We Can't Help Ourselves
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
Good Morning
Why can’t dinosaurs clap their hands? They are extinct.
I gave a handyman a to do list for me the other day, but he only did jobs 1, 3 , and 5. Turns out he only does odd jobs.
This morning we are going to be in Mark 6:53-56. We are going to finish chapter 6. The last time I preached, we saw Jesus walk on water. This was something that no one had seen done before. There are no other accounts of a person walking on water in the Bible that I have read or heard of. In doing that, Jesus was showing His authority and showing that He was the Messiah! We talked about how tired the disciples were, and even though they and Jesus were tired, they kept on mission. They continued to preach to the crowds, they continued to meet the needs of the people that came to see Jesus. There is a difference between being tired from doing things we want to do and the things that God calls us to do.
Today we are going to see that we are to go and tell people about Jesus and that Jesus heals.
Let’s pray
Mark 6:53–56 (NASB 2020)
53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored at the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that entire country and began carrying here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to wherever they heard He was. 56 And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or a countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched it were being healed.
Some time has passed since Jesus walked on water. In our last verses they went to Bethsaida. Here we can see that they landed at Gennesaret. In some of the other Gospels, we see what had transpired since then. One is that Jesus gave His lesson on the bread of life. Gennesaret is just south along the shore of Sea of Galilee from Capernaum. They were close to where Jesus had the headquarters for His ministry of that area. Now He had been there for over a year now, preaching, teaching, and casting out demons. He was very well know by now and everywhere He went in this area, there was a crowd.
Mark tells us that as soon as they tied the boat up and as they were getting out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. Mark said that they immediately recognized Him. He tells us that they ran about the country and began to tell people that Jesus was here. The idea here is like that when you turn on the lights in a dark room and the bugs or mice scatter. Not that the people were like bugs! Just that when they saw Jesus, they knew that it was important to tell others, so they hurried and did just that. They told everyone and then they began to carry the sick on pallets to where they had heard He was.
Who was telling and bring the sick? The people were going and telling and bring the sick. Sound familiar? That is the commission that we are given. We are to go and tell. It tells us that they were taking them where they heard He was. There was a good chance that by the time they got there, Jesus could have moved to another place. These people could have carried the sick to several locations before they caught up with Jesus. Those are the kinds of friends that I want. Most friends today would just call and say, Hey, Jesus is in Duncan today! You should get over there. I want a friend that is going to come and get me and take me there. A friend that is going to whatever it takes for me. That is the type of friend that I strive to be for others also. I want to be the friend that when someone needs something, they call me first, because they know I will not stop until it is done.
It says that they were carrying them on pallets. These pallets were like cots. It would have taken at least 2 people to carry these pallets. Like the friends that lowered the lame man down through the roof of Peters house. These people were sick and lame. They could not go anywhere on their own. They were completely reliant on others to get places. They were helpless to help themselves. If it were not for their friends, they would not have had the chance to touch Jesus’ cloak.We all need friends like that. More importantly, we all need to be friends like that. We all need to tell those around us about Jesus. We can’t make them accept Jesus, but it is our job to make sure that they know about Him. We are to tell them about Him, but also we are to live in such a way that they know about Him! We are to live like Jesus did. We are to have the same compassion that He did. A compassion that moves us to action to help those who don’t know Him and moves us to help those in need. Be a Gennesaret friend. That would be a good t-shirt. That would be a great conversation starter.
It says that wherever Jesus went, villages, cities, or the countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places. Now this was not what we would consider a market place today. No one would take the sick to a place were food was! Not even back in those days. Market places were open spaces, usually just inside city walls or near city centers. Places where people would congregate for various business and social purposes. These were places that Jesus was likely to either be at or pass by.
Notice that the people were not asking Jesus to heal them, they were asking that they could just touch His garment. Remember that Jesus healed the lady with the issue of blood by her just touching His garment. Word had spread and now people just wanted to touch His clothes for healing. Now His cloak was not like the ones in the pictures we see of Jesus. They pictures where He is dressed in white with a halo above His head. In numbers it tells us that the men were to wear tassels on the fringes of their cloaks. These tassels were to be a reminder of the law and the commandments of God. When they looked down on them they were to remember the law and to keep the law and not follow after their own hearts. Numbers 15:38-40
38 “Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a violet thread. 39 It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that you will do them and not follow your own heart and your own eyes, which led you to prostitute yourselves, 40 so that you will remember and do all My commandments and be holy to your God.
So when these sick and lame people were reaching out to touch Jesus’ garment, they would see the tassels that were on there and they would be reminded of the law. What they didn’t know was that the person wearing those tassels came to fulfill the law. The law was never meant to save anyone. Salvation can never come through keeping the law. That was never the purpose of the law. The law was given to us to show us that we are not capable of being good. We can not keep all of the laws. These people were not touching just a good mans garment. They were touching the garment of the Son of God, The Messiah and they couldn’t see it. Jesus had so much more to offer them than just physical, earthly healing. He wants to heal their spirits. Yes, Jesus heals. If that is all you are coming to Him for, you are missing out on something that is so much more valuable than healing of our bodies. Everyone that Jesus ever healed, has died. Our bodies will not live forever. I would gladly continue in the pain that my body has so that I can stand before Him in glory. Yes, I would love for my body to not hurt every day, but I know that this pain is temporary. My spirit will live forever. I will gladly persevere through the pain that my body has and glorify God, because I know that one day, I will fell no pain. I will have no sorrow. I might even have hair. Whatever God had for me on this earth, I will gladly endure because I know what the future holds!
I titled this sermon We can’t help ourselves! We are all dead in our sins, outside of Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do about that. The cost of sin is death. If we die without that debt being paid, we will spend eternity in Hell. That is not what I say, that is what the Bible, what God tells us. Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus Christ is the only answer to sin. He came to earth and lived a perfect sinless life. He fulfilled the law. But that was not enough to just fulfill the law. Remember the wages of sin is death. Someone has to die for sin. Jesus had to go to the cross and have the rath of His father poured out on Him and die so that we can live. He is the only answer.
I did some research on the self help book industry. I was shocked at what I found. The latest research I found was from 2022. In 2022 the self help market just in the US was worth $13.4 billion!! That’s right billion with a b! There are around 15,000 new self help books published every year. You would think with that many books being published every year, someone would have gotten it right by now! They could double or quadruple the number of books published and it will never be enough. We have a problem that we can not fix ourselves. We can not make enough money to fix our problem. The richest person on earth can’t fix his/her problem. Being married to the right person won’t fix your problem. Having perfect kids won’t fix your problem. Living in the right neighborhood won’t fix your problem.
Our problem is not lack of money, lack of a good spouse, or good kids, or our location. Our problem is sin! God could give us all His money, the perfect spouse and kids and a house in the best place on earth. Even will all of that we would still be dead. We still would have to pay the price for our sin. We do not sin because of our circumstances. We sin because we are sinners! There is only on answer to our biggest problem. Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross! If you don’t accept Jesus for who He said He was, If you don’t admit that you are a sinner and put Jesus as Lord in your life, you will die having to pay your own debt. I’m telling you eternity is a long time to have to pay that debt.
The good news is that what Jesus did on the cross is His free gift available to everyone! All you have to do is repent of your sins and believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the only Son of God!
The world tells us that there are many ways to get to heaven. That is why there are so many self help books. The world doesn’t want you to receive the help that Jesus has to offer, the only true help. That is because the world is ruled by Satan. Satan wants as many people in Hell with him as he can take.
Jesus wants as many as will accept Him in heaven as He can. He is the only way to have your debt paid. John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Don’t listen to what the world tells you. Listen to the truth, the only truth. Jesus is the way. He is the answer to you problem! If you chose one of the paths that the world tells you to take, it will lead to Hell, I promise you that! Sin requires death. Let Jesus pay that debt for you. Let Him cover your sin in His blood. The blood that washes us white as snow! He is the only way.
We are going to sing a song and if you haven’t repented of your sins and believed in How Jesus is, now is the time. There is no special magic prayer to pray. You just have to admit you are a sinner and repent of your sins. That means that you want to turn from your sins and turn to Jesus. After you repent, you have to believe in Jesus as the only Son of God. It seems to simple, but that is all it takes to have your name in the lambs book of life. While we sing, these alters will be open, come repent and accept if you haven’t.
Let’s pray
