Everything You Always Wanted-h
Everything You Always Wanted - Security
Mark 6:14-28
He had the position which was coveted
Ø It is often these people who are the worst when it comes to insecurity. When we have much to protect, we tend to think that there are many who would like to take it away from us. King Saul was a perfect example of someone who was grasping tightly to things that ultimately would pass away from him. I think that in the church there comes a time when one generation must consciously give way to the next and with grace leave then to assume their responsibility. Often leadership is a difficult thing to surrender.
Ø Sometimes they imagine the opposition where there is none and create it. I know of people like this as well as you know them. They are people who suffer from the policeman’s disease. They begin to think that everyone has an angle.
Don't be cynical
Please beware of a cynical spirit in any area. Don't be cynical for any reason. Don't be cynical even toward yourself. For every Christian who is troubled by pride, I suspect there is another whose opinion of himself is so low that it hinders him from seeing that God is bigger than his faults.
Tozer offers some good sense on the subject.
"In this world of real corruption, there is a real danger that the earnest Christian may overreact in his resistance to evil and become a victim of the religious occupational disease, cynicism. The constant need to go counter to popular trend may easily develop in him a sour habit of fault-finding and turn him into a critic of other men's manners, without charity and without love. What makes this cynical spirit particularly dangerous is that the cynic is usually right. His analyses are accurate, his judgements are correct, yet for all that he is frightfully, pathetically wrong. As a cure for the sour, fault-finding attitude, I recommend the cultivation of the habit of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has great curative powers, and a thankful heart cannot be cynical.
Ø Sometimes they imagine it to be greater than it is and they fuel the fire by their actions.
Herod’s duplicity came from a haunted conscience.
He saw ghosts as most people do when they carry unresolved guilt. ."
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"
It is too true that our current behavior is influenced by the decisions that we make along the pathway of our lives.
Gentlemen:
Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest.
Sincerely, A Tax Payer
Steven Covey’s story of the man that he met at one of his conferences. His wife wanted to know what he was doing every minute of the day. He couldn’t stand it.
He was a religious sympathizer.
Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; {Some early manuscripts he did many things} yet he liked to listen to him.)
Ø He attached value to John as a preacher.
Ø He didn’t fully understand his message.
Ø He liked to hear this man preach.
I think that the majority of people who sit in the pews of many of our churches today are religious sympathizers. They attach value to the church for some undetermined reason that they hardly understand themselves. It must be that way when you think that 20% of the people are actively involved in some area of service. They are for the most part the great givers in any congregation as well. A minority of the people give the majority of the money. Often it is the faithful giving of those who struggle to find it. These folks are the ones who keep the doors open and the lights on. Until a man puts his wallet on the altar, God has none of his heart. It does cost a person something to follow Christ. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently. You can’t make the decision to buy
He was unwise in his speech and made promises far too easily.
Ø Spontaneous to a fault.
"Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." 23 And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
Ø He was binding himself to the character weaknesses of someone who danced a good dance. There are people who can perform well whose character leaves much to be desired.
Ø When they see their opportunity then their true agenda surfaces. (24 She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered)
He was in fact controlled by the people that he ruled.
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.
He was true to others before he was true to himself.
Ø How true to the vile nature of sin.
Ø Trust is the antidote for insecurity. What are you gonna put your trust in? What kind of things are you banking on?