When You Have To Say No

 

 

"Then He stood up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she stood up and began waiting on them.

And while the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. And demons also were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He was not allowing them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were eagerly seeking for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."

Luke 4:38-44

 

Good Morning my beloved,

We extend a warm welcome to you as we come together to worship in the name of the Father and our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is truly a privilege to have you with us today. We are thankful for those who have been actively sharing our ministry's website with their friends, neighbors and loved ones. Your commitment and dedication to spreading the Gospel message has led to remarkable outcomes, it is such a joy to see how God is using this ministry to impact the lives of many, particularly in regions that have not been reached previously. We humbly ask for your faithful prayers, as we continue proclaim the truth boldly in a number of areas where Christians are facing more than just mere criticism for following Jesus, they are facing the most severe persecution. Yet, in spite of these obstacles, they are still so hungry to hear the life saving Truth of the Gospel, some even going so far as to invite people who reject the Bible, and deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

When discussing the doctrine of salvation, there is always a lot of talk about what salvation is, but there is very little discussion about what salvation does when a person becomes a believer, and confesses Jesus as Lord despite what Scripture teaches. Let me start by saying that a person who has received salvation, who has been redeemed, who has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God, does not willfully continue in sin. The notion that salvation can be achieved apart from genuine repentance, which always results in a changed behavior, leading to a complete transformation, including a profound hatred of sin and wrongdoing is found nowhere in Scripture, neither has it been believed nor taught by the people of God, that is until the fundamental change in values occurred during the mid twentieth century, the high cost of rejecting God is being under His judgment, America has been experiencing God's judgment since the explosion of sexual revolution, which perverts, and altogether corrupts man’s ability to think logically. Consider the way our society has corrupted God’s design for marriage, by aggressively sexualizing young children prematurely, before they can even fully comprehend it, just to escape the truth about God.

 

I am convinced, that if we're going to talk about salvation, we need to address the issue of deliverance, a critical part of salvation that I don't believe many Christians today understand. Salvation is the act of being rescued, but being saved isn't the end of the process, it's just the beginning. Such a distorted misrepresentation of salvation and the power of God, undermines the incredible and wondrous work of deliverance that Christ accomplished in the lives of everyone who has been reborn. If Christ saved you, He paid the price with His blood and filled you with His Holy Spirit, that transaction is permanent, meaning Satan no longer has authority over you, his power has been shattered once and for all. If you're a Christian, there is no reason for you to fear losing your salvation, because it’s all from God. Believe me, God doesn’t play fast and loose with His people, if salvation were up to you and me, and our ability to hold fast to Christ, we would have lost it a long time ago. Jesus made it very clear in John 6, that He will keep and preserve every true believer that belongs to Him, "Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

 

Since Jesus is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Deliverer, then deliverance becomes a crucial aspect of achieving salvation, if Jesus is Who He professed to be and if He possesses the divine abilities He claimed to have, the Messiah who rescues His people from Satan and the kingdom of darkness, and delivers them from sin, eternal death and judgment, not because we deserve to be rescued, but as an expression of His mercy and love. Salvation and deliverance are then, essentially two sides of the same coin, so it’s important to understand that one who is truly saved is delivered and one cannot experience deliverance apart from being truly saved, however, the terms are not synonymous. As part of our salvation, we have been granted through Christ, the power to overcome the influence of Satan in our lives, who seeks to deceive us with his worldly temptations of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, with which we struggle on a day-to-day basis, but we can overcome his lies by standing firm on the Word of God, because we are aware that Satan is the father of lies.

I wouldn't be true to the calling God has placed on my life, which continues to bear heavily on my heart, 

if I didn't warn you that it must be acknowledged being influenced by today's culture, that the church is inadvertently moving further away from God's design for life, marriage, and the family and what it means to be a true Christian. I believe that as Christians, we must stand firm against the satanic systems of this world and uphold the foundational Truths found in God's Word. It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often, that Jesus very clearly tells us in John 14:15, that if we love Him, that we will keep His commandments. Obviously, if the church is to keep His commandments, if we are to live a life that strives to conform to God's fixed standards, not just on the outside in terms of our external behavior, but internally in terms of our thought life and beliefs, there must be very careful detail given to the preaching and teaching of sound doctrine, empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is about being born-again in Christ, made a new creation; therefore, the old things passed away, and new things have come.

The Christian life is a life that no longer conforms to the ways of the world, one that seeks to please self, but through the renewing of our mind, resulting in an inward transformation, and becomes a life that seeks to please God, that manifests itself through ones outward behavior. Salvation is the very heart and soul of the Christian faith, that we might demonstrate the saving power of God to a watching world through our transformed life. That is the reason that we aren't taken immediately to heaven after salvation, so that the rest of the world can see what a redeemed sinner looks like. Nothing showcases God's miraculous work of salvation and deliverance of sin more powerfully than the extraordinary life of a once unworthy sinner whose life has been totally transformed, and now desires to live a godly life, denying ungodliness and unrighteousness, in accordance with God's divine purposes and plans.

 

In order to achieve a higher level of purity, it is essential for the church to have leaders who are pure, holy and above reproach, who no longer follow their own sinful desires, anything less spells disaster for the life of the church. Because if the preachers themselves are corrupt, the battle for maintaining Scriptural integrity, will fall hopelessly by the wayside. There is an unprecedented level of tolerance for sin in the church that I don't believe I've ever seen before in my lifetime, by those who want to lower God's standard of holiness for who represent Him, however, the implications of that have been devastating to the purity of the church. Professing Christians tend to be more sympathetic toward church leaders who fall into sin and are quick to support the restoration of those who have sullied the pulpit after a short period, even though their immoral actions biblically disqualify them from ministry, I suppose because it makes them feel more at ease with their own transgressions. If a man is truly repentant, we can and certainly should be kind, gracious, loving and forgiving without restoring them to pulpit, sacrificing God's moral standards required for one who ascends to ministry, so that purity can be maintained. Frankly, I can think of a long list of people that should be deemed disqualified from ministry, who should never be permitted to open their mouth to preach from the pulpit because of their immoral conduct, not to mention the damning words that come out of their mouth.

 

Make no mistake, the Lord detests lying lips, and takes pleasure in those who tell the truth. He forewarns that the time will come when He will silence the lying lips of those who promulgate Satan's dangerous deceptions with their inflammatory words. Proverbs 10 says "The mouth of the righteous bears wisdom, but the tongue of perversions will be cut out." Obviously, we can't go around cutting out the tongues of people who carelessly blaspheme God, but we have been giving the task of exposing them until God chooses to silence them. In Matthew 23, Jesus dealt harshly with the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders who misrepresented God's Truth leading people astray, pronouncing a series of "woes," against them, delivering damnation, cursing, and judgment. God has always concerned Himself with the silencing of those who teach error. Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 23, God said "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" And in the very next verse He said, "..Behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds." If anything is clear from Scripture, it's that God is very concerned about the spiritual health of His church and He is going to punish false shepherds for their wickedness, leading His people into their own lifestyle of immorality. As followers of Christ, our motivation to live a righteous and holy life stems from our desire to bring glory to God, so that He might be honored among men, and we can't do that living an morally corrupt life, even if our doctrine is sound. For the Christian, taking up our cross is a daily exercise in dying to self, we do that by saying no to the things of this world and killing the sin in our lives. Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 9, "I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." 

 

The Bible is very explicit, there is a standard of conduct for both His pastors His people, a set pattern that is clearly outlined and the church has the responsibility to conform to it. These are not ideas, or suggestions subject to negotiation, they are commands. Yet, when we look at the church today, I believe we already know we’re living in very dangerous times and the reality is, things are growing exceedingly worse and worse, I believe the results clearly speak for themselves!

 

The church is filled with false teachers who are propagating false doctrine, that is being believed and followed by superficial Christians, content with living ungodly lives. We often put a great emphasis on the importance of teaching sound doctrine within the church, and that is certainly true, but that is not all that there is to Christianity, alongside the teaching of the Word of God, apart from giving you biblical knowledge, there must be a call to action, an exhortation, a clear directive that must follow to lead a life that reflects, embraces, and practices those teachings, maintaining an exemplary life, to shut the mouths of our critics, causing some to come to Christ and glorify God. In other words, it isn’t enough for me to just give you the information, to exposit the Scripture unless I am willing to exhort you to faithfully apply it to your lives. So, by providing you with the knowledge and encouraging you to apply these biblical principles to your lives, then holding you accountable, I am confident that I am following the pattern established by God through the Holy Spirit, as commanded in Scripture. As pastors and leaders, we are people in the position of significant influence, influence by what we teach and influence by what we live, so it is important that the influence of our teaching, match the influence of our lives.

 

And, I would be unfaithful to you as your pastor, if I didn’t confess there are in a sense times when I have occasionally fallen short of living up to that example set before me in that day-to-day struggle, failing to achieve that perfect standard; to be very clear, this does not involve any immoral behavior that would damage my reputation, nor does it include taking credit for things I did not do that would be destructive to the ministry, or fabricating information, not teaching the Truth that would harm my credibility, but a failure to acknowledge that absolutely nothing happens outside His will, His divine plan, and that when God places us in situations or circumstances we may not necessarily prefer, it is because there is a purpose to fulfill, whether it be in my life or yours. It is more about failing to give God the recognition He deserves for what He is doing around me. I don't want to live in a world where the sovereign God is not in charge, operating in ways that are beyond my understanding. I've come to realize that every day, God is unmistakably doing something, orchestrating events in my life, and no matter how the circumstances may appear at the moment, in the end, they ultimately always come together in ways that are inexplicable by human understanding.

Have you ever noticed, that everything God requires of us, everything that He demands of us, He graciously bestows upon us as a gift, through His divine providence, when you fully embrace where you are? When I look back on my life, I'm grateful for the story that God has divinely written for me in my life, even the struggles, as hard as they may be, I wouldn’t change anything, except to sin less, because it is in those painful trials, those most difficult moments of my life, times where it looks like there isn't any way out, that God’s hand has most powerfully and effectively unveiled His divine providence. So, I wanted to share this little illustration with those of you who may be experiencing difficulty trusting Him, feeling like God has failed you, or is somehow being unfair to you because of the circumstance you find yourself in, you have no reason to doubt, now or in the future. God has not only equipped us with His Word, He has blessed us with His Son and He has empowered us through His Holy Spirit to live godly lives, that reflect His holy character. Beloved, we have the blueprint in God's Word, however, we must be willing to let go of our need to control, and allow our lives to be controlled by God, in order to fulfill God's design for His Church, some very important roles for ourselves, our families, and our children. There’s something that just came to my mind, something that we all need to be reminded of, so that we might feel secure, trusting in the unfolding provision of God. Follow along with me as I read Psalm 23.

 

"Yahweh is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever."

Would you pray with me?

Heavenly Father,

Father, thank You for Your Word, what a precious gift we've been given, a gift that is so often overlooked. We admit that our mere words cannot express the gratitude in our hearts for Your Word, how deeply thankful we are for those precious moments of fellowship when we confess our shortcomings, finding that despite our efforts to be like Him, we fall short, and we acknowledge that we are still so very far away from the perfection of Christ. Lord, this broken and fallen world needs desperately to hear from You. Lord, there is a dire need for Your guidance, for Your wisdom among Your people, who are struggling with conflicts in the church, their families, in marriages, battling with temptation during these challenging times. Help us to be a submissive learner, by humbling ourselves at the foot of the cross, and pursue a life of holiness and righteousness, followed by a life of obedience. Meet them in whatever place they are in, and speak to them through Your Word, even as I struggle with my weakness. Break up the hardened places in their hearts, and call them to the true repentance that leads to saving faith, cause us to be eager to hear Your voice. We ask and pray these things in Christ's name.

Amen

 

Today's Message: When You Have To Say No

 

Open you Bibles with me and turn with me to Luke chapter 4, verses thirty-eight through forty-four. Luke 4:38-44.  In these verses, we see another picture of Jesus, Who came into the world to deliver His people from the kingdom of darkness, breaking shackles of their sin and extend an offer forgiveness with the hope of eternal life to all who believe in Him and put their complete trust in Him. Humanity has a sin problem and there's nothing that sinners need more than deliverance and forgiveness of sin, in these verses Jesus not only asserts these claims, but He actually provides concrete evidence of His divinity, demonstrating His ability to heal physical disease, His authority to cast out demos, validating the claims that He is in fact the promised Messiah. I trust that you will follow along with me as I read, to get our minds set on God's Word as we open up our hearts and listen for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us today.

"Then He stood up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she stood up and began waiting on them.

And while the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. And demons also were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He was not allowing them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were eagerly seeking for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea."

 

Let's begin by looking at verse 38, "Then He stood up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her." In our last message, Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath in Capernaum, He was the guest teacher, we can assume He read from the scroll of Isaiah 61 as He had done in the synagogue at Nazareth, He may have even preached the same message, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." In other words, He preached the good news, then He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down and said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." He was announcing He is the fulfillment of that promise, He is Messiah and the favorable year of the Lord has begun. And they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority that was so great that the man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon could not constrain himself and cried out with a loud voice, "Let us alone! What do we have to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!" Of course, the people in the synagogue were astonished to find out that one of their own has a demon living in him. Jesus commanded the demon to "Be quiet, and come out of him." And, in one last act of defiance, the demon had thrown him down in their midst, and then came out of him against his will, without doing the man any harm. So, verse 38, picks up that same day.

 

Now, He has left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home, where He finds Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. At the time Luke wrote his account, Simon had not yet been given his new name, and since everybody knew who Simon was, there was no need to describe who he was, so it was only necessary for Luke to mention him. If you will recall, the news about Jesus was spreading, so people were becoming aware of His power. In his parallel account, Mark tells us Andrew was there, Peter's brother, as well as James and John because they all knew each other and went with Jesus to the synagogue in Capernaum. Obviously, they were following Jesus, and were fascinated by Him, but none of them were officially disciples yet, that happens later. Since this was Peter's house was only about 100 yards from the synagogue, they probably went there for lunch, since there weren't any local restaurants like we have today. 

 

Even though she's not mentioned here, we know that Peter was married, Luke indicates he had his mother-in-law living with him, which was pretty common in those days. Tradition says they had children, although Scripture doesn't refer to them. So, this was a very normal kind of family. Luke, being a physician, tells us that Peter's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, indicating she had some kind of serious infection. And, we know a fever is the body's normal response in effort to fight serious infections. There were several diseases that were prevalent in that day, so it’s possible that she may have had malaria or typhoid fever. They already well of His power and authority, since He had done many mighty works in Judea the year before, and being very concerned about Peter's mother-in-law they asked Him to help her.  In other words, this is a family crisis. Just as a footnote, allow me to point out that this verse debunks the Catholic teaching that Peter was the first pope, since the Catholic Church prohibits popes and priests from marrying, and it's impossible to have a mother-in-law without one ever having had a wife, right?

 

Verse 39, "And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she stood up and began waiting on them." Both Matthew and Mark tell us that she was lying down and standing over her, Jesus took her hand, He rebuked the fever and it immediately left her. Allow me to mention, Jesus could have just stood there without taking her hand and commanded the fever to leave, but He didn't, He took her hand as an expression of His tenderness and compassion toward her before demonstrating his sovereign supernatural power over the infection. Isn't that characteristic of our Lord, to draw nearer to us in our deepest moments of desperation, so that we can experience the closeness of His presence?  And she immediately got up and began waiting on them, probably making them lunch, since the typical synagogue service generally ended around noon, much like most church services today. Remember, this is the Sabbath, so this would have been a large meal, much like our traditional Sunday dinners used to be. It's important to mention, this was instantaneous as with all of His miracles, there was no recovery process, she didn’t get better gradually over a prolonged period of time. Having been at the bedside of those who helplessly watch their loved ones dying, I've sat with individuals who were in their final hours, in fact, I held my mother's hand as she struggled to breathe, just before drawing her last breath on this earth and entering into the presence of our blessed Savior. Similarly, I have also held the hand of my son as he lay in a hospital bed, battling end-stage renal failure, fighting for his life, all while desperately praying for a kidney transplant, which by the way, through the grace of God, he did receive earlier this year. All praise and glory to God!

 

So, I believe it is important to mention this because of the so-called faith healers who prey upon suffering people's desperation to be healed from life threatening diseases and devastating disabilities for which there is no cure; urging them to pay large sums of money for a holy handkerchief and elaborate incantations in order to receive a "miracle healing" that God does not promise. I believe there's a special place in hell for those who blasphemously misrepresent Christ, so they can get rich, charging hundreds or thousands of dollars waiting for a healing that would never come. I believe it's safe to say that never once have any of these fake faith healers laid hands on someone and restoring a missing limb, or curing people with AIDS or cancer. And, when is the last time you witnessed someone being raised from the dead? Chances are, you never have! That's because only the Lord Jesus Christ has that miraculous power and those to whom He delegated that power. At the end of his ministry, even the apostle Paul no longer had that ability. Physical healing in this world is only a postponement of the inevitable.

Notice, Jesus heals everyone, everywhere instantly, there were never any instances of progressive healings! As a pastor, I can't even begin to count the number of times I have stood by helplessly wishing for the gift of healing, if were there such a gift available to men today. I can however intercede on someone's behalf through faithful fervent prayer, so if there's healing to be had, I'm going directly to the source. I would be unfaithful if I failed to also mention, that tenderly helping and compassionately serving others is the natural response when you experience a close encounter with Jesus.

Verse 40, "And while the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them." News travels fast, and with the news spreading of Jesus physically healing Peter's mother in-law, naturally all those who were sick and suffering with various diseases came to Him, "and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them." In other words, He healed everyone, they brought to Him, everywhere, in public before massive crowds, it wasn't a specific location, a staged setting, there was no pre-screening process, no confession of faith. He miraculously restored blind eyes and opened deaf ears, He instantaneously replaced missing limbs with limbs that were completely fully functioning. I have occasionally been asked, "Why did they wait until sundown? Why didn't they come as soon as the news began to spread?" That's because they were Sabbath-bound people, meaning they were prohibited from carrying anyone on the Sabbath, and since the Sabbath started at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday, because it would have been considered work to carry anyone on the Sabbath, so I imagine that everyone was eagerly waiting for the sun to set. By the way, Mark says the whole town showed up. We are commanded to spread the Good News by telling others about Jesus and what He has done, yet many of us walk around in complete silence, with our lips sealed.

Verse 41, "And demons also were coming out of many, shouting and saying, "You are the Son of God!" But rebuking them, He was not allowing them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ." Notice, He didn't permit the demons to speak. I must confess something to you, I really struggle to indulge superficial people who wear a religious mask, engaging in insincere, meaningless conversations with those who claim to represent Christ, while their actions clearly contradict their empty words. Frankly, I just want to silence them. For the record, as a true follower of Christ, we are all called to live out our faith no matter where we are, not just in church on Sunday, there are no exceptions. Yet, there are countless individuals sitting in church congregations worldwide who proclaim their faith in Christ, professing to know Him, Jesus doesn't need or want the affirming testimony from those who represent Hell.

Verse 42, "When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were eagerly seeking for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them." Mark informs us that Jesus got up, left the house "in the early morning, while it was still dark," as He often did which was between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m, that seems to be the precedent for Jesus' time of prayer, to seek His Father's will and the power of the Spirit. He was probably busy healing people all through the night, so just before the break of day, He went off alone to a secluded, unpopulated place for communion with His Father for restoration. Jesus repeatedly illustrates how crucial prayer is for laying aside our own will and seeking the will God. In fact, the night of His arrest, while He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."  Obviously, He didn't get very far because the crowds who were eagerly seeking for Him, found His place of seclusion and tried to keep Him from going away from them. The crowds knew there had never been anyone like Him before, they wanted to hold onto Him.

Verse 43, "But He said to them, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." I'd like you to notice, Jesus makes it clear there's something far more important in this life than physical healing from sickness and disease, I really believe there are some people who need to hear that. Don't misunderstand, there is nothing inherently wrong with praying for healing, but I'll tell you something, some people don't want salvation, they want healing, they want deliverance from financial poverty. I believe that if  more people focused on proclaiming the Gospel and praying for the lost as much they do asking for miracles, that are only temporary at best, there'd be a lot more people in the Kingdom of God, and the population in the kingdom of darkness would drastically diminish. Jesus had the power to heal the effects of sin on the body, He had already proven He had the power to do that, and casting out the demons, but notice He said "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God," He was committed to preaching the Gospel, I love that. Listen, I don't believe there is anyone who would disagree, Jesus cared about people, for over 3 years He demonstrated His great concern for physical needs but it is undeniable that His primary focus was on delivering them from spiritual bondage, freeing their souls from sin and hell, saying "for I was sent for this purpose."

 

And, that brings us to verse 44, "So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea." Jesus didn't stay in Capernaum performing miracles, He stood firm in His convictions and refused to compromise, unlike many present day preachers. Jesus continued to preach the Good News to other cities throughout the land of the Jews. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is more interested in what Jesus can do for them, than what He can offer them, Jesus didn’t care about being popular with the crowd, He was concerned about their eternal salvation, and He charges us to do the same.

 

Just take a moment and let that sink in. Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost, to rescue sinners from Satan, and to deliver their souls from eternal Judgment and Hell, the extraordinary miracles He performed were so that people might believe and be saved.

 

May it be so..

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name

Amen


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