Okay, turning your Bible again
to Mark chapter 6. The title of this sermon is found
in verse 3 of Mark 6, is not this the carpenter? They meant it in that day as
a demeaning title. But you know what? I find it
to be quite glorious. Is not this The carpenter? Oh
yes. Oh yes. But he's much more. Much more. Now let's read verse
1. Mark 6 verse 1. And he went out. He went out from where he had
been. There in Capernaum. Where he
had raised this little 12 year old girl who had died. And he
raised her from the dead. And they were astonished that
he went out from Capernaum and came into his own country. He came back to his hometown
of Nazareth and his disciples, notice how this is written in
the present tense, follow him. They did follow the Lord. The Lord Jesus makes his way
back to the town where he was raised. where he lived for thirty
years, where he labored with his hands, with a saw, with a
hammer, with nails, as a craftsman, working as a carpenter back to
Nazareth. Although it was his hometown,
when he came back on this occasion, he was not in good standing with
the religious community Remember what we read just a moment ago
from Luke chapter 4 when he preached the gospel to them of God's sovereign
mercy and salvation? Remember their response? They
were all filled with wrath. They rose up and led him out
to the edge of the city, out to a cliffside, and would have
shoved him off, would have murdered him. But he simply passed through
their midst, being the sovereign Lord. The carnal mind is yet
enmity, hatred against God Almighty. The Lord says in John 1 11, He
came into His own, His own people, His own nation. They turned thumbs
down on Him. They said, away with this man.
You remember what Pilate said? Behold your king. We don't have
any king. But Caesar is our king. Away
with this Jew from Nazareth. Crucify him. He came into his
own. His own received him not. Instead
of receiving him, believing him, his own kinsmen, his own countrymen
refused to believe him. They despised him and held him
in contempt. I want to show you something
here. Now see, we see something of his compassion. and his commitment
and his boldness. He's back in harm's way. These
people in Nazareth, especially the religious people of that
community, they had no good thought toward his ministry. They wanted
to end it. Not only his ministry, but his
life. Now he goes right back into the
teeth of the enemy and the opposition. with a commitment and compassion
in his heart to tell those who hated him the truth one more
time. You see that? Back in harm's
way. They rejected not only his message,
but they rejected his person. He's the carpenter. We don't
want to hear him. Yet he's determined to declare
the gospel to his own people. He seeks the salvation of those
who were his enemies. Oh may God give us that commitment,
that boldness, that compassion to preach the gospel to our own
family, to our own neighbors. to our own community. God help
us to be determined as the apostles in the early church to preach
nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I want that kind
of compassion, don't you? That kind of boldness to tell
my loved ones, my neighbors, my community the truth. You see,
it's the truth that sets sinners free. A lie is a counterfeit. How much do you reckon you could
buy down at Lowe's or Walmart if you went in there with some
monopoly money? Some counterfeit money. How much
purchase power does a counterfeit dollar, fifty dollar, hundred
dollar, thousand dollar bill have? Zero. A counterfeit gospel
will not save a flea. It is a truth that sets sinners
free. And he spoke the truth of God. The truth of salvation in Christ
Jesus. Notice something else in verse
1. His disciples follow him. Now, they're well aware, they
no doubt heard what happened last time he was back in the
synagogue of Nazareth. But you see, they're following
the Master. They're following the Lord. They're
following the one who's the captain of their salvation back into
harm's way. And they follow Him. Although
it was in the danger, His disciples followed Him. Why? They believed
Him. They loved Him. They wanted to
be where He was at all times. They left all to follow Him.
They wanted to hear the gospel one more time. They followed
Him into harm's way to hear the gospel preached one more time. Remember, He asked the disciples
one time when many of those who were apparently following Him
for various reasons, but not real faith, And he said, then
he turned to the twelve, well, boys, a lot of them are leaving. Now's your opportunity if you
want to leave. There's the door. Remember what Peter said? Here's
what he said. When the Lord said, Will you
also go away? Simon Peter answered and said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe and
sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. How
can we leave you who is life? and salvation and our blessed
Redeemer. You see disciples, disciples follow Him. They don't ever lay
down the battle. They don't ever turn away from
the Lord. They follow Him. You know why? They're in love with Him. They're
in love with Him. This is good evidence that you're
a believer. not ashamed to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, nor to
publicly identify where his gospel is preached. The Savior said in John 10, My
sheep hear my voice, I know them, I love them, and they follow
me. It is said of the early church
of Paul and Barnabas, These were men who hazarded their lives
for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They put themselves in
harm's way for the cause of God and truth. Not ashamed to declare
the gospel. Not ashamed of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The description of believers
found in Revelation 14.4 is, these are they which follow the
Lamb wherever he goes, wherever he leads. That's where they follow. The Lord led me, now you think
about this, I think about it all the time, all the way from
the Rocky Mountains of Northern Utah, in pagan religion, steep
in idolatry, dead in sin, all the way to Ashland, Kentucky,
where one day God sent me a preacher told me the truth of salvation. And God used that preached message
to quicken my dead heart and give me a heart loved for Christ.
And one day He called me to the ministry, put me in the ministry,
and sent me here, almost 15 years ago, to tell you the truth. Now here we sit. All this is
not by chance. You see, the sheep follow the
Master wherever He leads. Wherever he leads, that's where
they go. Notice in Mark 6 verse 2 and 3, And when the Sabbath
day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing
him were astonished, saying, From whence, where does this
man have this knowledge, these things? What wisdom is given
unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
They acknowledged that He had wisdom. They acknowledged that
He had done miracles. But what I want you to notice
is this, when the Sabbath day was come, that designated day
under the law set aside for worship, it was Saturday on that day,
where was the Lord Jesus Christ found? Even though He knew, He
wasn't welcome down there, yet as obedient to the law, he had
to assemble with those people. When that pointed day for worship
came, the Lord and his disciples went to the house of worship.
Good place to be. Good place to be for every believer,
on every believer, to be on the designated day set aside for
worship. This is their desire to be where
God's people meet, where God's gospel is preached. The king
of Israel, David, said this, I was glad when they said unto
me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Oh, what a special
day God has given to us, the privilege of worship, the privilege
and freedom to assemble in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to read His word, to call upon God in prayer, to preach His
gospel. How could we forsake the assembling
of ourselves together as a manner of some is? That's the warning
in Hebrews 10. We must not allow earthly care. As believers now, speaking to
those who love Christ and love the gospel, We must not allow
earthly care, social concern, keep us from the assembly of
saints, the assembly where the gospel is preached, where to
set our affection on things above. This is the place, now listen,
this is the place where the Lord has promised to meet with us.
He says, where two or three are gathered in my name, I'm in the
midst of you. I want to be there, don't you?
I want to be where my Lord is. You see, His disciples, they
follow Him. This is the place where God speaks
to His people through the preached Word. It pleased God through
preaching to save you that believe. This is the place where God is
worshipped. He seeks us such to worship Him
in spirit and in truth. I want to be where God's saints
assemble together. and where the gospel of God's
grace is preached. This is a place where we find
food for our soul, where the desire, the sincere milk of the
word, that we might grow thereby. I want to be here. You say, well,
preacher, you've got to be there. You are the preacher. My friend,
I want to be here. Don't you? I want to stand here
and preach His gospel. I'm in love with Him. His disciples
follow Him. Secondly, we see this in verse
2. What did he do when he came to
the synagogue? He preached the word. When the Lord Jesus came
to the house of God, he taught the word. He was a preacher of
the gospel, prophet, son of God. Remember the reading from Mark
1.14. After John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching
the gospel of the kingdom and saying, The time is fulfilled.
The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.
Wherever he went, he went preaching and teaching. Thus saith the
Lord. Now listen, the major aspect
of our worship service is centered on and around teaching and preaching
the word of God. Now if you're going to come here,
we're going to teach His Word. We're not going to play games,
we're not going to entertain people. His Gospel, that's what we center
on. There's no room in our worship
service for social programs. If you're interested in a social
program, go down to the YMCA. There's no room in our worship
service for social programs or social crusades or entertainment
programs. Go down to the movie show, picture
show, movie house if you want entertainment. There's no place
in our worship service for political agendas. I don't have one. How many times have I mentioned
anything about the presidential election in the last year from
this pulpit? How many times? Zero. And I did that consciously on
purpose. My business here is not any political
agenda. My kingdom, my Lord said, is
not of this world. I didn't come here to tell you
who to vote for. I want you to vote, but I leave
that with your own conscience. My business here is to preach
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. we must have and desperately
need. And what we must have and desperately
need is a plain, straightforward, dogmatic, decisive preaching
of thus saith the Lord. We preach not ourselves, but
Jesus Christ the Lord Himself. The gospel of Christ is the power
of God unto salvation. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the power of God unto salvation. The Apostle said this, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He also said this, For though
I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is
laid upon me. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. What did our Lord preach on this
day? The same thing He preached when He was there last time,
that we just read in Luke chapter 4. Our Lord preached Himself
as the only Savior of sinners. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Our Lord preached Himself as a fulfillment of all
Holy Scripture. Remember what He said? This day
is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Our Lord preached
the glorious sovereignty of God in salvation. He said, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. You see, we have just
one message. It's Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Our Lord preached the sovereignty of God in salvation. He said,
the Father had given me power over all flesh, that I should
give eternal life to as many as the Father had given to me. Something else we see in our
text. In verses 2 and 3, when the Lord
had finished preaching, they were both astonished at His wisdom
and power, and were offended of Him and His doctrine. For
whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which
is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought
by his hands? Is not this the carpenter? They were offended at him and
his doctrine. Nothing has changed. The carnal mind is still enmity
against God. The natural man will not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him.
The preaching of the cross to those who are perishing, Christ
crucified, it's foolishness, it's nonsense. Sinners left to
themselves still seek salvation by their deeds and work, being
ignorant of God, being ignorant of the righteousness that's freely
provided in the gospel. Blessed is that man whom the
Lord will impute, give righteousness, a justifying righteousness without
your works. I'm interested in that. I don't
have anything that would recommend me before God. I'm guilty. I'm
vile. I'm wretched. My total hope of
a justifying righteousness before God who is holy is totally vested
in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord my righteousness. In Him I stand. That's good ground. You know what that is? That's
burnt ground. That's burnt ground. You ever heard that story about
burnt ground? Huh? Years ago, when we had that manifest
destiny, I forget which president declared that. Was it Jackson?
Go West, young man! Go West! You remember? So they
started out across the plains. Back in those days, the plains
were full of buffalo and high grass. And as those wagon trains
started across that prairie land, Often times they'd see in the
distance a fire coming their way. A mighty prairie fire that
would sweep the wagon train. They were fearful. You know what
they did? The wagon master would tell the
men, men, circle the wagons. And then go over here and start
a fire. And burn a big large area. burn it up and then take those
wagons and put them in that burnt ground and when the fire came
rushing toward them hit that burnt ground went all the way
around them they were safe and secure on burnt ground the Lord
Jesus Christ is burnt ground He took all the wrath of God
against my sin and extinguished them, put them away by the sacrifice
of himself. I'm standing on burnt ground.
There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus' burnt
ground. We do great harm to the gospel
when we attempt to take the offense out to please the natural man,
the fallen sinner. My pastor, Pastor Mahan, used
to say this, to remove the offense is to remove the power. God help
us never to compromise the truth in order to get along with the
enemies of the gospel. I don't want to try to remove
the offense of sin. That's what I am. Sin. You're looking at six feet of
S-I-N. That's what I am. From the top
of my head to the bottom of my feet, I'm nothing but sin in
myself. Guilty before God. Well, can't
you just lighten up on that a little bit? Can't you just say, well,
you know, we're not as good as we ought to be. I'm trying to
be a little bit better. Would I dare compromise God's
Word when He said there's none righteous, no, not one? We'll
just lighten up a little bit on salvation. We know salvation
is totally upon the merit and sacrifice and blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is totally by the grace
of God alone. Well, can't you back off on that
a little bit and give us a little bit of elbow room? Can't we wiggle
in there a little bit and take a little bit of our work and
put in there and say, well, salvation is kind of depending on me too,
isn't it? No. No, it's not. Salvation is always
determined, dependent, and accomplished by Jesus Christ. As a matter
of fact, in salvation, you ain't got nothing to do with it. Pardon
the language. Salvation is of the Lord. God saves us and calls us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace. Grace alone. Grace alone. God helps us never to compromise. I want to camp for a moment on
verse 3. Here is the key thought. Is not
this the carpenter? Is not this the carpenter? Here
we see the Lord's great humility to be our Savior, our Redeemer.
He is the carpenter. He said, I will build my church.
That's what a carpenter does, doesn't he? I'll build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against my doing. Except the Lord builds a house,
they who build it build in vain, except the carpenter builds a
house. And he is the carpenter. Yes,
he is. Thank God he is. He is the carpenter,
but not only that, You see, he's a real man. Bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. He is the carpenter, but you
know what? He's more than that. He's the Christ. He's the Christ
of God. He's the Christ of God. What
was a manner of reproach in the eyes of the enemies of the Lord
is to the believer a matter of heartfelt joy. He's the carpenter. He is God manifest in the flesh. What a blessing we have. We have a kinsman redeemer who
is not only near kin to me, who is not only willing to redeem,
but who is able to redeem me from all my sin. He's my substitute. The Lord of Glory identified
with His people to live and to work as a carpenter under the
curse that we were placed under when Adam fell. You remember
what God said to Adam in the garden? Here's what He said.
Don't turn, let me just read it to you. In Genesis 3, He said, Adam, because you hearken
to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree which
I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat. Cursed is the
ground for your sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of your life." He was a man of sorrow acquainted
with grief. You see, this curse of the fall
was upon him as well, as far as working and laboring. Thorns
and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee. Thou shalt eat the
herb of the field. Now listen, in the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread. He labored as a carpenter, sweat
as a laboring man, a working man for bread. And that's what
God said would happen, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread till thou return into the ground. For out of it you
were taken, thus thou art, and thus thou shalt return. The Lord
Jesus Christ, now you think about this, He never performed a miracle
to relieve his own hunger. Not one time. In John chapter
4, he sat on a well, being wearied in body, and he asked a woman
for a drink of water. He sent his disciples one time
into town to buy some bread. He fed others by miracles, but
not Himself. He worked and labored with His
hand. You see, He identified with us. We need someone to identify
with us in our humanity apart from sin, and He did this. In
order to redeem His people from their sin, He was manifested
in the flesh. That is, God Almighty is a real
man. Although He never ceased to be God when He was manifested
in the flesh, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory. 2 Corinthians 8-9 says this, For
ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he impoverished himself, that
you through his poverty might be made rich. Philippians 2, you know this
very well. Let me just read it to you. Who
being in a form of God, that I did not robbery to be equal
with God, that made himself of no reputation, took upon Him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He was a
real man. We had to have someone to represent
us, who could identify with us as a laboring substitute. fulfilling all God's precepts,
honoring God's law, magnifying God's law in His life and in
His death. Such a One we have. He is the
Carpenter. He is my Savior. He is my Lord. He is not only revealed in Scripture
as the Carpenter, but also the Christ. He is the God-Man Mediator. He is both God and man in one
blessed person, working out salvation for His people. In Acts chapter
2, the Apostle said this, God hath made that same Jesus whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. It's who He is that gives
merit and power and glory to what He did. He bought us with
His own blood. We're redeemed not with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of Christ as the Lamb without
blemish and without spot. He bought us with His own blood. You see, the carpenter who came
to save his people, who came to build up a spiritual kingdom
by his obedience unto death. He is the Christ of God. He is
the Messiah. He is the anointed of God. Thirdly,
he is the captain of our salvation. He is the captain of our salvation.
You know a captain is one who is in charge over the troops,
is he not? He is the captain. He is in charge
of our salvation, salvation of the Lord. He has power over all
flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father
has given Him. Here's the verse, Hebrews 2,
9, about the captain of our salvation. It's biblical. For it became
Him, for whom are all things, by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through His sacrifice. I have a perfect captain. I have
a perfect leader. He's not only called the carpenter,
the Christ, the captain. He's called the chief cornerstone. He's called the chief shepherd.
He said, I'm the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep.
He's called the counselor. He is my wisdom. In Him are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the chief shepherd. He is the chief cornerstone.
He is the counselor. He is the commander in chief. He's my consolation. These are
all the names that He has designated in Scripture. He's the commander. He's the consolation. He's my
comfort. He's the chosen of God. He is
the elect. We're chosen in Him. Now look
at verse 4. The Lord said, A prophet is not
without honor except in his own country among his own kin. in his own house. Our Lord is
indeed that special prophet sent to reveal the redemptive will
of God, the prophet that was described and promised of God
in the writings of Moses. Deuteronomy 18, God said, I'll
raise up a prophet from among the brethren, like unto thee
I'll put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him, and it shall come to pass. Now
listen, whosoever will hearken unto his words, which he shall
speak in my name, I'll hold you responsible. I required it at
your hand. Peter preached the same message
in the temple. There in Acts chapter 3, saying that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of these things. He is indeed
the prophet, priest, and he's my king, anointed in all of his
office as the God-man mediator. Now, lest I weary you, verse
5 and 6. Now give me just a couple minutes. Look at verse 5 and 6. He could
there do no mighty work." What? This is a mighty God. He means
someone handcuffed him? He could there do no mighty work
save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, healed them,
and he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went around
about the villages teaching the Word of God. Now, two things
here, and I'll close. He could do no mighty works there. Now, if you read Matthew 13,
verse 58, it tells us the reason why. He did not many mighty works
there because of their unbelief. Now, our Lord, as the sovereign
God, could have done anything He desired to. His sovereign
will is never frustrated by the creature's will. He's the Almighty
God. We read in Daniel 4.35, All the
inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and He doeth
according to His will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of this earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, Lord
God Almighty, what are you doing? Ephesians 1 says He works all
things after the counsel of His own will. So what's being said
here? What's being taught here? Is
there a contradiction? What's being said here? What's being
taught here? Here's what it is. They never asked to receive mercy. They never asked for grace to
help in time of need. They rejected Him as the Messiah,
and it was just and right for the Lord to leave them in their
sin, in their wicked heart, and in their unbelief, and in their
guilt, and to simply pass them by. You remember what the demon
spirit cried out in Mark 1 24? Leave us alone. He will. My prayer is, God, don't
leave me alone. Back at your prayer, God, don't
leave me alone. Second thing is this, in verse
6, he marbled at their unbelief. Of all people that should have
believed him should have been his own kinfolk. They were favored
with so many privileges, yet they believed him not. Faith
is a gift of God. It does not bloom in the hearts
of dead men naturally. It's the gift of God. He marveled
at their unbelief. Now listen to me. Unbelief is
the oldest sin in the world. Adam and Eve did not believe
God. Unbelief is the most common of
all sins. Unbelief is the most inexcusable
sin. Unbelief is the most ruinous
sin. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Unbelief brought death into the world and Adam all died.
Unbelief kept Israel out of the promised land forty years. They entered not in. Why? They
did not believe God. Unbelief robs men of the greatest
blessing. Oh, what a blessing to believe
God. Unbelief is the only sin that
will damn you forever. Unbelief is blasphemy against
God and His gospel. Unbelief is to call God a liar.
Now listen to me. We can never be too much on guard
against our own unbelief. I believe, but I pray also, Lord,
help my unbelief. The root of unbelief still plagues
the believer because we have that old sin nature that drags
us down. Our old sin nature is not completely
dead. The apostles asked, Lord, increase
our faith. Increase our faith. The Lord
said to that father that had that demon-possessed son, when
he brought his son to the Lord and said, if you can do anything,
have compassion on us and help us. And the Lord responded back,
if you can believe, all things are possible to them that believe. It makes my heart to cry out,
Lord, help my unbelief. God help us this morning to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and to be saved, to believe Him. To be fully persuaded in our
heart as Abraham was, being strong in faith, he gave God all the
glory. Romans chapter 4, let's turn
there, and I'll quit with this. Romans chapter 4, turn there. I realize that faith is a gift
of God. I'm going to ask Him, Lord, give
me faith. Romans 4, Luke verse 20, Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded
that what he had promised he was able to perform. Therefore
it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed, but for you also. but for us
also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead who was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification therefore being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God help me to
believe. God help you to believe. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm going to call right now. Lord have mercy. What's my plea? You know what the plea of a mercy
beggar is? God have mercy on me, the sinner. That's me. That's my name, sinner.