Let's take our Bibles and turn
to Mark chapter one. We've been going through the
book of Mark. Last week I brought a study on
a day with our Lord. An entire day looking at what
he did and how he did it and so on. And this is then the following
morning. I hope you don't think as we
go through this that I'm just using a play on words or just
trying to fill in space. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, all of it. And we tend to ignore a lot of
little things that I think are very important. We just X them
out, get to the next thing that we can see. And that's okay if
your vision's dim. We need to look at these little
things and consider these little things. And a lot of times it
sets the context of the big thing. And so it is here with the Lord. Now,
he rose up early, verse 35. He began his day early. He began it alone. And he began it in prayer. Now I know that this man was
God come into the flesh. This was a manifestation of God. I wouldn't even know where to
begin to try to illustrate that, but this man who walked among
them and talked to them and ate with them and prayed for them
was God Almighty. This was God come into the flesh. And I know that so, and I know
that he had the spirit given to him without measure. Yeah,
I have to pause and consider, I have to see things through
a glass dimly, but he didn't. He had the spirit without measure
and knew all things. But he was a man. Every wit, a man. He felt pain. He felt heat and
cold. He ate. He was a man. It's hard to have those two things
together, isn't it? To even consider it or somehow
to comprehend it. This was God and man in one person. One person. He was a man, he was a real man,
and as I told you at the beginning of our study, this is Jehovah's
servant, and this is how Mark is setting him forth. And he
was there because the Father sent him. Well, what did he send
him to do? The Father sent me, he said.
Well, he was sent to lay down his life for the sheep. He was
sent to live a life for a people given him by the Father who could
never live the life that God demands. And I don't know if
you've ever thought about that, but when we think about Christ
our righteousness, that's how I think about it. He lived the
life in my stead that God demands for me to live. That's my righteousness. He was sent to live a life for
them that they themselves could never live. And then he was sent
to intercede for them. He was sent to pray for them. He was sent to keep them from
the evil one. And he was sent to preach to
as many as God's providence would allow him to speak to. Brother Mahan said to us one
day in the preacher school, he said, you can't talk to men about
God until you learn to talk to God about men. And this is what
our Lord's doing. He rose up early. Now he knew
all things. He knew who would and who wouldn't
believe. He knew all things. And yet when he was awake early
in the morning, He went off to a solitary place, I think is
how it's worded there in the text, he went to a solitary place,
he went off by himself, and he began to intercede for these
people. He began to pray about, or concerning
God's providence, he began to pray and talk to the Lord about
this life that he was living in this world. And Jesus of Nazareth
didn't just say, well, whatever will be, will be, whether it
ever happens or not. I know a lot of folks like that.
I met a lot of folks like that. There's wisdom in what Mark wrote
here. There's wisdom in this. And I've
always been jealous over my early morning study time. If you call
me early, you probably won't get me. You can leave a message,
and if I hear it's an emergency or something, I may pick up.
But this is the time when I like to get alone and study the scriptures
before my head gets filled with the world. And it's gonna get
filled with the world before the day's over. That's all there
is out there. The news is gonna get in there, and something broke,
Something didn't get paid or you know before the days over
your head gonna be Just clouded with junk and that's not the
time to go study time to go study is before all this gets into
your head I Want to read and pray and write
before my mind gets full of the day Now our Lord turned to his
disciples one day, and he said take no thought for tomorrow
Don't take any thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Now listen, sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. If you handle that, if you can
face that, If you, by the grace of God, can get through that,
that's all you need. You don't need two days worth,
just one. Just one at a time. The day, every day, is filled
with satanic temptation, confusion, tragedy, need, labor, and want. It's filled with it. Now I'm not trying to say let's
make a new ceremony. We're all gonna get up at four
and go off to a place by ourselves. I'm not even suggesting that.
But a spiritual discipline is necessary to a good spiritual
life. You need to set a time. If it's
five minutes or 10 minutes or 15 minutes or whatever it is,
you need to set a time early in the morning and get your heart
and head prepared for the day. Listen to a message, there's
thousands of them out there recorded. Read in the scriptures, read
some passages. And I'm gonna tell you something,
if you leave a hole in your life, Satan's gonna fill it with something.
He'll fill it up. He knows how to do it, he's a
master at it. He'll fill it up. Find an idle time and he'll use
it to feed your flesh. Let me read you something, what
the scripture said about Sodom and Gomorrah. And he was talking
to Israel here, and he called Sodom their sister, because it
was closely related to the sins of which they were guilty. And
listen to this. He said, behold, saith the Lord,
this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness
of bread, An abundance of idleness. That's what led to the ruin.
Pride, too much to eat. They could eat anything they
wanted to. An abundance of idleness. And
I know we're human, but there are things we can do and are
told to do that'll help us. And this is one of them. Spend
some time before your day starts with God and with his word, and
you'll be better equipped to face whatever the day is going
to bring. But I'm telling you this, with
the preacher, it's critical. It's critical. This is a must
for him. This is a must, and that's what
our Lord was. This is the office that he's
showing to us as Jehovah's servant. He's showing us himself as the
ambassador of God. He must get the will of God fresh
in his mind, the preacher does. He must empty himself of all
of his cares and fears and he must think on them to whom he
sent and pray for them and for himself. You know, scripture
said you have not because you ask not. And again, you have
not because you ask amiss. But when you pray to know God's
will, he'll reveal it to you. He will, he'll reveal you his
will. If you pray for his spirit to help you in time of need,
he's gonna help you, gonna help you. That's not praying amiss. And in fact, it's praying according
to the will of God. If you look in the scripture,
it'll tell you that. And then secondly, his disciples, I want
you to see this, they followed after him. Now they didn't get
up the same time he did. And they didn't go out with him.
And more than likely, they wouldn't have sought a solitary place.
But he did, and they followed him. And isn't that what we want
to do as ambassadors for Christ? Don't we want to follow him?
So many people look at a man and we're told to do that. If
this man's a faithful man and he's a faithful pastor, we're
to look at him and follow him and so on. But the one we really
want to follow and we really want to pattern ourself after
is Christ. And that's what these disciples,
these followers, were doing. They didn't rise up as early
as he did, but they came along after. so that they had to seek
him. And as a disciple, I've always
had to seek him. I've always had to seek him.
He tells us, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these other things be added. You do this, you seek
him. And that's what they did. And there's never a time when
I woke up before he did. It says he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. And I know this. He seeks his disciples, but they
also seek him. They seek him. Well, when will
you seek him? You'll seek him when you find
out how much you need him. How much you need him for everything.
And this is what these men are learning. They need him for everything.
He's the only one who can heal these lepers and raise the dead
and cure the issue of blood. make the dumb and the lame and
all of these things and to heal all their infirmities. They couldn't
do anything about it, but he could. And they're learning that
they need him. They need him. And you'll seek
him when you wake and discover he's not there. Just go ahead
and start your day with that. It won't take you long to realize You'll seek Him when others inquire
about Him, and you need Him for their sake. Then you'll seek Him. What can I do for a poor sinner? What can I do? I can't regenerate. I can't overcome the strong man
armed. I can't redeem. I can't sanctify. and I can't give a righteousness. What can I do for a poor sinner?
I can't heal your heart, but he can. He can. And that's why they sought him,
and that's why I seek him, and ought to seek him more than I
do. And when they found him, here's
what they said, verse 37. They said, everybody's seeking
for you, Did you know that? All men seek for thee. Is that
a true statement? Does all men seek Him? Well, all men seek Him for a
cure for their diseases, a cure for their troubles, Let
that doctor come along and say, we sent that little sample away
and you've got cancer and you've got about 90 days to live. Now they'll seek him. They'll
seek him. All men seek for him for a cure
from their diseases and a cure from their troubles and a cure
from an interrupted life You mean my life's gonna be over?
I'm only 50 years old. I'm only 60 years old. You mean
my life's gonna be over? Prayed so. Prayed so. If the Lord don't intervene. Yeah, they'll seek Him. But they
don't seek Him as the Christ, as the Savior, as the Mediator,
as the Redeemer. They don't seek Him as their
Lord. They don't seek Him knowing that
He is the manifestation of the saving wisdom of God. And so
our Lord speaks to His disciples, and here's what He tells them,
verse 38. Now all men are seeking Him.
They're all seeking Him. And He cured some of them. He
cleansed some of them. He cast demons out of some of
them. You remember the study we did. And our Lord turns to his disciples
and they're all excited. Everybody's seeking you. Now
listen to what he tells them. Let us go into the next towns. Do what? Well, they're seeking you here.
Let us go into the next towns. These men heard the gospel and
they hesitated. These men heard the gospel And
while others were running to him and rushing to him, they
held back. You think the Lord's just going
to keep calling and calling and calling and inviting and throwing
his arms at you? You think it's just going to
go on forever? You think God's playing games? A man told me one time, he said,
God's only obligated to call you one time. I said, now wait
a minute, God's not obligated to call me at all. Or He is. But if He does, what will you
do? You just gonna chunk it aside?
That's what it says over there in the book of Hebrews. You done
despite to the Spirit of grace, you trampled underfoot the blood
of the Son of God? You just gonna throw these things
down? Well, when I need Him, He'll be there. I'll go get Him.
I know where He's at. Huh? This is what was going on
here. He already preached. He already
cured. He already manifested Himself
as the Son of God and God confirmed it through the miracles and wonders
and signs that He did by Him right in their midst. But they
said, well, we'll hear thee again in a more convenient season.
Or some just tuned him out. Now he said, we're not going
back there. We're going to the next towns. We're going to the
next town. Let us go into the next towns,
that I might preach there also. For therefore came I forth. Our Lord was a preacher. He could have, if he so desired,
he could have anything. He could raise up those stones
that were around him and make children unto Abraham. But God chose rather to preach
to him. To preach to him. And I wonder
as your pastor, and as a preacher, an ambassador for God if I really
believe this. I think I do. And I want to. But I wonder sometimes
if I really believe it. And what about you? You believe
it? Have you come to that place where
you have just given up on folks? just kind of sunk into a place
of indifference, or just don't really believe that this is how
God saves sinners. You know, or it might just be
that we've seen so many come and go, come and go, come and
go. They did too. They did too. But they also seen some on which
the Son of God operated and did work. And I tell you, if you
ever see it happen one time, that's enough for a lifetime.
That's enough of a lifetime of motivation, especially when he
does that work in you. In you. Let me tell you something. If
you're truly saved, this is exactly how God saved you. It's how he
did it. It's how he did it. Paul said, he wrote to those
Corinthians and he said, for I determined unto you, or I delivered
unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he
was buried and raised again the third day according to the Scriptures.
And he said, now you'll be saved if you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, otherwise you've believed in vain. I've heard so many testimonies.
They'd have testimony nights, and I've been traveling and visiting
and preaching in different churches. I preached up there at Fort Smith
last year, or I guess it's been three or four years now before
time passes, don't it? But I was listening to testimonies
that night up there. I was listening to men talk about
how they come to know the Lord. And I hear men talk about how
the Lord revealed Himself to them out of the Scriptures and
in their minds when they were just children, and on the battlefield
dying, and at the mourner's bench praying, and on their deathbed. I've heard men talk about this.
You say in preachers that that didn't happen? No, God did. God did. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter one. I want you to read this with
me. 1 Corinthians chapter one and verse
18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish. I'm gonna read that to you exactly
as what it means. The preaching of the cross is
to them that are perishing. That's the sense of the word.
It's foolishness. Foolishness. Been hearing it
since I was a kid, just foolishness. Just another ceremony, just another
church service. Foolishness. It's not necessary. It lacks
sufficiency. That's not what I need. I need
somebody to pat me on the head. I need somebody to hug me. I
need somebody to get me through this. It lacks sufficiency. It's not universally accepted.
Why should I believe it? All these big churches around
here don't believe that. I go so far as to say none of them
believe it. It's not universally accepted.
It's just religious tradition. Just another meaningless ceremony.
Unto them that are perishing, the preaching of the cross is
foolishness. But unto us which are being saved,
it is the power of God. Now you let that sink in. Power,
what's that mean? Well, it means authority for
one. It also means that which enables. It's the power, the power of
God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise. Now, who is the wise? That's
the man who thinks he can read this book and figure it out.
That's the wise. I've hid these things from the
wise and prudent. You don't think those Pharisees
read this book? They could quote it. Say, where
are you reading from, Daniel? OK. Philip was out there in the
middle of nowhere. The guy just told him what he
was reading. You think Philip didn't know
he was reading from the book of Isaiah? He knew exactly what
he was reading. This is the wise and prudent.
God said, I've hid these things from the wise and prudent. That's the man who thinks he
can just read the book and figure it out. I had a foreman on a
carpenter job one time. He was listening to me talk to
another fella, and when I got done, he said, well, I ain't
got the answers now, but I'm going home this weekend and read
the Bible, and I'll talk to you again on Monday. My soul. But unto us which are saved,
it's the power of God. It's written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise. I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise and I'll bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. A prudent man is a man who's
known for exercising good judgment. He good at figuring things out.
Man, throw a thousand piece puzzle down there, next day it's all
done. He can figure things out. He's
sharp, he's got perception. He's a deep thinker. And he said, I'll bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Now listen to this. 1 Corinthians
1 verse 20. Where is the wise? Huh? Where is the wise? For all of
his sharpness and wisdom, where's he at? Thousands of years have expired.
They're still not in agreement as to the mystery of the gospel.
None of them are. Where's the wise? Where's the scribe? Where is
the religious authors of the book setting forth the way and
the will of God? Where are the scribes? Where
is the disputer of this world? You know what he's talking about
there? He's talking about that man that you say something to
and immediately he's against it. Using old Eastern Kentucky
slang, they just say, I'm against it. He's against it. He don't know what he's talking
about. He's got no basis for an argument, but he's ready to
argue. He's ready to dispute. hadn't spent a whole day in their
entire life thinking about the scriptures but they're ready
at the drop of a hat to take on a preacher who's been studying
for forty five years. Now listen to this, hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of the world? Now I want you to listen to this,
verse twenty one. For after that in the wisdom of God, this is
pure Wisdom. This is wisdom beyond question. This is the wisdom of God. After
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. This whole world, this whole
of Adam's fallen race, by wisdom, individual or collective, knew
not God. The scripture said it's never
entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter three, verse
five. Paul said, who then is Paul? Who is a Paulist but ministers
by whom you believed even as the Lord gave to every man? That is, every man chosen unto
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. So now, with all these things
in mind, our Lord said, let us go unto the next towns that I
may preach there also for therefore came I forth. And I've contended for these
things from the first day I learned them. The necessity of the preaching
of the gospel. It's necessary. How shall you
hear without a preacher? I didn't say that, God did. And if preaching was not necessary,
then I have a question. Why did Christ say we're going
to go into the next town and preach? Huh? Why did he say that? Why did he send out young men,
young preachers of the gospel anointed by him into all of these
places where he himself should go? Why did he send them out
to preach? He preached where he was, and
some heard him and believed, and some were set free from their
satanic influence, some were healed of their infirmities,
and some wasn't. Some saw the glory of God in
this man, this man Jesus. Never a man spake like this man. Even the devils obey his voice. power and he spoke with authority.
He preached a dogmatic sermon. I have more questions about that
from men than anything else. You know what the dictionary
says dogmatic means? I wanted to look it up to be
sure I was using the right word. It says it's characterized by
an authoritative, even arrogant sometimes, Assertation of unproved or unprovable
principles. That's what it means to be dogmatic.
Now what Christ preached was not unproved, but confirmed unto
us by the Father through the miracles and wonders which he
did by him in our midst. But what he preached carried
with it something above their ability to discern, their ability
to prove. and he didn't give me any leeway.
He said, this is how it is. I tell you, you listen to a preacher
on TV or on the radio or out here in any of these churches,
you listen to him and everything's presented as a theory. Everything he says is submitted
to you for your okay. There are no preachers out there
saying this is how it is, period, end of story. That's how Christ
preached. He preached as one who had authority. And I'm going to tell you something.
If this book doesn't say something certain, if it doesn't say something
certain, positive, something clear, then there couldn't be
any unbelief. And there couldn't be any judgment,
could there? If everything's just speculation,
what are you going to judge a man on? If everything out there is
true, then where's the judgment? Where's the unbelief? But the
scripture said, he that believeth not shall be damned. And it's
pretty clear about what he's believing not. It's the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no general preaching
to the world. The gospel is clearly defined.
Christ is set forth. and the glory of his person and
work and those who hear are commanded of God to believe. And then let me say this and
I'll quit. Here's how preachers of the gospel
are trained. He said, let us go into the next
town. You want to learn how to preach?
You got an interest in preaching? Find you a preacher that you
got some confidence in and get in his pocket. Everywhere he
goes, when you're able, you go. And you go watch that man, and
you listen to that man, and you see how he acts and reacts. You
see when he says something, when he don't say something. That's how you learn. You learn
how to minister. And that's what these men did.
They followed him and let us go to the next time. I want you
to go with me. And you know, even though they
didn't understand right then what was going on, When this
whole thing was said and done and these men were actively engaged
in the ministry and the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the
church, these men spent the rest of their life recalling what
Christ told them and what he taught them. And I think I can
honestly say the same thing about my pastor, Henry Mahan. I still,
still go back and now I understand what he was saying. Now I understand. what it means. All right, thank
you.