The Heavenly Father just soften our hearts to Your word.
Lord, we thank you for Tony, this message that he has for us
that comes ultimately from you. God, I just pray that you will
speak powerfully through him. Father, I also pray for our
Sunday school and team classes. We thank you so much for the
children of our church. I just pray over the teachers in
their classes. God, you were just guide them
and teach them well words that they can teach the kids as well.
We pray this in your name, Amen. OK, my name's Tony.
Good morning, Church. The last time I gave a sermon,
91 octane petrol was at dollar 7A litre.
Now you older people will know when that was.
How Great Is Our God by Chris Tomlin was actually a new
worship song. Britney Spears was at top of the
music charts with the classic Oops I Did It Again and Why 2K
was a potential threat to Western civilization as we knew
it. If you guess the year 2000, you
are correct. So it's been a while since I was
in the pulpit. My smart watch just told me,
just gave me this message. You you're hire is 120 beats per
minute and you are inactive. Probably think I'm having a
cardiac arrest or something, I don't know.
Today a message comes from Luke 431 to 44.
So we'll be focusing on the authority power that Jesus has
over the spiritual realm and the physical realm Glow also be
looking at his divine mission. Before we get into our
passenger, I want to begin with the true story, which
wonderfully testifies to the power of and authority of Jesus
and the work of the Holy Spirit. Situated 214 kilometres NE of
Rarotonga and the Cook Islands, it's a tiny wee island called
Archie. Barely 6 metres are not metres,
6 kilometres across at its widest point.
And pre European times that people of Archie were a vicious
people. They were so vicious that on one
occasion Archer and warriors, after conquering the land of
Moki, forced the surviving local people to prepare an oven, to
kill and to cook, and then surrendered the flesh of their
own people to be taken back to Archie.
That's how cruel they were. It was a spiritually dark time,
not just for the people of Archie, but for the people of
the Cook Islands. But God in his mercy had other
plans. In October of 1822, earlier
Pagan priests proclaimed prophecy to all the people of
Artur. Ohh, people of art, You, the
children of tumour, will soon arrive on our island.
They have a canoe with no Outrigger.
Their bodies are covered with clothing from their heads down
to their feet. They have a mighty God in
heaven. His name is Jehovah.
All gods will be driven into the red eating chestnuts and will be
burned with fire. We repeated this prophecy on
multiple occasions. Of course, that didn't make the
local chiefs very happy to hear a prophetic message like that.
They became very angry. They wanted him punished.
So ohh yeah had no choice. He escapes into the forest.
A search party was seen in the forest to find him and bring him
to justice. They came back empty handed.
Oya was never seen overheard of again disappeared.
Nine months later on Saturday the 19th of July 1823, a ship
was spotted on the horizon by a couple of soldiers who were out
fishing. The soldiers reported the news
to Partida, a sub chief who in turn reported the news.
The wrong maternity, the high chief of Archie put it in wrong.
Matani go out to meet the boat. They go out in separate out
riggers. As they draw closer Chief Ranger
Matani calls out who is this and where are you going?
Putida and the other canoe shouts back.
Don't you see this big canoe? I can take them on in his
wisdom. Wrong about, Tony replied that
Chandler made parties think twice about attacking that boat.
He says this, but hold this ship and look at its masts, the
multitudes of ropes. Who said that the land of the
gods below could strike the land of the gods above?
It is difficult for a weak lane to kill us.
Take a strong land. Wrong about Tony.
Didn't come out of the titty to go back to shore and that he
would go out and meet the ship and its crew of course, but
Tidier was very disappointed and reluctant to return on board the
ship. Wrong of Itani was greeted with
great joint blessing by the Reverend John Williams and he
was also accompanied by some Tajin missionaries who were
doing the translating wrong of a tonic.
Was very surprised to also see on board Tamatoa the chief from
Ataki. Tamatoa told Rogan Batani how
they burned their idols and that the big houses of rock had been
built to worship the new God who was in heaven.
Wrong Meeting was invited to stay on board where he was
exposed more and more to the not just the power love of God, but
the story of Jesus the Son of God who loved the world and gave
his life for the forgiveness of sins.
The following day is Sunday. The Reverend John Williams
reaches special sermon just for wrong of attorney.
It came from the book of Isaiah chapter 44.
Nine. See this How foolish are those
who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really
worthless. The people who worship idols
don't know this, so they are all put to shame.
The reverend impressed upon ringtone that used uselessness
of idols. They have no power because they
made from wood. They have no life in them.
Wrong about. Tony was very moved by the
sermon, but he wanted to put the missionaries to a test for
before he would agree to destroy his idols.
He invited Reverend John Williams and Papa Isha, a Taj
missionary, to come to shore. They agreed.
They follow Chief Wrong Matani to his medal and once they got
there, he was going to put them to a test.
He pointed to a sacred Grove that had sugar cane in it, and
he said this. I invite you to eat some sugar
cane from that sacred Grove. If you do not die, then I'll
shall believe in your guide and burn my idols.
But if you die, we know what's gonna happen, right?
That will be the end of you and your God.
Pieces of sugar cane are brought to the missionaries PE.
The Tahisha mission knew about sugar cane because he'd eaten it
and ratio on which is in Tahiti so he's not worried.
Plus he has a faith in God, probably.
It picks up there. It starts munching on it and he
says this in his native language to the wrong Mitani and the
people of Archu. Imma mono mono roti data it in
my Mona Mona raw translated to English.
This is sweet food. Man will not die.
It is very sweet. The people marvelled as the
missionaries continued to chew the sugar cane and wonder that
the great powers of their God which protected them from harm
and death. Upon seeing the pair have got
demonstrated right before and wrong about, Tony immediately
declared his submission to the true God of heaven.
He ordered that everyone, all the idols be collected and
burned. He ordered everyone to come
forward and listened to the teaching of the missionaries.
Realising his responsibilities to two other islands, Chief
Wrong Batali asked Reverend John Williams to preach the gospel to
Mutiara and Monkey. This, of course, made the
reverend very happy and the missionaries were sent on their
way, accompanied by Wrong and Matani himself.
The message of the Gospel and the message of salvation became
the daily subject for discussion and homes everywhere.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ freed the people that hurt you from
spiritual darkness, brought an end to the continual bloody
tribal wars, end of cannibalism, improvement to their family life
and positive changes in their attitude.
But most importantly is salvation and peace with the one
true God through His Son Jesus Christ.
Not long after this is the Gospel spread through the Cook
Islands. The London Missionary Society
going to train many Cook Island Mardi missionaries who were sent
out to other Pacific islands and this blew me away when I found
this out. They went as Far East as Samoa
and as far north as Topping New Guinea trying to share the
gospel of Jesus Christ. I've titled my message today,
Jesus the great Deliverer. So what's the deliverer?
The Bible's quite clear. Someone that rescues someone
from danger, bondage, or sin. This role is primarily held by
God, but also individuals like Moses, Joshua, the judges of
Israel, and the Old Testament. But today I just want to focus
on the ultimate deliverer, Jesus Christ, the one who can rescue
us from the power of evil and sin.
Before we get into today's pages, let's do a quick recap
and what we've learned so far. Chapters 3 and 4 Andrew sung
outlined how Jesus was validates Messiah by God the Father and
God the Holy Spirit and is at his baptism.
Andrew also explained how Jesus genealogy linked him to King
David, Abraham and Adam which is a fulfilment of the prophecies
relating to the Messiah. Dan took us through the
temptation of the in the desert Jesus temptation.
We learnt the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be
tempted personally by the devil. We also learn how Jesus rebutted
each of these three temptations of Stada with the Word of God.
Last week, Billy spoke regarding Jesus announcing himself as the
promised Messiah, and this is what Jesus read in the synagogue
of Nazareth. I'm going to read it out again
because it's going to be important for where we start.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord is
anointing me to bring good news to the poor.
He sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives and the opening of prison to those who are bound,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour and the day of
vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn during the
temptation and the desert. Jesus proved He could get
victory over Satan's temptations and a face to face encounter.
But if he is the true Messiah prophesied by Isaiah, he must
have the power and authority to free others from prisons of
darkness, not just himself, those prisons that bind them.
And today's passage will indeed see Jesus the Messiah fulfilling
Isaiah's prophecy of freeing people from physical and
spiritual prisons. Now let's turn today's passage.
It's Luke 4, 31 to 44. I'll be reading from the new
Living Translation. Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a
town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every 7th
day the year 2. The people are amazed at his
teaching as he spoke with authority.
Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by
demon and evil spirit cried out shouting Go away.
Why are you interfering with us? Jesus of Nazareth, you come to
destroy us. I know who you are, the Holy One
of God. But Jesus reprimanded him.
Be quiet. Come out of the man.
He ordered it debt. The demon threw the man to the
floor as the crowd watched, and then it came out of him without
hurting him. Further Amazed, the people
explain what authority and power this man has as the words
possess. Even evil spirits obey him, and
they flee at his command. The news about Jesus spread
through every village and the entire region.
After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon's home
and he found Simon's mother-in-law very sick with a
high fever. Please heal her, everyone
begged. Standing at her bedside, he
rebuked the fever and it left her.
She got up at once and prepared a meal for them.
As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the
village brought sick family members to Jesus.
No matter what their diseases were, the touch of His hand
healed everyone. Many were possessed by demons,
and the demons came out of His at his command, shouting, You
are the Son of God. But because they knew He was the
Messiah, He rebuked them and refused to let them speak.
Early the next morning, Jesus went out to an isolated place.
The crowd searched everywhere for him, and when they finally
found him, they begged him not to leave.
Whether you replied I must preach the good news of the
kings of other towns also cause that is why I was sent.
So we continue to travel around preaching in the synagogues.
So there's just a breakdown of what we're gonna go through
today, and we're gonna look at the source of Jesus authority.
That's what we're gonna move on to next.
We can look at his own authority over this.
Evil spirits, his power and authority of his sickness and
his mission. So let's begin.
What we notice in the opening verses 31 to 32 is the people's
amazement at the authority Jesus preached with God.
Spoken word and written word always get a response.
When Jesus spoke, he was theologically accurate.
His word immediately could be related to life.
So what was the source of Jesus authority?
Jesus authority is rooted in his identity as the Son of God, the
Creator of the universe, the creator of all things seen and
unseen. Here's the encountered Word of
God. This is highlighted quite well
in John One versus one to five. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God and the beginning.
Through him all things were made.
Without him nothing was made that was made.
In him was life and life. That life was the light of all
mankind. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
And Luke 3/21/22 and his baptism.
Jesus Missions Endorsed by God the Father and empowered by the
Holy Spirit. Jesus also spoke with an
authority that originated in Himself.
It wasn't based on someone else's great ideas.
He did not need to quote previous rabbis or traditions to
prove his words were true like the Pharisees often did in Jesus
day. There were two main schools of
thought amongst the Pharisees and I learnt this as I was
preparing for the Simon. One school was influenced by
Rabbi Shamir. Very conservative.
Probably you'd say closer to on the spectrum to Jesus.
The other was influenced by Rabbi Hilal the Elder.
It was very liberal, and you're gonna find out how liberal soon.
I just want to give you a quick example of the difference
between the two factions of Pharisees with their views on
good reasons for divorce. The scholarship me believed only
sexual sin was the grounds for divorce.
However, the School of Halal believed that almost any
inconvenience suffered by the husband was valid grounds for
divorce. For example, accidentally
burning the husband's meal, and then later traditions, there has
been finding a more attractive woman.
Ladies, just imagine for a moment being married to a
follower of Rabbi Hillel. Nervous times that would be.
Let's move on to verses 33 to 34.
This marks a significant moment where Jesus authority has
demonstrated not only through his teaching, but also by his
power over the spiritual realm, particularly demons.
Here is an interaction between Jesus and the demon.
Luke highlights 3 critical points about Jesus and his
ministry. One the reality of demonic
opposition. This incident immediately
follows Jesus authoritative teaching in verse 32, suggesting
that the presence of Jesus and as true divine authority and
holiness provokes a manifestation of evil.
The demon is unable to remain silent in Jesus presence #2 The
demon recognises Jesus's identity.
The demons speaking through the man cries out.
I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
This is a profound, voluntary confession of Jesus's unique
authority and identity. The demon addresses him as Jesus
of Nazareth, acknowledging his human origin and local identity.
The demon then addresses him as the Holy One of God.
That's a title for the Messiah affirming Jesus divine purity in
nature. The spiritual realm immediately
recognises the supreme holiness and power of Jesus, a truth that
many listeners at the time were slow to grasp. 3 The deeming
declares his fear that Jesus has come to execute final judgement
and destruction on Him before the appointed time.
The demons frantic questions. What do you want to do with us?
Have you come to destroy us? Reveal an immediate, terrified
recognition of Jesus's purpose. Empower.
This is echoed in the book of James verse 219 where he says
you say you have faith for you believe there is one God good
for you. Even the demons believe this,
and they tremble in terror. James doesn't pull any punches
here. That first ought to make us all
pause and think and ask a very uncomfortable question.
Is my belief the kind that saves change is telling us that it
takes more than just agreeing with effect?
Look at the demons. They are the most convinced
theologians in existence. They know God's real.
They know he's won. They know Jesus as the Son of
God. But does that knowledge save
them? No, I don't know.
It makes them tremble in terror at the coming judgement.
Many people walk around with a similar insufficient faith.
They can tick all the boxes. All right.
Yes, I believe in God. Yes, I believe Jesus lived.
He's a good guy, but this is just an intellectual head
belief. They believe about Jesus, but
they haven't trusted in Him. You will meet people in churches
like that. O what's the difference between
a belief that a demon holds and the faith of a follow of Jesus?
The difference is very simple. True faith is not just
agreement, it is allegiance. And that again, it's not just
agreeing with facts, it's aligning yourself with the Son
of God, putting your faith and hopefully in Him.
It's the difference between saying, I'm going to do a little
demonstration here. I believe that chair can hold me
and actually sitting down on it. That's the difference.
Saving faith is trust that moves you from action to submission.
It's when you repent, turn away from living your own life of sin
and turning to God, trusting completely and what Jesus did on
the cross. His death paid the penalty for
your sins, and as their resurrection proved His power
over death, He transfers His goodness to you and you stop
relying on your own. God does it all.
Your job is to submit and to believe the truth.
The demons believe the effects and travel and terror are true.
Christian believes the facts and submits.
If your belief is nothing more than affect you agree with,
James says, you are doing no better than evil spirits.
But today you can have a faith that saves, not a faith of the
head only, but of the faith of the heart.
Will you just stop agreeing with the facts about Jesus and start
trusting Him as your Lord and Saviour today?
The invitation is open. Repent and believe.
Don't just believe about Him, choose to believe in Him.
And I invest 32. The people were astonished by
the authority of his teaching here in versus 33 to 35.
They witnessed the the authority of the power, His power of an
evil spirit. Jesus doesn't need in cantations
or rituals. A simple command is enough from
him and verse 35 Luke chapter 4 Jesus, Leah.
Jesus immediately silences the demon.
Jesus does this for three reasons #1 Jesus wants to mean
full have full control and maintain it over the situation.
He does not need endorsement from an evil spirit.
Two, it was not Jesus time to have his full messianic identity
proclaimed, especially not by demons, which could lead to
misunderstandings or political zealotry associated with the
term Messiah. Jesus would not allow the truth
advised His identity to be stained by being associated with
the mouth of demons. This passage powerfully
establishes Jesus as the Messiah of God, who is authority extends
not just interpreting the law, but also to cut conquering
spiritual forces. True followers of Jesus cannot
be possessed by demons as they were filled with the Holy Spirit
from the moment they repented of their sins and put their faith
in Jesus Christ. There are no recorded incidences
of believers being possessed by demons in the Bible.
The same cannot be said for unbelievers, particularly in
Jesus's time where it's clearly evident that demonic position,
influence and influence was at an all time high trying to
derail Jesus from his mission. However, whether you're a
Christian today or not, you can be influenced by evil spirits.
You don't have to be possessed to be influenced by them.
They can influence you from the outside.
There are many methods by which demons insane attempt to
manipulate and control us externally.
This morning I just want to focus on one of these.
The area of personal temptation we read in here is 218.
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to
help those who are being tempted.
Firstly, being tempted, it's not a sin.
Jesus was tempted. Jesus has fully God.
He's fully man, fully immersed in our world.
He became one of us, so he knows what it's like to endure
hardship, suffering, and the pressure of temptation.
He knows it #2 Jesus is able to help us when we are facing
temptation. The Greek word translated for
help poor efsi, means to run to the aid of.
This highlights the active intervention of Jesus through
the work of the Holy Spirit to help you and I God is not just a
distant, sympathetic observer of our struggles, but one who's
experienced our struggles first hand.
Thirdly, because Jesus has conquered suffering and
temptation and his humanity, here's the authority and
practical understanding to support strength and protect us
by the power of the Holy Spirit. And lastly, one more I'd like to
this I'd like to to consider First Corinthians 10/13.
No temptation is overtaking you except what is common to man.
But God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear, but with the temptation will also
make the way of escape that you may be able to spirit.
And this, this pull assures His listeners and us that we are not
alone. Poor reassures us that the
struggles we face are not unique, overwhelming, or
impossible. Every temptation we encounter is
one that other humans have faced before, which means it can be
overcome with God's help. This help combats that feeling
of no one understands ohh it's too strong.
I cannot do anything and I've been there.
God by his authority and power regulates the testing we face as
believers. I like to think of it this way.
God has Satan and his demons on a very short leash in terms of
believers. This doesn't mean the temptation
will be easy, but it confirms it will always be conquerable.
With this help. He has them on a tight leash.
God never allows a temptation without also providing a means
of escape. So many times we don't even
bother to think of the way out when we're tempted.
We walk into situations and get blindsided.
Ohh, where did that come from? And then reflecting later you go
ohh not again. I fell for that one again.
But this way of escape often requires intentional choice and
action on our part. We must to choose to obey God or
not. Remember, God's goal was not
necessarily the immediate removal of the temptation, but
in this verse, the strength to bear it and stand under the
pressure until the temptation passes or we escape it.
God's goal is to build a stronger, more resilient faith,
a faith centred on Him, not necessarily on your convenience.
The last piece I'd like to consider regarding temptation as
James for 7:00 to 8:00. So humble yourselves before God,
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Come close to God and He will come close to you.
And the moment of temptation we should pause and then mention
there. We should pause in the humble
ourselves before God, asking for His help.
When we do this, we play our place ourselves firmly under
God's authority and the power of the Holy Spirit state and his
demons cannot stand being in the presence of a believer
surrendered to God. So they will give up and they
will leave. They all say this in themselves.
I've got bigger fish to fry, or other fish.
However, if we do give into temptation, God's grace and
mercy is there. Also, don't forget that first
John 19 says this. If we confess our sins, he's
faithful. Just forgive our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is the promise for the believer.
This space provides assurance that when we as a believer
sincerely confess our sins, God will faithfully He won't just
forgive us, He'll cleans us. Christian, when you fail, keep
getting back up. Don't ever stay on the ground.
This is a promise you will fail. I remember this is not on my
notes. It's just a quick sign.
There's a preacher called the Rogers.
He's got an awesome testimony and he was giving, I think it
was a Promise Keepers events and he said, do you know what do you
know, spiritual growth is not a line, it's a spiral.
If you imagine this is God, right?
God's here somewhere above me, right?
It's not a line, it's not linear, it's a spiral.
God will make you go around the block.
You've got a problem with anger? Let's start with your wife and
then we'll think about you saving the world.
OK, how about that annoying employee of yours?
That's how God operates. When you look back, sometimes
those sins take years and and a lot of it is because we're not
being obedient with saying to God, we've got it and you don't
got it. OK, so what's some practical
steps we can take? This is something I've done
recently, not as a physical book, but kind of mentally, but
I will get to it. It's called taking making a
spiritual journal. This is the kind of thing you
can record when you're tempted. Where are you?
Where are you can be a place of temptation.
Obviously, if you're a recovering alcoholic, this thing
places on we're going to be Rd. you probably don't want to be
walking past a lot. Ohh whoops, I got another way I
said so that I'll go back to a the time of day.
Watch out when you're tired. First thing in the morning, last
thing at night. Watch out.
Record physical emotional triggers at the time.
I'm just, I just addressed this. Are you stressed?
Watch out, certain people situations might trigger it now
and all this. I'm not saying you go run and
hide everywhere, just be aware of it when you you can't.
If you've got a problem with your boss, you gotta go to work.
Just be aware of it. What thoughts were in your mind
trying to persuade you It's okay to give in to the sin?
What types playing? What is your reasoning?
What is your justification? Find scriptures right them out.
If you have to definitely read them out that relate to your
point of temptation or weakness. Write them out.
Here's some here Anxiety Philippines 4 six to seven.
We know that, we know that one. Are you, are you tempted by last
first commencing 618 gossip and bitterness?
Now that's something God started with me.
And slander in the workplace particularly.
Very easy to join in with another, right?
Ohh, he's no good. He's slack.
Well, she's slack. There's something that's an area
God's working on with me right now.
Now this is this is important. I know it sounds kind of
ritualistic. Ohh.
In the moment of temptation, it's actually good to have a
prayer. I'm going to read through this.
Lord, I'm feeling and you insert the emotion.
Now it might not be a feeling, it could be a thought.
I I'm feeling this way right now.
I know this is a gateway too. Whatever the temptation is, I
surrender this feeling to you or this thought.
Help me to turn my attention to something else, some kind of
positive action. It could be prayer, could be
reading scripture, it could be a healthy activity.
Ohh I'm going for a run and receive your strength instead of
seeking satisfaction in this scene.
Overtime you'll see patterns relating to your temptation and
with the Holy Spirits help, you can come up with a better plan.
So you're not gonna be easily ambushed because, you know, it's
the that time of night, it's this situation, it's this
person. And you're not just walking in
and being ambushed every time. Now let's turn our attention to
verses 38 to 42, getting near the end.
In these verses we see Jesus ministry moving from the public
square of the synagogue to the private space of Peter's home.
Jesus sees in response to individual need by instantly and
completely healing Peter's mother-in-law.
Many other people were also brought to Jesus for physical
and spiritual healing. What can we learn from this
passage? One, Jesus is complete authority
and power over the natural world and the spiritual world.
He demonstrates his power over the natural world by completely
healing Peter's mother-in-law and others suffering from
sickness. Jesus shows us compassion for
mankind, care for individual humans beings, human beings and
their welfare. Challenge for us is Jesus calls
us to care about individuals, to live a life of compassion and
sacrifice, serving others in the same way.
It's very easy and I'm guilty of this, to get so busy in our
daily lives, so self absorbed. If you're a male, it'll be your
work. I'm not gonna speak for ladies.
I'll get in trouble. We get so self absorbed we
failed to take the time to serve individual people as the Lord
Jesus did and our our public square will be our workplaces,
our places of learning, our homes, our church, and even our
home groups. We can found to look at the for
individuals to pray for others, to be a listening in when people
are struggling or hurting, to help others in practical ways,
and maybe even if by the direction of the Holy Spirit, to
share the Gospel. Sometimes the loads may not be
calling you to be the at the end of the the person doing the
harvesting. Sometimes the Lord's calling you
to be the link in the chain. I'm going to read a real story
now. You older folk will know this
story so it will be a little bit nostalgic for you, but younger
people might not know this story.
This involves Randa main name Mr. Mr. Gina of George St. as a
humble man. This happened in US.
He was in in a Sydney, Australia, a time of the Second
World War. Mr. Gina made it his daily
routine to walk down George Street, 1 of Sydney's busiest
thoroughfares and approached strangers.
He would ask them a simple but profound question.
Excuse me Sir, please don't be offended, but if you were to die
tonight, we would you spend eternity.
He spoke to at least 10 people a day for 25 years.
When Christian ministers later tracked him down, Mr. Jenner,
now an old man and very humble, confessed with tears in his
eyes. Do you know what?
I've never let anyone gross. I've never let anyone to.
Christ, that's what he thought. However, the minister told the
story. Reverend Francis Dixon began to
share his Mr. Jenna's encounter and won by one.
People came forward with their testimonies.
They explained that Mister Jean is direct, persistent question.
A single link had been developed because of it.
It had been the first steps and the journey to faith for many
people. One person recounted a young man
who was in the Royal Navy. He gave his heart to Jesus that
very night after hearing that question.
Another was a young woman in the role, Nigel Service.
There were several others. Mr. Jenner never saw the fruit
of his labour. He was not the Reaper who led
them in prayer, but he was the vital, vital solar and planter,
the initial link that got people thinking about eternity and
started the chain moving. Other people and events
completed the process later on, but Mr. Jenna's story highlights
the that every act of faith and kindness and sharing the
Christian message, no matter how small or unrewarded it seems at
the time, can be a crucial link to someone's part of faith in
Jesus Christ. And if I look and a lot of you
out here will know those lengths, I know for me there was
a guy at school called Phillip Rigby.
He made some feeble attempts trying to share Jesus with me.
It wouldn't be until I was 19, so that would have happened when
I was 18, a year later, that I'd come to faith.
But I know Philip was praying for me.
You tried. The Lord will honour any attempt
to do anything you do in His service, even if you fumble your
way through it. Right.
We nearly there people. That's turned our attention to
the final versions of our passage today versus 42 to 44.
Jesus had spent the previous day healing many people and the
crowds were keen for more. However, he withdraw early in
the morning to a solitary place. This shows Jesus prioritising
his relationship with God over the demands of ministry.
If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to prioritise his time alone
with his Father for prayer and renewal daily, how much more do
we? We must try to avoid the
constant noise and business of life to spend under interrupted
quality time with God. It's not that God needs it.
You need it reading His Word, listening term, being
spiritually refreshed, and learning to discern His will for
the day. In verse 43, when the crowds
find him and beg Him to stay, Jesus firmly states I must
preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to other towns
also. That's why I was sent Jesus.
The central mission is the proclamation of the Kingdom of
God, healing and exorcism. Exoticisms were important, but
they confirmed Jesus's message. They were not his core mission
and 1st 44 Jesus immediately immediately acts on his mission
and travels preaching and other synagogues throughout Judea.
This emphasises the largest scale of his ministry beyond a
single city Oregon region. So what can we learn from these
verses? There are two points I want to
highlight. Jesus had one machine, one
focus, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God.
We must also clearly identify our primary God-given mission
and ensure that we're not distracted by secondary, though
sometimes good, activities. And finally, Jesus refused to be
distracted from his mission by local popularity.
His mission was always meant to be expanding outwards to other
towns, to other cities, to people that hadn't heard the
gospel. The challenge for us as
believers and the church is to maintain an outward looking
perspective, sharing the gospel, moving beyond our comfort zones,
beyond our local communities. Reach out to those who have not
yet heard the message. Let me close in prayer, Father
God. There's a lot in here in this
passage. We thank you that you are
sovereign. You know all things.
You have plans for each person in this room.
You are all powerful. You always are higher than
always, your thoughts higher than ours.
Your power, your authority, your love, your compassion, Your
holiness. You're messy beyond compare.
We thank you for your word this morning.
We thank you for the work of the Holy Spirit and our lives.
Jesus, we thank you for dying in our place, a death we deserved.
We deserve to have the full wrath of God on us, but out of
Your mercy, Your love, and Your grace, You came to earth and
became one of us. Help us, Lord, as we wrestle
with temptation, keep our eyes fixed on You, not on the world,
not on our own interests, not might we see you as you truly
are. Lord, Sometimes we don't spend
the time in the world we need to to come to know who you really
are. Help us to prioritise time with
You and to look to serve others. It's individual people as you
did, ask these things in Jesus name.