The Authority of Jesus

[0:00] As the boys and girls go off to Sunday school, we can turn to reading God's Word. Turning back to the chapter we've been looking at the last few weeks, Mark chapter 1.

[0:15] Mark chapter 1. We read outside of the chapter last week, so to refresh ourselves, we can read Mark chapter 1, the whole chapter together, just now. Mark chapter 1.

[0:30] Let's hear the Word of God. It's on page 785 of the Church Bibles. Page 785. Mark chapter 1.

[0:43] The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it's written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way.

[0:55] The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.

[1:10] And all the country of Judea and all of Jerusalem were going out to him, being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and wore a lever belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.

[1:25] And he preached, saying, The Spirit, saying, And the gospel of God, and saying,

[2:27] The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. And passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

[2:45] And Jesus said to them, Follow me, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boats, mending his nets.

[3:02] And immediately he had called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. And they went to Capernaum.

[3:13] And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching. For he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes.

[3:26] And immediately there was in the synagogue a man of an unclean spirit. And he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

[3:36] Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him.

[3:48] And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out of a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed. So that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this?

[4:00] A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding regions of Galilee.

[4:12] And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever. And immediately they told him about her.

[4:24] And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. And the fever left her. And she began to serve him. That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.

[4:37] And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and who did not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

[4:49] 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.

[5:02] And they found him and said to him, Everyone's 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.

[5:13] And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. And a leper came to him, imploring him and kneeling to him, If you will, you can make me clean.

[5:26] Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

[5:39] And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof of them.

[5:53] 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 the people were coming to him from every quarter.

[6:08] Give praise to God for his holy and his perfect word. Let's again sing to God's praise, this time singing in Psalm 31, the Scottish Psalter and Psalm 31.

[6:20] The Scottish Psalter and Psalm 31. Sing from verses 19 down to verse 24. Scottish Psalter, Psalm 31 from verse 19.

[6:39] It's on page 243 of the Psalm books. Psalm 31 verse 19. How great the goodness vow for them that fear these keeps in store, and wroughts for them that love in thee, that trust in thee, the sons of men before.

[6:55] In secret of thy presence vow, shalt hide them from man's pride, from strife of tongues they closely shalt, as in a tent them hide. Psalm 31 verses 19 to 24.

[7:08] To God's praise. O Christ the goodness, the goodness of our hands, that fear these keeps in store, and brought for them that God's in thee, các by the gods send cho'er.

[7:39] Please be with me that god bless yourself and shall get down for a costume. Of rest of the Надep. 고� Mhm And praise and praise thee to the Lord, for he had magnified.

[8:29] His wonders of duty within the city forgiven.

[8:44] For from thy night's cuddle I am, high in my gifts are set.

[9:01] My voice yet gets the wind to thee, with thy smile on my hand.

[9:18] O love the Lord, how he is set, because the Lord is born.

[9:34] The faithful and the blessedness of the Lord.

[9:51] Be of good, the rich and the strength, but to your heart shall send.

[10:07] O ye who so that of goodness, the Lord be sent.

[10:23] Amen. Well, let's just for a short time turn back to the chapter we had, and of course the reading we had. We're carrying on our study in the Gospel of Mark, and we're now at verses 21 down to verses 39.

[10:41] These two instances of healing. Mark 1 and verse 21. We'll see how we get on today, how far we get on today.

[10:52] All being well, I hope we start chapter 2, or we finish at least chapter 1 before the wedding. But we'll see how today goes as these things are. Looking first of all at verse 21 onwards.

[11:04] We take a big section, 21 to 39, but for the sake of a text, we can take the first verse, 21.

[11:16] And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue. And was teaching, and they were astonished at his teaching. For he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

[11:32] Last time we saw the public ministry of Christ beginning, and we saw the first disciples being called. As we keep saying, as it's common for Mark, there is no break.

[11:46] The disciples have been called, and straight away, as Mark says, immediately, immediately, we see the teaching, the ministry of Jesus. The teaching, and the healing, and the casting of demons, it begins straight away.

[12:04] He went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath. And if you see how many times the word immediately appears, even in our small section this morning, we see, as we said, Mark is trying his best to fit in as much as possible.

[12:20] We said this was written to a Gentile audience, to a non-Jewish audience, mostly. And Mark is trying to tell this audience as much as he can about Jesus. So here we carry on this quick tour of all that Jesus said, and all that he did, and all that he was.

[12:39] And here we find the first public healing that Mark records. As we spend some time in these verses, we see two different situations taking place in front of us.

[12:52] Two very different situations. There's a demon, or perhaps demons, we could say. There's a demon in possession of one man, and he is healed from that, or saved from that.

[13:05] Then we'll see later on, there's a physical ailment, a physical situation that Jesus also deals with. Now all these two situations, we could say, are so different.

[13:15] They are united by our one theme this morning. Our one central theme. As we come to these verses, we see that Jesus has total power.

[13:28] Jesus has total power. And again and again, and that's what we're going to come back to in these verses for a short time today. Jesus has total power.

[13:41] As we're reminded of that reality, brothers and sisters, we've heard this, and you hear it week after week. But this is a reminder once more. We worship a Lord who has power not just over the physical, but has full power over the spiritual.

[13:57] All that we see and can't see, all that we touch and can't touch, all that we know and will never know, this side of glory. It's all in his perfect control. But he also has full control over the physical.

[14:11] All the hard days and tough days, all the phone calls from doctors, all the appointments, all the letters, all the reality of what life is. It's all hands control too.

[14:24] It's full control. And for those here who, as of yet, and we always say that, but keep saying that, who as of yet cannot say that Jesus is your saviour. You as of yet can't say that you know him and that you love him.

[14:38] As we look at this section today, I want you to be encouraged too. To be encouraged in the fact that in Jesus, in Jesus there is a saviour who, with respect, is able to deal with whatever you come to him with.

[14:58] We said to the boys and the girls, who can come to church? And mums and dads, you know that for yourselves and grand and granddads and the rest of you. We all know that's said for all of us, not just the boys and the girls.

[15:10] Who can come to Jesus today? Who is Jesus for today? We'll see in a second. His power is so much and his power is so great that he is able to save, transform and to keep all who come to him.

[15:29] Two very broad points. First of all, seeing that he has full spiritual control. Then seeing he has full physical control. So first of all, full spiritual control.

[15:39] Verses 21 down to verse 28 and also looking at verse 34, if time allows. Full spiritual control. Verses 21 down to verse 28.

[15:55] Before we get to looking at the unclean spirit, we have to stop for a second and see the reality of verses 21 and verse 22. Jesus comes and he's teaching in the synagogue.

[16:09] This was unusual. Jesus is obviously seen as a teaching traveling rabbi. This wasn't unusual. This was the common thing. It doesn't really work.

[16:20] But it's almost like our lay preaching. Traveling rabbis who didn't have a set place. You would go somewhere. And the Jewish faith, the Jewish people still do this in their culture.

[16:31] And then there are denominations of the Jewish faith. The Jewish denominations which are still following scripture. And they're still orthodox.

[16:43] If a man visits who is a teaching man and who's a teaching rabbi. He'll often be invited to come and to teach congregation. We do the same, don't we? At communion time.

[16:56] A visiting minister will come and preach and teach for us. And here it's no different. Jesus arrives and he's obviously known as being a teacher. So they invite him.

[17:07] We can assume invited to teach and to preach. Sometimes there's open teaching too. And out of a way Jesus begins teaching. He begins sharing the gospel. We saw that last week.

[17:18] What he was teaching about. What he was sharing. Verse 14. The gospel that Jesus proclaimed. 14 verse 15. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.

[17:30] Repent and believe in the gospel. The message of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus. He proclaims this gospel in this synagogue. And as he does so.

[17:41] Those who are so used to hearing sermons. And preaching from various traveling rabbis. We can be sure. They are astonished. Verse 22.

[17:51] They're astonished at the teaching of this man. Why? Is it because of his illustrations? Is it because of his academic ability? No.

[18:02] We're astonished at the teaching of Jesus. Because he taught as one who had authority. And not as the scribes.

[18:13] His authority astounded and astonished the people. The scribes taught in general. From a place of personal pride.

[18:24] A place of personal advancement. Come let me show you my wisdom. Come and let me tell you how wise I am. As I break down this text of scripture.

[18:36] And Jesus comes and he preaches. He preaches with authority. Why? Well first of all he teaches and he preaches with authority.

[18:46] Because he is the author of the scriptures he is preaching from. They are his scriptures. But secondly. And connected to that.

[18:58] He preaches with authority because he is the author. But also. He is the object of a subject. Or what he is talking about. Whatever Jesus would preach from the Old Testament.

[19:09] It all pointed towards him. He was the author. But also. He is the very subject. Of the scriptures we're talking about.

[19:23] And thirdly. Jesus preached. With care. With real care. For the reason he was there. Real care for the people he was preaching to.

[19:35] Unlike the scribes who taught for their own purposes. Jesus shared his word. Because he cared for the ones who were listening to him. We see that care straight away.

[19:48] We see that care straight away. See knowing isn't. Knowing doesn't always mean believing. You sat here for years. And you know the gospel.

[20:01] This brand new minister. This young minister comes. And there's nothing I can tell you. You haven't heard before. There's no text I can preach from. You haven't heard preached to you before. Perhaps plenty of times.

[20:12] But I come with no new message. Your servant. The servant before me came. With no new message. Whoever comes after me. Comes with no new message. Come with the gospel.

[20:24] Simply. The gospel. Knowing doesn't mean believing. We all know the stuff. We'll see it more in a second too. There's more than knowledge. The scribes knew it. They didn't believe it.

[20:38] Jesus has full spiritual control. Verse 23. Immediately. There was in the synagogue. A man of an unclean spirit. And he cried out. And so on.

[20:49] Immediately. Jesus begins teaching. And sharing the gospel. And immediately. Satan is busy. Immediately. Satan appears. And tries to disrupt.

[21:01] And take away attention. From what Jesus is saying. We said this. Last Thursday. For all the. Years. Of Satan's work on earth.

[21:12] His tactics don't change. Not really. Satan always seeks. To disrupt. And distract. And distress. The Lord's people.

[21:24] Here we see that work. Taking place. This poor man. This poor man. Who is so. Taken over. By the work. Of evil. This poor man.

[21:36] Who is. Possessed. This poor man. Whose life has been made. We can assume. A living torment. By the evil one. What happens.

[21:48] The man starts shouting. He cries out. Verse 24. What does the. The demon possessed man say. As he addresses Jesus directly.

[21:59] The demon says. What have you. To do with us. Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come to destroy us. I know.

[22:09] Who you are. The holy one. Of God. God. There's no time today. But there's discussion here. As to the us here.

[22:21] Is the us. The man and the demon. Speaking together. Is the us. Perhaps a multitude of demons. We see other places. In scripture. Of many demons. In one person. But. We can't say for certain.

[22:31] But either way. This is a man. This is a man. Who is suffering. This is a man. Who is fully possessed. By evil. And here we see. Evil. Speaking.

[22:41] The last verse. We saw in the garden. Genesis 3. We saw evil speaking. And here again. We see. Evil speaking. And evil speaks. Directly to Jesus. But evil knows.

[22:53] What we're dealing with. Evil knows. The one they're speaking to. Or it is speaking to. Perhaps. What have you to do with us. Jesus. Of Nazareth. Have you come to destroy us.

[23:05] They know. They know who Jesus is. But more than that. They also know. Their own end. They know why he's come. Ultimately. To destroy evil.

[23:16] To stand. And to step. And to crush. The head. Of their master. The serpent. Have you come to destroy us. Is this it.

[23:27] And this demon. They correctly. It. Perhaps. Correctly. Identifies Jesus. Even the demon.

[23:39] Knows. Who Jesus is. Of course. It does. When did this demon. Last see Jesus. We'll cover this. In the prayer meetings.

[23:50] In the weeks to come. And just a reminder. That the prayer meeting is. I won't make you repeat. After the kids. But the prayer meeting. Is for. Everybody. The prayer meeting. Is for everybody.

[24:02] Member or not. Wanting to become. A member or not. The prayer is for. The prayer meeting. Is for everybody. It's a time of worship. Open to all. So please. Feel free to come along. There won't be any pressure.

[24:14] There won't be any. Whispering about you. Come along. We're seeing. In the prayer meeting. I saw last week. We'll see. In future weeks. That. That the last time. This demon.

[24:24] Likely saw Jesus. Was when Jesus. Would have been casting them. From glory. Out. The demon.

[24:35] Knows Jesus. Of course you do. Because he was there. As they were cast out. From heaven. For the rebellion. Here we see. The heartbreaking.

[24:46] And the. Terrifying reality. Knowing about Jesus. Isn't enough. Even the demons. Know who Jesus is.

[24:57] Even the demons. Know all about Jesus. We see that. He can name. Who Jesus is. The holy one of God. The demon. Can. Can. Give a description. Of who Jesus is.

[25:07] And knows. About Jesus. Even demons. Know Jesus. Dear friends. So knowing. All your stuff. About Jesus. Isn't the same.

[25:18] As. Knowing. Jesus. You have to know him. Personally. All the facts. And all the history. All the theology. It's good. But does not save you. Does not save you.

[25:28] You must come to know him. Yourself. And the demon knows. What's taking place. But here we see. The demon is trying to.

[25:39] Show some sort of authority. Itself. As he names Jesus. And we see. Next week. God willing. That Jesus instructs. And tells the demons. Not to talk about.

[25:49] About him. Not to. To name him. And we see that. At the end. Of verse 34. And he would not. Permit the demons. To speak. Because they knew him. The timing.

[26:00] Wasn't right yet. Jesus is beginning. His ministry. And he doesn't need. The big public. Following quite yet. That's coming. But not yet. But the demon. Tries to show. Some authority.

[26:12] He tries to. As it were. Publicly name. Who Jesus is. And it depends. How you read it. Verse 24. Can be read. In two different tones. Perhaps.

[26:23] As I've read. In a. In a. A terrified tone. The demon fears. Before Jesus. Or perhaps. As some would say. You can read it. In a snide tone.

[26:34] Almost a sarcastic tone. I know. I know who you are. They don't. I know who you are. Jesus. We don't know.

[26:49] That every way. This demon. Is trying to show. Some sort of authority. By naming Jesus. And what happens. When this demon. Tries to. As it were. Flex his muscles. Verse 25.

[27:02] Jesus rebuked him. Saying. Be silent. Be silent. And. Come out. Of him. And it's done.

[27:15] Verse 26. The unguing spirit. Convulsing him. And crying out of a loud voice. Came out. Of him. In a second. This man. Who spent his whole life.

[27:26] Possessed by evil. Or many years. We don't know. Not truly. This man. Who's possessed by evil. In a second. Has been released from that. Released from it.

[27:38] One simple command. And the demon. Leaves. And here we see. The reality. Of verse 27. That. Ultimately. Even.

[27:49] Even. The darkness. And the pain. And the misery. And the confusion. We're sure. Of. Of spiritual oppression. Of demonic oppression. Even that.

[28:01] Can. And is used by the Lord. For his glory. Verse 27. They're all amazed. So that they questioned. Among themselves. Saying. Who is this? A new teaching. With authority.

[28:12] He commands. Even the unclean spirits. And they. Obey him. The devil tried to disrupt. The gospel. Tried to disrupt.

[28:22] The public teaching. Of Jesus. And God. In his perfection. God. In his plan. Takes that disruption. And turns it around. And uses it. To further glorify.

[28:33] His own name. Christians. We face. As we know ourselves. Spiritual warfare. We've covered that before.

[28:44] And we'll cover it again. In the months. God willing. In the years to come. We face. Spiritual warfare. As in his power. And in his power alone. We see here. That we stand a chance.

[28:55] On our own. We have no chance. In his strength. In his power. We have. His full power. His full glory. And in that. And standing. As it were. Behind that.

[29:05] With him in front of us. We are safe. Eternally safe. The full. As it were. Cosmic power. Of our. Savior. What was meant.

[29:17] For a distraction. Was used. For his own glory. The full power. Over the spiritual. World. That brings us.

[29:27] Just briefly. On to the second point. We have here. But following on. This display of power. Over the spiritual world. We now see. A display of power. Over the physical world. Full.

[29:39] Physical control. Verse 29. Down to verse 34. He received. The account. Verse 30. Simon's mother. In law.

[29:49] The ill of a fever. And immediately. They told him. About her. Jesus. Jesus goes into their home. In one sense. Because he is.

[30:01] He's traveling. He needs to rest. And spend time. In a place of rest. But also Jesus. Is visiting this home. As we see. For a very specific reason. He has healed. This demon possessed man.

[30:12] Now he's about to do. Another healing. But this time. A physical healing. To a suffering. Woman. And we can note. That the difference. Between the two. Interactions.

[30:24] And here we must be. Very clear. That in real life. And in. Modern. Situations. And in. Current. Life. Which is say. Just as in days.

[30:36] Of scripture. Just as the days. Of our savior. Walking the earth. In our current age. Not. All. Demon. Possession.

[30:47] Shows itself. As sickness. And not all sickness. Is demon possessed. Now. And you say. Well. Obviously. We know that. Of course. It's not. But there are those. And there's.

[30:58] At times. Being careful here. There's whole denominations. And there are brothers and sisters. We are sure in the Lord. But. They err here. They really go. Just way off. And they'll claim.

[31:09] That all sickness. All sickness. From the cold. That I'm. Cropping through. Just now. Down to the. The worst types. Of sickness. Is evidence.

[31:19] Of demon possession. And they can be. Exercised out of you. That's not biblical. And the reality is. That kind of thinking. Takes away. From the dark.

[31:30] Reality. Of what actually. Is through. Sometimes. Sometimes. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is. There is.

[31:41] But here we see. And we can see. That. In God's providence. We see these two accounts put together. Two accounts of healing. One is clearly spiritual. And the second here. Is clearly physical.

[31:52] The woman has a fever. She is ill. She is in bed. Illnesses. Is part. And partial. Of life. And we know that. It's part. Of living.

[32:02] In a fallen world. Where our body. Begins. To break down. As the years go on. And on and on. Where. We live in a world. Where there is just. A chance to be ill.

[32:13] In so many ways. Almost every day. It's part. Of living. In a sin. Sick. Fallen. World. And here. The woman. She is just ill.

[32:25] She is just ill. She has got a fever. What does Jesus do? Verse 31. This woman. Who is. Who is.

[32:35] Lying ill. And Jesus comes to her. He came and took her. By the hand. And lifted her up. And the fever left her.

[32:46] And she began. To serve him. She began to serve him. Jesus comes. And in love. He gently takes her by the hand.

[32:57] And just like the demon possessed man. He is able to heal. In a second. In a second. He lifts her by the hand.

[33:07] He takes her by the hand. And the tone here. Is gentle. It's slow. And for Mark. It's as abrupt as always. You can imagine this scene. This woman is ill in bed.

[33:18] And let's not forget. There is no NHS. There is. There is no real. There is doctors of course. There is medical knowledge. But it's limited to the day. And this woman. A fever.

[33:29] Could have been very dangerous for her. It's dangerous for us today. Never mind for her then. And she's ill in bed. And gently. Gently. Jesus takes. Her hand. And the wording here.

[33:41] Lifted her up. We might see that. As kind of a. A movement. But. The tone of the original. It's very gentle. Very gentle. He takes her by the hand.

[33:52] As you would. Gently. Just. Almost helps her up. Perhaps. Is a word to use. He helps her up. He lifts her up. And he helps her up gently. In that second.

[34:04] She is healed. She is healed. What takes place. The second she is healed. She began to serve.

[34:17] And this is not. And I say this carefully. But it needs to be said. Because when you. Look at these texts. And you interact with these texts. This is not a commentary on.

[34:28] Or something on. On service. And all this stuff. No. This is just a woman. Who has had her life. Yet again transformed. And who has. Met with the saviour. Who's been healed by the saviour.

[34:40] And face to face. With that healing. From the saviour. What is her immediate reaction? It's to serve. It's to serve. She serves.

[34:51] She serves instantly. He heals. And she serves. His love towards her is shown. His care towards her is shown. And from that love. And from that care.

[35:02] She then serves. Not just him. But also. The disciples. Jesus is full control. Of the physical world. Full control.

[35:14] Of the physical world. And we'll see this more. As the weeks go on. With the Lord's help. Again and again. We see healings. And help. And healings. And demon possessions. And helping them also.

[35:27] Jesus is in full control. In full control. As we come just now. And. I know some stories. But not all your stories.

[35:38] And I don't want to know your. I don't need to know. Your deepest. And heartfelt situations. Just now. But. There are some here. We can be guaranteed. Even perhaps privately.

[35:50] There are some here. Just now. And you're going through a situation. Perhaps a physical situation. You know. You're waiting for scans. And you're phoning doctors.

[36:01] And. We all know. Just how dark. And how. Hard going. These days can be. And so on. And so on. Whatever your situation is. Jesus knows.

[36:13] Jesus is. Is fully able. To be with you. In that situation. Perhaps you're more like. The first encounter. Not saying. You're demon possessed. But. Perhaps you're oppressed.

[36:24] Definitely oppressed. And you feel. Not just physically. Not just mentally. But you feel as if. There's spiritually something. That is just. Heavy in your life. That spiritual heaviness.

[36:36] It is attacking you. It is with you. All the time. Jesus. We've seen just now. Is in full power. In full control. And able.

[36:48] To resolve that also. The power we saw. And read of. Today. The same power. Of the same saviour. We worship. Just now. Whose name we call on.

[37:00] Just now. Whose presence. Is here with us. Just now. Who is living. Just now. The father's right hand. Just now. Exalted in glory. Just now. Making constant intercession.

[37:10] Constant prayer. For his people. Just now. That's the saviour. We read off these verses. That's the saviour. We worship. The one who heals. Who cares. Who loves.

[37:23] And we'll see that. As we come to the end of these verses. That evening at sundown. Verse 32. Sundown is important. Because the sabbath is over. And the sundown now comes. And they're oppressed.

[37:34] By demons. So the whole setting now comes. They all now come. They can now freely travel. The sabbath being done. And they come to the house. And he heals.

[37:45] And he heals. And he heals. And he heals. He heals his people. He cares for the people. It's all soaked in prayer.

[37:58] We can note that. As time's gone. We can note that very briefly. The section of verse 35. Down to verse 37. And rising early in the morning.

[38:08] Or very early in the morning. Whilst it was still dark. He departed. And went out to a desolate place. And there he prayed. And the disciples don't quite understand. The importance of what it is. That Jesus is doing. They come to him.

[38:19] They find him praying. They say to him. Everyone's looking for you. In other words. What are you doing here? What are you doing here? You should be doing there. Where all the action is. Where everyone's looking for you. But yet you're over here.

[38:29] You're praying. Jesus. This is important. You have to come and help these people. But Jesus is praying. There's power.

[38:41] And real power in this prayer. So much so that Jesus goes. And the wording here is very clear. There's several verbs. We could say. I guess doing words.

[38:53] He rises early. He departs. He went. And he prays. He goes. He goes. He goes. And he prays. Because he knows.

[39:04] As time goes on. The demons will only grow stronger. In opposition against his ministry. And against himself. The ill. And the sick people. The crowd of those who need healing. Are growing stronger and stronger.

[39:16] And whilst the demons. Get stronger in number. And the physical healings. There's more need. As more people come. And need healing. Jesus at the same time.

[39:26] Is heading towards. The cross. Heading towards. His end. Of his ministry on earth. And in the backdrop. Of all of this physical healing.

[39:38] And spiritual healing. We must never forget. That he is here. With one purpose. One ultimate purpose. And all these healings.

[39:49] Are just pointing towards. His reality. That he is the son of God. As even the demon. Could say. He is the holy one of God. Who has come. To die on the cross.

[40:00] To make full atonement. For all the sins. Of all his people. On the way there. Our gracious saviour. Our beloved saviour. Who loves. His created people.

[40:12] He gently. And carefully. Cares for them. Heals them. Shows ongoing love to them. You'll see. The Lord's help. In a few weeks time.

[40:23] Even right to the end of his life. He is still caring. And healing. And showing love. That is a saviour. We come to this day. A saviour who. Respect. Has time.

[40:34] For his people. Who has time. For his people. Who cares. For those. Who come to him. Who heals. Who tenderly.

[40:45] Draws you in. Who treats. With love. And carefulness. Those. Who come to him. In weakness. Whether you be. Possessed. Demon possessed.

[40:56] Or ill. Whether this day. You are feeling. Oppressed spiritually. Or depressed. Mentally. Or oppressed. Somehow physically. Come to the saviour.

[41:08] Who is able. In his power. Not just to accept you. But to work. In your life. For your good. And for his glory. Let's bow our heads now. A word of prayer.

[41:20] Lord God. We come before you once more. We thank you. For the gift of your word. In it we are reminded us. To the reality. That. In Jesus. We have all our hope. In Jesus.

[41:30] We have all. Lord. Our comfort. In him. We have a saviour. Who cares so deeply. For his people. A saviour. Who is able. And not just able. But a saviour. Who is willing. Lord.

[41:42] To come alongside his people. And all our pain. And all our misery. And all our. Our suffering. Perhaps. That he is a God. Who is caring. And loving. But also one.

[41:53] Who is. In his full power. Glorious. Highly exalted. Who is without. End of days. Who is eternal.

[42:04] And all powerful. And all glorious. Lord. As to him. We come just now. We thank you again. For the word. We ask once more. And you would forgive. Anything that was said. Not in accordance. To your word. As always. We give you praise.

[42:14] That a power is found in you. And not in the jars. Of clay. Lord. Who stand up here. That your name. Would be glorified. Through the preaching. And listening of your word. We come to you. As we come to sing.

[42:25] Our final item of praise. We would do so. With hearts and minds. Focused on you. Hearts and minds. Ready to worship you. And to praise you. We all pray for the one. The brother. Who leads the praise.

[42:36] And who led the praise today. We thank you for those. Who lead the praise. Who engage in this. Vital act of worship. Or to lead us. And the singing. The name of.

[42:47] Our Lord and our King. Who reigns. And who rules forever. It's in his name. We ask all these things. Amen. Let's conclude. By singing to God's praise.

[42:58] From Psalm 147. Sing Psalms. Sing Psalms. And Psalm 147.

[43:15] Sing Psalms. And Psalm 147. That's on page 192. Of the Psalm books. Page 192. Sing Psalms. Psalm 147.

[43:25] We can sing verses 1. Down to verse 7. Of the Psalm. Oh praise the Lord. How good it is. To sing him songs of praise. How pleasant.

[43:36] To give thanks to him. For all his gracious ways. The Lord builds up Jerusalem. And he it is alone. Who reaches out to Israel. To bring the exiles home.

[43:47] Psalm 147. Sing Psalms. Verses 1 to 7. To God's praise. God's praise. Oh praise the Lord.

[44:01] How good it is. To sing his songs of praise.

[44:12] How blessed. How blessed you. Give thanks to him. For all his gracious ways.

[44:28] The Lord builds up Jerusalem. The Lord builds up Jerusalem. And it is alone.

[44:43] Who reaches out to Israel. Israel. To bring the exiles home.

[44:57] He heals his people's broken heart.

[45:08] Restores the burst unlaid. He sends an unlaid.

[45:19] He sends an unlaid. The all blest earth. And God's damage by him.

[45:31] He gives the Lord. He gives the Lord. He gives the Lord. He gives the Lord. He gives the Lord. His wisdom is profound.

[45:46] The last host. The Lord is outstanding. The weight of patience. The and ensues of Lord.

[45:57] The Engines. The Big help. And the Son that go to heaven. Sing to the Lord with thankfulness, with joy His face proclaims.

[46:21] And with the music of the heart give glory to His name.

[46:40] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit both of you now and forevermore. Amen.

[46:51] Amen. Amen.

[47:23] Amen. Thank you. Thank you.

[47:54] Thank you.

[48:24] Thank you.

[48:54] Thank you.

[49:24] Thank you.