves, so our sins hide God’s face. We don’t want to look at God’s face when we’re centered on our sin. But what happens when you’re separated from God?
– Eph. 2:3
In Eph. 2:3, it says that we become by nature, deserving of wrath, we are objects of wrath. By nature, you are objects of wrath, meaning because of our sin, we become by nature, objects of wrath. You know what happens when we’re not with God?
– Romans 8:2
We live in the law of sin and death, we are in the law of sin and death. When we’re stuck in sin, we become separated from God, we become objects of His wrath, and become stuck in death. Being separated from God is death. So, God called us from this, why? Why did He call us? He called us by His grace.
2) By His Grace
In Eph. 2:5, it says, “by grace you have been saved,” and in Eph. 2:8-9, it says it’s not because of anything you did. So, Jesus Christ did not call us because we’re so nice, we’re so smart, rich or popular, He just called us by His grace. He brought us out of this problem by His grace. Then, after He called us, why did He call us? It is to be with Him.
2. To be with Him
How are we with Him? Because, as the True Prophet, what does it say in John 14:6?
1) True Prophet John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” As the True Prophet, He totally solved this problem of being separated from God. Being separated from God is what brings us death and suffering. Because the world is a lie, the world tells you that you need all these things, but God says, “No, being separated from God is why you’re miserable.” As the True Prophet, Jesus Christ made that way for us to be with God again, so we don’t have to live in suffering and disaster anymore.
2) True Priest Mark 10:45
How did He make that way for us to be with God? It was His work as the True Priest, because in Mark 10:45, what does it say? He was a ransom, He gave His life as a ransom for many. So here, in Romans 8:2, it’s the law of sin and death, meaning if you sin, you have to pay the price of death, and that’s why when we’re stuck in self-centeredness, we feel like dying, right? How many of you guys have tried to study with your own power, right?
Studying for the bar exam, I thought I was going to die. It was one of the most miserable times of my life. I’m sure David Abrams remembers, too. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how fresh the bar exam is; all lawyers tell you that the bar was one of the most miserable times of our lives, right? Because you’re centered on yourself, “What can I accomplish? What can I do? What can I finish today?” Then, by law, we die, but Jesus Christ, as the True Priest, paid that price. Romans 3:25-26 says God presented Jesus Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, meaning that Jesus Christ came to pay the price for the law of sin and death, and just like that, when He resurrected, what did He do?
3) True King 1 John 3:8
When He resurrected, He did the work of the True King. In 1 John 3:8, it says, “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” So if you remember, what is the devil’s work? It is to lie to you and then to kill you, right? Kill you how? By taking you away from God with your sin and Jesus Christ came to destroy that work.
Genesis 3:15
Just like God told us from the very beginning, that the offspring of the woman would come and crush his head, and now, because Jesus Christ solved all three of these problems, we no longer have to live in death. We no longer have to live in curses, disasters, and suffering. We can live in life.
2) Life
We can have life now, how do we know that?
– Romans 8:2 -> law Spirit of Life
We read this earlier, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit Who gives life. So before, we were in the law of sin and death, and we are now in the law of the Spirit of life. Now that we live within this law, we can enjoy the filling of the Holy Spirit.
– John 14:26-27 -> H.S. teach, remind -> peace
In John 14:26-27, Jesus Christ promised us that God would send us the Holy Spirit. God, through His Holy Spirit, is going to teach us and remind us of His Word. Then in John 14:27, it says, “Peace, I leave you. Peace I give you, and it’s not like the world gives.” I’m talking to a lot of people through regional church right now, and a lot of you guys are starting new chapters in your life. We have new college students, we have continuing college students, we have people who have left their homes to receive training. But what gives you peace? Does those one or two extra hours of studying give you peace? Does having job security give you peace? What about having a place to stay, or just, food to eat? Does that give you peace? Because all of those things are the peace that the world gives you, but Jesus Christ said, “Even if you don’t have those things, you can have peace with the Holy Spirit, because He gives us peace that the world cannot give.”
An example I want to tell you guys is through my life. I know all of you guys probably know this, because Pastor Park gave the message during EM saying “Esther’s dog died.” He was like, “She’s going to cry so much,” right? And the thing is, I’m not proud to say this, but I didn’t cry so much. I cried, for sure, but I don’t think I cried more than a day or a day and a half, definitely more than a day, maybe a day and a half or two days, but the thing is, as I was telling a lot of you guys, as I was feeling sad about missing my dog, I felt peace and joy in my heart.
The reason why this happened is because, through this incident, I was able to stand as a witness in front of my parents. My parents, and I’m sure all of you guys know, I’m a very emotional person and before, when I even used to imagine my dogs dying, I would cry uncontrollably. I would be sitting there on the bed, petting them, and then I realized, “What if this was their deathbed? How would I feel?” Just thinking about it made me weep.
When my dad heard that Bubba died, he immediately came over because he imagined I would collapse at the vet’s office. Even when I talked to him on the phone as he was driving, he was crying because he was saying, “I feel more heartbroken for you,” because he thought I would just destroy myself and crumble because of my dog dying. That’s what I thought I would be like, too.
But, even though I was sad about missing my dog, I felt peace because I knew that there was God’s plan in this. Even though I might not see it right now, it’s for my good, right? So, I believe in the God Who has led me up until this point perfectly. Things even worse than my dog dying have happened to me, but now, I see God’s plan in that perfectly. So, if God had led me that perfectly with those bad incidents, why wouldn’t He be leading me that perfectly right now?
Through that day when my parents finally came, I was pretty calm in front of them, and instead, I was trying to comfort my parents. I kept telling them, “It’s okay because I trust God’s plan.” My dad said to me, “You must have more strength than me because I can’t see that.” I told him, “If, through this incident, I can show you the spiritual peace, the peace that God promised me because of Christ, then Bubba dying was a good thing.” If Bubba dying can help me show my parents why the answer is only Christ, then Bubba can keep dying.
So, because even though I missed him, I had peace and joy about Bubba dying. That is a peace that the world cannot give because all the world can say is, “I’m so sorry for your loss,” right? “Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you,” that’s why this is true life. That’s why Jesus Christ is the answer to all of our problems. It doesn’t mean that our problems go away, it means that, within those problems, if we’re able to hold onto God’s plan, if we’re able to hold onto Jesus Christ, then we can come out of the sin that makes me focus on my sadness, my thoughts. If we hold onto Christ, then we can come out of “my thoughts” that cause my death and suffering. Right? That’s why it says in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.”
– John 6:63
Jesus Christ called us out of a life of misery, death, and suffering, and into perfect peace, joy, and love. It says in Romans 14:17 that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is what I was able to experience this week, then what do we do now that we live a life with Him? What does God want us to do? He wants us to go out and preach.
3. Preach
* Matthew 28:18-20
That’s in Mark 3:14 of today’s passage, and that’s also Jesus’ last words to us in Matthew 28:18-20. He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” right? In the pulpit message this week, the pulpit passage, it says, “You are the salt and light of the earth,” and in Matthew 5:14-16, what does it say?
* Matthew 5:14-16 -> Light
It says that you are the light of the world, it says you shouldn’t hide that light. In Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others,” why? “That they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” and that’s exactly what I was able to do for my parents. Through something bad that happened in my life, instead of being stuck in sin and death, I was able to hold onto Jesus Christ, find peace, and then shine that light to my parents. Why? So that they could glorify God in heaven.
* Romans 8:28
What does Romans 8:28 say? And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. When I first began to hear the gospel, I didn’t understand this bible verse, so I hated it because it says, “God works for the good of those who love Him.” I love Him, but why do bad things keep happening? It says in all things, God works for my good, but what is this lie? But now that I know the Gospel, I realize that I was interpreting that Bible verse way incorrectly.
When I looked at that Bible verse and said, “All things are good,” things weren’t good for me. It’s because I was here, I was trying to figure out, “Do I like what is happening to me? I sure don’t.” I was trying to be God, I wasn’t loving God. I was loving myself and expecting God to give me what I wanted, what I thought was good. That’s why this Bible verse didn’t make sense to me, but now, I realize that what God considers good is this [2. To be with Him]. This is good. Even when bad things happen, the blessing for me is to not be in suffering, depression, sadness, and disaster, but to be here with true peace and true joy, this is what is good.
But the world will tell you otherwise. When I was talking to my parents about Bubba, my dad actually said, “I can’t see what possible good could come from this. I don’t like this because there’s no good that could come of this.” My dad was super hurt because two days before my dog died, his dog died, too. He was saying, “Why would God kill two dogs in our family and make us so sad?” It’s because he was trying to be like God, trying to see what is good or evil. But that’s what everyone does, it’s so easy for us to be like that, right? But what does God consider to be good?
Only Christ. When we hold onto only Christ, we’re able to understand and believe and have faith that God is working everything for my good. After I talked to my mom and dad, even my mom’s perspective started changing. She actually said to me, “You know, I’m very sad about Bambam dying, but I think God was doing this to protect me because he had heart problems, and if he lived longer, I would have definitely spent $10,000 to $20,000 on surgery for him.” Bambam was able to comfortably go. Even though they were sad, they were able to understand how this could have been for their good. They were able to enjoy more peace.
The thing is, this entire incident was for my good, too, because God said, when we evangelize, when we stand as a witness, when we do what God wants and proclaim only Jesus Christ, God will give us everything. In Matthew 28:18, Jesus says, “I have all authority under heaven and earth and I will be with you.” That’s the greatest blessing, that’s why God is always working for our own good, even when it seems like bad things are happening.
It’s not just important for us to remember this, but it’s important because Jesus gave us the authority to drive out demons.
4. Authority to drive out demons
The last thing in Mark 3:15, He called us to be with Him, to go out and preach and He gave them the authority to drive out demons, but why? “I thought Jesus Christ came to crush and destroy the devil’s work, so why do I need the authority to drive out demons?”
1) 1 Peter 5:8
In 1 Peter 5:8, it says Satan is like a roaring lion, so he’s like a roaring lion, looking to devour you, why? Because he wants to kill you, that’s his job, he wants to lie to you and kill you. So constantly he’s lying to us, to spiritually take this away from you. The next slide is actually pretty gross, so if you’re not good at looking at gross things, you should actually turn away. It’s something Tim and I saw in Korea. It’s a type of fish that looks like a snake.
If you saw what happened, he took the head of the fish and stabbed it through, then he started skinning it alive. All the things you see on the bottom, they already have their heads cut off, but do you notice how they’re all moving around? That’s Satan. Jesus came to crush Satan’s head but Satan is still alive and he’s moving around, looking around to deceive us, to devour us, and to make us spiritually dead. That is why in Luke 10:19, Jesus says, “I have given you the authority to trample over snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you.”
All of our problems come from Satan who deceives us to think of ourselves, and that brings us death. But through the Holy Spirit, God is constantly reminding us that we have been brought out of that and we were created to be with Him. That is why it’s so important to have a time of worship and prayer so that you can be reminded of this, because otherwise, Satan will try and devour you through your thoughts and emotions and all the bad things that happen to you.
Remnants, I pray that this month, you will enjoy being with God through Jesus Christ. Really remember what it is that God wants because it’s only this. Let’s pray.
Prayer
Father God, thank You for this time You have given us. I pray that You will break down the forces of darkness that cause us to take us away from what You want, and instead of being focused on what I want or what I think or on what I experience, may we live as the salt and light of the earth, so that we can be with you, go out and preach, and drive out demons, all in the name of jesus christ. Lord, I pray that You will allow us to have this time of concentration and prayer and worship. Let us enjoy it every day so that we can truly remember our status, our authority, and our mission. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray, amen.
Before we sing praise, we will sing “Jesus is the Christ.” Let us pray for our missions and evangelism fields. These are all our missions fields the church is included in right now. But also, Pastor Park is going to Utah, and that’s not on the list but Utah is also included in that. Let’s pray for all the mission camps that are happening through the church right now. The law school, the junior high, and the high school around us. Let’s really pray for what it is that God wants us to do. Let us pray.
The next prayer topic is for our church and within that, if we can put all the remnants who are out-of-state. And after praying for the remnants who are out of state, let us pray for Temple Construction, that through this church, God will use us to proclaim only Jesus Christ and continue to do the works of missions and evangelism. Let’s pray for the evangelism schools that happen at the church on Saturdays, the youth and kid evangelism schools. Let’s pray for those.
Lastly, let us pray for the Word we are going to receive, both at tomorrow’s Remnant Day and the Word we are going to receive from the pulpit. Then, after that, we will sing “Jesus is the Christ,” do individual prayers, and then go home.
Benediction
Father God, we thank You. You have given us the Word, but the reason You have called us is to be with us, to send us out to preach, and to cast out demons. We believe You are fulfilling Your Word even now. We pray You will bless all the remnants and the remnant ministers so they will fulfill this Word in faith. We believe You will work with the grace that allows them to overcome all things with the Word.
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of the remnants, the people of all nations, and the remnants, who desire to hold onto and enjoy the covenant that you have called us to be with us, send us out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.