Now you turn in your Bible again
there to the passage we read in the beginning, Mark chapter
3. Mark chapter 3. The title of this message is,
He called whom he would. He called whom he would. Notice
Mark 3 verse 13. And he goeth up into a mountain,
and he calleth unto him whom he would. They came unto Him. Now we learn in these verses
that our Lord sovereignly chooses twelve sinners. That's what He's
choosing. Twelve sinners. Peter was as
much a sinner as Judas. Is that right? Ruined in Adam. Fallen in Adam. The Lord chooses
twelve sinners to serve His purpose. Eleven of these men, the Lord
uses to the praise of the glory of His grace. He made them apostles. Special men, gifted, sent of
God to preach the gospel. Eleven of these men, He uses
to the praise of the glory of His grace. to preach the glorious
gospel, to establish his church in the earth. God uses means,
means and man to accomplish his purpose. One of these men, Judas,
the Lord uses to the praise of the glory of his justice. Judas
is called a betrayer. called a traitor. Judas sold
the Lord, sold out on the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Have you ever wondered in your
mind, turn to John chapter 6, why the Lord included Judas in
these 12? Well, let's see what the Scriptures
teach. John chapter 6, hold your place
there in Mark 3, and then turn to John chapter 6, Verse 70.
Let's begin at verse 66. John 6, 66. From that time many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him, when
he declared unto them the sovereignty of God in salvation. Then said
Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away? Then Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life. We believe and we are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God Jesus answered
them have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is the devil he
knew exactly all he knew exactly who Judas was and what he would
do he spake this of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon for he it was that should betray
him being one of the twelve Stay right here in John and find John
13. John 13, 18. Why did the Lord Jesus choose
Judas and included him in that inner circle? Well, the Lord
had a purpose for him. In John 13, Verse 18, I speak
not of you all. I know whom I have chosen, but
that the scripture might be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it
comes to pass, that when it has come to pass, when it does come
to pass, the Lord knew all that was going to happen. You may
believe that I am, that I am, that I am, Now Judas was not
something, look back at Mark 3, Judas was not something out
of God's plan, out of God's purpose. He was much as part of God's
purpose as Peter and John. Just as the Lord raised up Pharaoh
and dumped him in the Red Sea for his purpose, even so God
raised up Judas and used him for his own sovereign purpose. removed the betrayer, removed
Judas, and placed him with the Apostle to the Gentiles, who
did he replace him with? A Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus,
later known after his conversion as the Apostle Paul. God had
Paul in mind all along to use Judas for his particular purpose
raised him up for that purpose to sell him out to betray that
the scripture might be fulfilled that God's purpose might be fulfilled
and then he removed him and put Paul in his place. Now these apostles were special
order of men who served for a special purpose for a special time. When
they died their office died. There are no apostles today.
When they died, these special gifts given to them died as well. God gave them special credentials
to publicly demonstrate they were sent by Him with His message. Hold your place there in Mark
3 and find Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. These special gifts that they
had were credentials that they were sent by the Lord Jesus with
His message. In Hebrews 2, notice verse 3,
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Which at
first began to be spoken by the Lord, and confirmed unto us by
them that heard Him, the apostles. God also bearing them witnessed
both with signs and wonders, and with different miracles and
gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. They were special
men, raised up for a special time, for a special purpose in
establishing the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Now I want to use
the example of these men as a pattern to show you what is required
and expected of those who are called and sent to preach the
gospel. I'm not going to talk about each
individual. You can do that study on your
own. They were all, with the exception
of Judas, they were all sinners saved by God's grace, including
Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul, given special gifts and sent
to preach the gospel. But I want to use what the Lord,
how He instructs them use this as a pattern and illustration
to show you and what is expected of those who are sent to preach
the gospel in our day. Now here's four things. Here's
the first one. Like the apostles, faithful gospel
preachers are men who are chosen, called, and converted by his
sovereign mercy. Notice verse 13 in our text again. He goeth up into a mountain,
and he calleth unto him whom he would, and they came unto
him. Now, a little more information
is given to us. Find Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter
6. Luke chapter 6 verse 12. Luke
6 verse 12. And it came to pass, in those
days he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night
in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called
unto him his disciples. So there was a whole multitude
of people he called unto himself, and of them he chose twelve,
whom he also named apostles. So there were a multitude that
came to Him, but out of those men He sovereignly and irresistibly
called those to Himself who were chosen by Him. He sovereignly
chose whom He would, not according to their merit, for they had
none. You look back in all their calling,
He called them. He sovereignly chose whom He
would, not according to their merit, not according to their
works, not according as they deserved anything, but according
to His grace and purpose given in Christ Jesus. Now, I can make
good on that. Turn to John 15. John 15. And it's the same today. The
Lord chooses and calls and sends whom He will in the ministry
and the preaching of the gospel. John 15 verse 13 greater love
hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends
and you are my friend if you do whatsoever I command you henceforth
I call you not servants now these are the words of our Lord to
his apostles for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth
but I've called you friends for all things that I have heard
of my Father I've made known to you. Verse 16 you didn't choose
me You've not chosen Me. I've chosen you and ordained
you that you should go forth and bring forth fruit, that you
should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever you shall ask of My Father in My name, He may
give it to you. These things I command you that
you love one another." You see, He chose them. He sent them. Turn to John 17. Here's another
scripture. John 17 verse 2. And thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as the Father hath given him. This is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. Look at verse 6, I manifested
thy name unto the man which thou gavest me out of the world, thine
they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept thy
word. So like the apostles, faithful
gospel preachers are those who are chosen of God, blessed of
God. Something else we see here, he
sovereignly called them to himself. Notice back in the text. Mark
chapter 3, it says, He goeth up into a mountain,
and calleth unto him whom he would, and they came to him. He chose them, and he called
them, and they came to him, and he ordained them that they should
be with him. He sovereignly called those to
himself. Our Lord said, All that the Father
giveth to me, they shall come to me, and those that come to
me I will in no wise cast out. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto him. The sovereign call
of our Lord is always effectual. It is never resisted. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. The works of our Lord
are never in vain. He never tries to do anything.
He didn't ask these men. He called them and ordained them
and made them apostles. Let me give you an example of
this. Turn to Galatians chapter 1.
Galatians chapter 1. And he is the same when he called
sinners out of darkness into light. Galatians chapter 1. Notice
the testimony of Saul of Tarsus. In Galatians chapter 1. He said
in verse 13, you've heard of my conversation in time past
in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God, I wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals, my own nation, being more exceedingly
zealous of the tradition of my fathers. But when it pleased
God, separated me from my mother's womb, called me by His grace,
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. When it pleased God, He chose
them and He called them unto Himself. He didn't call them
because they were fit and qualified, did He? He made them fit and
qualified by His grace. We read that this morning in
our Bible study from Colossians chapter 1. It is God Almighty
we give thanks unto Him who has made us meet fit to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in Christ Jesus. He made them
fit and qualified by His grace. The Apostle Paul said, turn again
to another scripture, 1 Corinthians 15. I want you to see this. The
works of God and the calling of God are never in vain. 1 Corinthians
15. Here is the Apostle's testimony
again. Saul of Tarsus, 1 Corinthians
15, 10. He says in verse 9, verse 8,
last of all he was seen of me as one born out of due time,
for I am least of the apostles, that I am not meet, I am not
fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain." Grace is never in vain. Grace is never resisted. But
I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me and in me. See what he's saying
here? This is also a picture of our Lord's effectual call
in salvation. God's election is an effectual
election. God has blessed us according
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
God's atonement is an effectual atonement. He put away sin, the
sin of His covenant people, by the sacrifice of Himself. It
is an effectual work. What do I mean by effectual?
gets the job done completely, put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. God's election is an effectual
election. God's atonement is an effectual
atonement. God's call is an effectual call. I want you to turn and read this
with me. Find 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 9. Whom He did predestinate, them
He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified. 1 Peter 2 verse 9 But you are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You
see, He affectionately chose us just as He did those apostles. He effectually called us just
as He did those apostles. And He effectually quickens us
just as He did those sinful men. And He makes us new creatures
in Christ Jesus. Now here's the second point.
Look back at Mark chapter 3. Point number 2. Like the apostles,
faithful gospel preachers are ordained to go and preach the
gospel. notice if you will verse 14 and
he ordained 12 that they should be with him that he might send
them forth to preach to preach to preach what was their message
Christ Christ Christ who he is what he did, why, and where he
is now. Like the apostles, faithful gospel
preachers are ordained to go and preach the gospel. Now, he
says this in the beginning of their ministry, and when he leaves
them his last words, you remember? Turn to Mark chapter 16. His
last words to them were these. Mark chapter 16. Look at verse 14. Mark 16, 14. Afterward he appeared unto the
eleven, as they sat at meat, upbraided them with their unbelief
and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which
had seen him after he was risen. You remember the women came and
said, He's alive! Peter said, I won't believe until
I go see the tomb myself. And he said unto them, Verse
15, go into all the world, now look at this carefully, and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth, now he that
believes what? Go and preach the gospel, just
one. The gospel, gospel of his grace,
gospel of his glory, the gospel concerning Christ Jesus. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. And these signs shall follow
them that believe. In my name they shall cast out
devils and they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take
up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not
hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover. I believe that's referring to
these apostles, the sin of God. Now back to the text. My friend,
the importance of preaching. The importance of preaching.
Now I want you to hear me for just a minute. The importance
of true gospel preaching. Why do we put such an emphasis
upon preaching? The Lord sent these men, ordained
of God, chosen, called, and quickened. He sent them forth to preach
the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher. Mark chapter 1. Turn back over
there. Remember verse 14? Mark chapter 1. Now after that
John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God. Not an earthly kingdom. A spiritual
kingdom. Salvation is of the Lord. Saying
that time is fulfilled, the kingdom is at hand. Repent and believe
the gospel. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher. Turn to Luke chapter 4. Luke
chapter 4 verse 18. When he went back to Nazareth,
as his custom was on the Sabbath day, he went to the synagogue.
And he asked for the book of Isaiah. And he found the place
where it is written, in Isaiah 61. Now, he didn't need this
book to find out what was there. He's the author of the book.
But he found the place in Isaiah 61, 1, written here in Luke 4,
18, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, And recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed
the book, gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the
eyes of all them in the synagogue were fastened upon him. And he
began to say unto them this day, Is this scripture fulfilled in
your ears? Our Lord was a preacher. He ordained
these men to go and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 2.5, don't turn, let
me just quote this to you, Noah was called, not the builder of
the ark, Noah was called a preacher of righteousness. Psalm 40 verse
9. David, the king of Israel, The
sweet psalmist, the man after God's own heart, David said in
Psalm 40 verse 9, I've preached righteousness in the great congregation. Whose righteousness did he preach?
He preached the Lord our righteousness. In 1 Corinthians 1.18, Paul said,
God didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. The
gospel of Christ and Him crucified. He said again in 1 Corinthians
9.16, Woe is unto me if I do not preach the gospel of Christ. writing his last word of instruction
as he sat in that Roman prison, and he writes back to young Timothy.
Do you remember what he said? His last words to Timothy, his
dear brother and friend in the gospel? He called him, my son.
He said, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ
to preach the gospel. Timothy, be about preaching,
preaching, preaching, preaching. Now we place great importance
upon preaching the gospel of God's grace here at Zebulun. Because God places great importance
upon preaching. How important is preaching? Turn
to Romans 10, let's see. God has ordained it to the salvation
of his people, to the calling out of his people. It is necessary
that the gospel be preached. It is necessary that sinners
hear the gospel. God uses that to quicken and
call his people to himself. Romans 10 verse 11, For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. But
there is no difference. This is Romans 10 verse 12. between
Jew and Gentile, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all
that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall I call on him
in whom they have not believed? Question mark. How shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent? How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, that bring glad tidings
of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah said, Who has believed? I report. We
go preaching the gospel knowing full well that not all men that
hear are going to believe, but his sheep will. He said, they
hear my voice. I know them and they do follow
me. So then faith comes by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. There is a necessity, my friends,
of hearing the gospel of God's grace. Any ministry that does
not have preaching and teaching of God's word in the forefront
Preaching Christ and Him crucified as Paul said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone, the Word of God alone.
Any ministry that does not have that in the forefront is useless
to God. Useless to the souls of perishing
sinners. Will not be honored of God or
be used to the salvation of sinners. There is a necessity of preaching
the gospel of God's grace. Let me give you an example of
this. Turn to Acts chapter 5. All through the study that we
had through the book of Acts, we found that believers there
were persecuted for the gospel. They were scattered everywhere
for the gospel. But you know they went everywhere
doing one thing? In Acts chapter 5, verse 41,
They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to supper, shame for his name, Acts 5 41,
and daily in the temple and in every house. They ceased not
to teach and preach, teach and preach, Jesus Christ. Teach and preach, Jesus Christ. My dear pastor, Pastor Mahan, had a faithful, faithful gospel
ministry for 50 years plus in Ashland, Kentucky. God blessed
his preaching. God blessed his preaching in
an unusual way. Called out many people to Christ. Called out sinners. God granted
salvation in Christ Jesus to those who were effectively called
through the preaching of the gospel. A multitude of sinners
over those 50 years. heard the gospel from the lips
of that man that God raised up. And yet the enemies of the gospel
often accused him of this. Well all he does is preach. All he does is preach Jesus Christ. And they often said this, well
what do you do for the young people? I know what all these other churches
do. They have this club and that club and that club and this club
and that club. My friends, our young people
have enough entertainment in school and all these other things.
They don't need entertainment here. My pastor would always
answer this way, What are you doing for the young people in
your congregation? And there was a multitude of
young people. Same thing I do for the old people in our congregation.
For the middle-aged people, for the young people, we preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the young people
need. They need to hear the gospel. It's not entertainment that we're
interested in. They've got enough entertainment.
Preaching. Preaching. Preaching. Preaching. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now back
to the text. That's my main point. Preaching. Preaching. Preaching. We say
you just emphasize that because you're a preacher. Well, I am
a preacher. God made me so, but I emphasize
that because God puts emphasis upon it. Woe unto the man who will not
hear God's preacher. Remember what we read in Matthew
10? Woe unto them who will not hear
God's servant. They're rejecting God's message,
God's Savior, and they're rejecting God Almighty. Now, thirdly, here's
the third point. I won't keep you as long on these
two points. I've got two more points. The third point is this. Back in Mark 3. He gave them
power to heal sicknesses. Like the apostles, faithful gospel
ministers are caring, concerned people about those to whom they
minister. They were sent to heal the sick.
That means they were sent to have compassion on those who
were in need. Although gospel preachers today
cannot heal the sick, they can certainly pray for those who
were sick. They can certainly point those
to the Almighty Lord who is able to heal to the uttermost. When you get sick and you go
to the hospital, I'm going to come visit you. I'm going to
pray for you. I'm going to pray that the Lord
will have mercy and heal your body. And I'm going to tell you
about the Lord Jesus Christ who took our sins to himself and
his own body on the tree to heal us with the healing that we really
need. Spiritual healing. This old body,
just face it now, this old body is going to get sick and die.
You can pump it, paint it, promote it, do all you want with this
flesh, but it's still flesh and it's headed for the grave. On
our vacation, we visited George Washington's house. We visited
Thomas Jefferson's house, the forefathers of our country. We
visited Robert E. Lee's mansion. We visited the
home of Stonewall Thomas Jefferson. Jonathan Jackson, the great confederate
general. I visited not only their house,
I visited their grave. They're all dead. The bodies
of those men, the flesh of those bodies are rotting in the ground. This body is going to die. The
healing we need is the spiritual healing. I'm going to pray for
you when you're sick. I'm going to visit you when you're
sick. I'm going to have care and concern and compassion on
you. But I'm going to tell you about
the Lord Jesus Christ. He saves us from all sin. The last
point is this. It says in our text, He sent
them not only to heal power, they had power to heal the sick.
God gave them unusual power. raise the dead look what it says here lastly
he gave them power to cast out devils devils cast out demon
spirits verse 15 like the apostles faithful gospel minister must
stand in opposition to and oppose every evil work of the devil We are to contend for the faith
once delivered unto the saints. Especially we are to contend
for those who promote his lies, the lies of Satan. Our Lord says
of him in John 8, For when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of
his own, for he is a liar, and he is a father of lies. Sinner! God's done all he can
do and now it's up to you. That's a lie. There's no truth
in it. You see, he's a liar. And he's
the father of it. And all those who promote that
lie, they promote his lie. Adam, you'll not really die. Eve, you'll not really die when
you eat that fruit. You'll be like God. Oh no, you're
going to die. You see, he's a liar. And faithful
gospel preachers are to oppose his lie of Sinner Save Yourself. Now a couple of scriptures, find
2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11. Like the apostles,
faithful gospel ministers stand in opposition to that lie promoted
by the devil of Sinner Save Yourself. Look what he says here, 2 Corinthians
11, verse 3, But I fear, lest by any means, as a serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity of the gospel, the oneness, the singleness of
the gospel that is in Christ. For he that cometh preaches another
Jesus, whom we have not preached. Or if he that cometh preaches
another Jesus, if he does, whom we have not preached, or if he
preaches another spirit, that you've not received. Or another
gospel which we've not accepted, you better stick with me. That's what he's saying there.
What do they preach? Right across the page. 2 Corinthians
11. A little verse 12. But I would do, that I would
do, that I might cut off occasion from them which is our occasion,
that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we, God
forbid, we should glory save in the cross of Christ. For such
are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers
of Righteousness whose end shall be according to their works. Now what does Satan's ministers
preach? They preach righteousness by
your doing rather than Christ alone. That is a lie. We are to stand opposed to that. Are you opposed to that? Faithful
gospel ministers stand in opposition to. Now I've been criticized
for being too narrow, too dogmatic, not being, and they think because
I'm determined to stand for the gospel of God's grace that I'm
unlovely and uncaring. But my friend, when you love
God and care for the souls of men, you don't lie to them, you
tell them the truth. I'm not interested in numbers.
Filling this building is not my object. Filling this building
is a simple task. It could be done very quickly. I'm interested in you knowing
God in Christ Jesus. And I'm not interested in promoting
self-salvation. I'm not interested in in promoting
and I'm standing in direct opposition to that which is called free
will works religion. You know where that originates?
Read Isaiah 14 sometime. Satan himself says, I will ascend,
I will do this, I will make myself like God and God said, no you
won't. You'll be brought down to hell. Free will works religion
has its origin in Satan himself who opposes the throne of God.
Well, in closing, one old preacher of the past, J.C. Rouse, said
this, How great the responsibility of true ministers of Christ.
I stand as one who must give an account to God Almighty for
what I say and what I preach. How heavy their work when shouldered
in the service to their Lord. How much they need the prayers
of all praying people. I need your prayers. I covet
your prayers. Charles Spurgeon, that great
preacher. God made him a great preacher. Preached to thousands
of people over there in London. And God used his ministry in
a great way to the salvation of many sinners. Someone asked
him one day, well, Mr. Spurgeon, what do you attribute
such phenomenal success of your ministry? How come? You know what he said? My people
pray unto God for me and for this ministry. No wonder the Apostle Paul repeatedly
said this, Brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. And I ask you to pray for this preacher. Pray
for this ministry. I realize I'm just a man. I'm
just like you are. A sinner in need of great mercy. And as we come to the close here
at Zebulun, The 15th year of the ministry that God has given
us here. Do you realize I've been here almost 15 years? That
goes by quick, doesn't it? I pray God will give me 15 more. Brethren, pray for one another. And you pray for me.