John’s Murderers (Part B)

After death, it got worse for Herodias.

After death, it got worse for Herod. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a human being. This is the gospel message. That there's, death can be the most wonderful thing that happens to a human being.

Timely death, not self-appointed. The gospel says this is the good news, that after this life there are no more tears. But if you choose against God, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Mark.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. John's Murderers is the title of Pastor Rick's message, and today he'll be in Mark chapter 6. Herod, he had no problem in believing that a man who had been beheaded could be risen from the dead.

See, this is craziness. If he could believe that, why would he not submit to the one who rules over this? Is it possible to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and still be unmoved by it to submit to him?

Absolutely it is. The Pharisees went out of their way to cover up his resurrection. Many in Scripture saw miracles and refused to submit to them. Dealing with what sin has done to the race is tough stuff. It's very real. It's very hard. It's a knock-down, drag-out fight all the way.

It's very ugly. We were just singing this song, Pass Me Not, While On Others Thou Art Calling. Please do not pass me by. Before I became a pastor, when God called me to the ministry and I had no church, I used to sing that song, Lord, don't pass me by.

But after dealing with the devil's work enough years, you know, maybe if you want to find somebody else, Lord, I mean, what, should I stand here and lie to you and tell you that it's all been wonderful? Paul said, I bear on my body the marks of Christ. I can say, I bear on my heart the marks of Christ.

No, not in a boastful way, in a gallant way, but still, nonetheless, it is true I have hurts from serving Christ that I otherwise would not have hurt or had. And it should be that way to some degree with all of us who serve Christ. All of us take up a cross. A cross is not something you want to take up.

Let's see, I'll have the turkey sandwich with everything on it and a cross, a cross to bear. We don't think like that. But we are called to think like that.

We learn to think this way. It is the teaching of the Spirit in our lives. And so, these fiends, and that's what they were, who had John murdered, they have such power in this world, too much for my liking, because there's a real devil and there is a real filtering system. God is getting to the bottom of who is going to serve him and who is not, and he's using this life to do it, and he will not be moved off of that mission. Luke's Gospel, chapter 13. On that very day, some of the Pharisees came, saying to him, get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill you. Of course, he had killed John by that time. And he said to him, go tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day, and I shall be perfected.

In other words, I don't care what you think. If you are against God, your doom is going to be sure. And when he mentions that fox, remember that in those days, foxes were seen as sneaky and sly and destructive. They were more of a nuisance than anything else. They were not these cute little things that you rarely saw crossing the road. They were predators of weaker animals in the eyes of the people who lived at that time. Solomon writes about the little foxes that spoil the vine. They just ruin everything.

Have a good day and some little move from Satan just ruins it for you. Verse 17, for Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. Well, we can say a lot about these characters, but it can suffice to say in a single word, wicked. Giving the details of, you know, the incest that was taking place.

She had married her. Her first husband, Philip, was her uncle and so was Herod. And just to give you an idea of what was going on with these mindless, savage, and eternally damning choices made by these people. Luke 3.19, but Herod the tetrarch, see Luke does not call Herod this Herod a king, he calls him a tetrarch, a ruler of 25% of the land cut up by Rome, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for all the evils which Herod had done. See, John had dealt with all the evils that Herod had done. John was thorough.

Again, he didn't allow the consequences of his being thorough deter him from doing what he was supposed to do. And so these are the people in his field of ministry. They were not only wicked, but very able to execute their wickedness on others. Verse 18, because John had said to Herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. Now Herod was of Edomite and Jewish mixture in his bloodline. He considered himself a Jew. Of course he used that to his advantage in dealing with the Jews in the region of Galilee and Perea where he had authority. Because he considered himself a Jew, that gave John the right to set him straight according to the law of Moses. And in Leviticus chapter 18, and I think chapter 20, it was very clear he said not to take your brother's wife. And so John gave him sermons on that and other things also. Of course, John the baptizer, his rebukes negatively affected the social standing of Herod's stolen wife, Herodias.

I mean, people would be talking behind her back that that prophet, John, was scolding you publicly. He's calling you out. He was saying you were an illegitimate wife. You were an adulterer.

You were wicked. And she would have none of that. She hated John for this. But John preached in spite of the consequences. We go back a little bit again, Daniel chapter 3 verse 18. But if not, let it be known to you, if God does not answer our prayer as precious as our lives are to ourselves, and we have no right to think that those men and women in scripture who were persecuted, some to death, some near death, we have no right to think that they were just good with this. I mean, that there was not a problem. They were just as much unhappy with being persecuted and killed as we would be. It's not just a story.

These are real people in real lives. And so when these men were facing the death of a fiery furnace, this was their stance. God is able to deliver us. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. Something you concocted, something you created, whether it is in the form of a statue or an idea, whether it is an ideology or whatever it may be, if you made it up and it goes contrary to God, we really are against it. It's contrary to us. And this has been part of our Christian heritage forever. Other religions have the same thing. They believe in their gods. Not all of them.

Some of them believe you can believe whatever you want to believe. It doesn't matter. It's relative.

Sounds like it's such a deep word. It's relative. You're going to be a relative of hell if you don't fix that opinion. Oh, that's offensive. Well, you know what? God finds you rejecting His proof and His truth offensive.

And you can side with Him and fix this. I don't know how that sounds to somebody who doesn't like it as you're hearing me say this. I don't know if you're saying, wow, you're right, brother, I want to give my life to Christ. Well, that's what I want you to say. But maybe you might be saying, who do you think you are? I'm just a nobody, but I'm talking about somebody who is big and awesome and worthy to be praised. Well, Nebuchadnezzar 3.28, Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him.

What if he didn't? He didn't always deliver John by the end of this story, right? They have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies.

They should not serve nor worship any god except their own god. I know I'm repeating this on purpose. It's good to be reminded. They yielded their bodies.

It sticks out, stands out, glares off the page at me. Verse 19 now of Mark chapter 6, therefore, Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not. She held against him that he was again publicly scolding her. He wasn't trying to, he was just preaching the word to everybody. She hated John for convicting her of her sin. To her it wasn't sin. Live and let live.

Do your own thing. John said that's fine, but here's what God says. Galatians chapter 4, Paul asks believers, those who once loved him, have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Yeah, you tell people the truth and you make them your enemy. They won't like you, but truth really doesn't care. Truth doesn't have feelings.

It's just fact in front of you. You can argue with it, you can huff and puff, but it's going to make a demand on your will. It's going to cut right to you. It's going to isolate you from everything else and say, what are you going to do with this? That's what Herod's issue was in this story.

He had to finally face the truth in full force and make a decision on his birthday. Jesus said the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Yeah, pastors have entered the pulpit and they preach the word as it's given to us and many people hate them for it because their works are evil. They don't want to submit to what God has said.

They want to tailor what God has said to what they want to do. To have to be able to say, I love the Lord, and then bold face disrespect him with your actions and not think it's a problem. You are just mocking God.

Let all men be a liar. God is not mocked. You will be judged for such behavior. This is the case of King Saul in the Old Testament and others to come out and say they worshiped God and then trampled the very word of God the next breath. Well, if it went terribly wrong for Herod at judgment, what about Herodias? And that's why she has that name Herodias and he is Herod because she's part of the, it's incestuous. She's a niece and her daughter Salome will pick up the same habit, but anyway, what happened to her? A savage eternity awaited her too. Herod's not the only one to fall into judgment in this story.

Where are these two right now at this very moment? Some would like to kid themselves. Oh, they're just, you know, nowhere. Or eventually, you know, somehow somebody prayed them out of hell. That's not what the Bible teaches at all.

In fact, totally against such concoctions. After death, it got worse for Herodias. After death, it got worse for Herod. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a human being. This is the gospel message. That there's, death can be the most wonderful thing that happens to a human being.

Timely death, not self-appointed. The gospel says this is the good news, that after this life there are no more tears. But if you choose against God, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In verse 20, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly.

So Herod knew John was connected to God, you could say, and that he himself, that Herod himself was not. And he was drawn to John. He wanted some of this.

That's the problem. He just wanted to sample it. He did not let his knowledge help him enough.

He just in time became familiar with John's sermons. Jesus speaking, Matthew records, about hell and darkness. Jesus said that those unprofitable servants were cast. He said, and cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's a promise.

This is what's going to happen. He's telling us, expecting us to respond to the warnings in a positive way. And even now, Herod and Herodias and countless others to us sit in an endless hell, and we need to be very serious about this and not dismiss it that there are consequences. There can be a consequence for preaching the truth, such as persecution, such as beheading. But there's also a consequence to telling God, your son's death on the cross ain't all that. And I think many people think they're going to somehow be okay if they reject Jesus, that they're going to somehow survive. This is witchcraft.

This is believing in spiritual forces that don't exist in your favor. And when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. It tells us here in verse 20. Now some translations say that instead of saying he did many things, he was very perplexed. It's a little tricky, but the idea is that John influenced the thinking of Herod Antipas.

John was making headway. John was moving the man's heart with the truth from the Scripture. He heard, he did, and gladly.

That's what it says. And when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. John the baptizer's preaching was making progress in this man.

This is kind of spooky. Because Herod was that close to heaven, and he chose hell instead. Internally, he was conflicted. That's where the war was. The Holy Spirit said, what are you going to do? It gets worse. We're going to heat this up in a moment.

He knew he was guilty for marrying Herodias, taking Philip's wife from him. And for a while, his conscience was alive. It was not yet seared with a hot iron beyond retrieval, but he becomes irretrievable. How about anybody here starting to wade out into the waters of rejection of Christ, into making up things about Christ and his word? You're going out deeper and deeper until you are irretrievable.

You can be irretrievable in this life where God can't get you back. Here's my point. He said, what if you just don't agree with me? Fine. Good. Don't agree with me. What if I'm right?

What if I'm right and you're messing around with these things? Well, the story here tells us otherwise. It tells us that you can reach a point of no return. Verse 21. Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles and the high officers and the chief men of Galilee. Yeah, yeah.

And where are they to? John the baptizer was Herod's last chance at eternal life. He really wouldn't get another one. I mean, technically you could say when Jesus stood before him, he had another chance. But realistically speaking, he was too far gone. He was at the point of no return. It was a defining moment in his life.

We have those. We have many of them, but this had to do with his soul. This was his last chance as it was with Pharaoh when Moses stood before him. Eventually it became the last chance until Pharaoh chased them to the sea and was swallowed up there. Then there was Saul with Samuel. Samuel came up at Endor and preached, tomorrow you'll be dead too, Saul. Saul had a chance.

He threw it away. King David. David had a chance to repent over his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. And Nathan confronted him and David took that chance. David did not resist it. I'm the man.

I'm it. He repented. He wrote psalms about it.

David shows us how to respond, as did the Ninevites. Jonah comes through, 40 days you guys have done. God will judge you. 40 days God will judge you. That was his sermon.

Some of you might be saying, why can't you preach your sermons like that? Well, Jonah didn't have the gospel to mark. But Nineveh repented.

If they had not repented, that generation would have perished. What about Absalom? Even Joab was used to give Absalom a chance and he threw it away. Judas Iscariot, go do what you must do. That wasn't his last chance.

He was approaching it. There in the garden, when he betrayed him and Jesus said, friend. And Judas dismissed it. And went out and hung himself in remorse but not repentance.

We'll come to that in a moment too. Then there was Caesar Nero. Nero wasn't too bad as Caesars go as a ruler. Until after Paul the apostle spoke with him.

History kind of skips over that. But then Nero goes really wacky. Even kills his mentor Seneca. But we know Paul went before him because Acts 27 tells us. God speaking through an angel to Paul, do not be afraid Paul for you must be brought before Caesar and indeed God has granted you and all those who sail with you.

This is when they were on the facing shipwreck and they did shipwreck but they survived. And so the point is, Nero was given a chance, one more chance. And after he told Paul no, he went into his Christian hatred mode.

And we know him as the man who really introduced the first Gentile severe persecution of believers. There was the Jezebel of Thyatira. Christ gave her a chance. Revelation 2 verse 21. Where he says you have that woman Jezebel who teaches my servants. And so here he says, and I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality and she did not repent.

She reached that tipping point. Going part way but not all the way into repentance can harden the heart to the point where it's too late. These were given a chance, one last chance Herod has. Again, Galatians chapter 3, Paul lamenting to the church there says, Oh foolish Galatians, now he's talking to those who said they were believers, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth.

I am afraid for you lest I have worked for nothing. How many times does a pastor preach to the youth and the youth love it and then they go out into the world and all of a sudden they don't love that pastor anymore. Even though he's done nothing but give them the word of God.

I guess they found others that give it to him better. I don't dispute that. I know there are better men than I am in the pulpit. You don't really believe that do you? No I don't. Of course I believe it.

But it is kind of funny right? Because you want, look, I don't care what you are. I think if you have any sense of decency you want to be the best at what you do.

Knowing you can't be, that there's always going to be somebody better. And there's no difference in my case or any other pastor's case. And some other pastor knows that I'm better than him. Just like I know he's better than me.

Well anyway, these facts are things we need to be reminded of from time to time. And some people come to the church because I'm the only girl on the dance floor. Well I'd go to another church but I can't find one so I'll dance with you. I'm very flattered by that. Others have been given a chance, one last chance.

They name one, me. You can say the same thing. At some point you were given a chance and you took it for Christ.

But maybe, maybe it was your last chance. Maybe you're sitting here and you're still undecided. Satan loves the bubble headed, undecided individual. You have no right to be undecided in the face of these truths.

They're that powerful. That's why God will eventually say, no more mercy. What a scary thought. Would you rather me just say, oh no, just keep on, you know, you never know. Just you never know. You want me to preach that kind of just non-committal stuff?

Or do you want to understand that this is serious business? Every cemetery says to all of us, this life is not a joke. For every tombstone there's a broken heart.

Many of them. But here, here we have this worldly party. And these can be nasty gatherings, these parties. A party led to Moses breaking the tablets of the law before the guilty revelers. It was a party that King Ahasuerus tried to parade his wife Vashti. And she had the courage to say, no. And he lost her as a wife. King Belshazzar, the last one of the Babylonians, he saw the handwriting on the wall at a party and it was not in his favor.

And his knees knocked against another and other things. And of course he perished that night. And at this party the decision to chop off the head of John the baptizer was made. Thanks for tuning in to Cross-Reference Radio for this study in the book of Mark. Cross-Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. To learn more information about this ministry visit our website crossreferenceradio.com. Once you're there you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark like here on Cross-Reference Radio.