If you will, turn in your Bibles
again to Mark chapter 3. Mark chapter 3, beginning in verse 31 through
the end of the chapter. There came then his brethren
and his mother, and standing without, sent unto him, calling
him. And the multitude said about
him, and they said unto him, behold, thy mother and thy brethren
without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying,
who is my mother or my brethren? And he looked round about on
them which said about him, and said, Behold, my mother and my
brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same
as my brother and my sister and mother. I have four lessons that
with the help of God, the Holy Spirit, I trust will be a blessing
to all of us from this incident that's recorded here in the life
of the Lord Jesus. First, I want you to notice the
setting. From the word without in both
verses 31 and 32, we see the word without. That causes us
to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is once again inside a
private home. He's certainly not in Jerusalem
in the temple. and he's not in a synagogue in
Capernaum, but most likely he is, again, in the house of Simon
Peter and his brother Andrew. He is inside the house. Now, two weeks ago, as we looked
in verse 20 above this, we saw that his ministry was so great
and so continuous, teaching, healing, that he did not even
have time to eat. Notice that in verse 20. And
the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not
so much as eat. I want you to turn with me, if
you will. Keep your places here, of course, but in John chapter
four. In John chapter 4, beginning
with verse 5, we read, Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which
is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave
to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Now
watch this. Jesus, therefore, being wearied
with his journey, saith thus on the well. And it was about
the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water, Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. The point I'm making is the Lord
Jesus Christ was continually ministering, so much so that
he didn't even have time to eat many days, and here he is journeying
And they come to a well and he sets down upon that well while
his disciples, they go into the city of Sychar to buy food for
them to have their dinner. And this woman comes out to draw
water. And I want to make this statement,
he is as weary as he was. And the scripture says he was
weary from his journey. He was weary, but he's never,
ever too weary to speak to a needy sinner. That's true of him then,
and that's true of him today. He's never, ever too weary, as
busy as he is, as engaged as he always is in doing the Father's
will, he's never, ever too busy to deal with a needy sinner. What hope that gives to those
who see themselves as needy. This woman, she was needy, and
she came to the well. Now, we're not going to read
the whole passage, but I want you to look down here to verse
31, John chapter 4, and verse 31, when his disciples returned
with food. They'd gone into the town to
buy food for their meal. But in verse 31 we read, In the
meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But
he said unto them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. Therefore his disciples said
unto him, Have any man brought him ought
to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat
is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work. To do the work of the Father
and to finish that work. The greatest work of all, greater
than creation. That's a great work, isn't it?
To speak the universes into existence to create all the stars and all
the planets. That's a great work. But the
greatest work is this work of redemption. Because in the work
of creation, he just spoke the word. But now, in the work of
redemption, He becomes incarnate. He comes into this world as a
man. And every child of God, every
believer here today, if you know Christ, it causes your heart
to rejoice when you think and read and hear His words while
hanging on the cross when He said, it is finished. He came to do the work of His
Father. That was His meat. He was here
engaged with this and everything else was secondary. Even His
own comfort, His own strength, everything was to do the will
of His Father. And he did and finished that
will. So the setting here, back in
our text here in Mark chapter three, is he's in a house. We know that because of the word
without. Now, the participants. The participants in this incident. Well, first there is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the main character. But
there are two groups here. There are two groups that we
see pointed out to us. One group is the multitude. That's what we read here in verse
32. And the multitude said about
it. That's one group, a multitude
of people there. The house, no doubt, was packed. Like that time when he was teaching
and those men brought that paralytic and they couldn't get to the
Lord so they opened up the roof and let the man down before Christ.
The house was filled with people. There was a multitude sitting
around him. But there's a second group. There's
a second group which is his mother and his brethren. They were without. Now it's easy, it's easy for
us to identify these two groups. His mother, Mary. We all know
who his mother was, Mary. It was to her that God dispatched
one of the angels by the name of Gabriel one day and told her
that she had found favor with God. Found favor. The word favor is grace, isn't
it? We define grace as unmerited
favor. This angel appeared to this virgin
woman, young woman, and said, you found favor. You found favor
before God. You found grace before God or
with God. And then in the next chapter
there in Luke, we read, she brought forth her firstborn son. Now this is a great mystery of
godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And I never grow weary, I never
grow tired. of telling you and reminding
myself over and over again of the incarnation, that the eternal
Son of God came into this world and he took that body that was
prepared him by God, the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. Great mystery of godliness. Now, I want you to hear this. He is God's only begotten son. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only, only, only begotten son. But the scripture
says that Mary brought forth her firstborn son. In the Spanish language, I really
pointed this out because I lived in a country where So many people
were misled and mistaught so that they worshiped Mary. And
you see this so well in the Spanish translation because he is God's
unihinito, his only son. But he's Mary's primohinito,
her firstborn son. So his brethren here, and many
of the manuscripts have brethren and sisters, The group that was
without, Mary and his brothers and sisters who were children
of Joseph and Mary after the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Or either they were his first cousins. Could have been some
of both. But that's the multitude that's, or the group that's on
the outside. Now the multitude who sat around
him here, who were they? Well, first of all, they were
the twelve apostles. We've seen that just a week or
two ago when he named them. They would be with him and also
those of the household and people from Capernaum. So there's the
setting and there's the participants. And now, four lessons. And I
want to bring these four lessons to us by asking three questions
and making one statement. The first question is this, and
I cannot express how important this question is. What is the will of God? I begin first with this, though
it is mentioned last in this passage. Notice in verse 35. For whosoever shall do the will
of God. What is the will of God? Well, I'm thankful that I don't
have to flounder and look around everywhere and read every commentary
that I have to figure out and find out to tell you what the
will of God is, because it's very plain in the scripture. If you will, look with me to
John chapter six. John chapter six. What is the will of God? John chapter six, we read, Verse 26, Jesus answered them
and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because
you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and
were filled. This is the reason this group
at this time sought the Lord, because he had filled their bellies. Let me remind us that the Lord
Jesus Christ said this about these things that are necessary. Yes, food and raiment, necessary
things. But he said, first, seek ye the
kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be
added unto you. In other words, priority number
one, seek the kingdom of God. Know the will of God, do the
will of God. Now these to whom he's speaking
here, they sought him for the wrong reason. Notice on as we
read, labor not for the meat which perisheth. And that's true
of food and clothes and shelter and important things, necessary
things. But remember this, these things
are all going to pass away. Even the shelter, the houses
that we live in, we put so much emphasis in, God's going to burn
them all up. There's an eternity before all
of us. Seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God
the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, what
shall we do that we might work the works of God? The will of
God. What shall we do? What is the
will of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, this. There it is. This is the will
of God. That you believe on him whom
he has sent. This is the work of God. In the Gospels, we read of a
man who has come to be called a rich young ruler. He was a
religious man and he came to the Lord, kneeled down before
him, came running to him actually. And he said, good master, what
good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? And in fact,
or in effect, the Lord Jesus Christ sent him to the law. When
he asked that question, what good thing, Master, what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? The Lord sent him
to the law. Not that the law, that he could
be saved by the law, but he sent him to the law that he might
recognize and know he couldn't do anything to save himself. because the law of God is perfect
and the law of God requires perfection and just start off. If you're
here today and you think you're going to be saved by keeping
the law, okay, just start off right now and never, never sin
again. You say, I've tried that already
many times. I know you have. We all have.
And that's what the law tells us. That's what the law shows
us. In fact, the apostle Paul said,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law, yes, it says
thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou must. And what does it do? It shows
us that we have broken the law, that we cannot keep God's law,
that we are fallen individuals. And we need a savior. We need one who has kept that
law to be our savior, our substitute. What is the will of God? This
is the will of God, the work of God, that you believe on him
whom he hath sinned. And do you see in that statement,
those words of the Lord Jesus Christ, that to believe on the
Son is the work of God? The faith, the faith that we
need in order to believe on the Son of God. We don't have that
faith by nature. No, the scripture says, faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. This is the work of God. The
faith, he's the one that creates and gives us faith to believe
in Christ. That's one reason, one of the
many reasons it's so important to sit under the preaching of
the gospel. Why? Because faith cometh by
hearing, and without faith, it's impossible to please him. Faith
cometh by hearing, and not just hearing anything and everything,
but no, hearing the word of God. When you come here, you know, by the grace of God,
you're going to hear the word of God. I trust it will always
be that way. No matter who the pastor is,
it will always be that way. The word of God. Do you see that
believing is polar opposite to doing? Do you see that? that believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ, it is polar opposite to doing. And yet all men, when
we come into this world, I know it's so, you know it's so, we
all imagine that there's something we can do to inherit eternal
life, to possess eternal life. But no, doing is working. while believing is resting. Doing is earning while believing
is receiving. Doing is meriting while believing
is God's grace bestowed. That where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Look back in the passage here
in Mark chapter three, I want to move on to the second
question, but I want to point out this all-important word here,
for whosoever shall do the will of God. Are you a whosoever? Are you? Are you? Whosoever believeth on him hath
everlasting life. and shall not come into condemnation. The second question is, which is the most important relationship,
natural or spiritual? His mother and his brethren,
those without, they had a natural, they had a carnal relationship
with him. They were all relatives. They
were all of the same family. His disciples have a spiritual
relationship with Him, and they too are all of the same family,
the household of God. But a natural, now listen, a
natural relationship lasts only while we are in this world. A spiritual relationship has
no ending. a natural relationship. It lasts
just as long as we are in this world and no longer. And we know
this because the relationship among men that is the closest,
the greatest relationship of all is marriage. And I say that
it's a greater, closer relationship between parents and children
children and their parents. Why? Because when a man and woman
marry, they are no longer two, they are one. But even this relationship,
it ends with death. You say, how do you know that?
Well, look over here in Mark chapter 12, if you will, up a
few pages in Mark chapter 12. There was a group of religious
people in that day, very powerful group in fact. Most of the Sanhedrin
were Sadducees. They didn't believe there was
a resurrection. They didn't believe in spirits either. And so they
knew the Lord Jesus Christ was teaching that there is a resurrection.
And they thought they would stump him with a question. And their
question was, here's a woman, And she married a man and he
died and she didn't have any children. And so according to
the law, his brother was to take her to be his wife and raise
up a seed, a son for his brother so that his name would not die
out in Israel. And they have a supposed case
where this woman married seven brothers. And they all died and
she didn't have a child by any of them. Now whose wife is she
going to be in the resurrection? Look down here to verse 24. And Jesus answering said unto
them, do you not therefore err because you know not the scriptures,
neither the power of God? When they shall rise from the
dead, they shall neither marry nor are given in marriage, but
are as the angels which are in heaven. You see, angels, they
do not marry, they do not procreate. God's children marry, but when
our life ends in this world, that relationship also ends. Don't believe that lie of Joseph
Smith. You know, he came along and he
taught that you can have an eternal marriage. That if the church,
so-called Church of Latter-day Saints, if they do a ceremony,
that they can make your marriage which will be an eternal marriage. Well, that's not what God said.
And I say with the Apostle Paul, let God be true and every man
a liar. No, in the resurrection, we will
know each other. People say, well, will we know
each other in the resurrection? I believe we will. The disciples,
they recognized Moses and Elijah that day on the Mount of Transfiguration. As one pastor friend said, he
said, we'll know more then than we know now. And I know you now. Yeah, we'll know one another,
but we will not know one another as husband and wife, child, parent. We will know each other as chosen,
blood-bought sinners who are there by the grace of God. And all our praise and all our
glory will be unto the Lamb, the Lamb of God, which gave Himself
for us. Yes. Which is the most important,
a natural relationship or a spiritual relationship? Well, of course,
the spiritual relationship. because it's going to last forever
and ever. The third question is, how does
the Lord Jesus call his disciples his brethren? How does he call
his disciples his brethren? Well, there's a Hebrew word. I want you to turn back to Job
chapter 19. There's a Hebrew word which is
very important. And the way it is spelled, In
English, it's G-O-E-L, goel, goal. And here it is in Job chapter
19 and verse 25, when this Old Testament patriarch, he said,
for I know that my redeemer, my goal liveth. I know that my goal liveth. The word goal, it means, according
to Strong, to redeem, according to the Oriental law of kinship,
that is, to be next of kin, and as such to buy back a relative's
property, marry his widow. That's what the book of Ruth,
a small book in our Bible of Ruth, four chapters, but that's
what it's all about. It's about the kinsman redeemer,
the goal, the goal. I want you to go back now to
Genesis chapter 48. This is the first time that the
word is used, and we know in hermeneutics the law first mentions,
very important, Genesis chapter 48 and verse 16, Jacob. He's blessing his grandsons,
Joseph's sons. And this is the first time the
word goal is used, and he used it in chapter 48 and verse 16.
The angel. That's it. The angel which redeemed
me from all evil. Now this angel is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The angel of the Lord. He appeared
several times throughout the Old Testament days as the angel
of the Lord. A pre-incarnate appearance of
Christ. But what I want you to notice
is what Jacob tells his son Joseph, the angel of the Lord redeemed me from all evil. You see, there were several requirements
to be a kinsman redeemer. First of all, and most apparent,
had to be kin. Had to be kin to the person who
needed to be redeemed. Second, had to be able. And third,
had to be willing to redeem. All of those picture the Lord
Jesus Christ. He came into this world made
of a woman, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, that he might
be our kinsman redeemer, that he might redeem us from all evil. He had to be a kinsman and he
had to be able The Lord Jesus Christ, he had no sin of his
own. If he had had sin of his own,
he could not redeem us from our sins. But he took our sins upon
himself, the scripture says. God laid on him the iniquity
of us all. He's able because he is the sinless
one. The God-man. And not only that,
but he was willing. He was willing. He came into
this world on purpose to redeem sinners. How does he call his
disciples brethren? Because he became one with us. He's that brother that's born
for adversity. He's that friend that sticketh
closer than a brother. And he told Mary on the day of
his resurrection to go to his disciples and say unto them,
I ascend unto my father and your father, unto my God and your
God. Now, I want to make a statement
and I'll be through. If you will turn with me to Hebrews
chapter two. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Can you imagine that? Can you? Can you imagine that? That the Lord of glory, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's not ashamed to call someone like me, someone
like you, his brother. His brother. Notice what he says
here in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10. For it became him for
whom are all things, that is God, and by whom are all things,
and bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth
And they also who are sanctified are all one. All of one, for which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. He that sanctifies, that's Christ,
and those who are sanctified That's His people, those given
to Him by the Father. We are all one. One. We have one God. His God is my
God. We have one Father. His Father
is my Father. We have one family. His family
is my family. There's one body. He's the head,
and I'm a member of that body. There's one covenant of grace,
and I'm named in that covenant, and he's the surety. And there's
one home, there's one home where one day we will all be gathered. It's called a city, it's called
a country, and it's called a house. It's all one. In my father's
house are many mansions. He doesn't have 10 different
houses and you live over in that house and you live over in that
house. No, no. In my father's house, singular. But there are
many mansions, many dwelling places. He's coming back for
his children one day. We'll all be together in that
one, that one house. heaven itself. That is all of
his children. I pray and ask the Lord to bless
his word. Only he can do it. Only God the Holy Spirit can
bless his word and make it powerful and effectual. Thank God he does
it.