FBC Sunday Evening Service

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Evening Fellowship Service

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All right. Good evening. This is a wonderful night to be out, isn't it? I'm glad you braved the elements and came out.
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We were just about to leave and all of a sudden the power went out, then it came back on, and then it went out, then it came back on.
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So we were playing Russian roulette with the electricity, and I said, well, we better hurry up and get over to the church because if it goes out here, then somebody needs to tell you all to go home.
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So the lights are on, so here we are. Glad to be in the house of the Lord tonight. We have a candlelight service,
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Jim says. Yes, yes. Okay. Let's turn to number 112 in our hymnals to start tonight.
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God leads us along, sometimes in shady green pastures, sometimes in the valley in the darkest of night.
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Let's stand together as we sing, shall we? In shady green pastures so rich and so sweet,
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God leads His dear children along. Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet,
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God leads His dear children along. Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood.
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Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long.
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Sometimes on a mount where the sun shines so bright, God leads
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His dear children along. Sometimes in a valley in the darkest of night,
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God leads His dear children along. Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood.
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Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long.
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Though sorrows befall us and Satan oppose,
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God leads His dear children along. Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
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God leads His dear children along. Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood.
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Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long.
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Let's open in prayer, shall we? Jim, please lead us in prayer. Amen, thank you.
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Be seated. And if you would, turn to the 29th Psalm tonight.
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Psalm 29. I want to read the psalm together, and tonight's message is going to be from Mark 4 and 5, and focusing on the authority of Jesus and His authority as king over several different realms.
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And this psalm is praising God for His majesty, for His strength, for His power, for His authority.
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And we'll see some of those areas where He expresses that power, that authority by way of His voice in this psalm.
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So we'll read it together and then sing from that red songbook, the Psalter. So Psalm 29.
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Give unto the Lord, you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the
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Lord the glory, do His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the
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Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters.
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The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the
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Lord breaks the cedars. Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf.
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Lebanon and Syrian like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.
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The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the
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Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare. And in His temple everyone says, glory.
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The Lord sat enthroned at the flood. The Lord sits as king forever. The Lord will give strength to His people.
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The Lord will bless His people with peace. The Lord add His blessing to the reading of that psalm.
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And let's turn in that Psalter, the red book there on your pew, number 60. Number 60.
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It's entitled, O Give to Jehovah. And this tune
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I'm quite sure you have heard before, okay? I did sight read it, but I did recognize it.
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Even in my own sight reading. So let's see how good my sight reading is, okay? Let's sing this together, O Give to Jehovah.
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O give to Jehovah you sons of the mighty.
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O give to Jehovah the glory and power.
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O give to Jehovah the honor and glory in beauty, holiness, kneel and adore.
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The voice of Jehovah comes down on the waters in thunder the
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God of all glory draws nigh. And over the waves of the wide flowing waters
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Jehovah as king is majestic on high.
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The voice of Jehovah is mighty is mighty.
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The voice of Jehovah in majesty speaks.
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The voice of Jehovah the cedars is breaking.
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Jehovah the cedars of Lebanon breaks.
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All life in his temple his glory proclaiming.
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God sits on the flood, he is king on his throne.
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Jehovah gives strength to his own chosen people.
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Jehovah with peace ever blesses his own.
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With peace ever blesses his own. Alright, good. That almost makes you want to sing come ye thankful people come or something, doesn't it?
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Oh, and then in your hymnals, one other song before we have some time of testimony.
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115. We're singing about the authority of our king and this chorus song speaks of the authority of his name.
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There is a rest in every wall.
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There is a refuge from the fall. There is a peace this world can't know.
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It's in his name. There is a glow in darkest night.
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A dawn of hope, a guiding light. There is a help in helpless plight.
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It's in his name. It's in his name.
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His name is wonderful counselor, mighty
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God. His name is Jesus and he's ever the same.
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There is a calm when fear assails. There is a power all nature hails.
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There is a love that never fails. It's in his name.
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It's in his name. And praise that wonderful, matchless, powerful name.
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Alright, so some testimonies tonight. Let me first of all make an announcement or two. Lynn asked me to mention that we are wanting to continue doing a meal or two a week for the
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NAPs for Bob and Jodi. And if you can help with that, please let her know. We'll get a schedule going so this will be maybe a once a month thing maybe.
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I'm not sure how often, how long you want to continue that, but at least for now, if you can help out a meal for Bob and Jodi, let
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Lynn know and we'll work that out. I do want to say thanks so much for that surprise lunch today.
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That was a wonderful treat and Chris and I really appreciated that and several gave some cards as well and most appreciated gestures of thanksgiving.
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Honestly, I'm a bit humbled by that because I know some of my pastor colleagues who go through this month like it's any other month and nothing is said, no expressions of appreciation and it's not that it has to be or it's expected to be, but when you folks, the church is so good about remembering that and expressing gratitude,
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I feel for my friends and colleagues who just go week after week and they hear nothing.
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In fact, it's kind of ironic one pastor friend I know in his church tonight they're having a knock down drag out thing, one of those kind of Baptist business meeting things that is awful.
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Honestly, his position is at stake and he's been in his church for 27 years, been there for 27 years and a couple of people stirred some things up and created some problems.
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I think about that in contrast and what a tragedy it is and the thing that's being stirred is so unnecessary, so needless.
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We might just pray for that as a nameless thing.
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I won't give you any names or anything like that, but just pray for that situation. In fact, they're probably, hopefully they're about done with that thing because it's an hour time difference.
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Any other words of testimony tonight? Words of praise, of thanksgiving to the Lord or some other way the
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Lord has worked in your life and taught you, challenged you in the last seven days?
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Anybody at all? Good to have this couple with us, the Pilchers. They're from Texas. They're here for a funeral.
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Had a friend of theirs, acquaintance, a missionary to Japan that had just recently passed away and so they were here for his funeral.
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We sorrow with you and that family tonight and trust God will give you a journey of mercies when you head back to Texas, seeming to be the promised land to many people these days,
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I don't know. Anyway, we're glad you came tonight. Yes, Dan. Thankful for our
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God's holiness and His justice, but His mercy and His loving kindness.
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Yes, Dan. Praise the
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Lord. Good. Yes, Jim. Isn't that a wonderful passage to shatter stereotypes too?
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Because, I mean, what is the stereotype? Men are rational, women are emotional, right?
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How many times have you heard that? Men are rational, women are emotional. And in that instance it's just totally flipped.
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You know, Manoah is responding emotionally to this thing and she says, calm down, calm down.
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Think logically, think reasonably. Yes, Mike. Yes, that's fine.
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If you're out of line, we'll call you down. If you're out of line, we'll be very gracious and speak to you afterwards.
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Go ahead, brother. Amen. Yes, indeed.
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Good. Yes, Erin. Congratulations again, and at least you didn't have to sweep the floor.
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There's a story behind that. I think I shared that with you. Yes, Chris.
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She got saved when she was four. Amen. Thank the
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Lord. Good. Anybody else? Alright, good.
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Let's take our hymnals then again and turn to 462. 462.
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We'll stand as we sing, shall we? Oh, save to the rock that is higher than I, my soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly, so sinful so weak may be.
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Thou blest rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.
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Hiding in thee. Hiding in thee.
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Thou blest rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.
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In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour, in times when temptation casts o 'er me its power, in the tempest of life on its wide heaving sea.
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Thou blest rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.
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Hiding in thee. Hiding in thee.
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Thou blest rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.
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How often the conflict when pressed by the foe
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I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my woe.
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How often when trials like sea billows roll, hidden in thee, lo thou rock of my soul.
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Hiding in thee. Hiding in thee.
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Thou blest rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.
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You may be seated. Let's turn in our Bibles to Mark chapter 4 and we want to cover a very lengthy section of Mark's gospel tonight from chapter 4 verse 35 all the way through chapter 5 which is 43 verses of chapter 5 and because of that length we'll not read all of that but what's going on in this section is four different accounts or four different illustrations of Jesus exercising
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His authority so we'll look at those, we'll kind of work through those in a different unique sort of way
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I think tonight so let's have a brief word of prayer. So our Father I pray that as we look at these expressions of the authority of our
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King that we would bow before Him and surrender to His authority, respond to it in ways that are appropriate.
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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well if you think about different Kings and you were to describe what you know about them what would come to your mind?
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So for example you think of King Louis the 14th of France, what comes to mind?
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You might think about extravagance and I mean think Versailles, the palace of Versailles if you've seen the interior of that palace you think why in the world would anyone want to live in such a place?
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It's so gaudy, you know that kind of thing. Well that's King Louis. How about King Tut?
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When you think of King Tut what do you think about? You think about a pyramid mummies, you think about gold all over the place after he's died that hopefully he can spend lavishly in the afterlife?
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King Tut. King Henry the 8th, what comes to mind when you think of King Henry the 8th?
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I shouldn't admit it but it reminds me of an old probably Jim's laughing, an old 60's song.
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Henry the 8th I am I am Henry the 8th I am and he had however many wives but of course he's most noted for I think, well he's most noted to me for being angry with the
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Roman Catholic Church because they would not annul his marriage and he wanted his marriage annulled because he kept trying to have kids and his wife couldn't have kids, she was barren so he wanted to have that marriage annulled and they wouldn't do it so he said okay if you're not going to do it then
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I'm going to start a church of my own and he started the Church of England. Well that's, and we can go on and on through the different kings of history but when we think about King Jesus, what comes to mind?
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What would you focus on? Well when we come to this passage tonight one thing that stands out, there are a lot of things that might come to our minds but one of the things that stands out very clearly in this section of Mark's Gospel is his authority.
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It's his authority and he shows his authority in this passage over four different areas.
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He shows his authority in the natural realm in the supernatural realm and in the physical realm in a couple of different ways.
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So I want us to first of all notice that those who appeal to him, they already have a recognition of his authority.
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In other words his authority is apparent. It's apparent. It's obvious to others before he performs the miracles.
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Four different miracles in these passages. So in chapter 4 verse 38 his authority is apparent to his disciples.
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His disciples are with him on a boat in the middle of the sea and they are there because Jesus exercised his authority and told him let's get in a boat and go to the other side of the sea.
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And they get in a boat and they are heading across the sea and a great windstorm comes up.
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We read in verse 37 the waves beat into the boat. It was already filling with water. And in verse 38
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Jesus was in the stern of the boat asleep on a pillow and it says they awoke him and said to him,
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Teacher do you not care that we are perishing? Now why did they go to him? What prompted them to go to him and wake him up in the first place?
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It's because they recognized, they had some awareness of his authority as if certainly you've got to be able to do something about this.
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Now they had no idea what he was going to do or what he was capable of doing but they knew that he could do something.
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But clearly in verse 41 they weren't aware of the extent of his power because when he caused the seed of the stilled they said who in the world is this that even the wind and the sea obey him.
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So the disciples were aware of his power. In the next section in chapter 5
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Jesus encounters this demoniac who likewise knew of Jesus' authority.
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He knew his position at least. In verses 6 and 7 when this demoniac saw
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Jesus from afar he ran and worshipped him and he cried out with a loud voice and said what have
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I to do with you Jesus son of the most high God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me.
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So he knew Jesus position. He knew that he was the son of God.
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Here's a demon possessed man who knows more than a lot of people who have been listening to him in all of his teaching and didn't recognize him as the son of God.
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But he did, the demoniac did and he also knew his power. He knew that the end of verse 7 indicates that he knew that Jesus had the power to torment him, to do something to make his existence as a demon and possessing a human being miserable.
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So the demoniac was aware of Jesus' authority. And further on in chapter 5
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Jesus is encountered by the ruler of a synagogue to come and deal with his sick and dying daughter.
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And we'll talk about him in a minute, but before that before we do look at him, as Jesus is going to deal with this ruler's ailing daughter, he's interrupted by this woman who has had some kind of a malady for 12 years, an issue of blood the
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Bible tells us. I don't know the specifics of it, but it's something that she couldn't do anything about, the physicians couldn't do anything about but she, in verses 27 and 28, heard of his reputation.
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So it says, when she heard about Jesus she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
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Why did she do that? She heard of his reputation and she was convinced that he had the ability to do something about her malady.
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She said in verse 28 if only I may touch his clothes I shall be made well.
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So his authority was apparent to her also. Well then you back up a couple of verses to this ruler in verses 22 and 23.
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He is an interesting individual because as a ruler of the synagogue that means he was very committed to Judaism and would have been respected by those in the synagogue and his colleagues in the synagogue.
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He was a ruler of the synagogue. But verse 22 tells us that this ruler of the synagogue came,
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Jairus by name and when he saw Jesus he fell at his feet and begged him earnestly saying, my little daughter lies at the point of death, come lay your hands on her as she may be healed and she will live.
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Most of the rulers of the synagogues, most of those who were Pharisees and in positions of responsibility and authority, they at least had a hands off approach, an arm's length approach to Jesus and most were even more adamant in their rejection of him.
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But this ruler of the synagogue rejected the ideas of his colleagues and instead accepted this record of Jesus and what he has been able to do.
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He's understanding that Jesus can do something for his daughter that nobody else can do.
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So his authority in these four occasions is apparent. There are people who recognize to some extent the authority of Jesus.
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His authority is apparent. But then secondly I want us to notice in these four different situations that his authority is potent.
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That is, it's effectively, it's used effectively. Not without challenge though.
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Not without challenge. Notice how his power is challenged. It's challenged and we could just generally speak of these four different instances as the storms of life.
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The storms of life and the storms of life challenge the authority of Jesus.
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So in the end of chapter four as the disciples are with Jesus in his boat out on a storm tossed sea, a storm of nature would challenge to overthrow peace.
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These disciples are filled with fear and anxiety.
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They're tormented over this storm. It's a storm of nature and that storm of nature challenges
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Jesus' authority in its effort to overthrow the peace of his disciples.
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Then there's a storm of demonism as the demoniac is controlled by and possessed by these demons.
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The storm of demonism would seek to overthrow the soul. This is challenging the authority of Jesus.
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Will he be able to deal with that storm? Then there's a storm of illness on the part of this woman who's been afflicted for a dozen years.
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Would Jesus be able to deal with this storm that would overthrow her health and has overthrown her health for these dozen years?
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In the dozen years of her sickness Jairus has enjoyed the life of his daughter.
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She has been the apple of his eye. She's been a blessing to his home and his family.
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But now a storm has afflicted his household and it's a storm of death that is threatening the very life of this precious 12 -year -old daughter.
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The storms of life challenge his authority but so does the utter inability of the human beings involved in each of these cases.
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Here are these disciples who are totally powerless to do anything about their storm that they are going through and their fear threatens the authority of Jesus.
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Their fear. In verse 38 Jesus is asleep in the stern and they come full of fear saying, teacher do you not care that we are perishing?
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Notice how their fear has provoked within them a measure of distrust.
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Can He calm us? Do you not care that we are perishing?
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Can He calm our fear? And then in chapter 5 verse 5 there is the control of man that is challenging his authority.
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This man, this human being this man is controlled by these demons and night and day this man is in the mountains and in the tombs he's crying out and cutting himself with stones.
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Can Jesus do anything about that which nobody else could do for this man?
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They couldn't even control him. They could try to put him in chains. They could try to tie him down and keep him from hurting himself or other people.
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But they were all ineffective. All the efforts of man were ineffective. He'd break the chains and he'd lash out again.
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In verses 25 and 26 this woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years, verse 26 said she suffered many things from many physicians.
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Isn't that interesting? Doctors don't have all the answers. They may actually cause more problems.
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She suffered many things from many physicians. Kind of reminds me of I just finished the biography of Samuel Davies.
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It was a long time getting through it. It wasn't a long book. It was just reading a few pages at a time.
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But Samuel Davies got really sick. He lived back in the late 1700s.
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He succeeded Jonathan Edwards as the president of Princeton College, the College of New Jersey.
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That was a long time ago. But he got really sick. One of the ways to deal with his sickness was what they called bloodletting.
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Many of you are familiar with that. The doctors figured the sickness is in the blood so what we have to do is take blood out of his body.
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Eventually they found out that's not a good idea. He needs his blood.
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The life of the flesh is in the blood. Anyway, so here's this poor woman who can't find help from anybody.
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Even the physicians can't help her. Could Jesus heal her?
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Nobody else can. And then there is the destruction of this little girl that's threatening
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Jesus' authority. Could he do something to avert her death? That's the question at hand, isn't it?
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So human inability challenges his authority and the reactions of different individuals in these four stories also challenge his authority.
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So in chapter 4, verse 40, some simply don't trust him.
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Jesus brings this out when he asks the question, why are you so full of fear?
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Don't you have any faith? Don't you have any faith? How is it that you have no faith? We might be a little nonplussed by that.
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Isn't this kind of understandable? The storm is raging. The water is filling the boat.
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Jesus is asleep. Wouldn't we be afraid? Shouldn't we be afraid? The thing of it is they come to Jesus and what they ask of him is really kind of an affront.
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Don't you care that we are perishing? We're going to get into that in just a moment. But they're exhibiting a lack of faith because, after all, if Jesus is who they have claimed to believe that he is, is it realistic to think that he's going to be drowned in this sea?
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Is it possible that the Son of God, that the Messiah, who has come to save his people, is going to be drowned by waves in the sea?
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Where is their faith? Jesus challenges them with their lack of trust.
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His authority is challenged by some who don't trust him. His authority is challenged by some who simply do not want his influence.
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Chapter 5, verse 17, after Jesus heals this demoniac and he's sane, he's in his right mind, what he did was he caused the demons who were within him to depart and inhabit a bunch of pigs on a hill and they run down the hill and run into the sea and these pigs all die.
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Word gets out to the townspeople in verses 15 and 16 that what had happened to him and they came to Jesus, verse 15, they saw the demon -possessed man, he was sitting in his right mind and they were afraid and those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon -possessed and about the swine.
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So how did some respond? Verse 17, they began to plead with him to depart out of their region.
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Get away from here, we don't want you around. So one of the ways Jesus' authority is challenged is the reaction of man that says we don't want you around, we don't want your influence.
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We're seeing a lot of that in our day, in our culture, aren't we? We don't want the influence of Jesus and his crowd.
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And some challenge his authority by questioning his demands. So look at verse 31.
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So this woman comes up behind Jesus and she touches the hem of his garment and she's made well.
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The power of Jesus causes this woman to be healed. And Jesus stops.
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He's on his way to the home of this ruler of the synagogue to deal with his daughter and this power goes out of Jesus, he heals this woman with the issue of blood and he stops the crowd from moving forward toward Jairus' house.
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And he says in verse 31 or verse 30, he says, who touched my clothes?
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Who touched my clothes? Now remember who's asking this question.
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The reaction of the disciples in verse 31, it indicates a challenge to his authority.
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If you recognize who Jesus is, he's the King of kings, he's the
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Lord of lords, he is the Messiah, he is the anointed one of God. Doesn't he have the authority to ask the question, who touched my clothes?
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But what do they say? You see the multitude thronging around you, how in the world can you ask the question, who touched me?
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Why would you ask such a question? It is the sense of their questioning of him. They question his demands.
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And some challenge his authority by scorning his claims. So Jesus arrives at the home of Jairus and he's told,
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Jairus has been told that your daughter is dead. Verse 39, though, Jesus came and said to them, why do you make this commotion and weep?
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The child is not dead but asleep. Verse 40, because of the authority of Jesus, everyone said, oh okay, let's see what happens next, right?
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No. Verse 40, they ridiculed him. They ridiculed him.
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So some challenge his authority by scorning his claims. She is asleep? What do you mean she's asleep?
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She's not asleep, she's dead as a doornail. And they ridicule him and make fun of him.
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So the reactions of people, of man, challenge the authority of Jesus the
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King. But nevertheless, his power is effective. He speaks to the sea and it is calm.
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A woman simply touches the hem of a garment and she is, she who has been utterly hopeless is now filled with hope.
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She knows she's been healed. The one who has been in bondage to a legion of demons is by his power delivered and delivered completely.
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And of course, he speaks to the little girl and tells her to arise.
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She gets up off the bed. He brings life out of death.
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His power is effective. And the reason
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I wanted to bring these four different stories or accounts of his exercising of his authority together is to emphasize the fact that his power, his authority, is universal.
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It's universal. These various situations in different arenas of life all illustrate that there is nothing too hard for the
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Lord. In the material world, in the natural world of oceans and seas, there's nothing too hard for the
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Lord. In the spiritual realm of the demoniac, there's nothing too hard for the
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Lord. In the physical realm of a physical malady, there's nothing too hard for the
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Lord. Even in the realm of death, there's nothing too hard for the Lord. His authority and his power is universal.
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But then I also want you to notice how his authority is timely. It's timely.
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He exercises his authority at a desperation point. So, you know,
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Jesus, the God -man, when he put his disciples on that boat, he said, let's go on to the other side.
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You think he didn't know it was coming? He didn't know that there was a storm rising? Well, I would suggest he did.
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And do you think that it was just a coincidence that he's sound asleep there on the back of the boat, in the stern of the boat, while the storm is raging, water is pouring in?
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Do you wonder how in the world he could sleep like that in that kind of a situation? I mean, have any of you been on a boat in a small craft in a storm that's being tossed and turned?
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You are probably at the rail. I mean, I don't know. I probably would be. You know what
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I'm talking about. Jesus is sound asleep. How could he sleep? Because he was waiting for the right time to exercise his authority.
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He could have gotten up from his nap as soon as the storm started to pick up and the waves started to jostle a little bit.
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He could have said, come on, calm down, waves, stop all this, stop wind, and everything had been calm.
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But no, he wanted to bring this situation to the desperation point.
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And that's where it is. It's at the desperation point where the disciples come in desperation to him and say, can't you do something about this?
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Will you do something about this? Don't you care that we're going to die here? He waits to the just the right time.
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He works at the right time in relationship to the demoniac where the control of the demons over this demoniac is total and there is no one else who could help.
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Desperation point for this poor woman ravaged by this disease of some kind for a dozen years.
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She's tried everything and has just absolutely no hope whatsoever that anybody can do anything to help her condition.
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Except maybe Jesus. For her all hope was gone and Jesus was the last resort.
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Desperation point. And then, of course, do you see in this situation with Jairus' daughter, 12 -year -old daughter, a parallel to Lazarus?
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Lazarus is sick. Okay. Let's take it easy for a couple more days until he dies and then we'll go.
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Why? Desperation point. Desperation point. Jesus wants to exercise his authority at just the right time.
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He always works at the right time. Jesus' timing is always perfect.
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When the life left, the last breath left this little girl, help was absolutely impossible.
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Nobody could do anything except for Jesus. Desperation point.
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His authority is timely and his authority is relevant.
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It's relevant. He was in the back of the boat, sound asleep, just waiting for the call from his disciples.
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Waiting for the call. I wonder how many times
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Jesus, our King, our Lord, our Master, waits for our call.
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He lets us get to a point of absolute despair and desperation because we've been trying to manage things and handle things on our own and not even including him, not even giving him a nod.
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He says, okay. Okay. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. And then finally, there's this desperation point and we call.
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His authority is relevant. He waits for our call. His authority is relevant in that he will help as he did with his demoniac.
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His demoniac is in bondage to something that he can't control. And I believe that the
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Lord in his authority will help overthrow some involuntary habits, some things that we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by just through habitual practice.
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And before you know it, it's an addiction or it's something that we can't break out of. Jesus has the authority to deal with those things and overthrow those things.
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Sometimes Jesus is waiting. He's waiting for us to finish doing all that we can invest in the situation.
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So like the woman who has exhausted the store of our resources to use the hymn.
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When we have exhausted the store of our resources, he giveth and giveth and giveth again.
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He gives more grace. And I think Jesus' authority is relevant, we see in this passage, in overcoming these hopeless circumstances.
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Here is the hopeless, absolute utter hopelessness of death.
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What can be done about it? He can give life. And when a person comes to that place in their spiritual understanding, when
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God in his grace opens their eyes to see that they are dead in trespasses and sins, and there is absolutely nothing that they can do to deal with their own spiritual death, they have to turn to the only one who can give them life.
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Give them eternal life. That is Jesus. And his authority is very relevant at that moment of repentance.
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His authority is relevant. And then I would have you notice his authority is productive. It's productive.
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It brings about results. It brings about results. And not all those results we would look at as being positive.
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What was the result of casting the demons into a bunch of pigs that went down a hill and drowned in the sea?
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What was the result? One of the results was a whole bunch of people said, get out of here.
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We don't want you around. One of the reactions to results of Jesus expressing his authority is the rejection of his authority.
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Again, as I said earlier, I think we see a lot of that expressed in our culture.
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Ever since we have officially, as a nation, started on this trajectory of getting
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God out of different aspects of life. We can't any longer have
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Bible reading in public schools. We can't have teachers praying in public schools.
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I recall, I don't know how they did it, because this was in 1968 or 9, the principal when
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I was in 4th, 5th grade, every morning we had the same thing.
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We'd say the Pledge of Allegiance to the wall and to the flag and then the principal,
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Principal Ford, would lead us in praying the Lord's Prayer. This is a public school.
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Not anymore. Not in your life. And even coaches of ball teams and stuff are getting, are being prohibited from praying with their teams before or after games.
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They can't do that. They can't lead their teams in prayer. And that's just one little thing. When we started down that road, we started going down that path of getting
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God out of the different facets of life, there's no stopping it.
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Now, we don't want God and Christ mentioned in anything.
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You talk about cancel culture. His authority is rejected.
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That's one of the results of the exercising of his authority. Preachers stand up and proclaim authoritatively, thus saith the
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Lord. Jesus authoritatively claims, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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No man comes to the Father but by me. You say that in the public square and you're threatened with canceling, cancellation.
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Why? His authority is rejected. That's one of the results. But another result of his authority is astonishment.
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Astonishment. In chapter 5, verse 20, it says,
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Jesus departed and began to, he, that is the demoniac after he was healed, departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled.
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So one of the results of Jesus' productive exercising of his authority is that people responded with astonishment.
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They marveled. See that also in verse 42. Immediately the girl arose and walked after she had been dead.
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She was 12 years of age and they were overcome with great amazement.
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People were amazed. His authority is productive. Another result of the exercising of his authority is obedience.
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When Jesus exercises his authority, one of the results is obedience. He speaks to the wind and it stops.
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He tells the wind and the sea to be still and to be calm. And those natural elements immediately obeyed his voice.
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He spoke to the demon, the legion of demons and said be gone. And they left.
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Obediently departed out of the man and were cast into the pigs.
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By his authority he allowed his power to go out of him when the woman touched the hem of his garment and the disease departed.
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He spoke to this dead little girl and told her get up, arise.
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And she obeyed. She immediately arose. His authority is productive.
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And the result of that exercising of his authority, another result of it is worship.
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Worship. You notice in chapter 4 verse 41 when the great calm came upon the sea, verse 41 says they feared exceedingly and said to one another, who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?
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An expression of reverence of this king who has just exercised his authority.
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You see the same kind of thing in chapter 5 verse 33. The woman, after Jesus said who touched me, the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
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She fell down before him expressing reverence before the one who had healed her.
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Worship. And worship not only of reverence but of gratitude. Of gratitude expressed in verse 18 of chapter 5 by this demoniac who when he
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Jesus got into the boat, the healed man, the man who is now restored and in his right mind and the demons cast out, he came to Jesus and begged that he might be with him.
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Is this not an expression of gratitude on the part of one who had been such a helpless and hopeless situation?
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Same with verse 33 I think is an expression of gratitude. She comes and she falls down before him and tells him the whole truth.
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But another expression of worship is seen in verse 20, again on the part of this healed demoniac.
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As he witnesses of Jesus, tells of Jesus, he departed and began to proclaim all that Jesus had done for him.
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An expression of worship. We express worship to our
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King, our Savior when we speak of what he has done in our salvation, in our sanctification, in the work of our lives, in the changing of things in our lives, in the expression of his authority, exercising of his authority in our lives.
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We witness to it and that's a worshiping of him. So how are you handling of the authority of the
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King? So in each of these four accounts there are doubters and there are believers.
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There are those who reject his authority and there are those who are counting on it. To the best of my knowledge everyone in this room would profess to be a believer in Christ, a follower of Jesus, in our heads acknowledging his authority, but are we counting on it?
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Are we trusting in it? It is as the hymn writer says, and we're going to sing in a moment, it is so sweet to trust in Jesus.
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So let's pray together and sing. Our Father and our God, we thank you tonight for these different vignettes of the exercising of our
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King's authority and I pray that from these we would be emboldened and encouraged to trust him all the more.
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We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So number 410 is that song we want to close with, "'Tis
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So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." 410 in our hymnals and let's stand together as we sing, shall we?
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"'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise, just to know, thus saith the
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Lord, Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how
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I Jesus, Jesus, precious
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Jesus, for grace to trust him more."
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And the last, "'I'm so glad I learned to trust him,
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Jesus, Savior, friend, and I know that he is with me, with me to the end,
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Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him o 'er and o 'er,
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Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, for grace to trust him more."
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Grant us that grace, O Lord, we pray. Dismiss us tonight with your blessing and I pray that you would be gracious to us through this week that we might grow day by day in our trust in our
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King, our Lord, our Savior, Jesus. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.