well we've certainly been blessed
today reminded of the power of God and his determination to
have glory in all things whether it be in the deliverance of the
people that he loves or in the destruction of the people that
he has marked out into that destruction as we see in the destruction
of Jericho. No explanation that can be given
for what took place at Jericho other than the sovereign grace
of God on display. Because there were women and
children in that city. who insofar as, considering the
children at least, insofar as children can be innocent, they
were innocent, were they not? Now we know that there's no such
thing as innocence in human form because we're all born in sin
and worthy of destruction. But yet the sovereign grace of
God is seen there. as he had those inhabitants of
that city destroyed because it pleased him to do
so. Because he would demonstrate,
throughout the word of God, the Lord will demonstrate his love
of that people which he chose in Christ from before the foundation
of the world. And nothing will compromise that. and he will not stand idly by
while men disregard him. He'll have glory in the salvation
of his people. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. We're looking in Mark chapter
six. Mark chapter six. And I'm going to read the chapter.
We won't go that far, but I'll go ahead and read the whole chapter. 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 of 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 in his own country and among
his own kin and in his own house. And he could there do 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. And he called unto him the twelve,
and began to send them forth by two and two, and gave them
power over unclean spirits, and commanded them that they should
take nothing for their journey save a staff only, no script,
no bread, no money in their purse, but be shod with sandals, and
not put on two coats. And he said unto them, in what
place soever ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart from
that place. And whosoever shall not receive
you nor hear you, when ye depart then shake off the dust under
your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day
of judgment than for that city. And they went out and preached
that men should repent. And they cast out many devils
and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. And
King Herod heard of him, for his name was spread abroad. And
he said that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and
therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. Others
said that it is Elias and others said that it is a prophet or
as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof,
he said, It is John, whom I beheaded, he is risen from the dead. For
Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and
bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife,
for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod,
It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. And
therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him and would have killed
him, but she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing
that he was a just man and a holy, and observed him. And when he
heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. And when
a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a
supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee.
And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced
and pleased Herod, and them that sat with him, the king said unto
the damsel, ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it
thee. And he swear unto her, whatsoever thou shalt ask of
me, I will give it thee unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and said unto
her mother, what shall I ask? And she said, the head of John
the Baptist. And she came in straightway with
haste unto the king and asked, saying, I will that thou give
me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And
the king was exceeding sorry. Yet for his own sake and for
their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And
immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his
head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him
in the prison and brought his head in a charger and gave it
to the damsel. And the damsel gave it to her
mother. And when his disciples heard
of it, they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb. And the apostles gathered themselves
together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they
had done and what they had taught. And he said unto them, come ye
yourselves apart unto a desert place and rest a while. For there
were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as
to eat. And they departed into a desert
place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing,
and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and
out went them, and came together unto them. And Jesus, when he
came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward
them, because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd. And he
began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far
spent, his disciples came unto him and said, This is a desert
place, and now the time is far past. Send them away that they
may go into the country round about and into the villages and
buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. He answered
and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him,
shall we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them
to eat? He saith unto them, how many loaves have you? Go and
see. And when they knew, they say five and two fishes. And
he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the
green grass. And they sat down in ranks by
hundreds and by fifties. And when he had taken the five
loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed
and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to sit
before them. And the two fishes divided him
among them all. And they did all eat and were
filled. And they took up 12 baskets full
of fragments and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the
loaves were about 5,000 men. And straightway he constrained
his disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side
before unto Bethsaida. while he sent away the people.
And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to
pray. And when the evening was come,
the ship was in the midst of the sea and he alone on the land.
And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary to
them. And about the fourth watch of
the night, he cometh unto them walking upon the sea and would
have passed by them. And when they saw him walking
upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit. and cried
out. For they all saw him and were
troubled, and immediately he talked with them and saith unto
them, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And he went
up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased, and they were
sore amazed in themselves beyond measure and wondered. For they
considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was
hardened. And when they had passed over,
they came into the land of Genesaret and drew to the shore. And when
they were come out of the ship straightway, they knew him and
ran through that whole region round about and began to carry
about in beds. those that were sick, where they
heard he was. And whithersoever he entered
into villages or cities or country, they laid the sick in the streets
and besought him that they might touch him, touch if it were but
the border of his garment. And as many as touched him were
made whole." Now, of course, we've seen that take place. last week as we looked at the
woman who touched the hem of his garment and was healed. And that's in contrast to what
happens here in the first few verses of this passage of scripture,
for it says that he did not, meaning he could do there no
mighty work because of their unbelief. He didn't do any mighty
work there in his own town. because of unbelief, but yet
he did mighty works in this other place where people came to him
seeking his blessing. And so we see a contrast there.
He went out from thence and came to his own country, which was
Galilee, and probably to the town of Nazareth. And when the
Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. Now
more than likely, He had taught there before. But he taught,
and this particular day is particularly brought forth. 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? Now, you know, it is an amazing
thing how that you can hear something over and over. And I'm sure all
of you can relate to this, how that you have read the Bible,
and you've read things in the Bible, and you think you know
what's there. And then one day, you're reading
along, and it's almost as if you've never read that before
in your life. And it's like, well, how could that, how can
that be there? And so I suspect that this was
something of what took place here because this was the Lord
Jesus' family. I mean, these were the brothers
and sisters that he grew up with. And so that they had no doubt
heard him speak the Word of God before. You know, I don't believe
this was the first time that he ever expounded the Word of
God. But this was the first time that
they heard it. Now that's, you know, that's an amazing power
that God has to cause men to hear. It's a blessing, a privilege
given to men from the Lord when they can hear the Word of God.
And what I mean by that is not just sitting under the sound
of it. I mean, it's a good thing to
sit under the sound of the gospel, just in a general sense. But
it's a very blessed thing, the greatest blessing God can give
to a man when he causes him to hear it. And that is, it comes
into his mind and heart, and it takes root there, and has
an effect upon him. And it's more than just hearing
with the ear, but it's hearing with the heart. So I suspect
that this is what happened, and they were astonished. Many hearing
him astonished said, whence hath this man, what wisdom is this
which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought
by his hands? Is not this the carpenter? No,
this was his townsfolk. He said, well, we've known him.
I mean, he's been around here for a long time. He's worked
in the carpenter shop. We know who this is. And how
could he be so smart? You know, people are, human beings
are strange creatures. And we often, I guess through
jealousy or I'm not sure what the reason for it is, but we
sometimes hate to see somebody that we know do well. because
it makes us look bad. Because we didn't do as well
as they did, you know. And so we sometimes, people that
you know are envious. Now you see a guy that comes
into town riding in a big Cadillac or something, and you say, wow,
look at him. But somebody you know comes riding
up in a Cadillac, you say, well, who does he think he is? You
know, it's kind of that way. Well, this is kind of the thing
that was. with his family and the people
in the town. They said, well, how did he get
so smart? I mean, what makes him so special?
And so, but they couldn't deny that he was. See, that's the
thing about men who despise the truth of God ultimately cannot
deny that these things are true. And we'll see that with Herod
in a little while. So they said, well, is not this
the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph,
Judah, and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And
they were offended at him. They didn't like it. They were
jealous, basically what it means. They were offended at him. But
Jesus said, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own
country and among his own kin and in his own house. And isn't
that true? How that, you know, you can tell
your children something and they kind of take it with a grain
of salt, especially as they get older and say, well, what could
he know? I mean, he, you know, he doesn't know anything. Well,
somebody else can come along that they don't know and can
tell them the exact same thing that you just told them, and
they think, oh, wow, that's such a wise thing. Well, that's what
is going on here. And the Lord said it's the natural
way of men. That's not a good thing, but
it's a true thing, and it all stems from the sin that's in
our heart. that we will not receive the
things as from God, regardless of who it is that speaks to us,
even if it's our husband, or if it's our wife, or if it's
our child. You know, it doesn't make any
difference where the word of God comes from, that is the mouth
through which it comes, but if it's the word of God and the
word and the Lord causes us to hear it, we need to hear it with
gladness. So a prophet's not without honor
anywhere except in his own country. What could he know? And he could
there do no mighty work. say that he had laid his hands
upon a few sick folk and healed them. Now, I've had people, I've
heard men say, well, see, the Lord's hands were tied. He couldn't
do it. He wanted to do something, but
he couldn't. That is not what this is talking about here. When
it says he could do there no mighty work, it doesn't mean
he was unable to do there a mighty work, but that he would not do
there a mighty work. Because where men will not receive
the word of God, the Lord will not cast pearls before swine. And so he is not going to waste
his time doing mighty works just for them to be despised. But you see what the Lord, the
Lord goes forth to call his people unto himself. Now at this point
in time, it seems obvious to me that he didn't have a people
there in that vicinity that he was calling unto himself at that
time and therefore he did no mighty work there just to be
doing a mighty work. But he would do the mighty works
that he does to call attention to himself that men might believe. the truth of God and so he could
do there except that he healed a few sick folk and laid his
hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. We see the mercy
of God at all times. Now, I believe this is a true
thing and that is that from time to time the Lord is pleased to
pour out his spirit in an abundant fashion. And he doesn't always
do that. But from time to time He does
do that, and He causes a great outpouring of His Spirit upon
men, and He sweeps men into the kingdom. I look back in my own life, and
I've seen times when the Lord moved in a mighty way. And he
called many people unto himself, many people that remain to this
day as believers. And I saw them come into the
kingdom of God, because the Lord moved. But he doesn't always
do that. But he does always call his people
from time to time, just like he healed these few sick folks
in the midst of all of this unbelief. And so it is that the Lord does
call His people. And we, there was a song we used
to sing, there shall be, what is it? Let's see. We plead for the showers,
the showers of blessing. Mercy drops round us are falling,
but for the showers we plead. You know, we, the Lord's always,
the mercy drops are always falling. But we desire to see God pour
out His Spirit in a mighty way, and He, perhaps He will. And
in our time, we desire that He would. And He marveled because
of their unbelief as a man. Think of that. You know, He was
a man. who love the Word of God. And
just like we look around us and we see people, we can't believe
that people don't believe these things. I mean, isn't it an astounding
thing that a man can look upon the goodness of God and the unfolding
of His truth? and not embrace it. I mean, doesn't
that cause us consternation? I mean, we marvel. And so it
is that the Lord, as He walked among men, as a man, He marveled
at their unbelief. And He went around about the
villages teaching. Now, He didn't, as a perfect
man, He wasn't turned aside by that, but he went about teaching
and doing the will of God even though he was amazed that men
didn't hear it. Now a lot of times preachers
want to throw up their hands and quit because nobody's listening
to them. You know, they think, well, you
know, I'm not doing any good so I'll just quit or I'll move
on. You know, the Lord's calling me somewhere else or this, that,
or the other. I mean, whatever they might say.
But The Lord is working His work in His own time, and it's not
up to us to be deciding what the Lord's doing. I don't know
what the Lord's doing. See, sometimes we want to define
what the Lord's doing. Well, the Lord's doing this in
old so-and-so's life. Well, I don't know what the Lord's
doing, but I know that the Lord's doing what he will do, and he
is causing mercy drops to fall, and he is healing sick folk of
sin in his own time. And he called unto him the 12.
and began to send them forth by two and two and gave them
power over unclean spirits. Now, the Lord sent these men. Now, this is an important part
of the declaration of the gospel. And that is the sending of the
Lord, the sending of men by the Lord. Now, how does that happen? It doesn't happen because men
decide for it to happen. It happens because God is pleased
to send a man for a task. And I believe the scripture is
full of enough evidence that if the Lord sends a man to preach
the gospel, that man will go where the Lord would have him
go and he will preach it. And I use Jonah all the time
as a good example of that, but he is a perfect example of that.
The Lord sent Jonah to Nineveh. Now Jonah had it in his mind
that he wasn't going to Nineveh. But the Lord said, you're going
to Nineveh. And Jonah had no idea how he was going to get
to Nineveh. And it wasn't the way that he
planned to go by any stretch of the imagination, but when
the Lord sends a man, then that will take place. And so he sent
these disciples, the 12, and he began to send them forth two
by two, that they might strengthen one another. And He gave them
power over unclean spirits. Just like the Lord sends men,
He gives men power over unclean spirits. How foolish is it for
a man to think that he has the power to cast out devils if the
Lord hadn't given him that power? Now some people think, well you
can just, we're just gonna do it because we're you know we're
we're believers i mean we believe so we're going to believe enough
we're going to do it. No, if the Lord hasn't sent you
to do it, don't attempt it and uh... so you know i i can't say
the Lord hasn't sent somebody to do that now i know some people
say well you know that the Lord doesn't do that anymore well
i wouldn't say that i don't know that but i know this If the Lord
sends a man and gives him power over unclean spirits, he will
have power over unclean spirits. I mean, that's just, it's true,
that's what it says here. He gave them power. And he commanded
them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff
only, no script, no bread, no money, and in their purse. Now, let me stop a minute and
say about this unclean spirit, casting out the unclean spirits
deal. Now, you remember when the disciples came back, they
were just excited. Lord, even the devils are subject
to us. And the Lord said, well, wait
a minute. He said, don't rejoice in that. That's not anything.
He said, that's just a power that I've bestowed. He said,
here's where your rejoicing needs to be, that your names are written
in heaven. See, the place, always the place
of the rejoicing of the sons of God is not in the powers that
they may have or the abilities that they might be able to cause
them to accomplish things, but it's always in the fact that
Jesus Christ is the savior of sinners and that he has chosen
them as one of his own. Now, that's the place of our
rejoicing. And so he said, don't take anything with you. And don't even put on two coats.
And he said to them, in what place soever ye enter into a
house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever
shall not receive you nor hear you when ye depart hence, shake
off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them.
Now, they used to do this. Of course, I haven't been visited
by any of them lately, but they're for a while. several years ago,
you used to get visits on them pretty regular of the people
calling themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. And they would come
and if they couldn't, if you had, if you stood against them
in something they were trying to say, they would ultimately
depart and they would shake the dust off their feet. They would
really actually literally do that. You know, as to what, well,
you know, you can't, you can't, at least you can't fault them
for following what the Lord. The problem there was they weren't
sent. You know, they sent themselves.
How'd I know that? Because he came preaching a false
message. Anybody that comes preaching
a message that does not exalt Jesus Christ as the eternal God,
is a liar and a deceiver. And we don't have any communion
with them. We can't enter into that. You
know, they're enemies of the cross of Christ. But anyway,
he said to them, if they won't receive you when you go preaching,
he said, shake the dust off your feet. That is, don't have anything
to do with them. You're done with them. Verily
I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than for that city. It's a terrible thing
when men reject the gospel of Christ. And they went out and
preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils
and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. And
so, They preach the message of repentance. And that is a message
that's still relevant today. That's the message of the gospel.
Repent. Now, what does it mean to repent?
Well, it doesn't just mean to say, I'm sorry, but it means
to turn. See, in order for a man to repent,
he has to turn from one thing to another. And that's what faith
in Christ is. It's not just saying, I believe,
but it's turning from all else to Christ. See, that's what repentance
is. It's turning from one thing,
it's turning around, it's going another direction. It's not going
side by side with something. Some people think that they can
hold on to Christ with one hand and hold on to the world with
the other hand. But no, one must reject all else
but Christ. That's what true repentance is.
And we preach repentance unto men. It's not something that
men can do of their own accord. It's something they must do.
See, we preach message, we exalt the word of God in saying to
men and commanding all, as God commands all men everywhere to
repent, turn. Why will you die? I think of that song by Isaac
Watts, Sinner of Why, so thoughtless groan. Why in such dreadful haste
to die? Why will you die, O house of
Israel? I mean, when Christ has been exalted as the Savior, why
will you perish? When he says, come unto me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest,
why will you turn away? Will you not repent? Will you
not turn to Christ? He is the Savior, and He saves
such as call upon His name.