Mark 1 (Part 2) :21-45 - The Authority of Jesus

Welcome to Through the Bible with Pastor Paul from Life Bible Ministry. Journey from Genesis to Revelation as Pastor Paul guides you through every verse, leading you to a deeper understanding of the Scriptures that will strengthen your faith and transform your life. Now, let's get started with today's teaching as we open God's Word together.

In our first pass through chapter one, we got through the first 20 verses. So we're going to pick it up in verse 21, where Jesus is heading back to Galilee to minister. And it says, 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. Let me stop you there for just a moment to kind of remind you that the Jewish teachers back in those days, whether it was the rabbis or the scribes, they would spend a lot of their time just kind of quoting other scribes, other teachers. And they would say, well, as Rabbi Hillel said. And then they'd kind

of make a quote. Sometimes they would even give opposing viewpoints of the different rabbis and teachers over the years who had spoken into the Word of God. And it was basically just kind of the opinions of others. But Jesus didn't do that. He just spoke by the authority of His own Word. And He said, but I say to you. And people, I'm sure they were very taken aback at that sort of authority. And it just kind of surprised them.

You know, we forget sometimes that when we get into debates, and you know, I'm on Facebook, sometimes I wish I wasn't. 90 % of the time I wish I wasn't. But I'm there, lurking, sometimes in the background, reading. You know, sometimes you read comment sections under somebody's post and you have to, you're taking your life in your hands, you know. It's like I got to be prayed up before I get in and read this stuff, because it's just the cesspool of opinion. And we'll get into things with people. And you know, I hate to say it, but I'll do it, too. I get into things sometimes. And we forget, when we're talking about truth, that truth is not a debate process or a methodology. Truth is a person, you know?

And we forget that. Jesus said, I am the truth. He didn't just say, I know the truth. That's something you and I can say as it relates to what we understand from the Bible. I can say, I know the truth because I've read the Bible and I'm starting to understand it. But Jesus is the only person who came along and said, I am the truth. You want the truth? Come to me.

And when we're talking to people and we're debating issues of life, I think it's important that we don't just lend ourselves to the general conversation of opinion, but we rather step forth and allow the words of Jesus to speak for themselves, the authority of Jesus to speak for itself, because Jesus spoke with authority. He said things that nobody else can say because he has the authority to say them. I don't have the authority to say it. You don't have the authority to say it like he said it, but he did, and we can read it in the word, and we can share it with others, and we can bring the conversation out of the realm of opinion, which is where you can just get lost, can't you, in just everybody's opinion? Reply.

Well, I think that... Then somebody hits reply and they say well My thought is and pretty soon you just you're swimming Don't you feel that way? You're swimming in this cesspool of personal opinion and nobody really says anything with any kind of authority It's just what people think Who cares what people think you know I mean in the final analysis We got to get someplace where we begin to recognize truth for what it is. And I don't think there's anything wrong with saying, well, you know, Jesus taught us that, and then share what He said, and the authority by which He spoke. And if somebody's got a problem with Jesus, they can take it up with Him. And it's not you. It's not you just going, well, I think

that, because that's what everybody's doing. And Christians, you and I have a landline to authority that the world doesn't even begin to understand. We have a lifeline connected to the one who said, I am the truth. And we better be able to share it. I think it's important for you and I to not only share what Jesus said, but be able to know where He said it and to pinpoint the address for people. And if you guys, you know, some of you folks will say, well, you know, I just don't really know my Bible good enough.

Okay, I get that. Do you know how easy it is to look up a reference? with the internet these days, good grief. There is no reason anybody in the world, if you know just a few of the words from the verse, put it into Google. Google knows. They know everything. So put it in, and it pops up, and then you go, in Mark chapter 9. And you sound like, I got this one dialed in. It is important for you and I to establish that element of authority in our conversation. Not our authority, his authority, right? Because he is the truth, the one and only.

So, yeah, don't let just the swirling of opinion rule the day. Now, beginning in verse 23, Jesus is going to begin to show his authority. He has spoken. authority. Now he's going to go on to show it. It says, and immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And if you know the Old Testament or hang out in the Old Testament, you know that the word unclean is a borrowing from an Old Testament concept of ceremonially unclean. Our Leviticus study on Wednesday night is talking a lot about this, so we're very familiar with that word.

But as it relates to this particular verse, Unclean is simply more of a euphemism for a demonic spirit. So can you imagine being in church? Because they're in the synagogue, and all of a sudden there's this guy among them with a demonic spirit who comes forth in the thing. Here's what's interesting. When Mark describes this man who is possessed by a demonic spirit, this is interesting. He uses language in the Greek that is very similar to the language the apostle Paul uses when he describes a believer who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Very similar language. What's interesting about that is that you and I don't usually use the word possessed to describe ourselves. We don't go around telling people, I'm possessed

by God. But fundamentally, that's the case. We are a host. We are indwelt. by a spirit, in our case it's the spirit of the living God, and whereas an individual who is demonically possessed is a host who is invested with an unclean or demonic spirit, and it's a similar sort of a situation from that standpoint. Now, when you start looking at the result of that inhabitation, that's where the differences begin to really shine, because obviously you know that when it comes to demonic possession, The goal of the demonic spirit is to bring darkness slavery and ultimate destruction to a person's life but for you and I who are indwelt by the the spirit of the living God it is the opposite he comes to bring life and peace

and everlasting life at that right and truth and Freedom, you know, that's the wonderful thing about being invested with God's spirit. He brings freedom Demonic spirits bring slavery God's Spirit brings freedom. Jesus is the only one who said that I will set you free. And when I set you free, dude, you're going to be free. You're going to be completely free. And that's what He does in our lives. And He brings peace that the world is searching for and can't find. And we have it. Because the Prince of Peace dwells in our lives through faith. Right? So, it's... the differences are... Incredible. But the fundamental idea behind being indwelt, you know, is very similar and it is interesting that Mark uses similar language

here that would describe also a believer. When it comes to demonic stuff, this is where I'm always sensitive whenever we get to passages related to demonic activity because I know there's people who worry about these kinds of things. And I always want to settle their hearts. And there's usually a couple of questions that come up rather quickly when we start talking about the topic of demonic possession. And one of those is how does a person get possessed by a demon?

Here's the interesting thing. Do you realize that in the Bible there is no specific passage that brings necessarily any real insight on that question? It's a burning question. but it's one that the Bible doesn't necessarily answer. It simply says, these people, there were people who, you know, were possessed by demons and da da -da. Now, it's not like we're totally in the dark on the topic, of course. I really believe demonic possession is a counterfeit of the work that God desires to do in every believer to bring about the freedom and eternal life that he offers us through his indwelling spirit, but You know we've learned a lot for missionaries over the years We've been sending missionaries out for

a long long time and many of these people go to countries where demonic possession is like just right out there in the open and we have learned that where cultures have given themselves to pagan idolatry and and and dark occultic practices, there are often more instances of demonic activity and specifically demonic possession. So, you know, that Ouija board that you thought was harmless, you know, is anything but. But here's the next question that often troubles people quite a bit, and that is, is it possible for me as a Christian To be possessed by a demonic presence, and I can tell you in that particular case the answer is a resounding no It is not possible for one thing you're already invested with God's spirit

as a believer and believe me there ain't room for two or More, but you know the fact of the matter is there is not one single example in all of God's word of a believer being invested with the demonic presence. Not one example. And secondly, the writers of the New Testament letters never even give a hint of the idea that demonic possession is possible for a believer. Spiritual warfare? Oh, you betcha. You know, spiritual battles against, you know, darkness? Absolutely.

demonic possession for a believer, it's not even mentioned. It's not even warned against. And you'll notice as you read through the New Testament that none of the New Testament authors suggest anything related to getting rid of a demon that might be behind your problems. In other words, they never suggest an exorcism. You don't ever see that in the New Testament. You don't see Paul or Peter or somebody going, yeah, well if somebody's got this issue going on in the church, then You know, you better get out the holy water or something. They just don't do that. The word that is given to believers when we struggle with areas of sinful behavior and that sort of thing is always one. And that's repent. Repent. That's

what we're told to do as believers. Because you can't blame it on demonic possession. Having said that, I know that there are plenty of authors and flashy guys and gals on TV these days who are telling you the opposite of what I am saying to you today. And many of them are saying that you can be demonically invested, even as a believer.

And I just want you to know that those individuals say what they say without the authority or backing of Scripture. It's just not there. There's actually scriptural evidence to show that what they're saying is not true. Let me show you a passage on the screen here from 1 John chapter 5 verse 18. It says, we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning. And by the way, that's a reference to believers having been set free from the dominion of sin or the tyranny of sin. It goes on to say, but he who was born of God, and that's a reference to Jesus, protects him. And look at this last sentence, and the evil one does not Touch Him." That's a wonderful proof text to show you and I that,

you know, when it comes to believers, it's a hands -off approach related to the work of the enemy in our lives. And now, again, I want to just remind you as it relates to spiritual battles, spiritual difficulties, oh yeah! I mean, the enemy is a very real and very malevolent enemy. who we have to be prepared for. This is mentioned many times in the Word. Peter talks about it in 1 Peter 5. Be sober -minded. He says, be watchful.

Why? Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He says resist him. Firm in your faith. So is the reality of satanic activity or attack in your life a real one? Absolutely, according to the Scripture. And then look at Paul's comments in Ephesians, the 6th chapter, the 12th verse. He says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So, again, plenty of scriptures to tell us that demonic activity and battles are a lot in life. But I want to just encourage you as a believer as someone who has received Christ

as your Savior Possession is not in the cards for you So here's this guy Talk about interrupting a church service. It says he cries out verse 24 What have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the holy one of God And by the way, this was very common. Mark's going to talk about it here in just a few verses. How the demons would often do this. They would speak through the host to try to expose Him. And they would say, I know who you are. And they'd start kind of freaking out whenever Jesus would be around. And they'd say things like, have you come to cast us into the abyss? And they'd just get all whacked out and so forth. But Jesus always commanded them

to be silent, not to tell who He was. causes a question sometimes to rise up in people's minds. Why? Why did Jesus do that? Why did he tell the demons to be quiet? Well, you have to understand something about Israel. For almost the last 100 years, at this particular time in their history, they have been under Roman occupation, meaning the Romans have ruled the roost, if you will.

They were conquered. And they are dominated militarily, politically. They really don't have any kind of a sovereign existence in their own country. And the Jews chafed under that heavy -handed Roman leadership, and they wanted very much to be free of it. Well, for the last 30 years, there's been a lot of talk in Israel about the coming Messiah. And people are at a fever pitch about this anticipation. And now here's Jesus who comes out onto the scene and He starts doing miracles and the Word is getting around. The miracle, could this be the Messiah? Well, Jesus knows that there are a lot of hot -headed individuals, they called them zealots, who wanted so desperately to be free from Roman rule that Jesus knew that

they could potentially take Him by force and demand Him to be crowned King of Israel, which of course, would have brought the wrath of Rome down upon the Jews very quickly and decisively. And beyond that, there was a timetable that God had for letting the people know who He was. And so Jesus avoided any of these blatant declarations by Satan to try to expose who He was before the time. And besides, Jesus didn't need a satanic spokesman. You know for his ministry, but that's why it says in verse 25 If you look in your Bible that Jesus rebuked him saying be silent and come out of him and the unclean spirit Convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him Now what you so this is cool. You see

the authority of Jesus. It's like you out What you don't know is that? Jesus was not the only person going around at this time doing exorcisms. It was actually a fairly popular sort of a thing. Doesn't mean they were successful at it necessarily, but they were doing it. And I say they, there was just lots of different people who, because demonic possession was a problem, there were a lot of people going around trying to set others free, I'm sure for various motives. But what they would do, these other exorcists, is they would employ all kinds of fancy language and methodology and Kind of like today how we do things with holy water and stuff like that. And they would do all that. A lot of ceremonies and

long worded things to oust the demonic presence. And Jesus comes along and he says, hey, be quiet, get out of him. And the demon responded. And that was so... different for what these people had witnessed from any kind of exorcism that was going on. And they would just go, OK, that's cool. This guy has authority. He doesn't cite other people, use phrases, wild and wacky, elaborate ceremonial things. He doesn't even have to light a candle. This guy just says, out with you. And they leave. And immediately, people understand, wow. And what does that tell you about God's authority over the demonic realm? It tells you who has the authority, doesn't it? The one we serve. Look at verse 27. of Galilee. He got people

talking. Verse 29. And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew. They were brothers with James and John. Now Simon's mother -in -law lay ill with a fever and immediately they told him about her and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her and she began to serve them. This is a beautiful and I think fairly simple miracle, if miracles can be classified as simple. But it's amazing for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it's amazing for what I guess it shows, but it's amazing for the example that it gives us. Have you had a bad fever? I mean, I remember as a kid getting fevers, you know, but you know... As a kid, you'd get over your fever and, man, I'd be out playing, you know, like an hour after my fever dropped, you know?

But I've noticed as I get older, that's just not the case anymore. For one thing, I don't go out and play anymore, but still, when you've had a fever, and then, you know, even if your fever breaks, it goes away, it takes about three days just to feel like half normal again, right? And it's a weird thing about getting older. Those of you who are young, God bless you. This is all coming down the pike for you. So we can imagine that, you know, Peter's mother -in -law was probably an elderly woman since we know that he himself was married, you know, I would, I'm guessing, maybe in his 40s, early 40s or something like that. So maybe this woman is in her 70s. It says though that she, you know, Jesus heals her. takes

her fever away, and she gets up immediately. Not only did he heal her of the fever, she instantly had her strength back, and she just begins to wait on them. She begins to serve, which is very cool. I mean, that shows an incredible and full healing. But it is kind of a cool example too, because that strength that I'm sure was gone for this woman. has now been restored. And what does she do with that which God gives her back?

She gets up and starts serving the Lord right away. And I like that example because, you know, I've noticed in our lives when we come to Christ, He gives us things and He often gives us back things that we had lost because of sin or because of just stupidity or whatever. Jesus restores that which is lost. Have you ever noticed that?

In my case, It was my marriage You know God restored my marriage. He gave me my marriage and gave it back better than before I think when God gives us something back It behooves us to take that thing whatever it is and start to serve God with it You know just like this woman she her strength had to have been gone with a fever elderly woman God gives it back Jesus restores her and she gets up and starts serving and I'm sure joyfully right away, I'm going to take what God has given me back, and I'm going to serve Him with it with all my heart. What has He given you back? What has the Lord restored in your life? Take that thing, whatever it is, and serve the Lord with all of your heart. Begin immediately. Get up

and serve God. Give it to Him. Bless Him and bless others with what you have received. I think that's such a neat example. You know, this woman isn't even mentioned by name. We don't we don't you know you see her in heaven. She's gonna have to tell you who she is. I was Peter's mother in -law Had a fever Lord healed me you know I want to just walk up to that lady someday and just go you know what you're a cool example Of what it means to receive something back from the Lord and begin to serve him with it right away verse 32 that evening at sundown they brought him all who were sick or oppressed by Demons and that tells you right there. This has been an incredibly busy day because now it's sundown

the beginning of the day people are just Rushing to Jesus all throughout the day. He goes into Peter's house Supposedly to kind of get away from the crowd for a second. There's more work to be done there and You know, you got a sick mother -in -law, you know, and then the whole town comes to Peter's house to hang out at the door. So what does Jesus do? Does He say, I'm sorry, it's been a really busy day. Everybody needs a break. So we're good, just you guys go home. I hate to say that, but sometimes I feel a little entitled after a busy day. We have a busy day of ministry. Sundays, as you can well imagine, are my busiest day of the week. And I take Mondays off and I got to be honest with you This sinner Sometimes looks at Monday like

that's my day and you better not trample on it You know what I mean, and it's like we're just gonna sit around in our jammies and we're gonna just hang I'm gonna sleep till noon and we're gonna shut the shades and if somebody comes to the door, we're just Right I'm going to turn off my phone because I kind of feel like I'm entitled because I had a busy day. And I am humbled by how Jesus responds to the crowds. Now it's night, He's got to be exhausted. And the people of the town come to Peter's door. Hey, is the Master there? And Jesus comes out and He just has compassion on these people. You guys, oh, come on. Arms out, healing people. casting out more demons, you know, battling, loving, caring.

I'm just so blessed by His compassion, aren't you? Because guys, this is the compassion of God. Sometimes when you listen to our prayers, it sounds like we need to talk God into being compassionate. Have you ever noticed that? It's like I have to kind of prevail upon Him to care. Because I'm not really sure He cares. So my prayer is kind of like, God! Don't you see what's going on? Don't you care about me? This is a painful, challenging situation. I need your help and I know you're busy. We do all kinds of dumb things, don't we? I've had people actually say that to me. I know God's really busy. Yeah, well, you know, it takes a lot to be God. But it's like He's got time for you. And His heart is moved

by people. It says they were sick with diseases and demonic issues and oh dear. But it tells us here that again, He wouldn't permit any of the demons to speak because they knew Him. That's interesting. Demons knew Him. Demons know Jesus. What does that do for your theology? Demons know Him. They knew who He is. There's no question.

Jesus doesn't walk into a room and the demons aren't going, who's that? They're like, oh, the Holy One of God, right? You know, it's even accurate to say that to some degree demons even believe that He is who He says He is. Let me show you a passage from James chapter 2 verse 19. I'm quoting this out of the NIV because I kind of like the way it sounds. He says, you believe there's one God? Good. Even the demons believe that, and they shudder. I just love that verse.

James is one of those straight talkers. He doesn't kind of mess around. He says, you say you believe in God? Wonderful. Demons believe in God in the sense that they know who he is, and they shudder at the sound of his name. Now, my point of all this is that I think people sometimes rest in that same kind of superficial knowledge. Like, you know, I know who Jesus is. I even believe He is who He said He was. You know what? Big deal. I remember as a teenager hearing the gospel.

I was probably about 15 years old or so. And I heard the gospel. I even remember where it was. When I heard it. And I remember understanding it. This guy who was sharing the gospel was really good and he was talking about Jesus on the cross and how he suffered for our sin and I remember it just hit me like a ton of bricks I thought wow he did this he bore the sin he bore my sin, and I knew that he bore my sin and And I even knew that I needed him to be forgiven you know and so But you know it took it took time in my life to really Make it personal To go beyond kind of that superficial thing where you know, yeah, Jesus, you know who Jesus Yeah, I know who Jesus is. Yeah. Do you believe Jesus is who

he said he was? Yeah. Yeah sure Have you made him Savior and Lord? Well, I don't know You know because that's the next step, isn't it? The Bible doesn't just say, you know, just just just believe who he said he was and you're good to go It says to those who received him right He gave the right to become children of God. To those who received.

That's why when we take communion, it's a picture of salvation. We don't just watch the cup and the thing go past us. We take it and we receive it. We take it in. I take the bread and I eat it and the cup and I drink it. I'm showing by that that I've received this thing. It's inside of me now, you know? And so communion is this picture of not just giving some kind of a intellectual assent or intellectual kind of nod to, hey, there's Jesus. He's the cool guy. But saying, yeah, he's my savior. He's my savior. I have received him into my heart. He has forgiven all of my sin.

He's mine. Right? And you can have him, too. That's what we're talking about here. And that's why James is making that comment, you know, about, hey, you say you believe in God? Great. Even the demons believe in Him in that sense. Have you received Him as your Savior? People, we're talking about going past religion to relationship.

We're talking about really knowing that you are born again because the Spirit of God is living in your heart and yeah, you've made Him Lord. Okay, so we move on here. Verse 35. 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, and they found him and said to him, everyone is looking for you. And he said to them, I just really need a day off. See, that's what I would say. He says, no, let's go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that's why... I came out after, and you know what? Here, a long day of ministry goes into the night. Jesus finally probably

lays down somewhere in the house to get some rest, and it says that before the sun even rose, he was up praying. And you know, that tells us something also about not just his heart toward people and ministry. It also tells us something about prayer. I think some of us are waiting for prayer to be convenient. It's not convenient.

It is never convenient to pray. When you get together with other believers, and you're going to spend some time wrestling in prayer, it's not convenient. It's not easy. It's hard work. It's challenging. And you may have to give something up in order to go do it. In Jesus' case, he gave up a few hours of precious sleep. Which you know we hold on to like you know and we quote all these things eight or nine hours of sleep every night You know and drink plenty of water and all this stuff And we're also whacked out about what it takes to you know be healthy And we're kind of hanging on to our lives like we don't want to let them go and Jesus kind of lived his life with just this like reckless sort of I don't

mean reckless in a bad way, but but in a sense of just this is for you He's giving his life away and prayer for him meant sacrifice sacrificing something precious. I've told you guys, we get together for prayer on Thursday mornings and it's hard when we get to this time of year because we wake up in the morning and it's dark. And I don't like getting up when it's dark. It's just a bummer. Even if I'm awake, I don't mind necessarily waking up when it's dark. I'm just going to stay under the covers until I see the light of day, you know what I mean? But we get up and it's cold in the house. and it's dark and it's like, we gotta go pray. Sue and I were kinda talking about it and we thought, maybe

we shouldn't get up quite so early in the winter. We kinda entertained that idea for a minute. No, no, no, no. It's never gonna be convenient. It's never gonna be easy. Let's just do it. Let's do it because it needs to be done. Amen? Oh, guys, we need to be better prayers. And we need to be careful not to wait for it to be easy.

It's never going to be easy. Don't expect it to be. Verse 39. 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, in other words, if you're willing, You can make me clean." And moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will, which means literally, I am willing. Be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. This is such an amazing thing on several different levels. But, you know, when you think about what this man said to Jesus, Think of it like it's a prayer, since we're talking about prayer, okay? We get so bound up thinking

we gotta say prayers just the right way, or we have to use this kind of eloquent speech or whatever, and people, the vast majority of people will not pray in public because there's kind of an expectation that they're just not gonna be able to say it right, or they're gonna sound stupid. People, prayer is nothing but talking, and it just happens to be talking to God. And you know, if you don't push out any King James English, that's okay. He can still understand you without the Elizabethan kind of edge to your wording and that sort of thing. In fact, I think one of the most powerful prayers is just, God, I need you. But you know, people will avoid public prayer like the plague. And again, it's because

there's this expectation that I've got to say it just so. Let me show you this man's prayer, because there's these eight points that kind of goes along with his prayer as we kind of dissect it. And I'll show you what he's kind of doing here. We can put that up on the screen. Notice that the first thing is that his prayer was sincere and desperate. It says he implored Jesus, right?

Second of all, it was reverent. He knelt down to speak to him, and that's... an attitude of the heart. Next, it was humble and submissive. He said, if you will, or if you are willing. But it also had an edge of faith to it. He said, if you're willing, you can. You can do this. It acknowledged his need to make him clean. It was very specific to make him clean. It was personal, make me clean. And in the Greek, it was just five short words. And guess what? It got His attention. Five short words. Can you say five short words? I mean, we do it to our dogs all the time. Can we do that to God? He's not waiting for you to learn how to be flowery. He simply wants a relationship with you and for you to

talk to Him. And so I think we need to take a page out of this guy's prayer journal and just kind of keep it simple, you know? And the other thing I like about this is this guy came right to Jesus, you know? You've heard me say before, and I'm going to keep saying it, we in the United States of America as Christians, we need to get over our American idol approach to prayer that elevates one person's prayer above another just because we think they're more spiritual. And you know what, I get how it happens. I remember as a new Christian, being in my 20s, I actually had an opportunity to go down south to a conference.

And there were some men who were speaking at this conference who were really, they were heavy hitters in the church from the standpoint that they'd written a lot of books and commanded a lot of crowds. I mean, people came to see them in droves. And I was able to be in... one of these sorts of meetings. And afterward, they made it possible for people to come up and get prayer. And so I stood in line for a long time just to have these guys lay hands on me and pray for me. And I remember at the time kind of thinking, whoa, this is going to be cool. And I recall when they prayed for me, a couple of guys prayed for me at the same time. And I remember at the time even having kind of an expectation excitedly

that, you know, To have such men of such what I consider to be incredible worth, you know Laying hands on me and praying for me. Let me tell you what I've learned is I've gotten older I've recognized how dangerous my previous attitude was Because it is a worldly attitude not a biblical one It is it is like I said, it's the American Idol approach to seeing people rather than understanding people from the context of the kingdom of God, which says, you want to be the greatest? Be the least. We don't usually go clamoring after the least. I've learned that the least of these often have some of the most incredibly powerful prayers.

In fact, you know what? You really want your prayers. You want somebody to pray for you? Go get a kid. About a four -year -old. They know how to pray. And there's just such this simple, childlike faith, you know? And they don't try to be flowery or weird about it. And they just get right to the thing. I love how kids pray.

I do. I think it's great. Everybody else is trying to impress you. Kids are not trying to impress you. I mean, they'll be praying for you and pick their nose at the same time. Doesn't matter to them. It's just, we're just doing this thing, right? And so, you know, I got to tell you, I get uncomfortable. I get uncomfortable when people, when I sense that people have come up to me wanting prayer, and they think that there's some kind of special input that I have with God. That makes me uncomfortable. I get where it comes from, kind of, sorta, but I also know that it's completely untrue. My prayers have absolutely no more value or carry no more weight than do yours. My access to the throne of grace is no different from yours.

You have the exact same access. The Bible says the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Well, guess what? In Jesus, you are all righteous because you have made Him Lord of your life and you have put on the robe of righteousness. So your prayers are powerful and effective. So start using them, right? Want you to notice here too that Jesus was it says moved with pity and again that reminds us how God sees our hurts and our pains Right, but remember something about leprosy back in Jesus's day If if as a Jew I saw someone walk past me who had leprosy I would think essentially two things number one.

I would think you are a walking dead person It's just a matter of time before you drop in your tracks But the second thing and the more cruel thing that I would probably think about such an individual is You are under the judgment of God and you're getting what you deserve as Painful as that is that's the way people actually saw lepers and a healthy Jew Learned early on that they were to stay clear of lepers There was to always be a minimum of six feet if not more between themselves and someone with leprosy. And the custom among the people was that you would never greet a leper when you saw them in public. You would ignore them. Many times, if they spoke to you, you would not speak back. In fact, a

leper was required whenever they left the leper colony and came out into the public square. They were required to cry out. unclean, unclean, so as to warn people to get out of the way because they were coming through. So you can see here that the response of Jesus is so other than what this person would have expected. And did you notice that Jesus did the unthinkable? He reached down and touched this guy. That would have blown the leper away. Let me tell you that nobody touched them anymore for one thing. They couldn't feel it The nerve endings of their body were for the most part dead But the fact that Jesus with such compassion with such grace reached down and touched this man that would have been enough But yet

he then went on to heal him of his leprosy And I love this passage because, again, it tells us the heart of God toward people who are hurting. And that is His heart. And then we're told in verse 43 that Jesus sternly charged Him and sent Him away at once and said to Him, all right, 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 to them. And by the way, for those of us who are going through Leviticus on Wednesday night, We're gonna actually get to a place in Leviticus where the laws regarding lepers are going to be talked about and we'll get to that here after a while But Jesus is basically telling this man to in keeping with the law of

Moses to go and have his his physical condition examined by the priest so that he might be declared clean and able to come into the temple precincts and worship with the other people. But more than that, it was also an opportunity to communicate to the priest that a miracle had taken place. But we find out that that's really not what this guy did. It says in verse 45 that he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news so that Jesus could no longer openly even enter a town. People would just swarm around him. So it wasn't even safe anymore. And we're told that he would stay out in the desolate places.

But even so, the people came out to him were told from every quarter to seek him out and that sort of thing. Here's the thing I want to end with here this morning, just a thought for you. People are still seeking out Jesus. I don't know if you're aware of that. One of the things that I recognize by being on Facebook and places like that is that people are pretty discouraged right now with the condition of our nation. the world at large I guess but it hits us most poignantly and personally here in the United States of America and we're there's quite a bit of discouragement about the coming election you know should I vote for hopelessness or incredible hopelessness that seems like those are our choices and people are

pretty you know they're struggling and people know that we're we're living in a world that is morally corrupt and becoming darker all the time. And it's pretty easy to let all that darkness start to kind of cave in on you. There's something that's interesting about the darkness that we Christians need to be aware of. The darkness has this incredible side effect of compelling people toward the light. And you, Jesus said, are the light of the world. And in this time of darkness, we cannot afford to allow our emotions to become so buried under the negative pessimism of what is being broadcast abroad so much in our culture that we become discouraged and we just kind of like whatever God I'm just praying

come Lord Jesus I'm not gonna talk to anybody I'm not gonna say anything I'm gonna close down my Facebook account which might not be a bad deal anyway but You know what I'm saying? But there's this tendency to want to kind of just withdraw and go, well, you know, whatever. Let it happen, God, because it's coming down anyway.

And you know what? There's people who still need to hear. And people are still coming to the light. It blows me away, but it's happening, you guys. People are drawn to the light of Christ, and they're coming. And we can't pull back because this is our day. This is our day. What I mean by that is you are You're alive right now, right?

I mean, I assume you'd agree with that. And that means that in this day, you know, October 2016, this is when God intended for you to be alive. In this level of darkness, in this level of moral depravity, He brought you into the world for just this day, just this time, just this level of moral depravity. This is the time we live.

Well, it's no good just sitting around complaining about it. Let's do something. Let's be aware that people are coming. They need to hear about Jesus Christ, and we have the answer. So when you're at work or when you're out in the marketplace, be prepared, Peter said, to give an answer to anybody who asked you to give the reason for the hope that you have. And if there was ever a time to be prepared, it's now, because the darkness is closing in. But you know, when the darkness closes in, The light gets brighter.

And we can't afford to extinguish that light. So let's let it shine. Like Jesus said, hey, who takes a lamp and lights it and then puts a bowl over the top of it? Can't afford to do that. No, you light a lamp so it gives light to the whole room. So give a light where you work, where you go to school, in your family.

Let your light shine. It doesn't mean be obnoxious. It just means live for Christ. And understand that people are coming. You've been listening to Through the Bible with Pastor Paul from Life Bible Ministry. For the complete library of Pastor Paul's teaching and full transcripts, visit lifebibleministry .com. We hope today's teaching has encouraged and inspired you. We look forward to you joining us again as we continue our journey through the Scriptures.

Mark 1 (Part 2) :21-45 - The Authority of Jesus

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