The Truth of the Matter

[0:00] Well, if we could, this morning, with the Lord's help, and the Lord's enabling, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read, the gospel according to Mark, chapter 12.

[0:16] Mark chapter 12, and if we take as our text the words of verse 35. Mark chapter 12 at verse 35. And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

[0:34] David himself in the Holy Spirit declared, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet. David himself calls him Lord.

[0:47] So how is he his son? And the great throng heard him gladly. And so on. We are all familiar with the question, true or false?

[1:07] True or false? And I suppose that when we were young, when we were taking part in a quiz, those are the questions that everyone likes, when the question comes up, true or false?

[1:18] Because the truth can only be one of two answers. It's either true or it's false. But you know, when it comes to the big questions, the big questions about the existence of God, or the reliability of the Bible, or which religion is correct, or where do we come from?

[1:38] Everyone wants to know the truth. Everyone wants to know the facts. Everyone wants to know the evidence. No one wants to be fed lies.

[1:50] No one wants to be deceived. No one wants falsehood and fiction. But the struggle many people have in the day and age in which we live in, is that because the great minds and thinkers of the 21st century, all the scientific minds, well, they have removed God, they've undermined the Bible, they've discredited Christianity, and they've claimed that, well, it's all from a big bang, and that we come from monkeys.

[2:17] And it's left everyone thinking that there's no such thing as absolute truth. Which means that the truth can be questioned.

[2:28] Because if there's no such thing as absolute truth, then there's no authority. And if there's no authority, no one can tell us what to do. If God doesn't exist, which many people believe, then we're not accountable to God.

[2:45] But more than that, if there's no such thing as absolute truth, then all truth is relative. Which means that something is only the truth if that's what you believe to be the truth.

[3:00] Something is only true if you personally believe that it's true. And because all truth is relative, your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth.

[3:11] Your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth. And that understanding of the truth it doesn't actually make sense. In fact, it's completely misleading and it leaves us open to error.

[3:26] Because if everyone is right and whatever they believe is true to them, then no one is false. But we can't all be right. Can we?

[3:36] We can't all be right. Someone has to be wrong. Someone has to be in error. Because when you ask the question true or false, it doesn't work if both answers are correct.

[3:49] It doesn't make sense if it's true and false. The logic doesn't fit if it's true for you and false for me or true for me and false for you.

[4:01] That world view, that theory, which has been adopted by many, many people throughout the world, it doesn't present the truth at all. All it does is that it allows us to believe whatever we want, think whatever we want, and live our lives in whatever way we want.

[4:21] because if there's no such thing as absolute truth, then there's no authority over our lives. And if there's no authority over our lives, then no one can tell us what to do.

[4:36] And you know, the Apostle Paul, he spoke about this inconsistency in his letter to the Romans. Because he says in Romans chapter 1, you can read it for yourself, he says that God has revealed himself as the absolute truth.

[4:51] And he has revealed himself through his word, which is the absolute truth. And in the absolute truth of his word, God has affirmed that we have been created by him and therefore we are accountable to him.

[5:08] But he has also provided for us a way of salvation through the message of the Christian gospel. And yet, says Paul, despite the clear presentation of God's absolute truth, Paul says, sinful mankind suppresses the truth in unrighteousness.

[5:30] They put it off. They ignore it. They put it to the side. And you know, that's what we see when we come to this chapter in Mark's gospel.

[5:40] As we saw last week, there were different groups who came to Jesus questioning Jesus, questioning the absolute truth of God's word and giving false interpretations.

[5:53] Because the Pharisees, as we saw last week, the Pharisees and the Herodians and the Sadducees, they all came to Jesus with all their questions in order to try and trip Jesus up.

[6:06] But Jesus presented to them the absolute truth. And the result was that Jesus silenced his accusers. Because we're told in verse 34, when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, you're not far from the kingdom of God.

[6:23] And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. But it wasn't enough for Jesus just to silence the opposition. What we see in this next section is that Jesus reveals to everyone who he is.

[6:40] It's not enough just to know the truth. You have to know the person who is the truth. And this is what Jesus does. He does, he explains who he is by giving a true interpretation of scripture.

[6:55] He explains who he is by highlighting the true identity of the Savior. And he explains who he is and then tells us that we need to make a true investment in salvation by following him.

[7:11] And there are the three headings that I'd like us to use this morning. The true interpretation of scripture. The true identity of the Savior. And the true investment in salvation.

[7:24] So if we look firstly at the true interpretation of scripture. Look at verse 35. it says, and as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, how can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

[7:42] There's the question. And after being bombarded with all sorts of questions, Jesus, you could say here in verse 35, he poses the question of the day.

[7:56] How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? Because the question which Jesus wants to ask is, it's actually a question which is relevant to everyone.

[8:07] It's a question that relates to everyone because it's a question that seeks to draw our attention to the things of God, the things of salvation, and the things of the Bible.

[8:18] And of course, any question like that is a good question. It's a good question. And in his pastoral and winsome way, when I was looking at J.C. Ryle's commentary, he said that the, he highlighted the importance of discussing the things of God and the things of salvation and the things of the Bible.

[8:39] He said, it's so important because when we're in fellowships, instead of talking about other things that are of no benefit to us, we should be talking about these things.

[8:51] And Ryle says, well it would be for the church if theological discussions was less about trifles and more about weighty matters and the things necessary to salvation.

[9:03] And Ryle makes the valid point because if our discussions at fellowships or home fellowships or Bible studies, if it's based upon irrelevant and unanswerable questions that just go round and round in circles, then it will neither build us up nor encourage us in the faith.

[9:19] But the topic of any of our discussions should always be the topic which Jesus raises here. And what better subject to discuss and to deliberate over than the Persian and the work of Jesus Christ?

[9:36] What better name to have upon our lips than the name of Jesus? And what better work to have in our minds than the work of Jesus Christ on the cross? And so Jesus, he poses the question of the day.

[9:50] How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? And Jesus' question, it's about the scribes' interpretation of the Messiah. But we ought to notice that Jesus asked his question in the temple, which was like the religious parliament of Israel.

[10:09] And he questions the interpretation of the scribes. And the scribes, well, they were the religious and intellectual elite of Judaism.

[10:20] They were like the professors of Old Testament theology. And yet Jesus questions their long-held beliefs about the saviour of sinners. Beliefs that had been handed down from generation to generation.

[10:34] And so let's look at what Jesus asked in verse 35. He says, how can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? And then Jesus says, David himself in the Holy Spirit declared, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

[10:53] David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son? And the great throng heard him gladly. And in this question, Jesus quotes one of the clearest messianic Psalms in the Old Testament.

[11:08] And what we mean by a messianic Psalm is a Psalm which speaks about the promised coming Messiah. He was the saviour of sinners, promised in the Old Testament, revealed in the New Testament.

[11:22] And he's revealed as Jesus Christ. And there are a number of Psalms which speak about the person and work of Jesus Christ. Of course, we could say that all of the Psalms speak about Jesus.

[11:34] They all have a reference to him, but not all of the Psalms are messianic. And the question may be asked, well, how can we recognize a messianic Psalm?

[11:45] And the answer would be, when we're looking at the Psalms and there is a reference to the Messiah and it's applied to Jesus and it's also quoted or explained in the New Testament, that is a messianic Psalm.

[12:01] All the Psalms that we're singing this morning, they're messianic Psalms. They have a reference to the Messiah. They can be applied to Jesus and they're explained to us in the New Testament.

[12:15] But what we see with Jesus' question is that he explains a messianic Psalm when he speaks about himself. He speaks about himself because Jesus cites the opening words of the Psalm we were just singing in Psalm 110.

[12:30] And he invites the congregation of the temple to reconsider their understanding of the Messiah. He asks them to reconsider what they've been taught from their youth.

[12:43] To reconsider what the scribes have taught them for generations. And you may think, well, it's a brave move. But Jesus wanted people to know the truth.

[12:56] He wanted people to know the truth. He wanted them to be given the true interpretation of Scripture. And so Jesus asks, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

[13:10] And Jesus, he raises this question because for centuries the scribes had taught that the Messiah who was the Christ, he was to be a descendant of King David.

[13:24] And that was certainly true. Because David was promised in the Old Testament that the Messiah will come from his seed and he will come from the seed of David and he will sit upon the throne of David forever.

[13:39] And so the scribes taught that the Messiah would be an earthly king just like David. Who would have an earthly reign just like David. And he would overthrow his enemies, the enemies of Israel just like David.

[13:55] But that's not the Messiah that came. the Messiah that came was not an earthly king. His kingdom was from the king of the kingdom of God. And he was the king of the kingdom of God.

[14:09] And he had a reign that stretched beyond the boundaries of Israel. But this misunderstanding is the misunderstanding which the disciples of Jesus had too because they thought that Jesus would come and just overthrow all the powers of Rome that were oppressing them as a nation.

[14:28] And that the Messiah would just take back the throne in Israel and rule as the king of Israel. And that's why Peter rebuked Jesus when Jesus said the Messiah has to go to the cross.

[14:40] He had a complete misunderstanding of scripture. The scripture which had been taught by the scribes. And here Jesus he's proceeding to rectify the scribes false interpretation of the Messiah by quoting the very words of David himself.

[14:58] Because Jesus says David himself said in the Holy Spirit the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

[15:12] But what we ought to notice about Jesus' statement is that it doesn't carry any weight because David said it. it only carries weight because David was led as he says himself by the Holy Spirit to affirm the identity of the Messiah.

[15:30] Which means that it was the illumination and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that enabled David to write Psalm 110. And the Bible also speaks about this.

[15:43] It says that no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[15:55] And the point that the Bible makes about that is that the Bible isn't authoritative because it was written by men. The Bible is authoritative because it was written by God.

[16:10] The Bible isn't the absolute truth because men thousands of years ago sat down to write it. No, the Bible is the absolute truth about God, about creation, about sin, about salvation, about what happens after death.

[16:28] The Bible is the authority on all these things because it was divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. That's why the Bible is the absolute truth.

[16:41] Because it's inspired by the Holy Spirit. and you know, it's only the Holy Spirit who will ever convince anyone that the Bible is the absolute truth.

[16:55] There's nothing I can say, there's nothing anyone else can say to you that will ever convince you or anyone else that the Bible is the truth. Because the only way that anyone will believe that the Bible is the word of God is if the Holy Spirit presses it upon your heart.

[17:16] It's only the Holy Spirit who convinces anyone that the Bible is the truth. But here's the point. For all of you who are unconverted, I know that many of you believe the Bible is true.

[17:35] You believe the Bible is true. You don't question it. You may have questions about certain parts of the Bible. That's only natural. But the reason you believe the Bible to be true is because the Holy Spirit has revealed that to you.

[17:54] He has convinced you that the word of God is the truth. No one else convinced you. No one else spoke to you. No one else has persuaded you. No one else has twisted your arm to believe that this old book is the absolute unquestionable truth of God's word.

[18:13] It's the Holy Spirit that has made the gospel precious to you. It's the Holy Spirit that has lifted up Jesus before you and has made you see that you need this Jesus in your life.

[18:27] My friend, the Holy Spirit has revealed the truth to you so that you will respond to the call to come. That's why he's done it. So that you will respond and come and commit your life to following Jesus Christ.

[18:47] But I must warn you that as someone who has had the Holy Spirit reveal the preciousness of God's word to you, that you believe it's the absolute truth, you know it's the truth.

[19:01] If you continue to reject Jesus Christ and refuse to follow him and die in the spiritual state you are in, then you are guilty of the unforgivable sin.

[19:19] And the unforgivable sin, as the Bible describes, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. God, the Bible teaches that all our sins can be forgiven.

[19:32] They can, every single one of them, past, present and future, can be cleansed in the blood of Christ. If we confess our sins, says John, he is faithful, he is just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[19:47] But the one sin that cannot ever be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And that is to die out of Christ, having rejected the gospel.

[20:03] My friend, don't allow that to happen. Don't allow that to happen. You listen to what God is saying to you. You listen to what this absolute truth is pressing upon your heart and you respond to it.

[20:20] And you commit your life to following this Christ and you do it now. You don't do it later. You do it now. Because the Bible says, the absolute truth says, now is the accepted time.

[20:38] Today. Today is the day of salvation. And so that is the true interpretation of scripture.

[20:49] But secondly, I'm following on very closely to what we've been saying. We see the true identity of the Savior. The true identity of the Savior. If we look again at verse 36, David himself and the Holy Spirit declared, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

[21:13] David himself calls him Lord, so how is he his son? And the great throng heard him gladly. I'm sure many of you have heard of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

[21:26] And he's famously remembered for saying that it's a pointless exercise getting into debates and controversies over the authority of God's word. Because as we were saying, it's the role of the Holy Spirit to reveal God's word to us, to press it upon our hearts.

[21:44] And if it's the work of the Holy Spirit, then there's nothing that can be said to anyone to convince them that the Bible is the truth. You just have to let them read the Bible for themselves and make their own decisions.

[21:58] You just have to let the Bible speak for itself. And that's what Spurgeon said. Because he asked the question, you would never defend a lion, would you?

[22:09] I mean, none of us would. He says, you would just let it roar. You'd let it speak for itself. And that's what we need to do with the word of God.

[22:22] We need to let it speak for itself. Do you have any doubts about Scripture? Read it. Any questions about Scripture? Read it.

[22:33] Come to Christianity Explored. Read the Bible. And that's what Jesus was doing as he spoke to the congregation in the temple. He's letting the word of God speak for itself in order to reveal his true identity.

[22:47] Because he had posed the question, how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? But Jesus wants to affirm that the Messiah was not only of this earthly descent as a son of David, he's also trying to present to them that he is of divine descent as the son of God.

[23:12] And quoting Psalm 110, Jesus says, David himself in the Holy Spirit declared, the Lord. Should be written in capital letters emphasizing the king of heaven, the king of heaven and earth, the creator and the saviour, the Lord.

[23:32] He said to my Lord, written in lowercase, which refers to an earthly king. So, there's a creator king and an earthly king.

[23:43] The Lord said to my Lord, the created king is King David. And so, for the sake of clarity, you could read it as, the Lord said to David, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

[23:59] And then Jesus says, David calls the Messiah Lord. And so, in what sense is the Messiah David's son? And the point that Jesus is making was that David affirms by the Holy Spirit that the Messiah was superior to King David.

[24:18] That the Messiah was not merely David's earthly son, which is what the scribes believed and taught for many generations. But the Messiah is also David's Lord.

[24:32] And so, the conclusion Jesus wants everyone to come to is that the Messiah is not only David's son, earthly son, he's also God's son. He's God's son.

[24:45] And with this statement made in the temple, in front of an attentive congregation, for the first time in his ministry, Jesus publicly reveals his true identity.

[24:58] That he is the Messiah. He is the Christ, the son of God. That's what he does. He reveals publicly his identity. But what's interesting is that Jesus, as we've been reading through Mark's gospel, he has been reminding the disciples again and again not to tell anyone about his identity.

[25:22] We've seen it time and time again. Jesus gave orders not to tell anyone about his identity until it was time to reveal it. And because Jesus hadn't publicly revealed his identity, there was always this confusion as to who he was.

[25:40] Nobody knew who he was. They're all questioning who he was. Do you remember back in chapter 8 when Jesus asked his disciples, well, who do people say that I am?

[25:52] They're all talking about me. Well, what are they saying about me? And they said, well, some say that you're John the Baptist. Others say that you're Elijah. Some say that, well, you're one of the prophets.

[26:05] But it was then that Jesus made the question personal. And he asked, well, who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? And it was Peter answering, saying, well, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

[26:20] You are the Messiah. You are the Christ. And when Jesus knew that Peter discovered his true identity, Jesus said, don't tell anyone.

[26:34] He strictly charged them to tell no one about him. But it was when the disciples knew who Jesus was, they only knew themselves, Jesus began to teach his disciples what would happen to the Messiah, what's going to happen to the Christ.

[26:51] And on three occasions, Jesus told them what would happen. He said in chapter 8, just after Peter's confession, the Son of Man, the Messiah, he must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

[27:12] Then into chapter 9, Jesus spoke about his death the second time. He said, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and when he's killed, after three days, he will rise.

[27:26] And then for the third time, in chapter 10, Jesus took the disciples aside, only those who know he's the Messiah, and he begins to tell them what was going to happen to the Messiah.

[27:38] Jesus says, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes. They'll condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

[27:50] They'll mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. And after three days, he will rise. And now we come to chapter 12.

[28:03] Jesus is standing in the temple in Jerusalem. He has come face to face with those who will now put him to death. And, you know, I believe Jesus' next statement, he seeks to remind the congregation revelation that the mission of the Messiah was not exaltation, but humiliation.

[28:29] It's not to go up like and have the position of a king in Israel, but it's the complete opposite, to be crucified on a Roman cross.

[28:41] God's and that gives the complete contrast to the description which Jesus gives of the scribes who were meant to proclaim the arrival of the Messiah.

[28:52] Because look at verse 38. It says, in his teaching, Jesus said, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense, make long prayers.

[29:13] Then he says, they will receive the greater condemnation. And in these words, we can see that Jesus sets the contrast between the proclaimers of the Christ, saying that well, he's coming, and the Christ himself.

[29:28] Because Jesus has repeatedly said that his work, it's a work of humiliation. It's a work of the cross, where he be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be killed. But for the scribes, their work was just a work of exaltation.

[29:43] All they were obsessed with was exalting themselves above others and promoting their own ego and seeking to make sure that they were respected by all the other people.

[29:55] And it's said that the scribes of the first century, they commanded unrivaled authority. They wanted to just oppress everyone. Which is why they hated Jesus so much, because Jesus went against the grain of what they thought the Messiah ought to be.

[30:11] They expected a king. They expected a king to come and sit on Israel's throne. Therefore, they sought to be like kings who had places of honour and positions of authority, and dress with long flowing robes, and wear prayer shawls, and sit in the chief seats in the synagogues, and be given places of honour at banquets, and pray long prayers that don't make any sense, and make an appearance before other people.

[30:40] And all this pomp and ceremony of the scribes was a complete contradiction of the mission and the identity of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

[30:53] Because in his teaching to the crowds in the temple, Jesus has revealed that he's not only the king of kings and the lord of lords, that he's the king of heaven, he's the king of glory.

[31:04] But yet he's told them that he is going to be treated as an outcast. He's going to be condemned as a rebel, and he's going to be put to death as a common criminal.

[31:19] It's nothing short of humility. And that's the true identity of this Jesus. Where the lord of lords, the king of kings, he displayed the greatest humility in his becoming man and his death upon the cross.

[31:40] And that's what the apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, to the Philippians. He states that we ought to have the humility of Jesus in our lives.

[31:54] And he says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, equal with God. He was equal, but he made himself of no reputation.

[32:08] He took upon himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and being found like a man, he humbled himself. And he became obedient.

[32:20] Obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. death of the cross. But for Paul, the wonder of the Lord Jesus Christ, the wonder of who he is, was that the cross wasn't the end of the story.

[32:38] The cross is never the end of the story. His act of humiliation, in bearing our sins, and enduring our hell, and dying our death, that wasn't the end of the story.

[32:51] Because it's in the same chapter that Paul goes on to say that in the resurrection, the day of the empty tomb, God highly exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name.

[33:08] That at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things in hell, and every tongue, every tongue, we will all confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[33:29] My friend, if you know the true identity of Jesus Christ, that he's God's son, he's the saviour of sinners, he's the Lord of all, then you must confess him as your Lord.

[33:45] Lord. You must confess him as your Lord, the Lord who has done all things, so that you can know the promise of sins forgiven, peace with God, and everlasting love.

[34:00] You must confess him as your Lord in this life. Because as Paul was reminding us, we will all confess him as Lord in the next.

[34:14] Whether it is from heaven, or when we are left on the earth, if the Lord comes, or it's from hell, we will all confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

[34:32] But confessing Jesus Christ, it's not only an act of recognizing the true interpretation of scripture and the true identity of the saviour. confessing Jesus is also a true investment in salvation.

[34:49] That's what I'd like us to consider in these closing verses of this chapter. The true investment of salvation. A true investment of salvation. Look at verse 41.

[35:01] And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums, and a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.

[35:14] And he called his disciples to him and said to them, truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance.

[35:27] But she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. In the previous section, we saw Jesus make a contrast between the exaltation of the scribes and the humiliation of Jesus Christ going to the cross.

[35:45] But in this section, Jesus makes another contrast. This time, it's between a true investment and a false investment. Because when Jesus sits down after speaking to the congregation in the temple, he sits down, as it says, opposite the treasury, which is a location in the temple where everyone would pass by and contribute their free will offering to the Lord.

[36:11] And the concept of the free will offering to the Lord, it's of course one which we still implement today because it's biblical. And it relates back to the time of Moses when the Lord gave instructions to worship.

[36:26] And in doing so, the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi from the other 12 tribes of Israel. And their responsibility was to serve the Lord and minister to the people by leading all the acts of worship, whether it was sacrificing or leading in praise or leading in prayer.

[36:46] The tribe of Levi was set apart to serve the Lord and minister to the people. And because the tribe of Levi was set apart, they weren't allocated an area of land to work in or animals to breed.

[36:58] Instead, the Lord commanded that they were to be supported by the free will contributions of the people. And that's the way in which the Lord looked after the tribe of Levi.

[37:10] And that biblical method is the biblical method which we still use today. With the ministry of the church of Jesus Christ worldwide, it is supported and funded by the free will offerings of people.

[37:26] And so the reason there's a ministry in this community is because it is supported and funded by the people of this community. And you know, I'm always conscious of that fact.

[37:40] That although you're not paying me, I'm not employed by you, I serve you, hopefully I minister to you as I should. But my boss is the most high God.

[37:55] And yet I'm always conscious of the fact that what I live on has been gifted to me. Gifted to me and my family. And there's no getting away from that. I don't want us to dwell in it.

[38:06] But what I do want to say is that the role of the minister is not to be above the people. That is never the role of the minister. It might be on a pulpit, but that's also biblical.

[38:20] Look at Nehemiah chapter 8. He's not, the minister is not to be above the people. And I say this to myself because it's all about service, not status. It's about humility, not honor.

[38:32] It's about people, not position. That's what the ministry is about. And that's why the ministry of God's word needs to be supported. And all I want to say is for your encouragement and continued support of the ministry in this community and further afield.

[38:52] If you saw the financial statements, you'll know that they've increased and people have responded to the need to, well, repair this roof. But you know, there's one thing I'm never going to do.

[39:04] And that is stand here and tell you to give more money. Why? Because that's not what Jesus did. Instead, Jesus taught what it looks like to be, to make a true investment.

[39:18] Because in amongst the throng of people giving their freewill offerings into the plate, there were multitudes putting into the treasury. And some were rich people putting in large sums of money.

[39:29] That's what the Lord had blessed them with. But as Jesus sat with his disciples, he drew attention to this widow. Because in ancient Israel, widows were one of the poorest people in society.

[39:41] They had no income because their husband had passed away. And this widow came to the treasury and she put in two small copper coins which added together to make a penny.

[39:53] Something you and I would think nothing of. It wasn't much. But it's all she had. The scribes would have considered her offering as insignificant in comparison to all the wealthy contributors.

[40:08] But it's at this point that Jesus says in verse 43, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.

[40:20] They all contributed out of their abundance. But she out of her poverty has put in everything she had. all she had to live on.

[40:33] And when Jesus said these words, he wasn't drawing attention to the money. That wasn't the issue. It was the spirit in which he gave.

[40:45] For Jesus, the value of a gift is not about the amount given, but the cost to the giver. The value of a gift is not about the amount given, but the cost to the giver.

[40:57] And for this widow, her cost was the cost of discipleship. That's the language which Jesus is using. The language of discipleship.

[41:10] Because she denied self and she gave to the Lord what he asked for. And that is the cost of discipleship.

[41:21] As Jesus says, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, let him take up his cross and follow me. Then Jesus speaks about the language of money.

[41:33] He says, whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?

[41:50] And for this poor widow, she knew that she was never going to gain the whole world regardless of how much money she invested. But there's one thing she did know.

[42:03] And you need to be like this widow. There's one thing she did know. She knew the true interpretation of scripture. That God's word is the absolute truth.

[42:15] She knew the true identity of the Savior. That Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. But she also knew that in the act of denying herself and taking up her cross and following Jesus, in her act of committing her life to Jesus, she was making a true investment in salvation.

[42:36] In the act of committing her life to Jesus Christ, she was making a true investment for salvation. And it was an investment which was of eternal value.

[42:51] Jesus says of her, she put in all that she had. And my friend, when it comes to the cost of discipleship, Jesus doesn't want your money.

[43:02] He wants you. He wants you. And for many of you, you know the true interpretation of scripture.

[43:15] You know that the word of God is the absolute truth. You know the true identity of the Savior. You know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But you also know that it's not enough just to know the truth.

[43:28] You also know it's not enough just to believe the truth. You have to commit your life to the truth. You have to come to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and commit your life to Him, entrusting yourself to Him, and make a true investment in salvation.

[43:51] My friend, Jesus wants you to come and cast your lot in with Him and follow Him. Jesus wants you to make an investment which is of eternal value to you.

[44:10] The only question is, will you? Will you? Will you make a true investment in salvation today?

[44:29] Because now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to Thee for the wonder of who Jesus is, that He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, that He is the Son of the Most High God, and that He calls us to invest our lives in Him, because, Lord, Thy word reminds us that there is no better place to come.

[45:03] What shall it profit us if we gain the whole world and yet forfeit our own soul? O, help us to see the preciousness of our soul and help us to make that investment by committing ourselves to Jesus for time and for eternity.

[45:21] O Lord, leave with us, we pray Thee. Speak to us by Thy Spirit. Press Thy truth upon our hearts, that we may respond today, because today is the day of salvation.

[45:35] Do us good, and we pray Thee. Go before us throughout the rest of today. Cleanse us in Thy blood and go before us for Jesus' sake. Amen. We shall conclude by singing in Psalm 40.

[45:56] Psalm 40 in the Scottish Psalter, singing from verse 7 down to the verse marked 10. It's page 260. Psalm 40 from verse 7.

[46:16] This is another Messianic Psalm. It's quoted in the New Testament and it speaks about Jesus. He is the one who speaks to you when the gospel has been preached. It's not me.

[46:29] The Lord is speaking to you. I'm just the voice piece. And this is what Psalm 40 is all about. Then to the Lord, these were my words. I come, behold, and see.

[46:40] Within the volume of the book it written is of me. To do Thy will I take delight. O Thou, my God that art, yea, that most holy law of Thine I have within my heart. Within the congregation great I righteousness did preach.

[46:53] Lo, Thou does know, O Lord, that I refrain not my speech. I never did within my heart conceal Thy righteousness. I Thy salvation have declared and shown Thy faithfulness.

[47:06] Thy kindness, which most loving is, concealed have not I, nor from the congregation great have hid Thy verity. These verses of Psalm 40 in conclusion to God's praise.

[47:18] And to the Lord these were my words.

[47:30] I come, behold, and see. within the volume of the book it written is of me.

[47:52] To do Thy will I take delight. O Thou, my God that art, yea, that most holy law of Thine I have within my heart within the congregation great I righteousness tested free Lo, Thou, Thou, Thou, know, O Lord, that I reprinted on my speech

[49:01] I never did within my heart O still Thy righteousness I Thy salvation have declared and shown Thy faithfulness Thy kindness, which most loving is Conceal it, nor from the congregation great have hid Thy verity

[50:09] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore.

[50:20] Amen.