Mark chapter six, verses one through six, and the title of the message this morning is The Most Hopeless Case of All. Last week, the title of our message was Hope for the Hopeless, and this week is The Most Hopeless Case of All. Before we get into our text in Mark, I want to read a couple of verses to you from John chapter one. There was the true light which coming into the world enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him, John 1, 9 through 11. So, as we go through the book of Mark, we begin in Mark 4, 35, and continuing through chapter five to see Jesus deal with a series of lost causes. I told you that Mark 5 is known as the chapter of lost causes. And that's what we've been looking at. And it actually began back in chapter 4, about verse 35. And at least all of these were lost causes from a human perspective. As we've seen, they weren't quite as lost as what it seemed from a human perspective whenever Jesus was involved. But in Mark 4, verses 35 through 41, the disciples were in a fishing boat, and they were out in the middle of the sea on Galilee, and they were going across the Sea of Galilee, and this mega windstorm came up, and it was flooding and sinking the boat. Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. Even though some of the disciples were professional fishermen and they spent a great deal of time on the water, this storm was something that was completely beyond their experience and capacity to deal with. When they came to Jesus with the problem though, he silenced the storm with a word. And he demonstrated that he's sovereign over the natural realm. And then in Mark chapter five, Verses one through 20, after crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is met by a man who had an unclean spirit. Actually, the man was dominated by a legion of unclean spirits. He couldn't control himself, he couldn't be restrained, not even to keep him from hurting himself or other people. Shackles and chains would not hold him. He was constantly tormented and screaming among the tombs and gashing himself with stones. Nobody could help him. From a human perspective, he was a lost cause. However, Jesus delivered the man from the demonic storm that was destroying him, and he demonstrated that he's also sovereign over the spiritual realm. And then in Mark chapter five, verses 21 through 43, We saw Jesus deal with a couple more lost causes. First, we will take a look at the case of the woman who had the issue of blood. She'd been bleeding for 12 years. You know, I didn't even mention it when we were going through the message, but something that just really struck me as I was thinking through the review is the fact that she survived for 12 years without dying of infection or something of that nature was just miraculous in itself. But she's been dealing with this for 12 years. She's destitute because she spent every bit of money that she could scrape together on doctors. And these doctors have only made her worse. She's considered unclean and outcast by society. And from a human perspective, there is no hope for her. But when she comes in contact with Jesus, she's healed. And rather than Jesus becoming unclean through his contact with her, she is made clean by her contact with him. And then we saw the case of Jairus' daughter. She's lying at the point of death whenever Jairus came to find Jesus. And like the woman with the issue of blood, there was no hope for Jairus' daughter in the healthcare system of that day. The only hope that Jairus had was that Jesus would come touch her before she died and heal her, cause her to get well. And while Jesus is interacting with the woman, who has the issue of blood, messengers come and they inform Jairus that his daughters died. So even the hope that he had before is now gone. However, Jesus spoke to Jairus and told him, do not be afraid, only believe. Then Jesus took the girl by the hand and called her to rise up. Talitha Kuhn, little girl, I say to you, get up. And Jesus demonstrated by these two cases that not only is He sovereign over the natural realm, not only is He sovereign over the spiritual realm, but He's also sovereign over the curse that is on this world because of sin. Jesus is sovereign over the storms of sickness and death as well. And that brings us to chapter six, where we're at today. And so let's just read through our text. Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and the many listeners were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things? And what is this wisdom given to him, and such miracles as these performed by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household. And he could do no miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he wondered at their unbelief. And he was going around the villages teaching. Let's pray. Father, we just come to you one more time, and we ask you that you be with us as we look at this text, that you open it up to us, Lord, and help us to see what you would have us to see today. Help us to draw near. Help us to see your glory in Christ. Lord, we just thank you for these things. In Jesus' name, amen. And verse one says, Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown and his disciples followed him. So up till now, most of what we've been reading about has taken place in Capernaum. And so I'm just gonna draw your attention to the map up here on the screen. And there's a little map of the region to the west of the Sea of Galilee. And up at the very top, of the Sea of Galilee. In the water, you can see written Capernaum. So that little dot right there at the beginning of the line that represents the road, there's Capernaum. That's where Jesus has done most of his ministry. And so they went across the Sea of Galilee in the boat and they came back. And so from Capernaum, if you look down to the lower left, you see Nazareth, which was Jesus' hometown, where he grew up. There's a lot of cities and towns in there, so you think, and villages, so you think, well, that's a pretty big area, but actually, it's about 40 miles from Capernaum down to Nazareth. It's about 40 miles, it's about a hour drive in today's time, and so that is where Jesus went. They went from Capernaum up there, and they went back down to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. And Jesus has decided, so he's been up in Capernaum, he's been ministering there, and he decides to take his disciples and leave Capernaum for a while. And, I mean, it's been a pretty big, a pretty eventful few days. There's been a lot going on. There's been a lot of healing, there's been some miracles, there's been demons cast out, and Jesus is at the point, we've already seen it, and a couple of the different messages, and he's at the point where everywhere he goes, there's this huge crowd following him. At one point, he and his disciples weren't even able to stop for a meal, because the crowd that was in and around Peter's house was just so massive that they couldn't even stop doing what they were doing. The text doesn't tell us if that's the reason, but I'm sure it might've contributed, but Jesus decides to leave right now and he takes the disciples and they go 40 miles to the southwest to Nazareth. Now, Jesus wasn't born in Nazareth. We know he was born in Bethlehem of Judea, but he grew up in Nazareth. That was where Mary and Joseph were from. And they went back there when they returned from Egypt and In the first century, Nazareth was a small village on a rocky hillside. The population was less than 500 people. It's likely that Jesus was personally acquainted with pretty much everybody in town. Most of the people in Nazareth probably were on a first name basis with Jesus, and he with them. A big part of our story is going to be today just understanding the truth of that situation that whenever you are familiar with people, you have a certain view of them. You have interactions with them every day. And your ideas about this person are colored by your daily interactions, what you think is true about this person. So this is what they do, verse one. And verse two says, when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. And the many listeners were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things? And what is this wisdom given to him? And such miracles as these performed by his hands. Now, it was Jesus' custom to attend the synagogue wherever he was at on the Sabbath. And after he began his ministry, it was his custom to teach in the synagogue, wherever he happened to be. The synagogues didn't function like our typical churches do. Any adult Jewish male could teach. And the listeners were allowed to ask questions. So it's kind of a trade off there, I mean. I wouldn't just let anybody that walked in and said, hey, I'm a Christian, can I deliver a message? I'd have to say, well, no, not till I know a little bit more. But in their situation, if you were an adult Jewish male and you were there, you could get up and deliver a message. Actually, If there was a visiting rabbi or a popular teacher that happened to be in town and showed up at the synagogue, the ruler of the synagogue, like Jairus was in our message from last week, would often ask these people to bring a message. We saw that with Paul in the book of Acts when he and Barnabas were in a city and they go in the synagogue and the ruler of the synagogue come to them and say, hey, you guys wanna, you wanna get up and give a message to the people? And so that was a common thing. So Jesus began to teach in the synagogue. And there was a crowd there. The text tells us that the many, many listeners were astonished. Now, I don't know how many it could be, it's a very small village, but there were many there. And they were astonished. The Greek word for astonished is ekpleso. We've talked about it before, where someone was ekpleso, they were astonished with fear, they were struck with fear. But in this case, it means to be struck in mind or amazed. So what were they amazed at? Well, they tell us what they were amazed at by the questions that they ask. So what are the questions? Well, where did this man get these things? They were astonished at the content of Jesus' message. And what is this wisdom given to him? They were also astonished at the eloquence and the insight, the biblical insight with which Jesus delivered the message. And then also, where did this man get such miracles as these performed by his hands? They were astonished by Jesus' miracles. Not just because they were miracles, but that would have been one reason for amazement. There's a miracle. But that's not what this is talking about. They were astonished by these miracles in particular because they were coming from Jesus. So they were astonished by the content of his message. They were astonished by the eloquence and the insight with which he delivered the message. And they were astonished that this guy can work miracles. This guy can heal people. So what was the content of Jesus' message that they were astonished at? Well, there's some controversy among scholars over over this particular event. All scholars are pretty much in agreement that this occasion and the one recorded in Matthew 13, 53 through 58 are identical. Matthew records this identical event in chapter 13. Many scholars believe that the account where Jesus preached in the Nazareth Synagogue in Luke 4 Verses 16 through 30 is also the same incident. Many do, some don't. So there's a controversy. If it's true that the Luke 4 account is this same incident, then we know exactly what Jesus preached and we know what text he preached from. So I'm just gonna turn there and talk about it for a minute. In Luke 4, verses 18 and 19, I'm gonna read it. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And then verse 20 says, and he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. So Jesus reads from Isaiah 61, verses one and two. And then he sits down and he tells them that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy that he just read. Isaiah 61 is a messianic prophecy about the Messiah being full of the Holy Spirit, being an opener of blind eyes, and being the fulfillment of the year of Jubilee. Every 50th year in Israel was a year of jubilee. When everyone who had sold themselves into bondage, and really what that just meant was, let's say that you were in a bind, maybe you were about to lose your home or your kids were gonna starve because you'd been coming on hard times or whatever, and you go and you take out a major loan. then you have to labor to pay that back. That's basically what it was. You need money. You don't have means to get it, but your neighbor over here is doing pretty good, and he says, okay, you sell yourself into bondage to me, that means you're mine, and I'll pay off your debts or whatever, and then you come and you work on my farm. You do this for me. And so there's a reason why it says the borrower's a slave to the lender, that he was, literally. And that's the way that it, it's very similar to the way it works now. You just may have a little bit more personal freedom. But anyway, everybody who had done that, everybody who is enslaved that is a citizen of Israel is freed at the year of Jubilee. You're set free from bondage. If you've mortgaged your property and it's not yours anymore, you get it back. Your inheritance is given back to you. And Jesus reads this prophecy and he refers to this year of Jubilee when the captives are set free, those in bondage, and their property is returned. Their inheritance is returned. And he says, today, this has been fulfilled in your hearing. He's telling them very plainly, I'm the Messiah that Isaiah was writing about here. And not only that, not only that, I'm the true Jubilee that Isaiah was referring to that sets the captives free and restores their inheritance. I'm the substance that the shadow was pointing you to. In other words, In other words, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. So repent, change the way you think about this, and believe this good news. Believe the gospel. Well, there are some scholars that don't believe that this Luke 4 account is the same incident. They believe it's an earlier incident that happened pretty soon, almost immediately, after Jesus came in from the wilderness from being tempted by Satan and that it just didn't get recorded in Matthew and Mark. That's possible, but there's some problems with it. Like, well, why are they letting Jesus back in the synagogue now? Because they were really upset after he preached that. He also told them that there were Gentiles gonna be in the kingdom and they weren't. And they really got mad then and they wanted to throw him off a cliff. So, There are problems with it not being the message that Jesus preached, but whether it was or it wasn't, the reason why they believe that is because of where it's chronologically placed in Luke's account. Luke records it before many of the things that have already taken place in Matthew and Mark's account, things that we've already read. Well, I believe it's the same event. And I believe that Luke recorded it where he did because he was more concerned about the importance of the message and the effect of its placement in the narrative than he was about chronological order. But the question that we have to ask ourselves is this. If we can't be sure that this message that is recorded in Luke 4 was the actual message referred to in Matthew and Mark's accounts, Does it even matter? And the answer is no, it doesn't. Because the message is the same even if Jesus preached it from a different text. Jesus' message from the time he began preaching in Mark 1 15 all the way through the gospel account is the same. And the message is this, the time is fulfilled. The jubilee has come, the time is fulfilled. And I'm here to set the captives free. The kingdom of God is at hand because the king is at hand. So repent, change your thinking about what that looks like, that the Messiah has come, and believe the gospel, believe the good news. And they were astonished at this message. And they were astonished, most of all, that this message was coming from Jesus. So that brings us to verse three. And here's their reaction. Is not this the carpenter? The son of Mary and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon are not his sisters here with us, and they took offense at him. Now, I'm just gonna briefly, very briefly, take a side note and say, there are people who believe a doctrine that Mary didn't have any other children besides Jesus. But if you read this verse, it very clearly states, and they would say, well, the word that when it says Jesus' brethren didn't believe, or this or that, that word could also mean cousin, or it could mean some other relative. It doesn't have to mean brother. Well, maybe not, but, It specifically says his brothers, names them, and then said, and his sisters are here with us. So this verse right here is very problematic for that doctrine. And that's all I'm gonna say about it. I'm just gonna move on because we got too much other stuff to talk about. Verse three gives us the source of their astonishment. They knew Jesus already, and in their minds, what they knew about Him ruled out what He was telling them in His message. Just think about that. In their minds, what they already knew about Jesus ruled out what He was telling them in His message. And even if it meant that they would have to completely ignore inconvenient facts, like His miracles, in order for them to think that way, they weren't gonna let facts get in the way of what they already knew. In God's providence, I came across a fascinating article this week. And the title of the article is Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds. I highly recommend it, it's excellent. The article begins with a quote from a famous economist who wrote, faced with a choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy with the proof. And that is exactly what is going on here. The good citizens of Nazareth already know the truth about who Jesus is. See, their experience of him has been reinforcing this truth to them for years, as he's growing up and he's living as a young man in Nazareth, and they see him every day. They know that he's not a scholar. They know that he's a carpenter. And the word for carpenter is tecton, and it can be used for any construction laborer, a stonemason, a helper, anybody that's involved in a construction trade would be called by that particular name. And at that time, carpenter was not considered to be like the same as a merchant or a, they were a laborer, a working class. So they know that Jesus is a carpenter. He's a common laborer, uneducated, and they've probably observed him working on building projects in and around Nazareth since he was 12 years old. So you're thinking like, 18 years they've seen him out here working in the sun, daylight till dark. There's not a whole lot of time to study scripture when you're doing that. There's not a whole lot of time to be educated. They view him as a common laborer. And also they know that he is the son of Mary. Now, we don't really think about things in this way, so we would just read right over that, but this is not a reference to the virgin birth. And it's not a compliment. Jewish culture was patriarchal. Jewish men were associated with their fathers. Think about the way things are worded in scripture. Simon, son of John. If you were just, if you weren't translating it, you might say Simon Bar-Jonah. And sometimes it's presented that way in my Bible. Simon is the name. Bar means son of, and then the father's name. Simon, son of John. James and John, sons of Zebedee. Thaddeus, Bartholomew. which means Thaddeus son of Thoma, et cetera. We could go on and on. Even if Joseph was dead, Jesus would have legally been called Jesus son of Joseph. So why do they say son of Mary? Well, the most likely answer is that this is a slanderous nod to the gossip that's been going around for 30 years that Mary was found to be pregnant before she and Joseph were officially married. Also, they know Jesus' siblings. Matter of fact, they lived there. And before the resurrection, none of Jesus' siblings believed in him. Now we don't know if they all did afterwards. We do know that at least a couple of them did. We know that his brothers were found with the disciples after the resurrection. And we do know that James, his brother James and his brother Judas is what he's called here, that's referring to Jude, that they both have written scripture. They were both ministers and they even wrote scripture. But at this point, at this point, his siblings are all scoffing at Jesus. And Mark 3 21, when we were there, indicates that they thought Jesus might have lost his mind when they went to get him. See, the folks in Nazareth knew them. They live right there with them. They know all these things about Jesus. And they weren't interested in being confused with any facts like miracles performed or scriptures fulfilled. They were certain, they were certain that Jesus was an upstart pretender trying to be something that they were convinced that he just could not be. I always want to make a point right here before I move on because I'll probably forget it if I don't. One aspect of our human condition is that we will pretty much always trade truth for certainty. That's just something to think about. So they took offense at him. They were offended at Jesus. The word that is translated offense is scandalizo, scandalizo. It's where we get the word scandal. It actually, but you know what it actually means? When we have a scandal, we think about something that is just outrageous, you know? Something happened and it's horrible or it's just terribly embarrassing, it's outrageous. And it kind of fits, but you know what it actually literally means? It means to trip someone up. That's what scandalidso meant. It meant to trip someone up, to put a stumbling block in front of someone, either physically or metaphorically. And that's exactly what happened to the people in the synagogue in Nazareth. They stumbled over Jesus because of unbelief. You know, the Bible refers to him as a stumbling stone, stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And blessed is the one that doesn't stumble over him. The folks there in the synagogue in Nazareth, they stumbled over Jesus because of unbelief. Verse four says, Jesus said to them, a prophet, is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household. So Jesus quotes him this old Semitic proverb and this proverb expresses this truth about human nature. It's pretty much impossible for anyone to receive a fair evaluation from people who are familiar with them. because they simply have way too many preconceived ideas to evaluate the facts in an objective manner. And we know that. Secular culture knows this. I had a cousin who's not living anymore, but he became a highway patrol in Oklahoma. And as soon as he graduated from the Highway Patrol Academy, they sent him to the other end of the state. He didn't get to stay home. And that's their policy. They don't let you go back to your hometown. They send you as far away from there as they can for several years. So many years you have to be before you can transfer back. The reason is this right here. Because of that dynamic of that relationship that you have with people who are familiar with you. And this is something that is embedded in our natural human depravity. We prefer familiarity and certainty and what we think we know over truth. Verse five, it says, and he could do no miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. Does this mean that Jesus' ability to perform miracles was subject to the belief or unbelief of the people? It sounds that way, doesn't it? And I've even heard charismatic preachers preach like that, that it's about your faith. If you believe, you know, you can activate this healing or this miracle or whatever. It depends on your faith. Is that true? Well, it sounds that way, but the answer is no. It's semantics. Jesus' power to perform a miracle or do anything isn't in any way dependent on any person's faith or lack of faith. But a person's ability to ask for and receive a miracle is directly contingent on their faith, on their belief. Or lack of it. Think about this from James. You do not have because you do not ask. That's in James 4 too. Why don't you ask? Because you don't believe. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Hebrews 11, six. See, in order to come to God for anything, you first have to believe. So yes, a miracle can't happen when there's unbelief because you're not gonna ask for it. You're not gonna seek it. Jesus said, to him who knocks, it will be opened. He who seeks finds, he who asks receives. Why do you ask, seek, and knock? Because you believe that God is and that he's a rewarder of those who come to him. Why do you not? Because you don't. You don't believe. You don't enter in. Really, the most hopeless condition for a person to be in is a condition of unbelief. Actually, the author of Hebrews tells us it is not just hopeless, it's evil. You know, there were a few people in Nazareth that believed enough to ask, and Jesus laid his hands on them and healed them. proving what he says, that he who asks receives. However, most of the people stumbled over him and they didn't even ask because of unbelief. They didn't receive because they didn't ask and they didn't ask because they didn't believe. People will perish forever. You know that people will perish forever for one reason, unbelief. That's why. In John chapter five, verses 39 and 40, Jesus is talking to a group of religious Jews and he's talking to them about all the witnesses to him. He's telling them about the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of the miracles, the witness of his works, the witness of the Father who spoke from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And then he gets to the witness of scripture. He says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It's these that testify about me and you're unwilling to come to me so that you may not, or so that you may have life. You don't have because you don't ask. You don't come to me because you're unwilling to believe. Jesus was willing to bless the people of Nazareth just like he blessed all the other villages that he ministered in. But their unbelief kept them from entering into his blessing. God is not holding, you know, we get a bad rap. We believe the doctrines of grace, and we believe in the doctrine of election, and that's mischaracterized, and God is painted in our belief system as this tyrant who's holding people back, not letting them come to heaven, not letting them be reconciled to him. He's got certain people that he's gonna let come, and everybody else, he's holding them back. That's a straw man. That's not true. God is not holding anyone back from being reconciled to him and enjoying him forever. Even John Calvin said, the gates of heaven are wide open. And the only thing that keeps anyone from entering in is their own sin and unbelief. That's the truth. Unbelief. Look at verse six. It says, and he wondered at their unbelief. Jesus only wondered at two things in Scripture. He only wondered at two things. He wondered at the faith of a couple of pagan Gentiles who weren't raised in the Scriptures and they really didn't have any good reason to believe in him. except that the Holy Spirit allowed them to see the truth. And those two were this Roman centurion whose servant was sick. And he had come out to meet Jesus and to tell him about his servant and asked for him to come to his house and heal. And Jesus said, I'll go. And the guy said, you know, I'm not even worthy for you to come under my roof. So just speak the word and I know my servant will be healed. And Jesus wondered at his faith. He marveled at it. And then there was this Syro-Phoenician woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit. And she came to Jesus. And Jesus, to teach his disciples, had this conversation with her and basically acted like he wasn't going to heal her daughter because she was a pagan Gentile. And he went through this progression of conversation with her and she said, he said, you know, the bread, the master's bread is for the children. And children of Abraham are the ones who I'm here for. And you know what, she proved by her faith that she was a child of Abraham. She said even the dogs ate at the crumbs that fell off the master's table and he marveled at her faith. He marveled at it, he wondered at it. He marveled at the faith of pagan Gentiles that didn't know the scriptures and didn't have any reason other than the Holy Spirit showed them who Jesus was. But they trusted in him. And they, like that woman, persisted in trusting in him. And they were healed. They were blessed. But he also wondered at these in Nazareth whose lives were steeped in scriptural truth and knowledge of God. It's all around them. And many of these people have spent over 20 years at least in personal contact with Jesus, frequent contact with God incarnate. And yet they did not believe. They did not believe. Now, I know that familiarity breeds content, usually. And I know we have no indication that Jesus performed miracles before he began his ministry. But we are talking about someone who never sinned. Let's think about that for a minute. He never sinned, not even once. Forget the miracles. The guy was never unkind. He never disrespected his parents. He never lied. He always loved God with all of his heart and put other people ahead of himself. And these folks witnessed that for years. And then now you add to it, they have the signs and the miracles and the testimony of the scriptures. and they still don't believe. Jesus marveled at that. That's the essence of total human depravity. That's the T. It doesn't mean, people get confused about that. We talk about depravity, we think of licentiousness, you know, and we think of, going out and being a thief or being a pornographer or being in drugs or stuff, you know, stuff that is just despicably immoral. The essence of total human depravity, yes, it is that stuff, but the essence of it is just blindness to God, unbelief, blind unbelief. That's our inability. That's our depravity. Unless the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of God in the face of Christ, we will never see it. We will never see it. Even if it's standing right in front of us. Jesus wondered at their unbelief, but you know what he did? He was going around the villages teaching. He went on and he took the gospel to other villages. Our job as Christians is not to overcome unbelief. Our job is to proclaim the gospel, the good news. Our job is to tell people the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he rose again the third day. Repent. Change your thinking and believe this gospel. That's our job. The Holy Spirit is the one who overcomes unbelief, and he does it in his own time, and if he doesn't do it, it's not happening. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3, 8. I'm gonna wrap this up by briefly revisiting the text from our scripture reading this morning, which was Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews 3, 12 through 19. It says, take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it's still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. While it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. For who provoked him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? And with whom was he angry for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see, They were not able to enter because of unbelief. See, the people of Nazareth in our text today, they're very similar to those Israelites that the author of Hebrews is talking about who perished in the wilderness. In spite of the testimony of Moses witnessing many miracles beginning before they even left Egypt, And then spending years in the presence of the Lord, the Israelites didn't believe that the Lord was ultimately able to bring them into the promised land. So they failed to enter in. They perished in the wilderness because of unbelief. The people of Nazareth there have basically the same problem. Even though they've spent much time in the presence of Jesus, They have the testimony of the scriptures. They have the testimony of miracles and signs that Jesus brought in his life and ministry. They have all of that, but they just don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah who's able to bring God's people into the promised land. And unless they repent, unless their thinking has changed and they begin to believe, They also will perish in the wilderness. And do you know that that is the problem of every single unbelieving person in the world today? It's not a lack of evidence. We date history on the birth and the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There's more evidence that Jesus Christ rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar even existed. Actual admissible in court evidence. But people won't be confused with facts. They know what they know, and they don't, they just don't believe that Jesus is God's Messiah who is able to and will bring God's people into the promised land. And unless people repent, unless their thinking is changed and their hearts are changed and they begin to believe, just like those Israelites, they're going to perish in the wilderness. And that's our exhortation for today and every day. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil and unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for teaching us through your word, and we ask that you apply this word to our hearts today. Not just for ourselves, Lord, I'm talking to those that do believe. Help us to see through this picture in Scripture. Help us to see the state of the world around us. Help us to have compassion for people because they can't see. Lord, help us to tell the truth and help us to Leave it in your hands. Help us to tell people the truth, help us to proclaim your gospel, and help us to trust you. And Lord, we do pray that you send a mighty, mighty revival of your spirit in our world, opening eyes and planting this truth in the hearts of your people. Lord, we thank you for these things in Jesus' name. Amen.