Mark 6:1–13 (NKJV)
Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.
And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in theirmoney belts—but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.
Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
So they went out and preached that peopleshould repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.
Dear fellow redeemed: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” This is the way Mark records the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The kingdom, the reign and rule, of God is here. Under this reign and rule we are called to turn from our sins and come under this reign and rule of God through faith, believing the good news that we have been spared the judgment of God for the sake of Jesus Christ.
At this point in Mark (here in our text), the words are in the mouths of the twelve, for the kingdom is replicated. It is coming and it is growing. Now the words are in our mouths as we are “Sharing the Joy” of salvation with our world.
But Jesus ran into opposition. Early on they attacked His sanity and accused Him of being in league with Satan. Now they question his background and his innate abilities.But for Christ, for His disciples, and for us, it is of eternal importance that we not only “Share the Joy” of the Gospel, but that we are:
FAITHFUL IN THE FACE OF UNBELIEF
- The Gospel Is an Astonishing, Powerful Message
- Unbelief Dishonors It and Its Messengers
-
Faithfulness Prevails
- Clings to the Joy
- Persists in Witness
1. The Gospel Is an Astonishing, Powerful Message
What does it mean to be faithful? What does it mean to “repent and believe the Gospel”? This gets to the very nature of Biblical Christianity. Remember last week we read how Jairus and the afflicted woman were connected to Jesus by faith, so that they received the answer to their prayers not according to what they deserved, but by grace? Faithdepends upon there being truth, and our trusting that truth. Both truth and trust are important.
If I jump out of an airplane trusting in my parachute, first it must be true that the parachute will open and bring me safely to the ground, second, I must trust it enough to jump in the first place and then pull the rip cord. Truth and trust. So in the simple phrase, “repent and believe in the gospel” there is the TRUTH that there are moral absolutes, and we are to TRUST that we are in eternal jeopardy for breaking those moral absolutes. There is the TRUTH that Jesus has atoned for the sins of the world, and we are to TRUST that Christ has kept them for us, while atoning for our sins.
Unbelief does not accept the truth.
To repent is to acknowledge a truth greater than ourselves, find ourselves lacking, and turn away from sin, toward Christ. Unbelief would seem to think that faithfulness is in getting others to stop doing bad things, and never doingbad things ourselves. But that is not what Jesus says. He doesn’t say “repent, make sure you don’t do it again, and make sure nobody else does either.” He says we are to repent and believe the good news that He has reconciled us to God, to have faith in Him.
Because of this, our relationship to Him is by grace. Because we CAN by faith cling to Christ, we can receive His unmerited love and forgiveness. If it were by obedience, or meeting certain standards that we are reconciled to God, it would have to be deserved, and therefore beyond hope. But it is by grace. This is the good news. This is the Gospel.
That is an astounding, powerful message. It tells how we who are sinners, and so have sinned, and cannot “un-ring the bell” and become sinless, can be dealt with graciously, and counted righteous.
It is a message that astonished the people in our text. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!
The kingdom of God is introduced by the preaching, “Repent and believe in the gospel” and with the kingdom comes healing and life. Astounding!
2. Unbelief Dishonors It and Its Messengers
But they didn’t believe the message even in spite of the miracles. The people objected, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.
They were offended at Jesus.
They found his message objectionable. (There are a lot of reasons, but just focus on this.) He didn’t do anything to them; it was His message and His miracles that offended them. They dishonored him as a mere tradesman, a local boy who deserved no respect, and his message as untrue and unimportant.
We proclaim Christ’s message today, and it is important that we understand it. We proclaim repentance and faith. It is TRUE that you have sinned and it is TRUE that Christ has redeemed you. Believe it and understand what it means to be faithful to Christ. To be faithful to the message doesn’t mean that we are without sin. The message isn’t that others must become sinless.
When in the 1960’s divorce became no-fault so people “wouldn’t have to live unhappy lives,” it wasn’t just the divorce that brought people to damnation, but the faithlessness. Many, even in the church, would no longer call someone to repentance when they left their spouse to marry another, abandoning the message, “Repent and believe in the gospel,” for the lie, “Do what makes you happy.”
When in the 1970’s abortion became legal, so people wouldn’t be burdened with unwanted children and live unhappy lives, it wasn’t just the killing of the unborn that was such a curse, but the faithlessness, the unbelief that rejected repentance. For as astounding as it is, there is forgiveness also for those who have taken the life of their children. Many became faithless toward Christ, abandoning the message, “Repent and believe in the gospel,” for the lie, “Do what makes you happy.”
You may have missed it when drunkenness (by alcohol, marijuana, or whatever) became acceptable, or when unmarried sex and childbearing became acceptable, because they didn’t involve changes in laws. But among those who claimed to be Christians this became accepted so “people wouldn’t have to live unhappy lives” by being bound to someone by marriage before enjoying the joys of the marriage bed.
It wasn’t just the fact that people fell into the sins of drunkenness or fornication that alienated these people from Christ, but their faithlessness. Many churches would no longer call someone to repentance when they were drunk or used porn or indulged in fornication. These churches abandoned the message, “Repent and believe in the gospel,” for the lie, “Do what makes you happy.”
It isn’t that among faithful Christians there is no drunkenness or sexual sin, but those who are FAITHFUL live in repentance and faith, and thus LIVE UNDER GRACE. And yes, though sin is not eliminated, lives are changed. But the important thing for you to understand is that when our relationship to God is by faith, it can be by grace. SINNERS can find forgiveness.
What is most diabolical about the changes in our country now is that unbelief is so aggressive against Christ and the message of repentance. There is now an official gospel, proclaimed by the Supreme Court: “You must not call to repentance or offer forgiveness, but must preach, ‘Do what makes you happy.’”
I can’t count the number of times recently that I’ve been told that I am unchristian for telling people that their happiness is not the standard of all things, but the word of God. Christ must be unchristian by that standard, for saying, “repent, and believe in the gospel” instead of “do what you want to be happy.”
There is hope for sinners in Christ, forgiveness for those who have committed adultery, murder, abortion, theft, vicious gossip, blasphemy, drunkenness, and all the rest, for Christ says, “Repent and believe the gospel.” But there is not hope for those whose faith is “Do what makes you happy.”
As your shepherd, my fear for you, my flock, is not that you will fall into sin because you know that sin alienates us from God, and you come in faith to confess your sin and receive our Lord’s absolution, His forgiveness. My fear for you is that you would be deceived into faithlessness, deceived into setting aside your faith in the gospel that Christ is our righteousness, and in trusting instead in the lie that finding happiness is righteousness (though such happiness is as vain and deadly as the “wisdom” the devil offered Eve).
Where there is no faith in Christ, there is no grace, so even in our text we see, . "Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them". If God is to deal with us not as we deserve, but in grace, there must be faith.
3. Faithfulness Prevails
- Clings to the Joy
- Persists in Witness
It is faithfulness, faith in Christ that prevails. So Jesus sent His disciples out with the message of repentance and faith. He gave them the charisma, the power over demonic spirits, and He taught them faith by sending them out without anything on which to depend but the gospel. And he underscored the importance of the message of the gospel: And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
So they went out and preached that peopleshould repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.
They preached repentance and faith and confirmed their message with spiritual power and physical healing. There was no stinting the call to repentance nor the free forgiveness to the repentant.
But faithlessness brought condemnation, as Jesus said of those who rejected His word: I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
There is room for sinners in heaven, but not for those who reject the gospel, making Christ’s words to the church in Smyrna so applicable today: Revelation 2:10 (NKJV) Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
AMEN.
