Alright, turn back to John chapter
2. We're going through John on Sunday
night, so I started preparing this for tonight. And it didn't take any time at
all to realize this is a message of urgency. A real message of
urgency. This is serious. Very serious. And I felt led
to bring it this morning. Our text is verse 12. John chapter 2, verse 12. It says, After this, he went down
to Capernaum. and His mother, and His brethren,
and His disciples, and they continued there not many days. How sad. How sad. After this, He went down to Capernaum. He and His mother and his brethren
and his disciples, and they continued there not many days. To say that about the Lord's
presence in any place. Not many days. How sad. How many places do we know where
the gospel was there? It was there. But it's not now. It was not
many days. That's why believers, the children
of God, the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, they love the song
Amazing Grace so much. Every time I think about this,
you know, if the Lord allows us to be together a bunch of
days, you're gonna hear me say this a lot. But I love the fact
that it says, when we've been there with Him 10,000 years,
bright shining as the sun, we've no less days. We're not losing one day. We've
no less days to sing His praise than the first day we got to
glory. But how sad for Capernaum. How
sad. My heart breaks for him. As I
studied this and enter into this, my heart started breaking for
this place. It says, After this, he went down to Capernaum, he
and his mother and his brethren and his disciples, and they continued
there not many days. This message is a message of
urgency. It's a message of urgency, and
we forget about that. This is serious. We have not
many days. One day, that's going to be said
about Kingsport, Tennessee. People are going to drive down
81. They're going to see all those exits, 74 and what is it,
68 or 66, 60-something, 57, 56. And they're going to say, did
you know the gospel used to be preached in that town? How sad. Not many days. Today is the day. This is urgent. Today is the
day. Our Lord said, take no thought
for tomorrow. What are you going to do tomorrow? Take no thought for tomorrow.
We already have plans for tomorrow. My sister and her husband are
coming back through tonight. We already have plans. Take no
thought for tomorrow. This is urgent. It says he went
down And it says, he and his mother and his brethren and his
disciples. Now, I want to show you something
that was amazing to me. This was just a sheer delight
to see. A lot of times we learn what
a scripture means and it will reveal to us another scripture.
There's another scripture we've known. And when we see this scripture,
it makes that one make total sense. Have you had that happen
to you? Well, this happened to me. Okay, here's what it says. Look at our text. After this,
he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother. Here are some
things that struck me when I read this. The first one is, verse 12 is
his own paragraph. You see that backwards P right
there? And then verse 13 has a backwards P. Anytime I see
that, I think there's a lot in that. If that's one paragraph, it's
a complete thought, and it was written at one moment in time,
and there might have been a space of time between those two paragraphs. There's a lot in that. Maybe
the Lord will reveal it to us. And then the other thing that
struck me is why would it mention His mother and His brethren and
His disciples? Why is that in the Word? Why is that important
enough to be in the Word? That's the question, okay? The
Scripture says His mother was blessed among women. That's what
it says about His mother. Blessed among women. Of all women,
she was chosen to be blessed of the Lord. Highly favored.
And so was the nation of Israel. Highly favored. Blessed among
nations. And His mother represents the
nation of Israel. The whole nation, okay? Now, they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. Some are believers, some are
chosen, and some are not. This is important. Turn over to John 7. All right, John 7 verse 1 says, After these things Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, which means Judea,
because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles
was at hand, his brethren, meaning his brothers, James, and Simon,
and Judas, not Iscariot, the one who wrote the book Jude,
and Justice, and whoever else it was. His brethren therefore
said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples
also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that
doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known
openly. If thou do these things, show
thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren
believe in him." They said, go into Judea. He
wasn't going into Judea. They said, go on. They didn't
believe in him. All right? So his brethren represent unbelievers. His mother represents the whole
nation. And His brethren represent unbelievers. Now look back at
our text at John 2. It says, After this, He went
down to Capernaum, He and His mother, the whole nation, and
His brethren, unbelievers, and His disciples. And His disciples represent believers,
because I want you to look at verse 11. In John 2, verse 11. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory, and
His disciples believed on Him. Alright, so, we understand that,
right? This is a little side note before
the message. His mother represents a whole
nation. And His brethren represent unbelievers. And His disciples
represent believers. Now, turn with me. See if your
Bible says this too. This is where I got it. You see
in the middle of verse 12 it says His brethren? I've got a
little marginal letter D right there. And my margin says Matthew
12, 46. Go with me to Matthew 12, 46. Alright, Matthew 12, 46 says,
While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren
stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto
him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring
to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto
him that told him, who is my mother and who are my brethren? I never knew you. Verse 49 says, and he stretched
forth his hand toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and
my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will
of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister
and mother." They said, your mother and your brethren are
outside and they want you to come outside, they want to talk
to you. And he said, who is my mother and my brethren? Now he
loved his mother and his brethren. But he said to his disciples,
these are my mother and my brethren. The disciples of the Lord, the
children of God, are more family than blood could ever make anybody,
flesh and blood. He allows the rain to fall on
the just as well as the unjust. He went down the whole nation,
the believers and the unbelievers. He allows His gospel to be preached
to the Jew and the Gentile, right? Some belong to Him. It's going
forth this morning in so many places. The Word is going forth and some
belong to Him. Some are going to believe. Some
are going to bow. Some are going to confess. And
some are not. They're just not. And there are not many days.
There are not many days. The door to the ark is open. Noah finished that ark. Noah
worked on this ark. He was a preacher of righteousness.
And he worked on this ark and then the ark was finished and
the door was open and he said, whosoever will, let him come
on in. Enter in. Today is the day of salvation. Mercy can be found right now. Plenteous mercy right now. Look
and live. Taste and see. Tomorrow it may
be too late. I couldn't help but think about
young people. Old people have yesterday. Middle-aged people have today.
And young people have tomorrow, right? Tomorrow it may be too
late. Noah was a preacher of righteousness
and he cried unto the people until the day God shut the door. Noah didn't shut the door. God
shut the door. Well, the Lord went down to Capernaum. And the Lord was so good to Capernaum,
so good. It's almost unbelievable just
how good He was to Capernaum. I learned so very much in this,
so much, and I want to show it to you, okay? Turn with me to
Matthew 4. Now, Capernaum was a town on
the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, okay? That's where
it was. Whenever you look at a map, you'll see the Dead Sea,
and then you have the Jordan River that goes up to the Sea
of Galilee. And it was on the western coast
of the Sea of Galilee, and it was usually the place where our
Lord resided, where He spent His in-between time. All right? He would go somewhere
and then He would continually resort back to Capernaum. And
then He'd go somewhere else and then He'd come back to Capernaum. That's why it was called in Matthew
chapter 9 verse 1, His own city. He called it His own city. All
right? Now He had very little rest in
this world. But what rest He took, He took
it in Capernaum. The Lord was so good to that
city. He was so good to those people.
Alright, let's look at how good He was. Matthew 4, and here's
what we're about to do. So you know we're about to take
a little tour through the book of Matthew. It's not going to
take but just a second. Just the book of Matthew. A lot
of these accounts are repeated in Mark, Luke and John. So we're
going to just stay in Matthew and we're going to take a little
tour through Matthew. Matthew 4, look at verse 12. It says, Now when Jesus had heard
that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee, and
leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is
upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthilim, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, The land of Zebulun and the land of Nethilim, by the
way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the
people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them
which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up."
These people sat in darkness and light came to them. Light
came. All right, verse 17 says, From
that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Now the Lord God of heaven, who knows everything and created
everything, came down here to this earth, and as an infant, the government
was upon his shoulders. And he knew everything. He knew
the end from the beginning. And he and his brethren and his
earthly parents attended worship. And they went to their local
place and the God sat in the pew and listened to a fool speak
for 30 years. Can you believe that? 30 years. And when a man reaches 18, he
knows everything. Right? And in his 20s, he feels
entitled to go do everything. And God refrained himself until
he was 30 years old. That is amazing to me. Absolutely
amazing. But when this all important time
came for the God to go preach the gospel, He started that ministry in Capernaum. That's the place He chose to
begin preaching. All right, now, I want you to look at verse 18.
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting Annet into
the sea, for they were fishers. And he said unto them, Follow
me, and I'll make you fishers of men." Capernaum is the place
where he called his first apostles. It's where those men were from.
And then it says he went on to call James and John. He chose
this town Capernaum, not Nazareth, not Bethlehem. Capernaum. To begin calling His apostles.
Alright, now look at chapter 5. Verse 1 says, And seeing the
multitudes, He went up into a mountain, and when He was set, His disciples
came unto Him, and He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. He said that to Capernaum. This is the Sermon on the Mount,
the great and wonderful Sermon on the Mount. Verse 4, Blessed are they that
mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven." He said all that to Capernaum. Those
were the people listening to him. Alright, now go to chapter
8. Verse 5 says, And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented. Now look at verse 13. And Jesus
said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed,
so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in
the selfsame hour. We know that story, don't we?
That happened in Capernaum. Verse 14, And when Jesus was
coming to Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid and sick
of a fever, and he touched her hand, and the fever left her,
and she arose and administered unto them. That happened in Capernaum. Now how many people did they
know? How many people did they go tell? Look at verse 16. When the even
was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with
devils, and he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all
that were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities
and bare our sicknesses. Was Capernaum a blessed place
or what? Everybody they brought to Him,
He healed them of their sickness, He cast out demons. What a blessed
place! Goodness upon goodness was poured
into Capernaum. Alright, now Matthew chapter
9, look at verse 1. It says, And He entered into
a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. Now there's
a marginal reference which takes us back to chapter 4, the very
first verse we just read. And it says, Capernaum, his own
city. And behold, they brought to him
a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their
faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer,
thy sins be forgiven thee. That's the story. That's the
account of when the Lord was preaching in a house. And there were so many people
in this house, these men couldn't get in. They had a dear loved
one, sick of the palsy, lying in a bed. And so these men got
a ladder and climbed up on the roof and they started ripping
the roof open. And they got ropes and they lowered
their loved one straight down in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. And seeing their faith, He said,
your sins are forgiven you. That happened in Capernaum. You think that story went around?
You think anybody was saying, you've got to come see this man? Look at verse 9. After that incident,
as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the receipt of custom, and he said unto him, Follow me.
And he arose and followed him. Matthew got up from the table
and he left all that money in Capernaum. Isn't this amazing? I had no idea all these stories
were from Capernaum. The blessed, blessed words that
sinners have been holding to for 2,000 years now, he spoke
them to Capernaum. Look at verse 10, chapter 9,
verse 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus
sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came
and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come
to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." I'm not come
to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. He said that to
Capernaum. Capernaum had the gospel preached
to it. That's the gospel. He came to publicans and sinners. And He said, the whole need not
a physician, but they that are sick. I'm not come to call the
righteous, I'm come to call sinners. That's the Gospel. Verse 18 says, While He yet spake
these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler and
worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead. She's dead. She's not sick. She's dead. But come and lay thy hand upon
her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose and followed
him, and so did his disciples. Verse 23 says, And when Jesus
came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the
people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place, for the
maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. They laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put
forth, he went in and took her by the hand, and the maid arose,
and the fame hereof went abroad into all that land." Now, let
me ask you a question. Think about this. If in the Kingsport times, whatever
the newspaper is called here, word gets out. Over there, I don't know the
name of it, but there's a funeral home next to Church Circle. In
that funeral home, somebody was dead. And all their family came. And their friends came. And the
preacher was there. And the funeral home workers
were there. And right in the middle of the service, that girl
grabbed the edge of that casket and got out. and walked on out. You think they'd do a story about
that in the paper? The fame went abroad into all
that land. There's a man named Jesus Christ
and he walked in and he touched that girl and I'm telling you
she got up. And I'm telling you she was dead. She stopped. She was dead. Haven't they not all heard? Haven't
they not all heard? What's wrong with people? Haven't they not all heard? Go back, verse 20, same chapter,
look at verse 20. Behold a woman which was diseased
with an issue of blood twelve years. How long have we known
this story? came behind him and touched the hem of his garment.
For she said within herself, within her heart, she thought,
if I may but just touch his garment, I'll be made whole. He's so wonderful. He's so powerful. If I could
just touch the man's clothes, I'll be healed. Verse 22, But Jesus turned him
about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort.
Thy faith has made thee whole, and the woman was made whole
from that hour. I had no idea all this was done
in Capernaum. Just a couple more and we're
done. Verse 27 says, And when Jesus
departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying,
Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was come into
the house, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this. And they said unto Him,
Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your
faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened. And
Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that no man know
it. But they, when they were departed,
spread abroad his fame in all of Capernaum." All that country. In Matthew 11, verses 28 through
30, He said the beautiful words, Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Capernaum, come
unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. I'm meek and lowly in heart and
you'll find rest unto your souls. My yoke is easy and my burden
is light. Man! You don't have to turn there.
In Matthew 12 verse 10, He healed a man with a withered hand. You
know that story? Capernaum. In verse 31, He said,
"...all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men."
Capernaum. In verse 32, He said, "...whosoever shall speak a word
against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him." Now listen
to this. In John 6, His glorious message
on the bread of life, on the living bread, which came down
from heaven, If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. He
said that to Capernaum. We just sang, or we're about
to sing one of the two. What more can He say than to you He
hath said? Right? But look at this, okay
now. Look at this. Matthew 11. verse 23. Everything we just read was done
in Capernaum. Now, Matthew 11, look at verse
23. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall
be brought down to hell. Look at this. For if the mighty
works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day." Sodom would still
be here. If those mighty works had been
done in Sodom, the place where God sent angels to it, and the
men said, let us have them. If I had done those works in
Sodom, I'd still be here today. But I say unto you that it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for thee." Oh, man. Why, after all that, would they
not believe? Why would they not believe? Why
would they not bow? Why would they not confess? Why
would they not beg for mercy? Why would they not see their
need? Look at verse 25. At that time
Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for it seemed good in Thy sight. Why would they not? Verse 27
says, All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. Though one rose from the dead,
and one did in Capernaum. Though one rose from the dead,
they wouldn't and they couldn't believe. It must be given. It must be revealed. The eyes
of faith are a gift from God. It's all a gift from God. It's all grace. You'd think,
surely, if somebody came here and did all that here, this whole
town would believe. No, they wouldn't. No, they wouldn't. It's sovereign grace. I will
to whom I will. And if I don't, they can't. Sovereign grace. My question is, do I see my need? Do you see your need? Do you
desire the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you desire His healing touch,
true rest, True forgiveness. Do you desire the salvation that
can only be had in Him? This is what He said. You have
not because you ask not. I delight to show mercy. You
have not because you ask not. This is urgent. This is urgent. There are not many days There
are not many days. He said, repent, the kingdom
of heaven is at hand, it's here. When something becomes life and
death, it becomes urgent. You drive along in your car,
your car's going down the road, everybody's having fun, listening
to the radio, and all of a sudden, it's urgent. Call 911, get the
sirens going. It's life and death urgent. Seek
while He may be found. Call while He is near. Our children need to know this
is urgent. No, you can't go over there and play church and play
religion with whatever they're doing over there. This is too
urgent. Today is the day. And He said,
I'm coming quickly. I'm coming quickly. The warning
has gone out. The word has gone out. I'm coming
quickly. Alright. Ephesians chapter 5. Look at this. Ephesians chapter 5. Verse 14
says, Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that
you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. Redeemed the time. Today is the day. The blind are
receiving sight right now. It's happening right now. The lame are walking. Those who
could not are. The lepers are being cleansed
right now. The deaf are hearing for the
first time. The dead are coming to life. Right now. And the poor, the
poor in spirit are hearing good news. Right now. Right now. Today is a day of
good news. Redeem the time. Redeem the time. Redeem the time. Ask, seek, knock,
call on the name of the Lord. Right now, the door is open. Right now, mercy can be found. But there are not many days.
Just not many days. I close. Okay? Those are two glorious words,
isn't it? I'm closing. All right. For those of you who have received
your sight. Those of you who have seen Christ
in the Word. I see Jesus Christ. For those
of you who right now walk by faith, because that's the only
way you can walk. I don't have any legs. For those of you who know you're
a leper, a sinner, whose only hope of being cleansed is the
Lord Jesus Christ. For those of you who are hearing
the gospel like it's the first time you ever heard it. You remember
that feeling the first time you heard somebody really preach
the gospel? You remember what that felt like?
Salvation is not a feeling, but it sure burns within you. For those of you who can say,
I died in Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, right here in Kingsport, Tennessee. I live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved me. Every step I take is in His love
and gave Himself for me. For all who say that, I want
you to rest in this. Rest in this. There's not many
more days. There's not many more days. It's
a tough place. It's a hard world. We've got
a lot of things going on. It's not many more days. Your redemption, draweth nigh. It's coming soon. You can just listen to this.
This is James chapter 5. It says, Ye have lived in pleasure
on the earth, and been wanting Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Be patient. Behold, the husbandman
waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye
also patient. Establish your hearts, for the
coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Even so, Lord, come, come. There's not many more days. I
hope He gives us as many days as He will allow, and I hope
He calls out as many sheep as He will call in those days, but
there's not many more days. I pray the Lord will bless His
Word. Stand together with me.