Speaker: Deacon Youpri Ardiantoro
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 9: 42-50
9:42. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
9:43 "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched--
9:44 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'
9:45 "And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched--
9:46 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'
9:47 "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire--
9:48 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'
9:49 "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
9:50 "Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."
The tittle is "Jesus Warns of Offenses"
We can conclude that one who becomes the salt will neither be deceived nor deceive others. On the contrary, one who loses the salt will be deceived and deceive others.
There are many signs of Jesus' second coming, but the main one is there are many deceptions.
Matthew 24: 3-4
24:3.Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.
Deception is something that causes one to sin.
Mark 9: 42
9:42 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
The consequenceof deceiving and being deceived is a millstone are hung around the neck and cast into the sea to perish forever. The life in the world is not beautiful until one perishes forever.
There are three things that can deceive us as follows.
Mark 9: 42
9:42. "But whoever causes one ofthese little ones who believe in Meto stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
The target of the deceptionis the people who believe or the little ones who believe in Jesus. The people who do not believe have been deceived already.
Romans 10: 17
10:17.So then faithcomes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
'faith'= believing.
The people who believe are as follows.
Thus, the people who hear the Word of Christ or the true teaching Word and the descendants of Abraham will be the target of the deception.
There are three kinds of the descendants of Abraham as follows.
Someday one will lose the simplicity that is in Christ by choosing the false teachings.
Revelation 8: 10-11
8:10. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
8:11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Keeping the bitterness, a star may fall, although not hearing nor preaching the false teachings.
The consequences of deceiving others or being deceived are as follows.
The solutionthat a star will not be deceived, but keeps on being the star is such star must be in the right hand of God. Nothing can take it away and deceive it.
The facts found in it are as follows.
Do not become the fallen star, but the star in the right hand of God. We are not deceived. We are with God forever.
God blesses you.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 9: 42-50
9:42. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
9:43 "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched--
9:44 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'
9:45 "And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched--
9:46 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'
9:47 "And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire--
9:48 "where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'
9:49 "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
9:50 "Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."
The tittle is "Jesus Warns of Offenses"
We can conclude that one who becomes the salt will neither be deceived nor deceive others. On the contrary, one who loses the salt will be deceived and deceive others.
There are many signs of Jesus' second coming, but the main one is there are many deceptions.
Matthew 24: 3-4
24:3.Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.
Deception is something that causes one to sin.
Mark 9: 42
9:42 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
The consequenceof deceiving and being deceived is a millstone are hung around the neck and cast into the sea to perish forever. The life in the world is not beautiful until one perishes forever.
There are three things that can deceive us as follows.
- The world with its contents.
Matthew 18: 7
18:7. "Woe to the worldbecause of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
The contents of the world are as follows.- Hatred, even without a cause.
John 15: 18
15:18. "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
The hatred that is kept will increase to be the hatred without any cause in the household (between husband and wife, parents and children, and among siblings) and shepherding (between pastor and congregation and among the members of the congregation).
Hatred will cause the deception and one cannot reach the final destination of the service and ministry to God.
The world is indeed full of hatred. How can we face it so that we are not deceived?
Matthew 5: 43-44, 46
5:43. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
5:46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
We must not reply hatred for hatred. We must always reply with goodness and love. Replying hatred for hatred means that we have been deceived. - Unfaithfulness.
James 4: 4
4:4. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
One who has been deceived will be unfaithful.
2 Corinthians 11: 2-3
11:2. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The real faithfulness is the simplicity that is in Christ or the faithfulness to the Word.
It is related to Eve who had lived in the Word so long time. God spoke that all fruits in the garden might be eaten freely except one. As long as Eve held the Word, she was preserved in paradise. Nevertheless, soon after she ate the forbidden fruit and lost her simplicity, she was driven out of paradise and entered the world.
Thus, the unfaithfulness begins from the matter about the Word. One begins to add and take away the Word to turn to other teachings. If one is not faithful to the Word, he will not be faithful in all other things such as marriage, service and ministry to God, and so on. - The pride of life.
1 John 2: 16
2:16. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
It happens when one does not believe or entrust himself to the Word.
For example, the Word says A, but he wants B or C.
Psalm 40: 4
40:4. Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
We are not arrogant when we put our trust in God.
If one is doubtful, there will be consequences like the examples as follows.- Peter sank soon after he was doubtful.
- The doubtful disciples were attacked by the wind and wave.
- Paul in the sea voyage advised the people, but they were doubtful. They did not believe in the Word. They preferred to believe the helmsman and the owner of the ship than Paul. Consequently, they were attacked by the storm. Finally, there was a help for them.
- Hatred, even without a cause.
- The flesh with its wills and luststhat reject the cross or the will of God.
Matthew 16: 23
16:23. But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
We will be deceived if we do the will of the flesh.
Galatians 5: 19-21
5:19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
5:21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The flesh is like 'an enemy in the blanket'. Human was created in flesh and blood. The wills of the flesh are as follows.- Adultery = fornication.
- Uncleanness. It also means impure purpose in our giving to others.
- Lewdness. It means the desire that cannot be controlled. For example, the desire of eating that cannot be controlled will become the sins concerning eating-drinking.
- Idolatry= loving something more than God.
- Sorcery = magic or fortune-telling.
- Hatred = there is enemy.
- Contentions.
- Jealousies = dislike feelings, especially because of the excellences of others.
- Outbursts of wrath = the anger that cannot be controlled until there is the outbursts of wrath. We may get angry, but not until there is sunset, namely we get angry only with the love of God or the sun and we must finish our anger soon.
- Selfish ambitions = egoism.
- Dissensions = heresies. There are many groups.
- Envy = anger because of jealousy.
- Drunkenness = revelries = the sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage.
- The teachings that is contrary to the doctrine which we learned.
Romans 16: 17
16:17. Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
Colossians 3: 16
3:16. Let the word of Christdwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
The true teachingis the Word spoken by Jesus as follows.- Being written in the Bible.
- Being revealed by God through a verse that explains other verses in the Bible. A verse is the Word spoken by Jesus. The other verses are also the Word spoken by Jesus. A verse explains other verses in the Bible means that the whole preaching of the Word is the true teaching Word.
- Not being written in the Bible.
- Being written in the Bible, but a verse does not explain other verses. It is interpreted by the logic or illustration until there is no accordance with the Bible. For example, Satan tempted Jesus without using the Word in the beginning, but finally he used the Word (it is written....) that was interpreted physically by logic. Jesus fought against him also with the verse in the Bible (it is written.....)
Mark 9: 42
9:42. "But whoever causes one ofthese little ones who believe in Meto stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
The target of the deceptionis the people who believe or the little ones who believe in Jesus. The people who do not believe have been deceived already.
Romans 10: 17
10:17.So then faithcomes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
'faith'= believing.
The people who believe are as follows.
- The people who hear the Word of Christ or the true teaching Word.
- The descendants of Abraham.
Galatians 3: 6-7
3:6. just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
3:7 Therefore know that only those who are of faithare sons of Abraham.
Thus, the people who hear the Word of Christ or the true teaching Word and the descendants of Abraham will be the target of the deception.
There are three kinds of the descendants of Abraham as follows.
- Like the dust.
Genesis 13: 16
13:16. "And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
Genesis 2: 7
2:7.And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Human was created from the dust. In such condition, human was only in blood and flesh and deceived. It means there is no renewal. Such human cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Our sayingmust be renewed.
Colossians 3: 9
3:9. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
The indication of the new man is there are no lies, corrupt words, and the ones that cause others weak and do not become blessings for them. If one has the lies, corrupt words, and the ones that cause others weak and do not become blessings, he is the human in flesh and blood and deceived although he is the descendant of Abraham.
The consequences of being deceived and not having life renewal are as follows.- Being in the sweat, weariness, heavy burden, and many sufferings. It it continues, one cannot endure and he will fall.
Genesis 3: 19
3:19. In the sweat of your faceyou shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."
Let us be strong by experiencing the renewal. - Only being the food of the serpent until perishing forever.
Genesis 3: 14
3:14. So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dustAll the days of your life.
There is no advantage of keeping the human in flesh and blood and the tortuous tongue. The burden will increase and one becomes the prey of the serpent.
- The beginning of the renewal is in the water baptism.
Romans 6: 2, 4, 6
6:2. Certainly not! How shall we who died to sinlive any longer in it?
6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptisminto death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
The right water baptism results in the new life.
The requirementof the water baptism is being dead to sin (verse 2).
The executionof the water baptism is being buried in water or dived in the name of Father God, the Son of God, and Holy Spirit God, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.
The resultis the new man or life.
Check the baptism when you have not become the new man yet. There will be no new man if the baptism is done because of following friends or being forced, and without understanding, even one has not died to sin yet in doing the baptism.
If the baptism has been right, let us ask the forgiveness of God because the power of baptism has been working until now.
The wrong water baptism happens when one is not dived in water. - In the shepherdingthrough the perseverance in doing three main services to God. We get the renewal by the true teaching Word, Holy Spirit, and the love of God until we are the same as Jesus. We are not deceived anymore. We do not become the descendants of Abraham who are like the dust.
- Being in the sweat, weariness, heavy burden, and many sufferings. It it continues, one cannot endure and he will fall.
- Like the sand which is by the seashore.
Hebrews 11: 12
11:12. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude--innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
Matthew 7: 26
7:26. "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
The descendants of Abrahanm who are like the sand are the people who believe in Jesus or hear the true teaching Word, but do not obey it.
The consequences are as follows.- Falling. The destruction is so great.
If we always obey the Word, our life will be light. On the contrary, our life will be so heavy until hopeless when we do not obey the Word.
The Word is light and easy as long as we willingly obey it. For example, the Lord commanded Lot 'Do not look back!' - Being rejected by God, although one is great or there is the building.
Matthew 7: 21
7:21. "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.
Only the obedient can enter the kingdom of heaven. Not being obedient, one will be rejected by God. If the rejection happens in the last time, there will be no opportunity anymore. Now is the time for us to be obedient.
- Falling. The destruction is so great.
- Like the stars (Hebrews 11:12).
The meanings of the star are as follows.- One who is used by God to turn many to righteousness.
Daniel 12: 3
12:3. Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the starsforever and ever. - The special meaning of the star is the pastor.
Revelation 12: 4
12:4. His tail drew a third of the starsof heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
The descendants of Abraham who are like the stars can be drawn by the tail of the dragon to be cast into the world.
Isaiah 9: 14
9:14. The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
The tail refers to the false teachings or lie.
Not all people are chosen to be the stars, but a third of it is drawn. How about the people who have not become the stars yet? We must be careful.
If a member of congregation hears the deceiver, only he himself will be deceived. Nevertheless, if a pastor teaches the false teachings, all members of the congregation will be deceived. Therefore, the stars are the target of the false teachings.
If one well puts up with the false teachingand fellowship, he becomes the drawn star, although he only hears it without doing or teaching it to others.
2 Corinthians 11: 2-4
11:2. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
11:4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up withit!
- One who is used by God to turn many to righteousness.
Someday one will lose the simplicity that is in Christ by choosing the false teachings.
Revelation 8: 10-11
8:10. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
8:11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
Keeping the bitterness, a star may fall, although not hearing nor preaching the false teachings.
The consequences of deceiving others or being deceived are as follows.
- There is a millstone around the neck. There is no beauty in life, but heavy burden and weariness causing hopelessness and disappointment.
- Being cast into the sea of burning fire.
The solutionthat a star will not be deceived, but keeps on being the star is such star must be in the right hand of God. Nothing can take it away and deceive it.
The facts found in it are as follows.
- Holding fast the word of lifeor one true teaching Word.
Philippians 2: 15-16
2:15. that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
2:16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. - The Lord holds the seven stars to correct them.
Revelation 1: 16
1:16. He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
'seven stars'= seven angels of the church and seven churches. God watches the seven stars and looks for their weaknesses to correct them. Let us willingly repent and we will be in the right hand of God, or else we become the stars that are deceived and fall. - Not falling in the sin of bitter heart.
There are three kinds of bitterness as follows.- Bitterness in heart.
- Bitterness in saying.
- Bitterness in deeds.
3:14. But if you have bitter envyand self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
The bitter heart is the envy. Such person cannot appreciate the blessings and employment of God in his life. He will fall.
The bitterness in heart will cause the bitter saying.
James 3: 10-11
3:10. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
3:11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitterfrom the same opening?
The bitter sayingmeans insulting or cursing others. Such person is falling although he seems to be used by God.
The deeds will also be bitter if the mouth has been bitter.
Colossians 3: 19
3:19. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bittertoward them.
'do not be bitter'= not having bitterness
A big star will fall if there is bitterness in the household, namely when a husband does bitterly towards his wife and a wife does not obey her husband.
Do not become the fallen star, but the star in the right hand of God. We are not deceived. We are with God forever.
God blesses you.