Mark 3:7  But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
8  And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
9  And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10  For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
11  And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12  And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

Jesus did not come to cause trouble. He did not come to be a rebel as some have foolishly suggested. Jesus Christ came to offer man the only way of salvation, forgiveness, and peace. He needed to expose the false teachers and their false teaching. No one can be forgiven and saved unless they trust in the true God for salvation. The Pharisees rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. The New Evangelical crowd today rejects the Lord Jesus Christ. Their Jesus is some fictitious character who is a sinner just like they are.
Jesus knew the Pharisees did not like what He had taught in the previous verses. They sought counsel from the Herodians. The Herodians were not a religious group. They were servants of the king. The Pharisees had a friendly relationship with these political servants because they used that for their ungodly purposes. The Roman government did not want to know God. They were not any worse than our current governments. Nothing good would come of a meeting between those two groups. Jesus was not afraid of them. They would not stop Him. He would not be arrested or killed prior to God’s perfect timing.
Jesus took His disciples and they went to other areas that also needed to know the truth. Jesus gave the false religionists opportunity to hear and know the truth. If they did not want it, He would not force It upon them. They would find out soon enough that they had been wrong.
We see in verses 7&8 that people from various parts of the country and even beyond the boundaries of Israel, came to Him. People were curious. News of Jesus’ activities was spreading. People that were helped by Him wanted others to know about it. Those who hated Him also wanted others to know that. Either way, the news of Jesus’ ministry was spreading.
In verse 9 we read that Jesus ordered a small ship to take Him just a short ways out into the water. He would still be able to speak with the people. However, they would be restricted from interfering with His teaching. Jesus cares about our physical needs. However, those needs are not as important as our spiritual needs. Many times our physical needs will be addressed if our hearts are right with God. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Jesus did miracles to fulfil Old Testament prophecies.
The Charismatics claim the power to do miracles today. They are frauds. They are forerunners to the Antichrist, who will be given the power to do “lying signs and wonders”. That is what the charismatics are doing today. We have the Word of God. If people do not want to believe that, they will not be convinced to trust in the true Jesus through lying signs and wonders. Jesus warned of that in Luke 16.
In verse 10 we read that Jesus continued to heal many people. They pressed upon Him in their desperation. He removed Himself from them and into that boat so that He could better minister to their real needs.
In verse 11 we see as well that the unclean spirits were not allowed to continue their wickedness. For some four hundred years there had been no new prophetic voice in Israel. God had left the people to their ungodly ideas. The result was an increase in unclean spirits and satanic influence. We see here that when God is rejected enmasse, the devils take over. Man has a desire to worship. He has a need for spirituality. When man refuses the truth, he will subject himself to lies.
There is a young woman from Europe who has a paralyzed stomach. Apparently she was born with that problem. She has a very good voice and is touring in Europe to raise awareness of her disease. The music that she sings is all ungodly music. Her parents are obviously unsaved people. They have helped her to develop her voice, but they have not shown her the importance of good music. From what I have seen of her, it is not rocked up music. It is more romantic style music and even the Beatles “Imagine”. This girl is certainly old enough to think about what she is singing, but she has been trained to shut off the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and is an open servant of the devil. She is one of millions of young people who are being raised in godless homes and going to godless schools. We are in big trouble in Canada and across the world. The void caused by rejecting God is being filled with satanic worship.
When you read the Gospels, it is interesting to note how often the writers were told to write about the satanic activity of that time. We see in verse 11 that these unclean spirits are well aware of Who Jesus was and is. They cannot be helped, but they know they are in a losing battle. They are locked into the losing side. We as people are born as lost sinners, but we have a moldable heart if we will turn to God and allow Him to change us and save us.
In verse 12 we see again that Jesus did not allow the unclean spirits to make Him known. He did not want people to be mistaken and follow liars down the garden path. Today we have thousands of false teachers who are out there speaking their lies. The masses are foolishly following these false teachers. They like what they hear. They do not bother to take the Word of God to examine what they are saying.
Some years ago a man who professed to be saved, but not interested in going to church, talked of how he liked David Jeremiah. He believed he was a good preacher. I asked him which Bible he preached from, and the man assumed it was the King James, but he did not bother to check it out. David Jeremiah is one of thousands of false teachers, but he knows how to scratch the itching ears of the ungodly.
Jesus declared that He would build His church on Himself. He is the Rock and He is the Head. Jesus started the first true church at Jerusalem. Shortly after His ascension, about three thousand people were added to that local church. The apostles were reluctant to spread out as Jesus had commanded them to. God sent persecution to get the Christians to scatter and go to all parts of the earth. In Acts 9 we read of the conversion of Saul. God changed his name to Paul and we read of his activities in travelling around Asia preaching the Gospel of Christ and establishing churches.
You cannot substitute a true local church with the internet. Years ago, Perry F. Rockwood had a radio broadcast and he declared himself to be the ‘radio pastor’. He had some good things to say. He was a very active man. He exposed a lot of false teaching. However, he was not a radio pastor. He could have been called an evangelist — one who could assist the local church, but he was not a substitute for a true local church.
Weak Christians are the result of disobedience to God’s clear command to be a part of a true, local, Bible-believing, church. You cannot grow properly when you are not fed properly. If you are genuinely born again, you need a sound, local church to attend. God will guide you to His place for you. Be sure to follow Him. If you are lost, you too need a true, local church to guide you to the truth. You will not know the truth by osmosis. Your soul will be restless until you have that addressed properly by the truth.
Pastor Bartel