Thank you, Robin. Now go back with me to Matthew
13. While you're turning, I just
want to say a few things before the message. I want to make a
strong request and give strong advice None of you go to see that movie,
The Son of God, that's on right now. And do not let your children
do that. I can see you shaking your heads. I know you know this. Everyone
should, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. It might be a good
opportunity to witness to someone by telling them that you refuse
to do so. I'll give you a few reasons.
And I remember, you know, there have been many movies made over
the years about our Lord. There was one called Jesus of
Nazareth. And I was a very, very young
believer, and I saw that. And I regret it now. But I'm
glad that I have no lasting... When I think of our Lord, I don't
think of that actor. But what blasphemy it is for
a man to pretend to be our Lord. Now, this will go with our message
because people didn't think he was anything more than a man
then, and most of them don't now. But what blasphemy for a
man to pretend to be our Lord, pretending to suffer on the cross, to suffer and get him paid for
it. It makes me angry really. I don't
know why I think about it. To mimic our Lord's cries on
the cross. It's evil. It's evil to mimic
His cries. Plus, His real suffering is the
most severe suffering that He suffered We can't enter into
it all, but it's idolatry, it's blasphemy, it's degrading, and
I haven't seen it, don't intend to, I hope you won't, but it
is most surely unbiblical. The whole movie or portrayal
of our Lord is most surely error upon error upon error in its
language and certainly in its message and the portrayal of
our Lord. And it perpetuates an image in
people's minds that they have of this fellow named Jesus with
long hair and a Caucasian and fair countenance. There is no description of our
Lord, but that perpetuates that idol that people have in their
minds. There's a reason why there are
no paintings There's a reason why our Lord did not allow there
ever to be a painting or a sculpture made of Jesus of Nazareth. There are many of other world
leaders that are paintings or sculptures of pharaohs and Pilate
and on and on it goes. You know, the Egyptians would
keep their They would put gold masks on the face of their pharaohs,
and we had the perfect likeness of them. There's a reason the
Lord didn't allow that to happen with our Lord Jesus Christ, because
we're not to make any image of Him. And if you could paint the
description of Him in Revelation 1, you couldn't look at it. It can't
be painted. And another thing, salvation
doesn't come through a movie. He comes through the preaching
of the Word. Men and women and young people must be convicted
of sin, not moved by sentiment, not moved by sorrow. And that's
surely what that does, is bring about sorrow for that martyr.
That's the way they portray him. And besides many things, to put
his name, the Son of God, on a billboard alongside these other
movies and rate them. It's just evil. The pulpit is the problem. Preachers
are the problem. If Brother Mack read Psalm 36
tonight, and the transgression of the wicked say within our
hearts that there's no fear of God before their eyes. And you
can blame it on the pulpit. They're the ones that have brought
the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifesting the flesh down for men to do
with Him anything they please. All right, back now, Matthew
13, and I believe that probably goes well with this, because
they didn't believe Him then, and they don't believe Him now.
They didn't believe He was more than a man then, and they don't
believe it now. But we do, don't we? We do. You know, this afternoon I was
thinking over this and reading earlier in the week, and I thought,
if I could only have one book, it would be God's Word. If I
could only have one book out of God's book, it would be one
of the Gospels. It doesn't matter which one,
Matthew, Mark, or Luke, or John, Though all the scriptures testify
of our Lord, the Old Testament's types and pictures and symbols
and so forth of our Lord, yet the Gospels are the very words
and acts of our Lord. And if you'll just glance through
the Gospels, every chapter and nearly every verse that says,
and he did this, and he did that, and he went there, and he said
this, and he, and he, and he, and he, and he, just line upon
line upon line of marvelous words and works and wonders of our
Lord himself. Oh my, I'm thankful, thankful
for the gospel written for us who believe that we might know
and believe more fully. All right, verse 53. It came
to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed then. And down in verse 57, it says,
but Jesus said something to them. Now, let me just stop that The
Holy Spirit is the narrator of Scripture. He's the one that
led not only the prophets, but the apostles to write what they
did. The Holy Spirit calls Him Jesus
often. Okay? And there's a reason for
that. To distinguish Him, if it said Lord, you might not know
who He's talking about. You might think it's either the
Lord God the Father or God the Son. So often he's referred to
as Jesus to distinguish him from God the Father. But also he's
often called Jesus in reference to his humanity. The man, Jesus
Christ, our substitute, the servant. One of the Gospels speaks of
him often as Jesus because he's the suffering servant, the man,
the man. But the disciples never called
Him Jesus. You won't see them calling Him
Jesus, will you? They called Him Lord. And this is Bible. It's a great mistake, I believe,
and I believe it more strongly than ever. It's a great mistake
to call God's Son Jesus, merely Jesus. When the Scripture says, at the
name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue should call
him Lord. And I have great reason to believe
that most do not know Him who refer to Him simply as Jesus. They don't fear Him. That's another
transgression, I believe. I know there have been many well-meaning
or men that did know Him and that called Him by that name.
sometimes, but they're in the wrong. Our Lord said, you call
Me, Lord and Master, and you say, well, so I am. So that's what I want to call
Him. And I like what Arthur Pink said
about this. He wrote a long, lengthy article
that I think is unanswerable on this subject. And he gave
this illustration. He said, you know, back when
he was alive, Arthur Pinck, the king's name was George, and king
of England. Pinck being from England. King
George, I believe was his name. He said, now the queen of England
can call him George. And the Holy Spirit is, as it
were, you know, equal. He is equal. He can call and
refer to him as Jesus. You can. You call Him King. You call Him Lord. I thought
that was a good illustration. So, Jesus, it says. Jesus, when He had finished these
parables, He departed thence and He came into His own country.
Verse 54. Jesus of Nazareth. He came into
His own country. You remember we looked at that. He shall be called a Nazarene. And some apply that to him being
a Nazirite, though there's some application there, certainly,
to his work. But the name Nazarene was a demeaning
term. He's a Nazarene. Can anything
good come out of Nazareth, they said. They scoffed and mocked
at these Nazarenes. And Jesus of Nazareth, he came
back to his hometown, or where he grew up, to his own country,
Nazareth. Now go over to Luke chapter 4.
Luke 4. He came here again. This is not his first time back
to the town where he grew up, but the second time. The first
time he came and we'll read in this story,
they tried to kill him. They tried to take him and throw
him off a cliff. Luke 4, and this is significant also. Luke
4, verse 16. He came to Nazareth where he
had been brought up, as his custom was. He went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath and stood up for to read. And there was delivered
unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened
the book, He found the place where it was written, Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captive, recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave
it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all
them that were in the synagogue were fastened, glued on him. And he began to say unto them,
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him
witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded
out of his mouth, or the way and manner in which he spoke
and read with authority. And they said, Is not this Joseph's
son? And he said unto them, You will
surely say unto me this proverb, Position, heal thyself. Whatsoever
we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto
you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you
of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months. when great famine was throughout
all the land, but under none of them was Elijah sent, save
under Sarepta, the city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet,
and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian." Our
Lord was preaching God's sovereign right to save whom He willed,
to choose whom He willed. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. But he, passing through the midst
of them, went his way, came to another city, and they were astonished
at his doctrine, for his word was with power." So he came to
his hometown of Nazareth, where he grew up, where they had observed
him for so long, for thirty years. And they tried to kill him. They
hated him. They despised him. They hated
him without a cause. Without a cause. And now he comes
back. He comes back. Oh, the great mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ. To come to this earth, period. To come to this earth at all
was infinite condescension on the part of our Lord. To come
to those that didn't want Him, to come to those that asked not
for Him, to come for those who are unworthy, infinite mercy,
infinite love, infinite grace and glory, because it's the glory
of a man to stoop down to those beneath him. And oh, he said,
I'm from above and you're from below. What is man that thou
art mindful of him and would come and visit him? But to come
to a place where the people cast him out and wanted him dead and
then leave and then come back. My, my. I think about the prodigal. I think about so many things.
I think about myself. how I depart from the Lord and
He brings me back. I thought about the ark that
Noah built, how the Lord, after 120 years it was built, and then
He waited seven days, left the door open. That's what Peter
said. He said that when the ark was
being built, the long-suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah. He waits to be gracious. Why
would he do that? Why would he come back to this
town? Well, he did. He must have had somebody there,
some sheep. It doesn't tell everything and
everyone he saved, does it? But he comes back. Our Lord comes
back to this town. The Lord of glory. God in the
flesh. He lived in this town of Nazareth
for 30 years. Thank God, bless Nazareth. I
can't conceive of this. You know, I asked you one time if you could
live in any era in time, any point in history, when would
you want to live? Where would you want to live
and at what time period? And I remember thinking or saying
one time, I'd like to live in Solomon's day for 40 years with
Solomon. Every man, you know, listen to
the wisdom of Solomon. A nation like that with every
man dwelt under his own vine and fig tree. And I thought,
no, I'd take three years. Three years walking with our
Lord over forty with Solomon. Nazareth got to observe the Lord
Jesus Christ for thirty years. They observed He was observed
by family, by neighbors, by everyone for 30 years. Romans 1 says that
our Lord is declared to be the Son of God. God manifest in the
flesh. Declared to be the Son of God. Not a son, but the Son of God
with power. According to the spirit of holiness
and resurrection from the dead. He's declared to be the Son of
God with power. Everyone observed him for 30
years to have the most powerful mind and the keenest intellect
of any person they had ever seen or heard in their entire life,
even as a boy. You remember when he was 12 years
old, he was in the temple questioning and being questioned
by the doctors and lawyers. A twelve-year-old boy, confounding
scholars, amazed, astonished as they heard our Lord twelve
years old. Twelve years old. He was observed
to have the most powerful mind, keenest intellect, wisdom. They
thought, he has such wisdom. Yes, he is wisdom, personified. His dignity, his character, his
honesty, his integrity, his bearing, his countenance. If you'd look
in his eyes, you'd see like doves' eyes, pure, perfect, purity,
his goodness, grace. No man spoke like this man. He
spoke as one having authority, they said. All authority. But he spoke,
and I had to always marvel at that Luke 4 where they gave him
the book to read. He didn't need the book. He wrote
it. He wrote it. He is the book.
But he read it, and they marveled at how he read it. He was a skilled
craftsman. He was a carpenter. Just imagine. Just imagine. I often like to
think, Sammy, he didn't need a ruler. He didn't need the level. He that created the heavens and
the earth, things out of nothing, he didn't need any help. And
everything he made was perfect. There may be some buildings over
there still standing that he built. I know the church will
be. but a powerful, skilled, powerful
of a spirit, one who had complete control over himself. That's
a powerful man. Calm, perfect peace. They observed him to have perfect
peace, unmovable, nothing anyone could say would upset him. Now, though he was not weak by
any means, he was not as men portray him as a mealy-mouthed,
mousy fellow, and yet nothing anyone said could move him. Imagine the look out of his eye
if someone with pride was around him. He could wither a man with
pride, withering. He looked right through him.
or someone broken and someone down and out could lift them
with a look. Powerful. Spirit of holiness,
purity of word, of life, of look, separate from sinners. They observed
this. They couldn't help but see that
He's not like us. He's not like us. He's separate from sinners. Thirty
years He walked their streets. Surely He fascinated and yet
puzzled them all. There's no mention of him attending
any schools. No mention of that. He certainly
didn't attend any of their higher schools like Gamaliel. The school
of Gamaliel is too poor. It's too poor. Some of our men
didn't go very far in school. And that causes people with education
to look down on you. Always. It's always the case. Those who have some education
look down on or prejudice against those who do not. When that is
ignorance itself, that shows that that person is without real
understanding. You cannot judge a book by its
cover, by the sight of its eye, nor by the way someone speaks,
their dialect or whatever. You cannot. And though our Lord
was perfect in every respect, they still didn't know it. They still looked down on him
because of these outward things. They didn't like the way he looked.
There was no beauty about him. He didn't stand head and shoulders
above anyone. There was no comeliness about him. Very ordinary, plain
looking. He didn't have noble parentage.
He was not the son of anybody, just an old carpenter and a woman
who was a little maiden. And all of his brothers and sisters,
nobodies from nowhere, nobody of any repute whatsoever. No schooling, no nothing. No nothing. And they were offended. They were offended. Is not this
the carpenter? But they could not help but ask, where did he
get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's
son, they thought. They still think that today.
Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph
and Simon and Judas and his sisters? Are they not all with it? I know
the Catholics hate these verses, because Mary had more children.
They hate this. But they said, which hath this
man all these things? And they were offended in him.
You see that? There's the verse. Verse 57. They were offended in him. Go
with me to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Let's just read
a few verses through John's Gospel. John chapter 5. The Lord offended
men and women everywhere He went. Everywhere He went, it says there
was a division because of Him. They were offended by Him. By
Him, by His words, by His works, by His upbringing, everything
about Him. His looks, his learning or lack
of it, his lineage, his words, his work, everything about him
offended them, and it does now. And people still don't know what
to think about him, and they're still talking about Jesus of
Nazareth. They don't know what to make
of him. Look at John 5, verse 31. Our Lord said, If I bear
witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another
that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which
he witnesseth of me is truth. You sent unto John, and he beareth
witness unto the truth, that is, Christ. But I receive not
testimony from man, but these things I say that you might be
saved. Read on. John was a burning and
a shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice
in his light. But I have greater witness than
that of John. For the works which the Father
hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness
of me that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself which
hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard
his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his
word abiding in you. For whom he hath sent, him ye
believe not." Look at John 7, a few pages over John 7. beginning
with verse 14. John 7, 14. Now, about the midst
of the feasts, Jesus went up into the temple and talked. And
the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters? Have
he never learned? Jesus answered them and said,
My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man
will do his will, believe God. Do His commandments. He shall
know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak
of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh
his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him. And in verse 24, judge not according
to the appearance, but judge righteous judgments. Judgment. John 8. Go over there real quickly. John 8, verse 12. John 8, verse
12. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees
therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself. Thy
record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto
them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and
whither I go, but you cannot tell whence I come and whither
I go. You judge after the flesh. I
judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment
is true, for I am not alone, but I am the Father that sent
me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two
men is true. I am one that bear witness of
myself and the Father that sent me. beareth witness of me." And
they asked him where his father was. And down in verse 24, he
said this great statement, I say therefore unto you that you shall
die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am, you shall
die in your sins. And they said unto him, who art
thou? He said, the same I said unto you from the beginning,
the one who spoke to Moses When Moses said, Who shall I say?
It's in me. He said, You tell them, I am.
I am. Now, all men and women are everywhere
without excuse because everything about our Lord Jesus Christ declares
that He is the Son of God. God manifests in the flesh. In
another place, He said, If you do not believe the works that
I do, believe the words and vice versa. Because no man spake like
he did, and no one could do what he did, lest God be with them.
But the fact is now, here's the good news, and here's what we
should be so thankful for. The fact is that our Lord has
blinded the minds of most people. Blinded the mind. And they won't
believe, though a man told them. Though our Lord Jesus Christ
came into place, they won't believe. But God has opened a blind eye. Those that sit in darkness have
seen a great light. And in that same psalm, in thy
light we see light. The Lord has opened the eyes
of His people to reveal Himself. We say this, don't we? We know
it's true, but the Lord reveals Himself to His people. to His
people. And so if you know Him, oh, be
thankful. Because the Son of God has come
and given you an understanding that you may know Him that is
true and that you're in Him that is true, and this is the true
God and eternal life. So little children, keep yourself
from that. I go back to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. They just thought He was Jesus.
Now, the fact is, If he's only a man, then his word is only
an opinion. And that's what people think. If he's only a man, his word
is merely his opinion. And you can take it or leave
it. It's not law. You can take it or leave it.
But if he is God, and he is, his word is love. And he said
that. He said, heaven and earth will
pass away, but not one word of mine. Who can say that? Not one word of mine shall fail.
The law will be fulfilled. And his word is law. And we'd
better do what he says. It's life or death. Fact is,
if he's just a man, his works are debatable. I told you about
that wicked man named Thomas Jefferson. And he was. Why? Because he took
the Bible and cut out all of the miracles of our Lord with
a penknife, like old Jehoiakim the king cut up Jeremiah's word. Remember that? And cast it into
the fire. Thomas Jefferson took a Bible
Because he did not believe in the miracles of our Lord and
cut them all out and made his own Bible that he read. And he
even passed them out and published them for other people to read. If he's just a man, his works
are debatable. It is debatable whether or not
he did some of the things. Walk on water. Heal the blind. Raise the dead. Very debatable. But if he's God,
and he is, his work, his death especially, if he's
just a man, his death was regrettable. His death was a sad thing. His
death was nothing more than the death of a martyr that we should
feel sorry for and emulate him in his devotion. to the ones
he loved. But his death was a work that
was purposed by God before the world began as a substitute for
God's people. As the covenant head, as the
lamb slain before the foundation of the world, his work on Calvary's
tree was an infinitely glorious and powerful work whereby he
defeated all forces of evil. He put away all the sins of all
of God's people by this one sacrifice. He abolished death and brought
life and immortality to life and brought in an everlasting
righteousness and secured the eternal kingdom for all of God's
people by that powerful, eternal and miraculous work on Calvary's
tree. Only God could do that. God could
do that. Substitute. Only God could do
that. But if He's just a man. We're
of all men most miserable. That's what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. Why are we doing this? Let's
just eat and drink and grab all the gusto we can, for tomorrow
we die if the dead don't rise, if Christ didn't rise, if He's
not God, if He's just a man, We're following a dead man. Why
are we being baptized for the dead? Paul said that in another
place. And Peter. But I'm telling you, Paul said,
he is a liar. He is a liar. And our Lord said
this in verse 57. A prophet is not without honor,
saving his own country and his own half. He said that twice
to me. A prophet. We have that old saying, familiarity
breeds contempt. And it's true. And you'll not
find any prophet ministering in his own country, but they
were sent other places. Even now, preachers don't generally
preach in churches where they grew up. They just won't have
them. And our Lord, they held him in contempt in his hometown.
But I couldn't help but think of this word, a prophet. A prophet. See, our Lord is more than a
prophet. He is that prophet of whom Moses spoke. Moses said,
A greater than I is going to come, a prophet. Him you'll hear,
more than a prophet. And our Lord asked them, Whom
do men say that I am? And some said, He's a prophet. And I say, Don't you say? He's that prophet. We don't need
any more prophets. If anybody really knew Christ,
they wouldn't need any more prophets. And all these fellows that go
by that name today, oh, they'd shiver, wouldn't they? They'd
shake. He's the prophet who's told us all things, like the
woman at the well said. When he's come, he'll tell us
all things. And our Lord said, Read on, it says, He did not
many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Mark's account,
I believe it is, yeah, Mark's account in chapter 6 said He
could not. Not that He didn't have the power
to do so, but He would not. He did not, He could not, He
would not because of their unbelief. And this is significant because
our Lord will not do a mighty work of salvation where there
is none of his people. He did some work. Mark said he
did some healing. Mark's gospel said, save that
he laid his hands on and healed some sick. That's a mighty work. A marvelous work. But our Lord's
greatest work is salvation. casting out devils and saving
souls. And our Lord won't do mighty
works amongst... He doesn't have any of His people.
And His works diminish as His people diminish. And I couldn't
help but think about our community. And it's always been this way.
And the Scriptures talk about a former and a latter harvest.
That in the beginning, there was a great harvest. And then
you've got the latter harvest. You go out there in the fall
and you look in your garden and there will be just a little bit
here and there, scattering of corn like that. In the beginning,
and even here in this church, the Lord brought in many people,
but in the end we're seeing less of them. We're seeing less. The Lord's not doing many mighty
works anyway. He has raised up some young preachers. I'm thankful
for that. And he raised up a church in Kingsport and other places
and called out his sheep. But as far as sweeping mighty
works of the Gospel and the Word, that won't happen. Because we
live in an apostate, unbelieving day. Just full of unbelief. It's the most foolish thing that
man can do, not believe God, not believe His Word. But we
have been given this precious gift of faith. Okay, stand with
me.