Turn to Mark chapter 6. I titled
this message, He Did No Mighty Work There. He Did No Mighty Work There. That's sad, isn't it? God of heaven and earth lived, grew up as a man from
a child and grew up to be as a man in that place. And for 30 years they watched
him. And his life was impeccable,
perfect. Yet they believed not. His presence
among them didn't save them at all. It's Christ in you. That's salvation. That's salvation. Unbelief keeps so many blessings
from us. So many. It's the root of all
sin. I think if we can categorize
sin, it's the most wicked of sins. It leads to every other
sin. It leads to every sin we'll do.
Unbelief. How absurd is it not to believe
God? How offensive. Does it offend
you when you tell someone something? And they don't believe you. They
put a question mark on you. You think I'm lying to you? That's
the first thing we would say. You think I'm lying to you? It's
offensive, isn't it? It offends me. If I'm telling
someone a story, a true story, and they're just like, I don't
know about that. You think I'm lying to you? I know I'm capable
of it as a man. I know that. How offensive is
it to God who cannot lie, not to believe him, to call God
a liar. Unbelief got Adam kicked out
of the garden. That's the very root of his sin. Israel wandered for 40 years
in the wilderness and could not enter the promised
land, those who were above 20 years and older, they could not
enter the promised land for one reason and one reason only. Unbelief. It tells us over in
Hebrews they did not believe God. They did not believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ at all. And it kept mighty works from
being done in Nazareth, his hometown. I thought as I was writing this
out, what has it kept from me? What has it kept from us? These things are written for
our learning. Let's learn something this morning.
Let's learn. And he went out from thence and came into his own country,
the place he grew up, and his disciples followed him. Our Lord
goes back to his hometown of Nazareth despite its dangers. The last time He was there, they
tried to throw him off a cliff. The last time he was in his hometown,
they took him out to the brow of the hill and they were going
to cast him off that cliff. And it says he walked, he went
through the midst of them. They tried to kill him. But God is merciful, isn't He? Our God is merciful. I see this
in the scriptures more and more, and I see it in my own life more
and more, and I see it in your lives more and more. As I stand here and pastor, I
see it in your lives more and more. God's so merciful. Our Lord goes back even though
He's despised. I thank God that He didn't leave
me alone. Thank God He didn't leave you
alone. Thank God He came back, so to speak. God's so merciful. And note here, His disciples
follow Him. Wherever He went, they followed
Him, even in the face of danger. They knew what it meant to go
back to Nazareth. They knew what that meant. And
some of them had families. You remember Peter? He had a
wife. Remember, his mother-in-law was
sick. Yet, those men counted not their
lives dear to them. They follow. It doesn't say follow. It says they follow. Like a sheep
follows a shepherd. Wherever that shepherd goes,
that sheep follows him. And his disciples Follow Him. If you're His disciple, if I'm
His disciple, we will follow Him wherever He leads us. And the servant never picks his
place of service. These young men, as they go out
and preach, who knows where they're going to end up. I tell you this,
they're not going to end up where they think they're going to end
up. I just about guarantee you that they're not going to end
up where they think they're going to end up. They're going to end up where
God puts them. That's where they're going to
end up. And that's the best place to end up, is where the Lord
puts you. Following Christ will always
bring us into trouble with this world of darkness. Always will. It'll always be a problem. Then it says here in verse 2,
and when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the
synagogue. I want you to notice something
here. He was always in the house of
God on the Sabbath day, wasn't he? As bad as that place had
gotten, as fallen as religion had become, He was there. He was always there. Always. When he was there, he
would teach the Word of God. And when he would teach the Word
of God, he gave the correct meaning of every passage of Scripture.
Every word, he gave the exact truth. He never misapplied the
Word of God. But when he gave it, Most of
the time, almost all the time, it made them mad. It made them
mad. The truth is very hard on this
flesh. We think more highly of ourselves
than we think we think of ourselves. Believe me, I think more highly
of me than anybody else. I guarantee you. I know we say, well, we don't.
No, yes, you do. Yes, you do. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's
the prettiest of them all? Who's the one standing in front
of it asking? We think more highly of ourselves
than anybody. And when we get hit with the
truth, when the truth comes at us, it's offensive. They were offended at him. Everything
he had to say offended them. Everything I have to say is going
to offend a lost man, an unbeliever. It's going to be offensive. God
said there's none good, no, not one. That's offensive because
that's not how we think of ourselves. Go to prison. Even prison will
tell you they'll come up with an excuse for being good. They'll
find something good. God didn't. How do we do it? It's offensive. The truth is
offensive. He never misapplied, sugar-coated,
compromised the Word of God. He told the truth, and the truth
is offensive to this flesh. And many hearing him were astonished. They were astonished. First of
all, they did not expect to hear such wisdom from such a poor,
uneducated man. They were astounded. Where did
this man get such wisdom and knowledge and understanding? He doesn't speak like the scribes.
He speaks as one with authority. And I tell you what, that's the
kind of preaching I want to sit under. I sat under that for 30 years.
I sat under a ministry, a man who stood in the pulpit and preached
with authority, didn't you? You all sat there too. I don't
want to sit under a scribe or a Pharisee. I do not want to
lecture on something. I want the truth. And I want
to preach in the power of God's Spirit. And I'll tell you what,
I'd find it somewhere. If it's not here, I'd be finding
it. If I'm not doing it, I'd be finding it. I'll be honest
with you. Life's too short to just be lectured.
I don't want to be lectured on my way to hell. I want the truth
preached to me. I want it to move me, change
me, make me think upon God, make me pray more, read more, study
more, think of Him more. If it doesn't do that, there's
a problem. There's a problem with me. Or there's a problem
with you. There's a problem. But that's
the kind of preacher I want to sit under. I want to sit under
a preacher that either makes me happy or mad. One or the other. They were astonished, and many
hearing him were astonished. They didn't expect that. They
saw him for 30 years. They watched him and Joseph go
back and forth and work. When I was talking about him
being a carpenter, I thought, I wonder how many of those buildings
and things are standing over there that he worked on, that
his hands touched and built and helped build. It's probably still
standing over there. But for 30 years they watched
him. They knew him. He was a quiet man. He didn't
go about the street loud and boisterous, but he was a quiet
man. Went about his business. Poor man. Poor. But quiet. And did his work. Worked with his hands quietly. This shows us that he made himself
of no reputation. That's hard. That's hard for
us. I know human nature. I've got
it. I've got it. It doesn't take us long. It doesn't
take me long. It might take you a little longer. It doesn't take
me long to tell somebody about something I've done or do or
am or... It doesn't take long. We need just a little reputation.
Just a little bit of it. To feed our egos. He made himself
of no reputation. Absolutely no reputation growing
up. He quietly went about his business
helping Joseph, and later on after Joseph died, he continued
to work as a carpenter. He was not above laboring with
his hands. Never was any profession more
honored than when our Lord worked as a carpenter. Not a broker. Not a scientist, a carpenter, working with his hands. And they said this, from which
hath this man these things? How did he get these things?
Like the Pharisees said, how did he learn these things? Where
did he get all this wisdom having never learned? He didn't go to
our school. What wisdom is this which is
given to him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his
hands? Their own mouth is condemning them. The words out of their
own mouth is condemning them. They are witnessing these things.
They are saying, we have witnessed these things. And yet they didn't
believe. They could not deny his wisdom
and power. No, they believe not. This shows
the necessity of the new birth. As our Lord said, you must, to
Nicodemus, send us to a ruler of the Jews. You must be born
again. You can't understand what I'm
saying. You can't understand what I'm saying. You cannot enter
into what I'm saying unless you're born again. The natural mind
receives not the things of the spirit. For they are what? Foolishness. Foolishness. Without the new birth, there's
no understanding of the gospel of Christ, there's no faith in
Christ. It's not even possible. Because the human mind is enmity
against God. At war with God, an inbred hatred
of Almighty God. We're bred hating God. Prejudice? You better believe we are against God, especially against
Him. His manhood became a stumbling
stone to them. What's that old proverb? Never
judge a book by its cover. They couldn't get past the cover.
They couldn't get past His poverty. They couldn't get past his education.
They could not get past his family. When they looked at him, they
couldn't get past his looks. He doesn't look like that picture
hanging on the wall. That's not him. He's just a very common
looking man. Very common. Scripture says,
in fact, the Scripture says in Isaiah 53, there's no beauty
that we should desire him. When we see him, there's no beauty
that we should desire him. What if you carried the weight
of the whole church of God on your shoulders? What if you carried
every sin, sorrow, and sickness of a multitude of sinners on
your shoulders? What would you look like? He was a real man. These things
affected him. They affected him. He wept, didn't he? He wept over
Jerusalem. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. They said, in verse 3, is not
this the carpenter? They said that with contempt. The son of Mary, they didn't
think any better of her than they did of him. The brother
of James, Joseph, Judah, Simon, none of those men have ever become
anything. Who are they? They have never amounted to anything.
They're probably all carpenters. Now this is interesting. I was
reading this. Back in that day, even if a man was going to be
a scholar, his father still taught him a trade that he could make
a living with his hands. Paul was a tent maker. He was
taught by his father how to make tents. Paul was a tent maker. And all these men here, no doubt,
were carpenters. And they were just held in content. Is not this the carpenter, son
of Mary, brother of James and Joseph, Judah and Simon? And
are not his sisters here with us? They didn't marry any better.
They probably married within their own social status. None among them are of any notability. And they were offended at him.
They could not get past his occupation. They couldn't get past his relations.
They couldn't get past his education. They couldn't get past it. They felt scandalized by him.
In other words, they felt tricked. They felt, they believe somehow
he's tricking us. Somehow he's tricking us. I don't
know what's going on here, but this is not right. You know,
that's the way they felt. Well, that's their problem. That's
their problem. I want to point something out
here. Our Lord here worked a real job
with His hands. He learned a real trade. Remember
what God said to Adam after the fall in Genesis 3.19? In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground. For out of it
wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return. Our Lord, though He were the
Son of God, earned His bread by the sweat
of His brow. He never used His power at one
time to relieve His hunger or any of His sufferings. Satan
tried to get Him to turn stone into bread one time. You know
what? He could have done that. He had the power to do it. He had the power to do it. If
he can take something like me and turn me into a believer,
turn those stones into bread, it wouldn't be no problem. But he never did it. Not one
time. He relieved our sufferings. How
many did he heal? How many demons did he cast out?
How many times did he do that? How many times did he heal sicknesses
and diseases? But never one time did he relieve
himself. Not one. He earned his bread by the sweat
of his brow. He was spared nothing. He experienced
the full curse that fell upon you and me. He experienced it. But Jesus said unto them in verse
4, A prophet is not without honor but in his own country and among
his own kin and his own house. His own house, his own brethren,
his brothers and sisters. Most of them didn't believe on
Him. It's very rare. It's very rare
for God to save a whole house, a whole family. That's rare.
He usually saves one here, here, here. He didn't save all of them in
His house. Many of them didn't believe on
Him. His kin and His own house. Didn't believe the one. They
lived with him. How? I'm trying to figure out how
to say this. That shows me, that tells me how important that the
new birth is. They lived with him. They grew
up in the same house with him. And they did not believe on Him.
They did not believe. He was not without honor accepted
in His own house, His own country, His own kingdom, His own house.
The Lord has to do, He has to do a mighty work of grace in
you in order for you to be saved. Or it ain't going to happen.
It's not going to happen. A prophet is not without honor,
but in his own country, among his own kin, in his own house.
Why? Because they know you. They see
you and they think, well, you're not even different than I am.
You're not even better than I am. You remember Joseph's brethren,
his brothers? He had that dream. He told them
about the dream. How they were going to bow down
to his. They got angry. I mean, they
were actually... Who do you think you are? You
run? He was the youngest of the family.
He was just a baby of the family. Dad spoiled you, son. You just
think everybody's going to bow down to you because you're just
spoiled. Oh, he got angry. You know the
story. They put him in a pit and then
they sold him. That's how much they hated him. When our Lord entered on His
public ministry, they turned on Him. Where He grew up, they
turned on Him. You know, I would love to see,
I'd love to see a gospel church, a ministry raised up where I
was raised up. But I couldn't be the pastor
of it. I couldn't do it. Why would they send Henry all
the way from Alabama to Ashland? Why would they send Paul all
the way to Rocky Mount? Or Tom up to Pikeville? Or to
Todd? He grew up here. He ended up
in Lexington. I'll tell you why. Because some
of you all changed his diaper. And you ain't going to listen
to him. I can pastor here, but you don't
really know me other than what time I've been here in the church.
I didn't grow up among you. You didn't grow up among me. Yeah, I know you. You're not
that smart. Where'd you get that wisdom?
I don't remember that. I didn't see that growing up. That's the way they felt about
him. Even in his own house, he made himself of no reputation.
even among his brothers and sisters. That's how humble in me our Lord
was. And notice also here, let me
get on here. He said a prophet is not without
honor. He identifies himself here as
a prophet. And is he ever, he is that prophet
that God said would come. And he identifies himself as
a prophet. But they wouldn't honor him as such. And he could there do no mighty
work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed
them. Not because he was limited by
the people. We cannot limit God's power. We cannot hinder God. He was
able, but they were unwilling. If you remember the chapter before
this, he raised Jairus' daughter, then he healed the woman with
the issue of blood, and then he cast out demons. The house was
crowded. They let a man down through the
roof because it was so crowded. They believed that he could heal
them. The whole city came out to hear
him. Well, this city didn't want anything to do with him. Because
they knew it. They thought they did. And then he said, like, get out
of here. Get out of here. So he did no mighty work there. This shows us. Now, I want you
to get this. This shows us the connection
between believing God and God's blessings upon us. We can go through the Scriptures
and see how many times or how many blessings were lost because
of unbelief. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often
would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her brood, but
you would not. If you had known, he said, If
you'd have known in this thy day, you'd have known. But you rejected him. Turn thumbs down on it. How many blessings have we lost through just unbelief? Afraid he wouldn't supply? Afraid
he's not going to provide? Afraid of this or afraid of that? I would to God before we died
that we would believe one time. I mean believe, believe. To such
a point that it would be astounding. Absolutely astounding. What God will do with the group
that believes God. that believes God. In John 11, 40, Jesus saith unto
her. He's talking to Martha and Mary,
when Lazarus had died. And he said to her, said I not
unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the
glory of God? Do you want to see? Are you interested? Are you interested in seeing
the glory of God? Then believe Him and you will. Where do we really see the glory
of God? In the face, in the person of
Jesus Christ. Would you really see God's redemptive
glory? Would you really see the power
of God to save you? Would you really see the power
of God to forgive and put away your sins? And look to Christ
and believe Him. Trust Him. You'll see it. You'll
see it. Our Lord said to His disciples
there in the boat, He said, why are you so fearful? How is it
you believe not? We have absolutely no reason
not to believe God. No reason, no excuse. There's
not an excuse under heaven that we have not to believe God, not
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, not to trust him. We
have no reason. God has so ordained that faith
and blessings go together. If God's going to save a sinner
and that sinner is going to believe God, there are no unbelievers
in the glory. in heaven. There are none. If we would see the mighty work
of God done here, in this place, do we want to see it? I mean,
really, do we want to see it? Do we want to see God's mighty
work done in this congregation, in this local assembly? It's
going to come one way. Believe in God. That's how it's
going to come. It's going to come believing
God. If we see no mighty works done
here, then it begs the question, why? Why? We have the answer
right in front of us. Unbelief. Unbelief. Now, let me note His mercy here,
and I'm going to close. In spite of their unbelief, He
still healed a few sick folks. In spite of their unbelief, in
spite of them, first time they wanted to throw him off a cliff,
this time they mocked him, they held him in contempt. In spite
of that, He still healed a few sick folks. He never let their unbelief change
who He was and what He came to do. Aren't you glad of that? Aren't you glad of that? It did
not change Him. God is good no matter who and
what we are. It will, until the end of time,
until the end of time, it will still rain on the just and the
unjust. The unjust garden will grow just
as well as the just garden will grow. God's sun will shine on
both until it's over. How merciful. His mercies over
all his works, the scripture teaches us. And he marveled as a man, as a man he stood there and he
marveled. It's like as a man, he stood
there and wept over Jerusalem. As a man, he stood there at Lazarus'
grave and wept. He felt the pain that they were
feeling. And as a man, he stands here
and he marvels at their unbelief. Here's a man who believed God
perfectly. God never failed him. Never failed him. He believed
God and God always provided for him. As a man, he believed God. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
And he was astounded. He marveled. They were astounded
at his wisdom. He was astounded at their unbelief.
They were astounded at his ability and his power to work these miracles.
And he was astounded and marveled that they didn't believe what
they saw. It's like it never happened. He marveled at their unbelief. It ought to make us marvel when
people do not believe God. Now, it ought to make us marvel
anyway. It should make me marvel that anyone here today would
leave in unbelief. You have the Word of God in your
lap. You think he's lying or is he telling the truth? Well,
if you tell the truth, believe it. It made him marveled. It
ought to make us marveled. And it ought to make us sick
in our own unbelief. How many times do you say to
your disciples, oh, you have little faith. You get weary with that. Oh,
you have little faith. Would we see the mighty work
of God done here in this place? Would we see the mighty work
of God done in our hearts? It begins with faith. Believe
in God. Let's take heed. Let us take
heed to what he's saying here. To what's going on here. He did no mighty work there. the cost of unbelief.