 Matthew 13, beginning at verse 54, when he had come to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, his brothers, James, Josie, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? So they were offended at him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house. Now notice verse 58, and he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. And so we're gonna be looking at that. And I have to be honest with you, even as I introduced this study, first service, I just was real open, real open and probably offensive. And so I don't know that I'll be as offensive. I usually think through my words by second service and I'm less offensive, but try to stay very open. But the problem that we're having here right now, and I'm gonna spend my time coming to this point is the last verse, when it speaks concerning Jesus, not doing many works there because of their unbelief. And I wanna speak to you today as we get to the conclusion concerning unbelief. But let's begin by looking at the verses before us. So let me give to you a context and let me give to you an introduction. And we're gonna be moving into the fruit of unbelief because that's what we see here, the fruit of unbelief. And so in chapter 13 here in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus we know gives a series of eight parables. And the eight parables that Jesus gave here concern what is called the kingdom of heaven. When you look at these eight parables, the foundational parable is the parable of the seed and the soils. That was the first parable that Jesus gives in Matthew 13. And that particular parable revealed that some people would receive the Gospel, but that most won't. As a matter of fact, he gives to us a ratio of three rejecting and one receiving. And so the point that the Lord is making here is most people will reject the message of the Gospel. As we've gone through this, we have seen that these people who are hearing God's word, while they heard but they didn't understand. And seeing, he said, they did not perceive. And the reason they would hear and not understand and see and not perceive is because their hearts were calloused. Their ears had become deaf, their eyes had been blinded and their eyes had been blinded by unbelief. That's what we see at the conclusion of chapter 13 when he makes it very clear that they did not believe. And so that's what's taking place here. They are remaining in a state of unbelief. As you look through the ministry of Christ, Jesus did works and spoke words that the prophets and the righteous wished that they could have seen and that they could have heard. And people noted that nobody had ever done such marvelous things or spoken so powerfully. They began to wonder out loud if he could be the Messiah. They called him the Son of David. And as I've mentioned to you, the term Son of David is another way of speaking of Messiah. So they were wondering out loud if he could be the Son of David. But they were silenced. The religious leaders silenced them. We saw that in Matthew 12, 24, when the Pharisees heard it, they said this fellow does not cast out demons except by the Elbs above the ruler of demons. And so when they began to wonder out loud, can this one be Messiah? The religious leaders said no, he's actually possessed by the devil. And so what we've been seeing up to this point is they were resisting the Spirit of God and they resist the Spirit of God because they are anchored in unbelief. Nothing Jesus is saying and nothing that he's doing is moving them from their settled rejection of him. And so these verses give us a glimpse into what is called the willful rejection of Jesus Christ. And we are gonna see what the fruit of unbelief is in just a moment. Now in verse 53, the last place we were when we left off last time, verse 53 informs us that after Jesus finished these parables, he departed from there. As we've been looking at chapter 13, we know that he's been in the city of Capernaum. And now he's returning to his home. He's gonna go back to where he was raised. He was raised in the city of Nazareth. If you're looking at a map of Israel and you look to the north, you have the Sea of Galilee. In almost the center of the Sea of Galilee, in its northern most, you have on the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum. If you go from Capernaum, almost in a direct line to the west, you go for a short while, you're gonna go to the city of Nazareth. And so he's returning now to the city of Nazareth. So in verse 54, it says, when he had come to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom in these mighty works? And so that tells us where he's going. Now the way that we usually use the word country is we're thinking in terms of our own country as in the United States or whatever. That's not how the word is used here. The word country is just speaking of his home, of his hometown. He's on his way back to the city of Nazareth. When we look at Mark chapter six, verse one, it says, Jesus left there and went to his hometown accompanied by his disciples. So Jesus is leaving Capernaum where he's been ministering and now that's the center of his ministry. It's his ministry headquarters. He's returning to the city that he was raised in, the city of Nazareth, but he doesn't go on his own. He's bringing his disciples with him. And while he's there, according to verse 54, he taught them in their synagogue. And so Jesus was a rabbi and Jesus would speak very often in synagogues. It had actually become his manner or his custom. Luke tells us in chapter four, verse 16, on one occasion he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. Now, people were not always open to the things he had to say. And a great example of this occurred on another occasion, other than the one we're looking at today, on another occasion when he had shared in Nazareth. You saw that in Luke chapter four, verses 28 through 30. It says, there are all those in the synagogue when they heard these things were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust them out of the city. And they led them to the brow of the hill on which the city was built, that they might throw him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, he went his way. So they weren't always responsive to the things that he had to say in the most positive way. And on one occasion they actually took him to the brow of the hill in order that they might cast him down and kill him. The brow of that hill still exists to this day. We've been there many times when we go to the land of Israel and we've been on the brow of that hill and we've given Bible studies. And so you can see how that had he been cast down, he would have died. And that's what they wanted. But the bottom line is, is they were not receptive to the things that he had to say it. And an obvious fact, everyone of us in this room, who gives away our faith, who shares our faith, an obvious fact to us is people are not always receptive to hearing the claims of Jesus Christ and not even from him. They don't always want to hear. And we know this, this isn't news, this isn't brand new, this isn't some kind of revelation. People are not always open to hearing what the Gospel has to say. I read about a certain skeptical writer who was in prison and who was visited by a Christian who wished him well. But this skeptical man didn't want to hear a word about Jesus Christ. And seeing a Bible in the hand of his visitor, he made this remark, you do not expect me to believe in that book, do you? Why, if that book is true, I'm lost forever. And so people don't want to hear necessarily. And it would seem that even today, many may respect the fact that Jesus was a profound teacher and many may respect the fact that he was a good man. And some will even claim to have a great respect for him. They might even refer to him as a prophet of God. But the things that he said divided people. Listen, do not think that you're gonna be the most popular person in class or necessarily the most popular person in the neighborhood. On the job site or in the family, if you actually really believe what Jesus said. You know, a lot of Americans are very tolerant to many things other than to truth. And when somebody actually says, no, I really believe what Jesus said, they will say as you've had them say to you in one form or another, oh yeah, he was a great teacher. I'm sure if he existed at all, some might even say he was a great prophet. And they'll say, oh, I really do believe that we ought to obey the golden rule or we ought to live our lives according to the Sermon on the Mount. And there are people who will say philosophically that they can agree with some of the things that the Lord Jesus had to say. But when you start telling them some of the things he said that are actually absolute, they have a real problem with that. I mean, you know this, if you said, Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me. And that's where people will draw the line. They'll say, now wait a minute, you know, that there's just too many people who've over the years said things from Moses to Buddha to Muhammad. There have been so many religious instructors and now you're trying to tell me that the only way that I can see God or have a relationship with God is to go through Jesus Christ. Don't you understand? There are around seven billion people on the face of the earth and the overwhelming majority of those people are lost. How can you possibly tell me that? And you'll have people who really will argue with that because what you just did is you quoted Christ and they don't like that. They don't wanna believe that and yet that's what Jesus said. In John 3.18 he said, he who believes in him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. In John 6.47, most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. Now did Muhammad ever say that or Buddha ever say that or anybody else ever say that? Of course not. Did Moses ever say that? Did the psalmist, any psalmist ever say that? Of course not. Jesus said that and that's a very powerful statement. In 1 John 2.23, John the Apostle said, whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. That's a very powerful and absolute statement. And so those are the comments that cause people to be offended in him. And once again, Jesus is here. He's in his neighborhood if you will and he's attempting to reach his former neighbors as well as those who knew him. Now they have violently opposed him before but he shares with them. That's because it really reveals to us that God is very patient. In 2 Peter 3.9, the Bible says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering to us. Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. In Romans 2.4, Paul said, do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience? Not realizing that God's kindness leads you to repentance? You know it's God's patient kindness. Imagine how many times in the past prior to coming to faith in Christ, you could have died but you didn't. You survived. I think of the time when I was 19 or so and I dropped five reds, Downers, Lilia, F40, second all, which we used to drop at that time and I dropped five of them and I killed most of a half gallon of wine. And I think of how I woke up in the back of my station wagon and I was filling the urgency to vomit. My body was paralyzed and I knew that should I begin to vomit, I couldn't even move my head to the left or the right. I was paralyzed and I knew that I would have vomited and drowned in my own vomit. I knew that. And a guy I knew, his name was Freddie, Freddie had recently been buried. I went to his funeral and he had died in that identical way. He overdosed and vomited and he drowned in his own vomit, 19 years old. And so there I was in the same condition and yet God was merciful to me because God is not slack concerning his promise. Some men count slackness but his long suffering to us were not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. It's the kindness of God that leads us toward repentance and he shows us this kindness and that's what Jesus is doing. Jesus is demonstrating love and patience and he's going back to a place that before wanted to kill him. Now as he's there and he's teaching, notice in verse 54, he's teaching in their synagogue, they begin to talk amongst themselves. Notice their response. They're astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom in these mighty works? And so they're astonished, that word astonished in the original language, they're struck with amazement. They're amazed at his teaching. They're amazed at his insights, the insights that he's giving to them. Jesus spoke with clarity, he spoke with eloquence, he spoke with authority and they're amazed at him as they listen and they ask the question, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? You see they saw him only as the carpenter's son. Jesus had never received instruction from their rabbis, from their experts and they're showing their amazement, they're responding by saying, how did he learn these things? Now this is something you've seen from his earliest days. Remember with me when he was 12 years old, Luke records how that Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and he was 12 years old. His mother Mary and her husband Joseph had left and left him behind and they came back looking for him and there he was with the rabbis and he was speaking to them, he was listening to them and asking them questions and all. There he is with these teachers in the temple and it says in Luke 2.47, all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And so Jesus already has demonstrated this profound wisdom and so they're asking where did he get it from? Where did he get this wisdom? How could someone from such a small and insignificant place gain such understanding? You see when you look at Nazareth, don't think of Nazareth as being a city like the ones that we have here in California. It was a village and there are those who say that the population of this village called Nazareth could have been up to 200 but more than likely was less than 50. So they knew him, they knew his family and you'll see this in just a moment but they're asking the question where did he get this wisdom from? Where did he get this power from? And they began to speak concerning that. Now Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet prophesied concerning the special relationship that the father had with the son, the Messiah. In Isaiah 50 verse four it says this and these are the words of Messiah. The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning he awakens my ear to hear as the learned. That is called a messianic prophecy is related to Messiah and the Messiah has what is called the tongue of the learned. When it speaks of Messiah having what is called the tongue of the learned that's a phrase that speaks of his divine education. The term learned to the Jews spoke of a well-trained scholar. It would also allude to the fact that he was his father's favorite. So this ability to teach resulted in his ability to minister and so his ability to teach resulted in him giving instruction. It resulted in him giving comfort. It resulted in him giving refreshment to those who had a weary soul. He was able to speak a word in season to the one who is weary and he still is. He's still able to bring that word of comfort to your heart. To this day all you need to do is get in the Word. If you're going through something you pick up the Bible and you read and you read a Psalm and the Psalm will give you insight. The Psalm will give to you comfort. It's like what it says in Psalm 119 verse 50. This is my comfort in my affliction. Your Word has given me life and so God will give to you comfort through His Word. Paul says in Romans 15 verse 4 whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scripture might have hope. So God in the old as well as the new gives us comfort and so the Messiah is saying He's given to me the tongue of the learned that I might bring comfort to those who need refreshment. Not only that but Isaiah prophesied Messiah would be saying He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to hear as the learned. My morning fellowship and my communion with the Father gives me discernment as well as wisdom. And that's one reason why it's important for us to wake up in the morning and speak to the Lord in prayer. Like it says in Psalm 5 verse 3 my voice you shall hear in the morning oh Lord in the morning I will direct it to you and I will look up. And so they're saying where did He get this anointing from? The answer is my Father. Where did He get these mighty works from? Where did He get the power to perform these miracles? Now they might have heard reports of what Jesus had been doing throughout the land. Remember that the religious leaders did not deny that He performed works. They just questioned the origin. Some of the religious leaders are saying that His power came from Beelzebub from the devil. So they're ignoring the obvious answer. Jesus's anointing is from above. The works are heavenly in their origin and they're intended to point people to faith in Him. And some were very aware of this and some were drawn to Him by the works. Do you remember a guy by the name of Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night? We used to call him Nick at night. Nicodemus, remember how Nicodemus spoke and said in John 3 verse 2, how he said to Jesus, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with them. Rabbi, we know that the works that you're doing did not originate with man. We have had a convocation of other rabbis. We've been debating amongst ourselves where this great wisdom and power comes from and we have concluded, there are a number of us who have concluded that you come from God because of the works that you're doing. God is with you. And so Jesus's words as well as His works were His credentials to awaken people to know that He was Messiah. And so as they're asking, where did He get this wisdom and these works from, the answer has already been supplied to us from the Lord. Now they were ignoring what was obvious, Jesus is from God. Now Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 verses 22 through 24 said it like this. He said, Jews request a sign. Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block. To the Greeks, foolishness. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Where did this wisdom and where did these works come from? Christ is the power and wisdom of God. That's the answer. So this is the sin of unbelief. What is unbelief? Unbelief has been translated as simply unfaithfulness. It's a lack of faith. It's a weakness of faith. But unbelief in its root is an unwillingness to believe God. An unwillingness to believe God is unbelief. There was an infidel by the name of Voltaire. And Voltaire said, if a miracle occurred in the marketplace of Paris and in the presence of 2,000 men, I would rather disbelieve my own eyes than to believe the 2,000. I would just as soon be an unbeliever than a believer. Now they were wondering at his words and they were amazed at his words, but they were in unbelief. They refused to believe. And so what do they do when they're unbelief? They begin to question. Notice verse 55 and 56. Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers? James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? Now we're gonna look at that for just a moment. Is this not the carpenter's son? Joseph, Mary's husband, was a construction worker. Do you normally associate godliness with construction workers? I do know that we have a lot of construction workers in this church and indeed I can associate godly men with construction workers, but the average person doesn't. The average person doesn't. And Joseph was a construction worker. He worked with his hands and he worked with wood and he worked with stone and he was an expert at that. And so they're beginning to say, now wait a minute, this is the individual who did all that work here in Nazareth. We know him for what he was. He was a construction worker. He was a carpenter. Not only was Joseph one, but by the way, Jesus was one also because Mark tells us in chapter six, verse three, that Jesus is the carpenter. And so they're simply saying, we all know that Joseph was a simple carpenter. So how could Jesus be so profound and powerful? You see, they can't see how a carpenter turned preacher could fit the picture of Messiah. And so they're asking, can the Messiah really come from amongst us? You see, the thought of Messiah coming from amongst them actually went against the traditions that they had embraced because John tells us in chapter seven, verse 27, that they said, we know where this man is from when Christ comes, no one will know where he's from. So the tradition that they had been raised on is that you would not know what city he originated from. That was their tradition. But in reality, just looking for an excuse to reject him. What they're doing is they're reducing him to the stature of an ordinary man in order to excuse their own unbelief. Isaiah told us in Isaiah 53, verse two, when we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. You know, sometimes we think of Jesus and perhaps in our own mind's eyes, we begin to formulate what we think he might have looked like. And sometimes we may think of him as being a tall and very handsome and very attractive, the kind of man who would walk into a room and men would respect him and women would admire him. And a lot of times, let's face it, I think we have that because we have a kind of a distorted sense of beauty and the importance of beauty. Like if you were somewhere and some stranger's looking at you and this stranger's a very good looking stranger and they're just looking at you, you might think, oh, you know, they're looking at me. But if it's an ugly person, what are you looking at? Right? I mean, because if somebody's beautiful is looking at you, you think there's something attractive about you, but if somebody's ugly looking at you, there's something wrong with them. And we have a tendency of thinking that way, that's an absolute fact and we know that's true. It's just true, beauty gets a pass and ugliness doesn't, I know that by experience. And so with that said, sometimes we look at the Lord and we think that Jesus must have walked into a room and immediately, if it was dark, he must have glowed in the dark. We think that he had some kind of attractiveness to him and yet the Bible makes it very clear concerning Messiah, we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. It wasn't that he was necessarily outwardly very attractive, it's not as if Jesus would walk into the room and you'd see him as like a GQ model of some sort. When he walked into the room, there was something about him that would attract you to him but it wasn't necessarily his looks. What there was about him was something that was much deeper than the beauty that a person could have. Everyone in this room knows that beauty is fleeting, that you may be a great looking, handsome, well-built man now, live long enough and that's a memory, that's a memory. I remember when I had a 30 inch waist, yeah, that was a long time ago, now it wasn't it. I remember when I had this big old chest, yeah, now it's just dropped to your waist, man. That's a fact, and that's just a fact. Let's face it, at one time you may have looked this way and now you look that, that's okay, we're aging, there's no big deal, there's hardly anything somebody said though that is more tragic than to watch a beautiful woman as she grows old. Because when you were young and beautiful you got over a lot more than when you're growing older and we know that, how many women you know who at one time, know of who at one time might have been real well known for making movies who were known for being beautiful as a young woman and now that they're older, what parts do they get, why, because we're fascinated with youth and beauty in this culture and so people have a tendency of thinking that Jesus might have been just so handsome, he kind of glowed in the dark kind of person, you know, but the Bible says there was nothing about him that would draw us to him, not physically, then what was it about him that drew man to him? There was something that came out of him that radiated from him that caused people to be able to bring their children to Jesus that he would hold and bless those babies because there was something about this rabbi that drew people. There's something about you too by the way, you have the fragrance of Christ and when Jesus is in you and when Jesus is emanating from you there's something about you that can be attractive to those who don't know him. Keep that in mind. There's something about you that's beyond your physical appearance. There's something deeper than that. There's something called character, there's something called the quality of who you are, your essence that comes out when people spend time with you and they get to know you and they can grow to love you and it has nothing to do with your outward beauty. Now you may be a beautiful person and if you are praise the Lord, but there's a quality that goes deeper than the beauty that is fleeting and that is the character and with Christ that's what it was that was attractive. There was a wisdom about him that made you want to be near him. There was a goodness, a virtue, a love, a care. There was something about him that made you bring your child to him and say would you please bless my child. There was something about him that would make you bring a friend and say I know you can make him well, I know you can heal him, I know there's something about you. Please I bring my friend to you. That's the way it works and that's how it works in the kingdom of God to this day. So as they're looking and they're saying what is it about him? Where did he get this wisdom? Where did he get these mighty works from? We know who he is. His father is Joseph. He's an ordinary carpenter. This is Jesus the carpenter. He's a carpenter himself. Not only that, we know his mother Mary. We know his four brothers. He has at least two sisters. We know them by name. Where did these things come from? How did this happen? They were looking for an excuse to reject him. John 111 says, speaking of Messiah, he came unto his own and his own received him not. He was rejected. They're naming his brothers. They mentioned that they knew his sisters. Now here's a little theological thing for you. The fact that they're mentioning brothers and mentioning sisters. The fact that they're doing that is giving us clarity concerning a doctrine that some hold to that is called, and I'll just take a moment to share this with you. This doctrine is called the perpetual virginity of Mary. Some of you were raised to know that doctrine. The perpetual virginity of Mary is a doctrine that says that she was virgin when she conceived Jesus, virgin when she gave birth, and the perpetuality of it is they teach that she remained virgin after marriage and thus had no other children. So when the names, Joseph, James, Simon, Judas sisters, when they're mentioned, there are those who would say, well, these are not physical brothers of Christ through Mary. These are cousins. There are some who will say also that these were children who were born to Joseph prior to him getting married to Mary. Probably means the Bible doesn't teach that. That's not found in scripture. That's found in church tradition. When you read your Bible, you'll discover that Jesus had brothers and at least two sisters. You've seen them mentioned in Matthew 12, 46, and 47. We know that according to John 7, verse five, his brothers initially did not believe in him. We know that Paul tells us after Jesus' resurrection that Jesus appeared to his brother James in 1 Corinthians 15, verse seven. Acts 114 mentions them as being with Mary and other believers in the upper room. The brothers of the Lord are spoken of in 1 Corinthians nine, verse five, and Paul refers to James as the Lord's brother in Galatians 119. By reading our Bibles, ultimately we see that James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem, according to Acts 15, and that he wrote the book of James. Another brother mentioned is Judas, who is also Jude, and he's the one who wrote the book of Jude. These are half brothers, half sisters of Jesus, who were born to Mary after Jesus was born. And so with that said, what is the response? Verse 57, they were offended at him. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house. And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. The most difficult people, you've discovered this, haven't you, the most difficult people to reach, very often are your own family and your own friends. A prophet is not recognized in his own family and his own town, and that's a fact. It is normally the place that rejects them. Why? Because they know them the best. And so Jesus' own brothers rejected him. And so these people are now offended, they're stumbled at him, and that's why Jesus said a prophet is not without honor, except in his own country. So Billy Graham, a great minister of the gospel, a history of preaching the gospel throughout the world, Billy Graham has children. I wonder if his children, as they were growing up, saw the greatness of the anointing of evangelism in his life that strangers could see. Or whether they thought, this is my dad, this is just my dad. Or Pastor Chuck, a great pastor who was used by the Lord in mighty ways. I wonder if his children saw him as who he was, the way that perhaps people like me, like I saw him, more than likely not. Because in your own home, very often, the ones who don't see you for what God has made you will be your own family. And that's why it can be difficult for you sometimes to take this gospel message and give it to your family because they're the ones who will look at you and say, no, wait a minute. Okay, it's cool. I'm glad that you are quote unquote born again. All right, fine, that's cool. I mean, if that's what you wanna be, good. But man, listen, I remember you. I know what you were like, I know what you did. I was with you half the time that you did all those bad things and now you're trying to tell me that you've changed, that you're born again, that you're a saint, you gotta be kidding me. You're an ant, there's no way that you've changed like that. My own brother, Frank, was that way with me. He told me that when I got saved. My brother said to me, I've seen you go through fads. This is a fad, you're gonna go back to what you were in a short time. That's what you are, that's what you've always been. So a prophet, Jesus said, is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house. You have pastors who, labor, I have a lot of friends who are pastors, matter of fact, quite a number of friends who are pastors. And they pour their heart into their churches. And the church will show up for one or two things, whatever. But he brings in a guest speaker. And before you know it, everybody's showing up to hear the guest. Why? Because they've taken advantage and for granted that pastor, and they wanna hear the special guest. And that's how it is, even to this day, where people will say, oh, I like that, you gotta, you know, and this sounds self-serving. I wasn't gonna go here and I'm gonna be misunderstood, so I might as well say it anyway, right? I will be misunderstood. That's just a fact. I still remember a brother walked up and said, you know, you ought to leave more often because you have good speakers come when you're gone. And so that's the fact. I mean, people think that way. I understand it. Some people will not go to retreats unless there are special speakers there. That's how the church has gotten to this day. And they don't appreciate the work of that pastor who's been there faithfully so many years because they're too caught up trying to give honor to other people. That's a fact. Not only that, but in your own home, you've loved the Lord, you've changed, you're trying to share the faith of Christ with people and your brother or your sister may look at you and say, come on, you haven't changed that much. You're not that important. You aren't that way. I'll watch and you'll go right back. And so Jesus made it very clear. They're saying, isn't this the carpenter's son? We know his mother, her name's Mary. We know his brothers, we know his sisters. And they're offended at him and Jesus' response. Now, verse 58, he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Because of their unbelief. Unbelief kept them from receiving ministry as well as salvation. And it resulted in their own judgment. Remember when the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the city of Jerusalem? In Luke 1334, Jesus said, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophet, stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen, gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. I wanted to take you like a mother hen and keep you because the hawk is coming and the hawk is diving down and it sees these defenseless little chicks and it's gonna take a swoop away with them and consume them. And Jesus said like a mother hen that will actually put her wings over her own little chicks and give her life up for these babies. He said, I've wanted to do that for you, but you kept scurrying out from underneath my wings. You would not. You rejected me. And Jesus is crying over the city of Jerusalem. You would not. You were not willing to come. Somebody said we took our sins and drove them like nails through his hands and feet. We lifted him high upon a cross of our transgressions and then we pierced his heart through with the spear of our unbelief. And that's what happens. You see, Mark gives us further insight in chapter six verses five and six where he said he could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. He marveled because of their unbelief. Then he went about the villages in a circuit teaching. He marveled because of their unbelief. It's interesting that Jesus being spoken of as marveling only occurs twice, being astonished only occurs twice. Once it's when Jesus saw the faith of a gentile, a centurion and this man had come to Jesus in need of a healing for his servant whom he loved. And the Lord Jesus marveled when this man came and said to those who followed assuredly, I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel. So he marveled at the faith of a centurion but he marvels at unbelief. In both instances in Matthew eight and in here in both instances it was faith or the absence of it that caused Jesus to marvel. And I want you to see the fruit of it. He could do no works because people would not come to him again somebody wrote there are two things that God always hears, mark this. The first is the voice of faith and the second is the voice of unbelief. As much as God loves faith so much he hates unbelief. When we are strong in faith the Lord can do anything with us and for us and he can make us equal to all difficulties. But when we give way to unbelief Christ himself can do nothing with us. He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. He could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. Unbelief keeps God's hand from moving in your life. Hebrews three 12 take heed brother unless there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. Listen we have not because we ask not James said. I was thinking about this yesterday. I was thinking about the condition of the church in the United States. I guess at this point I might be able to say a few things about the church. I've been part of it for 45 years. I've been teaching the word of God since September of 1973. I may have some things that I have earned the right to speak on by this point. I've passed through this church now for almost 35 years and two months 35 years remaining faithful here. I guess I could say a few things that some might want to hear. I realize we have Google experts who are able to say much more than me with much more wisdom but the bottom line is if there's anything that I see in the church today that concerns me and I'm not putting on a prophet's mantle or anything like that simply speaking as a brother to the church that I love and to visitors who have come today who won't come back next week. If the church is dealing with anything today it's unbelief. We have not because we ask not. We don't think the Lord's gonna answer our prayers half the time and so we don't waste our time praying. We try to make things better ourselves. And the result of that is that we have nothing. When God is saying I could do so many things in your life, are you concerned about your house payment? Have you brought it to me yet? You're concerned about your health. Have you spoken to me yet? You're concerned about your children. Have you brought them to me yet? And have you brought them over and over and over again until you see my mighty hand work in their lives or have you given up? You say you've got an anger problem. Have you brought that to me yet? Have you said oh God saved me. I'm so tired of getting angry at people. I need a spirit of love and compassion and mercy. I am sick of the way that I live. Have you done that yet? Have you fallen on your face in your bedroom and cried out to me so that I might change your life? You think I can't do it? I can. I can. I can. God can set you free. I'm not just preaching to the choir. This is the truth. This is something I'm concerned about in the church. God can set you free from alcoholism but you don't wanna be set free. You wanna use alcohol as an excuse to continue in the way that you lived and say you've got the grace to do it but you're losing your family over it. You're losing your marriage over it. You're losing your children over it. You have no ministry because of it and yet you're saying that it's okay. It isn't okay. You need to be set free from that. This is my heart to yours. It's a fact. It's real. It's a passion of my life. I wanna see the church walk in faith, not unbelief but we're living in a time where we are living in unbelief and we think that that's God's will for us. It's not. God wants us to be overcomers. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. All things. I can be new. I can be washed. I am washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. I am filled with His Holy Spirit. I am His Son. I will be victorious. I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ. More than a conqueror. I am an overcomer in Christ. I have made it and I will continue making it because my God is faithful. He is faithful. He began the work, will continue the work and will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ and I will see Him face to face and I will say, God, thank you for the work you did in my life. Watch out for unbelief. For unbelief, God is bigger than your financial problems. God is bigger than your health problems. And so, so I do. I've had three forms of cancer I'm going through right now. I'm having tests again to see if I've got some. I mean, you know what? It isn't major, it isn't concerning. It isn't like some of my friends who've died from it. It's just skin things. I'm not concerned about it. You know why? Because whatever, I'm going to see Him face to face. I will be with Him face to face. That's why I live. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. That's what we need to understand today. Christianity, Christians today, we are weak. We're weak. We are weak. Islam cannot overcome Jesus Christ by the blood of Christ. We are conquerors in Him. We need to understand that. But when they get up and they pray five days a week and the church has a prayer meeting and nobody comes, you tell me if we're in unbelief. You tell me, you tell me. When we schedule God into our lives and we haven't given Him full control, you tell me, you tell me if I'm living in faith or not. Please, I'm not angry. Don't misunderstand me. Some of you do, oh, that's a mad Mexican. No, I'm not. I'm impassioned by this thing that the Lord has been laying on my heart. Forgive me for coming off the way that I do. I don't like to speak like this. I don't. I don't. I don't. I'm a hippie. Hippies are mellow. I'm a hippie. You know, I walk in the peace of Christ and the grace of God, but I have a passion for this. There are missionaries in my church right now who haven't gone because you're not trusting God. There are men who wanna plant churches who are afraid because how am I gonna pay for my bills? You're not trusting God. There are people who have been called by God to be generous and give who never do because I won't have my bills paid for. You're not trusting God. That's a bottom line. That's a fact. What we need to do is we need to strap on the armor of God. We're in a battle and we are gonna be victorious. We will not lose. Jesus Christ has already guaranteed my victory. We will win. We will win. One way or another, we will win. But he could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief. What does God wanna do in your life? What does he wanna do in your life? Have you asked him? What? Do you have a friend who doesn't know Jesus that you've been wanting to speak to but he's just afraid to? You have a dad who gets mad at you because you have changed and you've stepped into a different religion so now he's mad. You've got an aunt and uncle. You have a grandmother that you can't mention Jesus too because she's gonna get mad. I raised you right? Listen, I loved my dad and respected him till the day he died. But I told him, you're gonna be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus, daddy, because I believed that God's word was true, that he needed Christ. My mama, my mama did her best with what she had to be a good mom to me. Mama was abusive. My mom used to abuse her children when she'd get angry and she harmed us more than once. I loved my mama and I believed that God could change her life and I gave her the gospel and he did. My brother, my sisters, all of them, I don't want to go to heaven without you and I will die on my knees for you because I want you to know Jesus Christ. That was my heart at 20. It's my heart at 65. It hasn't changed. It hasn't changed. I look at the church for what it is. It's my family. We are the family of Christ. That's what we are. And I speak to you like I speak to my family. The way you're seeing the passion, my kids have seen. My kids have seen it in their house. They've seen it when I've given devotions, when I've said follow the Lord. When I've said I may be your father, but I'm also your pastor and I am telling you in the name of Jesus Christ, you follow the Lord. There's nothing better than following Jesus Christ. I raised my kids that way. Yes, they went through their ups and yes, they went through their downs but all of my kids are followers of Jesus Christ to this day. It was worth the tears, worth the pain, worth the time on my knees, worth the time my face has been on my carpet in my bedroom saying God save my children and it's worth sharing with you. My passion for you today as I am right now do not give in to the sin of unbelief. Jesus wants to do a work in you. Why can't he? Why can't he? Why can't he? He wants to. He wants to work in you. In Norwalk where I grew up. Man, I was one of the snotty nose punks that ran the streets there. And then I'm asked to go and speak at a mayor's prayer breakfast and I'm standing in front of four or 500 people and I'm looking at the mayor and I'm looking at council members and I weep and I say I've had the privilege of being invited to presidential briefings where I've been in Washington D.C., I've run through the gamut, had to go through all the checks, the FBI, the whole nine yards and I've had the privilege of listening to presidents and these oppity ups there in the political. But you want to know something I told them? I said the greatest honor I have ever had is standing here in my hometown telling you about Jesus Christ. That is my greatest honor to come to Norwalk where I used to cause such problems and to be able to say this is what God can do. Do not let the sin of unbelief rob you. Don't. God wants to use you. God wants to use you. Listen young man, young man, young man. One of these days these old goats like me, God's gonna take us out, gonna lose our teeth and we're gonna die should Jesus tarry. But I'm praying for you. I'm praying that God will raise you up and use you in a mighty way in these last days. That God will bring a fresh wave of his spirit into the life of the young people. The alcohol that you like to drink isn't worth it. The marijuana that you want to smoke, it isn't worth it. The fornication that you want to be involved in, it isn't worth it. Follow Jesus and watch what he'll do in your life. He will make you a life changer for other people. You need that. And young lady, stop giving yourself to your boyfriends. Give yourself to the Lord. There was a woman who approached Jesus. She was at a well and she walks up to Jesus and Jesus says, give me something to drink. How is it that you being a Jew ask a drink of me a woman of Samaria? John tells us because the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. If you knew who it was who's asking you for a drink, you would have said, give me some living water. Well, I noticed that you don't have anything to draw the water with and the well is deep. With what are you gonna give me living water? And he begins to speak to her and he says, go and get your husband, bring him back. And she says, I have no husband. In this year, I've spoken the truth. You've had five and the one you're living with right now is not your husband. Ooh, I perceive you're a prophet. Yes. See, you've gone through six men but you just came to the seventh. Seven in scripture is the number of perfection. You think you're gonna get love from these men? No, the man who will love you the most is Jesus himself. It starts there. Respect yourself. Save yourself. And when that man you marry on the wedding night, when you guys are together, you have less to confess to one another. And you're able to say, you know what? My life was for Christ. I believed and I trusted him. And this is what the result is. And the fruit of this marriage bed, we will dedicate these children to our God who will serve them the way we do. Save yourself. Love the Lord and follow him. And don't give in to the sin of unbelief. He can do it. Why can't he? He can change you. Why can't he? He can bless you. Why can't he? He can take care of your financial needs. Trust him. Why can't he? Don't give in to the sin of unbelief because Jesus was unable to do many works there except to heal the few because they said, we don't need him. Well, guess what? I do. I do.