Considered last time the passage
in Mark and chapter 5 concerning Jairus and his daughter and how
Christ healed his daughter and how the woman that he met on
the way to Jairus' house who had an issue of blood for 12
years who touched Jesus' garment and was healed of that issue
of blood was connected with the daughter, how the whole passage
pictured the Gospel, pictured the death of Christ upon the
cross and the shedding of His blood, which was necessary to
heal us of the plague of sin that flows out from our own hearts. It was Christ's death which took
away the daughter's sin. It was Christ's death which caused
Jairus' daughter to be brought back to life. And the daughter
that touched Christ, who had that issue of sin, to be healed
of her plague. It was Christ's death which took
away the sin of his people. and clothed them in righteousness
and caused dead sinners to rise again from the grave. It's Christ's
death which brings salvation and you my friend if you're a
sinner as you are by nature, if you are to be cleansed of
that sin and you must be then you will be cleansed through
the blood of Christ. And you will be cleansed if God
gives you that faith to touch the garment of Christ, the righteousness
of God, as was manifested at the cross. Has God brought you
to hear his gospel? Has he brought you to the feet
of Jesus Christ? Has he brought you to see the
plague within? The plague of sin which has slain
you? The plague of sin which has corrupted
you? The plague of sin which flows
forth from your heart every day? Has he shown you that you're
dead and lost? Ruined in the fall and headed
for destruction? And has he shown you that there's
hope in that man Christ Jesus, who came into this world of darkness,
into this world of sin, into this plagued world, and who came
to save sinners? Has God given you the faith to
touch his garment and be healed? If he has, or if he does, or
if he ever will, it will be through the gospel. It will be because
God has brought the gospel to your ears, as he brought it to
the ears of that daughter who touched his garment. She'd heard
of Jesus, and she came in the press behind and touched his
garment. She'd heard of Jesus. Have you
heard? Have you heard the gospel? Do
you know the power of the Gospel? The power of Christ to cleanse
you from all your iniquity, all your sin and all the condemnation. The condemnation of the law,
the condemnation of the righteousness of God and the wrath of God against
your sin. Has God brought you to hear? Have you heard the voice of Jesus
Christ? in the Gospel. If you have, or if you ever do,
it will be because God has sent that Gospel to you through a
preacher who preaches by the Spirit of God that you might
hear and believe. And in the sixth chapter in Mark,
following chapter 5 we read something of that gospel being sent forth
and the importance of hearing that gospel in chapter 5 in picture
the message of that gospel has been powerfully set before us
The fact that we are as daughters dead in the grave who need to
be brought to life and the fact that that life will come by being
given faith to touch the hem of Christ's garment and no other
way. That's the message. You must
be born again. You must be made righteous. You
must be cleansed of the plague of sin. You must, by faith, touch
the hem of Christ's garment. But having set forth that message
and that truth, Christ sent forth his disciples to preach it. And in chapter 6 we read this,
And Jesus 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 have this
man these things and what wisdom is this which is given under
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
joses 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 honour, 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 marvelled 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 an house, there abide
till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive
you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, 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. Verse 11, and whosoever shall
not receive you nor hear you when ye depart thence shake off
the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Similar accounts are recorded
in the other Gospels. Luke 10 also records of Christ
sending forth disciples to preach this Gospel and giving similar
instruction. And in that chapter, in verse
16, he concludes by saying, he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. or what solemn words concerning
the preaching of the gospel. The first thing really that strikes
us in this account where Christ calls the disciples and sends
them out two by two and instructs them how they should go and then
speaks of those that would receive them and those that would not. is the seriousness of the consequence
brought upon those places, those cities, those people who were
not here. 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 in Luke 10 we read, Into
whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your
ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very
dust of your city which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against
you. Notwithstanding, be ye sure of
this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I
say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for
Sodom than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works have
been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you,
they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which are
exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell. He that heareth
you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. O how serious a thing it is to
despise the preaching of the Gospel. What a solemn consequence
is pronounced on those cities, those places, those churches,
those congregations, those people, those individuals, who will not
receive those preachers sent of God, who will not receive
their message, who will not hear them, who will not hear the Gospel. It is more solemn for them than
it was for Sodom and Gomorrah, for Tyre and Sidon. Because those that hear God's
preachers, hear Christ Himself. And those that despise those
preachers and their message despise Christ Himself. And those that
despise Christ despise the Father who sent Him. It's a serious and a solemn thing
to shut our ears to the Gospel when it's sent our way. If God
sends a gospel preacher unto you, if the means exist for you
to hear that preacher, if he comes within range of you, if
you can go and hear that message and listen to that gospel and
you choose not to, you shut your ears to it, you as it were despise
it, you ignore it, You go another way. Then the pronouncement of
God upon you is very serious. It was more tolerable for those
cities that would not receive the disciples than for Tyre and
Sidon and Sodom and Gomorrah. He that heareth you, heareth
me. He that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. Then how important, how necessary,
how vital that we hear. That we receive the Gospel that
God sends. That we receive those whom he
sends with it. That we listen. Our lives depend
upon it. Sodom and Gomorrah, those wicked
places, had turned from God and all His ways. They turned to
the wisdom of this world and the desires of this world. They turned from worshipping
the Creator to worshipping the creature, as Paul speaks of in
Romans chapter 1. They turned from the wisdom of
God and to their own wisdom. They thought they were wiser
than God. They turned to serving the creature,
to serving their own desires, to living their lives in order
to gain what they could from this world. To gain the riches,
the pleasures, the acclaims, the pride, the adulation, all
that they could get here below. They worshipped the creature
more than the Creator. And as Paul says in Romans 1,
the wrath of God was kindled against them. For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth, hold back the truth, resist the truth
in their unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them. They've no excuse. And you've
no excuse. There's enough revelation in
the world around you, in the creation around you, in the heavens
and the stars above, in the sun and the moon, in your very life
and being for you to know that there's a God and to know when
you hear the gospel preached that this message is from that
God and is true. There's enough wisdom granted
unto you naturally that you should know and to resist it and to
turn from it is to turn from God himself. Because that which
may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed
it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Because they, when they knew
God, they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like the corruptible man, and to birds
and four-footed beasts and creeping things, wherefore God also gave
them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts
to dishonour their own bodies between themselves who changed
the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature
more than the creator who is blessed forever for this cause
God gave them up unto vile affections that's what happened that's Sodom
and Gomorrah and the consequence of their turning from God and
turning from their own ways and turning to their own wisdom and
taking the truth of God and turning it into a lie taking the truth
and corrupting it and turning it into something that looked
a bit like the truth but was sufficiently altered to become
a lie they turned from the wisdom of God unto their own they may
have been wicked, they may have been sinners but you can be sure
that they had taken the truth and created a religion of their
own lies and their own understanding and their own wisdom that in
their sin and in their iniquity they thought they were very righteous
they worshipped things They thought they were doing right whilst
sinning every day. And God looked at their wickedness.
And God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And poured down fire from heaven. And when Lot, who was spared,
fled from that city, his wife looked back and was turned into
a pillar of salt. Oh what terrible destruction
came upon that wicked place who served the creature more than
the creator and who had changed the truth of God into a lie.
What terrible destruction came down upon those places. And what
a terrible warning against those cities, those people, those individuals
who would not hear, or who will not hear, the disciples, the
preachers that God sent forth with his gospel. I say unto you
that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for
that city that does not hear you, that does not hear this
message. He that heareth you heareth me,
and he that despiseth you despiseth me. and he that despiseth me
despiseth him that said to me and you if you're sat here this
day and hear this message but shut your ears to it and turn
away from it and in your heart despise it Be it known unto you
that this message, this warning of Christ's applies to you. If you will not hear his word,
if you will not hear his gospel, if in your heart you despise
it and turn from it because you seek the pleasure of this world
and the riches and the entertainment and the ambitions you have in
it and all that you think that you can gain here below. if you're
looking for pleasure elsewhere and in your heart you turn from
God and turn from his gospel and turn aside from it and despise
it then it will be worse for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day
of judgment than for you and your like This gospel is not
to be messed around with. It's not to be treated lightly. It's not to be pushed aside for
another day. And those that God sends with
the gospel are to be heard. Their message is to be heard
and their message is to be valued above all things. There are no
riches that you can receive in this world that are greater than
the riches of the Gospel sent forth by Jesus Christ through
those whom He sent forth with it. To turn your back on it,
to ignore it, and to ignore those who were sent with it, and to
go somewhere else to listen to something else. When God has
sent the Gospel unto you, when God has brought the Word of God
nigh unto you, is foolishness in the extreme. Oh how solemn
are the words of the disciples there in Luke 10, when they go
to a place And they say, be it known unto you, the kingdom of
God is come nigh unto you. Oh, how wonderful if you're brought
to hear their message and believe their message and be healed of
your plague and have them say unto you, the kingdom of God
is come nigh unto you. But oh how terrible if they say
unto you, the very dust of your city which cleaveth on us, we
do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding be ye sure of
this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. So I ask you this day, has the
kingdom of God come nigh unto you? Have you had the opportunity
to hear the gospel, the truth? Has the word of God come nigh
unto you? And have you buried your head
in the sand and gone another way and gone to another place
and shut the doors to it and pretended it's not there in the foolish expectation that
all will be well with you in the end. This matter of Gospel
preaching is a serious matter. And if we don't listen, and if
we don't hear, and if we don't receive those that God sends
with it, and hear their message, oh what a solemn warning is granted
unto us. What a solemn warning. But oh
what tremendous blessing for those who received it. O to be
like Jairus' daughter, O to be like that daughter, that woman
with the issue of blood who heard of Jesus, who heard the Gospel
and didn't just hear with the outward ear, but was given that
faith within by the Holy Ghost to hear within and to know that
here is salvation, that if I'm given to touch the hem of Christ's
garment, then I will be cleansed of my plague. What a wonderful gospel this
is. That God sent His Son into this dark and evil world. Into
this world full of Sodom and Gomorrahs. And you see it all
around you today. What a dark and evil land we
live in. What an apathetic land we live
in. What a foolish land we live in. What a foolish people. The vast
majority of whom have no time for the things of God. no time
for Jesus Christ, no time for the gospel, and no thought or
consideration. that they are with a plague,
that they are plagued, that there is a corrupt heart within them,
that they are full of sin and that one day when their life
is brought to a conclusion, they will have to stand before a holy
God. Who cares? Who even considers,
like foolish lemons, they're all following one another off
the cliff edge? Like fools they're walking backwards
towards the grave. Their life is gone in a moment. One day they're born, the next
they're grown, the next they're old, the next they're gone. And
none of them even think. And if they do, if they hear
anything, they despise it and dismiss it and laugh at it. Are
you like them? Are you so foolish as to laugh
at the things of God? Or laugh and mock at the things
of Jesus Christ? He that heareth us, heareth me. He that despiseth the preachers
of the gospel, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. Why are you so foolish? as to
laugh at the Gospel, as to ignore the Gospel, as to live your life
as though all that matters is what you can see and touch and
handle in this world, even though you know it's brief, even though
you've got to 40 years, 50 years, 60, 70, 80 years before you know
it. and you know you're stood on
the brink of death you know you've grown old you know in a moment
you'll be gone or if you're young you know that you won't be young
for long and you see young people all around you dying from one
cause or another soon taken from this world in tragic circumstances
you know the brevity and the fragility of life and yet you
don't think what's beyond because such is the depravity of sin
within you such is the plague of sin that it is like a bandage
all around your mind and understanding that you can't see and you can't
think how foolish we are by nature but how vital that we hear this
message of life How vital that we who are plagued with issues
of blood, that we who are bleeding to death by nature, come and
hear Jesus. How vital that we hear of Jesus
and meet with him and hear his voice in the gospel. then how
wonderful that God not only sent his son into the darkness of
this world to deliver his people, but he has sent forth preachers
with that gospel, with that message. He sent forth the message of
life and salvation from generation to generation. From the day in
which Christ walked upon this world, walked upon the earth,
walked upon the dust beneath your feet, from the day in which
he walked here he was sending forth preachers. And when he
departed, When Christ had died and risen again and ascended
into glory and departed this world, naturally speaking, He
continued from heaven's glory to call and send forth preachers,
generation after generation, every year, every decade, every
century, from that time until this time, and this day. Christ in glory is sending forth
his gospel by those whom he has sent with it to our day, age
and generation and by that gospel he's bringing the message of
his salvation unto the ears of sinners like you and I. Then
if you're brought to hear of it, do you receive it? Do you hear those who come with
this gospel? If you do, you hear Jesus Christ
himself. Or do you despise them, ignore
them, bury your head in the sand? And if you do, you despise Christ,
you ignore Christ, you turn from Christ. And in despising Him,
you despise Him that sent Him. You despise Almighty God who
holds your life in His hands, who is keeping you alive this
day and before whom one day you will stand and your eternal soul
depends upon His love and approval of you. And what a solemn thing
to be found despising the only one in heaven and earth who can
save you. But in order that sinners are
not left in such a foolish place, in order that the whole world
is not destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah was, God has sent forth
His Gospel. He sent it forth in that day.
He sent it forth in this day. He sent preachers with this message
of grace. He sent preachers to find the
little daughters that lie in the grave and touch them with
the hands of Jesus Christ that they might be healed and live. We read of how Jesus sent them. 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 an house, there abide till ye depart
from that place. Yes he called the twelve and
he sent forth them by two and two and he gave them power over
unclean spirits and he commanded them what they should take and
how they should be dressed. Gospel preaching comes from Jesus
Christ and from Christ alone. He called these men, the 12. He sent them forth two by two. He gave them power and he commanded
how they should preach. They were not called sent and
equipped by men. They were not called, sent and
equipped by theological colleges and men here below. They did
not call, send and equip themselves, but Christ called them. Christ
sent them. Christ gave them power and Christ
commanded them. and it's those preachers we need
to hear. You can listen to a thousand
preachers sent by man or sent of themselves and be nothing
bettered. Like that woman with the issue
of blood who'd been and suffered from many physicians and was
nothing bettered but grew worse. You can listen to thousands of
physicians, preachers, religious men who will claim to be able
to heal you. But if they're not sent of Christ,
you'll be nothing bettered. You will grow worse. The plague
of sin in your heart will grow worse. You'll not be cleansed. you'll not be risen, you'll not
be saved, you'll not be blessed. But if Christ sends a preacher
to you, if he calls him, if he sends him, if he gives him power,
if he commands how he preaches and what he says, if he preaches
the gospel through that man by his spirit, then you will hear. Then if you're God's, you will
be brought to hear and believe on Jesus Christ. Or if you're
not, then you will despise that man, despise his message, despise
his gospel, despise he who sent him, Jesus Christ, and despise
the father who sent Christ. Gospel preaching comes from on
high. It comes from Christ himself.
It comes firstly through the calling of Christ. Christ called
the twelve. He calls preachers by grace. He calls them to preach. He calls them. He separates them
from the world. He separates them from sin. He
separates them. from error, he gives them the
truth, he reveals the gospel unto them, he reveals that gospel
unto them personally, he quickens them from the dead, he gives
them life, he shows them and reveals them the truth as it
is in himself, he teaches them through the word of God and through
their experience what the gospel is, he calls them and then he
sends them forth he says go and preach he sends
them forth and he gives them power he gave them power over
unclean spirits he gave them power oh what a difference there
is in that gospel sent of God through those whom he calls and
sends with it. What a difference there is in
that gospel which comes in power. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much
assurance it comes in power. And it's the power of that gospel,
the power that is in the true gospel that quicken sinners unto
life. I am not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed. There's a power in this Gospel,
and God gives His preachers this Gospel, He gives them power.
What power did these men have? He called them, he sent them
and gave them power. What was the power that they
had over those unclean spirits? Wherein did that power lie? It
lay in the gospel. If you preach another gospel,
a false gospel, a gospel of the works or the will or the worth
of man, a gospel which says you will be blessed if you do this,
if you come with another gospel, you'll find there's no power
in it. But the gospel which comes of God, which comes of Christ,
the gospel of Christ. The gospel which declares that
Jesus came into this world to save his people from their sins. A gospel which declares the elect
in sovereign grace of God that Christ died for a people and
saves that people. It's a gospel which comes in
power. that just as God calls and sends
these preachers he calls sinners unto grace by their preaching
by this gospel Jesus called them sent them and gave them power
and he commanded them he said go like this and preach this He said 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. They were to carry a staff, figurative
in a way of Moses' staff. They were to carry that upon
which they would lean. not just Moses' staff, not just
a rod to condemn, but a scepter as it were of righteousness,
a picture of the gospel, a picture of that which divides, a picture
of that which when held up causes the Red Sea to part from side
to side and for sinners to pass through from death unto life
on dry ground. A picture of that which brings
salvation. A picture of the gospel. They
were to bring no script, no bread, no money, no script, no means
of buying things. No cheque, no money. no legal contract, nothing with
which they could naturally speaking gain away nothing which would
buy people's attention but their dependence was to be holy upon
Christ and His Gospel and the preparation of the Holy Spirit
before them who would work in the hearts of sinners before
they ever came unto them to prepare the way for the Gospel, to prepare
the ground for the seed to be sown, to bring those sinners
to the point where they would hear of Jesus and come and touch
by faith His garment. Christ was their all. He was their sufficiency. He
would provide for them He would prepare their way. They needed
to take no script, no bread, no money. They were to put sandals
upon their feet. They were to walk. To walk in
Christ as they had received Him. To go where the Spirit sent them. To be led of Christ unto those
sinners in those places which would receive them. And they
were not to take two coats, for they needed not two coats, they
had a coat. They had a coat, a picture of
that garment of salvation. They only needed one coat, one
covering, the blood of Christ, which washed them from head to
toe. The garment of righteousness.
the covering of the righteousness of God. That was their coat and
that was their message. They would come with their gospel,
the power that Christ had given them to deliver unclean spirits
from their hearers. to save sinners. They come with
that gospel which would make known the righteousness of God
in Jesus Christ. That gospel in which they would
preach of a woman who came and touched Christ's garment that
she might be made whole. They only needed one coat. And you only need one coat. You need to touch that garment
by faith. Christ was their script, their
bread, their riches. Christ was their garment. Christ
was their pathway. Christ was their all. He called
them, he sent them, and he gave them power. And if you ever hear
the gospel, from a preacher whom Christ sends. That preacher will
be sent. called, sent, given power and
commanded by Christ to preach of His garment of righteousness
of the righteousness of God by Jesus Christ that righteousness
which was manifested at the cross by the faith of Christ when He
stood in the place of sinners and bore their sins and bore
the wrath and judgment of God against their sins that He should
deliver them from the plague of their unrighteousness, that
he should deliver them from the plague of their sin, and that
he should wash them clean in his blood. Oh what a gospel! Oh what a gospel he sends forth! Oh what a gospel he preaches! And how marvelously does he preach
it. how he preached it then and how
he preaches it today. It's the same way. Christ himself
in heaven above will call, send and equip his preachers. He'll
give them power. Power in the gospel. Power over
unclean spirits. Power to forgive sins through
Christ's blood. Power in the gospel to raise
sinners unto life. and is all their need and all
their sufficiency. Has he come unto you in that
gospel? In what place soever ye enter
into an house there abide, he said unto them, till ye depart
from that place. If they're sent to somewhere,
if they come to you and you receive them, then they will remain They
will continue to preach. They will continue to bless. That gospel will bring you food. It will build you up. These disciples
had no need to go from house to house as it were seeking money
or seeking food. They went for the good of those
that heard them. They didn't go with some sort
of career, some sort of way of earning money they weren't sent
like preachers today who go to this church and then go to that
church and preach here and preach there in order to receive their
income and in order to receive their acclaim in order to make
a name for themselves in the churches in order to progress
their religious career they would go and if they remained in one
place and spent the rest of their days in that place whilst there
were those there who had a need who heard and who were blessed
by the gospel there they remained they went to feed the sheep they
went to feed starving and hungry sheep and where they were heard
they continued to preach He that heareth you, heareth me, Christ
said. And he that heard them, heard
him, and was blessed by the power of the gospel. It's those that
hear, receive the preacher, they hear him, they welcome him into
their house, and he abides with them. And spiritually speaking,
this goes beyond the mere man, the mere preacher said, this
goes into receiving the Spirit of God, and receiving Christ
by the Spirit of God. If you hear this message, if
you hear the Gospel, if you hear the preacher, then you hear the
Spirit's speech. He that hath an ear, hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches. You receive and hear the Spirit
of God and you receive through Him Christ. When you hear this
message, when you hear the Spirit, you hear the voice of Jesus Christ
and He comes unto you and He abides with you. Abide in me,
Christ says, as I abide in you. There's a oneness, there's a
unity that comes in when you hear His voice. He comes in and
He abides with you. He makes His residence in your
heart, in your house. He comes to dwell. Christ comes
to dwell. It's a picture of Christ by His
Spirit, by the Spirit of God coming and abiding in the heart
of the sinner when they hear the Gospel in power. By the Holy
Ghost they are born again and the life that enters into their
soul is the life of Christ himself who's born again in their hearts. they become partakers of the
divine nature Christ himself by the Spirit of God lives within
them and he takes up residence within them and that's how they
come to believe that's what gives them faith because it's his faith
that they have It's He who causes them to believe. It's He who
causes them to receive. It's He who causes them to live.
They have eternal and everlasting life in Jesus Christ. They have
the very righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. They have the
bread of heaven from Jesus Christ. They have the water of life from
Jesus Christ. They become a stone in His temple. They're built upon His foundation. They are one with Him. then he
comes and he lives and he dwells within and he never departs he
remains there and this is the picture which is given unto us
by his command to the disciples that when you come unto a place
when you come unto their house if they receive you remain dwell
there I'll never leave you nor forsake you Christ says unto
his people I'll never leave you, nor forsake you. He that heareth
you, heareth me. Oh, what a thing to be given
grace to hear this gospel. Have you heard it? Have you heard
it? Because as we've seen, those
who didn't hear, those who wouldn't hear, Those who didn't care had
a terrible judgment pronounced unto them. Into whatsoever city
ye enter and they receive you not, go your ways out into the
streets of the same and say, even the very dust of your city
was cleavive on us. We do wipe off against you, notwithstanding
be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto
you. If you hear this message, if
you hear this gospel be it known unto you that the kingdom of
God has come nigh unto you and you're answerable to it on that
day when your life is brought to a conclusion and you stand
before almighty God and he says why did you not believe You cannot
say, I never heard. He'll say, but you heard. The
gospel was sent unto you. And my disciples said unto you,
be it known unto you that this day the kingdom of God is come
nigh unto you. Why did you not hear and believe? You will have no excuse. and
the disciples when they were met with that apathy and that
unbelief of which Christ himself marvelled when he went about
in that place and because of the hardness of the hearts of
the people they would not receive him they knew him as the carpenter's
son they knew him as Mary and Joseph's son they knew him and
they despised him how can this be the son of God? They saw the
great miracles and works he did, but still they didn't believe.
They were offended at him. A prophet is not without honour,
Christ says, except in his own country. Oh, they despised him. They were offended. They couldn't
care less. And he marvelled because of their
unbelief. He marvelled. whosoever shall
not receive you nor hear you when you depart then shake off
the dust under your feet for a testimony against them the
dust under your feet oh what a picture they shook off the
dust under their feet as a testimony against them of their unbelief
and of what they are Because, O man, and O woman, because,
my friend, however great you think you are, or however small
you think you are, remember what you are. You are made of the
dust. Out of the dust you are made,
and when you die unto the dust, you will return. Before Almighty
God, we're nothing but dust. except he's put his grace upon
us and given his own son to die for us and washed us in his blood
and raised us up from the dust and caused us to raise up in
Jesus Christ as princes as those who will reign with Almighty
God reign with Jesus Christ in the world to come except he's
taken us as beggars off the dung heap and clothed us in righteousness
and given us salvation in Christ and washed us clean and caused
us to reign with him if he hasn't then we're but dust And if we despise this Gospel
and despise Christ and those whom He sent with this Gospel
they will shake the dust under their feet off against us as
a testimony. In Acts 13 we saw how the disciples
in preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles did just that. Acts 13 verse 44 we read, And
the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear
the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you. But seeing ye
put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life, believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region, But the Jews stirred
up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city
and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled
them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them and came unto Iconium and the disciples
were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. They shook off
the dust of their feet against that. What are we but dust? Have we put this word of God
away from us? Do we judge ourselves unworthy
of everlasting life? If we do, God has others to whom
he can send this gospel. The Jews at the time rejected
it. And the disciples, the apostles,
went to the Gentiles and preached salvation to the ends of the
earth. And many of them believed, as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. But these Jews here raged against
it. They persecuted these preachers.
And they in response shook off the dust of their feet against
them. Oh may God open our hearts and
our eyes to see and our ears to hear the voice of Jesus Christ. May He open our understanding
and pour grace within that we, like that woman, should be brought
to hear of Jesus and touch His garment, that we should hear
and receive the Gospel when God sends it unto us. And O may He
spare us from that apathy, coldness, disinterest, unbelief that causes
us to turn our backs upon the gospel and go another way and
hear another thing for if we do then the very dust upon the
feet will be shaken off as a testimony against us and it shall be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for us. Do you hear that? O God, give
you ears to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Amen.