Mark 3:31-35

And I want to give a special shout out to Tricia right here. Tricia Sepco, and your daughter Brittany. So thank you all for everything. It just looks great! And if you haven't had a chance to go down the hall, please, I encourage you to do that today. All right. My name is Gene Sauls. I have served as executive pastor for a little over two years, and it is my joy and honor to bring the word of God to us today, and we want to welcome all of those of you that are watching online.

We just pray the word of God will speak to us all today and that we will hear the voice of truth. Let's bow together in prayer to that end, shall we. Father, we thank you for this season of the year. We thank you for the love of God, so loved the world that he gave the most precious thing to him, his only son, that the world might be rescued from darkness, rescued from bondage, set free, as the song said, and given light, the light of life. And God, we thank you for that today.

So Lord, we ask you to prepare our hearts, Lord. Open our ears. God, may we hear and may we obey your word as it speaks to us today, to the glory of God the father, in and through the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray. And all God's children said amen. Open your copies of the word of God to Mark chapter 3 or your personal device that you may have there. We are picking up and finishing chapter 3 of Mark today, and it's an interesting passage that we look at today.

We have seen the Lord Jesus do some mighty things here in chapter 3. In the first part of the chapter, he healed the withered hand of a man. And then also, many, many came to him, and he healed many. Verse 10 tells us in chapter 3: "so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him." He even quieted the unclean spirits, as we see there in verse 12. And then, he chose the twelve.

And then, as Luke Jackson preached last Sunday, he dispelled and clarified what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit's all about. And if you didn't hear that last week, I encourage you to go online to the archive and listen to that message. God used that. And today we're looking at kinship and the will of God. Kinship and the will of God. So let's read together Mark chapter 3, verses 31 to 35: "And his mother and his brothers came and stood outside.

And standing outside, they sent to him and called him, and a crowd was sitting around him." You see, if you were to underline "crowd" or "great crowd", just in chapter 3, I think you would see that numerous times, a great crowd.

"A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, 'Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.' And he answered them, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers, for whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.'" First of all this morning, I want us to talk a little bit about kinship. We're all born into a family, are we not? We are.

And that's one of the conditions of-- if you're not born, right, I mean that goes without saying. When we're born, we're born into a family, and sometimes, people are adopted into a family. And sometimes, you marry into a family. That can be joyous most of the time. [Laughter] It can also be challenging, can't it? Because that's the family.

Of course, we live in a culture today, in a world today, where the definition of "family" has been completely inverted and polluted, if I might honorably use that word. The definition of "family", it's a confusing world. As one writer described it, "We live in a culture of chaos." And you know why we're in a culture of chaos? Because it's hard to find truth. Amen? We live in a post-truth world.

We used to live in a world of modernity, where it was all about man and man's capability, man's intellectuality, man's creativity, all about man. Humanism, right? We moved into postmodernism, which became an age of situation ethics, where anything you want to do, as long as you think it is right for you, that you do, and I didn't mean to rhyme with that, but it works. Situation ethics. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a post-truth world. Now, what do we mean by that?

We go back to the Old Testament and we find the prophets, time and again, tell the people of God, who have heard and heard over and over again the truth, and they've rejected it. They resisted it. And as a result of that, they created for themselves a society where truth was dead in the streets. That's what Isaiah the prophet called it. Also, that which has always been known to be good and always been acclaimed and sought after as good has been twisted, and now that has become evil.

And then that that we always have known in our entire life, that which was evil-- and we had no problem calling it evil-- has all of a sudden become good. Ours is a culture of confusion. A world, a world where no truth exists. Now I'll make that last statement, but you and I know better, right? We have truth, and it's right here in the inscripted [sic] word of God.

And as we celebrate this Christmas season, we celebrate, we honor, we sing about, we talk about the incarnated Word, the Lord Jesus, who came, and he came to make a family. Now, he was born into a family. Of course, Mary was his mother. Jesus had a biological family. Chapter 3, verse 21 tells us, if you look back at that, that in this particular part of the story, his family came, or at least, maybe, some family and some friends. The Greek word there is very vague.

It could be friends, it could be family, or maybe it's a combination of both. When they heard that Jesus was just going and going and going and busy and busy and busy, they were concerned about him. So they went, because they had heard, as Luke preached, that he was out of his mind. Somebody said, "He's gone nuts!" So his family went to see him. And then, in verse 31, his mother and his brothers came to the house that he was in, and they sent a messenger in and said, "Hey, we want to see Jesus.

Tell him we're outside." So Jesus had a biological family. Now let me make something very, very clear. The New Testament is clear that Jesus had a biological family. He was not an only child. All right? Okay. Where can we find that out? Look at Mark chapter 6, verse 3.

Mark 6, verse 3, the people are asking about this man that's speaking with such wisdom and authority and power, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And as often times as it does happen, when truth comes out, these folks took an offense at Jesus, even his own family took an offense at Jesus, because he was saying, "Hey, I love you. Yes, yes, you're my biological family.

Yes, but let me tell you, there is a greater family. It's a spiritual family. The spiritual family." We talk about kinship. We see true kinship here in verses 33 and 34 of this passage. Jesus said in verse 33, "'Who are my mother and my brothers?' And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here, here are my mother and my brothers.'" And so Jesus is talking here about a spiritual kinship. True kinship is the family of God, and that's the Church.

Aren't you thankful that God had the Church in mind? You know, Jesus said, "I will build my Church. The gates of hell will not prevail. I will build my Church, the family of God." Jesus will not allow the Church to disappear from the face of the earth. He will build it. He will sustain it. He will carry it forth, and he has done that since the Church was founded on the day of Pentecost. The Church will not die. Now, we know what the conditions are, being in a biological family.

We've talked about that. What are the conditions for being a part of a church family? I want to give you four, right quickly. True kinship, the family of God, lies in a common experience. In a biological family, you have all kinds of common experiences. In the church family, the family of God, you also have a common experience, and that common experience is the new birth. You see, when you were born, you know, you're born once, you die twice, they said, somebody said.

But in the family of God, you must've had the spiritual birth. Jesus, talking to Nicodemus, said what? "You must be born again." That's the first condition of being in the family of God. Have you been born again today? Do you know for sure that you've been born again? If you know for a fact that you have never acknowledged Jesus and your need of him to forgive you of your sins and asked him to forgive you of your sins and to come and change your heart and your life, I'm sorry.

We love you and we're glad you're here, but according to scripture, you're not part of the family and we want you to be part of the family. Amen? Amen. We want you to be part of the family, so don't leave here today without taking that first step, the first requirement, the first and greatest step you will ever make as an individual. Joining the family of God. Hey, the church isn't perfect, is it? For those of you that are visiting today, we're so glad you're here.

If you're watching online, and you live close, and you're looking for a church home, we'd love to have you sit in our sanctuary, but please know we're just a bunch of fallen people, fallen people that are just making it by the grace of God. We are sinners saved by grace. Amen? And our king is victorious. And he says we can overcome the world through him. So the first true kinship step is common experience. Now, how do you know that?

My wife and I were in Chicago, if I could take a minute to share this quick story and not step off the platform doing it. We were in Chicago back in August. My wife's a certified association executive, so I go with her, you know, I kind of tag along, you know, be the luggage bagger and all that stuff. We went up to Chicago for the American Society of Associations Executives Convention, and they have a huge exhibit hall. I mean, it's massive.

All kinds of stuff there, and every city that has any kind of size has a booth there, because they want these associations to come to their city. And countries have gotten involved in it. And so, we were in this one section of the exhibit hall, and there was this beautifully decorated booth, large booth: Korea. I said, "Wow, okay, let's go check that out."

And right out front of a booth was a table, and behind the table was a very small Korean lady, and she had these little fans, you know what I'm talking about? The fold-out fans. And she was stamping all kinds of beautiful designs on them and giving them to people. And as she did, she was smiling, she was beaming, you know, bright eyes. And so Amy and I were watching her, and it was our turn, so we got to sit down in front of her.

She's just doing her thing, and I said, "Hey, let me ask you a question. Do you know our Creator?" And she just beamed again. You know, she knew the Lord Jesus as her Lord and Savior. You see, there is a-- if you're a genuine, born-again, you know, there's just something different about you. It can be seen. The joy of the Lord. The light of his life is in us, and that's the way it was with this Korean woman. Now, she didn't live in Korea. I found out she lived in Chicago, but she knew Jesus.

She was a family of God. I don't even know her name, but I know one day I'm going to see her again, right? Amen. All right, so secondly, then-- firstly, there's a common experience, and then there is a common interest: belonging and acceptance. Everybody wants to feel belonged and to have a sense of acceptance. And no better place exists than a strong traditional family, except a strong, healthy church family.

Probably the worst thing that could happen to anyone is to be wounded by church, of all places. That's where people should be helped and healed and made stronger. Not hurt. But we all desire that family because we want to feel like we belong to something. Why do we have so many young men joining gangs across the city of Memphis? They don't have family. They don't have a daddy. So they come together for acceptance, to get a sense of identity and belonging, and they do bad things.

Everyone wants and needs a family. So we have a common experience: the new birth, born again. We have a common interest: the Word of God, the God of the Word, and the people of God. That's our common interest. We may disagree on many things, but there's much we have to agree on, amen? Amen. Number three, true kinship lies in a common obedience. Hm. How about the traditional family? Where there is disobedience and rebellion in the home, there is all kinds of turmoil, all kinds of trouble.

And a lot of it has to do with the unwillingness of kids to obey. Now, I know there are times where we as parents and grandparents, we mess up. You know, we don't do and respond and act in appropriate manners, and we hurt and wound. And what do we have to do? We have to say-- hey, I did that to my grandson here not too long ago. I said, "Buddy, I'm sorry. I was harsh to you. I said things to you that I shouldn't have said." I was scared. I won't tell you the whole situation.

I was concerned for him and his little sister, who was two at the time. And uh, you know, the old grandfather/father got into me, and I said, "Hey, you listen to me. Okay? I'm trying to protect you. So you listen to me." So there has to be submission to the One (capital "O"), submission to the Lord Jesus our Savior, and submission to authority in the families we talked about in the church, in the civil arena.

Yes, there are times for civil protest, there are ways to have a civil protest in an orderly fashion, right? There is a place for civil disobedience. I mean, look at Acts chapter, I think it's chapter 4, when Peter and John, they said, "Hey, the religious leaders said you don't go around sharing that Jesus stuff." And what'd they say? "We must obey God rather than man." There are times when we have to disobey the civil law and obey God's law. You see? That's what you have to hang everything on.

If you're disobeying civil law because you don't like that law, then you're coming at it in the wrong way. If you're disobeying a civil law because it violates God's law, then you're on the right track. So a common experience, a common interests, a common obedience. Ephesians 5:21, and this is not on the screen, Ephesians 5:21 is a very interesting passage or verse. It says, "Submit, therefore, to one another." So how you do that when you've got a rebellious teenager?

How you do that when you and your spouse are having a nice little discussion? How you do that when you've got a relative or a coworker or a neighbor you're in conflict with? How do you submit? You have to go back to the first step of obedience. The first step of obedience is submission and surrender to your Lord and your Savior, Jesus Christ. You better make sure you've got that right first. Okay? You get that right.

Then you make sure you're following the policy and the governance of the church. Make sure you got that right. And then, make sure you are right with your brother or your sister. Get that right. Then you've done it. That's obedience. That's obedience. Number four, true kinship lies in a common goal. Now remember, we're talking about the conditions for being a part of God's family. As Jesus said, "Here are my mother and my brothers." "Here they are." And we all want to be a part of God's family.

So true kinship lies in a common goal. What is our goal? Each one of us should have a personal goal of growing in our knowledge and understanding of God's word, God's work, and God's will. And we're going to talk about God's will here in a minute. God's word, God's work. You might could throw another "W" in there if you're taking notes: God's way, and then God's will. We need to be mindful every day of winning others to Christ, sharing our faith.

How long has it been since you said anything to anybody about Jesus? We want people to come to Christ. We want to help them to become disciple makers themselves. See, that's what it's all about. You be a disciple, and you help someone else be a disciple, and part of being a disciple is that disciples helps someone else be a disciple, and then before you know it, we've got a whole heap of disciples, right? So those are the conditions for being a part of God's family.

Common experience, a common interest, a common obedience, and a common goal. And then Jesus lays out, listen to this, he lays out the primary condition for being a part of God's family. There is a primary condition. I want to talk about that. Look what verse 35 says: after Jesus has said, "Hey, who are my mother and brothers?" He looks around the room and says, "Here are my mother and my brothers." And then he says in verse 35, "Whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brother."

"Whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brother and my sisters." He throws that in. What is the will of God? J.I. Packer in his book, God's Will, says, "The will of God is the course of action that each of us have in each situation that God sees as good, pleasing, and complete," and that's Romans chapter 2, verse 2. I'm sorry, Romans 12, verse 2. "It is pleasing to God, it's good, and it's complete.

And then the most truly and fully God-glorifying response to each set of needs and possibilities." The will of God is complicated. That's basically what he's saying here. "The most biblical, faithful, and reverent option open to us each time the servants of God and of his son Jesus Christ. It is this that God wants and helps us to discern and carry out." J.I. Packer. John Piper describes the will of God as two-dimensional. We'll take a minute to talk about that. What is the will of God?

We'll take a quick look at two possible dimensions of the will of God. First of all, it's God's will of decree or his sovereign will. God's sovereign will is his sovereign control of all that has come to pass, that is now coming to pass, and what will come to pass. That's God's sovereign control. And we see in Daniel, chapter 4, verse 35 that God does according to his will, among the host of heaven, that's the spiritual, angelic realm.

And among the inhabitants of the earth, that's the Church and those that are not part of the Church, the human realm, and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" God is sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present. Do you hesitate to put your trust in a being of that magnitude?, Do you dare put your trust in a human organization or a human ideology or a president or a government? Do you dare do that now? Now, the word of God is clear.

Those who rule over you, those who are in offices of leadership are there by the hand and will of God, did you know that? That's scripture. And we're commanded, we're charged, we're admonished to pray for those who rule over us. But God, it's his will, and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What are you doing?", Is basically what that means. James 1:18-- this is not on the screen-- James 1:18 says, "Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth." James 1:18: "Of his own will."

You're sitting in that pew. You're sitting at Central Church. You were born who you were born, how you were born, and where you were born. Psalm 1:39: "He knew me." He knew you in your mother's womb. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. Revelation 4:11: "'Worthy are you,' the elders cried out to God, 'our God and Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things'"-- and listen-- '"by your will, they existed and were created.'" See?

Nothing exists apart from the will of God. There's a lot more to that that we don't have time to get into today. The will of God is complex, but I want to make it simple today, and I believe we can do that. But first of all, God is sovereign. It is his will and his sovereignty, his authority, that keeps the world together. Well, you look around and say, "God's not on the job. The world's a mess." Well, yes it is. And you know why? Because we want to do it our way.

We want to define what's good and evil. I was reading recently. There was another take on the fruit in the garden of Eden I want to take a second to share with you. We all know that story. God told Adam, "You can eat of any tree in the garden, any tree, but that tree right there, that tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat." Well, we know the story, don't we? Adam said, "It was that woman!" And the woman said, "It was that serpent!" We love to pass blame, don't we?

And I've thought for most of my life that Adam and Eve, all of a sudden, realized what was good and what was evil, and you know, that's partly true. In their finite mind and what they understood, as our kids grow up and learn what's good and bad as they are taught and corrected and guided, but here's a thought that this writer put forth.

Not only did they begin to see and know what was good and what was evil; they took it a giant leap forward, and they said, "I'm going to determine what's evil and what's good." That's a dangerous place. That makes the fall in the garden of Eden even greater, because man, because of his sin, falters away from his creator, and says in his heart, "I know what's evil and I know what's good. I'll do it my way."

You know, and one writer, or one scholar said it this way, one preacher: "There are two kinds of people in the world: one that humbly acknowledges a desperate need of God, and they'd say, as Jesus did in the garden, 'Oh God, thy will be done.' And then there's another place, where God looks down, and he says to a man or a woman and says, "Your will be done.'" I know which place I want to be in: over here. That's God's sovereign will. How about God's will of command?

The will of God is what he commands us to do. And we're going to go through some verses right quick, so just hang tight. In the book of Ezra, chapter 10, verse 11. Ezra has, along with Nehemiah, they've gone back to the city of Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity, and they've rebuilt the city walls, they're rebuilding the city, they've rebuilt the temple, and then people are continuing to come back from Babylonia, from the 70 years of captivity.

And what they've done-- while they were there in captivity, they married across ethnic barriers that God had set for them. And so Ezra the priest stood up before the people and says, "Now, therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourself from the peoples of the land and from the pagan wives." How does that apply to us today? Obeying God's will. It's doing what God wants us to do in every situation that we're in.

And when we willfully-- the writer of James says, "He that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is a sin. When you know to do good and you don't, when I know to do good and I don't, I'm standing against my God, my Lord and Savior, Jesus. Forgive me. It helped me to know when I do that. 1 Thessalonians 4:3.

Now here, three passages that are going to help you to kind of get your hand around the will of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul writes, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immortality." Then he goes into a long depiction of what sexual immorality is. Well, let me say something. Nobody questions the fact that we're saved by grace. Faith. By grace, you are saved through faith. Okay? Yeah, and that's-- I believe that.

I believe that with all my heart, but when it comes to sanctification, you're not sanctified by grace. Yes, grace is behind it. And sanctification is an act of God, but sanctification, God can only sanctify the willing heart. If you're not willing, if I'm not willing to be sanctified, if I don't want to be sanctified, if I want to continue to do what I've been doing because I like it, God says, "Gene, you've got to straighten up, boy." I say, "Lord, hey, I like it." And God said, "Okay.

Just go on, son. Payday's coming. Judgment's coming." The will of God is your sanctification. You're saved by grace. You are sanctified by your obedience to God. God does the sanctifying, again, to the heart that's willing, to the heart that's open. 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God." Just got bad news from the doctor. Just got a call from work. Come in, we'll talk to you. And you lost your job. Whatever it is, the will of God is everything.

Give thanks. "Lord, I don't understand. I don't get it, but Lord, I know you're sovereign. You have a plan. You are a good God, and that plan is good. I surrender to you." 1 Peter 2:15, "For this is the will of God--" here you go again! "For this is the will of God: that by doing good, you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Someone said, "For evil to abound, let good men do nothing." And throughout the pages of scripture, God is crying out to his people, "Do good! Do good!

Because if you don't do good, and you don't do anything, evil will abound." And it will abound even in your own heart, as a member of the family of God. The will of God is synonymous with the purpose of God, and the will of God is synonymous with the will of my father. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my father in Heaven."

Matthew 12:50, which is a companion passage to Mark 3:35: "For whoever does the will of my father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother." John Piper says, talking about these two dimensions of the sovereign will of God and the commanded will of God, where man is called to obey. "His sovereign will is invincible because he is invincible, and his will of command can be grievously broken."

We need both of these truths, both of these understandings of the will of God, not only to make sense of his word, but to hold fast to him in times of suffering. So how do we learn to know God's will? Over in Romans chapter 12, verse 2, this is not going to be on the scree.

In Romans 12, verse 2, the Apostle says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," and here's the charge: "that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." The word "perfect" there means "complete" or "adequate". "By testing." We have any scientists in here? [Laughter] What does a scientist do? Tries one thing, it fails. Tries another thing, fails. On and on and on.

He tries, he tries, he tries, until it works. And that's how it is with our understanding the will of God. We have to go through the testing to know his will, but oh my friend, when you get to that point where the revelation is made and the lights come on and you know, "Oh yes, yes, I was obedient and I was faithful. I didn't understand and know the will of God at that time, but now I know."

And you can know, as we come to a close today, in our reflection and response time, we would just like for you to bow your heads for a minute if you would. We come to the Christmas season, the most wonderful time of the year and also the most stressful and dreaded time of the year. I want to remind us all, as we look at the lights, as we look at the trees, to be reminded that Jesus is our kinsman redeemer.

He didn't come to bask in royalty or to sit in an ivory palace; he came to do the work of his father, so that you and I might be made righteous and a part of God's great, grand plan, the family of God, the church. So with this, hopefully, a little better understanding of kinship and God's will, how is the Holy Spirit right this moment talking to you? How do you need to respond? In a minute, as Chris comes and leads us in a song, I want you to think about this.

What have I-- what would God charge against me today? Where have I failed in not doing the will of God? And I would say to you that not knowing, that's something you ask God to forgive you for, because you should know. You should know. Ask God to forgive you for not knowing. For some of us, we need to ask God, "Lord, forgive me for not desiring to know the will of God for my life."

And then for some of us, we need to ask God to forgive us for not obeying that that we know and doing his will as it has been made known to us. But then, some of us need to ask God to forgive us for trumping his sovereign, commanded will. By wanting it our way. Wanting it our way. Our God, Father, we thank you for the word of God. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, and I pray that what we have heard today is not my words, but your words.

And as the spirit of God moves across this room, I'm going to ask everybody. I know you've got a post to volunteer, I know you've got this and that to do. That can wait. Let's let God move. As Chris sings, the altar is open. What do you need to talk to God about this morning?