Beware of Being Offended — Carter Conlon

The Parable of the Sower and the Offended Hearer

Mark chapter 4, please, in the New Testament, if you'll go there. Beware of being offended. Beware of being offended. Now, Father, I thank you, Lord, for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. Thank you that I've never had to stand in this pulpit ever in my own strength.

Thank you, God, that you override our frailties and our weaknesses and our struggles. And you come, Lord, for the sake of Christ and for the sake of your church. Lord, you override our weaknesses. You override our reluctance to even hear.

Father, give us ears to hear today. Give us hearts to believe. Give us feet, Lord, to walk in the pathway that you've laid before us. In Jesus' name. Mark chapter 4. Now, this is a... Jesus Christ is giving the parable of the sower and the seed.

And I'm going to focus on one aspect of that. Begin with me at verse 3. Harken, behold, there went out a sower to sow. And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came up and devoured it.

And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth. And immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away.

Now let's go to verse 16 for the deeper explanation of this. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure for a time.

Afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. Now this is a type of a person, and it could apply to almost any one of us here today. That you came to a church, maybe this church, somewhere.

You heard in measure what you wanted to hear about Jesus Christ. Now I'm going to explain that in a moment. We all have a screen that God has to get through. Jesus Christ was here among his own disciples for three years, but the testimony of scripture is that they had a difficult time to hear his message.

Every man sitting there is more or less hearing it through the screen of his own self-image, his understanding of God, his viewpoint of what God should look like, and how that should affect his life.

And so they received, but they did not receive it with any deep root, in what was really necessary to get through what they're going to have to go through. They receive it with gladness, but there's no depth.

There's a lack of clear understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There's a perception of what it means, but a lack of clear understanding. There is no real depth. There's nothing there that can hold them in times of adversity.

And they endure for a time. But when persecution or affliction comes into their life because of the word of God, because of following Christ, they are immediately offended. Now, we have a viewpoint, because of the word offended, of what that really means.

You know, if you said something nasty to the person beside you, there's a good chance they'll be offended. That means they'll kind of more or less withdraw, have no further conversation with you, maybe have to deal with the issues of their heart.

But the word offended, in this particular passage of Scripture, is a different word. It's translated offended in the King James. But in the original translation, this is what it means. It means they're enticed to follow a course of action that leads to ruin.

Trapped. It finds its root in the word which represents the trigger device of a trap. In other words, they move towards something that is going to trap them. Now, this is significant because Jesus himself said that in the last days, he said, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines and pestilences and diseases, earthquakes in different places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations for my namesake.

And then many shall be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And verse 11 says, many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Many in the last days will be offended, Jesus said.

By offended, he means moved to another viewpoint. Led to a trap, led to something that they don't really realize. As the scripture says in Proverbs, it's for their life. The devil is playing for keeps and they will be offended.

They'll be moved to leaning on their own reasoning rather than trusting in the plan that God has laid out for their lives. Easiest way to say this. There'll be many, many people who are saying that this is not the Christ I came to.

I was promised happiness, wealth, health, success. I was told I was going to rule and reign. And all of a sudden, all hell is breaking out all over the earth. Nations rising against nation. There are diseases that are becoming rampant throughout societies.

It's a season of sorrow that seems to have come upon the whole earth. I thought that I was going to be happy. But people are betraying me. And it seems that for a season, following Christ has become extremely unpopular.

Now this is what Jesus spoke about in the last days. This will be the spiritual climate of the world that we live in. Humankind will degenerate into an unimaginable rebellion against God and everything that represents God.

If you're a thinking person, can you not feel this happening in our society today? Everything is moving now against Christ. And ultimately will move against His church. His church. Not a church or a church that might be formed throughout the world that claims to represent God.

But it will move against His church. And then in verse 11 it says,. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Difficulty and trial will begin to move people away from the focus of the true Christ.

And begin to consider alternate Christ. In other words, the thought will come into their hearts. Is this really God that I've been following? Is this the true message? Why is it bringing such difficulty into my life?

Why is it so hard now? And of course many false prophets will rise. That's actually quite a strategy of the enemy. To come against the church. To come against those who really are followers of Christ with such difficulty.

Such persecution. Such trial. Such inner turmoil. Try to instill the mind with fear. And then come and say, Well, it's all because you have not received the proper Christ. Have you been willing to consider this Christ?

And many false prophets will arise and offer a way out. And offer solutions. And offer explanations. But they're not of God. And many will be offended, Jesus said. Think of the disciples at the Last Supper.

The Disciples’ False Expectations at the Last Supper

Scripture says in Mark 14, 26 and 27. Now it's really hard to believe that from such a sweet, powerful worship. Sitting at the table with Jesus Christ himself. They could fall into temptation. And false reasoning.

But that's exactly what they did. They were sitting there. James and John at the Last Supper. I'm sure had it in their heads. That they were going to be still at the left hand and the right hand of Christ.

Peter had the illusion. That he was going to die with Jesus if necessary. In Jerusalem. And believed that he had the strength in himself to accomplish it. And yet when Christ was seemingly captivated by this angry mob.

In Gethsemane. You can just begin to see this. Jesus said, you'll all be offended. You'll all be enticed to follow a course of action that leads to ruin. You'll all be offended. You'll have to fight this temptation.

It will come your way. And you might say, well why do I have to stand so publicly? Why do I have to suffer for Jesus Christ? Is it not acceptable with God? To flee into an upper room somewhere? And worship in private?

Why do I have to be persecuted in the workplace? Or maligned even in my own home? The disciples must have said in their hearts. This is harder than I thought. How will I ever make it through? Is what I believe really true?

Can God's word be trusted? Offended. Offended. I thought I was going to be given power. Peter could have said in his mind. I thought I was given the keys to release the kingdom of God on earth. And now suddenly, seemingly we're getting the short end of the stick.

I thought we're going to rule and reign. I thought legions of angels were going to come and overthrow oppressive regimes. And now it seems that we are captivated. I want to give you four reasons why people turn towards the trap of false spiritual reasoning.

When Circumstances Contradict Our Expectations

First and foremost, when things don't seem to have turned out the way we thought they should. You had a view of what your life was going to be when you came to Christ. You had a view. Some of it is true.

Some of it is yourself. You had a particular view. Now John the Baptist, he knew that he was called to announce the coming of the Messiah. There was no doubt in his heart. And as he baptized and called the people to turn away from their sin and their powerless religion.

To turn to the living God. He saw Christ coming towards that pool of water. And he said, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He must increase and I must decrease. John knew who he was introducing as it was.

Or being the forerunner to in this world. But yet later on in his life, he found himself in prison. And in that prison, Satan set the trap of being offended before him. In his mind, he should be saying, this can't be the way things are supposed to be.

Could it be? This is the thought. Could it be that I've not been following the real Son of God all along? And the scripture tells us that John, in his hardship. In his difficulty. Satan came with that trap for him.

So John, is this really the Christ? Is this really the one who takes away the sin of the world? If that were so, wouldn't there be some kind of a reward for your faithfulness? John, shouldn't you be preparing to rule and reign?

And here you are in prison. And it must have become fairly evident to him that he was going to lose his life there. And he sent two of his disciples to Jesus. And you can see them pressing through the crowd that day and saying, John wants to know, are you the one that should come?

Or do we look for another? Are you the real Christ? And you see, that came out of hardship. That can happen to any one of us. When you're at home and you're fighting depression. You're fighting difficulty in the workplace.

You're fighting the fears for tomorrow. You're fighting sickness in your physical body. And so many things can happen. Your marriage is suddenly broken up. And you didn't even know it was coming. You didn't see it coming.

You find yourself with this reasoning coming into your heart. Have I followed the real Jesus? Is this the real Christ? Do I have the real Christianity? Or is there something else? So you turn on the television.

And there is somebody on the television just introducing you so subtly to another Christ. Another form of worship. Another pathway to follow. Something that offers instant gratification. No suffering.

Getting out of jail free, in other words. People become offended when following Christ starts to cause hardship. Not just for ourselves, but for others that we love as well. It's hard for people. When you come to Jesus, if you're the only one in your home.

And you're standing up for what you know is right. And you're reading the Bible. And you're giving yourself to prayer. Only to find increasingly your own family are turning against you. And the thought comes into your heart.

Am I too severe? Am I too extreme? Is it really this narrow? Does Jesus really say take up your cross? Did he really mean that you're going to be hated of all nations? Or the enemies that will come into your life may be those of your own house?

Did he really mean that? Or am I just too strict, too severe? Think of the pastors that I've met overseas. I remember doing a pastor's conference in a former eastern block country. I can't name the country for security reasons.

But so many of those pastors in that room had been in jail. Their families taken away from them. Do you think maybe the temptation might have been there to draw back a little bit? Preach a Christ that might be a little more palatable to forces that were hostile in the nation.

To this message of the cross. These men and women had suffered terribly. And it's not so much that they suffered being in prison. They suffered from the thought of what was happening to their families.

For a season we supported pastors in Vietnam. Who had been driven from their homes. And their families had been taken from them. They were hiding out in dense thicket. And local Christians were feeding them.

And we got involved in a season in helping those pastors. David, the king, when he was running from Saul. When everything just was going the way he thought it should go. And then suddenly it's all going in another direction.

And David, as he's running, he comes to the city of the priests. And they gave him Goliath's sword and sought the Lord for him momentarily. And Saul was so enraged that he called in the priesthood. And slew 85 priests.

And all their families and all their children and all their ox and all their sheep. Everything. He was such an enraged despotic man. That he killed all the priests and all their families. Only one young man called Abiathar escaped.

And Abiathar came to David. And told him what Saul had done. And David said, I've occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. There are seasons, there are times when it's not so much what we go through.

It's what others go through. It's what we're leading others into. I know that to preach the full counsel of God to you. May lead to some having to go into foreign nations. Other places of the world. It may cause you grief.

It may cause you pain. Some may lose their lives for the cause of Christ. It may cause you difficulty in the workplace. You may find yourself in an unemployment line. Because as a secretary or an accountant.

You just simply refuse to falsify the records. You did what was right. And I know that to walk in truth is sending some into hardship. Don't think for a moment we don't think about these things. We can become offended.

Offense After Personal Failure

When we have professed loyalty to God. By vowing to follow a certain path and have failed. We had such sincere intentions. Jesus told his disciples, you're all going to be offended. I'm going to be taken captive.

The son of man is going to be rejected. And crucified. And you are going to be offended. In other words, your concept of me is going to be challenged. And Peter stood among the disciples and said. Although all shall be offended.

Yet will not I. Jesus said, no, that's not the way it's going to be, Peter. Before the rooster crows twice in the morning. You will three times have denied that you even know me. And then Peter says in the next verse, vehemently, vehemently said.

It was a vow in a sense. I will not be offended. I will not turn from following you. I will not be moved from the steadfastness of my walk with you. And my loyalty to you. Yet you and I know that before the morning.

He did exactly what Jesus said. When he stood at the fire, when he stood at the other places of judgment. And he said, I don't know that man. He was speaking right out of his heart. He had come into this argument of the devil as it is.

Is this really Christ you're following? Is this really the Messiah? And if it were the Messiah, if it were the Christ, if he were the son of God. Then why is he so powerless? Why are the authorities seemingly entrapping him?

Holding him hostage and threatening to put him to death. If this were the Christ. And Satan is there with the trap. And putting the bait on that trap. Because that's what the offense really is. That's what it means to be offended.

You've not really followed the real Jesus. This is not the real Christ. This can't be the real Christ. How could this be happening if it was the real Christ? That's the very crux of this entire message.

And I'm speaking to you today and some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. How could I be following Christ and this is happening in my life? I didn't think things were going to go this way. I thought that I was going to have strength.

Trusting God When Strength Fails

Only to find out that I failed. People are tempted to be offended when we've come to the end of what seems to be. The end of our strength. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1 .8 We were pressed out of measure, above strength, in so much that we despaired even of life.

I can't go on. I don't know how to get through. Some of you have come today and you're drawing what you think is your last spiritual breath. You don't know how you're going to get through tomorrow. You're pressed down, above measure.

You don't know where your strength is going to come from. Fear is knocking at the door and there's always this subtle argument. Maybe you've not followed the right Christ. Maybe you've not fully understood.

The difference between these men and those who have no root. Is that each of these men I shared with you about. Had a deep abiding trust in the faithfulness of God. And they knew. And they loved Him. And they knew that although His ways are not always understood.

He can be trusted. And that is the key folks. To not being offended. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. There is a divine plan moving forward through time and into eternity.

And by God's mercy you and I have been grafted into that divine plan. We are in a hand much bigger than our own. Jesus Himself said that you've been sealed in the Father's hand. And nobody can take you out of the Father's hand.

You and I don't have to understand everything. We don't have to understand every interaction. And we never will fully understand God. But I do know that the Christ that I serve went to a cross and gave His life for me.

I do know that He was not triumphed over. He triumphed over death. He triumphed over sin. He triumphed over everything that this world and hell could throw at Him. He triumphed. I know that in Christ I sit at the right hand of Almighty God according to the revelation of the Apostle Paul.

I know I'm fully received with God the Father through time and for all eternity. I know that God in His mercy because I have an honest heart is not imputing my failure to me. I know that God is merciful above all that my mind can comprehend mercy to be.

I know that you and I will cross that finish line. We will not be overcome. We will not be overpowered. David said to Abiathar, he said, Abide with me. Do not be afraid. For he that seeks my life seeks your life.

But with me you will be safe. David knew in spite of the hardship that had come to other people in his walk with God that he was on the right course. You don't know how many times pastors are tempted to turn back because of the hardship that comes into their own family.

The difficulty that they begin to see around them. And many pastors are driven back from that full hearted commitment to Jesus Christ because of the suffering that comes into their own home. John chapter 20 verse 19.

The scripture says the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews. Now Peter was there. And Peter had these incredible and grave doubts in his mind about who he was following.

Is this really the Christ? And if it were the Christ, why does he and we seem so powerless to do anything about this situation? Jesus walks into the room. It must have been an incredible moment when he looked at Peter and just said, peace to you.

Let not your heart be troubled. He said, let it not be afraid. It's your father's good pleasure to give the kingdom to his children. You have needed patience just a little while. Just a little bit of suffering.

Just a little bit of season where we may not understand all of the things around us. But if you are a true child of God, God says I give you peace. I speak peace into your heart. I speak peace into your soul.

You don't have to understand everything. You don't have to worry about tomorrow. After all these things do those who live outside the kingdom of God seek. But you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these things, he said, will be added to you. You'll be cared for. You'll be looked after. There'll be supernatural. In the coming days, folks, there's going to be supernatural provision. It may get to the point where we bow our heads at the supper table and lift them up.

And there is the food. It might get to that point again in our generation. I don't know how God's going to do it, but I do know that he's going to do it. I do know that David said, I've been young and now I'm old.

I've never seen the righteous forsaking and his seed have never been begging for it. And there's no way that we're going to get to heaven and David is going to have to say, Well, Lord, I'm sorry I got carried away.

I wrote something in the Bible that shouldn't have been there. Absolutely no way. I have seen the provision of God. I have walked through that storm. I've lost everything and watched God open heaven and bless my family.

But I know what it is to walk in the provision of God. Peace to you. Peace. Peace. Be at rest. You're in the hand of God. This country's in the hand of God. The whole world is in the hand of God. Peace.

Paul’s Confidence in God’s Deliverance

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1, verses 9 and 10, We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead. He delivered us. He does deliver us, he says in verse 10, and he will deliver us.

Paul had come to the place of saying, I don't know how I'm going to get out of this, but I've died to try. And I'm trusting in God who raises the dead. I'm trusting in the one who won that victory over everything that hell can throw at me.

I'm trusting. I have followed the real Christ. Paul was able to say, I know whom I have believed. I know him. And I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've entrusted to him against that day. I've put my life, I've put my friends, I've put my family, I've put my future in the hand of God.

And God Almighty is going to be faithful. What a day, folks, it's going to be when we get to the other side. Oh my goodness, what a day that's going to be. Now we obtain it by faith. Now we walk by faith.

And then we're going to know, even as we are known, then we're going to see things that we can only vaguely understand today. I believe that there's going to be a panoramic view given of time. We're going to understand mysteries.

Because the Bible says that we will know as we are known when we get there. What an amazing explosion of knowledge. Every trial, every sigh, everything we had to go through will come into focus. And we will understand that in all of these things there was a divine purpose.

Nothing was by happenstance. Now, Matthew chapter 11, if you'll turn there with me, we're going back to where we started with John the Baptist. After he sent word to Jesus through his disciples and said, Are you the Christ?

Are you the one? Or do we look for another? In Matthew 11, 7, Scripture says that as they departed, that's the disciples that were sent to ask him this question. Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out in the wilderness to see?

A reed shaken with the wind? Did you think you were looking at a plant that could be blown over and uprooted by adversity? Oh, bow down, maybe. Weighted with the concerns and the cares of the very diabolical argument that was being brought against his understanding of who the Son of God was.

And you and I will have to face these things from time to time. But the Lord said, No. In verse 10, In other words, the end of his days have been determined from the beginning. When you came to Jesus Christ, if you had a genuine conversion, if you were sorry for your sin, if you wanted to walk with God, you wanted the true Christ of the Bible, and you were willing to say, Lord, no matter where that takes me, no matter what it costs me, I'm going to live for you and let you live your life through my life.

I'm going to be your servant for the rest of my days. The Bible says about you, just as Jesus said about John, This is not a plant that can be uprooted by adversity. This is not a reed that can be blown over.

The moment difficulty comes into the home or the mind or your situation, this is he of whom it is written. It is written of you, dear Saint of God, that you are in the hand of God and you cannot be taken out of that hand.

It is written of you that no weapon formed against you will prosper. It is written that you have the power to condemn every tongue that rises against you and tries to condemn you and condemn your walk with God.

It is written of you, you've been given power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. It is written of you that your name is written in a book in heaven called the Lamb's Book of Life.

It is written of you that your sins are covered, your frailties are hidden. The glory of the Lord is going to be your reward. It is written of you that a mansion is being prepared in heaven for you right now.

Yes, we might have a hard time paying our rent for apartments here, but there's a mansion just ahead for you for all of eternity. It is written. When you came to Jesus Christ, it was written about you that you will not be triumphed over.

And it is not some kind of gross deficiency in your heart. When you have questions about tomorrow, you have questions about God. God is not angry when you have questions. If your heart is genuine, it is written of you.

You will cross the finish line. You will get to the end of the race. Hallelujah. Jesus said something profound. Verse 2, it says, when John of chapter 11 in Matthew, when John had heard in the prison of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, Are you he that should come or do we look for another?

And Jesus answered and said to them, Go and show John again those things which you see and hear. The blind receive their sight. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up.

And the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Go and show John that the pathway you've chosen, John, is the pathway that leads to the power of God.

Those who are seeking Christ just for some form of power and wealth and gain, what a sad day is in store for them. But those who are seeking Christ for the simple reason of glorifying his name and seeing other people set free from the tyranny of sin and hell, that is the pathway to the power of God.

There is no other gospel. There is no other way. We are ambassadors of the Christ who went to a cross. We're ambassadors of the one who is willing to suffer all things, rejection, despising and pain, not for his own sake, but for your sake and for mine.

Because he was willing to take that cross and fulfill the will of his father, we have hope today. We have life. We have an eternity. We have a future. We have a heart that wants to reach out to fallen men around us.

Go and show John the things you've seen. The Lord says, now you take a deeper look into the word of God. You begin to realize that the pathway that you're on is the only one that has the power of God in it.

Everything else will falter and fail. But these things will stand at the end. Again, in Matthew chapter 24, verse 23, Jesus talks about the last of days, about the strife that will be in the world, about the deception.

Verse 22, he says, except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. And then if any man shall say to you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold, I've told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say to you, behold, he's in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he's in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Wherever the trap is set, wherever people have taken the bait of another Christ, the self-consumed will be found there. And if anyone rises in your time of difficulty and says to you, he's over there in the desert, he's up there in the closet, if they try to preach to you a Christ that you cannot see, don't listen to it, he said.

I'll come to you as the lightning comes from the east and shines to the west, I'll come to you. It speaks, yes I know, of the second coming of Christ. But it also speaks of the heart of God to meet the needs of his children.

I'll come to you, you don't have to run around looking for me, I know where you are. I know where you are. And I'll come to you exactly the way you need me. I'll come to you with power. I will vanquish, when David in Psalm 18 was cried out to the Lord, he said, I'm surrounded by things so dark, I don't know if I'm going to be able to make it.

And the scripture says that God arose and he said, and he sent lightning. This is exactly what Christ in measure is speaking about. I'll come to you in power and I will cause you to live, I will cause you to thrive, I will keep you standing on your feet, you will not be thrown down by this adversity.

I'll give you the power to put roots very deep in the soil and yes, the winds will blow, the mountains will shake, but you will have an inner knowledge that you're going to be given the power to stand.

Altar Call: Trusting Christ in the Trial

I have rarely felt such a solemnity in my spirit as I do today. I don't know what's ahead, but I do know that you and I are going to need incredible strength. And I do know that God says, I will be with you.

Peace. You don't have to look for another Jesus to get through. The one you've found is good enough. I want to give an altar call this morning for people that this message has spoken to. You're in the trial of your life right now and you need God to come and give you peace.

And I believe in God that if you just step out and just move forward in an active faith, that he's going to meet you one more time. And he will show you that he is the Christ. You don't have to be afraid.

You are going to get through whatever days you're in today and what faces you in the future. Let's stand together. We're going to worship for a moment and you just come. Just come. Everyone who's despairing, you're struggling, you're in trial and we're going to pray together and worship together.

I'm no stranger to some of the things that some of you are struggling with. None of the pastors here are. We've had to go through these difficult times. I remember when I was a young Christian and my son, my oldest son, was burned quite badly in a fire.

And right about that time somebody handed me a series of tapes by a preacher who's now dead. He was dead then. He's dead now, too. And the tapes were, you know, if God was with you, these things wouldn't be happening.

It's almost as if I came to a crossroads of looking at my son lying in a bed in incredible pain and these tapes that say this shouldn't be happening if you're following the real Christ. And so thank God I didn't throw away my faith in Christ.