Mark 6:6b-13

So turn to Mark 6, page 1171 in your ESV Bibles.

So last week, Nathan began chapter 6 and wonderful exposition of the beginning of chapter 6.

! I encourage you if you weren't here to go back and listen to that.

It talks about how Jesus was rejected.

He was in his own hometown as a prophet, and he was turned away by many who actually knew him,

and he marveled at the people's unbelief.

So we're going to pick up after that, but just for context's sake, we'll begin reading in verse 1, chapter 6.

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished.

Saying, Where did this man get these things?

What is the wisdom given to him?

How are such mighty works done by his hands?

Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Judas, and Simon?

And are not his sisters here with us?

And they took offense at him.

And Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown,

and among his relatives, and in his own household.

And he could not do, excuse me, no mighty works there,

except he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And so last week, Nathan taught that the only thing that holds us back from entering into Christ,

into the presence of God, is our own unbelief.

And at the judgment day, it won't be, you won't have any other excuse other than,

I did not come to Christ for salvation.

You'll be condemned for your own sin and your own crime.

And unbelief is, he gave several different marks of unbelief.

I encourage you to go back and look at those.

But Jesus marveled at their unbelief.

And what they didn't need was another miracle, another sign for him to prove who he was.

It really was just their wicked, unrepentant hearts that held them back,

not because they needed another sign.

And so picking up from there,

we're going to start at the second part of verse 6.

It says,

He went among the villages teaching,

and he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two,

and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

And he charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff,

no bread, no bag, no money in their belts,

but to wear their sandals and not to put on two tunics.

And he said to them,

Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.

And if any place will not receive you,

and they will not listen to you when you leave,

shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.

So they went on out and proclaimed that the people should repent.

And they cast out many demons,

and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

So just pray with me for a minute.

Lord, we confess that we need you this morning.

I need you desperately.

Lord, this isn't a time just to talk about you

and to act as if we know a lot about you.

But Lord, you have brought us here this morning to hear your word.

And I pray that it would have its desired effect,

that hearts would be broken,

that people would be convicted,

and also that people would be greatly encouraged,

greatly emboldened to go out and declare the message of the gospel.

So we just ask that, humbly Lord, in Christ's name.

Amen.

So, that's where we're finding ourselves today.

And so this is just chapter 6,

and the disciples have walked with Jesus for not too long of a time at this point,

but they've been following Him and observing how He does things.

And like any good teacher, disciple-maker,

Jesus is not just teaching them with His words, but His actions.

And He is the embodiment of what He teaches.

He is the message that He preaches, that Ryan didn't expect it to.

So, He is the very embodiment of that message.

He doesn't just have so-called Bible studies with His disciples

and talks about Torah, talks about poetry, and talks about the prophets,

and, all right, great, and then they don't do anything else.

He says, guys, like, this is what the Scriptures mean.

How does this work in our hearts?

Now let's go and live this out.

And He was like any good teacher or disciple-maker.

He didn't just teach with His mouth, but He demonstrated.

He demonstrated with His life what He expected them to learn.

So, you know, with prayer, He was like, guys, this is what prayer is.

Now let's do it.

You know, it wasn't just a theory about prayer.

They observed Him practice praying, communing with the Father.

And thankfully, we actually get a glimpse into that in John 17,

and to see what that was like, to see Jesus commune with the Father.

But He talks about the Scriptures.

At least 66 times the Old Testament is referenced just in Jesus' conversation with His disciples.

So He constantly was teaching them, this is what this meant.

And I really try to endeavor with the men I've discipled over the years,

not always successfully, as most of them will tell you.

I think five of them are here right now.

Of course, they'd be like, yeah, He doesn't always do that.

But I try to demonstrate with my life like what I expect them to learn and show them with my actions.

And this is biblical.

And I'll just read you a couple of examples from Paul.

It was a vital part of discipleship.

He would say things like this,

Be imitators of me as I imitate Christ.

1 Corinthians 11.1

And in Philippians 4, he says,

Brothers, join in imitating me,

and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

And then later on, in chapter 3, he says,

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,

practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

So he was living this out.

Demonstrating what he expected them to learn.

And now up until this point in Mark,

he's been teaching, he's been healing,

he's been proclaiming the kingdom of God,

casting out demons.

They've seen him do this,

drive away evil spirits,

and help many people.

Raise a young girl from the dead even.

And they were engaged.

They were seeing this.

They saw him share with the masses.

And they watched him.

A book that I recommend,

that I read at least once a year,

that a man introduced me to a long time ago,

it's called The Master's Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman.

And I really try, again,

I try to follow this example of what discipleship was.

But he has a chapter called Demonstration,

and it's basically how any good disciple maker will demonstrate what he expects his disciples to learn.

And this is just a quote out of that on the Demonstration chapter.

He said,

What all the disciples had to teach them was a teacher who practiced with them what he expected them to learn.

Evangelism was lived out before them in spirit and in technique.

Watching him, they learned what it was all about.

He led them to recognize the inerrant need in all classes of people,

and the best methods of approaching them.

They observed how he drew people to himself,

and how he won their confidence and inspired their faith.

How he opened to them the way of salvation,

and called them to decision.

In all types of situations,

and among all kinds of people,

rich, poor, healthy, and sick,

friend and foe alike,

the disciples watched.

The master soul winner at work.

It wasn't outlined on a blackboard.

This is when blackboards were still around.

It wasn't outlined on a blackboard of a stuffy classroom,

nor written in a do-it-yourself manual.

His method was so real and practical that it just came naturally.

Okay, so,

I've had several conversations with some people this last semester,

and one of them asked me,

you know, like,

why do you think that,

like, it's one of the reasons, at least,

it's so hard for people to share their faith.

Why is it?

Why is it just, like, so weird?

And I'll use the term of our generation awkward today.

Like, why is it,

why is it like that?

And I think the only answer is,

is because we've divorced evangelism from our actual lives.

It's not a part of who we are anymore.

It's something that we, like,

we do,

we live this way,

and then now we, like,

oh,

now I've got to evangelize.

It's like a,

it's an event that we take place in,

but it's not coming out of who we are on a daily basis around the people that we're around.

So we've divorced it from our actual lives,

and that's why it's weird for a lot of us.

So,

if you look at verse 7

in our text here,

it says,

He called the twelve,

and began to send them out,

two by two,

this is just introduction,

two by two,

and gave them authority

over the unclean spirits.

So,

also,

in this book I refer to you,

he has a chapter called Delegation.

So,

demonstration,

delegation.

And,

and this is another part of real discipleship that our,

our Lord uses,

delegation.

So from day one,

Jesus was preparing his disciples

to take over his mission one day.

He saw, like,

that's where I need to take them.

And he began, like,

slowly taking them there.

That would have been quite a work,

knowing what we know about the disciples.

And he gradually assigned work,

duties,

responsibilities,

and they were faithful to that.

It's kind of like,

okay, boys,

you've watched me do it.

You see,

you've observed me.

Now it's,

now it's your turn.

Go out and do this.

And that's real discipleship.

And in this context,

in Mark today,

we see him delegating for the first time,

preaching,

and evangelism,

and soul winning,

accompanied by acts of compassion.

So it says,

like,

he began to send them out.

He commissioned each pair to go out

as his representatives.

And we see that he gave them authority.

So,

that's important.

He didn't like just sending them out

to fend for themselves,

and their own wit,

because really they weren't that way,

or their own knowledge and skill,

which they lacked greatly.

He gave them his authority to go out,

or his power to go out.

And that term here,

it could be used as authority or power.

It means like inerrant power,

an idea of someone possessing the right to do something,

and actually having,

like,

the capacity to do it.

And that's the kind of power that he gave them to go out.

And so,

they didn't just go out on their own.

And he gave them his power to go out

and do as he had been doing.

So,

which is interesting.

In a parallel text in Matthew,

it says that after he sent them out,

he himself went out and continued teaching and doing this.

It wasn't like,

I'm going to sit back at the house and drink some lemonade

while y'all go out.

You know,

he was doing this himself

as the example for them.

And so,

in another sense,

he granted them authority.

He was saying,

in a literal sense almost,

that he was an extension.

They were an extension of him

as they ministered to others.

And up until now,

Jesus had been the one teaching,

preaching,

healing,

casting out demons.

But he sent his power to go out.

And then we see

that he sent them out two by two.

So,

why twos?

I was able to kind of think of like,

six different reasons,

but really quickly,

how important was it fulfilled the requirements of the law

to,

for every testimony to have,

to be established by two or more witnesses.

That's out of Deuteronomy 17,

six.

And then it also followed the ancient wisdom of Solomon

and the Old Testament,

two are better than one.

It's the idea that if you fall,

you have someone to pick you up.

So that's another one,

is provided the men with the companionship,

encouragement,

and someone to pray for them.

I've been so thankful for that over the years,

to have those kind of situations.

It was the method used by John the Baptist

and his followers.

He sent them out by twos.

And then you also see

it was the method of the early church.

A lot in the book of Acts,

you'll read that.

Paul often has somebody else with him,

Barnabas or Silas,

and they would,

they would go.

Or he would say,

I'm going to send to you Timothy

and another guy.

Like it was always by twos.

And it really still is the best method today.

I remember earlier on,

in my walk with the Lord,

I was 18,

19,

and I was just

really burdened

to like share the gospel

with all my crazy lost friends

that I went to high school with.

And the Lord paired me up

with another buddy of mine

who was probably the craziest,

craziest dude in our grade,

seriously,

before the Lord saved him.

And we just started hunting people down.

You know,

we would call somebody up and say,

hey,

what are you doing this day?

Let's hang out.

And we would genuinely just hang out with him.

And then we'd be like,

so,

you know,

have some good conversations.

We,

we didn't really know what we were doing,

to be honest.

We were just trying to love people

and pointing to Jesus,

kind of a bull in a china closet

kind of stuff.

I remember we actually ran out of friends.

Like we were like,

who are we?

And we actually pulled the yearbook out

and started like going down

through the yearbook.

I remember one time we were praying,

like Lord,

we're running out of people to talk to.

And like two minutes later,

he dug up something out of his closet

and it was like this,

he started laughing.

It was like a list of all the people

he used to call to party on the weekends.

Like,

we're going after them.

So it was like,

it was,

it was that.

So,

and today,

I try to take the men I disciple

on the Appalachian Trail

and to share with guys

who were coming by.

The last time I took Kittrell,

Matt Kittrell with me,

I made him carry the cooler.

It was great.

But we just took little bottles of water,

some Powerade,

and yes,

I'll explain this later.

I took a few beers too.

Number one,

I went in vodka.

And number one,

we didn't give them more than one.

So,

but,

I've had people say,

do you have any,

do you have any beer?

And I was like,

no,

I just got water,

man.

Well,

that's okay.

And just keep walking.

And so,

we actually had

a couple people that stopped

and had a beer

and we talked about Jesus

and that was kind of a conundrum for them.

So,

Daniel Swanson,

he's done this too.

He's taken people down to the mall

and in pairs

and shared with people down there.

Definitely,

like,

I was convicted

a few years ago

in my discipleship

that I was,

I was telling the guys

that I am sharing my faith

and they knew I was sharing my faith.

But,

really,

just a personal part of it,

I needed to be able to show them

how to do it.

They need to see me,

like,

have terrible conversations with people.

They need to see me,

like,

get burned

and rejected

and as well as just

have good conversations

so that,

at the end of the day,

they'll know

that this is

not about how much you know

or how clever you are.

It's about,

like,

God's power in you.

That's all it is.

It doesn't matter.

So,

yeah,

the by twos thing,

a great way to do it.

So,

three things

from our text today,

if you'll look at

the beginning of verse 11.

Excuse me.

Number one is,

faithful messengers

proclaim salvation.

Faithful messengers

proclaim salvation.

You look at verse 11 and 12.

And if any place

will not receive you

and they will not listen to you

when you leave,

shake off the dust

that is on your feet

as a testimony

against them

so that when they

went out

and proclaimed

that people

should repent.

So,

this is the first one.

If you would,

there's just a couple

of places for you

to turn today

outside of Mark 6.

Hold your place

in Mark 6,

but just go back

to chapter 1

of Mark.

So,

what was the message

that they were

proclaiming?

And,

more than likely,

it was the same message

that Jesus

was proclaiming here

at the beginning of Mark.

If you look at verse 14,

it says this,

Jesus came into Galilee

proclaiming the gospel

of God

and saying,

the time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God

is at hand.

Repent

and believe the gospel.

So,

the message

that he was proclaiming

was the good news

that the kingdom

of God

is here,

that God was establishing

his rule

over the hearts

of Adam's

fallen race.

It was being established.

and in response

to this,

people should repent

and believe the gospel.

So,

let's just break this down.

The kingdom of God,

without getting

to all the craziness

of the kingdom of God,

it can really be

simply understood

in three ways.

The first

is the spiritual kingdom

or the invisible kingdom

that exists

in the hearts

of those who believe.

It's like the church

invisible,

like,

it's the

rule of Christ

that is established

in the hearts

of those

who have put

their faith in him.

And then also,

you could be referring

to the future

millennial kingdom

and the new heaven,

the new earth,

Revelation 20,

fulfilling the

Old Testament promises

about the Messiah,

which will come

shortly before the end,

and then,

and then the eternal kingdom

that follows that

in the new heaven.

So God's kingdom,

if you look at this text,

it's interesting.

If you look at the text,

it says that God's kingdom

is here,

and that it is coming.

There's places,

you know,

where Jesus is teaching

his disciples,

pray,

your kingdom come,

right?

And,

but here he says,

the kingdom of God

is here.

So,

like,

how is that to be understood?

And many of you

have heard me say this,

but it's only the best

analogy I can come up with.

Actually,

I don't think I came up

with it either.

But it's,

it's a picture of,

like,

there being darkness

and no light,

but suddenly,

like,

the sun begins to come up.

I'm an outdoorsman,

and I like to fish,

and I like to hunt,

and usually you're out there

at dark,

and then,

like,

the sun comes up,

and you get to watch that a lot.

It's that idea of,

like,

the sun coming up,

piercing the darkness,

but it's not fully

daylight yet.

And that's a picture of,

kind of,

where we live right now.

So the kingdom is here,

and it is coming.

He said,

the time is fulfilled,

Jesus says.

And that's the Greek word,

keros,

not kromos,

which is like a clock time.

It has more to do,

like,

an epochal time,

the error,

a fixed point in history

for an event to happen.

And like in Galatians 4,

it says,

in the fullness of time,

is that idea.

And so the most significant error

in human history

was the arrival of Christ

on the scene

and Him beginning

to bring in the kingdom of God,

paying the penalty for sin

and resurrecting from the dead.

So,

so that's the kingdom.

So,

how do you actually get

into the kingdom?

Right?

So,

if you look back,

just in Mark 1,

it says,

repent

and believe the gospel.

And this is the message

that they were proclaiming,

saying that they should go out

and teach

and declare

that men should repent

of their sin.

So,

a great,

I'm trying to,

so much to learn

about repentance.

And then those

who actually mentor

and disciple me here

always tell me,

you have a lot to learn

about repentance.

And I'm like,

man,

I do.

Because I,

I don't,

I don't handle it

so well sometimes.

But really,

literally,

repenting,

it means to change

one's mind

for the better.

heartily to

a man with

abhorrence

one's past sins.

It's a changing

of the mind

that leads

to change of action.

It's a turning

away of sin,

hating it,

and resolving

only by God's power

to overcome it,

even as you turn

in faith to Him.

So,

a little helpful thing,

being repentant

is not just

feeling guilty

and feeling bad

for things you've done.

unbelievers do that.

So,

what's the difference?

And the difference

is that

genuine repentance

arises from a heart

of sorrow

for the crimes

it has committed

against God.

It's called

a godly sorrow

that leads to repentance.

2 Corinthians 7,

10.

A godly sorrow

that produces

a desire

to change

one's ways

and change

the way

a repentant sinner

lives.

As David said

when he committed

adultery,

murder,

and scandal,

he told God

in Psalm 51,

you alone

have I sinned against

and done what is evil

in your sight.

So,

he could have said

I sinned against

a lot of people,

but he knew that

all sin,

all of it,

is first and foremost

against God.

And that's why he said

that you and you alone

have I sinned against.

It's a grief

that's produced.

So,

all the sin,

you know,

calls us

to reckon with God

and to turn away

from our sin.

And by the way,

another thing,

like,

when we say repent,

when the scripture

says repent,

when Jesus said it

right here,

it's not an invitation.

It's not,

he's not simply

inviting people

to come

and follow him.

It's used as a command

like repent

and believe.

It's not a

imitation.

And,

as if,

like,

you see your child

doing something crazy

that could harm them

and you command them

like,

turn now,

come back.

Because,

because really,

Jesus knows

that he is the only hope

they have.

So,

he's not saying like,

please,

like,

he's not a,

it's not that,

it's just repent

and believe.

Because he knows

that he is the only thing

that can save them.

So,

it's not an invitation.

So,

we have to

come back

to this idea

of repentance.

It's left out

a lot.

Y'all won't believe me,

but it's left out

even on the college campus.

It's left out.

Several years ago,

I had a conversation

with a

so-called atheist

and

he told me,

like,

I used to be

a Christian

and so I asked him

to like explain

what he meant

and he said,

well,

about a year ago,

I was going through

a really rough time

and some Christians

came to me

and they just said,

man,

I'm sorry,

you're having a hard time.

What you really need

is Jesus in your life

and he'll make you joyful,

he'll bring you peace

and so I was like,

man,

I want that.

So,

he came

and he,

you know,

came to the church

and,

you know,

did the whole deal

and then,

and then in that conversation

he said,

and it was cool

for a while

but then,

this happened.

I broke up

with my girlfriend.

I lost my job

and,

and I just had to tell him,

like,

man,

like,

I'm very sorry

that like,

all that's happened to you

but I'm even more sorry

that these Christians

that probably meant well,

they didn't tell you

what the gospel really was.

Like,

the truth is,

yes,

Christ does give you joy,

he does give you satisfaction,

he does give you peace

but that comes

by way of repenting

of your sin

and following Christ

and they forgot that.

They forgot to tell him

to turn away

from his sin

and believe the gospel.

So,

don't,

it's a,

it's an overflow,

it's an outcome

of knowing Christ

that it is not the gospel

and you keep that in mind

and how we actually

teach to people.

So,

he says,

repent and believe.

So,

this isn't just

a mere acknowledgement,

it's to believe

means to be persuaded,

to be strongly convicted

by something,

to throw yourself

completely in trust,

right?

So,

it's a belief

that produces action,

it's not just

a mental ascent.

You believe it so much

that it changes

how you live.

And then the gospel

is just,

we talk about it

all the time,

it's the glad tithings,

the good news

that Christ came here

to save sinners,

all right?

Turn to Acts 3

really quick.

Acts 3.

So,

after Jesus

had ascended back,

after he had ascended

back to heaven,

the apostles,

the apostles continued

this message

of repentance.

It wasn't

just come to Jesus

and get happy.

Acts 3,

Acts 3:17

verse 17,

it said,

And now,

brothers,

I know that you

acted in ignorance,

as did also your rulers,

but what God foretold

by the mouth

of all the prophets,

that his Christ

would suffer,

he thus fulfilled.

Repent,

therefore,

and turn again,

that your sins

may be blotted out,

that times of refreshing

may come

from the presence

of the Lord,

and that he may

send the Christ

appointed for you,

Jesus,

whom heaven must receive

until the time

for restoring

all things

about which God

spoke by the mouth

of all his holy prophets

so long ago.

That resembles

what's said in Isaiah

about God saying,

Turn back to me,

repent,

that a time

of healing

and refreshing

will come,

that your sins

will be blotted away.

Christ was the fulfillment

of that,

and we never forgot that.

Repent

and turn again

to the Lord,

that your sins

will be blotted out.

And it says

that genuine repentance

does bring refreshing.

Those of you

who have believed

the gospel

know that.

It's a refreshing,

cooling presence

to your seared conscience

that sin has brought.

So,

back in,

if you look back

in Mark 6,

you see that he says,

if you're rejected,

shake off the dust

from your sandals.

Alright?

Shake off the dust

from your sandals.

So,

if the message

rejected,

this is what Jews did

when they returned

from a foreign land

or from a pagan land

when they returned

from a journey.

So,

before they actually

crossed back into Israel,

they would shake the dust,

shake the dust

off their sandals,

off their clothes,

and it was just

symbolic.

It represented

like total

disassociation.

from the pagans

in their polluted land.

Luke 10,

8 is an example

of that.

In this case,

Jesus was telling

his men

to do this

as a sign

of those

who rejected

the gospel

and rejected him

and that they would

face God's judgment

one day.

And so,

it also,

it made,

it was symbolic

of the messengers

freeing themselves

of the responsibility

of sharing.

Now,

some of you

may not like

to hear this,

but,

like,

if you,

if you just

write this down,

like Ezekiel 33

is the,

the picture

of the,

or the vision

of the watchman

that God gives

Ezekiel.

And he says,

I've appointed you

a watchman

to the house

of Israel.

And so,

a watchman

would be up

on a high place

in the city,

a guard tower

or whatever.

It is his job

to watch for danger

that might be coming.

And his job

also was to blow

a trumpet

if he did see danger.

And,

and then the people

would either listen

to him

or they would

ignore it.

But,

God says,

it is your

responsibility,

I hold you

personally accountable

to blow the trumpet.

All right?

To warn the people

of impending danger.

And,

if they ignore it,

the blood is on

their own heads.

And you are free

of your responsibility.

But,

but if you don't

blow it,

he says,

I will hold you

accountable.

All right?

And that's true.

It's true.

Acts 18,

Acts 18:6

verse 6,

Paul had just

been rejected

and this is

what he says.

And when they

opposed

and reviled

Paul,

he shook off

his garments.

There it is.

See,

he shook off

his garments.

And he said

to them,

your blood

be on your

own heads.

I am

innocent.

All right?

Yes,

this was the

man who wrote

Romans 9.

He knew

about the

sovereignty of

God.

He knew

that God

was the

one who

ultimately

worked in

the hearts

of men,

but he

never took

that as

an excuse

to just lay

back.

He knew

that preaching

the gospel

was the

means God

uses to

save sinners.

And he

said,

I'm innocent.

I'm free

of my

responsibility.

I've told you

the message,

and I'm

walking away.

So it

was symbolic

of moving

on.

So that's

number one.

Faithful

messengers

proclaim

salvation.

Number two,

in our text

back in

Mark,

faithful

messengers

manifest

compassion.

Faithful

messengers

manifest

compassion.

So nothing

is more

distasteful

to a lost

world than

Bible

thumpers

hurling

stuff at

them and

then not

caring for

them at

all.

Alright?

Good deeds,

good works,

as one of

the old

confessions

says,

good deeds,

good works

adorn the

gospel.

They make

the gospel

look beautiful.

And the

compassion of

Christ is

seen all

over the

place.

But if you

look back in

our text,

it's to

follow here,

faithful

messengers

!

Manifest

compassion.

Verse 7,

He called

the twelve

and began

to send

them out

two by

two,

and He

gave them

authority

over

unclean

spirits.

In

verse 13,

And they

cast out

many demons

and anointed

with oil

many who

were sick

and healed

them.

Alright?

So our

Lord,

He was

the embodiment

of compassion.

He was

the greatest

incarnation

of the

compassion

of God

ever.

He never

did things

selfishly

or begrudgingly.

He didn't

have a secret

agenda.

I mean,

He didn't

like,

I pity

these

sinners.

That wasn't

His attitude

at all.

Jesus

served people

from a

deep and

sincere

compassion.

And the

word that's

kind of used

for compassion

in many

places in

the New

Testament

means like

from the

bowels.

It means

like the

place of

tender

affections

for another.

a

aching

heart

which

mercy

resides

for those

who

are

lowly

and

weak.

Alright?

So it was

more like

that,

not like,

oh,

I need to

go help

these

people.

Like,

he felt

it.

It was

deep

inside

of him.

And

God's

compassion

was spoken

of so

many times

in the

Old

Testament.

It

reveals

like this

astounding,

tender-hearted

God toward

those who

are weak

and lowly.

Psalm 79

Psalms 79:8

verse 8

says this,

Do not

remember

against us

our former

iniquities.

Let your

compassion

come speedily

to meet us

for we are

brought low.

There's that

idea.

Help us,

O God,

of our

salvation

for the

glory of

your name.

Deliver us

and atone

our sins

for your

name's sake.

So now,

Jesus is

here.

The gospel

is here.

And so all

the teaching,

all the

miracles

were acts

of compassion

to those

who dwelt

in darkness

and in the

bondage of

sin.

Okay?

He was the

incarnation of

the Father's

compassion.

What we just

read was

fulfilled in

Christ,

atoned for

our sins.

And a

little later

on in

Mark,

this same

chapter,

if you just

look at

Mark 6

34,

it says,

He went

ashore and

he saw a

great crowd

and he had

compassion

on them

because they

were like

sheep without

a shepherd

and he

began to

teach them

many things.

So,

now the

disciples are

going out

as an

extension of

Christ to

the world

to deliver

and to

heal,

to preach

the kingdom,

to cast

out demons

and to

heal the

sick.

Alright?

Now,

as we've

said,

God uses

miracles to

confirm or

to validate

his claims.

Okay?

Like,

there was

miracles done

in the Old

Testament.

Jesus was

not the

first one

to work

miracles or

to raise

somebody from

the dead.

I mean,

even Elijah

did that.

So,

I do

believe,

because I've

seen,

I've heard

and I've

experienced,

I do

believe that

God still

does use

miracles as

something to

show his

power, to

show his

compassion to

people.

But I

also will

say that I

know it's

not the

norm.

Okay?

Years ago,

when I was in

the hospital,

people were

praying that

I would

like be

healed from

my cystic

fibrosis,

that I

wouldn't need

a transplant.

I had more

oil dumped

on me than

McDonald's

french fries.

But I

had a lot

of prayer

on that.

And,

but really,

the greatest

miracle that

is performed

today is

like the

transformation,

the regeneration

of the dead

human soul.

By his

wombs,

they will be

healed.

That was

speaking of

a spiritual

healing.

And Christ

brought that

when he

came.

You can't

be fickled

by miracles.

Did y'all

know that in

the last

days, like

false teachers

will be able

to do

miracles?

So what

are you

going to

do?

Are you

going to

believe it?

Or say,

like, where

is that

coming from?

It's not,

it can't be

it.

It's got to

be something

more than

that.

So for

Christ to

take a

lost,

hell-bound

sinner,

a rebel,

and transform

them into,

like a lover

of the king,

is the greatest

miracle,

really.

And that

comes by

the gospel.

It comes by

us sharing

the word of

God with

people.

So that's

number three,

or number

two.

Faithful

messengers

manifest

compassion.

Number

three,

faithful

messengers

live dependent

on God.

Okay?

Verse

eight,

he charged

them to

take nothing

for their

journey,

except the

staff,

no bread,

no bag,

no money,

in their

belts,

but to

wear their

sandals,

and to

not put

on two

tunics.

And he

said to

them,

whenever you

enter a

house,

stay there

until you

depart from

there.

So like,

what's all

that about?

Well,

you know,

the traveling

bag,

which he

doesn't ask

them to

take,

it was

used to

carry money

or to

carry food.

For a

long time,

like you

can just

use Exodus

12 as an

example of

this,

things that

were listed

here in

these two

verses,

they were

signs to

the Jewish

people of

their helplessness,

their need to

trust in God,

and also

urgency.

Like,

when you're in

a hurry,

you don't have

time to

pack three

or four bags

of all your

junk.

Like,

go.

That's kind

of like the

picture here.

Guys,

you don't have

time to

let up the

hair dryer

and the

makeup.

You just

go.

Like,

that's,

it's not,

it's kind

of like that.

But bread

and bags

and money

and their

belts and

two tunics

were symbolic

of like all

the things

that make

life secure.

Like,

what makes

your life

feel secure

right now?

Probably your

money,

probably the

roof over

your head,

the clothes

on your

back.

And so,

Jesus was

somewhat asking

them to mimic

the prophets

of old,

like Elijah

and Elisha,

who were fed

and sheltered

by those they

ministered to,

and to accept

the hospitality

of the local

people that

accepted their

message.

Right?

It's like,

don't,

don't seek

out better

accommodations,

more comfortable

places.

Don't stay

at super

crazy nice

hotels,

you know?

Just be

content.

Take what

you're given

and be

content.

And so,

Jesus didn't

want his,

or the people

that encountered

his disciples

to think

that they had

some kind

of secret

agenda

to get

money,

to grow,

to grow

wealthy.

And so,

they just

went that

way.

Preachers

in England

during the

18th and

19th

centuries

were renowned

for considering

their own

personal pleasures

and comforts

above the

needs of the

people in

their church.

They could

talk to you

more about

their hunting

dogs and

their wine

sellers than

they could

about the

gospel and

the word

of God.

It's the

same thing

today,

really,

just prosperity

preaching,

tell evangelists,

send me

money.

It's the

same kind

of stuff.

And like,

we've had

enough of

that in

our generation.

We need

to be able

to preach

the true

gospel.

So,

he says,

he desires

them to

just travel

light,

to take

only what's

needed,

to leave

everything else

behind.

And the

staff that he

did tell them

to take

was used

for walking,

also for

protection,

and the

sandals were

just the

ordinary

footwear.

And he

says,

take one

tunic,

which are

just the

standard

dress,

because in

this culture,

two tunics

can symbolize

wealth.

And like,

look at me,

I've got two

tunics.

So he's

like,

just take

one.

Associate

with the

commoners,

the lowly,

and think

about this.

Don't come

across as

high and

mighty and

holier than

thou,

but associate

with these

people.

So,

are we

supposed to

do that

today?

Maybe,

but I

don't think

necessarily.

The idea

here is

that he

wants them

to learn

to trust

him,

that go

without making

special

preparations

for your

travels,

undertake

this

assignment,

trusting

in me,

to provide

for all

your needs.

Can you

do that?

He was

teaching

them

reliance

and