Good morning Family! We’re beginning the day with a power packed message. This message discusses our responsibility as a child of God. Pass along to your friends!
“Taking Responsibility”
Mark 2:1 “And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 “And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 “And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 “And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 “But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 “And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 “Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 “I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 “And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
13 “And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14 “And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
15 “And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
16 “And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
18 “And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? 19 “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 “But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
21 “No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
22 “And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
23 “And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
24 “And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25 “And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
26 “How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27” And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
This was the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry. He chose His disciples and God was moving by His Spirit. The demand for Jesus was so great they couldn’t get past the people to Him. They took part of the roof off to get past the people to let the sick man down to Jesus.
God has ways that may not agree with religious ways of doing things. He has ways of moving that may not agree with the way that man may think. Jesus says that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man. The Lord made a lot of things and everything He put in the world was to please man. Everything that He made was good; what happened to it? What man did with what God made was bad.
He is saying that God made the Sabbath. He did not make it before He made man; but He made man first and gave the Sabbath to man that he could rest of the Sabbath and keep it holy. What happened? It became a ritual by which they judged people instead of it being that day of rest. It became a day of judging and fault finding with strife. The Pharisees were religious in their day but they were not right.
We can be ever so critical that we can miss what God has for us. David and his men had need of food so he went in and ate of the shew bread. God did not judge David wrong for eating it and he was not struck dead. The Pharisees and Sadducees they would have killed him for doing such a thing.
The apostles went into the corn field and picked the corn on the Sabbath Day because they were hungry and they had to have something to eat. He was breaking some traditions to show them a more excellent way. God created the world for man; but he gave man a responsibility in this world. We are going to answer to Him for what we do with it.
We can see millions starving out there and somebody said, “Why did God let all of that happen? He did not let it happen, man let it happen. The responsibility is man’s not God’s. God gave them everything to feed everybody if they would do it. He blessed the land, He brought the rain and the sunshine; everything to bless mankind. But what did man do with it? They did not have respect for that which God had given to them; therefore they desecrated the very earth that God had made them responsible for.
Jesus was making some statements that they thought were blaspheme when He said that man’s sins were forgiven. They said, “This man blasphemies; for no one but God can forgive sins.” Jesus answered, “Which is easier to tell him to rise up and walk or say his sins were forgiven?”
God has a way that He wants to bring life to us; but we cannot put him in a box or require Him to follow the doctrines of men. But He will allow us to do what we want to do if we do not go against the Word of God. God gave man the earth to reproduce and do what was right; but He will still hold them responsible to do what God wants of us. He is not mocked.
I hear people defy God and use all manner of things against him; they stand before him and they are going to blame him. They cannot because he gave all of that responsibility to man. If we chose to rob and take things that belong to others and let this world starve to death, they are not going to blame God for it. God has done His part; man has not done his part. God made man for the world that he made. We are responsible for all things we do. God is not responsible for the things He left us in charge of; but we are responsible for what God wants us to do. We can put it any way we want to put it; but what have we done with what God has given us?
We are held responsible for what He gives to us, even in the little things we do here with the children. There is a responsibility before God and you might think you are sliding by with it; but big or little you are not. You are held responsible to do what His word says to do.
We are training you by the spirit and we need to walk by the Spirit of the Lord. If you are not being trained in the physical, then you will never walk by the spirit. We need to know how to hear what God is saying and obey it. Then we will have peace, joy and love and we will know what it means to walk with God and God walk with us; for He is Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth. His love is going to fill us and we will know that the Lord is Spirit and that we might walk by His spirit and we might do what he wants us to do and obey him.
Jesus obeyed the father. He was in trouble with the hypocrites, Pharisees and Sadducees; but He obeyed God anyway. He came to do the will of the father and by doing the will of the father he stirred up a lot of problems. He showed them the right way to go if they would hear him and obey him.
Let us remember that God made the Sabbath for man and not man for the Sabbath. If we become judgmental we lose the blessing of the Lord. God wants us to have the right spirit and a humble spirit before him and one another. Not accusing or blaming; but with the right spirit moving, in the things that God wants us to move in. In all things acknowledge him who is the head. This is the word of God tonight. In Jesus name. Amen.
Rev. Agnes I. Numer
June 12, 1991
