Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number six. Hymn number six. Come, Thou Almighty King, help
us thine Father all-glorious, Lord all-victorious,
come and reign over us, ancient of days. Come Thou incarnate
Word, gird on Thy mighty sword, ? Our clarity ? Come and thy
people bless ? And give thy word success ? Spirit of holiness
? On us descend ? Come holy comforter ? Thy sacred It is fair in this
matter. Now who, almighty art, now who
in every heart can bear from us depart spirit ? Eternal praise his name ? It's
evermore ? His sovereign majesty ? Mary in glory sing ? And to
eternity ? Love and adore ? Hymn number 299. Day by day and with each passing
moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my father's wise
bestowment, I've known Heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what he deems best Lovingly, it's part of pain
and pleasure Ling-ling tolling, peace and rest Every day the Lord himself is
near me, with a special mercy for each hour. All that cares, he faintly dare
and cheer me, in whose name his counsel is the charge that on Him shall
be laid. As I haste, thy strength shall
be in measure, this the pledge to me be made. Help me then in every tribulation, that I lose not faith's sweet
consolation, giveth me within thy holy word. Help me, Lord, when to my trouble
meeting, where to take as from the Father's hand. ? One by one, the days, the moments
fleeting ? ? Till I reach the promised land ? Give us another
song before we go, okay? Mark chapter six. Mark chapter
six. Read the first six verses is
where I'm going to preach from today, God willing. And he went out from thence and
came into his own country, and his disciples followed him. And
when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue.
And many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this
man these things? And what wisdom is this which
is given unto him? that even such mighty works are
wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the
son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph, and Judah and Simon? And are not his sisters here
with us? And they were offended at him.
But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but his
own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And
he could do there no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon
a few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their
unbelief. And he went round about the villages
teaching." Oh, our great, blessed, glorious,
sovereign, eternal, immutable God, God of heaven and earth,
the one who inhabits eternity, holy, righteous, just, full of
mercy, great in compassion, blessed in abundance of grace,
full of mercy, full of truth. And Lord, it's to you whom we
come. to the great eternal God, to the blessed Son, to the blessed
Holy Spirit, to the blessed Father, O Lord, to the great, blessed,
glorious three in one. What a mystery. One God, but
three different persons, all with a work to do, a successful
work, a powerful work, a glorious work, saving work. And Lord,
we ask for thy great, great mercies upon us here today. Please enable
me to speak, enable me to preach, enable the saints to hear, enable
those who've never heard the gospel, may they hear it today. Those who are bound by unbelief,
may faith take its place today. May you bring glory to yourself
in the gospel, Meet the needs and hearts of every soul. Pray
for those among us whose bodies are weak, frail. Pray for our
dear sister and for those who are not with us today because
of trials, because of heartache, because of things that's hard
to deal with in this world. God, meet the needs of thy dear
people. Have mercy upon our lost loved ones. For Lord, if you
don't do something for them, it'll never be done. So we leave
them in your hands. Meet our needs today. We ask
it in Christ's holy name. Amen. Let's sing hymn number 357. We'll
sing the first, second, fourth, and fifth verses. 357, omitting the third verse. Nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer to Thee. In though it be a cross that
brazenly. Still though my song shall be,
? My God to Thee ? ? Nearer, my
God, to Thee ? ? Nearer to Thee ? ? Oh, like the wanderer ? ?
The sun gone down ? ? Darkness be over me ? ? My rest a stone ? ? Yet in my
dreams I'd be ? Nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer to Thee. Verse 4. Brought with thy praise. Out of my stony graves Let it
flow thy ways. So by my woes to thee ? Nearer, my God, to Thee ? ? Nearer, my God, to Thee ? ? Nearer
to Thee ? ? Or if on joyful wing ? In the sky ? ? Sun, moon and stars to come ?
? Upward I fly ? ? Still all my soul shall be ? Let's stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. Faith is to be satisfied with
what's left. His only begotten guide. Redemption's through His blood. Justice has been satisfied. Rise for God's wrath or sin. The sins of The work of grace has been done,
finished by God's dear Son. God's highly exalted One calls
faith in Him alone. Since our Father satisfied, what
have we need of more? Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
His life forevermore. ? With me, such a sinner as I ?
But now in Christ I am free ? In Him I will not die ? Our God
approved His own Son ? He's only pleased with me Back here in Mark 6. I want you
to look at verse 6. And look what it says. And he marveled because of their
unbelief. Can you imagine the Lord Jesus
Christ marveling at anything? That's more of the most astounding
statement you'll ever find in the Bible. You're talking about Christ who
is before all things, and by Him all things exist. He created
the world by His Word. He upholds the world by His own
Word, by His own power. This is the Lamb that was slain
from the foundation of the world, and it says over in John 19 that
Jesus, knowing all things, were now accomplished according to
the Scriptures, said it's finished. So how could someone who knows
all things, who DOES all things, has all power, all authority
vested in him, how in the world could he set MARVEL? How could
he be amazed? You know, he's never, I've told
you this how many times, that God's never surprised, Christ's
never surprised at anything we do. But here He is, He marvels,
and the Word says He was amazed, He was astounded by their unbelief. You want to know how bad unbelief
is? Christ marveled at it, was astounded at it, amazed at it. And look what it says there,
and go back to verse 1, we ll go down through here. And He
went out from this, and came unto His own country, He's going
to go where He was raised. He's going to go back to where
He was raised. He's going to go back to Nazareth. And the Scripture
says there that His disciples follow Him. And that's what ALL
disciples do. All those that know Him, they
follow Him. No matter where He's going, it says they followed
Him. He had already, you know, healed
the woman with the issue of blood, when she came and touched him,
he had raised Jerias' daughter. So I'll tell you what, he's going
to go home, going to go back where he was raised, going to
go back where everybody knows him, and they follow him, and
he's going to go back where he was a carpenter. When he left
home, he was a carpenter. Ain't that what it says down
here in verse 3? Is not this the carpenter? They remember
him as a carpenter. He left home, And he never went
back until you go to Luke chapter 4 when he went back to start
his public ministry. But anyway, he was there, he
went home, and where he worked at when he was a man growing
up before he left home, he was a carpenter. And that's what
they said, this is the carpenter. We know him, he was raised here,
raised here. And I tell you what, he returns
home and everybody knows who he is. Everybody knows of His
works. Everybody knows His Word. They
know His mother. They know His brothers and sisters.
And then look what it says there in verse 2. And when the Sabbath
day was come, now the Sabbath day to them, there were certain
days that were Sabbath days, holy days, but a Sabbath day
for them started on Saturday evening, at six o'clock and didn't
end until Sunday at six o'clock, 24 hour day. So they was on the
Sabbath day and he went into the synagogues and the scripture
says that he began to teach. This was something common that
our Lord did over and over and over. He went into the synagogue
and Paul did the same thing. He'd go into the synagogue and
he would stand up and read the scriptures and our Lord went
in there and began to teach. began to teach. Now, what gave
him the authority to go into a synagogue where he might not
have been in in a long time? This might have been the synagogue
where his ministry opened up, where he says, the Spirit of
the Lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor,
to the lame, to the blind, to preach the acceptable year of
the Lord. It might have been the same synagogue,
I don't know. But he began to teach. And oh
my, can you imagine to be taught by our Lord Jesus Christ? And
let me tell you something, if you're taught anything at all,
He's gonna be the teacher. He's the teacher, He's the one
who's gonna have to teach us, Him and the Holy Spirit. But
look what it says, and then it says, and many hearing Him. They heard Him. They heard Him. And oh, what a blessed thing
to hear Him. But these folks were astonished.
It'd been a long time since they'd heard from Him. It'd been a long
time since they'd known. They were astonished. They were astonished
at His teaching. Astonished at the authority that
He had. Astonished at the power that He had. And then look what
it says, they were astonished, and then they started asking
a question. Where did this man get these things? Where in the
world did the man get these things? These things that He's teaching,
this wisdom that He has. Where in the world did it come
from? How in the world does this man know these things? How does
this man have such wisdom? How does he know so much about
the scriptures? Oh my, what wisdom's given to
him? Where did all these things come from? And that's what, oh
my, people ask questions, but they're not asking the right
questions. Where did Christ get these things, these things that
he taught? these works that he did, these
words that he said, where did he get them? He was born with
them. He had them before he ever come
into the world. He was born, the scripture said
unto you, this day is born a Savior. That's the first thing they said
about him, a Savior. And he's the Christ and he's
the Lord. And oh, listen, they come and
they said, they were astonished. I tell you what, when folks really
hear the Lord Jesus Christ, they're astonished too. They're amazed
that God would have grace for them, amazed that God would give
them grace, amazed that God would even save them or look in their
direction. Oh my, I've been astonished ever
since God saved me. And I'll tell you, the Batiste
folks were astonished. Where in the world did this man
learn all these things? That's what the Pharisees asked
one time. This man, where did he learn
these things? Where did he get this education
at? And that's what they're saying. He's an uneducated man, he's
a carpenter, and he comes back here and how in the world does
he get all these things? What does he know so much? And
oh, they was a-marveled at him. where, where, oh my, where did
he learn these things? Where did his wisdom come from?
And that s what they said. And then look what it says, And
that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands. Where did
he get the power to do the works that he did? Where did he get
the power to heal the sick. Where'd he get the power to raise
the dead? Where did he get the power that
people just touch him and they would be washed and be saved
from their issue of blood that a dead person would be raised
when he just touched her hand and told her to get up? Where'd
he get these powers? Where'd he get this wondrous
power that all he has to do is just speak his word and it's
accomplished, it's done. Where'd he get this? And that's
what they said. Oh, where do they get these mighty
works which were wrought by his hands? Oh, his blessed hands. And that's
what they said. And they said, well, now wait
a minute. Wait a minute. We know this fella. We know him. He's just nobody. Ain't this
the carpenter? I remember him when he was growing
up here, he was a carpenter. He made cabinets. He made tables. He made doors. He's a carpenter. He nailed things
together. He cut things up and put them
back together. He was a carpenter. And ain't
that what they said? And listen, he's just the son
of Mary. Evidently, Joseph was already
dead. But he said, well, he's the son
of Mary. We know Mary. Yes, she still
lives here. His mother still lives here.
We can go to Mary's house. We can go where she lives. Look
what he goes on to say. And his brother, the son of Mary,
he's the brother of James. He's got a brother named James.
He's got a brother named Joseph. And he's got another one named
Judah and Simon. Ain't that his brothers? And
listen to this. Are not his sisters here with
us? All these folks still lived in Nazareth. And they knew his whole family. And here he comes in here, and
he's teaching things that we've never heard. He's got wisdom
that we never had any clue that somebody could have this. And
he does works that nobody but God could do. He does miracles,
does miracles. And oh my. And so they're, they
just, and that's all most folks know about him. Paul said, you
know, he said, I knew Christ after the flesh one time. What
does that mean, I knew Christ after the flesh? That means you
knew Him as just a man. You didn't know Him as God, you
didn't know Him as Christ, you didn't know Him as the Savior,
you just knew Him after the flesh. He was just a man to you, and
He was no impressed by you, and all you knew Him was by your
flesh. You didn't have no spiritual understanding of Him. But then
he says, I no longer know Christ after the flesh. I don't know
Him after my flesh, and I don't know Him after His flesh. How
does that mean? That means that Christ, like
these fellas, they knew Him after the flesh. He's just a carpenter.
We know His whole family. And look what it says next. They
were offended at Him. You know what to be offended
at Christ is? That means to stumble over Him. That means to fall over Him. That means to fall out over Him,
stumble over Him. Oh my. In the Old and New Testament
both, Christ is called a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.
And I mean, you know, people have stumbled over Christ and
they'll be stumbling over Christ until Christ comes again. They
stumble over His power. These folks stumbled over Him.
They stumbled over the fact that what He done and how He acted
was NOT the way they REMEMBERED Him, not the way they KNEW Him,
and that s the first thing that happens when people start getting
offended at Christ. Said, He s not the Christ that
I know! He s not the Jesus I know! I mean, Jesus loves everybody
and Jesus died for everybody, and Jesus is going to do the
best He can to save them! Oh my, they were offended at
him. And I tell you what, the Jews
stumbled over him because there was one righteousness, just one
righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. They stumbled over
him because they wanted to hold on to their own righteousness.
Others stumbled over him because they wanted to trust in their
works, and they stumbled over him because his work's the only
one God's satisfied with. They stumbled over Him because
of their law-keeping and morality, and
they don't want to give up their law-keeping and their morality,
so they stumble over Him. And you know, our Lord said this,
He said, Whoever falls on this stone shall be broken. You fall on Christ and you'll
be broken. Well, does that mean that you'll
be broken from your self-righteousness and pride and self-trust and
your merit and your works and your law keeping and the hopes
that you have? You'll break all the pieces on
Him, but if He falls on you, He's going to grind you to powder.
And oh my, and I tell you, they were offended at Him. First,
they were offended at His person. They said, this is just a carpenter.
They stumbled over his person. He's just a carpenter. And they
were offended because of his claims of who he was. He claimed
to be God manifest in the flesh. He said, I and my father are
one. They said, he's making God, he's blaspheming, he's making
God to be his father. And oh my, they were offended
at him. And they were offended at his
doctrine. They were offended at his doctrine.
They found his doctrine offensive. And men still do, they find his
doctrine offensive. You know who's not offended?
You keep this and look with me, keep Mark 5, look over in Matthew
11. Let me show you who's not offended. Who's not offended? Matthew 11. Look what happens here. Who's
not? Let me show you who's not offended.
People are offended. Men still are offended. They're
offended at His doctrine, offended at His person. And it came to
pass when Jesus had made a bend, commanded His twelve disciples,
He departed then to teach and preach in their cities. Now when
John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent
two of his disciples. and said unto him, Art thou he
should come, or do we look for another? Now we know that John
pointed out Christ and said, There he is. So I think he's
doing this for his disciples. Quit looking to me and quit trusting
me and you go look at him. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, You go, go back and show John again these things which
ye do here and see. The blind received their sight,
the lame walked, The lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Now that's the folks that's not offended. If you're poor, you're
not offended. If you ain't got nothing, then
you're not offended at Christ. And look what he goes on to say,
and blessed is that man whosoever shall not be offended in me.
You know who's not offended? Sinners are not offended. POOR, POOR IN SPIRIT ARE NOT
OFFENDED. BLIND PEOPLE ARE NOT OFFENDED.
LAME PEOPLE ARE NOT OFFENDED. LEPERS ARE NOT OFFENDED. OH MY. AND THE FIRST TIME HE HAD GONE
BACK TO NAZARETH, AND I KNOW, LOOK AT THIS WITH ME. I'LL JUST
SHOW YOU THIS REAL QUICK AND I'LL MOVE ON. BUT LOOK OVER WITH
ME IN LUKE CHAPTER 4. IT'S THE FIRST TIME But, excuse
me a minute, wait a minute, before you go, let me mention this while
you go to Luke 4. Look what it says here in verse
5. I'm about to get ahead of myself. But Jesus said unto them,
A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among
his own kin, and in his own house. Oh my, this is the first time,
you know what, the first time He said that in Luke chapter
4. And this is when he entered into
his public ministry. Look with me in Luke chapter
4. And it said in verse 16, he came
to Nazareth. Look what it says, where he'd
been brought up. Been brought up. Most of us have been brought
up somewhere. I remember telling the fellow,
he said, where was you born and raised? I said, I wasn't raised, I jerked
up by the hair of the head. He said, well, where did you
live when they jerked you up by the hair of the head? So he was too fast on the draw
for me. But anyway, look what it says,
where he was brought up. And then he opened the book and
he began to preach. And he began to read the scriptures
from Isaiah chapter 61. And it says there in verse 20,
And he closed the book, gave it again to the minister, and
sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fasted on him. And he began to say unto them,
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He's 30 years old. and all bear him witness, and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
And they said, and this is the first thing they said, is not
this Joseph's son? That's the first thing they said.
They didn't say, my word. And they fastened, they thought,
what gracious words. And he said unto them, this is
what you're gonna tell me. You're gonna say this proverb,
physician, heal thyself. What that means whatsoever we
heard Donnie Capernaum do here in your country. If you're going
to do something someplace else, come here and do it among us. And he said, Verily I say unto
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. No prophet's
accepted in his own country. You know, just like you if you
go back to Danville. You know, you was born and raised
there. And you know, your dad sits there,
and I don't know how hard it is for you to preach, but you
know that's where he was born and raised, so you know, he said,
oh, we've known him all his life. And that's what people do. They
find it a hard thing. Here, let me show you. Bruce
Crabtree was raised here in Tennessee, just a few miles out of Crossville.
Why didn't God put him in Tennessee and make him a preacher down
here? And why did God move me from Ohio to Tennessee when He
could have left me in Ohio and I could have pastored a church
in Ohio? Why didn't He do that? Because God says, Listen, I want
that preacher up there and I want this preacher down here. And
you know, I get around my own family and every one of them
knows I'm a preacher. I'm around a lot of people and
they know I'm a preacher and they know I'm a pastor. But absolutely,
they do not care. They do not care. They have no
regard for that whatsoever. None. Oh, listen, I remember
when you was this, you know, and you go on and on about the
things that we did years ago. They want to go back in the past.
But I tell you what, a preacher's not, he's not, he's not, he don't,
get among his own kin, folks, That's Donnie, that ain't nobody.
He's my brother, he don't know nothing. That's my... I've known him all his life,
the fellas raised with us. I've known him all his life.
And that's what these fellas was saying. And I tell you, a
prophet's not without honor, except in his own country. And
oh my. And let me tell you, to refuse
him as a prophet, and that's what they did. You know, if you're
a prophet, you'd stay right here and do something. But he said,
a prophet's not got any honor here. And I'll tell you what,
and here's the thing, but here's the thing. You refuse him as
a prophet, don't recognize him as a prophet, then you'll not
recognize him as a priest and you'll not recognize him as a
king. And if you don't recognize him
as a prophet, you don't even recognize him as a savior, as
a redeemer, as one who loved you and gave himself for you.
if you don't recognize Him as a PROPHET SIN OF GOD. And you can't see Him in any
other way. And oh, look what it says now in verse 5, He could dare do no mighty work,
save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk and healed them.
Now let me tell you something right here. It said He could
not, Is there anything he can't do? This is where you have to pair
spiritual things with spiritual. Scripture with scripture. It
said he could not, but I'm going to tell you why he could not,
because he would not. And that's just the long and
short of it. He could not because He would
not. He could have done anything. He could have healed that. He
could have saved those. I lived in unbelief, born in
unbelief, but He worked on me. He could not because He would
not. Oh, He'll not work through that.
And it says, Save a few sick folk and heal them. Oh my, I
tell you, look over here in Mark chapter 9.22 with me. Look at
this. Mark 9.22. Oh, this man brought his son that
was having fits and going into the fire and then falling into
the water. And our Lord said to him here,
and verse 22, And oft times it hath cast him into the fire,
and into the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything,
anything, have compassion on us, and help us. And Jesus said
unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him
that believeth. And straightway the father of
the child cried out, and said with tears, he was crying, Weeping,
Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Now there's
a man who said, I believe, but I still got so much unbelief
in me. What did Christ do? Done something for me. Oh my, He could do no mighty
work there. He couldn't do it because He
would not. Because it already knows what mighty works He had
done. And then look what it says. Verse 6, And he marveled, he
marveled because of their unbelief. He marveled, Mark 6, 6, He marveled,
He was amazed at their unbelief. They knew who He was, He knew
who He was, He knew what they seen, and He was amazed, He was
absolutely amazed. And let me tell you here, unbelief
marveled at their unbelief. Unbelief is the most groundless,
excuseless thing there is. Unbelief is the most groundless,
excuseless thing that there is that anybody could possibly do.
Oh, my. It's just, what is unbelief?
Well, it's the opposite of faith. It's the opposite of faith. What
is faith? It's believing God. It's just
believing God. That's what Abraham, he believed
God. He believed God and he went out,
didn't even know where in the world he was going. And I'll
tell you something, all you have, faith, all faith has is a word
from God Almighty Himself. Don't need no other evidence.
Don't need no evidence. And you believe. I don't need
any evidence to believe. I don't have to see Christ in
the flesh to believe. I don't have to understand everything
in the Bible to be a believer. But oh, just to believe God,
to believe what God says. God is absolutely trustworthy. God is absolutely faithful. And
we believe His Word. If God says it, I believe it.
Don't you? I don't understand, you know, unbelief, what a useless, groundless,
miserable condition to be in. Oh my! We believe God with what
He says? That's what Bill Kirkpatrick
said, Bill Kirkpatrick. He left here on a Wednesday night. It was a strange thing to me.
that he gave all the evidence of a believer for years, but
he wasn't a believer. He was here on a Wednesday night,
and I began to deal with what? Believe in God. Do you believe
God's Word? Do you believe it? Do you believe
what God said? God speaks. Do you believe what
God says when He speaks? He spoke and said, Let there
be light, and there was light. Do you believe Him? And I don't
even remember where I was preaching from. And Bill went home on his
way home. He told me the next day, he said,
I went on my way home, and he said, Yes, yes, I believe God. I believe what God says. And
the light come on. Called me the next morning, and
he said, I believe God. The Lord's done something. That s all it is. Believe what
God said. God said here He marveled at
their unbelief. You reckon God s marveling at
you today because you ain t got no faith? Because you don t have
no faith? Oh my, we trust Him. We have
confidence in what He said. Oh, listen, God justifies him that worketh
not. He justifies the ungodly. When
that Philippian jailer come rushing out and getting ready to kill
himself, Paul said, don't do yourself no harm. And that fella
fell down, fell down and he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now, Paul, listen, everybody's
going to believe what you say right now. They're going to pay
attention to what you've got to say. Now, I mean, everything
that you say right now, somebody's going to believe it. And that
man said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? You know what he
told him? He said, Now you keep the law
and be circumcised and then accept Jesus. Well, Jesus loves you. Would
you make your decision? We got an altar here, an old-fashioned
altar. Be sure and come down here now.
No, no, he said, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. You can t get plainer than that.
And the Scripture says that he believed with all of his house,
and to show you that God done a work in him, he took them fellas
in his house and he began to wash their backs where they had
been beaten and cleaning up their backs, and he told his wife,
Fix them some food, they re hungry. He opened his heart, he opened
his home, he opened his hand. Oh, my! And I tell you, whosoever
confesses with his mouth and believeth on the Lord Jesus
Christ shall be saved. All the fullness of the Godhead
bodily dwells in him, and you're complete in him who's the head
of all principality and power. Oh, my. Unbelief. Unbelief, he said he marveled
at their unbelief. Unbelief does not believe God.
And I tell you, I've heard folks call me a liar, but oh my, when
you don't believe God, you know what you're doing? You're calling
Him a liar. If we say we have not sinned,
we make God a liar. You reckon God could lie? When the scripture said, Let
God be true, and every man be a liar. But oh, to not believe
God is to make him a liar. Oh my, no. Oh, that's what God
says. And all of our righteousnesses
are as a filthy rag. A filthy rag. That's what, that's
the best we got, is as a filthy rag. Oh, let me tell you something
about unbelief. LACK OF UNDERSTANDING, THAT'S
NOT THE PROBLEM. EVERYBODY IN THIS BUILDING THIS
MORNING UNDERSTANDS WHAT I'M SAYING. UNDERSTANDING IS NOT
THE PROBLEM. YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU JUST DON'T
HAVE ANY LOVE FOR IT. YOU DON'T HAVE ANY LOVE FOR IT.
YOU DON'T HAVE ANY LOVE FOR WHAT'S BEING SAID. DON'T HAVE ANY LOVE
FOR THE WORD OF GOD. JUST LET ME GIVE YOU AN ILLUSTRATION
IF I CAN. EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT TULIP IS.
I believe everybody here knows what tulip is. Tulip tea means
total depravity. Now, total depravity don't mean
that you're as bad as you can be. It means you're as bad off
in the sight of God as you can be. That means that you are a
natural man, an unconverted man. You're still a natural person,
that you're full of sin, you're full of rebellion, you're full
of hatred for God. You're full of enmity towards
God. That's total depravity. And oh, then if a man s that
condition, he s dead in trespass sin, totally depraved, then there
HAS to be an unconditional election because a dead man can t do anything.
A depraved man can t do anything. So there HAS to be an unconditional
election. That means that God chooses whom
He will. He ll have mercy on whom He will,
and whom He will, He ll have compassion. Well, what are you
going to say about that? I'm not going to say anything
but to God be the glory. And then there's this limited
atonement. Limited atonement means that
Christ died for just a certain people, a certain number of people. He calls them His sheep, He calls
them His elect, He calls them His chosen, He calls them His
beloved, He calls them the apple of His eyes, He calls them His
people, He calls them vessels of mercy. And I tell you, and
everyone whom Christ died for, His atonement's limited just
to the ones He died for. Now, that's easy to understand,
ain't it? He didn't die for everybody,
He just died for His people. And I tell you, then there's
irresistible grace. What does irresistible grace
mean? Just what I said. It's irresistible. Say, oh, listen,
I can resist. Try it. If God gets a hold of
you, try it. Go ahead and try to resist. Put
up your will. See if he can't defeat it. Put
up both hands and say, I dare you. Oh, he'll break both of
your arms before he gets done with you. Go ahead and put up that mighty,
mighty free will of yours. Put up that mighty unbelief of
yours. Put up that, I don't need God,
and I feel good enough about myself. Go ahead and put it up.
But oh, when Christ died for you, He gonna come after you,
and there's one thing I know you can't resist. In the day
of His power, He makes you willing. And then the P. PERSEVERANCE
OF THE SAINTS. THEY'RE GONNA PERSEVERE. THESE
ALL DIED IN FAITH. HE SAID, I'LL NEVER LEAVE THEM,
I'LL NEVER FORSAKE THEM, AND NO MAN WILL EVER TAKE THEM OUT
OF MY HAND. NOW EVERYBODY HERE UNDERSTOOD EXACTLY WHAT I SAID.
BUT DO YOU LOVE IT? THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN UNBELIEF
AND FAITH. OH MY, YOU KNOW WHAT? MEN JUST
DON'T LIKE TO HEAR THAT. Men would LOVE for there not
to be a God. They would LOVE for there not
to be a God, so they could make up a decision of what they want
to believe, WHAT they want to believe, WHEN they want to believe,
WHAT they want to believe, WHERE they want to go, and WHAT they
want to do. But oh, my, it leaves them in an awful, awful condition. Oh, there s no love for God as
He is. Let me tell you something, nice
people, nice people turn mean, nice people turn ugly when they
hear who God actually is, when they tell them who He is. I've
had several, several conversations with people, and I tell you what,
they get upset, get upset. There's a preacher that I just
can't hardly wait till I see him again. I just can't hardly
wait, because I want to talk to Him. But anyway, you know,
they turn mean. People turn mean when they hear
who God is. Not the God of their imagination,
but a sovereign God, an immutable God, a God that's got all power,
a God who chooses whom He will, a God who does what He will according
to the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And ain't nobody going to stay His hand and ask Him what He's
doing. Oh my, I tell you what, there's no love for the message
of the gospel. And you know where there's no
love for the gospel? It's because people don't have
a need. If you have a need, if you have a need, the gospel,
you'll know right off the bat, I need that gospel, I need it.
And let me tell you why, the gospel, the gospel destroys all
hopes for anybody outside of Christ. outside of Christ. Shirley and I was watching this
little program the other day, yesterday as a matter of fact,
and this guy called himself a Christian, but he wanted to date this Jewish
woman. So him and this Jewish woman went out on a date, and
they began to talk and He said, You know, she said, If I have
any children and I get married, they're going to be raised Jewish.
They're going to be raised Jewish. He said, No, no, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the only Savior there is, and I believe that
He's the only Savior. She said, Well, I don't care
if I marry you or anybody else, I'm going to raise my children
as Jews. As Jews. Why in the world would a man
go out with somebody that?s the OPPOSITE of what they are? But
he DID have sense enough to say, ?I believe that Jesus Christ
is the only Savior,? and she didn?t believe that! She didn?t
believe that. But oh, my! The Gospel destroys
all hope, all hope for anybody THAT THEY ARE TRUSTED IN, BUT
IT'S GOOD NEWS. THAT'S WHAT THE GOSPEL MEANS,
GOOD NEWS. IT'S GOOD NEWS TO SINNERS, GOOD NEWS TO NEEDY. OH, LISTEN, CHRIST IS A SAVIOR,
THAT'S GOOD NEWS. IF HE'S A SAVIOR, YOU RECKON
HE SAVES? A SAVIOR HAS TO SAVE, DON'T HE? A SAVIOR HAS TO SAVE. WHAT KIND
OF SAVIOR WOULD IT BE THAT COULD NOT SAVE? Oh, listen, that's good news.
ELECTION! That's good news to needy sinners. Oh, my. REDEMPTION! A SUCCESSFUL REDEMPTION! That's good news. Oh, what good
news it is for sinners. Oh, an INVINCIBLE GRACE! Oh,
that's good news, the fact that God Himself will see to it that
I come to Him and will stay with Him and DIE in the faith. And oh, the preservation. I said
perseverance before, but now Bruce Crabtree's got away. Perseverance,
that means I'm preserved and going to persevere both. That's
a good way to say it. Perseverance, He's going to preserve
us, and we're also going to keep on keeping on. Why? Because He
preserves us. Oh, I will bring them to glory. And oh, my. And I tell you, justification! Oh, what good news that is! But
it's not good news to every man. And let me hurry on and say this,
unbelief is a chief, chief sin. You know, our Lord Jesus said
in John 16, He says, when the Holy Spirit has come, He'll convince
of sin. And you know why convince of
sin? Because they believe not on me. That's exactly what it
says. They believe not on me. Oh my. And the reason unbelief is the
chief sin, because it's the mother of all sin. Unbelief is the mother
of all sin. WHAT EVIL DID EVE DO IN THE GARDEN
OF EDEN? SHE DIDN'T BELIEVE GOD. SHE CHANGED
HIS WORD. SHE CHANGED HER WORD. AND BY
THAT ONE, CHANGED IN THE WORD OF GOD, BY THAT ONE, SHE DIDN'T
BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAID, AND FROM THAT ONE SIN CAME THE FALL. MAN FELL IN ADAM. And sin entered
the world, and every sin that's ever been committed since that
time, all sin come from that one sin that started in the garden.
Every lust, every lie, every misconception, every deceit,
every murder, every robbery, everything that could possibly
be done by a man started out with that one sin in the garden.
That's why unbelief is the mother of all sin, she didn't believe
God. And unbelief, I'll hurry, unbelief will damn a man. Our
Lord Jesus said, go into the world, preach the gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He
that believeth not shall be damned. Unbelief, our Lord Jesus said, He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Unbelief
kept the children of Israel out of entering the Promised Land. And there's a willingness. I
want to show you this. Let me look with me over in John
chapter 5. Look with me, John chapter 5. I normally don't preach this
long, But I do want to finish. There is a willingness in unbelief.
Look what our Lord said here in John 5, verse 38. And you have not His Word abiding
in you, for whom He sent Him you believe not. Search the Scriptures,
For in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they
the scriptures which testify of me. And listen to this, you
will not come to me that you might have life. And then look
down in verse 45, down in verse 45. Do not think that I will
accuse you to the Father. There's one that accuses you,
even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe
not his writings, how shall you believe my word? Oh, look over
in John chapter six real quick. Look down here with me. Look
in verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue
as he taught in Capernaum, And therefore, many therefore of
his disciples, when they heard it, said, This is a hard saying. Who can hear it? That s too hard
for us to take. We can t believe that. But watch
what he says. When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured, he said unto them, Does this offend you?
Do you stumble over this? Does this make you upset? What? And if you see the Son of Man
ascend up where he was before, It's the spirit that quicken,
the flesh, your flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, they are life. But watch this now,
but there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from
the beginning that they that believe not and who should betray.
And he said therefore unto you that no man can come to me except
it were given unto him my father. That's too hard for folks. From
that time, many of His disciples went back and walked no more
with Him. Then Jesus said unto the twelve, We also go away.
Oh, no, Lord. And Simon said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? You've got the words. Where are
we going to go? All right. Let me say this in
closing. We who are believers still have
unbelief. We really do. You know why? Because we have two natures.
One nature believes, believes, and the other doesn't. Every
time we murmur, that's unbelief. Every time we get scared of something,
that's unbelief. That's unbelief. Oh, and that's
why we said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And let me
show you this, this last thing in Matthew 16. I think it's, yeah, Matthew 16.
Let me see if that's right, Matthew 16. No, Mark 16, excuse me, I'm sorry,
Mark 16. I put down the wrong thing. It's not the first time, won't
be the last. Yeah, Mark 16, 14, look what
he says. And afterward he appeared unto
the leaven, as they said it meet, and upbraided them with their
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not which
had seen him after he was risen." Now he really, really got on
them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. And I tell you, he
does us that way every once in a while. He upbraids us. Faith
says, like that centurion, You don't have to come to my house.
You speak the word only, and it'll be done. He said, I've
not seen so great faith. No, not all in Israel. Oh, my. That woman that brought her daughter
and said, Lord, have mercy on her. The Lord ignored her, and
she just kept on and on and on. And the Lord said, Woman, great
is thy faith. Oh, my. I don't care how much
faith I got. I don't care if it's a little
bit. Sometimes it's a bunch, sometimes it ain't much. But
I do know this, I know who it is, whom I believe, and I'm persuaded
that he's able to keep, that I've committed unto him against
that day. Amen. Our Father, in the blessed name
of Christ our Lord, Thank you for allowing us to meet here
today. Thank you for allowing me to have the privilege of preaching
the gospel one more time this side of eternity. And Lord, I
thank you for the attention of these dear people. And I pray
that you in your sovereign mercy, in your power, powerful will,
that you would open the hearts of those that believe not. that
you'd bring to Christ those that believe not, that today would
be the day that their unbelief would be exposed and they would
close with the Lord Jesus Christ. They'd be like the woman with
the issue of blood, if I could just touch him. And Lord, they
can touch him without moving a muscle. They can touch him
by faith. They can call on him right now.
They can look to him right now. They can believe him right this
moment. And we pray that in your sovereign mercy and in your wonderful
grace and love would do that for poor sinners in this congregation
today. For Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look
full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow
strangely dim. in the light of His glory and
grace. Well, let me tell you, I don't believe we'll have service
tonight because it may get bad and it's going to be cold, and
so we'll not have service tonight, and I'm sure we won't have service
Wednesday because it's going to be You know, it's been so
long since I've seen snow, I don't know what I'll do if you get
two or three, more than just a little whiff, you know. But
been a long time since I've seen a big one. But I'll see you,
God willing, next Sunday, all right? Lord bless you.