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“Its Better To Cut Off Your Right Arm”
February 16, 2014Ainsworth Assembly of God
AM Church
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: Mark 9:42-48
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.43If 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—44where
‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
45And 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—46where
‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
47And 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—48where
‘Their worm does not die
And thefire is not quenched.’
On April 26, 2003, Aaron Ralston made a couple of critical mistakes that nearly cost him his life. He was preparing to hike Utah’s BluejohnCanyon. It was to be an 8 hr., 13 mile hike through one of the wildest hiking areas in the U.S. In fact it was ranked in the top ten for difficulty.
But Ralston failed to notify anyone as to where he was going and he chose to hike alone. He should have had a buddy.
While hiking through an area called the Maze, Ralston’s mistakes caught up with him. As he scrambled through a narrow section of the sandstone slot, Ralston dislodged an 800 pound boulder called a ‘chockstone.’ It was suspended on pivot points and when it moved it pinned his right hand and forearm.
His supplies consisted of two burritos and three liters of water, plenty of supplies for an 8 hour hike, but not nearly enough for the nightmare he was about to endure.
Finally, on Thursday, May 1st, five days after setting out alone, Ralston realized no one would be coming to set him free. It was time to act. He resolved to set himself free by amputating his right hand at the wrist. His only resource for the grizzly operation was his multitool. He broke his arm, then cut through the skin and tendons finally freeing himself and eventually saving his life.
Is it better to be alive with only one hand? If you ask Aaron Ralston you would get a resounding “YES!” I’m sure his family would rather have a one armed Aaron than two hands in a casket also.
In the scripture passage before us, Jesus is trying to make a point. When you stop to think about what the LORD says here its really pretty gory! He’s talking about cutting off right arms and right feet. He’s talking about gouging out your right eye. Friends, that’s a bloody, gory business! So what’s the point?
Here’s the point: WHATEVER INTERFERES WITH THE ATTAINMENT OF ETERNAL LIFE MUST GO!
Notice, in v; 43 he says, “If your hand causes you to sin cut it off.” In verse 45, He says “If your foot causes you to sin cut it off…” and in v; 47 He says, “If your eye causes you to sin gouge it out…”
In Matthew 5:29-30, where Jesus makes the same point on a different occasion, He talks about the ”RIGHT” eye and right hand…
Jesus uses three parts of our body to represent the whole. With our hand we steal what does not belong to us. With our hand we indulge in drunkenness.
Our Feet take us down paths that are forbidden. Our feet take us into activities that God has said “NO” to.
And our eye is the means of exciting lust, greed and covetousness. It was when Eve chose to look upon the forbidden fruit that she was drawn to it.
Is Jesus really calling His followers to cut off hands and feet or to gouge out eyes? I don’t think so. If we all decided to literally do this we would all be blind cripples!
No, but He is making the point that sinful activities must be cut off or they can send us to hell. So much for eternal security!
The ultimate goal is to make heaven. Jesus points to hell here as a place to be avoided at all cost.
One preacher of old stated, “A career, however marred and maimed, which ends in heaven, is better than a painless and brilliant passage to the fire that never shall be quenched.” (C.M. Southgate, Biblical Illustrator, Vol. 11, Mark 9:43)
Do you have someone or something that gets in your way of truly serving God?
If a Christian has a friend who continually leads them into sinful activities what should we do?
It’s hard to give up a good friend, but if they are leading you into places that you know cause you to sin, they have to go!
If a Christian has a job that requires one to lie, cheat or steal to keep the job, what should a believer do?
Or what if a Christian has a job that puts him alone in a motel on a regular basis and he finds himself turning the tv set to pornographic movies?
Its hard to give up a job that pays will, but is good pay worth your soul?
Sometimes it might be things that in themselves are not sinful. Its not sinful to have a cell phone or a computer. Both can be put to good use. But if either leads us into sinful activity we might need to get rid of them.
If internet pornography is a problem get rid of the internet. If computer games have begun to consume your time and you can’t leave them alone, we must cut off the computer!
This is what Jesus is talking about! Remember:
WHATEVER INTERFERES WITH THE ATTAINMENT OF ETERNAL LIFE MUST GO!
We can’t hang onto the world with one hand and Jesus with the other and expect to make it to heaven. It won’t happen! Jesus plainly said, “No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money).” (Matthew 6:24)
Right now the Winter Olympics are going on in Sochi, Russia. These athletes train countless hours. They cut off any activity that takes their focus off of the goal of winning! They train, eat special food, and stay on a careful regimen. Anything that detracts from the goal must go!
Paul used this analogy in I Corinthians 9:24-27.
24Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtainit.25And everyone who competesfor the prize is temperate in all things. Now theydo it to obtain a perishable crown, but wefor an imperishablecrown.26Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not asone who beats the air.27But I discipline my body and bringit into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
Whatever hinders our path to eternal life must go!
Notice how Jesus describes hell or in Greek, Gehenna. This is a reference to the valley of Hinnom which lay just outside Jerusalem. At one time this valley was the scene of human sacrifice. It was here that people sacrificed their babies to the Moabite god, Molech. This happened until the time of King Josiah. Finally, under Josiah, this horrible practice was stopped. The valley was defiled and a curse placed upon it. This place became the city garbage dump. The fire was continually smoldering there and maggots fed on the decomposing garbage and dead carcasses. It was a horrible place and provided a visual look at what hell would be like. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 66:24 when he describes hell as a place “…where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” The Bible gives us plenty of teaching to know that hell is a real place that we don’t want to go to.
But our problem is that eternity seems a long way off and its hard to cut off the right hand. Can you imagine how difficult that must have been for Aaron Ralston to cut off his own hand that day?
I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that was! Its hard to have to drop a friend. Its hard to quit a job that pays good. Its hard to give up things that have become dear to our hearts.
Is the LORD speaking to you about something you need to cut off? Do you have something in your life that continually hinders your walk with God?
John Wesley tells the story of a lady who chose to do just that in his journal. This was Sunday, November 22, 1747. He says,
I spent an hour with Mary Cheesebrook, a strange monument of the mercy of God. About six years ago, she was without God in the world, being a kept mistress. An acquaintance brought her one evening to the chapel in West-Street, where God gave her a new heart. She shed abundance of tears, she plucked out the right eye and cast it from her; and from that time procured for herself by hard labour what was needful for life and godliness. She missed no opportunity of coming to the preaching; often after a hard days’ work, at May-Fair, she came to the Foundery in the evening, running the greater part of the way. Every Saturday, after paying her little debts, she gave away all the money that remained; leaving the morrow to take thought for the things of itself.
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 1-2, p. 74.)
That lady caught a cold and later died for lack of medical attention, but she remained true to God. I like the way John Wesley puts it, “StrangeMonument of the mercy of God.”
We are talking about cutting off the hand or foot that causes us to sin.
Whose responsibility is it to do this? Well, Jesus doesn’t say God will do it for us. He doesn’t say the Pastor or our Parents will do it for us. No, the responsibility rests upon each of us to do the amputation ourselves.
That day as he lay pinned by the 800 pound boulder, Aaron Ralston had a hard decision to make. It was surely painful to cut off his own hand. But life meant more to him than his hand.
And sometimes there are things as Christians we have to do that no one else can do.
Here is my question:
Do you have something in your life that causes you to keep falling into sin?
Do you have something that has taken control of your life and that thing is not Christ?
If so, I challenge you today to make the hard decision and cut that thing off before it ruins your soul in hell!
Sunday Morning Worship
February 16, 2014Ainsworth Assembly of God
AMChurch
ORDER OF WORSHIP
OPEN: It’s Bubbling - Break Forth Into Joy
Hallelu , Hallelu
This Little Light of Mine
Fruit of the Spirit
WELCOME / ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRAYER
HYMN OF DAY#378 Surely Goodness and Mercy
OFFERING
PRAYER FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
WORSHIP#382 Take Time to Be Holy
Open the Eyes of My Heart
MESSAGE
#362 I Surrender All