[0:00] a warm welcome to this morning service as we join together in the worship of god we look to him to bless us into the sound of this word we can begin with the singing of psalm 146 psalm 146 and we're going to sing from the beginning to verse 8 psalm 146 praise god the lord praise o my soul i'll praise god while i live while i have being to my god in songs i'll praise his gift trust not in princess nor man's son in whom there is no stay whose breath departs to earth to earth he turns that day his thoughts decay oh happy is that man and blessed from jacob gods doth aid whose hope upon the lord doth rest on his god is stayed who made the earth and heaven's high who made the swelling deep and all that is within the same who truth doth ever keep who righteous judgment executes for those oppressed that be who to the hungry giveth food god sets the prisoners free the lord doth give the blind their sight the bow down doth raise the lord doth dearly love all those that walk in upright ways and so on verses 1 to 8 of psalm 146 praise god the lord praise o my soul i'll praise god while i live my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my my
[4:09] All the days will end the same, who could gather her feet.
[4:27] Who righteous judgment executes for those of rest that we.
[4:44] Who could a man great give and good, God sets the prisoners free.
[5:01] The Lord doth kill the plight, less like the blood of Christ.
[5:19] The Lord doth dearly love follows that walk in the bright way.
[5:38] Amen. Let us join together in prayer. Heavenly blessed God, enable us to have that spirit of worship and praise that we can enter into the heart of your servant and possess that as a heart that we not only sympathize with, empathize with, but also that we share by way of experiencing the longings and the desires that are declared that we might be amongst those who bow the knee in your presence and do so with heartfelt appreciation of being in the presence of a God who is of God, a holy God, a God who is high and lifted up.
[6:54] We live in a world that diminishes the name of God at every opportunity, a world that lives in flagrant denial of the existence of such a God.
[7:13] And if it is not that, it is in order to create other gods, gods that they have fashioned and formed and shaped after their image.
[7:29] It is so marvelous for us to comprehend from the scriptures that you have given to us where your words are contained that describe to us that you created man in your image.
[7:47] And such is the depravity of man that instead of experiencing the image of God in its fullness, now they create God in their image.
[8:06] And we acknowledge that that is by reason of the fall and the experience that accompanies it where sin enters into the heart not to lie dormant, but to increase and to multiply so that the whole man is affected our thoughts, our thoughts, our thought processes.
[8:46] We acknowledge that even in processing the experiences of life that we are guilty of of reforming them so that they would conform to what we are rather than acknowledge the picture as it really is.
[9:17] Acknowledge the life that we possess that is a puny existence in comparison with the fullness of life as bestowed by the God who is the source of all life.
[9:35] Help us to appreciate that even in our worship today. Bless us collectively as a congregation. We give thanks for all who are participants in the worship.
[9:48] those who have a desire to call upon the name of God and to experience in their heart the presence of God and to have in their ears the voice of God and to have in their heart the warmth of the presence of God made known to us.
[10:13] we remember how two men were on the road to Emmaus and they were in company with one that they did not know.
[10:31] They did not recognise the one that was with them in their heart of hearts they thought that he had been taken from them by death.
[10:43] and that he could not be restored to them. And yet as they walked and communed with them as he spoke into their loss and in their grief spoke to them pointedly regarding to the scripture and its word with reference to who he was they found their hearts strangely warmed within them.
[11:10] so it is with the experience of your people often they may be sitting contemplating the scripture they may be sitting even thinking of past experiences and almost without their realising it the spirit of Christ presents himself himself in their company and they find themselves lifted up their hearts warmed and their longings rekindled their desires refreshed and their their greater understanding of who Christ is granted to them we pray that you would give to us even today something of that experience as we sit together under the sound of the preaching of the gospel we are in your hands and we give thanks that that is so and we pray that whoever is here today with the desire to meet with you that their desire would be made that those who are here seeking your face as the lover of their soul that they may discover once again that that is what you are to them those who are strangers to you but desire to know you as they have yet to know you may they be given that desire made open the eyes of their understanding so they can appreciate what it is for Christ to speak to them may those who are here with the door shut the door of their understanding the door of their their heart because they do not want
[13:04] Christ to be part of their life because in their thinking Christ will take more from them than he can ever give to them take away the error of their understanding and unlock that door that is barred and make yourself present to them be merciful to us to that end grant to us to remember those who cannot be with us and who would be with us if they could but by reason of the infirmity of old age or ill health or other constraints accompanying the weakness of the flesh we pray that you would bless them where they are and remember them in the providence that surrounds them at the present that the God of heaven would be the portion be merciful to those who have no desire to be where your people are found no interest in the things of
[14:09] God no desire to to discover what God has to say may you in mercy visit them so that they would know that there is a God and that God is a God to whom they will give account at the last as we all will whether they choose to recognize you or acknowledge you or believe you that will not frustrate the purpose that you have for all flesh that they would glorify your name and that you will have the ultimate glory whether it is in the salvation of the redeemed or the condemnation of the lost we pray that you would bless the preaching of the gospel today to the far corners of the earth remembering every differing situation where Christ is lifted up and where his name is magnified may his people rejoice in the ability that they have to hear his name brought to their attention we remember all who are engaged in such work and we pray your blessing and your preservation and your hand to be upon them for good visit the world in which we live in mercy remembering the places that suffer because of war because of want because of the want and destruction that man who is wreaking havoc upon man is guilty of we so often see brought to our attention medical concerns that afflict so many communities in the world children born in a situation of want suffering from physical disability impairments that with modern medicines can readily be dealt with and yet because of the poverty that they suffer these things are not dealt with in the same world at the same time billions upon billions of pounds are spent upon weapons of mass destruction and there is no thought given to to staying that outpouring of wrath when love could so easily master the ills of this world we will all answer to you the God who sees all things who has given man the opportunity to do many great things who has endowed mankind with all manner of graces and gifts and yet so much of these things are ill used and misspent lord be merciful to us as a society and as a generation we pray good blessing now upon our service upon the sunday school as it meets and the children who are brought for instruction may their heart be open to the truth of God may they be drawn to the
[17:56] Christ who in his life spoke so lovingly to the children and desired each one to be brought to him that they would learn of him and that they would see in him all that the soul desires forgive her transgressions guide us in Jesus name amen I'm going to read from the scriptures of the New Testament the gospel of Luke in chapter 7 we're reading from the beginning of the chapter Luke chapter 7 now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people he entered into Capernaum and a certain centurion servant who was dear unto him was sick and ready to die and when he heard of Jesus he sent unto him the elders of the
[19:04] Jews beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant and when they came to Jesus they besought him instantly saying that he was worthy for whom he should do this for he loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue then Jesus went with them and when he was now not far from the house the centurion sent friends to him saying unto him Lord trouble not thyself for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee but say in a word and my servant shall be healed for I also am a man set under authority having under me soldiers and I say unto one go and he goeth and to another come and he cometh and to my servant do this and he doeth it when
[20:07] Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him and turned him about and said unto the people that followed him I say unto you I have not found so great faith no not in Israel but they that were sent returning to the house found the servant whole that had been sick and it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nain and many of his disciples went with him and much people now when he came nigh to the gate of the city behold there was a dead man carried out the only son of his mother and she was a widow and much people of the city was with her and when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her and said unto her weep not and he came and touched the bier and they that bare him stood still and he said young man
[21:08] I say unto thee arise and he that was dead sat up and began to speak and he delivered him to his mother and there came a fear on all and they glorified God saying that a great prophet is loosened up among us and that God hath visited his people and this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about and so on the Lord at his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise well boys and girls I believe you're continuing to think about the life of Joseph and the story of Joseph is a story that we all enjoy reading and there are many things that surprise us about the way
[22:13] Joseph lived and how he behaved because he behaves so impeccably at times that's why so many people tell us that he's so like Jesus in what he does and how he behaves and when Joseph was in Egypt and when he was given a role within Egypt to govern the whole of the district in time of famine he had great power and because of that power and the ability he had to feed many thousands of people through his policies at the time through what he taught the people to do what he encouraged them to do he found that his brothers came to visit because they were hungry and when they came to visit him the surprising thing to us was that
[23:25] Joseph recognised his brothers but his brothers did not recognise Joseph and you may think that's very difficult for us to understand how could one person not recognise another especially if they were brothers and not just one person but all of Joseph's brothers didn't recognise him and the reason he didn't recognise him was that as far as they were concerned Joseph was dead he had died or as far as some of them were concerned they knew that he had been sold into slavery and that probably meant that he had died and when you think like that you don't expect the person who's standing in front of you to be your brother and yet
[24:28] Joseph recognised them when they did not recognise him and not only did they not recognise him but the other surprising thing is that remembering the things that the brothers did to Joseph and remembering the place that he now had in Egypt the power that he had the ability that he had to take his revenge that Joseph did not do that when you try and think of it how bad his brothers were to him how much suffering Joseph had to go through he was put into a prison he was thrown into a pit he had all kinds of misfortune and you would think that well if he was anything like me all of these bad things would make you say to yourself if ever
[25:36] I get the chance if I have the opportunity once again I'll do this and this to these evil people that's what we would do perhaps but Joseph had the opportunity and his heart was not filled with hatred but love that's why people often think well this is what Jesus is like Jesus has a heart full of love towards everyone even those people who did so many bad things against him people who lived their lives and they had no time for Jesus and they swore and they cursed his name and they blasphemed and yet Jesus lovingly asks them to come to himself and Joseph is a bit like
[26:38] Jesus like that but it also the third thing that it reminds us of is that although the brothers came to know that it was Joseph their brother and that they got over the surprise of meeting someone who was dead as far as they were concerned and was alive again and they experienced at first hand eventually his kindness and they were fed and they were cared for and he did all kinds of things that they did not deserve because of how bad they had been to him they never got over it they never got over it their conscience was always burdening because even though
[27:39] Joseph promised to be good to them and showed that he was good to them they were always afraid that at some point Joseph would take his vengeance they were wrong of course but that's what they were thinking because in the way they thought they thought well he's probably like ourselves and when the opportunity comes he will take his vengeance and they thought that when their father Jacob died that's what would happen yet Joseph didn't do that there are so many things that he could have done that he did not do do do they did not deserve to do and that in many ways there are so many things that speak to us about how loving and how kind and how much Jesus does for his own people even when they think well
[28:41] I've done this wrong and he's bound to not like me anymore he's bound to keep from me so many things but what do they find they find a saviour who is always loving and kind and generous and patient and merciful and all other things that the bible tells us and they can't get over the kind of person he is but he's so different to themselves I hope you'll remember that when you're thinking about the kind of passion that Joseph was going to sing now as you go out to Sunday school some verses from Psalm 33 Psalm 33 at verse 10 down to verse 17 God does the counsel bring to naught which heathen folk do take and what the people do devise of none effect doth make oh but the counsel of the
[29:48] Lord doth stand forever sure and of his heart the purposes from age to age endure that nation blessed is whose God Jehovah is and those that blessed people are whom for his heritage he chose the Lord the Lord from heaven sees and beholds all sons of men for well he views all from his dwelling place that in the earth do dwell down to verse 17 Psalm 33 God God does the council bring to naught which heathen folk do take God is the council bring to naught which heathen folk do take and watch at the the duty eyes on the only beg to me who but the council of the
[31:14] Lord that is done forever soon and of his heart the purposes from age to age can you that nation love is a cause seed seed and for him His heritage deduce.
[32:20] The Lord from heaven and His season beholds all cells of man and full wells.
[32:38] He views all from His dwelling place that in the earth to dwell.
[32:57] He forms their hearts alive yon dawn that yourופimis loved their foreheads.
[33:12] Savior Christ.
[33:42] It's a desime and by poder deliver spare And we turn once again to the Gospel of Luke chapter 7.
[34:22] We're going to look at the account that we have at the beginning of chapter 7 of the healing miracle carried out in the experience of the centurion severed.
[34:38] You can read again verse 6. Then Jesus went with them, and when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
[35:03] I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
[35:14] Well, as you can see from the name that is on this Gospel, it is attributed to a person called Luke.
[35:26] And Luke, we are told, was a doctor, a physician.
[35:38] The Apostle Paul, in one of his letters, identifies him as the beloved physician. So, it shouldn't surprise us that in the Gospels, that one of the things that Luke might be interested in is a healing miracle.
[36:02] He would be interested, like no other would be interested in the power of Jesus Christ to heal someone who is clearly unwell.
[36:17] It's also just suggested by some, and it's really probably down to a bit of detective work, that Luke was the one writer that we find in the Scriptures who is not of Jewish origin, that he was a Gentile himself.
[36:44] And that's based on one or two verses and what they say, and sometimes verses in what they don't say. But it is suggested anyway, whether it's something that we can depend upon, that Luke was himself a Gentile.
[37:06] So, if that is the case, it shouldn't surprise us that he would be interested in an encounter between the Lord Jesus Christ and a Gentile, and bring that to our attention, especially when the story involves the salvation of that person's soul.
[37:31] Now, we know that this encounter that is recorded for us here has got many parts to it that I suppose may fascinate at least some people.
[37:49] He is a Roman soldier, not just a Roman soldier, but a centurion. He is in charge of 100 soldiers, which is what the word centurion means.
[38:07] And what we know about it is not really so much dependent upon the Scriptures, but on our ability from reading the histories of past generations, that Roman soldiers were usually very well drilled, very well taught in the way to conduct themselves in times of war.
[38:38] They were very well equipped, comparatively speaking, usually anyway, and they were well trained. And many of the soldiers would have, because of the nature of Roman expansionism, they would have plenty of experience of being involved in various wars and battles.
[39:03] That's important, because when you think about it, historically, there have been many occasions when wars have occurred, and one of the deciding factors was the fact that you had a standing army who were experienced, had hands-on experience on the battlefield, that gave that army a head start.
[39:34] I think historically as well, what many who write about the time of Christ, they would say that because of the resistance there was to the occupying Roman fortress in Palestine at the time, that the Roman authorities, based back in Italy, understood only too well, that it wasn't going to be of any use to them to send raw recruits into that kind of environment.
[40:14] So usually the kind of soldiers that would be sent to serve there would be hardened veterans. So that's the kind of person that we might imagine the centurion was.
[40:28] Somebody who was skilled, somebody who was in authority, somebody who had probably a very strong personality.
[40:44] And yet, when you think about the way he's presented to us here, it's a very positive slant that's put on his personality.
[40:59] He is somebody who is very much out of step with the way you would expect him to be, because reading verse 4 and verse 5, the friends of the centurion go to Jesus on his behalf, which seems unlikely, but it's what happens.
[41:25] Not only do they represent the centurion to Jesus, but they present their argument to Jesus and say this is someone that is worthy for whom he should do this.
[41:38] for he loves our nation and he has built us a synagogue. And we're not really sure what that means. But clearly he was somebody who had who had a favourable disposition towards the Jewish nation.
[41:59] And they were grouching admirers, I suppose. They had no time for the Roman powers powers that be. But this person seemed to have gained favour with them.
[42:12] And he is spoken of in a very positive way. And so the picture that we have, you have to dismiss from your mind what you would normally associate with a centurion or a soldier of Rome and consider rather the kind of person that he was as far as the testimony of those who knew him is concerned.
[42:38] A very favourable testimony. And while there may be things that we're not told, which is often the case anyway, these things should help us understand where he is coming from.
[42:55] But I want us to think about the miracle. You know, we might be tempted to spend time on the passion who is at the heart of this miracle.
[43:11] The passion who desires to come to Jesus to get Jesus to heal his servant and to lose sight of the passion to whom he comes.
[43:28] The passion who he seeks his help from. The passion he seeks help from. And we can do that and just look first of all in a simple way as possible that what is it that makes this centurion come to Christ in the first place?
[43:55] That's an all-important question, is it not? Whatever kind of passion he was, whatever background he had, whatever testimony he has given to his character, why would this passion want to come to Jesus?
[44:12] What was it that stimulated his interest in Christ or his desire or even to make him think that it was going to be something that was worth his while doing, coming to Jesus?
[44:27] The second thing, something that is hidden from sight, but that must be considered as being present, and that is this passion's faith.
[44:42] What this passion actually believed that brought him to Christ, and we wouldn't know it was there if it was not for his actions, and if it were not for the way that Jesus dealt with him.
[45:02] And the third thing is what Jesus himself says about this passion's faith, what he declares to be true about this passion.
[45:18] Now I think, I don't really know what you think, what interest you have in what God is doing in the world, what interest you have in what God is doing in the lives of those who are in the world.
[45:39] I don't know if it ever occurs to you. I mean, I have been involved in ministry for a while, I've been a Christian for longer, and obviously I will think of things from a minister's perspective, I will think of things from a Christian's perspective.
[45:57] So I would like to imagine that, you know, ordinary people who are not Christians will have thoughts about Christianity, will have thoughts about Christ, will have thoughts about what it's like to be a Christian.
[46:19] I could be completely wrong, I could be so wrong, that maybe that you spend your life and the thought doesn't enter into your heart, what is it that a Christian does?
[46:38] What is it that a Christian is like? What is it that motivates a Christian to behave the way they do? Maybe these are questions that don't enter into your heart or mind at any point.
[46:53] You might say just, well, that person's a Christian or whatever, that's as far as it goes, you don't think about it. But I would hope that you would at least have this question in your mind.
[47:11] What is it that makes a person want to go to Christ? Because clearly, if you have not come to Christ, then you can only conclude from your not wanting to come to Christ, that there is nothing in your heart or mind that would make you want to go to Christ.
[47:42] Now, maybe I'm wrong, but surely there is something that would motivate you to see Christ out for yourself.
[47:56] surely there is something that would motivate you to come and seek the passion of which the gospel is speaking and that the gospel is telling you is all important and that the gospel and the people of God who know this Christ for themselves will tell you that without him their life is empty, without him their life is devoid of purpose and if you hear what they're saying and if you hear what the Bible is saying then surely you must ask yourself the question well what would it take for me to come to Christ?
[48:46] we were talking last week about the apostle Paul and if you ask Paul what is it that made you come to Christ Paul and you know the path that Paul was on it was the path in many respects of an academic who had a theological understanding and background and by reason of the conviction arising out of his knowledge that was theological he determined to do anything to rid this world of Christ he had no interest in him other than to rid the world of him and all who would follow him and yet we saw that something happened in his life that made that
[49:49] Saul who became Paul able to say I determined to know nothing to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified that's a complete complete turnaround somebody who was determined to rid the memory of Christ out of this world and somebody who then determined to know nothing except what this Christ was so clearly something happened to bring about this change now looking at the centurion what you're seeing is somebody who had a sick servant he was not ill but his servant was the centurion wasn't ill but his servant was that's what
[50:51] I mean to say but it is obvious that the servant meant everything to him he loved him and you know we can perhaps follow that when a loved one somebody we genuinely love is unwell and they're suffering we say well I would rather suffer myself than see my loved one suffer see that when children are suffering anything but to see their suffering go on you would say I'd rather that I be the one to suffer and in a sense the centurion is someone who has that interest we don't know much about what kind of man he was but I think we do we're able to understand much of from what is said about him that he was somebody who really cared a lot about his servant now having said that based on the limited knowledge that we have often that would commend him to us what about his actions with regard to coming to Christ now the two accounts that we have of this event one of them is found in Matthew's
[52:21] Gospel and it's quite different essentially the important part is the same but in Matthew's account the centurion personally went to meet with Jesus here in this account what we're told is that friends went on his behalf to meet Jesus but what what was he expecting what was he expecting well he was expecting from the knowledge that he had of Jesus that Jesus would heal his servant that Jesus would heal his servant that was the limit of his knowledge that was the limit of his expectation that his servant would be healed now he was wrong as far as he was concerned and he was concerned this was the best thing
[53:24] Jesus could do for him heal the servant and yet he did not understand that there was something better that Jesus could do for him that Jesus was able not just to heal the body or the mind but to heal the soul and he hadn't grasped that truth I could be wrong but I don't think at this moment in the centurion's experience he had neglected to believe or understand that there was a greater need that he himself had for Jesus and a greater need that his servant had for Jesus which was that Jesus would heal his soul but he would be healed spiritually and he had failed to give it priority we are told the servant was ready to die which means as far as I can understand it that he was a death's door but he was not ready to die spiritually ready to well let me rephrase that he was not ready to die because of his spiritual condition we understand what it means that he was ready to die he was at death's door literally but the person who is at death's door literally is not ready to die if that person does not know the
[55:03] Lord Jesus Christ that's what I mean you to understand and the centurion even though he was right in seeking the intervention of Jesus his priority was wrong but he knew to come to Jesus now you're saying well you're at one level you're lifting up this guy you're saying about this person how good he was and how much he was to be admired and how right it was for him to come to Jesus and now you're bad mouthing him and saying that he came with the wrong priority and you're contradicting the scripture saying because the scripture saying that he was exercising faith when he came to Jesus well it is without question that faith that allows him to come to
[56:03] Jesus we can't say to you where that faith came from in the sense that we can quote chapter and verse of how this faith came to arise in his heart all we are told is that he had heard of Jesus what he had heard we are not told who he had heard it from we are not told but whatever he had heard had convinced him that Jesus had the ability to meet the need of a servant which was a physical need but you see what we need to understand is that sometimes when we think about what Jesus is able to do for us we are not thinking with a theologian's head always
[57:04] I don't think there is a Christian in this building who had formulated in their heads all that was necessary for the salvation of their soul when they made their way to Christ they had not worked out the doctrine of repentance they had not worked out the doctrine of adoption they had not worked out the doctrine of justification by faith they had not worked out the fact that there was the need for atonement they hadn't worked out the fact that there was a need for peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps in a measure some of these things were within their grasp through the knowledge that they had of scripture but I doubt if all of these things were fitted perfectly in their thinking so that they said oh yes
[58:04] I know who to go to because through him I am embraced into the bosom of the family of God through him my sins are forgiven through him I understand all that needs to be understood about the way to salvation and regeneration and everything else that goes with it but what this man understood was that he needed to go to Jesus and that Jesus had power and he had authority and he had the wherewithal to deal with the need that he considered paramount the need that he saw before him he saw this man at death's door he loved this man he understood Jesus was somewhere within the vicinity he sent friends to him to bring him so that this man would be recovered his view of Jesus was not fully arbed because whether he understood it at that moment or not
[59:11] Jesus was able to do more than he expected him to do he was able to save the soul of this servant he was able to save his own soul and the soul of every other living being that is in the world that bears the image of Adam who are one of the lost race he is able to save all who come to him and exercise faith in him 14 knew was sufficient to take him to Jesus and for him to unveil his soul in the presence of Jesus in a way that Jesus was able to recognize the genuineness of his faith what do you know about Jesus what do you know about Jesus I'm sure you know probably as much as I do if not more some of you and if that is the case why has it not taken you to him if you know even a meager portion of what the scripture brings to your attention and you've memorized and you've been taught it from your infancy you've heard it repeatedly you know sufficient to take you to the Lord
[60:48] Jesus Christ so the question remains why have you not come to that Christ in Matthew's account he went to Jesus as we said here we read friends go on his behalf and Jesus goes to him I prefer the version that we have in Matthew from this perspective because I think that we must go to Jesus for ourselves we must meet with Jesus for ourselves I don't doubt for one minute that people can bring us to Jesus at the throne of grace I don't doubt for one minute that the Lord's people should not be praying for you that they should not be entreating the Lord on your behalf that they should not be twisting your arm around your back so that you listen to the word of God concerning them and their need
[62:04] I don't doubt that for one minute but I do believe that you must go to the Lord Jesus Christ for yourself you can't leave it to anybody else I've said it before and I don't mind saying it again you cannot go to heaven on the coattails of a believing parent or grandparent you cannot believe that your salvation is going to depend on somebody else's please in the presence of God although they may be there you must speak to the Lord yourself and meet the Lord yourself but this centurion's perception understanding idea was based upon the belief that
[63:05] Jesus had authority and power and ability and willingness to do what he sought from him I also a man said under authority having under me soldier I say to one go and he go to another come and he cometh to my servant do this and he doeth when Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him he knows what Jesus can do he believes what Jesus can do he believes the willingness on the part of Jesus to do it I am not worthy he says that you should come under my roof he gives Jesus an elevated position in his thinking and himself a position of humility but he recognises the power that is before him now can it possibly be that you are under the mistaken opinion that
[64:21] Jesus is unwilling to save your soul can you be under that misguided consideration that Jesus has no desire to save your soul but if you are you're wrong because the Bible tells us plainly the reason he came into the world was to seek and to save the lost whether you see yourself as lost or not I can assure you that you're in that category until the day you come to Jesus that's where you will remain I didn't I usually listen to the Gaelic service in the morning but I didn't listen to most of it today but I heard one thing that was said by the preacher something that a man had said to him in the street or a woman he didn't say that they would prefer to spend hell eternal damnation spend their eternity in hell with their friends than spend eternity in heaven with
[65:41] Christians people believe that but it shows even though they believe it that they're thinking is so wrong because one thing that is not in hell is friendship one thing that is in hell is not the opportunity to spend it in doing anything other than what God has committed the lost to experience and if a person prefers to think that something better awaits them than what God himself has appointed it well your preferences would be proved futile we need to come to Jesus to experience his ability to heal to the other most and that's the final thing we have here you know it's one thing for me to see a person and to say my passion has faith that person has got strong faith but the awesome thing about this is that
[67:00] Jesus says it that Jesus says it he marveled at him and turned him about and said unto the people that followed I have not found so great faith not in Israel that must have stuck in their throat that he found faith in a Gentile that he found great faith in a Gentile that he found greater faith in this Gentile than they have ever witnessed in Israel who were rejecting the rock of salvation what an appreciation of somebody's faith but you see you have to remind yourself of this Jesus is the object of our faith and if the object of our faith is able to say that the one professing it or the one experiencing it is exercising great faith who are we to doubt our question he saw what could only be the work of the
[68:19] Holy Spirit he saw what only could be the produced in him created in him encouraged by him the work of God and he declared to as such he that were sent returning to the house found the servant all that had been sick it's always the case that we find a healing miracle and we wonder well was the healing miracle was it fully work of healing and it was I believe that his servant experienced salvation just as truly as the one that he served simply because of the fact that he came to Christ and committed to Christ the need that he had Christ doesn't do no he doesn't do a half work he doesn't do he doesn't do things piecemeal he doesn't deal with people and then drop them and say
[69:32] I'll come back to this another time we're told in the scripture repeatedly and God's people are so thankful for that that where he has begun a good work he will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus there's no doubt in my mind that he began a good work in the life of the centurion just as surely I believe that it was carried out in the experience of a servant because of the fact that he came to Christ to seek that that be done will you not come to that Christ will you not come to that Christ for yourself knowing that what he does he does well what he does he does what no other can do for you however much they love you however much they want you to have the experience of which this speaks come to him for yourself and come to him with your please and with your cries and don't worry about getting it right you know if you want to wait until your theology is right go back again to
[70:50] Nicodemus he was a theologian he got it wrong go to Paul he was a theologian his theology was back to front whatever it is that you're afraid that you're not able to grasp bring your ignorance to him and he will he will set you straight whatever it is that keeps you back just ask him to remove it well may God bless his thought and his prayer oh lord oh god you're a god who who does wonderful things powerful things mighty things heal heal the hurt of the children of men and you do it again and again and again and you're never tired of doing what only you can do and we bring to you the broken body that is yours in the world we bring it to you for healing we bring to you those who would be part of that body and ask that you would heal them and add them to that number cleanse from every sin we pray in
[72:09] Jesus name amen we'll sing in conclusion some verses from psalm 103 psalm 103 at the beginning o thou my soul bless God the Lord and all that in me is bestowed up his holy name to magnify and bless bless oh my soul the Lord thy God and not forget for be of all his gracious benefits he have bestowed on thee all thine iniquities who doth most graciously forgive who thy diseases all and pains doth heal and thee relieve to verse 4 four stanzas O thou my soul bless God the Lord O thou my for all and solely им
[73:22] Amen. Forget for thee of all its gracious benefits, he hath been joyed on thee.
[74:16] All thy need with his to be, most graciously forgive.
[74:34] Who thy decision, all thy pains, God did not leave in him.
[74:55] Who does redeem thy life, thy blood.
[75:06] To the next not go down. Who do thee with lovely kindness, God.
[75:26] Until the Lord is done. Amen.