What? I'm fixing my watch. Let's go see how that's seen. Remember those who requested
the prayer of the Parker family? He died, right? Remember that
family. Remember the others, too. Also,
my brother-in-law, Tom, is going through some hard times right
now, difficulty in different aspects of the day. And Carl
said he's pretty sure he's diabetic. His whole family's been diabetic. His ACE, A1C, is seven. And his
blood's running about 220, so he's got to go to the doctor. He's had several things going
on, so remember him in your prayers. And also, Claire Sherry grew
up in Todd's church, just finished with his radiation and his chemotherapy,
which he had in unison at the same time for six weeks, six,
eight weeks of it. wore out, blistered pretty good
on his neck, red, red radiation. And now in two weeks from now,
he's going to start immunotherapy. So I guess they're trying everything
because they don't know what kind of cancer it is. Remember
him in your prayers also. Let's begin our worship service
tonight, hymn number 496, Victory in Jesus. I heard an old, old story How
the Savior came from glory How He gave His life on Calvary To
save a wretch like me I heard that story Victory in Jesus'
name! I'll stay calm forever He sought
me and bound me With His redeeming blood He loved me right to victory I heard about His healing Of
His music power revealing How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see And then I cried, Dear Jesus, come
and heal my broken heart For victory in Jesus, my Savior
forever. He sought me and loved me with
His redeeming blood He loved me ere I knew Him and all my
love is to Him He plunged me to victory beneath a drenching
flood I heard about a man shot in his victory in glory And I
heard about story. I say Oh He sought me and marked me with
His redeeming blood He loved me ere I knew Him and all my
love is to Him He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing
flood In number sixty-one, Oh, the
deep, deep love of Jesus. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus
That's unmeasured, boundless, free Rolling as a mighty oar me. me. me. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus
with His grace from shore to shore! How He loves ever! Love of strangers never, nevermore! How He watches for His loved
ones! to call him all his own. How for them he intercedeth,
marching for them from the throne. Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus! Oh, the memory of the place Oh Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus
gives a hand of thanks to me. And it lifts me up to glory for
it lifts me up to Thee. Turn your Bibles, please, to
the fourth chapter of John. I'm going to read one verse of
Scripture tonight. I'm going to read it in unison,
verse 43. I'm going to take my text from verse 44, John 4, verse
43. Now, after two days, that is
the two days he spent in Samaria when the disaster hit by the
Samaritans, he departed from there and went to Galilee, which
is his hometown, the home city of Israel. For Jesus himself
testified that a prophet had no honor in his own country. Our Father in heaven, most gracious,
glorious, kind, tender-hearted, generous Savior, we praise you
for your great love wherewith you love us. And because you
love us, you do us to yourself. through the preaching of the
gospel by your spirit that took the things of Jesus Christ and
showed them unto us. We thank you, Father, and we
can call you our Father. We are indeed children of the
Most High, born in sin, yet reborn by your spirit in that everlasting
covenant of grace. whereby our great Savior, who
is perfect and pure and has no fault whatsoever, is not ashamed
to call us brethren. Father, we pray for those who
are sick, those who've lost loved ones. I ask the Lord to do a
prayer for us, especially for the Parker family who lost this
loved one. My brother-in-law, Tom, Claire
Sheridan. I ask the Lord that you might
be with them in these times of troubles. Comfort them and strengthen
them in Jesus Christ. Help us tonight as we gather
here, Father, that you might open up your word to our hearts
and minds. Give us faith to believe, hearts
to receive, and a mind to understand. who might rejoice in the things
of Jesus Christ. We hope that Thou art God, and
there is none beside Thee, there is none like unto Thee. You declare
the end from the beginning. You do all Your pleasure. Help
us now to worship You, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Now these words in verse 44 spoken
by our Lord are recorded three times in Scripture. You find
them in Matthew chapter 13 and Luke chapter 4. And in Matthew
and Luke, he addresses the enmity of those of his own country who
are enraged because of what he has said to them. In the context
here in John, he's yet in Samaria, just leaving for Galilee, and
is about to go to his hometown. He's probably speaking prophetically
of what was to come in light of the highly favorable reception
he's received in Samaria, and what he's going to expect when
he comes to his own. Remember he says in John chapter
1, he came to his own, and his own received him not, but as
many as received him gave him power to become the sons of God.
His words may also be spoken in reference to what has already
taken place in the Gospels, and the Gospels are not always in
chronological order. Most understandable rendering
of this phrase is found in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 7. If you
want to go to verse 57, you want to turn back. It says, And they were offended
in him, but Jesus said, A prophet is not without honor. In other
words, a prophet is honored, except in his own country. He's
not honored in fact, and in his own house. He said a prophet
is honored everywhere else, but not in his own house, and not
in his own country. Not only is this true of our
savior, but it seems to be a general principle of human nature. When
a local person who's lived among the people does well off base,
and perhaps gained something, another idea, and esteem, when
he comes home, he's often shamed by his own people. It's getting
too big for his britches. You know, you often meet with
that concept. Everyone is. Sadly, it's difficult
for folks to rejoice when one of their own reaches a higher
stage of success. This is clearly seen in Matthew
13, as we'll look at it also in Luke chapter 4. In each of
these two instances, the Lord spoke with authority and did
not attend the words of the scribes and the Pharisees. And this was
an offensive on a natural level. And they said things like, well,
we know who you are. You're the carpenter's son. We
know who your family is. And we'll look at that in a few
moments. But it's not just because the local boy had gained some
fame and spoke in a manner above his learning and station. that
the people were offended. His words called into question
the very hope of their standing before God. This was the whole
message of when he preached, the kingdom of God has come.
They thought it was already there. And once they had a king, his
name was Herod. And they had a kingdom, the Jewish
kingdom. And he says, the kingdom has come. And he was talking
about his own sovereignty. And this is always the truth.
This is always the case when the truth of the gospel is declared,
it brings about a verdict in the Herald. People don't think
it does. And they say, well, I'm indifferent.
That's the verdict. I don't care. That's the verdict. I love it. That's the verdict that the gospel
always brings about. Even those who have long known
and loved the gospel can attest that when it's preached, the
flesh goes into high gear, and they are made to consider they
are trusting Christ alone. Every time you hear the gospel,
that's a conviction that touches the heart of every believer.
We all fight to face that. And that fact is born of the
knowledge of our frailty, and our bent to sin, and engenders
much of the pathos of the saints throughout the ages, as is recorded
in their poems, and their prose, and their hymns. John Bunyan
wrote this, "'Tis a point I long to know, and oft it gives me
anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or not? Am
I his or am I not?" And that struck me. He was a believer.
But he struggled with that. Why? Because the flesh and the
spirit are always contrary to one another. David said in one
of his psalms, why is my soul disquieted within me? And in
other places, it's what has made it, that thou wert mindful of
him. If such thoughts enter the mind
of born-again sinners who can relate to a time when the Lord
opened their eyes, what might such teaching be to those who
were born into an elect nation? Born into an elect nation. who
never once doubted that they had a favorable relationship
with God because they were told that from the moment they began
to breathe. Though their thoughts were said
to be far from Him throughout the Scriptures, they never doubted
for one second that everything was okay between them and God. The Jews may have debated certain
aspects of doctrine, but they had no doubt of their standing
with God. And for some local carpenter's son to come in And
authoritatively stir up their calm was offensive to them, because
that's what the preaching of the kingdom did. To them, he
had forgotten his place. Forgotten his place and was trying
to rise above his upbringing. And that's the language they
often used after he spoke. And they were astonished at what
he said. Some even said his words were gracious words. And then
they said, we know who this guy is. We know who he is. Let's look over Matthew chapter
13. I don't want to spoke many parables in Matthew chapter 13.
In fact, it's a book of parables except for the last few verses.
And all of them spoke of that kingdom which we know in His
sovereign rule as king of kings and lord of lords. Remember that's
what He was saying to Nicodemus. when he was teaching Nicodemus
about the absolute necessity of being born again to understand
the Kingdom of God. He thought he knew who Jesus
Christ was. But Jesus Christ says, you can't know who I am
unless the Spirit teaches you. And what the Spirit's going to
teach you is that he's the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
They did not understand these parables, these men and women
that he taught, because they were spoken to enlighten those
he came to save and not meant for those who were steadfastly
settled in their area. He wasn't looking to save everybody. In fact, he told many, I did
not come to set you. I came to seek and save that
which was lost. In Matthew chapter 13 and verse
10 through 16, the disciples were wondering about why he taught
in parables. In verse 10, he says, and the
disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou of him
in parables? Now, you know what a parable
is. It's a comparative story. It's a story that doesn't stand
well with dealing with it verse by verse.
It's a story that tells one thing. It tells one thing, and he spoke
to them in parables, and he was telling them something. He was
telling something, but not for them. He says to his disciples,
in verse 11, he answered and said, because it is given to
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it's
not given to them. So he's actually speaking in
a manner that on purpose was for men not to understand, for
men not to understand. That was his purpose. For whosoever
hath, whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he that hath,
and he shall have more abundance than whosoever hath not, to him
shall be taken away even better he hath. That's quite, that's
quite a profound statement when you think about it. Therefore
speak out of them in peril, because they seeing see not, and hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand, And in him it's fulfilled
the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. Which said, by hearing
you shall hear and not understand. Seeing you shall see and not
perceive. For this people's heart is waxed and gross. Their ears
are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed,
lest at any time they should see with their eyes or hear with
their ears. And should they restate with
their heart, it should be converted. And I should hear them. That's not
going to happen. He said, I've closed their eyes. I've closed
their ears. I've closed their heart. I've made them fat. I've
made them at ease. So they won't hear, and I tell
them the truth. But he says, blessed are your
ears, or your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they
hear. These parables address the fact
that the kingdom they embraced was not the true kingdom. When
he said the kingdom of God has come, that didn't make any sense
to me. Every one of these parables was about the kingdom in some
aspect, whether it be the the parable of the sowing the seed,
the parable of the great price, the parable of the master going
off and coming back and looking for the talents he had given
them, all these parables taught something about the kingdom.
They didn't understand because they thought they were in the
kingdom. They were in the kingdom already, this kingdom called
Israel, this kingdom called children of God, this kingdom called the
circumcision, they believed they were in the kingdom and they
believed everybody else wasn't and didn't have any hope in possibly
being in it, though they disregarded the word of God which said otherwise. They were astonished at his doctrine
and questioned his authenticity, not based on truth of what he
said, but sought to diminish its importance by disallowing
the one who spoke it. Back in chapter 13, verse 54,
it says that when he was coming to his own country, he taught
them in their synagogue in so much as they were astonished.
And said, when has this man this wisdom and these mighty works? He does these miracles when he
speaks. He speaks as one as a God and
not as the scribes and the Pharisees. He has this astonishing doctrine
that he's telling men. Where'd he get that from? He'd
never been to college, they said. He had not sat at the feet of
Gamaliel and saw what Tarsus had and learned the law. He had
no theological mentors, no doctrinal degrees. He was a laborer. He was a laborer, a carpenter,
and a shepherd. For whence came his gifts and
his ability? This is the life of every preacher
of the gospel. When I say preacher of the gospel,
I'm not talking just about the poor, big things. I'm talking
about you and me both. We are not professional clergymen.
There was a time in the history of the church that men, when
they were born, they were set on the path to being a clergyman.
That was their whole life was spent. In fact, they had men
who owned these huge and monstrous estates, and they would set up
a chapel, and they would hire a clergyman to live there, to
give him a place to live. He'd be the one so-called minister
to them. He was a professional. There
are no professional preachers of the gospel, none whatsoever. Men are not raised to be a pastor.
They have no degrees from seminary, and if they have one, they never
boast of it. And you think, who would spend
their days listening to a man called to preach off of a butcher
bar? That's what y'all been doing for 47 years. I have no convictions. I have no D.D. I'm not a doctor
of divinity. I'm not a Ph.D. I went through
three years of college and didn't do very well. I went through
12 years of school and did very poorly in all those 12 years. This is what they're saying about
Christ. Stand up and tell us. We're God's
children. We're God's people. But the minister of the gospel
doesn't have authority in himself, but he has authority backing
him up. And when they speak, it's with the
authority that moves heaven and earth. Our Lord said, all power
is given to me in heaven and earth. Therefore, I will go into
the world and preach the gospel. Matthew 28, 18, and 19. The word
of the Lord said, my words. This is the wonder, and I'm still
full of wonder in it. I still am amazed when I read
it. I'm still amazed at the effect
it has on people's lives. My words, he said, my words,
they are spirit and they are life. My words. And he said that after he had
told his disciples, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood.
And then he said, and here's the rub. I'm not going to be
here for you to do it. This is a hard saying. You've
got to do this. You don't have eternal life if
you don't do it. And I'm not going to be here for you to do
it. But not words. They are spirit. And they are
life. These here in the latter part of Matthew 13 are Jewish
unbelievers. And because of that, the Lord
left them to their own devices. Verse 58, it says, and he did
not many works. Mighty works there because of
their unbelief. The report of what they said
to him, or how they dealt with him, It says in verse 57, they
were offended at him. Jesus said unto them, the prophet
is not without honor, save his own house. And when he spoke,
this is what they come up with. Verse 55, is not this the carpenter's
son? Is not his mother called Mary,
and his brother called James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judah,
and his sisters? Are they not all with us? Winston
had this man on his thing. Who does he think he is? Who does he think he is? He's
leaving them to their own devices. He said he did not make mighty
books there because of their unbelief. Because of their unbelief. He didn't come for the unbelievers,
you see. He came for his sheep, who would believe when they hear
his voice. Matthew 13, verses 3 through 58 lines up chronologically
with Luke chapter 4. If you'll turn over there. Verses 16 through 20,
or 16 through 30. It says, and he came to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up. And his custom was he went into
the synagogue on a Saturday and stood up to read. And there delivered
to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he opened the
book, he found the place where it is written. It is Isaiah 61,
verses 1 and 2. The spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering the sight of the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised, and preached the acceptable year
of the Lord. And he closed the book. And he
gave it unto the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all
of them were in the center of a fastened on him. He began to
say to them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear witness and wonder
at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said,
is this not Joseph's son? And he said to them, you will
surely say unto me. physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done
in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, verily
I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
But I tell you a truth. Here's what you need to understand.
Here's what you need to understand what Isaiah 61 and 61 verses
1 and 2 mean. I tell you a truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three and
a half years, when great famine was throughout the land. But
unto none of the widows of Israel, unto none of them was Elijah
sent, save unto Sarepta, a city in Sidon, unto a woman that was
a widow." If y'all be healing us, we're
in your hometown. We've been healed out there.
I'm preparing to come heal us. What you see is in God's business,
not yours. You don't tell God what to do.
You don't direct the spirit of God. He said, way back down there
in the days of Elijah, God showed up to heaven three and a half
years. Great famine came. You can imagine what it would
be without rain for three and a half years. About everything
dies. All the plant life, animals die, people die, widows die. Many people, many women became
widows during that time. He said there were lots of widows.
Widows who were God's children. Widows who were in Israel. Israeli
widows. He said it didn't go to one. He sent his prophet to a Gentile. A woman of Sarepta stayed in
her house, and she fed him. A Gentile woman. And many lepers
were in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet. And none of them was cleansed,
save for Naaman the Syrian. another gentile. He said there
were lepers all over Israel at this time, the time of Elijah.
Israeli lepers, Jewish lepers, God's people's lepers. God didn't
heal one of them, but pleaded with one of them. And all they
ever seen of God, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath. and rose up and thrust him out
of the city and led him to the brow of the hill whereupon the
city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he
passed him through the midst, and went his way." I don't know
how he did that, but he just walked away from them. We read from Isaiah 61,
verses 1 and 2. It declared that this passage
was referring to him. They knew it referred to the
Messiah. And he said, I'm the Messiah. I'm the king. This indicates
that they were probably moved by the manner that he spoke.
Their response was, they said it was gracious words. It was
gracious words. But, immediately the question
was, why were we moved at what he was saying? This is a carpenter's son. Why is he saying these things? Also, the Lord revealed what
was in their minds and it was individual. They had heard of
his miracles and thought it was wrong for him to do miracles
in other cities and not the first in his own hometown. It just
ain't right. We're God's people. We're supposed to get the blessings.
Not Gentiles, not anybody else. And we're in your hometown. You're
supposed to take care of us before you take care of anybody else.
They didn't mourn him for his words, but they did mourn him
for his miracles. It is ever the case, and he brought
about that saying again, a prophet is not welcome in his own country.
Then he lays the ax to the roots, and what remains, he tells in
historical terms, that their election is not salvation. Their election is not salvation.
that the election of grace is, but not natural and national
election. And he does so by using the Lord's
dealing with two Gentiles who were saved out of dire trouble
for numerous Jews, living at the same time and in the proximity,
perished, and were not delivered. Why does God save one and not
another? Why? Because it's his business. in his business. The Jews believed. Absolutely they had a good standing
with God. This is what the disturbing thing about Jesus who ministered
was among the Jews was everything he said just tore them up. Everything
he said disturbed their calm. Everything he said knocked the
peace out of their ideas. They were living in error. Isaiah
said they made lies their refuge and hid in falsehoods and bragged
about it. But they believed, even in their
idolatry and their false worship, that they were actually children
of God, and that would never change. And our Lord said, no,
the kingdom has come. The kingdom has come. The election
was the cornerstone of the Jews' confidence, and the Lord just
counted it all together by relating it to salvation. The words of
verse 18 and 19 did not apply to them. Look at the Gentile widow and
the leprous Gentile Syrian. What's he saying? He's saying
what Paul said in Romans. They are not all Israel, which
are of Israel. There is a true Israel, you see.
There is that elect nation that's naturally elect. They were a
nation and they were chosen. elect out of all the nations
of the world that were there left. And there God gave them
the covenant of works, which proved that man, by a covenant
that requires your obedience in order to be blessed, never
works and can't work. And so it was set aside, the
book of Hebrews makes that very clear. He said, he is not a Jew who
is one outwardly, whose circumcision is of the flesh. He is a Jew
which is one inwardly whose circumcision is of the heart and not of the
flesh, whose praise is of God and not of men. And there's also
such teaching as that the synagogue attendees were filled with wrath
and murderous intent. They wanted to cast him off of
a cliff and kill him. Well, what'd he say? Because
it killed their hope. I'm going to have to kill your
God. I'm going to have to kill Him. I'm going to have to put
Him down. The gospel is an offense because
it strips men of all hope and shuts them up to the sovereign
mercy and grace of God. If anything good happens for
me, God's going to have to do it. And I have no right or want
to demand that he do that. Do not expect any different response
than that which the Savior received when you tell people the truth.
Don't expect it. Our Lord said, moral not that
men hate you. They hated me first. They hated
me first. And if you tell your friends
and acquaintances the truth, you might well expect them to
remind you where you come from. I know he can stand you. I know
you'll know me all my life, you wretch. Don't tell me nothing
about God. Don't tell me nothing. That's
what they were saying to you. And if he'll remind you
where you come from, just say in your mind, the prophet is
not without honor, saving his own country. Father, bless us
to understand and pray Christ's name. Amen. All right. Yeah, I'm calling back. I want
to get home and tell him.