The Gospel of Mark: Six Characteristics of Christlike Ministry Mark 1:35-45

You [Music] e hell place I just [Music] don't you up some l [Music] ready yeah well good morning church good morning hey it's good seeing each and every single one of you here at First Baptist Church Church of camton my name is Cody I'm the pastor here it's good seeing you this morning we are all about loving God loving each other and loving loving our community and our world amen hey I want to take a moment and just introduce to you Cindy Warren she's typically locked away over in Kids Quest most Sundays but today we she has come down here because she has a very important announcement and if y'all would just welcome Miss Cindy Warren to the platform [Applause] team can you hear it's green is that good enough okay all right all right all right and I was thinking on week I thought I do not want to talk to you and say exactly the same thing that we have in our little bulletin announcement and so I was saying God I don't know what to say I honestly don't know what to say and a couple of days ago he said tell them about Hagi and the Israelites and I thought yeah because that's what we've been studying for the last month are the Israelites and I'm going to share with you a little bit

About Hagi and the Israelites and as you know in our Old Testament that the Israelites disobey God over and over and over again and Jeremiah told them that okay you guys cannot obey God is saying I'm going to put you in captivity for 70 years and the Babylonians took the Israelites and put him in captivity for 70 years and in the meantime the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem Jerusalem was destroyed there was nothing and so 70 years went by and God used King Cyrus to release the Israelites to go back to their home in Jerusalem and it says that 50,000 Israelites went but it were everyone whose heart God had moved it says that in the Bible so God had directed those people to go back to Jerusalem and also King Cyrus sent with them gold and silver and all the items that had been taken from the temple that still existed as well as goods and livestock and Free Will offerings so God had directed King Cyrus to do that so they had what they needed to rebuild the Temple and so when they reached to Jerusalem they built an altar which I think is really cool and my kids I every week we go what did they do and they go well they built an altar to remember what God had done for them he had kept his promise and so then they also started to rebuild the foundation and when they finished rebuilding the foundation they gave a great shout some were in tears some were in joy and they said that it was U heard all very far away and I'm trying to imagine us giving a great shout when we finish project that God gave us to do with a great shout that people could hear all the way to Lebanon or all the way to Sunrise Beach that would be amazing wouldn't it but you know what there was so much opposition and even during the foundation building and I was telling the kids I said I can't imagine

What they were living in as they were building the foundation because other people had moved into Jerusalem I mean it was free land for anybody that needed it so they had come back in and they had built and they had occupied so when the Israelites came back these people were going hey we don't want you here you know we took over and you guys are kind of Rebel rousers anyway so U there was a lot of opposition and I know that the Israelites meant that opposition but it came to a point that after they found the or built the foundation the Israelites you know were so excited but the opposition sent word to the now king of Persia who was exes and AR xeres I'm not pronouncing those right so forgive me and so he they said stop don't work and the Israelites were looking at their own homes and they were looking at where they were living and they thought hey we need to work on our own houses we need a nice place to live you know they don't want us to build the temple so we're not going to do that and we're going to build our own houses so for 15 years that Temple remained in the found just the foundation or even maybe worse and so they turned to their own priorities and worked on their own house but God sent Hagi to the Israelites to Jerusalem and said hey put me first take care of my house and that's a paraphrasing that's not from the Scripture but and it's so the essence of this that God was telling me we need to take care of God's house so we're having a special offering in two weeks to allow the purchase of an HVAC unit we're asking that this offering be above and beyond your ties and offerings because God's house also has bills to pay we're paying Insurance the God's house has to pay salaries has to pay electricity as well as all the different Ministries we do within the church aana Vacation Bible School youth

Min Ministries missions activities so many other things that this church is involved in so in considering your offering and this is what is very important probably the most important is to pray about it to pray what God puts in your heart give because he will press on your heart what you need to give and I can't tell you how many times when we've been faced with something that we needed to give Steve and I will both say to each other other this is what we need and it's the same amount it's just amazing what God tells us to do so God has provided us a beautiful building and he's done some amazing things in our church home of ours I've seen it is just amazing the steps the progress that we have made through the years but we do need to continue to take care of God's house thank you well I just have a couple of really quick announcements that I wanted to make sure we all knew today right after church is the youth parent meeting and potluck if you forgot food don't worry we have enough at least to tide us over until all the terrible Super Bowl food that we're going to eat later on so still come on grab a little something and we've got some good information for you and also I want to hear from you parents so this is this is just as much communication from you to me as it is for me to you secondly we need more volunteers for audio video teams specifically for Sunday mornings we're running low and Larry's up there pretty much every week he needs he won't say it but he needs a break so if you're at all interested in that you don't need to know anything about audio video we will train you will help you figure out what you need to do if you're interested at all talk to me or talk to Larry back there in the sound booth and we'll get you plugged

In thank you and we've got lots of different things that are going on in the life and Ministry of our church women on Mission they're taking donations for the Pregnancy Help Center so if you've got gently used baby clothes or toys or anything else that we need to get rid of we are unashamedly pro- lifee and amen all right hey we got a new members class that's coming up maybe you've been here and you're like hey I want to be a part of what's happening at First Baptist Church camton in two weeks on the 25th is a big Sunday we got a lot of stuff going on that's going to be a four-week class where we talk about our testimonies how you came to know Christ what we believe as a Baptist Church following the Baptist Faith Message and also about our history and where we're going what the mission and vision of our church is and so if you're at all interested in joining our church that's kind of a first step of course until you come up and get voted on by the church at the end of a service you don't officially become part of one and so anyways also we have a special called business meeting toot vot on PJ Garten as an elder here at FBC that'll take place before a monthly Q&A we have potluck at the end of the month and a question answer where we're going to be talking about Unity where we fielded a lot of those questions in January Elders have been talking praying through them developing answers and different things like that and so we're going to be talking about what is Unity how do we Define our terms does everyone need to think the same that was a really good one that we got to what degree do we need to agree that's a really good question and so we're going to be tackling some of those answers on the 25th as well as presenting PJ to

You guys as an elder now I don't know if you guys noticed this but over here in the old Fellowship Hall we had some we had some wonderful people that I've gotten to know that you guys are maybe familiar with it's the Gideon Ministry International and I'd like to introduce to you one of those representatives to our stage so if you would welcome him to First Baptist Church thank you thank you Pastor Cody we really appreciate the opportunity to come here today and to just tell you a little bit about what The Gideons are doing here in the state of Missouri and worldwide this morning with the short time that I have I'm just going to give you a few quick statistics if that's okay and then I'm going to tell you a story about something that happened to me as a Gideon so The Gideons International is actually an association of Christian business and men and their wives we are dedicated to telling people about the good news of Jesus Christ that is our mission The Gideons International was established in 1899 and began Mass distributions of God's holy word in 1908 today there are more than 270,000 Gideons and auxiliary in just over 200 count countries around the globe we print and distribute Bibles in over 100 different languages and while we are often recognized for our work that we do in placing Bibles in hotels that's probably what we're most known for we also place and distribute Bibles in strategic locations such as schools colleges police and fire stations hospitals jails and prisons and since 19 41 we have placed hundreds of thousands of copies of small pocket Testaments to the men and women in our armed forces being a Gideon has given me many opportunities to travel to other countries with The Gideons countries like El Salvador and the Dominican

Republic but today I want to share you with you a quick story about a trip I took to Guatemala now this was not a Gideon Le trip to Guatemala but my brother John Henderson is on the board of directors with a children's orphanage up in the mountains of Guatemala in a town called keich The Orphanage has been around for 14 years and every year my brother and his wife Karen travel there and they stay for a week helping out with the staff and cooking meals and just loving on all the children so last year in January they asked me if I'd like to go with them and I jumped the chance I'd never been there before so as we traveled on the airplane down to Guatemala and then again on a 4-Hour van ride up into the mountains from the capitol city I had a lot of time to hear some of the stories about the many different children that lived in this orphanage stories of physical and mental mental abuse abandonment and many of the children literally being forced to live on the street before coming to this orphanage you know growing up in a u loving American household family a Christian family I can't imagine living on the streets as a young youth in a country such as Guatemala but one small very small child was named Virginia and I got to meet Virginia but while we were in the van ride my brother was telling me the story about Virginia and Virginia was found in a trash can behind a restaurant and Virginia is not really her real name they don't know her real name and they didn't know her age because when they found her she couldn't speak it was determined later that Virginia had likely gone through quite a bit of abuse and Trauma and someone simply decided they did not want her anymore and they stuffed her and they

Locked her inside a trash can behind this restaurant and left her there to die quite honestly so the first day that I was there at the orphanage for whatever reason this little Virginia decided to latch on to me and follow me around all day and quite honestly she was a very sweet happy little girl of about eight years old and I was fine with that so she followed me around most of the time and that day that we arrived at the orphanage was a Sunday so they were having an evening service at the orphanage and they had asked my brother to speak so as we took our seats little Virginia came over and she wanted to sit right next to me and as I said that was fine with me and she at one point she even reached over and held my hand during the service so my brother John quickly after that got up and he went to the front of the classroom and he had a translator there that was helping him and translating through through in Spanish and you know I got a little emotional on full confession just sitting here outside of my comfort zone in a small orphanage up inside the mountains of Guatamala and after we were finished singing my brother John stood up at the front again and he said through a Spanish translator to the children children open your Bibles to the book of ma Matthew well I turned to look at this sweet little girl Virginia that's sitting right next to me because I wanted to make sure she had a Bible and as I looked at her she reached into her front pocket of her little dress and she pulled out a little blue Spanish Gideon Testament full confession that's where I lost it and I started to tear up and I'm trying to hold it together looking at this sweet little girl right next to me and all this time

She'd been sitting there holding a Gideon Bible in her little dress pocket and I just I just lost it I couldn't believe it and it caused me to realize that some local Gideons in Guatemala at some point had literally packed a bunch of Bibles into their truck and gone to this orphanage and delivered them to all the children and church I can't tell you how blessed that made me feel to be a part of this wonderful organization that's been around for so many years to look at this little girl and think that the Gideons had her taken care of you know I look at these things like this and it encourages me when I tell this story and I think church we must keep going no matter what that Ministry is for me The Gideons has meant everything I've been with them for 19 years now and I've had so many opportunities and I just thank thank you today Pastor Cody for allowing me the opportunity to come and share with you here today thank you so [Applause] much and after service if you guys get a chance to go and check out their Booth get some information about how you can you know get involved in it we said it was a few months ago when I was meeting you guys for the first time and we're just trying to work out schedules on when they could just present because most of us have you know it's just Distributing you know all these Bibles but it's more than that and so we just we want to we want to empower ministry that's what we're about here so speaking of which you guys are looking pretty good this morning and so why don't you just take a moment and tell someone near you that they're looking pretty good and welcome them to First Baptist Church 20 minutes I don't know who the Chiefs are

Again [Music] d man are [Music] well good morning church it's good to see you all here this morning it's a good thing to fellowship with the Saints to greet one another in the name of the Lord it's great to see you all here this morning I'd like to invite you now to join me in asking the Lord to prepare our hearts and our minds for worship this morning so I'd invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes if you're with family members or friends feel free to pray along with them and over them and just ask the Lord to prepare us for corporate worship today Lord we praise you this morning and we ask you to help us to praise you this morning God I pray that even though many of us are walking through various trials and struggles and hardships Lord you would remind us that the trials of this life are to prepare us to dwell with you to prepare us for the good work that you've laid out for us Lord I pray that you would remind us that you have called us out of the grave and into New Life in Jesus Christ if we believe God I pray that knowledge would overflow in us into Worship in spirit and in truth together today and even as we go from this place it's in Jesus name we pray amen I'd like to begin by reading to you from the book of First Peter the second chapter verses 9 and 10 say this but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light once you were

Not a people but now you are God's people once you had not received Mercy but now you have received Mercy I invite you to stand and join me as we [Music] sing I was bued beneath my shame who could carry that kind of weight it was my Tom till I met you I was breathing but not alive all my failures I tried to hide it was my true till I met you called my name you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness to your glorious day now your mercy has saved my soul now your freedom is all that I know the old made new Jesus when I made you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I out of that [Music] grave out of the dark into your glorious day I needed resue my sin was heavy but chains break at the weight of your glory I needed shelter I was an Oran now you call me a citizen of heaven when I was broken you are my healing now your love is the that I'm breathing I have a future My Eyes Are Open cuz when you call my name I ran out of that crve out of the

Darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your Glorious Day sing it again you called my name you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious [Music] day what an amazing reality that is that we were once dead in our trespasses but he has called us to New Life amen something to celebrate this morning this next song we're going to sing is our a new song for a lot of us it's our song of the month it's called Lord have mercy we did it for the first time last week for those of you in here who are musicians or perhaps those of you who come from a Catholic background you might recognize these words it's Lord have mercy Christ have mercy they're taken from an agent is old part of the mass which is the kir Elon which is literally those words over and over again Lord have mercy Christ have mercy and the reason we're singing it is because just like we have always needed in Christianity we still today need constant repentance it's part of our walk it's part of the Christian Life to ask the Lord to have mercy on us but of course we know the price has been paid amen the reality is true already yet he still desires of us a penitent [Music] heart for what we have done and left undone we fall on for countless mercies for sins that are known and those unknown we call on your name [Music]

So for envy and pride for closing our rise for scorning our very name [Music] in thought word anded we fa you are How Deeply we need our Savior Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us for what you have done your life of love you perfectly live we praise you though temped and tried you fixed your eyes you fin the work God gave you and there on the tree a shing among theves you bled for a World's betrayal you love to the end our mer merciful friend how pure and forever faithful Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have Mery Lord have mercy on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have Merc Mercy on [Music] for hearts that are cold for ceasing control for scorning our very maker in thought word and deed we fail you our King how deep we need us saor Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have

On us Lord have mer Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have Merc Christ Mercy Lord have [Music] mercy on us Lord have mercy Christ have Lord have mercy on us Lord have mercy Christ have Mercy Lord have mercy on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us you can be seated as our ushers come forward let's pray together Heavenly Father we thank you today for this opportunity to come here again gather together as brothers and sisters and we realize today that we know we owe an awful lot that we can't repay and we come in here this morning with just asking like the song says for your mercy and forgiveness and things that we should have done that we didn't do and things that we knew better and we did it anyway and U we ask that you be with us today as we take up this offering that we remember remember that you gave everything you had and we're giving back just a small portion of what you blessed us with in Jesus name Amen in the book of Lamentations we read in the third chapter the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases his mercies never come to

An end they are new every morning great is your faithfulness the Lord is my portion says my soul therefore I will hope in him [Music] as morning and day to you I bring my KN oh gracious God my source of strength in you I live and Brea each hour is yours by wisdom plan each Deed empow by Sovereign hands renew my spirit help me stand be glorified [Music] today [Music] as day unfold I seek your will in all of life demand and the temp Tes me still I cling to your let every eff of my life display the match worth of Christ make me a Living Sacrifice be glorified [Music] today as Sun gives way to Darkest Night your spirit still is here and though my strengthes like the light new mercies will I rest in you abide with me until our Tri and offering giveway to final Victory be glorified today I rest in you abide with me until our trial and suffering give way to final Victory be glorified

[Music] today we're going to close out this section of the service by singing from the 62nd Psalm my soul finds rest in God alone [Music] my soul finds rest in God alone my rock and my salvation a fortress strong against my and I will not be Shen though lips May bless and hearts May and lies like [Music] arrows I fix my heart on rightous I Look to Him who he Oh Praise Him Hallelujah might delight and my reward Everlasting never failing My Redeemer my [Music] God find rest my soul in God alone amid the world's tempt when evil seeks to take a hold I cl to my Sal riches come and riches go don't set your heart upon them the fields of Hope in which I s are harvested in heaven Oh Praise Him Hallelujah mighty in my reward Everlasting Never My Redeemer my [Music] God I'll set my Gaze on God alone and trust in him completely with every day pour out my soul and he will prove his Mercy though life is but a fleeing breath a to Brea to meure my King has crushed the curse of death and I am his [Applause] forever Oh Praise Him Hallelujah mighty delight and my reward

Everlasting never failing My Redeemer my God oh praise Him Oh Praise Him Hallelujah [Music] Hallelujah Oh Praise Him Oh Praise Him hallelujah hallelujah oh praise Him Oh Praise Him Hallelujah Mighty light and my reward Everlasting never failing My Redeemer my [Music] God Lord we ask that you would cause our hearts to praise you today and every day Lord that you would remind us of just how worthy you are that our King has crushed The Curse Of Death Lord let us rejoice in you always let your Praises be ever on our lips God help us to continue to worship as we hear from your word and then as we go from this place out into the world let us be your light it's in Jesus Jesus name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do turn with me to Mark chapter 1 we're going to be in verses 35- 45 and we were talking about Christlike Ministry because not all Ministry is Christlike we see in the book of Acts just as an example the seven sons of ska you know they're trying to attempt to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus Christ and that did not go very well for those folks did it later on after the Transfiguration we also read about the apostles that were unable to cast out an evil spirit but Jesus was able to he's taught them that only came out through the ministry of prayer and in most books of the New Testament even we read about the danger and the reality of false teachers in cultures and all of these are examples of so-called

Ministry but that Ministry was not in line with what the father's strategy is for you and for me as a church our Ministries by nature must be God-focused and God pleasing as their ultimate goal amen is that controversial I don't know amen it doesn't matter how unpopular it may be okay if it is pleasing to God likewise it doesn't M matter how popular it is if it's displeasing to God and so we're going to talk about some of those difficult things this morning I'm going to try to preach quick for you guys we're looking at six characteristics of Christlike Ministry today if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Mark chap 1: 35 to the end of the chapter God's word says this and Rising very early in the morning while it was still dark he departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed and Simon and those who were with him searched for him they found him and said to him everyone is looking for you and he said to them let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also for that is why I came out and he went throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons and a leper came to him imploring him and kneeling said to him if you will you can make me clean moved with pity he stretched out his hands and touched him and said to him I will be clean and immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean and Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once and said to him see that no see that you say nothing to anyone but go show yourself to the priest and offer offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them but he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town but was out in desolate places and people were coming to him from every quarter and so God we

Do thank you for your word this morning and I pray that we would we would be pierced by Your Word in the very depths of our soul God I pray for those that may be spiritual lepers here today I pray that they would understand the disease that racks their bodies but you oh Lord can make them clean with just a touch and I pray that today would be that day that happens but Lord also as we talk about Ministry and what that looks like Father help us as a local church body Lord we are accountable for what we do with the time that's given to us with the resources with the talents that you have gifted this church with Lord I pray that everything we do is pleasing to you God help me Lord because just in my own person in my own nature I have nothing worthwhile to say but Lord as you've dealt with my heart my soul this week I pray that you would grant me words from you God that would just minister to this congregation and move us to action and God glorifying people may we just seek to live and to honor you in Jesus name amen well Jesus's Healing Ministry in Peter's home goes extremely late to the night because people they came over from all over Capernaum to see Jesus heal and people they were bringing they're sick they're lame they're deaf they're mute diseased all of these people were coming to Peter's home and with simply a word and with a touch the Lord healed completely every person that came to him was touched and healed of whatever their illness was and after some sleep Christ he awakens early in the morning in the sky it's still so dark and he heads out into the well cultivated Farmland around that Village of Capernaum and what did Jesus do there well he spent time with his heavenly father and throughout the Gospels we see the Lord Jesus Christ withdrawing from

The crowds and going into places to be alone and spending intentional time in prayer and what's amazing to me is that this is the this is God Almighty this is the creator of Heaven and Earth and yet he still takes time to intentionally be with the father he you know the Apostle Paul he teaches us to pray without ceasing right and many of us I know that we treat prayer like that you know well Pastor I pray throughout the day that's just how I pray I just kind of go and those are good things that's how we ought to pray but Jesus also taught us another way to pray and being intentional with the time that we spend God to have a prayer time I know that's challenging for many people in our culture you know if we just put down our phones would have a lot more time but I think that's probably the first point that I want you to write down if you're taking notes the first characteristic of Christlike Ministry is prayer it starts with prayer it ends with prayer it continues with prayer we cannot do anything in our own power we have to go to the Lord in prayer I've asked friends how is your prayer life to which they've said well I spend moments throughout my day praying but we need to do more I need to do more and none of us will ever arrive I've heard prayer described as a Time exposure to God where are my photographers at I see one over there I see you over there be it is so good to see you in church today isn't it church I love you and also I meant to say this last week and shame on me for saying that but I remembered that we had was it y'all 62nd or 63rd anniversary back there 62 for mikara so praise the Lord for you guys woohoo but anyone else do photography in here anybody else okay I know that

There's a few people awesome praise the Lord there's a few of you guys y'all know what time exposure is it's where maybe I love I love seeing those night shots of time exposure photography I'll show you some examples that way you know what I'm talking about it's this kind of stuff right it's where we can't see it with our naked eye but through time exposure we get to see these incredible details that are hidden to us I mean I just see that and you know you get pictures of the Milky Way and what you have to do is you have to go to places where there's almost zero light pollution back in the mountains of Virginia where I grew up there's an area there where there's all these observation towers of the cosmos and light pollution is Eagle in that county it's in Bath County if you're Curious and a lot of black bear up in that area you don't want to go hiking but a lot of photographers will go out and they'll capture things like this I mean how gorgeous and how wonderful and yet we can't see it can we unless there's time exposure and that's how prayer is for us prayer is time exposure to the Lord it's where we get to see him more clearly it's where we get to see his hand it's where he deals with our hearts very intentionally as we seek Him and He reveals those issues in our hearts and the Lord Jesus he spent time with the father as an example of fellowship with God he had perfect harmonious unbroken fellowship with the Lord he enjoyed going to the Lord in prayer I just wish that maybe we would enjoy time with the Lord as well the Lord he spent time with his father and what we learn is that we must also spend time with God as well and an example that I see here is that busyness is not really an excuse for me in my Ministry nor for you in your life the Lord he was tired he spent the entire day before preaching teaching discipling healing late into the night

But he mastered his flesh He Got Up Before Dawn and he sought the father and as the son Rose well the people of Capernaum started waking up and they started looking around for the most popular guy in town where did Jesus go so they go to Peter Peter's kind of the right-hand guy he's kind of the spokesperson Peter you got to find Jesus we got some more healing that needs to take place there's all these people that are looking for him and the disciples they go out and they're seeking the Lord actually that word looking for in the Greek it's Zin which means to hunt or to track someone down Mark uses it 10 times in this book in each and every time it's word it's used negatively this is not a positive kind of seeking of the Lord it's a negative kind of seeking of the Lord it's a selfish seeking and not only that but when Simon finally finds Jesus he complains to the Lord what are you doing out here we have we have a lot of people that are looking for you Jesus there's all these folks that are out there everyone is looking for you and this is this is helpful for us to note that just because something draws a crowd does not mean it's necessarily God's plan see we're we are not in the market of growing the biggest church in camon that's not my heart I want that my heart is for God to look at our church and go that's a church that loves me and obeys me amen it's the same with Christ because he points his disciples to the purpose of ministry look at what Jesus says and he said to him oh there's 1600 people in town looking for me let's go to the next one let's go to the next towns that I may preach there also for that is why I came you see he doesn't determine the success success of his ministry based on the excitement or the willingness of the people to come to him for their needs he

Doesn't equate their enthusiasm with faith what is the purpose of Christ Ministry it's to preach the kingdom of God and he's the disciples they almost are making a demand of Jesus to capitalize on his popularity and it is interesting that Simon Peter he's the only one that's named there and so this shows that from the beginning Peter has had a lot to learn in regards to following Jesus you see Peter here he is impolitely attempting to lead Jesus what are you doing out here Jesus you're praying Alone come on with me let's go back to town that's where we ought to be and Jesus puts him back where he belongs no I called you to follow me and become a fisher of men this is where we're going this is what we're doing being a disciple never means that you lead Jesus it means that you follow Jesus and Jesus knew why everyone was looking for him they were looking for miracles not truth they were looking for what Jesus could do for them they wanted Better Health they wanted relief from their suffering they wanted Jesus for his gifts not because he's God not because he offered salvation crowds weren't interested in his message of repentance they just wanted to get their afflictions healed as soon as something was in it for them you could not keep them away they wanted his works not his words and so Jesus says something to the effect of no that's not my purpose that's not why the father sent me to this world let's go somewhere else because these people are so consumed with my power that they won't listen to preaching but then again we can be like the crowds too so before we're too hard on other people let's look in the mirror at our own s and kind of examine okay when fatigue and despair racks our bodies we may be driven to the Lord and

We may be really focused in prayer and really all about God in that moment but as soon as the Affliction lessons we just kind of go back to chasing our own tales and building our own kingdoms I know that because I've been there and I know that's true of many of you and so Christ he chose to depart from Capernaum and he goes throughout the whole region of Galilee to preach the Gospel remember that Christ was always only about the father's business and so he continued preaching in the synagogues and in the casting out demons and all these different things that he was doing and he went throughout the region of Galilee Galilee literally is translated as Circle that's what he would do he'd just go around the Sea of Galilee as a circuit preacher going around from town to town and he ministered all across this area that was pretty far from Jerusalem now Christ he chose to do that and as Christ went into these cities around Galilee there was this man that was a leper that came to him leprosy in the Old Testament it's that word it's Sarat which means it could cover a whole host of different skin diseases everything from boils to blemishes to Burns to itches to funguses to eczema to all these different things even different scalp conditions and so there were at least 72 different diseases that the scribes wrote that this kind of fell under Hansen's Disease was the most common one that we think about it's the most severe Affliction in the Middle East men and women who are afflicted with that disease were considered to be living corpses that's the one where you know the fingers are affected the face the nose all those different appendages that's Hansen's Disease and what this disease does is it effectively destroys the body by making it unfeeling and so if someone is cooking or

Something like that and they grab a hot pot they couldn't feel that their flesh was being burned but they could hear it sizzling and of course infection sets in and if something flew into your eye you wouldn't know it because there's no pain and so you wouldn't try to get it out but then that gets in infected your eye falls out all sorts of different things could happen it wasn't uncommon even for rats to come and feast on the necrotic flesh of those with that disease people wouldn't even wake up because they can't feel it in the early 1900s just an interesting side note here in the early 1900s when they discovered the a antibiotic for this disease they would even send patients home with cats because there were just gnaw marks on them and they were like you need this cat to eat the rats that are in your house and are gnawing on you so anyways take that for what it is it's an unfeeling nightmare is what it was and what was always happening is that these people were growing closer and closer to death and it is in this context that we see Jesus working this famous Miracle because you see when Christ worked miracles he worked miracles almost as a way of telling us it not just his power okay but also for us to see parabolic teachings he did it truly he really did heal in these ways but he did them with a purpose to point us to Greater truths for example so when Christ healed a death man you know it was to prove that Christ he has power over spiritual healing in hearing when Christ healed the blind man it is because in Christ we have true spiritual sight when Christ fed the 5000 he was proving that he is indeed the bread of life and he did all these things all these miracles to point to his authority which we talked about last week and as a result of leprosy I think that we

Should note that people they lost everything about themselves they lost their home they lost their families they lost their jobs they lost their friends I mean imagine the fear that you would feel just to one day wake up with red bumps all over your arm and you're kind of touching them and they're not really sore you know they just they're weird and so you go to the priest and you present yourself to the priest according to Leviticus 13 and as he examines you he gives you the worst news that you could ever hear you are unclean and so they lock you away in the temple for seven days to bring you out on that seventh day to re observe you if it's gone away then they would make sacrifices to give thanks to the Lord and then they would declare you clean but if it spreads guess what would happen you would be ostracized from the Covenant Community and you can read all about that in Leviticus 13 what they would do is they would they would give you rags and you would have to cover up even your mouth almost like you're a robber and you had to start growing your hair out all the way down as far as it would go you can't you can never cut your hair again if people were approaching you had to wave your arms and Shout Out unclean unclean unclean and people they would run away from your very presence that is now your personality that is who you are that is what you've become but of course the scribes and the Pharisees they added their own little religious rules right you see they would say well even if a leper is traveling through town and he stuck his head into someone's home just to say hey I'm okay that whole house would be declared unclean even though that's not found in the levitical law if someone were to

Want to greet a leper they could be about six feet away if they were staying down wind but if the wind changed then the leper had to run away and the other person had to run away otherwise you know if they're 100 cubits apart then you know then they would both be unclean at that point in time really bizarre laws and of course Christ came to write those wrongs and so this leper he comes to Jesus out of desperation and Luke The Physician he describes this leper as being full of leprosy which points us to his terrible condition head to foot he disfigured everyone sees him and he's crying out unclean unclean unclean and the streets are being cleared they're scattering away because they don't want to be unclean they don't want to catch this terrible disease which is why Christ got a private audience with them note the opportunity that Christ has here many times as believer we have opportunities to minister to people but frankly we're either too dense to see the opportunity I know that's happened or we too uncaring or selfish to take the opportunity to love those who are in need notice what the leper says he doesn't say if you can the leper says if you will see he's got just a little bit of faith and he's his biggest concern is not in Christ's ability but his willingness Jesus I know what you've SE done in other people's lives could you even save a Wretch like Me I know that you can but will you and look at the pity of Christ here pity Jesus he was moved with tremendous love and that word pity it means it means both love and concern and disgust okay not disgust at this individual coming to him I don't want you to think that but Jesus is

Angry at the result of disease and hurt and pain that's in this world you see Jesus he came to this earth to fulfill what God had commanded for him to do that is to write all the wrongs that were found when Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord in the garden and he is he is moved with compassion deep compassion for this man and his goal is to restore men into a right relationship with the father and so the leper asked will you Heal me Jesus will you heal me even though I am so wretched even though everyone runs away at the mere sight of me even though I'm unclean can you make me clean will you take me in Jesus he shocks everyone before he even says a word he reaches out and he touches the leper and for the first time in years this man is touched by someone and I love this because Jesus he's there to uphold the law of God he's also there to teach the spirit of the law the law was intended to prevent the spread of disease but Christ came to spread spread the Cure if a rabbi were to have touched the leper that Rabbi would have become unclean but Christ touched the leper and the leper was made clean I mean if you want to be effective in the kingdom of God then you have to be willing to contact people that are needy of the Gospel you have to be willing to be like Jesus to reach out to touch those with a loving hand even those that culture sometimes recoils at your work of loving ministry will be a thousand times more effective than your deepest theological knowledge and I'm a theologian like we need that but people need love too and people need to hear that Christ is willing to cleanse even their sins we will never affect others as Christ did until there is contact and until there is care we have to be willing to take the hand of those that

We would like to help and sometimes that means a touch sometimes it means caring involvement all of that type of stuff we need we need to reach out in love with our neighbors in our businesses in our work in our jobs in the city in our homes around Camden County and we cannot expect to do this only through pastors and missionaries and the professionals because a Church which does not regularly do that will not have pastors missionaries that do that either notice the next Point here is a pronouncement he says I will be clean and immediately the leper was healed now when Christ healed he healed completely he didn't just stop malus's ear from bleeding after it was cut off Christ reattached it right he didn't do CPR on Lazarus the man was dead for 3 days he brought him back to life and in the same way he healed this leper completely from head to foot and so bringing it back to Christ's Miracles serving as Parables what do we learn about leprosy well we learn about the dangers of sin you see just as leprosy started out as a small patch on the skin and impacted the whole body that's exactly what sin does to us sin will impact every area of your life as I've said often times before sin will take you further than you ever thought that you would go make you do things that you never thought that you would do and keep you far longer than you ever thought that you would stay but leprosy it shows the slow destructive nature of sin and it grows more and more until it completely consumes the whole person bringing them to ruin remember that we are simultaneously Sinners by Nature and by choice and it is a tremendous example to us of the moral depravity but also it

Serves as a testimony that despite what you've done that God can heal you too you may say well Cody you don't know what I've done I've had abortions I've cheated on my spouse I'm addicted to websites I've stolen thousands of dollars I am a liar I lie constantly you know what you might be the second worst person in the world I've ever met the first one is me I know my own heart not as well as I ought to because even that's wicked and deceptive but if God can take me and cleanse me then he can take you and cleanse you too look at what the Bible says it says immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean and Christ made the leper clean in a moment and in the same way through the preaching of the Gospel Christ he takes that rotten filthy soul and in a moment he cleanses us and he transfers us into the land of a Liv of the living beautiful clean and blameless because Christ has atoned for our sins he's the one that redeems our souls from hell and we can be made Saints by faith in Christ but if not but if not then we will remain Dead We remain rotten we remain helpless and on our way to an eternal hell and the only way to escape is to come to Christ and be cleansed but Jesus he told this leper tell no one told him to observe the law of Moses found in Leviticus 14 this involved this is really fascinating this involved over eight days of purification on the first day he would present himself to the priests I was once unclean I've been healed and the priest would look him over and if he found no evidence he would take two birds he would take one kill it put the blood in a freshwater Basin he would take a hissop and a cedar wood and a red Scarlet yarn thread and he would take that and sprinkle it all over the man's body and

He would let the other Bird go just as an offering and a way of showing ceremonial cleansing and then seven days later after that if every everything was still fine they would do three sacrifices a guilt offering a burnt offering and a sin offering and they would take the blood of one of those Lambs from the guilt offering and they would take that blood and they would put it on the right earlobe on the right thumb and on the right big toe to showed that yes I have been made clean by the power of God and I am committing myself now to listen to God's ways to do God's work and to walk in God's path and that's what all of that symbolized and that's what this man was commanded to do and in the same way Christ he is the Fulfillment of the law and as we come to Christ we submit to his authority and to his lordship and we agree that Christ can you make me clean and he says yes I am willing be clean and he changes Us in that instance and what he does is He commands us as our Lord and our Savior he says listen to my words do my work walk in my path because I have redeemed you for myself but this leper he doesn't do that he disobeys Christ's clear command and he tells everyone about what Christ has done notice lastly the product all Ministry produces something all Ministry does in this example this man walks in Disobedience why because he sought Christ for healing didn't not for the Redemption of his soul as a result obedience was of little concern to this leper and that can happen with converts too many believers they want to be pragmatic they want to instead of being obedient and doing what Christ commanded they thought you know I could do this instead I mean you know he could say

Well look how many people came out to seek Christ as a result of this leper's testimony look at what it says here it is but he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town we might try to make excuses and go you know what I'd be pretty excited too I'd be telling everyone but you know just because we can excuse something doesn't give someone a right to disobey the clear command of Christ ouch I mean this is what happens too many believers they want to be pragmatic in what they do instead of obedient to what Christ commanded look how many people came to seek out Jesus because of his testimony but I say to you repent of your man-made ideologies who is more concerned about the souls of men you or God quit taking the work of God into your own hands and Trust what he has said and we may think that it is natural to do what this leper did but we should not make excuses doing what Jesus told us not to do because it's not up to us to figure out what is the most beneficial or what gets more people into the doors I mean right now around our country there are churches that are doing Super Bowl Sunday services like they're talking about commercials today and they are packed packed with people and it entertains the goats and it starves the sheep and I know that makes me a that makes some people angry when I say that I'm sorry I got to say some stuff like that sometimes I've been good for a long time guys the end result of this act of Disobedience was that Jesus was no longer able to go and do ministry in the towns he had to go to places outside of the towns and have the people come to

Him you see the best thing for us to do when we receive spiritual cleansing is to walk by faith and to walk Faithfully in that obedience to the Lord it means setting aside our pride our ideas our pragmatism our gossip our lust our greed our desires and just pursuing Christ and so what does all this mean well arant Hughes he once told a story about a wonderful Christian woman her name is Selena Hastings oh didn't have that picture in there sorry I saved it on my laptop but didn't didn't make it this week well anyways she invited The Duchess of Buckingham to come and hear George Whitfield preach George Whitfield was one of the most powerful preachers in the history of the Christian church and that Duchess she replied it is monstrous to be told that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl the Earth it's a woman that looks down and knows it people isn't it she says this is highly offensive and insulting and I cannot but wonder that your ladyship would relish any sentiment so much at variance with high rank and good breeding in other words why would you go to hear someone talk about your sinful nature and how wretched you are you know why it's because it's true apart from Christ I have nothing apart from Christ I am dead apart from Christ I have no hope but thanks be to God that I have Christ and my hope for you is that you have Christ that's the plea that's the goal the less that we know that there is anything wrong with us the more full-blown our leprosy is it's common to say hey I'm okay while the death of leprosy permeates our very souls and that's why in preaching we share the good news it's the fundamental duty to alert people of their condition here's the thing today you may have felt your need for the cleansing that Christ

Offers but until you felt that need you do not know Christ you must have at some point in time known that you needed Jesus you had to have if you've never known that you needed Christ you're not saved Until you realize that the greatest trouble in your life is the sin that's in your heart until you know that your entire nature is wrong and opposed to God you can't know the salvation of Jesus so have you come to that place do you know that you need Jesus because you can be in church all your life but until you know that you are dead in your sin then you cannot know Christ as Savior and if you don't know Christ as Savior you don't know him at all and so today I would ask of you I would beg of you to consider on whether or not you need that healing for your souls there there are two lies that control people regarding sin the first is that people aren't Sinners they're good there's nothing wrong with them God doesn't need to save them they're okay and God will accept them and that's a lie that needs to be corrected the second lie that is the exact opposite is that you are a total complete sinner that has no hope whatsoever you're beyond help and you cannot be saved and that's a lie as well and it needs to be corrected too the truth is that no matter who you are what you've done where you've come from none of that matters if you come to Christ and if you come to Christ he will not turn you away but he will reach down with his Loving Hands he will take pity on your soul and he will always tell you I am willing be cleansed and that can happen right now you don't have to go to a preacher I am not your intermediary that role is with Jesus you deal with the Lord and you ask him will you make me clean can you make me clean and he will

And at that moment you will be clean repent of your sins trust in Christ and receive that hope that I have and so many others have today head heartand head I want you to know that Christ's pity stems from his great love for those in need you see it's this pity that stems that is the result of his great love and the Bible it says God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us God he sent his son to do that why to demonstrate his love for you to satisfy the Wrath of the father that's why he did that heart I want you to believe that Ministry is empowered by genuine love and care for the lost this is proven by Ministry to the lost by giving them the love of Christ in practical ways but also pointing them to the person and work of Jesus Christ if we fail in that then we failed in Ministry hand I want you to consider your heart for those of you who do not know Christ consider your heart do you need that healing yes is the answer but for us who are members of this church or members of Christ's body want you consider your heart and whether or not you have a love for those that need Christ it's easy to live in a little bubble but Christian get out of that bubble and share the message that Christ has told you to that he has provided a way to come to the father by faith please stand with me as we pray and respond to the Lord in worship and so God we do thank you for this day that you've given to us I ask that you would continue to work in us I pray for every soul that's here and that maybe they are understand the need for healing maybe they understand that they are in desperate need and I pray that

Right now that they would cry out by faith that they would come to you and do business with you in the quiet and Stillness of their hearts Lord and you they would just talk to you and say God would you take even a Wretch like [Music] Me I pray for us as a church Lord that we would be moved to pity for the lost that you would motivate our hearts for Ministry to reach out to love people that need to be loved and to touch with Grace the that need to be touched that they might be willing to hear the Gospel and that you would change their lives help us Lord give us a deeper longing for you help us to have deeper desires to walk in your way and to see Ministry done your way God but that stems from a right relationship with you and as we respond in worship help us to fall deeper in love with you in Jesus name amen as the dear pente for the wat so my soul longth after thee you alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship thee you alone Are My Strength my shield to you alone may my spirit y you alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship thee you're my friend and you are my brother even though you are a king I love you more than any other so much more

[Music] than you alone Are My Strength my sheld to you alone May my [Music] spirit you are alone are my heart desire and I long to worship Thee I want you more than gold or silver only you can satisfy you Al alone are the real Joy giver and the apple of my eye you alone Are My Strength my sheep to you alone may my spirit yeld you alone are my heart desire and I long to worship [Music] thee amen let's pray dear Lord thank you for this great day you've given us thank you for allowing us to come here to worship you together and Lord I pray now that as we go from here your praise would be on our lips Lord that you would show us where we can intentionally love our neighbor and share your good word it's in Jesus name we pray amen [Music] you