Mark chapter 6. And he 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 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, the
son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, 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 honor, 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 marveled because of their
unbelief, and he went round about the villages teaching. The Lord
Jesus, we read in verse one, came into his own country. which means that he came again
to Nazareth, the city in which he had lived for almost 30 years
since he had come back out of Egypt and brought back out of
Egypt. He came, that is Joseph, the
scripture says, came and dwelt in Nazareth. And he remained
there until his baptism when he was about 30 years of age,
and then he began his public ministry. I have four topics
or subjects that I want to speak to us from these verses. First, being a disciple of Jesus
Christ. Notice in verse one, the scripture
says, and his disciples follow him. being a disciple of Jesus
Christ. What does that mean? What does
it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Well, the meaning of
the word disciple is a learner, a pupil. And these disciples,
they learned as they followed him. I want you to look back
to Matthew chapter 28 with me just a minute. Just a few pages
back, in Matthew chapter 28, and reading verses 18 and 19
and 20, we look at what has been called the Great Commission.
These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection,
and the word Here is, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go you,
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo,
I'm with you always, even unto the end of the ages. The word teach in verse 19, go
you therefore and teach all nations. That's the same word that is
translated disciples in our text this morning. In other words,
the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned his church to go into all the
world and to disciple all nations, to teach all nations. If you notice the word in verse
20, teaching, here in Matthew 28, is a completely different
word than the word in verse 19, to disciple all nations. What is a disciple of Jesus? A disciple of Jesus is a learner. is a follower. Now later here
in Mark's gospel in chapter eight, we have the Lord's words when
he said, whosoever, whosoever, no one's excluded, whosoever
shall come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. The disciples followed Christ. What is a disciple? A disciple
is one who learns of Christ, who follows Christ. And the Lord
Jesus Christ said, whosoever will come after me, number one,
must deny himself. And we know that that means he
must renounce and turn from what we would consider his sinful
self. And by sinful self, we mean and
understand that a man, a woman, is in charge. I'll do it my way. However I feel, whichever way
I want to go, however I want to live, I'm in charge. A man
must deny himself. He must deny his sinful self. And number two, he must deny
his righteous self. What do we mean by that? We mean
that a man must deny every good work and everything that he by
nature thinks will put him in good standing with God. that
if it's his obedience to the law, trying to keep the law of
God, if it's being a church member, whatever it is, there's no salvation
in any of those things. A man must deny his sinful self,
his sinful lifestyle, yes, where it was not God's will be done,
but rather it was my will be done, my will. And he must deny
his righteous self and recognize that all of our righteousnesses,
our good works as we call them, before God Almighty are as filthy
rags. That's what the scriptures declare
unto us. Must deny ourself and follow
him. Follow him. person can take up
our cross. We must deny whosoever shall
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. Now what
is that? And notice it says his cross.
You don't take up someone else's cross. No, you take up the cross
that the Lord has ordained for you. If you would be one of his
disciples. And what does that mean to take
up his cross? It means to bear patiently and
cheerfully whatever God has ordained for us. Whatever affliction,
whatever he has appointed for us in this world, to bear that
cheerfully and patiently as we go through this world and follow
me. This is the only way to be a
disciple of Christ. It's to be a learner. It's to
deny self. It is to take up the cross. And
it is to follow him. You know, in John chapter 10,
the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the shepherd and the sheep,
and he confesses himself to be the good shepherd. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. But in that passage he says this,
my sheep hear my voice. He has sheep in this world. Goats do not hear his voice.
You see, when a person is saved, that doesn't mean a goat is somehow
translated or changed into a sheep. My sheep Not only hear his voice,
and I know them, he knows his own. And number three, they follow
me. My sheep hear my voice, and how
do his sheep hear his voice? His sheep hear his voice in the
gospel. In the gospel. As the gospel
is proclaimed, his sheep hear his voice. Not an audible voice,
no, but we hear his voice and knowing that, yes, that's the
truth. That's the truth. That's the
good news. That's the gospel. Jesus Christ
came into this world to save sinners. My sheep, he said, they
hear my voice and I know them. And when it says, I know them,
we recognize it means more than just know about them. As God, he knows all things. He knows all men and all women,
but his sheep, he knows that's the same word, which is translated
in Matthew chapter one, which tells us that Matthew did not
know Mary until after Jesus was born. That is that intimate knowledge
that a man has with his wife. And what it really means is love. I love them. I love them. And I have loved them from old
eternity. So that's the first topic here,
being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Notice that. And he went out
from thence and came into his own country. and his disciples
follow him. We follow him. We follow his
example. We follow him. Now second, here's
the second thing, being offended at him. In verses two and three
we read, and when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach
in the synagogue. Many hearing him were astonished,
saying, From 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, the
son of Mary, the brother of James, and Hosus, and of Judah, and
Simon? And are not his sisters here
with us? And they were offended at him. The people of Nazareth were offended
at him, and they were offended at him because of their familiarity
with him. As I said, he had lived in this
place for 30 years. And we see in these verses what
the Apostle Paul, we see illustrated what the Apostle Paul said in
Philippians 2 concerning him, who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men." Notice these two things that
they said. They were offended at him. They
called him the son of Mary, and they knew his brothers and his
sisters. He, who is God Almighty, was
born into this world to be his people's near kinsmen, near kinsmen
redeemer. He must be bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. Is not this the son of Mary? Yes, he was man. He came to redeem his people.
Remember Job, one of the old patriarchs in the Old Testament.
He said, I know that my Redeemer, that's the word goal, G-O-E-L,
goal. I know that my Redeemer liveth. And the Redeemer, that word goal
means a near kinsman. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
become a man. to be our Redeemer. They were offended at him because
they said, isn't this Mary's son? Isn't this Mary's son? And the answer, of course, is
yes. It was Mary's son, but also the son of God. And the second
thing they say, isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this the carpenter? Now, when they said that, that
was a word of contempt. It wasn't recognizing him and giving praise
to the fact that he was a carpenter. It was a word of contempt. Isn't
this a carpenter? At that time, the carpenter trade
was not a trade that was highly looked upon. Isn't this a carpenter? They called him that in contempt.
When you think about that, a carpenter, what does a carpenter do? A carpenter
builds things, doesn't he? He makes things. Brother Ray McGrew was a carpenter. And we enjoy the things that
he built back in that fellowship hall, back in those restrooms. A carpenter builds things. Isn't a carpenter one who builds
things? He who, as the Son of God, think
about this, when they said they were offended at him and said,
is not this the carpenter? He who is the Son of God made
all things. What does a carpenter do? He
makes things. He builds things. As the son
of God, he made all things. In fact, the apostle John in
his first, in John chapter one tells us, without him was not
anything made that was made. And now in the form of a servant, he's come into this world in
the form of a servant and he worked making things with his
hands. Robert Hawker pointed out this
about him being a carpenter, and I quote, by laboring with
his hands for his daily bread, he literally fulfilled that part
of the curse, which was, this was part of the curse that God
pronounced upon Adam, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread. Think about this. He might, as
Robert Hawker said, he might have fed himself as he fed others. Later on in this chapter, we
are going to say that he feeds thousands of people. He could
have fed himself that way, but that's not the way he chose to
feed himself. Robert Hawker said he could have
fed himself as he fed others by working a miracle, but then
Could he not have come up in this point to the object intended? End of quote. What was his object? What was his object intended
in working to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow? What
was his object in coming into this world period? It was to
redeem his people from the curse. from the curse, not just the
curse that meant that he had to earn his bread by the sweat
of his brow, but the curse of the law, the curse of sin, which
we know is death. And I want you to look at the
two things. I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not. But
look at the two things that they acknowledge. These people who
were offended at him, offended because they knew his mother,
that he was a man, offended because he was a carpenter. They knew
what his trade had been. But notice these two things that
they acknowledged about him in verse two. When the Sabbath day
was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing
him were astonished. Now they, this, look at what
they were astonished about. They were astonished at what
wisdom. They were astonished at his wisdom
and they were astonished at his power. What wisdom is this which
is given unto him? They knew that he had never sat
at the feet of any of their learned rabbis and those who did nothing
other than studied the law. They knew that. He had never
gone to their universities. Where did he get this wisdom
and this power? This power, even such mighty
works are wrought by His hands, and they were offended. My point
is, they were offended at Him because of His wisdom and because
of His power. And they knew who He was, and
they knew what His trade had been. I want you to look, keep
your places here, but turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. They were offended because of
His wisdom. and because of his power. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 22, for the Jews require a sign and
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks." Now notice this, Christ, the power of God,
and the wisdom of God. They were offended at him because
of his wisdom and because of his power. And yet we see that
the apostle Paul tells us that men that he preached to, Jews
and Gentiles, Jews and Greeks, the message they preached was
Christ crucified. That Christ died upon a cross
and he died there bearing the sins of his people. And it is
through Him and through His blood, through His death, that men are
forgiven and justified by the substitutionary work of Christ. The Jews, they find that to be
a stumbling block. That cannot be God's way of salvation. He cannot be the Messiah that
had been promised down through the ages. to down a cross, to
die like a common felon, that cannot be God's way. And the Greeks, the intelligentsia
of that time, with all of their wisdom, that's foolishness. That's foolishness to believe
that one man could expiate, could wash away, could atone for the
sins of many. That's foolishness. But unto
them which are called. Have you been called? Unto them
which are called. In other words, to those who
have heard the voice of Christ and the gospel. Christ is both
the wisdom of God and the power of God. We see God's wisdom in
Christ being crucified. How that God, the holy God that
he is, will not accept anything or anyone that is not perfect. It must be perfect to be accepted. Remember all those animal sacrifices
under the law? They all had this requirement
The animal had to be perfect as far as men could look at that
animal. They couldn't see any blemish,
any deformity, or anything like that to be offered. Why? Because
those animals were all pictures and types of the Holy Son of
God, Jesus Christ, without spot and without blemish. How it is that God, who is absolutely
holy, can forgive a sinner. Not by just saying, well, it's
gone, oh no. His holiness required that that
sin, every sin, must be punished and God's justice must be satisfied. And we see how that is accomplished,
how God might be both just, holy, righteous, and he is, and yet
at the same time, the justifier of all who believe. We see the
wisdom of God and we see the power of God in the work, in
the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now go back to our text. Here's the third topic. a prophet
not honored in his own country. But Jesus said unto them, a prophet
is not without honor, 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. We've already seen that his country,
this country, was Nazareth, the city in which he lived. Now he
was born in Bethlehem, but he's never called Jesus of Bethlehem. But his title, he was called
by them Jesus of Nazareth. And we know that he is that prophet,
as the apostle says, to whom all the prophets gave witness.
He is that prophet. And it was for this reason that
it would not be acceptable that he should work many miracles
there. Now, it's a denial. Listen to
me. Some people and some preachers
had to say it. But they would tell us that somehow
man is able by his unbelief to cripple the power of God. In fact, I read one man said
that unbelief can tie the hands of omnipotence. How foolish,
how foolish is such a statement as that. It is a denial of his
deity as if he was all powerful and could work all miracles except
when he came into the city of Nazareth. What, what foolishness,
my friends. With God, all things are possible. Not most of the time, not part
of the time, no, all the time. Because He is God and Jesus Christ
is God. So never, never read this verse
of scripture and understand it to be saying that somehow He
could not work many miracles here. It would be better if we
change that first letter to would not. He would not do many mighty
works there. As J.C. Rowe said, if he had,
he would have been departing from his rule. What is his rule? According to thy faith, be it
unto you. It wasn't that he didn't have
the power. It would not serve any purpose. He had the power in his hands,
but he did not have the will to use it. He did not many mighty
works there. It would not have been appropriate
for him to do so in a place filled with unbelief. And we see it
was unbelief about him. Familiarity, we've all heard
that old statement, familiarity breeds contempt. And one writer
said, especially in religion. When a young man, a boy let's
say, has grown up in a church, and he's been raised in the church,
and then he becomes a man, and God calls him to preach, it's
difficult, not impossible, But it's difficult for that congregation
to have the respect for him that they normally would have for
a man who comes preaching among them. A man, a prophet, is not
without honor save in his own country. And the same was true
of our Savior there in Nazareth. They were offended at him. They
were offended at him. Many people are offended at Christ,
aren't they not? but not for the reasons they
were. Now here's the last topic. I want you to notice in verse
six, it says, and Christ marveled. And he marveled because of their
unbelief. In the gospels, I took the time
this past week, but I looked up that word marveled, and it's
found several times in the scriptures. It means, of course, to wonder.
And we read of a number of people who marveled, are said to have
marveled. Look back to Luke chapter two
just a moment, or look forward to Luke chapter two. Here are two that we read marveled,
Joseph and the Lord's mother, Mary. We read that they marveled. In Luke chapter two, and beginning
with verse 25, we read, the scene is, they had brought the Lord
Jesus into the temple there to present Him. And behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man
was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came
by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now let us now thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of thy people Israel. Now notice, and Joseph and his
mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. They
wondered how this elderly man took this babe up in his hands
and said, now I have seen thy salvation. We read of others
who marveled. When the Lord Jesus Christ commanded
that man who was born into his midst on that bed, paralytic,
and the Lord Jesus Christ said unto him, take up thy bed and
walk, and he took up his bed, and the people, the scripture
says, marveled, marveled. The Pharisees, they marveled
when they saw the Lord Jesus Christ one day. He was eating,
but he didn't go through their traditional ceremony of washing. Had nothing to do with the law.
Had nothing to do with God's law, but their traditions. And
remember, they set aside the law of God by their traditions. The Lord Jesus Christ kept the
law of God perfectly, absolutely. He had to do that to be our savior. And thank God in him, in him,
if you are a believer today, you kept the law perfectly, absolutely
as he did. But he didn't bow to their traditions. And so they saw him one day eating
without going through their little ceremony of washing their hands.
And they marveled. They marveled. And another one
we read who marveled was Pilate when the Lord Jesus Christ stood
before him and answered not a word. Even when those accusers were
accusing him, he answered not a word. Pilate marveled. He'd never been a judge before
when someone was accused of some crime and that person didn't
have an excuse, a response, or something. But no, the Lord Jesus
Christ, he answered him, not a word. And Pilate marveled. But two times, now listen, two
times we're told that the Lord Jesus Christ marveled. And both
of these times had to do with this matter of faith. Faith. One time, the other place than
here, was that centurion who came to the Lord and his servant
was sick and he told the Lord, you don't need to come to my
house. I'm not worthy that you even come under my roof. Just
speak the word. Just speak the word. And the
Lord Jesus, the scripture says, he marveled because so great
faith he had not found in Israel. And this man was a Gentile. And
in this place here, the Lord Jesus Christ marveled at their
unbelief. It's amazing, isn't it, that
any of us, any of us, would ever not believe God. When God cannot,
I'm not saying He has not or will not, no, I'm saying what
the scripture says, God cannot lie. It's amazing that any of
us would never, would ever rather not believe Him. One old writer
said this, and I'll close with it, about this sin of unbelief. It is the sin which is the oldest
among men. The sin of unbelief is the oldest
among men. Adam didn't believe God. God
said, you're going to die. If you eat the fruit of that
tree, you're going to die. Adam didn't believe. Unbelief.
It is the sin which is the most ruinous of all sins. It brought
death into this world. It is a sin which especially
fills hell. He that believes not shall be
damned. It is a sin that is the most
foolish and inconsistent of all sins. The refusal to believe
him who cannot lie. And in closing, he said, it is
the sin which is the most common of all sins. Most common of all
sins. We should all pray like his disciples
prayed. Lord, increase our faith. Increase our faith. I pray that God would use his
word in all of our lives here today, oh, to be one of his disciples,
right? To be a follower of Jesus, not
just in name, but to be a follower in word, in deed, in every way. We're going to sing this hymn
number 287, Like a River Glorious, Like a River Glorious. 287, and let's stand as we sing.