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Mark 1:29-39 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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  Good morning. Welcome to Christ's family.
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  If you will please turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 1.
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  ! We're going to be reading from verses 29 to 39 this morning.
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  !
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  That which can be mimicked. Obviously we're not God in the flesh.
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  But what can be mimicked of Christ, we ought to mimic Him as much as we can, if we abide in Him.
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  So, an encouragement as we study through the Gospel, both corporately and individually.
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  Whenever you see things of Christ's life that you can replicate, strive to do so.
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  Really strive to do so, because that is the command of Scripture,
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  and that is our great honor as Christians, is to reflect our God, Christ.
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  And this is a reminder of the immediate context where we've been.
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  Nathan, the first sermon that we preached on this series, he preached on Mark 1.1,
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  which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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  And the Gospel, as he showed us there, was a reference to Isaiah 40, the coming of the King.
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  So, whenever we say the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
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  he's not talking about the crucifixion quite yet.
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  The pinnacle of the Gospel of Mark is the crucifixion of Christ, is death, burial, and resurrection.
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  But, thus far, we're talking about the coming Kingdom and the coming of Christ.
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  In the first nine chapters of Mark, Mark really desires and strives
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  to show us Christ as the powerful Son of God,
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  having authority over everything, as we're going to look at and see here in just a moment.
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  And in the last couple chapters, Mark really slows down,
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  because as everybody has pointed out when they've preached,
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  Mark uses the word immediately quite often to hurry the narrative along.
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  But, the last couple chapters are really shown,
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  they really show Christ as the suffering servant who dies for sins.
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  So, with that immediate context in mind,
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  let's also look at the context of this actual chapter.
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  Two weeks ago, Clay preached,
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  and he showed us Christ's absolute and total authority over man,
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  in that he said to the disciples,
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  Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
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  He had authority over their will.
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  They obeyed, and they complied to his command.
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  Last week, we saw Kyle show us,
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  we had Kyle show us,
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  his absolute authority over the spiritual realm,
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  in that there was a demon-possessed man in the synagogue,
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  in that he cast the demon out,
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  and the demon had no choice but to obey.
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  Even though it wanted to rebel, obviously, as we see that,
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  he told it to be quiet,
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  and it still made a loud noise when it left.
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  And this week, we're going to see quite a few things.
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  So, let's read our text.
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  Mark 1, 29-39 reads as follows,
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  And immediately after they came out of the synagogue,
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  they came into the house of Simon and Andrew,
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  with James and John.
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  Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever,
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  and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her.
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  And he came to her and raised her up,
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  taking her by the hand,
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  and the fever left her,
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  and she waited on them.
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  When evening came, after the sun had set,
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  they began bringing to him all who were ill,
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  and those who were demon-possessed.
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  And the whole city had gathered at the door,
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  and he healed many who were ill,
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  with various diseases,
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  and cast out many demons.
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  And he was not permitting the demons to speak,
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  because they knew who he was.
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  In the early morning, while it was still dark,
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  Jesus got up, left the house,
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  and went away to a secluded place,
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  and was praying there.
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  Simon and his companions searched for him.
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  They found him and said to him,
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  Everyone is looking for you.
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  And he said to them,
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  Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby,
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  so that I may preach the gospel there also.
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  For that is why I came for.
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  And he went into their synagogues,
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  through all of Galilee,
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  preaching and casting out the demons.
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  Let's pray.
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  Dear Heavenly Father,
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  we thank you for Scripture.
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  We thank you that you've given us
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  four accounts of the life of Christ,
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  and that we're working through one of them.
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  Father, I pray as we see your
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  just absolute sovereign authority
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  over all realms today,
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  Father,
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  and we see the need for prayer,
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  Father,
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  that we would be effectual hearers,
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  and that we do what the Word says,
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  Father.
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  As Wes just talked about,
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  that the miracle of hearing,
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  and response,
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  and faith would occur,
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  Father,
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  that we would have faith,
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  that this is the Word of God being spoken,
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  and that we would have repentance,
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  Father,
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  that we would conform ourselves
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  to what it says,
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  God.
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  Father,
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  Father,
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  we ask that you would move spirit,
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  if you don't move,
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  all is vain.
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  We praise you,
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  and we worship you,
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  and we pray all this in the name
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  and glory of Christ Jesus.
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  Amen.
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  All right.
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  So,
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  our text is broken into three paragraphs,
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  I'm sure in all of your Bibles,
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  at least it should be.
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  And it says,
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  And immediately after they came out
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  of the synagogue,
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  they came into the house of Simon
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  and Andrew with James and John.
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  So what Mark has done,
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  he's established that we are
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  in the same day as Kyle preached
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  about last week.
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  It's still the Sabbath.
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  Teaching had occurred,
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  demon had been cast out,
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  and then immediately
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  after they left the synagogue,
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  they went to Peter's house.
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  And upon going to the house,
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  they find out that
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  Peter's mother-in-law is sick,
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  that she has a,
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  Luke,
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  the physician records
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  in Luke chapter 4
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  that she had a high fever,
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  and that she was sick
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  to the point where Christ
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  had to stand over her
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  because she wasn't able to sit up.
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  So we see that she is
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  severely,
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  severely sick
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  in this text.
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  Maybe not super severe,
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  we don't really know,
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  but the text came to indicate
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  that she was really sick.
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  And we see that Christ
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  has authority
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  over the natural realm.
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  Before we get there though,
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  in the Gospel of Luke
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  in the fourth chapter,
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  Luke the physician,
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  the Gospel writer,
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  had already told us
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  that up until this point,
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  Christ had already
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  performed many miracles
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  and healing.
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  So we only have
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  the casting out of a demon
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  and the calling of disciples
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  according to this Gospel account,
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  but according to the Gospel of Luke,
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  they had seen many,
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  many,
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  many miracles
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  already occur.
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  So,
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  obviously they had trust
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  in the authority
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  and the power of Christ
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  and His ability to do
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  as He pleased
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  in the natural realm
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  as well as the spiritual realm.
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  So,
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  as we've looked at,
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  and the emphasis
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  that Mark is making here
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  is he's wanting to show
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  the absolute and complete
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  and total authority
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  of who Christ is.
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  Like we just said,
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  He has authority over man
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  as we saw
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  whenever Clay preached
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  and He told the disciples
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  to come.
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  He has authority
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  over the spiritual realm,
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  over demons,
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  those who rebel against Him
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  from the beginning,
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  in that He casts them out
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  and they have no choice
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  but to obey.
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  And we see here
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  that He has authority
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  over the physical realm as well.
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  Look what happens
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  in verse 31 with me.
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  And it says,
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  And He came to her
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  and raised her up,
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  taking her by the hand,
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  and the fever left her
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  and she waited on them.
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  So Christ came,
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  simply takes her by the hand,
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  raises her up,
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  and she is completely healed.
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  I'm sure everyone in here
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  has had a fever
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  of various kinds
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  and whenever you have a fever,
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  you feel like drunk.
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  And even after the fever's
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  kind of gone
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  and the fever's gone down,
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  you still feel ill,
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  your body's still recuperating
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  and recovering.
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  But notice how Christ
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  has healed her
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  in such a way
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  that she was immediately
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  able to wait on them.
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  And the wait on them
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  in this context
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  is more than likely
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  that she served a Sabbath meal.
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  They had a special meal
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  on the Sabbath,
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  the Jews did.
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  And I'll remind you
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  that they didn't have microwaves
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  and freezers
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  and refrigerators
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  and ovens back then.
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  So it was quite an ordeal
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  to get fresh food
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  and to prepare a meal
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  for four burly fishermen
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  because we see that
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  Peter and his brother
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  and James and John
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  had gone in there.
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  So four burly fishermen,
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  whoever else lived in the house,
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  and herself.
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  So that was quite a meal
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  to prepare.
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  So there's a great joy
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  in seeing that Christ
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  has the authority
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  over the natural realm
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  and that he is able
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  to heal so much so
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  to the point where
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  there's not even
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  a recovery phase,
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  but she is immediately well,
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  automatically.
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  And something that's
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  really interesting
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  and worth noting
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  in the text,
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  I'm sorry,
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  in Luke chapter 4,
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  is that Christ rebuked
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  the fever with a word
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  in Luke chapter 4.
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  So we see then
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  that Christ has the authority
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  and power over
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  the natural realm,
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  not just in terms of
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  how God has blessed us today
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  with various types of medicines,
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  surgery of various sorts,
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  but by his word
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  he's able to cure.
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  And what's really cool
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  is whenever we see
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  the correlation here,
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  we see that in 115
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  of the Gospel of Mark
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  that Christ spoke
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  to the disciples
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  and told them to follow
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  when they did.
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  We see that Christ
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  spoke to the demon,
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  told him to be quiet,
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  and cast out,
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  and it was.
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  And we see here,
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  whenever we look at
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  the parallel accounts,
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  that Christ rebuked the fever
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  and by his word
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  he had absolute authority.
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  In the same way
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  that Hebrews talks about
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  that he sustains all things
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  by the word of his power,
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  the word of God
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  is powerful,
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  both the Bible
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  as well as Christ's authority.
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  And one thing
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  that we should note
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  from the text
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  that we should pull
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  from the disciples
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  seeing as we are
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  disciples of Christ
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  is the fact that
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  they had seen
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  Christ's authority,
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  they had seen
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  his ability to heal,
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  his ability to cast out demons.
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  These are miraculous things,
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  by the way,
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  I'm sure you all deduce that,
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  but these are really big deals.
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  There's things that hadn't happened
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  for 400 years,
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  more than that actually,
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  since the days of Elijah.
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  And he's speaking with authority,
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  and they had noticed
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  all these things,
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  and let us note
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  in verse 30 what it says.
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  It says,
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  Now Simon's mother-in-law
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  was lying sick with the fever,
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  and immediately
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  they spoke to Jesus about her.
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  The first thing
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  that disciples did
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  whenever they had a problem
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  in their life,
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  a situation occur,
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  they didn't rely on themselves
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  or anything like that.
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  They immediately went to Christ.
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  They went and spoke to Christ.
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  I'm not saying this is prayer,
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  because Christ was there,
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  so they probably spoke to him.
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  But we nowadays
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  have the gift of prayer.
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  And we would do well
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  to learn,
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  like the disciples did,
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  because of who Christ is,
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  because of his authority,
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  to immediately speak to Christ
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  in any temptation or trial,
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  whether it be sickness,
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  financial,
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  temptation,
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  in terms of being led to sin,
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  being led to,
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  in various ways.
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  So we would do well
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  to learn,
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  as the disciples did,
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  to look at the authority of Christ,
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  because he is absolutely authoritative.
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  He has sovereign dominion
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  over all the areas
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  that he had created,
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  over both man
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  in his own little realm,
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  the whole nature,
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  and the demonic forces.
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  And I've repeated this
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  like four times now,
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  because it is that significant,
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  that he has absolute authority
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  over every single realm.
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  And the disciples,
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  knowing that Christ was kind
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  and loving,
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  they came to him
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  knowing that he would help.
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  Now,
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  let me qualify this real fast.
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  We see two natures
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  of our Savior's office.
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  We see both his nature
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  as Savior,
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  in that he was kind,
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  and willing to help.
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  And we see both,
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  and we see also
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  his nature as Lord,
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  in that he was able to do
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  what he wanted to do.
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  So we see that
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  when something was brought to him,
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  he was kind enough
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  to hear their petition,
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  he was kind enough
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  to hear their request,
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  and to go and do it.
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  And he had the authority
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  and the absolute ability
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  to do it.
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  So,
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  those are the two main points
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  from the text.
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  And there's a third point,
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  which I think is very significant,
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  that we draw from verse 31.
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  It says,
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  And he came to her
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  and raised her up
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  and took her by the hand
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  and the fever left her
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  and she waited on them.
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  The last five words there,
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  and she waited on them.
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  What the Holy Spirit is doing
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  through Mark
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  in this gospel
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  is he is showing us
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  a proper response
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  to those who have been
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  touched by Christ,
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  for those who have been
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  moved by Christ.
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  It is to wait on them.
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  And there's two
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  kind of branches
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  within this them.
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  There is obviously
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  she waited on Christ.
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  In this situation,
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  as I said earlier,
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  she probably prepared
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  a Sabbath meal.
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  She probably prepared
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  food for them to eat
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  and something for them to drink
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  because it had been
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  a long day at that point.
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  Christ had been teaching,
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  casting out demons,
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  walking around and stuff.
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  So we see that
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  she waited on Christ
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  and we also see
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  that she waited on them,
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  meaning the disciples
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  and those who were with him.
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  In the same way today,
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  us who have been
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  touched by Christ,
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  us who have been healed,
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  because we've been healed
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  in a far greater way, beloved.
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  She was healed of a fever.
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  We had sin-sick souls.
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  We were dead in our sin
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  and our trespasses,
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  rebelling against God,
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  completely and totally
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  against him.
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  We had a malady
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  that wrath was due us.
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  The wrath of God
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  was to be poured upon us.
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  So we have a much greater healing
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  than she did in this scene.
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  We have been healed
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  from our sin,
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  both in terms of
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  the wrath of God
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  and from the bondage to it.
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  So if she was so eager
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  to wait on them
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  in the text as we see
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  that she immediately
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  waited on them,
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  should not we
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  who have been cured
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  and forgiven of so much more
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  seek to serve our Christ
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  in all ways that are possible?
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  Beloved,
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  there are many, many ways
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  that one serves the church.
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  Ms. Barbara,
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  I told you I was going to mention you today.
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  Ms. Barbara is very diligent.
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  If you ever show up
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  around like 9 o'clock
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  and just watch her,
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  she does like everything around here.
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  It's crazy.
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  It's pretty awesome.
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  But in all seriousness though,
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  there are many, many ways
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  that you can serve the church.
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  Romans 12, 6-8 reads,
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  Since we have gifts that defer
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  according to the grace given to us,
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  each of us is to exercise them accordingly.
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  If prophecy,
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  according to the proportion of his faith,
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  is service and serving,
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  or he who teaches and is teaching,
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  or he who exhorts and is exhortation,
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  he who gives with liberty,
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  he who leads with diligence,
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  he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.
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  So we see that Paul here
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  is saying that the Spirit gives us
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  many gifts in terms of
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  how to serve the church.
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  Perhaps God has given you
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  some of the gift of preaching.
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  Perhaps God has given you
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  some of the gift of teaching.
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  Perhaps God has given you
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  the gift of music.
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  Those are the more public things.
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  There's also the things
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  that no one sees.
• 12:37
  You know, the financing that occurs
• 12:38
  to keep everything running smoothly.
• 12:40
  The administrative aspect
• 12:41
  to keep everything planned.
• 12:42
  Even things as small as
• 12:43
  making the coffee in the morning.
• 12:46
  All these things are done
• 12:47
  and they bring us great fellowship.
• 12:48
  Think about it.
• 12:49
  The coffee seems like a small thing,
• 12:51
  but everybody's gathered
• 12:52
  around the coffee,
• 12:53
  drinking it,
• 12:54
  and enjoying fellowship.
• 12:55
  So all these different forms of service
• 12:56
  add to the church
• 12:58
  in a way that God has chosen.
• 13:00
  And an implication therein
• 13:01
  is that if you are not serving
• 13:03
  in a way that God has gifted you,
• 13:05
  then the body is neglected.
• 13:06
  The body is missing
• 13:07
  an aspect of service
• 13:08
  that it could have.
• 13:09
  And that is to the detriment of the body.
• 13:13
  But the greatest way,
• 13:15
  and above all else,
• 13:16
  the way that we can
• 13:17
  serve this body,
• 13:20
  serve the believers,
• 13:20
  serve the church,
• 13:21
  both visible,
• 13:22
  which means here in this congregation,
• 13:23
  and invisible,
• 13:24
  meaning the whole church,
• 13:25
  is through prayer.
• 13:27
  It is through praying for the service,
• 13:28
  praying for the worship,
• 13:30
  all aspects of it.
• 13:30
  The preaching,
• 13:31
  that God's word would be proclaimed
• 13:33
  through the hearing,
• 13:34
  as we've talked about
• 13:35
  several times already today,
• 13:36
  that the people that are here
• 13:37
  would respond in faith and truth
• 13:39
  to what the text shows.
• 13:40
  They pray for the singing aspect
• 13:42
  and the music,
• 13:43
  that God would be greatly glorified
• 13:45
  through the worship of His name
• 13:46
  and through the praise of His people.
• 13:48
  Pray for the Lord's Supper,
• 13:49
  that it would be the solemn
• 13:50
  and joyful event
• 13:50
  that it's meant to be.
• 13:52
  Pray for one another
• 13:52
  as we bear one another's burdens.
• 13:54
  The greatest service
• 13:55
  that you can do for the church
• 13:57
  is to pray.
• 13:58
  And that is a service
• 13:59
  that we can all do,
• 14:00
  that we are all gifted in.
• 14:01
  We all have the ability
• 14:03
  to sit down,
• 14:03
  get on our knees,
• 14:04
  lay down,
• 14:05
  have a pace,
• 14:05
  however you want to,
• 14:06
  to pray,
• 14:07
  and to pray for the beloved.
• 14:09
  So,
• 14:10
  don't tell me
• 14:10
  that you don't have the ability.
• 14:11
  Don't tell anybody
• 14:12
  that you don't have the ability.
• 14:13
  I think we're very blessed here
• 14:14
  with a body who does serve
• 14:15
  and serves very fervently
• 14:16
  in a lot of ways.
• 14:18
  And for that,
• 14:18
  I'm very thankful.
• 14:19
  I know Nathan is thankful.
• 14:19
  I've heard him say it many times.
• 14:21
  So,
• 14:22
  but if you're not serving,
• 14:24
  there are ways you can serve.
• 14:25
  And I would encourage you
• 14:26
  to seek them.
• 14:27
  And I know we have many teams here
• 14:28
  that do the audio,
• 14:31
  the service,
• 14:32
  and other stuff.
• 14:33
  Maybe Wes can make an announcement.
• 14:34
  I don't know.
• 14:35
  But,
• 14:36
  so,
• 14:37
  okay,
• 14:37
  so that concludes
• 14:38
  verses 29 through 31.
• 14:39
  We've seen that Christ
• 14:40
  has absolute authority,
• 14:41
  just to emphasize again,
• 14:42
  that the disciples
• 14:43
  had seen his absolute authority
• 14:45
  and felt comfortable
• 14:46
  coming to him
• 14:47
  with their request
• 14:47
  that they may be made known to him
• 14:51
  and that he may do
• 14:52
  as he pleases.
• 14:53
  And we see also
• 14:54
  that a proper reaction
• 14:56
  to being touched by Christ
• 14:58
  is to serve both him
• 14:59
  through the work of reconciliation,
• 15:01
  sharing Christ in the gospel,
• 15:02
  which is not exactly
• 15:03
  what this text says,
• 15:04
  but it's an implication,
• 15:05
  and also through various ways
• 15:07
  of serving the church,
• 15:08
  both physically and spiritually.
• 15:10
  So,
• 15:10
  let's look at verses 32 through 34.
• 15:12
  It says,
• 15:13
  when evening came,
• 15:14
  after the sun had set,
• 15:15
  they began bringing to him
• 15:17
  all who were ill
• 15:18
  and those who were demon-possessed.
• 15:20
  And the whole city
• 15:21
  had gathered at the door,
• 15:22
  and he healed many who were ill
• 15:24
  with various diseases
• 15:24
  and cast out many demons.
• 15:27
  And he was not permitting
• 15:28
  the demons to speak
• 15:28
  because they knew who he was.
• 15:31
  So,
• 15:32
  verse 32 starts off
• 15:33
  with a kind of interesting phrase.
• 15:35
  It says,
• 15:35
  when evening came,
• 15:36
  and after the sun had set,
• 15:37
  they began bringing.
• 15:39
  And the reason this was so
• 15:40
  was because you weren't allowed
• 15:40
  to carry anyone or anything
• 15:42
  on the Sabbath.
• 15:43
  In the Gospel of Luke,
• 15:44
  in the 14th,
• 15:45
  sorry,
• 15:45
  the 13th chapter,
• 15:47
  in the 14th verse,
• 15:48
  one of the leaders of the synagogues
• 15:50
  rebuked some Jews
• 15:51
  who had brought someone
• 15:52
  to be healed by Christ.
• 15:53
  And he's saying,
• 15:54
  there's six days
• 15:54
  where work can be done.
• 15:55
  Why do it on this day?
• 15:56
  So, obviously,
• 15:57
  the people had been taught
• 15:58
  that doing anything
• 15:59
  that was like that on the Sabbath
• 16:00
  was a negative thing
• 16:01
  that shouldn't be done.
• 16:03
  So,
• 16:03
  they waited until the sun
• 16:04
  had gone down,
• 16:05
  and the reason that was
• 16:06
  was because the Jews
• 16:06
  didn't understand days
• 16:07
  as we do
• 16:08
  from 12 a.m.
• 16:08
  to 12 a.m.
• 16:09
  They understood days
• 16:10
  as from sundown to sundown.
• 16:12
  So,
• 16:12
  whenever the sun had went down
• 16:13
  on the day of the Sabbath,
• 16:14
  which would have been a Saturday,
• 16:16
  not a Sunday,
• 16:16
  by the way,
• 16:18
  just so you all know
• 16:19
  from Jewish culture,
• 16:20
  the day would have been over.
• 16:21
  So,
• 16:21
  they would have been able
• 16:22
  to freely bring people
• 16:23
  to Christ.
• 16:24
  And let us see
• 16:25
  the kindness of Christ,
• 16:26
  and once again,
• 16:27
  the greatness and grandeur
• 16:28
  of who He is,
• 16:29
  in that He's able to heal
• 16:30
  all who are brought to Him.
• 16:32
  Mark records that
• 16:33
  He healed many.
• 16:34
  The Gospel of Luke
• 16:35
  in the 4th chapter
• 16:36
  records that He healed
• 16:36
  each one,
• 16:37
  indicating each
• 16:39
  individual person.
• 16:41
  So,
• 16:41
  we have a Savior
• 16:42
  who is both willing
• 16:43
  and able to heal.
• 16:45
  Now,
• 16:45
  I want to make a
• 16:46
  clarifying note here
• 16:47
  about healing.
• 16:48
  I'm not saying that
• 16:48
  God heals all the time.
• 16:51
  This is a very specific
• 16:52
  and special time
• 16:53
  in redemptive history
• 16:53
  when Christ was in person
• 16:56
  in the flesh.
• 16:57
  What we would do wise
• 16:58
  to learn
• 16:59
  is that though God
• 17:00
  can heal,
• 17:00
  He's in no way
• 17:01
  obligated to heal.
• 17:03
  He heals
• 17:03
  at His sovereign choice.
• 17:05
  At this time,
• 17:06
  in the Gospel,
• 17:07
  I'm sorry,
• 17:07
  the Gospel of Isaiah,
• 17:09
  in the Prophet Isaiah,
• 17:10
  we see that He had said
• 17:12
  that Christ came
• 17:12
  to take the infirmities
• 17:13
  of them all,
• 17:14
  meaning Israel.
• 17:15
  So,
• 17:15
  this was a very specific time
• 17:16
  and Christ was fulfilling
• 17:18
  a very specific role
• 17:19
  as the Messiah
• 17:20
  at this time period.
• 17:21
  So,
• 17:21
  though Christ is
• 17:22
  and though God is
• 17:23
  so able to heal,
• 17:24
  and I believe
• 17:24
  does so occasionally,
• 17:25
  that's a whole other sermon
• 17:26
  that can be discussed,
• 17:28
  He is not forced,
• 17:29
  His hand is not played
• 17:30
  by us to do so.
• 17:32
  So,
• 17:32
  if you go to Christ
• 17:33
  and pray for healing
• 17:34
  and it doesn't come,
• 17:35
  take comfort in knowing
• 17:36
  that God works out
• 17:37
  all things for the good
• 17:38
  of those who love Him
• 17:38
  and are called
• 17:39
  into His purposes.
• 17:40
  That if you are not healed,
• 17:41
  it is for your good.
• 17:42
  Even though it may seem
• 17:43
  bad to you initially,
• 17:45
  in the long run,
• 17:45
  you can take comfort
• 17:46
  in knowing that God,
• 17:47
  who is infinitely wise,
• 17:49
  infinitely knowledgeable,
• 17:50
  knows the future
• 17:51
  because He plans it,
• 17:52
  has decided that it is not
• 17:53
  good for you
• 17:54
  to be healed
• 17:54
  at this moment.
• 17:55
  So,
• 17:55
  let us observe
• 17:56
  though Christ did here,
• 17:57
  He is not obligated to today.
• 17:59
  even though
• 18:01
  many people would say
• 18:02
  He might be.
• 18:07
  Alright.
• 18:09
  So,
• 18:10
  let's move on
• 18:11
  to the last portion
• 18:11
  of our text.
• 18:12
  We've kind of gone
• 18:12
  through the first two portions
• 18:13
  relatively quickly
• 18:14
  because I want to spend
• 18:16
  the most time
• 18:16
  in the last portion.
• 18:17
  I think that's where
• 18:18
  the meat of what God
• 18:19
  has for us today
• 18:20
  is at.
• 18:21
  And it says,
• 18:22
  in the early morning
• 18:23
  while it was still dark,
• 18:25
  Jesus got up,
• 18:26
  left the house,
• 18:27
  and went away
• 18:28
  to a secluded place
• 18:29
  and was praying there.
• 18:33
  The first thing
• 18:34
  that Christ did
• 18:34
  with His day,
• 18:35
  the very first thing
• 18:36
  that this text shows us
• 18:38
  is that in the early morning
• 18:39
  while it was still dark,
• 18:41
  the KJV translated
• 18:42
  long before dawn,
• 18:44
  that Christ went out
• 18:45
  and He prayed.
• 18:46
  And what this shows us
• 18:47
  about Christ
• 18:48
  and His view of prayer
• 18:49
  is that He saw it
• 18:50
  as a priority.
• 18:52
  He is the first thing
• 18:53
  He wanted to do
• 18:53
  with His day.
• 18:54
  Before He saw the face
• 18:55
  of any man,
• 18:56
  before He had an encounter
• 18:58
  with any person
• 18:58
  or other thing,
• 18:59
  He wanted to see His Father.
• 19:00
  He wanted to see God the Father
• 19:02
  and interact with Him
• 19:03
  and be with Him.
• 19:05
  And also,
• 19:06
  it's really cool to see how,
• 19:08
  as we're kind of exploring
• 19:09
  a little bit here,
• 19:10
  that Christ's prayer
• 19:10
  was wedged in between
• 19:12
  His two forms of ministry.
• 19:13
  You know,
• 19:14
  He was healing
• 19:14
  and preaching the Gospel.
• 19:16
  Oh yeah,
• 19:16
  that's what I wanted
• 19:17
  to point out.
• 19:18
  Okay,
• 19:19
  real fast,
• 19:19
  backtrack with me
• 19:20
  for just a moment.
• 19:20
  This whole time,
• 19:22
  everything that we have
• 19:23
  been talking about,
• 19:24
  all the healings
• 19:24
  and miracles and whatnot,
• 19:26
  the emphasis is found
• 19:27
  in verse 15 of this chapter.
• 19:28
  It says,
• 19:29
  The time is fulfilled
• 19:29
  and the kingdom of God
• 19:31
  is at hand.
• 19:31
  Repent and believe the Gospel.
• 19:33
  So Christ's main focus
• 19:34
  in His ministry,
• 19:35
  as He's about to say,
• 19:36
  and we've already read once,
• 19:37
  was to preach the Gospel.
• 19:38
  And all these other things
• 19:39
  were happening
• 19:40
  because they were foretold
• 19:41
  that they would.
• 19:42
  But this whole time,
• 19:43
  while He's doing
• 19:43
  all these things,
• 19:45
  He has continued
• 19:46
  to preach the Gospel.
• 19:47
  that the kingdom of God
• 19:48
  is at hand,
• 19:49
  that God is literally there
• 19:51
  at that moment
• 19:51
  in terms of Christ
• 19:52
  and the Carnet,
• 19:53
  that the kingdom of God
• 19:54
  and that the people of God
• 19:55
  need to repent and believe.
• 19:57
  As we've already established,
• 19:59
  that the Gospel,
• 20:00
  in terms of Jesus Christ
• 20:00
  crucified,
• 20:01
  buried,
• 20:01
  and resurrected,
• 20:02
  obviously not occurred
• 20:03
  at this point.
• 20:04
  So He was telling them
• 20:05
  to repent,
• 20:05
  turn from their sins,
• 20:06
  forsake their evil,
• 20:07
  wicked ways,
• 20:08
  and believe unto God.
• 20:09
  So that is the context
• 20:13
  in which everything else
• 20:14
  is occurring.
• 20:15
  And we need to keep that in mind
• 20:16
  because it shows the focus
• 20:17
  of Christ's ministry.
• 20:18
  And it shows the focus
• 20:19
  when we do various kinds
• 20:21
  of ministry,
• 20:21
  what we will be doing
• 20:22
  and how we should be focusing.
• 20:27
  All right.
• 20:30
  I don't even know
• 20:31
  what I'm at in my notes.
• 20:31
  I haven't been using them.
• 20:33
  Anyways,
• 20:34
  let's continue on
• 20:35
  with verse 35.
• 20:37
  Yes,
• 20:38
  let us know,
• 20:38
  this gives back
• 20:40
  where we were.
• 20:41
  He went out early
• 20:41
  in the morning
• 20:42
  because He saw it
• 20:44
  as a priority in His day.
• 20:45
  It was the very essence
• 20:46
  of His day
• 20:47
  to start it off that way.
• 20:49
  He gave it the top priority
• 20:51
  because it was first.
• 20:53
  And also,
• 20:53
  while it was still dark,
• 20:54
  Jesus got up,
• 20:55
  left the house,
• 20:56
  and went to a secluded place.
• 20:57
  So why did Christ
• 20:58
  go to a secluded place?
• 21:00
  Why did He go to be alone?
• 21:02
  He went to be alone
• 21:02
  because He wanted
• 21:03
  to be alone with God.
• 21:04
  And I know that seems
• 21:05
  like an obvious statement
• 21:06
  based on what the text
• 21:06
  is saying,
• 21:07
  but we have to take
• 21:08
  a step back
• 21:08
  and think about
• 21:09
  what that really means.
• 21:09
  He didn't desire
• 21:10
  to be interrupted
• 21:11
  by the distractions of men,
• 21:13
  by the distractions
• 21:13
  of our society.
• 21:14
  He sought to seek God first
• 21:16
  and for that to be
• 21:17
  a priority in His life.
• 21:18
  And He sought to do it wholly,
• 21:20
  to be separated
• 21:20
  from everybody else
• 21:21
  and be wholly devoted
• 21:22
  to God in this time period.
• 21:25
  What's interesting here
• 21:26
  in the text,
• 21:27
  the word secluded,
• 21:28
  that's translated right here
• 21:29
  in verse 12
• 21:30
  and other places
• 21:31
  in the text,
• 21:32
  is also the word
• 21:33
  that is translated wilderness.
• 21:34
  So in verse 12
• 21:35
  where it says,
• 21:35
  immediately the Spirit
• 21:36
  impelled Him
• 21:37
  to go into the wilderness,
• 21:38
  the word wilderness there
• 21:39
  is the same place
• 21:40
  for secluded place here.
• 21:41
  So if you look at a map,
• 21:43
  which I don't expect
• 21:44
  you all to do,
• 21:45
  but if you look at a map,
• 21:46
  you'll see that there are
• 21:47
  no wilderness,
• 21:48
  how it's generally used
• 21:49
  to describe in Capernaum
• 21:50
  in the immediate area.
• 21:52
  So Jesus would have gone
• 21:53
  a relatively good ways
• 21:54
  away from the city
• 21:55
  to get away
• 21:55
  from everybody else,
• 21:56
  to go and pray
• 21:57
  and be alone with God
• 21:58
  and to spend time
• 22:00
  with the Father.
• 22:00
  And let us also see,
• 22:03
  wait,
• 22:07
  whenever you look
• 22:07
  at the rest of Scripture,
• 22:08
  you see Christ's prayer life
• 22:10
  continually.
• 22:12
  Let us remember
• 22:13
  that mark here
• 22:14
  in these first nine chapters
• 22:16
  and especially in chapter one
• 22:17
  as he's continually
• 22:18
  showed the authority
• 22:18
  of Christ,
• 22:19
  is showing Christ
• 22:20
  as the God-man,
• 22:21
  He who is powerful,
• 22:23
  who is far more able
• 22:24
  than we are
• 22:25
  in our own human flesh,
• 22:26
  in our own human selves.
• 22:27
  And yet Christ took
• 22:28
  the time to pray.
• 22:29
  It was His priority
• 22:30
  in His life.
• 22:32
  And the lesson for us
• 22:33
  as we looked at
• 22:34
  1 John 2, 6,
• 22:35
  obviously we can't replicate
• 22:36
  the first part of the text
• 22:37
  that we looked at.
• 22:38
  We don't have the ability
• 22:39
  to heal the way that Christ did.
• 22:40
  We don't have the ability
• 22:41
  to do all those miracles,
• 22:42
  although Christ does do
• 22:44
  miracles today still.
• 22:46
  We don't have the ability
• 22:46
  like He did.
• 22:47
  But we can replicate
• 22:48
  this aspect of His ministry,
• 22:50
  of His life.
• 22:50
  We do have the ability
• 22:51
  to continue on in prayer
• 22:54
  alone and making it
• 22:55
  a priority.
• 22:56
  So that's why
• 22:57
  whenever we look at
• 22:58
  what Christ is doing
• 22:59
  here is significant
• 22:59
  that we take note
• 23:00
  and that we notice
• 23:01
  what He does,
• 23:01
  so that way we can do it too.
• 23:03
  If Him who was perfect
• 23:04
  sought to pray,
• 23:05
  how much more so
• 23:05
  do we who are imperfect
• 23:08
  need to?
• 23:09
  Christ had no sins
• 23:09
  to confess,
• 23:10
  which would take up
• 23:11
  most of our time in prayer,
• 23:12
  based on how sinful
• 23:13
  we are.
• 23:13
  He had no...
• 23:16
  Well,
• 23:16
  He didn't deal
• 23:18
  with temptation
• 23:18
  the same way
• 23:19
  that we did,
• 23:20
  in that we have to
• 23:21
  bitterly seek freedom
• 23:22
  from temptation.
• 23:22
  If Christ,
• 23:25
  who was God
• 23:26
  in the flesh,
• 23:27
  sought the face
• 23:27
  of His Father,
• 23:29
  probably praying
• 23:30
  for the ministry
• 23:31
  that occurred
• 23:31
  the day previous,
• 23:32
  that the word
• 23:32
  that had been sown
• 23:33
  would remain,
• 23:34
  that Satan
• 23:34
  wouldn't snatch it up
• 23:35
  and be on good soil,
• 23:36
  and praying for the
• 23:37
  next day,
• 23:38
  which was His preaching,
• 23:39
  if He sought
• 23:40
  so vigorously the Father
• 23:41
  as to make it a priority
• 23:42
  to rise early
• 23:43
  long before the sun rose
• 23:45
  and to go somewhere
• 23:46
  far away from everybody else
• 23:47
  after a long day
• 23:48
  of ministry,
• 23:49
  should not we as well?
• 23:51
  You told me that...
• 23:52
  You told me you're too busy
• 23:52
  to really sit down
• 23:54
  and take time to pray?
• 23:56
  That's crazy,
• 23:57
  because Christ was way
• 23:58
  busy than any of us.
• 23:58
  Look at His day.
• 23:59
  32 through 34
• 24:00
  is really just a summary
• 24:02
  of a day of Christ,
• 24:03
  that He killed many,
• 24:04
  many people,
• 24:05
  and that the whole town
• 24:05
  had literally come to Him
• 24:06
  and He healed all
• 24:07
  who were sick
• 24:07
  and demon-possessed.
• 24:09
  You told me that
• 24:09
  you are distracted?
• 24:10
  I understand, beloved.
• 24:12
  Whenever I seek to pray,
• 24:13
  that's like the only time
• 24:14
  I get text messages,
• 24:15
  the only time I get
• 24:16
  phone calls.
• 24:17
  It's really strange.
• 24:18
  People knock at the door.
• 24:19
  I'm really tempted
• 24:19
  to check Facebook.
• 24:21
  And various things.
• 24:22
  I can relate to your temptation,
• 24:24
  but far greater,
• 24:25
  far greater than my ability
• 24:26
  to relate to your distraction,
• 24:28
  your ability,
• 24:29
  or your tendency
• 24:29
  to be distracted
• 24:30
  is Christ's.
• 24:31
  Look here.
• 24:31
  Look at us in verse...
• 24:32
  Look at us,
• 24:33
  with me,
• 24:34
  in verse 36 and 37.
• 24:35
  It says,
• 24:36
  Simon and his companions
• 24:36
  searched for Him.
• 24:38
  They found Him
• 24:38
  and said to Him,
• 24:39
  everyone is looking for you.
• 24:41
  Christ had taken
• 24:42
  this great effort
• 24:42
  to arise long before
• 24:43
  everybody else,
• 24:45
  so that we hopefully,
• 24:45
  I imagine,
• 24:46
  that He didn't want
• 24:47
  to be seen,
• 24:47
  gone to this far-off place
• 24:49
  to be secluded,
• 24:49
  to be alone with God
• 24:50
  and to seek His face.
• 24:52
  And then disciples,
• 24:53
  wanting to do a good thing,
• 24:54
  I imagine,
• 24:54
  saying,
• 24:55
  everybody's looking for you.
• 24:56
  They go and distract Him.
• 24:57
  They go and take Him away
• 24:59
  from the Father's presence.
• 25:00
  So, beloved,
• 25:02
  listen,
• 25:02
  this is really, really important.
• 25:04
  Christ can relate
• 25:05
  to your weakness
• 25:05
  in this area.
• 25:07
  Christ knows
• 25:08
  what it feels like
• 25:08
  to be distracted
• 25:09
  while you seek
• 25:10
  the Father's face.
• 25:11
  It is no surprise to Him.
• 25:12
  It is not something
• 25:13
  He is unlearned in.
• 25:14
  And let us learn
• 25:15
  to look to the beloved,
• 25:16
  the beloved crucified
• 25:17
  Son of God
• 25:18
  who is risen
• 25:19
  and who knows
• 25:21
  our weakness
• 25:21
  to learn to cope
• 25:23
  with these things.
• 25:25
  Beloved.
• 25:25
  Let us also note
• 25:32
  that Christ in His flesh
• 25:34
  did not have
• 25:35
  infinite energy.
• 25:37
  It was not something
• 25:38
  that we see
• 25:40
  continuing in the Scriptures
• 25:41
  at moments like
• 25:42
  when Christ says,
• 25:43
  I thirst,
• 25:44
  and moments like that,
• 25:45
  that Christ did not have
• 25:46
  infinite amount of energy
• 25:47
  and that Christ
• 25:48
  had had a very busy day,
• 25:49
  far busier than
• 25:49
  what most of us
• 25:50
  experience on our regular day
• 25:51
  previously.
• 25:52
  And as we see
• 25:53
  from the following verses
• 25:54
  that He was going to go
• 25:55
  and continue to do
• 25:56
  the same thing continually.
• 25:58
  Yet He made the time
• 25:59
  and the priority to pray.
• 26:01
  So, if you feel tired,
• 26:03
  distracted,
• 26:04
  like you don't have energy
• 26:05
  to stay awake
• 26:06
  and sit there,
• 26:07
  beloved,
• 26:07
  Christ knows how you feel.
• 26:10
  Look to Him for guidance.
• 26:11
  Look to Him for wisdom.
• 26:12
  Look at His example.
• 26:14
  In Luke 5.16 it says,
• 26:16
  But Jesus Himself
• 26:17
  would often slip away
• 26:18
  to the wilderness and pray.
• 26:20
  One of the beauties
• 26:21
  of this text,
• 26:22
  as a man named
• 26:23
  Brother Paul Washer
• 26:24
  points out in a sermon,
• 26:26
  is that Christ slipped away
• 26:27
  to pray in the wilderness.
• 26:28
  And you slip away
• 26:29
  to that which you love.
• 26:30
  You slip away
• 26:31
  and go off
• 26:32
  to that which is
• 26:32
  most cherished to you.
• 26:33
  Maybe you slip away
• 26:34
  to play music
• 26:35
  or you slip away
• 26:36
  to read a book.
• 26:37
  Those aren't intrinsically
• 26:37
  bad things to do,
• 26:38
  by the way.
• 26:39
  I'm not saying those are sin.
• 26:41
  Those are good things to do
• 26:42
  and God refreshes
• 26:42
  our spirit to them.
• 26:44
  But Christ often
• 26:45
  slipped away to pray.
• 26:47
  And that shows us
• 26:48
  in the text,
• 26:48
  Christ slipping away,
• 26:49
  that was the most valuable
• 26:50
  to Him,
• 26:50
  was seeing the face
• 26:51
  and beholding the face
• 26:52
  of the Father in prayer.
• 26:54
  It was the great joy
• 26:55
  of His day.
• 26:56
  In the context of that passage,
• 26:58
  He had been doing
• 26:58
  many miracles.
• 27:00
  It says that He was
• 27:00
  healing many lepers.
• 27:01
  It says,
• 27:02
  but Christ would often
• 27:03
  slip away to pray.
• 27:04
  So let us learn,
• 27:05
  like our beloved did,
• 27:06
  to slip away to God,
• 27:08
  to make prayer a priority,
• 27:09
  to make beholding
• 27:10
  the face of God
• 27:10
  such a joyous thing
• 27:11
  in our hearts,
• 27:13
  that we long for
• 27:14
  to the point where,
• 27:15
  in spite of our busy day,
• 27:16
  in spite of our hectic schedules,
• 27:18
  in spite of our tiredness
• 27:20
  and all these things,
• 27:20
  that we slip away to it.
• 27:22
  That it becomes
• 27:23
  our source of strength
• 27:24
  and joy in the ministry.
• 27:26
  Because we're all called
• 27:26
  to the ministry
• 27:27
  of reconciliation.
• 27:28
  In 2 Corinthians 5,
• 27:29
  Paul talks about
• 27:30
  all who are born again.
• 27:32
  And then he continues on
• 27:33
  and he ends the passage
• 27:35
  with a great exchange,
• 27:36
  justification by grace
• 27:38
  through faith.
• 27:39
  But in between that,
• 27:39
  he says that God
• 27:40
  has given us
• 27:40
  the ministry
• 27:41
  of reconciliation.
• 27:43
  Going out
• 27:43
  and proclaiming to men
• 27:44
  the good news
• 27:45
  that Jesus Christ is Lord.
• 27:48
  And let us learn, beloved,
• 27:51
  as Christ did,
• 27:52
  as he went about
• 27:52
  this same ministry,
• 27:53
  let us look at his example
• 27:55
  and see how he did it.
• 27:56
  He slipped away to pray.
• 27:58
  And my prayer for this point
• 27:59
  in the sermon
• 28:00
  is that y'all really see
• 28:01
  the value of prayer.
• 28:03
  Because Christ did it.
• 28:03
  Christ who was God
• 28:04
  made a common practice of it.
• 28:07
  If Christ,
• 28:08
  who was God in the flesh
• 28:09
  made a practice of it,
• 28:10
  we ought to.
• 28:12
  Because he is our
• 28:12
  perfect example.
• 28:13
  He is the captain
• 28:14
  of our faith,
• 28:14
  our elder brother,
• 28:15
  who we should look after
• 28:16
  to repeat.
• 28:19
  And let us also note
• 28:20
  in this text
• 28:20
  involving Christ's ministry
• 28:23
  and how he was,
• 28:24
  how he worked,
• 28:25
  how he shunned the comfort
• 28:26
  and popularity
• 28:27
  of the world.
• 28:28
  His disciples walk up to him
• 28:29
  and they say,
• 28:30
  everyone is looking for you.
• 28:31
  All men seek after you.
• 28:33
  This is a great,
• 28:34
  joyous proclamation.
• 28:35
  It would have been so easy
• 28:36
  to say,
• 28:37
  I'm popular here.
• 28:38
  I'm well received here.
• 28:39
  I'm going to stay here,
• 28:40
  continue preaching,
• 28:41
  continue healing,
• 28:42
  be loved by the people
• 28:43
  and continue on in my ministry.
• 28:45
  But what does Christ say?
• 28:46
  He says,
• 28:47
  let us go somewhere else
• 28:48
  to towns nearby
• 28:49
  so that I may preach
• 28:51
  there also.
• 28:51
  For that is what I came for.
• 28:53
  Christ knew the work
• 28:54
  that God had set before him
• 28:55
  and refused to rest
• 28:56
  in the comfort of works
• 28:57
  already accomplished.
• 28:59
  And I know myself,
• 29:00
  and I'm sure many of you
• 29:01
  can relate to me in this,
• 29:02
  that often I find
• 29:03
  the opposite to be true.
• 29:05
  I find myself only referring
• 29:06
  back to past experiences
• 29:07
  instead of continually
• 29:09
  pushing forward
• 29:09
  oftentimes in the work of God.
• 29:11
  I take comfort
• 29:12
  in what God has already
• 29:13
  used me for
• 29:14
  and what God has already
• 29:14
  done in me
• 29:15
  rather than striving forward.
• 29:17
  And we would do well
• 29:18
  to learn as our Savior did
• 29:19
  to not rest
• 29:20
  until we have done
• 29:21
  what God has given us to do.
• 29:23
  And as you all know,
• 29:25
  what God has given us to do
• 29:26
  is the Great Commission
• 29:27
  to go into all the nations,
• 29:29
  all the world,
• 29:29
  and preach Christ.
• 29:31
  And that has not been done,
• 29:32
  as we all know.
• 29:34
  So let us learn,
• 29:34
  as our Savior did here,
• 29:35
  not to rest in the comfort
• 29:36
  of our friends,
• 29:37
  the comfort of those
• 29:38
  who receive us well.
• 29:40
  Let us continue fighting on
• 29:41
  for the glory of God,
• 29:42
  advancing the flag of Zion.
• 29:44
  Let us not rest in ease
• 29:46
  and peace
• 29:46
  while men are out there
• 29:47
  not worshiping God
• 29:48
  as he ought to be worshipped,
• 29:50
  praising the Lord
• 29:50
  as he ought to be praised,
• 29:52
  and they are dying
• 29:52
  and condemned to hell as well.
• 29:55
  We should have a burden
• 29:56
  and urgency about us
• 29:57
  to continue pressing on
• 29:59
  because God deserves glory,
• 30:01
  both being bowed to
• 30:02
  as Lord
• 30:02
  and being rejoiced
• 30:04
  over as Savior.
• 30:05
  Because Christ deserves
• 30:06
  these things,
• 30:06
  let us press
• 30:07
  and press and press
• 30:08
  and rely entirely
• 30:10
  upon seeing the face
• 30:11
  of the Father
• 30:12
  in prayer as Christ did here.
• 30:23
  Verse 39 of our text says,
• 30:25
  And he went into their synagogues
• 30:27
  throughout all of Galilee,
• 30:29
  preaching and casting out
• 30:30
  the demons.
• 30:31
  This shows us that
• 30:32
  what Christ had said
• 30:33
  in verse 38,
• 30:34
  what he came to do,
• 30:35
  to go and preach,
• 30:36
  he did,
• 30:36
  and he accomplished.
• 30:39
  It's obviously a curse
• 30:40
  to the rest of the Gospels.
• 30:41
  I'm not saying
• 30:42
  at verse 39 it was done
• 30:45
  because it wasn't.
• 30:45
  Obviously,
• 30:46
  we have the rest of this Gospel
• 30:47
  in the Gospel accounts,
• 30:48
  but it shows that
• 30:49
  Christ continued on
• 30:50
  and pressed on
• 30:51
  with what he came to do.
• 30:51
  He,
• 30:55
  we see that Christ,
• 30:59
  ah,
• 30:59
  I'm trying to word this properly.
• 31:01
  It's not in my notes.
• 31:02
  That was a bad choice.
• 31:05
  We see that Christ
• 31:06
  is entirely dependent,
• 31:07
  as we've actually covered,
• 31:08
  and that he accomplished
• 31:09
  what he came to do
• 31:10
  because of the work
• 31:10
  that he had done previously.
• 31:12
  The power of his ministry
• 31:13
  was in prayer.
• 31:14
  The power of his ministry
• 31:16
  was in prayer,
• 31:17
  my beloved.
• 31:17
  We are not going
• 31:20
  to accomplish things
• 31:21
  because of our wit,
• 31:22
  our own ability,
• 31:23
  or anything like that.
• 31:24
  We will accomplish
• 31:25
  because we behold
• 31:25
  the face of God
• 31:26
  and act as Christ did,
• 31:28
  as our great brother.
• 31:32
  So,
• 31:32
  last page of the notes.
• 31:33
  Good.
• 31:34
  So,
• 31:34
  we're at the finally
• 31:34
  and the conclusion.
• 31:38
  Oh,
• 31:38
  yeah,
• 31:38
  I remember what I was going to say now.
• 31:39
  Sorry,
• 31:40
  I apologize for that distraction.
• 31:42
  But,
• 31:42
  what Christ came to do,
• 31:43
  he said,
• 31:44
  was to preach the Gospel.
• 31:45
  That was the focus
• 31:46
  and main aspect
• 31:46
  of his ministry.
• 31:48
  Um,
• 31:48
  oftentimes,
• 31:49
  you hear about
• 31:50
  social work these days
• 31:51
  and social justice
• 31:51
  is an area
• 31:52
  that has been
• 31:53
  often neglected
• 31:53
  by the church,
• 31:54
  especially among
• 31:55
  the evangelical church.
• 31:56
  And that's the tragedy
• 31:57
  because God loves
• 31:58
  social justice.
• 32:00
  He desires for it
• 32:00
  to be brought out
• 32:01
  and accomplished.
• 32:02
  But we see here
• 32:03
  that Christ's primary ministry
• 32:05
  was preaching the Gospel.
• 32:06
  What Christ came to do
• 32:07
  and what we are to push on doing
• 32:09
  is to preach
• 32:10
  the Gospel of Christ.
• 32:11
  We are to love
• 32:12
  as Christ loved,
• 32:13
  to walk as he walked
• 32:14
  as we looked at
• 32:14
  that first verse
• 32:15
  that I read,
• 32:16
  which includes
• 32:17
  looking after
• 32:17
  those who are sick,
• 32:18
  those who are destitute,
• 32:19
  those who are poor,
• 32:21
  unable themselves.
• 32:22
  But his primary focus
• 32:24
  was to preach
• 32:24
  the Gospel
• 32:25
  in all the places
• 32:26
  that he was going.
• 32:27
  For him,
• 32:28
  it was Israel.
• 32:28
  For us,
• 32:29
  he has expanded it
• 32:30
  to the whole world.
• 32:31
  So as we go forth,
• 32:32
  I know many of you
• 32:33
  are called to missions.
• 32:35
  I know many of you,
• 32:36
  whether it be
• 32:36
  missions overseas
• 32:37
  or missions
• 32:37
  in a different state
• 32:39
  or missions down the road
• 32:40
  or however it is
• 32:42
  that God has called you to do,
• 32:43
  let us not lose focus
• 32:44
  of the main thing
• 32:45
  in our time of going,
• 32:46
  that we not ever see
• 32:48
  the Gospel
• 32:50
  as less than an end
• 32:51
  and all these things
• 32:52
  as a means.
• 32:54
  Using these things
• 32:55
  to extol God.
• 32:57
  So,
• 32:58
  I want to,
• 32:58
  I want to,
• 32:59
  we've kind of looked at
• 33:00
  a bunch of like
• 33:00
  spider web strings
• 33:01
  and I want to show you
• 33:02
  how the web actually looks
• 33:04
  in light of the whole passage
• 33:05
  that we've been looking at.
• 33:06
  So we see the first
• 33:07
  that Mark has at this point
• 33:09
  established Christ's
• 33:10
  absolute authority.
• 33:11
  I hope you all
• 33:11
  have walked away with that
• 33:12
  because I've said it
• 33:12
  like ten times.
• 33:14
  So we see Christ
• 33:15
  as absolute authority
• 33:16
  and we see that
• 33:17
  the disciples
• 33:17
  were compelled
• 33:18
  by that absolute authority
• 33:20
  to go to Christ
• 33:21
  and to present
• 33:22
  their needs before Him.
• 33:25
  That
• 33:25
  they had comfort
• 33:28
  knowing that Christ
• 33:29
  would hear
• 33:29
  and faith knowing
• 33:31
  that He was able
• 33:31
  to do as He pleased.
• 33:33
  And then we see
• 33:34
  that Christ continues on
• 33:35
  with a really busy day
• 33:36
  and we see an emphasis
• 33:37
  on prayer
• 33:38
  in that Christ prayed
• 33:39
  and we see how Christ prayed.
• 33:40
  We see the emphasis
• 33:41
  of how Christ prayed
• 33:42
  being alone
• 33:43
  to be completely
• 33:44
  shut off to God
• 33:45
  and early
• 33:46
  showing a priority.
• 33:48
  So beloved,
• 33:49
  what God is showing us
• 33:51
  through Mark,
• 33:52
  one of the many things
• 33:53
  is the importance
• 33:54
  of prayer
• 33:55
  and turning to God
• 33:56
  in all things
• 33:56
  for ministry
• 33:57
  and for all.
• 33:59
  Whether it be
• 33:59
  the ministry
• 34:00
  of being a husband,
• 34:01
  a father,
• 34:01
  a son,
• 34:02
  a daughter,
• 34:03
  or the ministry
• 34:03
  of preaching the gospel
• 34:04
  to those who don't know Christ.
• 34:07
  God is showing us
• 34:08
  this great,
• 34:09
  great,
• 34:09
  great need
• 34:10
  for prayer.
• 34:11
  And beloved,
• 34:12
  Hebrews 4.15
• 34:13
  says that we do not have
• 34:14
  a high priest
• 34:14
  who is unable
• 34:14
  to sympathize with us
• 34:16
  but in all ways
• 34:16
  was attempted
• 34:17
  as we were
• 34:17
  yet without sin.
• 34:19
  And then it goes on
• 34:20
  to say,
• 34:21
  now let us boldly
• 34:22
  approach the throne
• 34:23
  of grace,
• 34:23
  receiving grace
• 34:24
  as it is for the need.
• 34:26
  And beloved,
• 34:27
  listen,
• 34:28
  this is really important.
• 34:31
  We see
• 34:31
  that the emphasis
• 34:32
  of that passage
• 34:33
  shows us
• 34:33
  that because of
• 34:34
  who Christ was,
• 34:35
  we have boldness
• 34:36
  before the Father.
• 34:37
  We can come
• 34:37
  and make bold requests
• 34:39
  of God
• 34:39
  in our prayer,
• 34:40
  present bold things.
• 34:41
  That's why we have
• 34:42
  the ability to pray
• 34:43
  for things like revival
• 34:44
  because Christ
• 34:45
  is our token.
• 34:46
  His righteousness
• 34:47
  has paid for us.
• 34:48
  Our union with Christ,
• 34:50
  being one with Him,
• 34:51
  has made the road
• 34:52
  for us to be
• 34:53
  at the throne room
• 34:54
  of God.
• 34:55
  And we have the ability,
• 34:56
  the great and glorious,
• 34:57
  precious ability
• 34:58
  to walk before God,
• 35:00
  say Father,
• 35:02
  and present our requests
• 35:03
  to Him
• 35:03
  because of Christ,
• 35:04
  because of who He is,
• 35:05
  because of what He has done.
• 35:07
  So let us pray boldly.
• 35:09
  Let us pray often,
• 35:10
  alone,
• 35:11
  and boldly
• 35:12
  to our God
• 35:13
  who hears us
• 35:15
  and graciously,
• 35:16
  ever so graciously,
• 35:18
  condescends
• 35:18
  to answer our prayers.
• 35:21
  I have a confession
• 35:22
  to you all.
• 35:23
  As Nathan preached
• 35:23
  through the book of Nehemiah,
• 35:25
  he often talked
• 35:25
  about the value
• 35:26
  of prayer
• 35:26
  as we see in the book.
• 35:28
  And I so often
• 35:29
  found myself saying
• 35:30
  yes and amen
• 35:30
  in my heart,
• 35:31
  but so little
• 35:32
  had been changed
• 35:33
  by hearing
• 35:34
  what he was preaching about.
• 35:35
  And I promise you,
• 35:36
  until preparing
• 35:37
  for this sermon,
• 35:38
  God has birthed
• 35:39
  a greater prayer life
• 35:40
  in me
• 35:40
  through this text
• 35:41
  than before.
• 35:42
  But my confession
• 35:43
  is that
• 35:44
  it is not enough,
• 35:45
  brethren,
• 35:45
  brothers and sisters,
• 35:46
  to say yes and amen
• 35:47
  to these truths,
• 35:48
  to say that prayer
• 35:49
  is important
• 35:49
  and we need to do it
• 35:50
  and we need to push on.
• 35:52
  We must back
• 35:54
  our words
• 35:54
  with actions
• 35:55
  because
• 35:56
  in the letter
• 35:59
  to Corinth,
• 35:59
  in the first one,
• 36:00
  Paul talks about
• 36:01
  those who are reviling him
• 36:02
  and he says,
• 36:02
  well,
• 36:02
  I will come soon
• 36:03
  and they can have
• 36:04
  the words
• 36:04
  because the kingdom
• 36:05
  of God comes
• 36:05
  in word and deed.
• 36:08
  So, brethren,
• 36:08
  as we encourage
• 36:09
  one another
• 36:09
  to pray
• 36:10
  and to seek
• 36:10
  God's face,
• 36:12
  as we say yes
• 36:12
  and amen
• 36:13
  to these truths
• 36:14
  because they are
• 36:14
  beautiful truths
• 36:15
  found in scriptures,
• 36:16
  the righteousness
• 36:16
  of Christ
• 36:17
  enabling us to pray,
• 36:18
  let us back
• 36:19
  our actions,
• 36:20
  let us back
• 36:20
  our words
• 36:21
  with actions.
• 36:23
  I've been doing
• 36:24
  a lot of meditation
• 36:25
  on Christian liberty
• 36:25
  recently
• 36:26
  and something
• 36:27
  that God
• 36:27
  has really shown me
• 36:29
  through the meditation
• 36:30
  and the word
• 36:31
  is that there are
• 36:32
  two kind of people
• 36:32
  and James talks
• 36:33
  about this.
• 36:33
  There are the effectual
• 36:34
  hearers and those
• 36:35
  who do.
• 36:36
  There are people
• 36:36
  who say these things
• 36:37
  that will say
• 36:38
  yes and amen.
• 36:39
  Yes,
• 36:40
  these are true statements.
• 36:41
  We need to pray more.
• 36:42
  We ought to act
• 36:42
  as Christ acted
• 36:43
  in that way
• 36:44
  but then nothing
• 36:45
  changes in their lives
• 36:46
  and I'm fearful
• 36:47
  for that
• 36:47
  for many of you
• 36:48
  and for myself
• 36:49
  above all.
• 36:49
  Trust me.
• 36:50
  James 3.1
• 36:51
  says,
• 36:51
  let not many
• 36:51
  become teachers
• 36:52
  for held to a higher
• 36:53
  judgment.
• 36:54
  So,
• 36:54
  I fear
• 36:55
  to sit here
• 36:56
  and preach this to you
• 36:57
  to say these things
• 36:58
  to you
• 36:58
  and then not change myself
• 37:00
  but I fear for you also
• 37:02
  because you have heard
• 37:03
  the word of God
• 37:03
  regardless of how
• 37:05
  poorly or well
• 37:07
  this sermon has been delivered
• 37:07
  you have seen
• 37:08
  that Christ prayed
• 37:09
  made it a priority
• 37:10
  and went to do it
• 37:11
  by himself
• 37:12
  and did so
• 37:12
  for the sake
• 37:13
  of his ministry
• 37:13
  and if you do not
• 37:15
  follow suit
• 37:16
  with what Christ has done
• 37:17
  you give an account
• 37:18
  for it
• 37:18
  because you have knowledge
• 37:19
  brethren
• 37:20
  I pray that the fear
• 37:21
  of God
• 37:22
  would press upon you
• 37:23
  in that regard
• 37:23
  and it would myself
• 37:24
  that we would know
• 37:26
  that God has called us
• 37:27
  to be these kind of people
• 37:28
  people of prayer
• 37:29
  people that seek him
• 37:30
  and that we would not stand
• 37:34
  before God on judgment day
• 37:35
  and give an account
• 37:36
  for all the truth
• 37:37
  we heard about prayer
• 37:38
  all the truth
• 37:39
  we heard about
• 37:39
  these beautiful
• 37:40
  glorious truths
• 37:41
  and also
• 37:42
  let's look at the beauty
• 37:43
  and the truth
• 37:44
  of who we get to pray to
• 37:45
  we get to pray to Christ
• 37:47
  who had absolute authority
• 37:48
  as we've seen in this text
• 37:49
  and over the past couple sermons
• 37:51
  over both man
• 37:52
  the will of man
• 37:53
  the nature
• 37:54
  the nature
• 37:55
  nature
• 37:55
  as well as the demonic world
• 37:57
  and the spiritual realm
• 37:58
  what a joy to bring to him
• 38:00
  our troubles and peace
• 38:01
  our troubles
• 38:02
  and seek peace from him anyways
• 38:03
  but
• 38:05
  I want to end
• 38:07
  with
• 38:07
  talking to any of you
• 38:08
  who are not in Christ
• 38:09
  who do not know Christ
• 38:11
  I tell you people
• 38:14
  that
• 38:16
  this sermon
• 38:17
  has very little
• 38:18
  to offer you
• 38:19
  because God is not
• 38:20
  obligated to hear your prayers
• 38:21
  God is not
• 38:23
  I mean
• 38:23
  he knows what your prayers are
• 38:25
  because he knows all things
• 38:26
  but he's not obligated
• 38:27
  to hear them
• 38:28
  in the sense of
• 38:28
  as a good friend
• 38:29
  listens
• 38:29
  to you whenever you talk
• 38:31
  in the book of Daniel
• 38:32
  in the 9th chapter
• 38:33
  in the 18th verse
• 38:34
  Daniel tells us that
• 38:36
  he is not praying
• 38:37
  based on his righteousness
• 38:39
  based on his own merits
• 38:40
  but on the great compassion
• 38:42
  of God
• 38:42
  and in the context
• 38:44
  of what happens there
• 38:45
  the next thing
• 38:45
  that Daniel says
• 38:46
  is forgive us
• 38:47
  forgive us oh Lord
• 38:48
  for our sins
• 38:49
  he's making
• 38:49
  he's praying
• 38:51
  for the transgression
• 38:51
  of his people
• 38:52
  so
• 38:54
  what that shows us
• 38:55
  is that
• 38:56
  whenever we talk about
• 38:57
  having such confidence
• 38:58
  and boldness
• 38:58
  and prayer
• 38:59
  being able to go
• 38:59
  to God Almighty
• 39:00
  and present our request
• 39:01
  is not because of who we are
• 39:03
  but is who Christ is
• 39:04
  and what he has done
• 39:05
  and the compassion
• 39:05
  that Daniel was talking about
• 39:07
  in that passage
• 39:08
  the compassion of the Lord
• 39:09
  is the work of Jesus Christ
• 39:11
  that he came
• 39:12
  lived a perfect
• 39:12
  sinless life
• 39:13
  never committed a single sin
• 39:16
  never lied once
• 39:17
  never had an impure thought
• 39:18
  everything
• 39:19
  if you are outside of Christ
• 39:20
  that you have done
• 39:21
  that is wrong
• 39:21
  he never did
• 39:22
  and that he died
• 39:24
  for his people
• 39:25
  he completed the work
• 39:27
  for his people
• 39:28
  and that he made redemption
• 39:28
  for their sins
• 39:29
  and that is the merit
• 39:31
  that we come and pray
• 39:31
  before our God with
• 39:33
  and if you are not in Christ
• 39:35
  I tell you
• 39:36
  and I invite you
• 39:36
  to join us
• 39:37
  Christ said
• 39:38
  that he will
• 39:38
  I'm sorry
• 39:40
  the scriptures teach
• 39:40
  that all who call
• 39:41
  on the name of the Lord
• 39:41
  will be saved
• 39:42
  all who call
• 39:43
  on the name of the Lord
• 39:44
  will be saved
• 39:45
  and you will also
• 39:46
  have this joyous access
• 39:47
  to this great God
• 39:48
  let me emphasize once more
• 39:49
  and now in my sermon
• 39:51
  we're in the preaching
• 39:53
  section of worship
• 39:53
  that God is not obligated
• 39:55
  to answer your prayers
• 39:57
  he is not obligated
• 39:59
  to do as you ask
• 40:00
  we do not force God's hand
• 40:01
  God rejoices
• 40:03
  to use the prayers
• 40:04
  of his people
• 40:04
  to accomplish his means
• 40:06
  but he has a far
• 40:07
  greater view
• 40:08
  and a far greater wisdom
• 40:09
  than we
• 40:09
  in many things
• 40:11
  so sometimes
• 40:12
  we may ask things
• 40:12
  and they may not be
• 40:13
  they may not be given to us
• 40:15
  they may not be granted to us
• 40:16
  by the Father
• 40:16
  but it is not because
• 40:17
  the merit of Christ
• 40:18
  is insufficient
• 40:19
  it is because
• 40:20
  God has a better
• 40:21
  and greater plan
• 40:22
  for his beloved
• 40:23
  to make them like Christ
• 40:24
  let's pray