Back to Mark chapter 3, I've
entitled this message, Christ Beside Himself. This is the accusation
his own brethren made of him. Verse 20, and the multitude cometh together again so that
they could not so much as eat bread. There was such a crowd
in this house where they were eating. And when his friends,
in my marginal reading, says his kinsmen heard of it, they
went out to lay hold on him, to seize him. For they said,
he's beside himself. He's gone crazy, is what that
means. Now, this was very early. in
the Lord's public ministry. This was just after the calling
of the 12. So it was probably within the first month or two
of the opening of his public ministry. And he was becoming
famous because of the miracles he performed. Look in chapter
one, verse 23. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, let
us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying,
hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit
had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And
they were all amazed. A lot of people witnessed this.
Insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, what
thing is this? What new doctrine is this for with authority? Commanded
he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately
his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. Now he healed Simon's mother
miraculously. He healed He healed a paralytic
before many witnesses. He healed a man with a withered
hand. People heard the demons when
they cried out saying, thou art the son of God. The leper knew
he was the Lord, and he's gaining quite a following from these
miracles he performed. He goes into this place to eat.
It's so crowded. that they can't even move their
arms to get food up to their mouths. Can you imagine what
that must've been like? He was such a celebrity at this
time. And then we read in verse 20
of chapter three, and the multitude cometh together so that they
could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of
it, his kinsmen, that's what that's talking about, his brothers
and sisters, the people he grew up with. the people that were
in the home of Joseph and Mary. Now, one thing that strikes me
about this, he never sinned and they couldn't
see it. It's remarkable, isn't it? The
only holy man to ever live And they saw this. They grew up with
him and they did not recognize it. It says a lot, doesn't it? We say
things like, I want people to see Christ in me. And I do, I
do. I'm not saying that to cease.
I want to see, I want to act in such a gracious way that people
will see Christ in me, whatever that means. Better know this,
they didn't see Christ in Christ. They didn't. They saw no beauty,
they saw no glory in him, and they grew up with him. You see,
it takes grace to see. If you're just a natural man,
you're not going to see or understand anything. It takes grace to see
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and his brothers and sisters.
They did not get it. And they said, we need to lay
hold upon him. We need to seize him. We need
to bring him back to reality. He has gone crazy. He's beside
himself. All of this popularity has gone
to his head, and we need to get him back, get him home, and get
him grounded. I couldn't help but think of
the multitudes when our Lord, three years later, Right before
his death, the multitude is crying, Hosanna. Blessed is he that comes
in the name of the Lord. They didn't know who he was,
but they were crying that. And the Pharisees said, Master, rebuke
thy disciples. They shouldn't be saying things
like that. And he said, I tell you, if these held their peace
immediately, the stones would cry out. Now, just because somebody
doesn't understand, that doesn't take away from glory of who he Turn to John chapter seven. Look in verse 20. The people
answered and said, thou hast a devil. Who goes about to kill
thee? Christ said Christ was demon-possessed.
Now here we see what people do, and I've been guilty of it, and
you've been guilty of it. When there's something that we
can't understand and can't give an account for or disagree with,
we'll say they're crazy, or we'll demonize them. Every one of us
have done that. We've had this done to us. It
happens, and that's what they were doing with the Lord Jesus
Christ. They were saying he's demon-possessed. Now what brought
this on? Well, look in chapter seven,
verse one, after these things Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast at the tabernacles was
at hand, and his brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence,
and go into Judea, that thy disciples may also see the works that thou
doest. Now this is brothers and sisters again. Here we have them
again. For there's no man that doeth
anything in secret, he himself seeketh to be known openly. If
you do these things, show thyself to the world, For neither did
his brethren believe in him. These people who grew up in his
house, now some of them would end up believing. Some of them
would. James, the pastor at the church
of Jerusalem was the Lord's brother. But at this time, none of them
believe him. And they're saying, if you're
real, go show yourself to everybody so they can see. I love what
it said next in verse six. Then Jesus said unto them, my
time, He's not yet come. They had no idea what he was
talking about, but he had a time, the time to die, the time to
put away the sins of his people. That's why he came, as the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, but it was not yet.
The world cannot hate you, verse seven, but me it hateth, because
I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil, all the works,
all the works. What's his testimony concerning
the works of the world? Evil. Evil. My works, your works,
everybody else's works. Evil. Go ye up into the feast. I'm not up yet. I go not yet
up to the feast, for my time is not yet full come. And when
he had said these things, these words unto them, he abode still
in Galilee. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also
up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then
the Jews sought him at the feast and said, where is he? And there
was much murmuring among the people concerning him. For some
said, he's a good man. Others said, nay, but he deceiveth
the people. Albeit, no man spake openly of him for the fear of
the Jews. Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into
the temple and taught, and the Jews marveled, saying, how knoweth
this man letters, having never learned? He never went to seminary.
He never had any education. How does he even know how to
read? They were confounded by his great ability. Jesus answered them and said,
my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man
will do his will, He shall know of the doctrine, whether it be
of God or whether I speak of myself. Now, if I don't know
the doctrine of Christ, you know why? It's because of an unwillingness
to do his will. That's the reason it's sin. It's sin. Now, go on reading. He that speaketh of himself seeketh
his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory that sent him the same
is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Now here's the great
error detector test. Who gets the glory? That's true
every time. It's just across the board. Who
gets the glory? Did not Moses, verse 19, give
you the law? And yet none of you keeps the
law. Why go you about to kill me?
I love the way you said that. You guys don't keep the law.
You talk about it, you brag about it, you don't keep it. All talk. Then the people answered and
said, thou hast a devil. Who goes about to kill thee?
Well, they were, but still they, thou hast a devil. Look in chapter
10. Or chapter eight, I'm sorry. Verse 48. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and you
have a devil? There they are saying the same
thing to him after hearing him speak. Now, what did he say that
brought this on? Now, this is the natural reaction
to somebody who can't give a scriptural answer to something. They'll
say, well, you're crazy. You're demon possessed. And that's
what they were saying to the Lord. Now, what brought all of
this on? Look in verse 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews,
which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed. And we know that they won't continue
in his word. But he says, if you do, that
is what will prove you're true disciples. Continuing, abiding
in, not leaving my word. And you shall know the truth. And the truth, not your knowledge
of the truth, the truth is a person. You shall know the truth. And
the truth shall set you free. Now look at their answer. They answered him, we be Abraham's
seed, and we're never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou you
shall be made free? Well, for one thing, they were
under the bondage of the Roman government, weren't they? They were under
the thumb of the Roman government. And for another thing, they were
in bondage to their own sinful nature. They were slaves. They were in bondage, and so
this confession they make regarding their own freedom was what? A
lie, a lie, nothing more. Verse 34, Jesus answered them,
verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the
slave of sin. What's that make you? What's
that make me? And the servant, the slave abideth
not in the house forever, but the son abideth forever. Slave will be kicked out, but
not the son. And if the son therefore shall make you free, you shall
be free indeed. Now, how does the son make one
free? By getting rid of what he's a slave to, the sin. Putting
it away. And giving him a new nature that
can do what the old nature can never do. It can believe. It can love God for who he is.
It is in a continual state of repentance. Now, if the son makes
you free, you really are free. I know, verse 37, I know that
you're Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me because my word
has no place in you. Now, the reason his word had
no place in them and they didn't is they didn't have a new heart
to receive it. A natural man's never gonna receive the word
of God. And he says to these people,
my word has no place in you. I speak that which I've seen
with my father and you do that which you've seen with your father.
They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father. Jesus saith
unto them, if you were Abraham's children, you'd do the works
of Abraham. But now seek ye to kill me, a
man that's told you the truth, which I've heard of God. This
did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be
not born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, you would love
me. That's the evidence that God
is somebody's father. They love his son. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not
understand my speech? Because you cannot. You lack
the ability. Doesn't say you may not. Doesn't
even say you will not. He says, you cannot hear my word. You are of your father, the devil. And the lust of your father,
you'll do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode
not in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh his own, for he is a liar, and the father
of it. That's the one thing he's original about, is lying. He's
the father of lies. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? Nobody could do it. They couldn't
say, I can prove him to be a sinner. No, you can't. Everything that
comes out of my mouth is divine truth, absolute truth. Which
of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? Here's a man who has never sinned,
who tells nothing but the truth, but they don't believe. Why do
you not believe me? And he answers that question.
He that's of God, heareth God's words. You know, I know this,
everybody that's of God is gonna hear the gospel and they're gonna
believe, they're not gonna reject the truth. He that's of God,
heareth God's words. You therefore hear them not because
you are not of God. Lord said in John 18, everyone
that's of the truth, heareth my voice. Then answered the Jews
and said unto him, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan? And asked the devil. This is
crazy. Look at chapter 10. Verse 19. There was a division
therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. You know,
there always is, isn't there? A division because of these sayings,
the word of God. There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said,
he hath a devil. He's mad. He's crazy. Why hear you him? Verse six of the same chapter. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things there were which
he spake unto them. They didn't know what he was talking about.
Well, let's read it real quickly. Verily I say unto you, he that entereth
not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the border openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name. and leadeth them out. And when
he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep
follow him for they know his voice. Now what this is talking
about is a sheep pen. It's where all the shepherds
would go at night and there would be maybe 12, 14 shepherds with
all their sheep in this big pen. And when it came to get them
out, the shepherd would call for his sheep and they'd know
his voice. Every one of them would. and
they'd come out and follow his voice. The rest didn't. They
would follow only the voice of their shepherd. They knew his
voice. God's people know the voice of
Christ, and they won't listen to anything else. Verse five,
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him. For they
know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them. They understood not what things they were which spake
unto them. They didn't have any idea what he's talking about. So the
Lord expounds it. He tells them what he was talking
about. Then said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily, I say
unto you, I'm the door of the sheep. All that ever came before
me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't hear them. I
am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. I love
this. The simplicity of this, a door.
I am the door. Now what's a door do? Door lets
people in. It lets people out. It keeps
people in. And it keeps people out. Every
night before I go to bed, Lynn says, have you checked the compound?
And sometimes I haven't. And that's always not a good
thing. I haven't locked the doors and thought about it. But I'll
never do that again. It happened recently. Well, shit,
why should I? Of course I'll do it again. But
at any rate, what's a door for? To let people into the very presence
of God and to keep them in and preserve them, to let them out
in liberty and freedom, and to keep anybody out that tries to
approach by salvation by works. He is the door of the sheep. Now the thief, verse 10, the
thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I'm
come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly.
I'm the good shepherd. I'm that shepherd David was talking
about in Psalm 23 one and he said, the Lord is my shepherd.
I am that shepherd. He's also called the chief shepherd
and that great shepherd of the sheep in Hebrews chapter 13.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. More on that in a moment. But
he that's in a hireling, he was working for pay. That's what
a hireling is. He's working for pay. Who's the
hireling? Anybody who teaches salvation
by works. That's a hireling. He that's
in a hireling and not the shepherd who's owned the sheep or not,
seeth the wolf cometh and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the
wolf catcheth him and scattereth him. The hireling fleeth because
he's a hireling. He cares not for the sheep. I
am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and I'm known of mine.
As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father. And I lay
down my life for the sheep. Now here he's talking about his
atoning death for the sheep. Is everybody a sheep? Well, look
what he said in verse 26 of this same chapter. You believe not.
because you are not of my sheep. You see, they're goats and they're
sheep. When the Lord gives that picture
of the day of judgment, he talks about the sheep being set on
the right hand and the goats on the left. He says, I lay down
my life for the sheep. Now you can call this definite
atonement. You can call it limited atonement. Somebody says, well,
I don't like that term limited. Well, you know, I don't like it so
much either. And let's explain what it means.
It means his death was limited to the elect. It wasn't for anybody
else. Particular redemption, it's Christ's
successful redemption for the sheep, his elect. And somebody
doesn't preach that doesn't preach the gospel. I want to repeat
that. Somebody that doesn't preach
that does not preach the gospel. His effectual death for his sheep. And he says in verse 16, another sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring and they shall hear my
voice and there should be one vote and one shepherd. Therefore
does my father love me because I lay down my life that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. Now the Lord's letting us know
that everything he does, He does voluntarily. He's no victim. I love it when they came to arrest
him. Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth, I am. Oh, I'd love to have heard the
power of those words. What did they do? They fell backwards.
He's letting them know, I'm no victim. This is my will. is being
done. When Pilate questions him, he
doesn't answer, he says, answer is thou not me? Don't you know
I have power to release thee? And I have power to crucify thee?
Thou couldst have no power at all over me, except it be given
thee from above. Everything he did, he did willingly,
voluntarily, He willingly obeyed the commandment of his father.
Verse 19, there was a division therefore again among the Jews
for these sakes. There always is. And many of them said, he has
a devil and he's crazy. Why hear ye him? Now the world could not understand
him. nor prove what he was saying
was not according to the scripture. So they said he's crazy and demon
possessed. And any true preacher of the
gospel has been accused of the same thing. If a man hadn't been
accused of this, he's not preaching what the Lord preaches. That
always happens. Now I want to take you to Acts chapter 26. Verse 24. And as he thus spake for himself,
Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself. You're crazy. Much learning doth
make thee mad. You're a raven maniac. You've spent too much time reading
scriptures. You're crazy. Now what led up
to this? In Acts chapter 21, Paul was
arrested. This began him being imprisoned
in Rome, but it started in Acts chapter 21. He was arrested.
He asked the Roman soldier, let me speak to the people. And he
spoke in the Hebrew tongue. You can read about it in Acts
chapter 22. And he preached the gospel to them, what took place
in Acts chapter 9 on the road to Damascus and the great light
appearing to him. And after he gave his testimony
to the Jewish people, you know what they said? Away with such
a fellow from the earth. It's not fit that he should live. That was their response. Now Paul goes through a series
of events during his incarceration. He's brought before the Jewish
council. He's brought before Felix. He's brought before Festus
and before Agrippa. Acts chapter 26, he tells once
again what happened in Acts chapter 9 on the road to Damascus. And after giving this account,
I love what he says in verse 22, having therefore obtained
help of God, Acts 26, 22, having therefore obtained help of God,
I continue unto this day witnessing both to the small and great saying
none other things than those which the prophets and Moses
did say should come. Now he's letting him know, I'm
only preaching the Old Testament scriptures. There's nothing new.
This is not unique with me. I'm preaching the eternal truth
of the scriptures. And look what he says in verse
23. He gives three shoulds. And these shoulds ought to be
in our preaching all the time. He gives three shoulds. That
Christ should suffer. and that he should be the first
that should rise from the dead and should show light unto the
people and to the Gentiles. Christ should suffer. Why? Because it's God's purpose. Because he was guilty and he
was getting what he deserved. When the sins of God's people
became his, he should. suffer. That's powerful language.
He should suffer and he should be the first to rise from the
dead because he completely satisfied all that God requires. There
was a must needs be to him for him to rise from the dead and He should show light unto the
people, unto the Gentiles. He's showing us this light right
now, how God can be just and justify the ungodly. I hope that
never becomes cliche with any of us. That's the most glorious,
holy, God-honoring truth, how God can be just and justify somebody
like me or you. Verse 24. And as he thus spake
for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art
beside thyself. You've gone crazy. Much learning
does make thee mad. But he said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus. The implication being, I'm not
the one who's mad. You are. I'm not mad, most noble Thestis. Now anybody, here's what I wanna
close with. Anybody who doesn't believe the
gospel is a madman. Anybody who doesn't believe the
gospel is crazy. You know, if somebody's an atheist,
that's crazy. If somebody's irreligious, that's
crazy. If somebody's religious, that's
even crazier. I'm not mad, most noble Festus,
but speak the words of truth Soberness, and that word sober
means sound-mindedness. Now, the gospel, we don't believe
it because it makes sense, but it makes sense. It makes sense. It's the only thing that makes
sense. I love when the Lord had healed that Gadarene demonic
in Mark chapter five, The scripture says they found him sitting at
the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Now, if you sit at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ and are clothed in his righteousness
only, You are in your right mind. If not, and I'm not saying this,
I hope the Lord brings you to this, but if not, you're mad. You're crazy. May the Lord deliver
us from being crazy and cause us to sit at his feet, clothed
in his righteousness, in our right mind. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. Lord, how we thank you for the great shepherd of the
sheep. and what he accomplished. How we thank you that all that
are of you hear your words. Lord, what confidence we have
in you. Lord, we confess our sins. We
confess our unbelief. We confess our weakness. Forgive
us and cleanse us for Christ's sake. And how we thank you that
you're a God who knows our frame and that remembers that we're
dust. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would order our steps in your word and let no iniquity
have dominion over us. Bless this word for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen.