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Man, Mark chapter 6, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads, He went out from thence, and came into his own country. And his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and Judah, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. So here we see Jesus Christ goes back to his hometown. He goes back to the country where he's from. And when he preaches, people don't want to receive what he has to preach, not because of what he's saying, but because of who he is. And Jesus responds by saying that a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. Some people have said, well, the reason why that is is that the people in the place where you're from, they know you. And they know your faults. And so therefore, it's hard for them to respect you. But if you think about it, Jesus Christ was without fault. I mean, the more they knew him, then they should have just been more impressed by his life, because he was tempted at all points, because we are yet without sin. And yet, even Jesus Christ, the perfect man, was not accepted in his own country, and in his own house, and among his kin. His kin would be his relatives. Kin would be like your cousins, just anybody who is a relation of yours. And they basically say to him in verse 2, it says, when the Sabbath day was coming, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him were astonished, saying, from whence hath this man these things? And the first thing I want to point out is this question, from whence, or where did this come from, is what that means. From where are these things coming? Now, here's the way I look at it. If the truth is the truth, it doesn't matter where it came from. A lot of people say, well, who are you to tell me that? Or, well, who is he to say that? Like, it has to come from some expert before we're going to believe in it. And that's how people are. To me, it shouldn't matter who the truth is coming from. If the truth is coming from a five-year-old boy, or if the truth is coming from an 80-year-old man, it doesn't matter. If it's biblical, if it's sound doctrine, we need to receive the truth. Doesn't matter who it's coming from. But a lot of people are respecters of persons. And it's funny. Somebody will say something, and say something, and say something, and they don't listen. But then somebody who they consider important says it. And then I'll say, oh, well, yeah, I mean, now that they've said it. And that's human nature. Just to put certain people on a pedestal, and kind of look down on other kind of people. In fact, there was a preacher who did a whole sermon that was attacking me. And he was attacking the After the Tribulation movie. And I said in that movie how when I was 12 years old is when I realized that the rapture comes after tribulation just when I was reading my Bible. And he's like, he says in there, who would listen to a 12-year-old? Why would anyone care what a 12-year-old believes about the Bible? That doesn't make any sense. And the first thing I thought of was Jesus when he was 12. And he walked in, and they were astonished at him when he was 12 because he knew so much of the scripture at age 12, Jesus Christ himself. But you know what? I was thinking to myself, if a 12-year-old came up to me and gave me biblical truth that lines up with scripture, I'd be glad to receive it at the mouth of a 12-year-old. Because it shouldn't matter from where it's coming from. As long as it's the truth, as long as it's God's word, it doesn't matter who's saying it. But look at what they criticize about Jesus as we read it. It says, from whence then hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him that even such mighty works are wrought by his hand? Is not this the carpenter? Now, I'm not personally convinced that Jesus was a carpenter. I mean, that's what they're saying here. In Matthew, I believe it's what, chapter 13, the parallel passage, chapter 12, chapter 13, where they say to him, this is the carpenter's son. And of course, we know he wasn't really Joseph's son. But here they say, isn't this the carpenter? But let's say he was a carpenter, which I don't personally think he probably ever was. But maybe he was. But that's not even the point. They're saying, is not this the carpenter as an insult, like there's something wrong with being a carpenter? Like, why would we listen to this guy? He's a carpenter. What does he know, right? And even in our world today, people look down often on blue collar jobs. Oh, you know, plumber, electrician, carpenter. Like somehow, if you don't have a white collar job, you're less respectable because you do those kind of jobs. When in reality, the stupidity of that is that sometimes those jobs pay better than some of your white collar jobs. I mean, the guy who's working behind the counter at the bank is probably not making a lot more money than your journeyman, electrician, and plumber, and carpenter, and everything. But who cares, even if they aren't making a lot of money? So what, it's an honest living. You know, I'd rather be a carpenter than a banker, a bankster, or you know, and obviously the person behind the counter is not a bankster, but the people, the bosses are. You know, it's an honest living. I'd rather be a carpenter than a stockbroker, or a lawyer, or you know, a lot of these professions where there are a lot of unsavory things going on, than a politician. But yet our world elevates certain jobs and looks down on other jobs. And even if the people are low paid, which often they're not, but even if they are low paid, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them that love him? But you've despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? And the Bible warns us not to elevate people who are rich and look up to them and then look down upon the people who are just a laborer with their hands, a blue collar worker. And you know why some people do jobs like that? They like to do jobs like that. Oh, but they could make more money doing this and that. But you know what, some people, their whole life's not just about making money. That's not what life has to be about. We have to make enough money to support ourselves and support our families, but life's not just about who can get the best paying job and make the most possible money. And I have just as much respect for a carpenter or a garbage man or a plumber or a landscaper or whatever as I would for these white collar type jobs, being in the medical or financial industry or whatever people respect. But isn't that interesting how they bring that up? You know, listen to this guy, this carpenter. So what? He knows the Bible, he's preaching the truth. And then they say, you know, is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judah and Simon? This shows that Jesus had four brothers. They're all listed here. Then it says, and his sisters are not his sisters here with us. Now if you read this in Matthew 13 in the parallel passage, it says his sisters, are they not all with us? Now the word all means three or more because if there were only two, it would be what? They're both with us. But he said, no, his sisters are all with us. That means that Jesus' family had a minimum of eight children in that family that he grew up in because he had four brothers. Now they're his half brothers, of course, because Jesus is the son of God and Mary was his mother, Joseph was not his father. But these four sons are basically the product of the marriage between Joseph and Mary. They had these four sons after Jesus. Then they had these four sons and a minimum of three daughters, could have been four daughters. There could have been nine children in that family, 10 children. But it was at least a family of 10. When you read this scripture, it's pretty clear. That's why the Bible says that Mary brought forth her first born son and called his name Jesus because it wasn't the only son. That's why it says that Joseph knew her not until she had brought forth her first born son and called his name Jesus. Because after Mary gave birth, Joseph and Mary came together. You say, why is that significant? Well, just because there's a religion with a billion people in it that thinks that Mary is still a virgin to this day. And it just doesn't make any sense why Joseph is going to marry her. And he's told, wait a minute, she's with child of the Holy Ghost. And so he doesn't touch her. He doesn't know her until she gives birth to Jesus. And then, oh, sorry, Joseph, you're going to be celibate for the rest of your life, buddy. That wouldn't even make any sense. But see, the Catholics have a really warped view of what goes on between men and women within marriage. They think it's a sin. Did you know that? The Catholic Church teaches that it's a sin for me to go to bed with my wife. And that's a perverted view of marriage. Because the Bible says marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. But whoremongers, what's that? A guy who's going around with women before he's married. Whoremongers and adulterers, that's somebody who's breaking the marriage vow by being with someone else. Whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. But the marriage bed is undefiled. So this weird teaching of the Catholic Church that, oh, well, it's a sin to be with your wife. Because you know how they have the venial sin and the mortal sin? Well, it's the minor kind of sin. So you just say a few Hail Marys or Our Fathers or whatever. It's perverted. It's ridiculous. And so basically, that's where they get this teaching. Well, if we're going to say that Mary's God, and bow down to her, and worship her, and make statues and shrines to her, then we have to say that she just remained a virgin. Which is a false teaching as clearly shown from this passage and many others. So we see that Jesus had half brothers. And also James and Jude are probably the authors of the book of James and the book of Jude respectively. And then also Joseph and Simon there. Are their sisters not all with us? And they were offended at him. Verse 4, but Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching. And he called unto him the 12th. And by the way, that's why you don't get too upset if you try to give the gospel to your family and try to preach to them and they don't really want to hear it from you. Because the same thing happened to Jesus. So it's not really abnormal for that to happen. And honestly, sometimes it just needs to come from someone else. Sometimes you'll try to give the gospel to your family member and they don't listen. And then a third party will do it. And then they'll listen. So don't get discouraged. Keep praying for them. And hopefully maybe someone else maybe can talk to them. And sometimes it's taken better from someone else. But it says in verse 7, and he called unto him the 12 and began to send them forth by two and two and gave them power over unclean spirits and commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only. No script, no bread, no money in their purse, but be shod with sandals and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, in what place soever you enter into a house, there abide till you depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear you, when you depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Now this scripture here where he sends out the 12, he gives them power over unclean spirits. And this is found also in the other four gospels. And he ordains 12. And then later he's going to ordain 70 others and give them power over unclean spirits and be able to do these miracles of casting out devils. Now a lot of people believe and teach that every saved person has the power to cast out devils. That's what a lot of Pentecostals will teach. But in fact, the Bible teaches in the book of Acts, it uses the term special miracles. It talks about how special miracles were done at the hands of Paul. Paul talks about the signs of an apostle being done among them. These men that were sent out as apostles, the 12 and then the 70, they were given special power over unclean spirits that not every believer just automatically had. It was a special anointing that God gave unto the 12 apostles and later unto the 70 apostles. So this isn't something that just everybody just has the power to just cast out demons and devils. And there's a lot of fraud of this today, a lot of fake healings and a lot of fake casting out of devils. In this passage, we see Jesus healing a lot of people. And it mentions the fact that when he was in his hometown and they had a lot of unbelief, he didn't really do a lot of miracles there. So what people will do is they'll use that as an excuse whenever they can't heal people. These Pentecostal, charismatic, the Benny Hinns, they'll just say, oh, the reason you're not being healed is because you don't have enough faith. It's you are the problem. But it's funny how if Benny Hinn really had the power to heal, why doesn't he go to the hospital? Because Jesus here, he's healing everything. Because even in the town where Jesus couldn't do much, he still healed some sick folk. He still healed the sick. And later on in this chapter, we just read the whole thing before the preaching started, but he's going and they're bringing beds to him, bringing people, and people are being healed, people are being healed. Why doesn't Benny Hinn just show up at the hospital and just walk down the aisle and just start healing people? And just start dispatching? Because it's a show. Because it's a fraud. It's an illusion. And the people that are up there being healed are fake. They're actors. They're put up to it. And he's laughing all the way to the bank. And he makes a lot of money. And if he came to Phoenix tomorrow, he'd have a massive crowd. Because people are stupid, and they believe in it. But it's not real. It's false. He's a fraud. There's a lot of fraud of this going on. And see, they say, well, God was doing all these miracles then. He's going to be doing them now. But here's the thing about that, though. If you read the Bible, you read about a lot of miracles, right? But that's because the stories in the Bible take place over the course of 4,000 some odd years. So it seems like a lot of miracles, except for the fact that it's happening over the course of thousands of years, OK? So basically, when you're reading the Old Testament, you'll read about miracles being performed. But also, centuries will go by where miracles aren't happening. And then there are a lot of great prophets who didn't perform any miracles. You know, John the Baptist being one of them. There had risen no greater, Jesus said, than John the Baptist, among them that are born of women. There is no greater man than John the Baptist. But yet, the Bible says, you know, John did no miracle. He didn't perform any miracles. So this was a special thing where, yeah, you see a lot of miracles done by Jesus. And you see a lot of miracles done by the apostles. But when you just look at the history of mankind, it's not just a constant just miracle fest, you know, all the way from Adam and Eve until now. But that's what they say, because they want to make a big deal out of miracles. Because they don't want you to pay attention to the lies and false doctrine they're preaching. They just say, hey, look at the miracles. Just look at all the miracles. And they want to show the miracles. And someday, the Antichrist is going to capitalize on that. Because the Bible says that when the Antichrist comes, he will perform lying signs and wonders and that the whole world will believe on him because of the miracles that he does, instead of being tested with the word of God as the measuring stick. So we see here that they're sent out with power over unclean spirits. And they're sent out two by two. And this is where we get the concept. And obviously, this is not 100% like what we're doing. But when we go out soul winning, obviously, we're going out and preaching the gospel. They were going out and preaching the gospel. And so we apply a lot of these teachings to soul winning when we look at this here or in Matthew chapter 10. And when they're sent out, they're sent two by two. Now, a lot of people will say, you have to go out two by two. But yet, there's no scripture that says you must go out two by two. There's this verse right here is it. He sent them out two by two. But that doesn't mean you have to. So you could go soul winning by yourself. Or you could go with three people. But it makes sense to go two by two, just because that way, if something happens, there's somebody else there, kind of a buddy system, as it were. And also because that way, one experienced person can take somebody out who's a little bit less experienced and show them the ropes and teach them soul winning. It just makes sense. And you get a lot of great fellowship. It's pretty lonely going out soul winning by yourself. But if you go with somebody, you can get a lot of good fellowship in between doors. And it just works out the best that way. So that's the way we do it. And that's the way we recommend doing it. But it's not a hard and fast commandment in the Bible to go two by two. But they went out two by two, and he tells them don't bring anything, because he miraculously causes them to be provided for everywhere they go. He tells them don't even bring any money. I mean, can you imagine just sitting out from town to town, no money. But this was a special situation. He wanted them to do this. And every town they go to, somebody always takes them in and lets them stay the night and has a meal for them, just as they're knocking doors, as they're soul winning. God just keeps providing a place for them to stay. But at the end, when Jesus Christ is talking to them right after the Last Supper, he refers back to this event. And he says, do you remember when I sent you forth with no money and with no staff? Did you lack anything? And they said, we lacked nothing. But he said, now I say unto you, take money, and take a coat, and take our, you know. Because this was just a special situation where he tells them don't bring anything. But one thing that he says to them in verse 11 is very applicable to us today when it says, whosoever shall not receive you nor hear you, when you depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. You know, we go out soul winning, we need to be able to shake it off when people reject the gospel. Sometimes I've been out soul winning people who get really emotional. You know, when the door is slammed in their face or somebody yells at them and curses them out, then basically they'll get really upset about that. And it bugs them. And they just can't get over it. I remember I went soul winning with a guy one time. And somebody told us off and was really rude to us. And he just said, that's it. I'm never going soul winning again. And he never did, just because somebody was so rude to him. But we need to follow this teaching and just shake off the dust of our feet. We have to be able to just shake it off, go to the next door, and have a good positive attitude, not get really angry or emotional. And you know, when I'm out soul winning and somebody slams the door on my face, I'm actually kind of thankful for it because it saves time. Because the way I look at it is, I don't care about the people that don't want to listen. I'm trying to get to the person who does want to listen. And to me, every door that rejects the gospel is just one door closer to the person who wants to hear it. So it's just, I'm making progress. And so if I walk up to somebody, hey, I'm not interested. Get out of here. I'm just like, well, thanks for saving my time then, of wasting my time talking to you. I can just get to the next door even faster, just cut right to the chase. It's better than being real friendly to me and saying, well, you know, I just don't think that I want to hear this right. You know, get me out of there as fast as you can so I can get to the next door. But that's how you have to have an attitude that just says, you know what? Jesus, and he tells them in this same context in Matthew 10, he says, he that receiveth you receiveth me. And he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. So it's not you that they're rejecting. You know, when you show up and they're mad and yelling at you before you've even opened your mouth, they're not mad at you. They're mad at God. You know, they're mad at Jesus. They're rejecting, you know, church in general. It's not just you personally. So you can't take it personally. You just shake it off and just know that, you know, God's going to take care of it and you don't have to get all mad and angry and always try to settle it right then and there. You know, there's no point. It says in verse 12, they went out and preached that men should repent. Of course, this is one of those verses that people take, see, right there, it says you have to repent of your sins to be saved. Does it say the word saved? No. Does it say the word must? Must repent? No. Does it say repent of your sins? No. Because when they're sent out to preach, the main thing that you see John the Baptist and Jesus and the disciples preaching is repent and believe the gospel. That's the repentance. Because the word repent just means to turn or to change. What the turning or change is is shown by the context. So the Bible sometimes talks about people repenting of their sins. Sometimes it talks about God repenting and God has no sin. So he's obviously repenting of something else. And when people don't believe the gospel, they need to repent and believe the gospel. People believe in a different God. They need to repent of that other God and turn unto the true God. But a lot of people will abuse these scriptures. And every time they see the word repent, they just mentally add these words of their sins, of your sin. But that's not actually included in the word repent. So if he mentioned something, repent of this, repent of that. But when it's not in the passage, don't just put it there. Men should repent. First of all, it's just saying that men should repent. People need to change. People need to turn to the Lord in all different aspects of their life. But in regard to salvation, that turning involves putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. That's what it involves. Now as Christians, we're already saved. We're already going to heaven. We have eternal life. We can never lose our salvation. So the repentance that we need to do in our lives is a daily thing of just constantly turning away from things that are bad for us and that are harmful spiritually and so forth, and turning away from sins in our life. That's not salvation, though. That's just a daily walk with God of just trying to live a good life and a clean life and getting bad things out of our life that don't belong there. It says, they cast out many devils. Because remember, Jesus specifically gave them a special power to do that. And anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. And King Herod heard of him, for his name was spread abroad. And he said that John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. Others said that it is Elias, and others said that it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, it is John whom I beheaded. He's risen from the dead. Herod has a guilty conscience about beheading John. So he's scared that he thinks that John has come back from the dead now to haunt him when he hears about Jesus. Because Jesus is preaching the same things that John the Baptist preached, similar type following. So he's scared and has nightmares about John the Baptist coming back from the dead to haunt him. So that's why he's basically worried about this. And it says, why this happened, it has kind of a flashback here of how John had been beheaded. It says, for Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, it is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him, but she could not. But Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and so forth. And it says in verse 20, Herod feared John. Knowing that he was a just man and holy, and observed him, and when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. So Herod did, it wasn't Herod's idea to arrest John the Baptist. He didn't want to have anything to do with John the Baptist. He actually kind of liked John the Baptist, in fact. Herod did. He heard him gladly. And John the Baptist was very popular amongst the people. And Herod wants to be a leader who's popular with his people, so he doesn't want to do anything to John the Baptist. But Herod's wife, Herodias, was angry at John the Baptist preaching. And so she was the one who instigated her husband to arrest John the Baptist and put him in prison. And the reason that she was so mad is because Herod had married his brother, Philip's wife. So Philip was married to Herodias. And so basically, she's divorced from Philip, and now she's married unto Herod. And John the Baptist basically openly preaches against this and says that Herod is doing something that's wrong by marrying his brother, Philip's wife. And obviously, this woman doesn't like having her name dragged through the mud like that. John the Baptist is basically making her look bad, preaching against this unholy union that she has with her second husband, Herod. Now, what's interesting about this is that a lot of people today would say, well, what's wrong with that? You know, she moved on. Because today in America, it's considered completely moral and completely OK to divorce your husband and marry someone else. I mean, that's considered normal today. It's accepted today. Now, it hasn't always been accepted in our society, because the Bible says, whosoever marrieth her that is divorced committed adultery. So let me ask you this. Did Herod marry a woman that was divorced? Yeah, I mean, so he did what? Committed adultery. So basically, John the Baptist is pointing that out, saying, you've committed adultery. And she's like, how dare you say that? You need to have this guy arrested. And Herod's like, I can't just arrest this guy just because he said something that you don't like. But you know, she keeps nagging him and bugging him and making his life miserable. So then he's like, fine. And he basically ends up arresting John the Baptist and putting him in prison because of this preaching. But you know, this is the type of preaching that should happen today when our leaders commit these type of wickednesses. And you know, the first president who ever pulled this was Andrew Jackson. And it's really sad because I used to think, man, Andrew Jackson is a great guy because it said on Andrew Jackson's tombstone, I killed the bank. That's what he literally had engraved upon his tombstone. Because from the beginning of our nation's history, the central bankers wanted to enslave us through a national central bank. And there were two central banks before our current central bank, the Federal Reserve, which is from 1913. But Andrew Jackson killed the second central bank. And he made that his mission to fight against. And he considered it his greatest achievement of his life. And it was a great achievement because the Federal Reserve system, you know, steals our money and steals the value of our money through inflation. And all these bankers, they lend all this money to our government at interest. When in reality, our government has the power to make their own money. But instead, they borrow it from a private bank and pay interest for no reason except to enrich these uber wealthy bankers. And so Andrew Jackson was one who stood up for our financial freedom as Americans and fought against the bank. But you know, his personal life was not something that we should have great respect for. He was a sinful man in his personal life. And one of the things that he did that was scandalous was that he married a divorced woman. And that was something that was at the time considered very scandalous. Now today, that's not scandalous at all. I mean, it's just totally accepted. But at the time, our country was in a different place spiritually and morally. But not only did he marry a divorced woman, but then it came out that when he married her, the paperwork on her divorce had not technically gone through. Which meant that legally, for some months, she was married to two husbands at the same time on paper legally. So this was a horrific scandal in those days. And people were really upset about it. And right before Andrew Jackson was inaugurated, his wife died right before he was inaugurated. And people said, you know, God has struck down his wife so that the White House would not be corrupted with this whorish woman. I mean, that's what people said. This woman who's married to two husbands. I forget what they called her. I don't know if it would be bigamy, since gammy sounds like the Greek word for woman. I guess marriage, so yeah. So bigamy. They called her this bigamist or whatever, because she's married to two husbands. But today, stuff like that, I mean, people wouldn't even bat an eye at that. People didn't even bat an eye about Ronald Reagan being divorced and remarried and stuff. It didn't even matter at that point. So then the presidents now have to take it to a new level, where they're just committing adultery in the White House office with young Jewish interns named Monica Lewinsky or whatever. And who knows what our current president is doing. I'm sure it's with another man, if anything. You know what I mean? But whatever. But you know, the John the Baptist, I remember when Bill Clinton was in office. I mean, the John the Baptist were preaching against, Bill Clinton. The church I went to called him a whoremonger and an adulterer and preached. And you know what? That preaching was right when they said that about Bill Clinton, because it's the exact thing John the Baptist would have said about Monica Lewinsky and all this other stuff. But it just goes to show you how people's morals change. But this was a scandal at the time that they didn't want people to talk about. And John the Baptist is preaching and saying, well, he's married to this woman who used to be his brother Philip's wife. Now, when you read this in Matthew, you don't get it that he married her. And that's the thing about Mark. Some people are down on the book of Mark because they feel like, well, it's just like a shorter version of Matthew. But Mark has nuggets of truth in every chapter that are not found in Matthew. Even though 90-some percent of it's found in Matthew, there are all these little things that are in here that really expand on what you learn in Matthew. And in Matthew, it just says it's not lawful for Herod to have his brother's wife. So you could read that and just think to yourself, OK, Herod is just shacking up with his brother Philip's wife. But in this story, it's clearly stated that he had married her. And that's what John the Baptist is preaching against, the fact that he has married his brother Philip's wife at the end of verse 17. So that's kind of a revelation in the book of Mark. And it says in verse 20, Herod feared John. Verse 21, it says, when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod, and then that sat with them, the king said into the damsel, ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. Now, whenever anybody makes any kind of a promise or a vow like this in the Bible, it always ends badly, always. Whenever people say, oh, just whatever you want. It's like when Jephthah said, I'm just going to sacrifice the first thing that comes through the door. Just these stupid, open-ended vows of just whatever you want, I'll give it to you. So here's the moral story, don't ever say to your wife, I'll buy you whatever you want. Don't ever say that to her. But I'm just kidding. But what I'm saying here is that it says that the daughter danced before them. So she put on some, I don't know what kind of dance she did. It was probably something inappropriate, though. Chances are, we don't know what it was. But she dances for him and pleased Herod. And so he says, whatever you want, I'll give it to you. And he swear unto her. And this is why the Bible says, swear not at all. Because it's better that thou shouldest not vow a vow than that thou shouldest vow it and not pay it, because when you swear something and then break your oath, that's a bad sin. So the Bible just says, don't ever swear. Just don't say things like this. Don't make these kind of oaths. He swear unto her, whatsoever thou shouldest ask me, I will give it thee unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and said unto her mother, what shall I ask? And she said, the head of John the Baptist. So she wants John the Baptist dead. So that's what she has her daughter ask for. She came in straightaway with haste unto the king and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And a charger is like a serving platter, you know, like that you would serve a meal in. So she wants John the Baptist head in a charger. And the king was exceeding sorry. That's not what he wanted to hear. He didn't want to kill John the Baptist. Yet for his oath's sake and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head in a charger and gave it to the damsel. And the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, meaning the rest of his body, and laid it in a tomb. So you can see why Herod is scared. They, oh, he's come back from the dead to haunt me. Because he already knew that John the Baptist was a godly man. And he knew that he had wrongfully killed him only because of his stupid oath and because of his wife and because of the daughter and because of all that is why he even did it. And a lot of preachers say they won't preach against our leaders when they commit sin and when they do wicked things. And they want to be invited to the presidential prayer breakfast where they can sit between a rabbi and an imam and a Buddhist monk, you know what I mean? These ecumenical gatherings. And the Bible says that we should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather approve them. We should not have anything to do with rabbis and imams and pre-Catholic priests and everything. But these pastors, they get all, what do you call it? They get, yeah, they get all starstruck. And they're like, wow, I'm really important. And I remember I went to a church one time where the pastor was invited to go be with President Bush and him and like 200 other pastors. And he bragged about it and talked about it. And it was so wonderful. And he looked into Bush's eyes. And he knows for sure Bush is saved because he looked into his eyes. And of course, don't let it bother you that Bush says that Muslims are going to heaven and that everybody's going to heaven just as long as they follow whatever path. It's like the post office. We all take different routes to get there. But we all go to the same place, multiple ways. No, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If you don't believe on the Son, you're condemned already. You have to believe on Jesus Christ to be saved. But they want to go to the presidential prayer breakfast. John the Baptist went to the breakfast. He was on the menu. He was the entree. He was put on the table with the food. So a little difference in the preachers of today and the John the Baptist of this world who would sin for what it is and take an unpopular stand. And it would have been easy for John the Baptist to compromise on this particular point. How do you know it's easy? Well, because 90-some percent of fundamental Baptists compromise on this point. So apparently, they're Baptists, right? John the Baptist. But if they're going to compromise on it, I wonder how many Baptists should just probably take the name Baptist off their sign. Because John the Baptist, we don't really know that much about John the Baptist, do we? If we took all the scripture on John the Baptist, out of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, get all the scriptures, kind of put them all together, it's really not a mountain of scripture. So one of the biggest things that John the Baptist was known for was his stance against divorce and remarriage. In fact, that's what John the Baptist died for. But when was the last time you heard a sermon on that? Here's a good title for a sermon. What did John the Baptist die for? What was he willing to die for? Which belief, which doctrine was it that he was willing to die for? And you say, Pastor Anderson, why do you preach strongly on that? It's not because I'm mad at divorced people, because you know what? There are all kinds of people that I love and respect that are divorced and remarried. And you know what? That's water under the bridge. You know what I mean? You can't go back and change the past. But let me say this, though. This preaching needs to be preached, and then there'd be less of it in the first place. And you know why there's so much divorce and remarriage? You know why we all know so many people who've been divorced and remarried, and so many friends and fellow Christians? Because this preaching has not been going on for 100 years. That's why. And so that's why everybody's going out and doing it, because they don't think it through. I mean, I've talked to people who've been divorced three times. And they said, if I would have known what the Bible said about that, I would have stayed married. I had no idea. I've never been told that. Never heard of this in my life. I'm in my 50s. I'm in my 60s. And I've never heard of this in my life. That's a tragedy, when there are so many clear scriptures that say, I mean, let's just look at one of them, Luke chapter 16. You say, yeah, but Pastor Anderson, what's the point of preaching it? I'm preaching this for the people who have not yet done it. I'm not trying to beat people over the head who've already done it. Look, if you've already done it, there's no point in beating yourself up about it. You know, just confess it to God as a sin one time, and move on, and you're forgiven in Christ. It's under the blood. But this preaching is for those who have not yet done it. Because there are people today that are married, and they might even be struggling in their marriage, and they need to know what the Bible says about this. They need to know. And I want my children to know for a couple of reasons. Number one, if they know that marriage is till death do us part, they're probably going to think pretty long and hard about what kind of person they choose to marry. Think about that. What am I looking for in a spouse if it's till death do us part? You're going to think along different lines than if you just think, well, let's try it. See how it goes. If it doesn't work out, hey, I've always got my career to fall back on. I've always got my plan B, my exit strategy. And number two, when my children get married, I want them to make it work no matter what. And here's the thing. When you have to make stuff work, it's amazing how you make it work. Sometimes you'll tell a child to do this. Oh, I can't. It's not work. Hey, you will get it done. And then suddenly they find a way to get it done. Because when you're forced to make things work, you make things work. Now, if you go into marriage thinking, well, if things don't work out, they don't work out. Well, then guess what? Things probably aren't going to work out. That's why 50% to 75% of marriages end in divorce depending on how you look at the statistics. But if you go into it thinking, make this work or die, you might put a little more effort into your marriage. Think about that. And you know what? It takes effort to get married in the first place, to woo your, you know. For some it was easier than others. But anyway, some of us put forth less effort than others. But anyway, it takes effort to get married, right? Because you have to impress the girl. And it takes money. You got to spend a little money and show her a good time. And basically, it takes thought and effort and money. But here's the thing. What if you're married and you realize, hey, this till death. You're going to put that same kind of effort into having a good marriage. Because it's the only one you've got. Instead of just throwing it away, trashing your marriage, and then go spend money and time and effort trying to get somebody else, when you could have just spent time and money and effort to actually improve things with the spouse that you're with and putting thought into that and putting effort into that. But we have this society that just says, oh, just move on. In fact, I knew somebody recently who was having problems with their husband. And basically, somebody that worked with her. And I'm sure anybody who works has people like this who work with you. Somebody who worked with her told her, you know what? If you're not just super excited about your husband right now and just think that you're just madly in love with him, then you just need to move on. Because you just don't deserve anything less than that. And this woman had a kid with one guy and is divorced a couple times or whatever who's giving this wonderful advice. I mean, unless you're just head over heels today for this guy, it's time to move on because life's too short. But here's the reality of it, though. You're not going to be head over heels in love with your spouse every day of your life. It's just not reality. Now, why are some of you nodding your head so vehemently? Your spouse might see you do that. And I've got my wife in the corner of my eye. She's bust. She's going to be in big trouble if she doesn't play her cards right tonight here in this sermon. But let me say this, OK? That's just not reality. You're going to go through periods where things are great, things are amazing. And then you're going to go through low points. And then things are going to get better again. If you hang in there and you stay with it and you love the Lord and you love your spouse, it's going to get better again. And I find that when it gets better, it's better than it's ever been. I've had some of the greatest times with my wife recently. Not just all when we were newlyweds, but rather it gets better and better when you stay with it. But it's not always going to be great all the time. You're going to go through rough patches. You're going to go through low points. And that's where you have to decide to stick it out. It's till death do us part, and then it gets better again. But the world tells you, you know what? Maybe you just don't love him anymore. Like it's just something that you have no control of. Love is just something that just flies away. Like it's just the cloudy pillar in Exodus, and you just follow it wherever. It just moves of its own accord. Sometimes it'd park in the same place for years, the cloudy pillar, right? In numbers, it'd be there for years. Whether it was there for months or whether it was there for a day or two, you just follow your heart. Wherever it takes you. Like it just goes, and you just fall. No. The Bible commands you to love your wife, and it commands you to love your husband. So it's not just something that you have no control over. But that's what the world will tell you. Well, maybe we just don't love each other anymore. Well, then start loving each other again. Because guess what? You're stuck together for the rest of your life. But that's not what people think, though. People think, think about this. What about this? What if your two options were stay married or be single for the rest of my life? Versus stay married or marry someone else. Now, if it was stay married or be single for the rest of your life, you'd probably be like, yeah, I think I'll stay married and make things work. But that's not what people have as a mentality. Did I have you turn to Luke 16? I don't think I ever read it for you, though. Verse 18. Look, it's a whole sermon in and of itself, folks. I'm not going to turn to Matthew 5. I'm not going to turn to Matthew 19. I'm not going to turn to Romans 7. I'm not going to turn to 1 Corinthians 7. I'm not going to turn to the book of Mark. We could look at this everywhere. I'm just going to show you one for sake of time. Verse 18, it says, whosoever putteth away his wife. Put away means divorce. So putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, commiteth adultery. And whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband commiteth adultery. It's that simple, folks. End of story. Mark chapter 6, let's go back there. So that's what we see in the preaching of John the Baptist. I've got to hurry up here. I'm almost out of time. But in chapter 6 of Mark, verse 30, it says, and the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus. And by the way, isn't adultery a pretty big sin? I mean, even the world will condemn you for committing adultery, right? Even American culture today, you know, they're fine with you sleeping around. They're fine with you doing all kinds of things. But woe unto you if you commit adultery. It is a major sin. God considered it a huge sin. But here's the thing. If you commit adultery, the world will condemn you. You divorce your spouse and marry someone else, they're not going to condemn you. But God says that it is what you're doing, is committing adultery. But anyway, it says in Mark 6, verse 30, says the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told him all the things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And he said unto them, come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile, for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them, and came together unto him. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were, as sheep, not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. It's interesting, because I really like running. And I looked up every time running is mentioned in the Bible. And the thing that stood out to me is that a lot of the running in the Bible was people running to Jesus. It was one of the main mentions of running in the Bible. People were constantly running to Jesus. And it makes sense, because back then, you traveled on foot. I mean, everybody's either walking or running. And you think of people as maybe riding horses, but horses were a luxury back then. I mean, a horse, even today, how many people in here own a horse? No one. Not a single person in here owns a horse. Why? Because a horse is a luxury. You say, well, you know, we have a car. But a car or a bicycle, the bicycle is kind of the new horse. You don't have to feed it. I mean, I thought it's bad when you have to change the tire on the bike. But think about a horse. I mean, you've got to mess with its hooves, or whether you're shooing it or not shooing it, but you still have to care for it. And you have to deal with its health, you have to feed it, you have to brush it. I'm not really an expert on it, but I know it's a ton of work to take care of a horse. And horses are expensive. See, your average person throughout history in this world has not owned a horse. Your average person in Jesus' day didn't have a horse. When did you ever read about Jesus say to the disciples, saddle up, boys. Head them up, move them out. He never said one time, saddle up. He said, sandal up. That's what he said to the disciples, because they didn't have horses. They're on foot. I mean, think about this. Jesus and the disciples for three and a half years are walking around on foot. So back then, people were on foot. And so back then, if you want to get somewhere, you walk. If you want to get somewhere fast, you run. So everybody was a runner back then. So these people, they want to hear Jesus preach. They found out where he's going, we're going to beat him there. And they ran to get to Jesus. They ran in order to get there. I like that. But it says that when they got there, it says in verse 35, the day was now far spent. Because he's teaching them the word of God at the end of verse 34. It says, when the day was now far spent, his disciples came on him and said, this is a desert place. And now the time is far past. Send them away, that they may go into the country round about and into the villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said to them, give you them to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them to eat? Now, that might not sound like a lot to you. But if you remember at another place in the Bible, one penny a day was the day laborer, what he would be paid. So if you think about it, let's say we're talking about a day laborer making, what, 100 bucks or something? But they worked 12 hours, maybe 150 bucks. But even if he just took 100 bucks, what's 100 times 200? They're like, should we spend 20,000 bucks? Should we go take $20,000 and buy food for everybody? Because there are 5,000 men plus women and children. I mean, even if we're going with the dollar menu, it's going to take 20 grand to feed these people. And so they say, how are we going to feed them? And he saith unto them, how many loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew it, they say, five and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down and ranked by hundreds and by 50s. You say, why did they sit by hundreds and 50s? I believe it was so that Jesus could make sure that they knew how many people. Because think about, where'd the number 5,000 come from? Where'd the number 4,000 come from? Later, he feeds 4,000. How do you know? Well, because they're in groups of 50, group of 100. That way, the disciples could see that and realize, hey, 5,000 people have been fed, just so that we know that the Bible's not just giving us a rounded off number here. So they're sitting by hundreds and by 50s. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed and break the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And the two fishes divided among them all. And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up 12 baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about 5,000 men. So what he did is he takes the five loaves and two fishes. He prays and thanks God for his food. And then what he does, he starts just breaking it off. And breaking it, breaking it, breaking it, breaking it, breaking it into another vessel. And then the disciples are going around and bring, OK, pass it around. Everybody get some bread. Everybody get some fish. And he just keeps breaking it. And basically, it just keeps coming. It was like as he would break pieces off, nothing's missing. So he just keeps breaking it off, keeps breaking it off. And then as if that weren't amazing enough for him to feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes, then he says, gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost. And they gather up 12 baskets full of leftovers. So the leftovers, in the end, are more than what they even started with, just the leftovers. And what's interesting, too, is that in this story, he feeds 5,000 men with five loaves and two fishes. When he feeds the 4,000, he has seven loaves and four fishes. And he feeds 4,000, and then he takes up seven extra baskets. So what's interesting is that Jesus did more with less. The seven loaves he used to feed 4,000. The five loaves he used to feed 5,000. Why? Because it's just to show us that God's not limited by what we bring to the table. And in fact, when we bring less to the table, he can even do more, because he gets all the glory. And that's why God sometimes chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Sometimes he'll pick people purposely that are not talented to do his work. Because think about it. If God picked a really talented person, then people would say, well, of course he's successful. Look how talented he is. Look how good looking he is. Look how skillful of a preacher he is. Look at the people skills. And then they can basically sit back and give man the glory. Instead of God using a person who doesn't have those qualities to do great things for him, and then he gets all the glory. And people will glorify the Bible and glorify spiritual things instead of glorifying a person. And so God does more with less. And so in this passage, he does this amazing miracle where he feeds 5,000 people. And by the way, Elisha did a miracle like this back in 2 Kings where he fed like 100 and some people with just less food. But it wasn't as amazing as this. But he did the same miracle, actually, in the book of 2 Kings. But it says here in verse 45, and straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh unto them walking upon the sea and would have passed by them. And when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed to have been a spirit and cried out. For they all saw him and were troubled, and immediately talked with them and saith unto them, be of good cheer at his eye, be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened." Isn't that bizarre? They're shocked when he calms the sea when he just fed 5,000. And it says, they didn't consider that because their heart was hardened. It's like they were trying to still explain away the miracles. I don't know what it was, but they still had doubts for some reason. Because I guess we've never really seen anything like that. Maybe if we saw it too, we'd be blown away by it. But then maybe we'd be later like, did that really happen? Just because it's so mind boggling. That's where they were at in this story. But a funny story about this. One time when I was a teenager, a guy at my work, I worked at Round Table Pizza. And a guy at my work, I had won this guy to the Lord. And I had wanted him to go to church with me. And so I kept inviting him to church. And I finally got him to come to church. And he went to church with me multiple times. Well, he had gone to this other church with his family that was a Presbyterian church. He'd gotten involved in a Bible study, an in-home Bible study. And I don't know if you've ever been to these home Bible studies. But when I was a teenager, I went to a bunch of them where everybody's got a different version of the Bible. And everybody just kind of likes to hear themself talk. And everybody gets the floor type of thing. Nobody's there that understands the Bible as a teaching people. It's just kind of a free for all. So he's telling me, he's like, you know, I went to church with you. I keep going with you. I want you to come to this Bible study with me. You need to come to this Bible study with me. Because I've come to church with you. So I'm like, fine. Now, OK, I'll go to your Bible study. So I go to this Presbyterian Bible study. And I sit there for an hour and a half. And the whole Bible study was on Mark chapter 6, just these couple of verses, though, not the whole book, not the whole chapter. It was all about just this little part from like verse 45 and not even to verse 52, just like 45 to 51, just the basic story about Jesus walking on the water and calming the storm. And they just went on and on and on and on and on and on. Everybody's got, hey, let me read it in my version. Everybody's got a different version. And they're going on and on and on. Everybody just likes to hear themself talk and just blathering. And the real smart people, they're like, it's interesting how this account of the story in Mark doesn't talk about Peter going out on the water. Because you know how when you read it in the other gospel, Peter, when he comes, Peter says, if it's you, be it me, come out on the water. And they said, I think the reason why the story about Peter not going on the water is because Mark was related to Peter. And so he didn't want to embarrass Peter. And so that story might have been embarrassing to Peter, so he left that out. You know, that's ridiculous. I mean, what's probably more embarrassing to Peter is when Peter denies the Lord three times. And in reality, I don't think this story's an embarrassing story about Peter anyway. I know Peter's not in Mark 6. I'm talking about when it covers it in Matthew. Or in John. Basically, the story is where Peter steps out and walks on the water. I mean, I think that's pretty cool. I mean, if I would have been Peter, I wouldn't mind including that, Mark. You know, why do you have to take that out? But they say, well, because he doubted and they started to sink. So what? I mean, the guy's human. Give me a break. But anyway, they're just going on and on about it. But here's the thing. If you believe the Bible is inspired by God, if you actually believe the Bible is the word of God, you're not sitting around thinking, why did Mark leave this out? Was it to protect Peter's feelings? No, maybe God just didn't want it in the book of Mark because the book of Mark is sending a certain message and fulfilling a certain purpose in God's plan. God has certain things in the book of Matthew, certain things in Mark, certain things in Luke, certain things in John, so that the whole book will send a certain message and have a certain continuity to it. So it just kind of showed a lack of faith in the Bible. But here's what I thought was funny. They went on about this for almost two hours, just five verses, two hours, just dissecting every word. But they never brought up the one thing that I think is the most interesting thing and the one phrase in this passage that I think that when they read the passage, the thing that just jumped off the page at me as, wow, that's really interesting. They never brought it up. And there's a reason why they didn't bring it up because it goes against their doctrine. Because the thing that they didn't point out, which to me always, whenever I read this in Mark, it always jumped out at me at the end of verse 48 when it says that he would have passed by them. Never mentioned that. I mean, dissected everything else with a microscope. Every word, every syllable, all the Greek and the history, and let's read it in every version possible known to man. But it says that when Jesus came to them walking on the sea and would have passed by them, but when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed to have been a spirit and cried out. And they all saw him and were troubled. And immediately, he talked with them and said to them, be of good cheer, and his eye be not afraid. That's interesting that Jesus goes out and walks on the water, and he would have passed by them. What does that mean, he would have passed by them? He was headed right by them. They cried out. But Presbyterians don't believe that. Because Presbyterians think that everything in the world is already ordained by God, because they're Calvinists. And whatever is going to happen is going to happen. And it's all God's plan. And we don't have any part in salvation, they say. We don't even have to believe. It's unconditional election. Well, the truth of the matter is, Jesus Christ, I don't care what the Presbyterians say, Jesus Christ died for everybody. Amen. Now, John Calvin and John Knox, the progenitors of the Presbyterian church, they don't believe that Jesus died for everybody. They think that Jesus only died for certain people that are the elect. The Bible says he tasted death for every man. The Bible says he died not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The Bible says he's the savior of all men, especially of those that believe. And so Jesus died for everybody. But here's the thing about it, though. We have to call out to Jesus, or he will pass by. I mean, think about it. Jesus has died for every person on this earth. But yet, if they just go through their life and never call out to him and never call upon him, he's not going to save them. It's not unconditional election. There's a condition. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Not you'll just be unconditionally saved. Actually, you have to call out to him. And just the fact that Jesus had an intention to pass by until they cry out shows that man can get a hold of God, that man can basically change God's direction. And it's the same thing with where the Bible says God repented. God's going to do one thing, and then he does something different. Why? Because of man crying out to him. That's why we pray. To the Calvinists, you just pray that, God, please just let everything that's already going to happen anyway, let it happen. And I don't even know why I'm saying that, because it's going to happen anyway. Amen. I mean, OK, all right, the Calvinist family sits down to prayer. God, either you're going to bless this food or you're not. Amen. It's like, what's the point? The whole point of prayer, prayer means to ask for something. What's the point in asking for something if it's just, it's either going to happen or it's not? Well, we just ask because we're told to. But it doesn't make any sense, my friend. Well, it doesn't make sense to you. No, it doesn't make sense to any logical thinking person. Not only that, it's not biblical, because the Bible says you have not because you ask not. That shows that asking is going to change what you have. Think about that. You have not because you ask not. That means if you ask, you're going to get something. You don't ask, you get nothing, because you didn't ask. But they're just like, well, whatever is going to happen. No, false, wrong. And so I thought that was an interesting phrase. And I'm just, I wanted to just, all these years, I wanted to fix that, about that Bible saying. Now, tonight it's fixed, all right? But let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and for this great chapter in the Bible, Lord. And help us to keep studying the Bible, studying the book of Mark, and studying all of your word, Lord, and just learning as much as we can that we can apply to our lives and live a life that would be pleasing and honorable to you, Lord. And thank you for saving us, Lord, when we just call out to you. And thank you that we're saved eternally, Lord, and that we can never lose our salvation, because it's the most blessed gift that we've ever been given, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray.