["Pomp and Circumstance"]
All right, if you look like a bulletin just go ahead and lift up your hand.
Brother Adam will bring you one. As always on the inside there we have our
service times listed. We'll be back tonight at 5 30 p.m. and then of course
Thursdays at 7 we're going to the book of Acts. We'll be in Acts chapter 27 this
week. I understand we meant to go through it last week but I ended up
getting stuck in Yakima so I won't go into all that but anyways we had brother
Raymond come down and fill in for us. I understand he did a great job so
appreciate him coming down here but we will be back. I'm not planning on going
anywhere between now and then so there should be no unforeseen reasons why I
won't be here this Thursday back in the book of Acts so come out and join us for
that. Also a happy birthday to everybody celebrating in the month of December.
Moi and of course Julie my youngest are the only two this month that I know of.
If your birthday isn't listed or your anniversary and you would like it to me
just get that information to me and I promise I'll put it in there. I promise I
won't include anyone's age or anything like that but we do have the donuts back
there so enjoy those. There's some cider as well and then also we're gonna be
having a farewell party in honor of Joshua and Teresa Elliott on Sunday
December 17th after the morning service and we're gonna cater some tacos from
Juanitos so they do a great job of course with the carne asada over there
so I figure that's probably a good way to see the Elliott's off into the sunset
so to speak is giving one last chance at the best Mexican food in the nation you
know so maybe maybe try maybe give one like are you sure you want to go I mean
this is what you're passing up on you know if the church isn't enough to
convince you to stay well maybe the tacos will get you but I'm joking of
course I know they've got a life up there to go live and we're happy and
excited for them everything that's gonna take place in that next chapter lies we
do want to wish them a fond farewell as they go so that's gonna be sunny
December 17th my understanding is you guys are leaving the 18th right so
that's the last chance if you got something to say that's that's that's
your last chance all right I don't want to say it's their last meal okay it's
their last meal here okay but anyway come on out and help us see them off and
then on the back we have the Christmas caroling of course this is a Tempe this
is available to anybody that would like to go on Tuesday December 19th at 5 30
p.m. I will not be able to make this this year so but I can make the van
available if people would like to go up there we have a couple of insured
drivers of course one of them would have to be willing and able to go if you
want to come talk to me if there's people that want to participate this up
in Tempe I can definitely do my part to get you up there and enjoy that and at
least get your transportation taken care of so come see me if you'd like to
participate in that they go out for about an hour that break up into groups
if you've never done it it's a great time I'm kind of disheartened that I
won't be able to make it this year but you know that's just the way the cookie
crumbles sometimes speaking of cookies there will be hot cocoa and cookies
after I know it just says hot cocoa there but there's supposed to be cocoa
or cookies as well and then cookies are again on the schedule here on the
announcement below that we're not going to be hosting a Christmas Eve candlelight
service this year we're just gonna have our normal regular service times but
after the evening service we will be serving again cookies and cocoa down
here so of course if you're wondering when the Christmas Eve services it's on
Christmas Eve okay so that's December 24th it falls on a Sunday this year but
we're gonna we're just gonna give that a Sabbath this year and let that rest and
we'll come back to the Christmas Eve candlelight service probably next year
but we will have a time of cookies and cocoa and fellowship after the evening
service that'll all be provided by the church don't feel obligated to bring
anything if you'd like to just come out and at least observe the birth of Christ
on Christmas you know it's kind of what the day is about anyway Christmas Eve
Christmas so hopefully you'll at least be in church so you can pass on the
cookies but anyway well that's the plan this year below that we have just a
quick announcements about our recliners of course someone was kind enough to
donate a couple recliners to the church please just keep in mind those are for
those that are in need of accommodation and if you're wondering if that's you
it's not okay so I don't want to get too detailed about that all right it's for
the it's for the it's for the weak and elderly or you know whoever feels like
they need one okay but it's not for you to just get comfortable and take a nap
while I'm preaching not that you need a recliner for that but I'm just joking
so anyway that's it for the announcements this morning let's go
ahead and sing one more song before we get into preaching oh I do have one
other thing to do sorry I've been meaning to give these out these are the
spoons for the for the chili cook-off this year so we had a couple of winners
and I felt bad about not having these ready in time but I said you know what
what's preventing me from getting them right so this second place goes to mrs.
Joanna so everyone give her a round of applause there and of course Fiona was
third place I won't make her stand up here and in front everybody miss Joanne
will bring her but that will do it for announcements
for when the battle's over
Oh
so put up our bodies with Psalm chapter 94 Psalm chapter 94 as always read the
entire chapter
Psalm 94 verse 1 the Bible reads Oh Lord God to the men's belonging of God to
the men's long show thyself lift up thyself thou judge of the earth render
a reward to the proud Lord how long shall awaken how long shall the wicked
triumph along shall they utter and speak hard things and all the workers of
iniquity boast themselves the brick and pieces like people Lord
flicked our heritage they slay the widows a stranger and murder the
fatherless yet they say the Lord shall not see and I shall a god of Jacob the
garden understand the British among the people and fools when we be wise he that
planted the gear here he that for me I shall not see he that chastises the
not correct he that teaches man knowledge should I know the Lord know
the thoughts of man there that blesses the man not just a so Lord and teaches
him out of my law that makes give him rest with days of mercy until the pit
we dig for the wicked the Lord will not cast off his people that only forsake
his inheritance the judgment shall return to righteousness and on the
upright heart shall follow who will rise up for me against the evildoers or who
will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity unless the Lord I do my help
my soul I almost dwell in silence when I said my foot slipped I mercy the Lord
held me up in the most food of my thoughts within me that accomplished
like my soul so the throne of iniquity I fellowship with thee the training
mischief by the law they gather themselves together against the soul of
the righteous and condemn the innocent blood but the Lord is my defense and my
God is the rock of my refuge and he shall bring upon them their own iniquity
they shall cut them off in their own wickedness a the Lord our God shall cut
them off and so if you want to keep something there in Psalm 94 we'll come
back in a little bit but I'm gonna continue on in the book of Mark this
morning and of course we've been going through it verse by verse over the last
several weeks and there's just a lot to really review at this point so I'm not
gonna take any time to do that but if you've been following with us you know
verse 29 in the context is where Jesus is coming out of the synagogue after
having cast out the devil there and everything that took place in the
previous verses but in verse 29 it says and forthwith when they came out of the
synagogue they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew and James with John
so what we're looking at this morning is verses 29 I believe through 35 or 36 and
we're going to be looking at Jesus in the house of Simon Jesus in the house of
Simon and what's interesting about this of course you know as we're going
through these verses we're explaining doctrine where appropriate kind of
explaining maybe difficult verses when we run into them but a lot of times you
get just these narratives of what they did and what happened and the Bible
really opens up itself for us to just kind of make application and the
application I want to make this morning is that when Jesus is in the house of
Simon really what he's doing is he's kind of dropping in isn't he it's kind
of a drop in who knows what the drop in is right if you got the relatives that
live nearby you know I know when I lived in Michigan my mom's house was kind of
centrally located and we always had aunts and uncles and siblings and other
people just kind of just stopping by is just saying hello unannounced right and
of course that's always a good thing you know usually right okay and but that's
that's the drop in right where you just kind of stop in and just kind of see
what's going on and say hello and you kind of see that in this story I don't
know that this was necessarily something that was planned or maybe if Simon given
the circumstance with his mother-in-law being sick you know asked Jesus to come
but the way the Bible kind of shows us here is it's just kind of Jesus dropping
in right it says in forthwith meaning you know after these things when they
were come out of the synagogue they entered in the house of Simon they just
went from one place to the next they said hey we got to have somewhere to
stay tonight there's somewhere you know we after church we got to go get the
meal we got to have a place to stay where should we go well let's go to
Simon's house right and what I like about this is that Simon you know
obviously just throws the doors wide open and says come on in he's open to
the drop-in okay obviously the drop-in visit isn't always something we would
look forward to okay maybe if we're busy or we have a lot going on or we're not
feeling well you know there might be times or someone want to drop in we
would say hey you know that now is not a good time okay but here's the thing when
Jesus wants to drop in it's always a good time okay and the application I
want to bring this morning is you know would Jesus be welcome if he dropped in
at our house today if Jesus were to gonna just come and stop by this
afternoon you know how would we feel about that okay we need to make sure
that we would be comfortable with that and the truth is you know some of us
might not feel that's comfortable we might think man boy Jesus if I'd known
you were coming I would have cleaned the place up right or that's the very least
okay we would feel like you know I know how it is houses get lived in people are
busy and you know ladies always feel like the place is never cleaning up no
matter who's dropping by right anyone stopping by there they're always
apologizing for the house right but what about with Jesus drop I we'd probably be
a little bit more concerned just than the orderliness of the house you know
making sure that you know the dirty laundry was put away and the bathrooms
were clean the dishes weren't all over the place and all the toys had gotten
cleaned up and we dusted and wiped all the glass down and everything that you
know we would do if we were anticipating an important visitor you know if Jesus
were dropping by we'd probably be a little bit more concerned than just
those you know just those four those formal things so to speak you know we
might be find ourselves a little more concerned with maybe some of the things
that are in our house or maybe if Jesus were to just drop by we might be
a little bit more embarrassed about how we were behaving in our house or the
things that we were doing or maybe the way we were speaking to our spouse or
treating our children or the children were speaking to their parents if Jesus
dropped in and came in and said what's all the yelling going on in here right
maybe we wouldn't be quite so comfortable quite so ready like Simon
to just throw the doors open and say come on come on in but here's the thing
about this with this drop in what we have to understand about the Christian
life is that Jesus isn't somebody who just comes and goes in our life you know
Jesus isn't just someone who's gonna stop by every once in a while and check
up on us you know Jesus is with us everywhere we go he's already everywhere
one just because he's present everywhere he's God there's nowhere we can hide
from him but also because of the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us the
moment you got saved guess what Jesus dropped in and he set up residence
through the Holy Spirit's if you would again keep something in Psalms 94 go
over to John chapter 14 John chapter 14 I'll be in mark if you want to look at
the verses that I'm referring to I'm gonna have you in a couple places
hopefully you don't sprain a finger this morning but it's possible I know he got
in Psalm 94 we're looking at mark 1 verse 29 and forthwith when they were
coming to the house out of the synagogue they entered into the house of Simon
Andrew with James and John they dropped in would we be welcome would Jesus be
welcome to be to drop in on us this morning or would there be you know some
magazines we have to hide would there be some browsers we have to clear will
there be some you know other things we'd want to stash away and make sure that
aren't out there in the open would we have to change our behavior when we have
to you know not conduct ourselves as we normally would okay the truth is Jesus
already done dropped in Jesus dropped in the moment you got saved he's already
everywhere look at John 14 verse 17 even the spirit of truth that's a reference
to the Holy Spirit whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither
knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth in you and shall be in you of
course he's speaking to the disciples and the Holy Spirit had not yet been
given so that's why it's kind of you get these two different tenses here where
the Holy Spirit is saying he dwelleth with you meaning he's he's amongst you
right now because I'm here he's here the Holy Spirit is here we're present God is
with you and shall be in you meaning future tense after I am gone and I send
the Comforter that's when the the the the Holy Spirit will be given and will
begin to indwell the believers and that's the time that we're living in
that time of where he shall be in us look Jesus the Holy Spirit is in you
Jesus has dropped in already so if you know here's the thing if the idea of
Jesus physically dropping by makes us uncomfortable you know what then there's
things we have to change already we need to start putting our finger on some
things to say this needs to change this behavior needs to change we need to get
rid of this sin we need to clean this up we need to change some things because
Jesus has already dropped in spiritually and he's with us everywhere we go if you
keep something in John 14 we'll come back towards the end but go to Psalm 94
Psalm 94 it's a foolish thing to think that God doesn't see and hear us
everywhere we go you know the story this morning it's a literal just dropping in
it's just Jesus stopping by he's going to be there for a little bit and then
he's going to be gone he's going to show up he's going to do his thing and
they're going to have that fellowship and then he's going to leave Simon
Peter's house but in the case of you and I Jesus is with us everywhere we go
because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit he shall be in you if you
look at Psalm 94 where we were this morning reading in verse 3 it says Lord
how long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked triumph course Psalm 94
is you know he's talking generally about the wickedness of the world
okay but we could apply this to our own lives the the world the unsaved they
have a certain mentality when it comes to how they uh you know uh treat God or
their perception of God or what they think of God and that's kind of what's
going on here he's expressing his angst about
the wicked and their attitude towards God he's saying how long shall the
wicked triumph it seems like they're getting away with it Lord at
verse 4 how long shall they utter and speak hard things how long shall they
blaspheme that holy name how long shall they scoff and mock and
ridicule God and his people and all the workers of iniquity boast
themselves how long are they going to be so lifted up with pride and just
flaunt sin in God's face they break thy
break in pieces thy people Lord and afflict thine inheritance they persecute
the righteous they slay the widow and the stranger and murder
the fatherless what causes these people to do all these wicked things
these are pretty serious things I mean murdering uh the widow
slaying the widow murdering the fatherless
fatherless doing all these wicked things what causes the the the lost
unsaved world that behave this way verse 7
yet they say the Lord shall not see that's their mentality that's the
mentality of the unsaved world that's why they they're so proud and
they're so boastful and they're so bold to do all the things that they do
because their thought is God doesn't see God isn't there
there is no God they say
it's a certain type of people with a certain type of mentality
they say the Lord shall not see
what kind of people would say such a thing what kind of people would say
oh the Lord shall not see they say that what kind of people are
they well they're wicked for one but look at verse 8
understand ye brutish among the people and ye fools
when will ye be wise so this is the reply
to the wicked to those that would say the Lord shall not see
the reply is understand ye brutish let's bring that into the modern
vernacular stupid as it's used in jude right
brute beasts dumb animals okay you see when someone's a brute you know
it's that's not just a cologne okay i don't know if they even make that
anymore but okay they do i'm getting some nods all right
it's out there okay some of you might be wearing it this morning
no offense okay might you know probably beats the alternative
all right but here's the thing brute is not something you want to be
you might want to smell brutish you know if you want i don't know if you're into
that scent but a brute is not something you want to
endeavor to be in life right because and this is the type of
people that say these things the type of people
that say oh god doesn't see it's stupid you're brutish if you think that
you're dumb if you think god doesn't see you
that's what he's saying ye brutish among the people you fools when will you be
wise when are you going to smarten up when you get when you get some smarts
we're going to be quit being so foolish and so stupid and so dumb
what's the stupidity here that he's talking about what is that makes them
brutish the fact that they say the lord shall
not see and of course we're talking about you
know the people of this world but could we apply that to ourselves this morning
look if we're sitting in here this morning and we're just you know behaving
ourselves in a way and have this attitude of
well it's okay for me to do this because god doesn't see
or the deacon doesn't know about it you know
here that's a stupid thought that's dumb that's foolish god sees us
everywhere we go god hears every word we say
god knows every thought we think before we think it
and to think otherwise is stupid okay it's stupid to think that he doesn't see
us look at verse nine he that planted the
ear shall he not hear we're talking about god here you know
who cares about whether i know where it's about something or not
who cares about whether i'm going to drop in or not god's already there
god's already dropped into your life everywhere you go god follows you to
work god follows you to the grocery store god
follows you up and down the highway he he follows you everywhere you go
you know i didn't plant the ear
i'm glad i don't want to hear everything i didn't form the eye and i'm glad
because i don't want to see everything he that chastised at the heathen shall
he not correct and that that's the warning here he's
saying look if god planted the ear and god formed the eye he hears and he
sees everything and the warning is he that chastised at
the heathen shall he not correct if god punishes the
wicked how much more so his own children
he chastens every son whom he received what the bible says
he that teacheth man knowledge shall he not know
god knows everything the lord knoweth the thoughts of man
that they are vanity look god even knows our thoughts let alone our actions let
alone our deeds god knows the things that we think god
knows our motives the problem with having this attitude of
saying well the lord shall not see is that one
it's stupid it's it's dumb people that think that
is what also is the fact that it leads to wickedness
it leads to sinner lies when we pretend that god is blind
right how long shall the wicked how long shall the wicked triumph it's wicked
people that have this mentality and and they commit all kinds of sin
it's stupid to think and if you would go over to first peter chapter one
that god somehow is okay with unholiness
that god is somehow okay with sin in our lives and look i understand
none of us is perfect self-included we all have sins
but we should not be in the habitual perpetual state of sin
and when god puts his finger on something we need to get rid of it
if jesus dropped in and said fix it let's fix it
but let's not be like wicked people let's not be like dumb foolish people
just say oh god doesn't see god doesn't care he's not that concerned
you know simon peter was able to just throw the doors open and say come on in
why because nothing to hide
look at first peter chapter one verse 13 wherefore gird up the loins of your mind
and be sober and hope to the end for the grace that has to be brought unto you at
the revelation of jesus christ how is it that we are to hope unto the
end right he's saying be patient hope unto
the end right how are how are we supposed to do
that as obedient children not fashioning
yourselves according the former lust and ignorance as obedient
children now look it's easy to obey in the presence of a parent isn't it
when mom and dad are watching your ever move it's easy to
you know know what to do how to stand at attention
it's a lot harder to obey when they're gone when you think they don't see
when you think they don't hear and in it mom has eyes in the back of her head
right the eyes of mom are throughout the whole house
right it's and when we don't hear things that's when we get nervous
right but how much heart what if mom and dad leave the house
oh they're gone now now it's our house now we get to have the rule of the roost
right
no we're we're to obey as god's children as obedient children in the
absence as we're waiting for his return as we're waiting for the revelation of
jesus christ we have to behave ourselves as obedient
children not fashioning yourselves according the
former lusts in your ignorance right just like psalm 94 ignorance
being brutish being foolish and thinking that god doesn't see us
therefore it's okay to live an unholy life
he's saying no you need to be obedient and fashion yourselves
not according the former lust in your ignorance but verse 15
as he which hath called you is holy so be he holy in all manner of conversation
and conversation there in the bible just means in the way which you conduct
yourself today it has a different meaning it's
when two people are talking we call it a conversation but another meaning is just
your conduct okay how are we to conduct ourselves as
obedient children what does that mean to be an obedient child
of god meaning you're not going to be foolish
and and and and brutish and just continue on
in the former lusts of our ignorance but we're going to be holy
we're going to and that's something you have to work at that's something you
have to strive for that's something you have to want in
your life holiness is not you know it's something that just
automatically comes into a person's life the holy spirit comes the ceiling is
there and we can grieve and quench the holy
spirit or we can walk in the spirit not in the flesh
and we can live a holy life and the holiness there a lot of times is
obviously it's the opposite of fashioning ourselves
according to our former lusts and our ignorance
you know a lot of holiness is getting sins out of our life
getting things out of our life stop doing things that displease god
that's what it means to be an obedient child well why should i
verse 16 because it is written be holy for i am holy we are a reflection
of our heavenly father
so that should be reason enough right for us to want to
clean up our lives and not to be brutish and to have the same mentality as the
world of thinking that god isn't seeing and hearing and knowing everything that
we say think and do
when jesus drops in you know how how would that make us feel
well the truth is he's already dropped in in our lives he's already everywhere
he's already indwelling us therefore be holy but let me also just
kind of go through this passage and if you want
to go back to mark back to mark there
i will be back in first peter later if you if you want to look at a passage
with me later i don't i'm not sure everywhere i have
you at this point i'm done in psalms i know that okay but i got you in john
and in mark one obviously this morning we'll be back in first peter we'll be in
chapter five later but let's look at what happens when
jesus drops in on his disciples so that's the initial you know
application that we can make hey jesus left the synagogue and said we're going
to your house simon uh wait okay let me run ahead you know
let me let me call let me text hey jesus is coming
you know get rid of this and and hide that
and and do this and clean the place up and yada yada yada make some kids are
cleaned and on their best behavior no he just said
what let's go house is right over there what happens
when jesus drops in on his disciples because
that's who simon is a disciple it says again in mark chapter 1
verse 29 and forthwith when they were come out of
the synagogue they entered into the house of simon and andrew
with james and john but simon's wife's mother lay
sick of a fever and anon they tell him of her
so they show up and simon's wife's mother or his mother-in-law
is laying there sick of a fever and they tell him of her
what happens when jesus drops in his disciples well he hears their need
he hears their need well i don't know if i want jesus to drop in i don't want to
if i want to be holy and have god that close in my life i don't want to know if
i want to concern myself especially myself
you know not according to my former lust but as an obedient child
i don't know if that's really worth it to me to be holy
even as he is holy i don't know if i want to be what
a disciple because that's what it is to be a disciple
we'll look at that towards the end but the disciples those that are comfortable
with jesus dropping in they have their needs heard and look
we're all going to have needs in our lives
all of us there's going to be physical sickness
there's going to be you know things that we go through spiritually mentally
financially there's going to be things that we go through with our families our
relatives our our children i mean the life is just
full of problems we need god's help
and when jesus drops in when jesus is close when
when the disciple is comfortable with just having jesus abide with them
he's heard anon they tell him of her he hears their need
if you would go over to proverbs chapter 15 proverbs chapter number 15
the bible says in first john five i'm sure this is a passage we're familiar
with and this is the confidence that we have
in him that if we ask anything according to his
will he heareth us
this is the confidence that we have in christ
that if we ask anything according to his will
we're heard he hearth us you know that's a very precious promise in the word of
god to know that when we go to god we can be
heard but what's the stipulation if we ask
anything according to his will according to his will
you say well that sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy
oh jesus only knows the things or only hears the things if we that we ask
according to his will but here's the thing if you're a
disciple if you're trying to live a holy life if you're
you're trying to to follow the lord that's what you're going to pray
you're going to pray god's will that that is just going to be natural to you
you're not going to pray for something contrary to the will of god because
that's you know that's what someone who's you know not a disciple would do
you know we're not promoting a name it claim it prosperity gospel here
you know you put it put a you know six-figure tithe check in the tithe
plate and then and then claim that cadillac
brother step out in faith ask for that bugatti right that's not
what we're promoting here but if we are god's children and his
disciples if we're following him we're going to pray and we're going to
ask for the things that are according to his will and he'll say
gladly give us those things
we will be heard disciples know his will they know what things to ask of him
because they do his will the bible says in james 4 he asked and
received not because he asked him this that you may consume it upon your lusts
the disciple he prays according to god's will and he's heard of god and receives
those things and we know if he hear us whatsoever we
ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him look at problems
15 verse 8 the bible says the sacrifice of the wicked is an
abomination to the lord but the prayer of the upright
is his delight look if we're upright in our conversation
if we're holy even as he is holy if we're fashioning ourselves as obedient
children if we're disciples then our prayer is god's delight
we'll be glad to pray those things
but if you know we have no interest in the things of god if we don't want to be
his disciples you know we're not even going to pray for those things we're
going to we're not going to we're going to have not because we ask
not we're not going to pray and ask god to
help us with this sin or help us with this good thing that we should be doing
because we're not a disciple we're not upright
the prayer of the upright is his delight go to proverbs chapter 28
proverbs chapter 28 the bible says in psalm 66
if i regard iniquity in my heart the lord will not hear me
if i look at my heart and say oh there's iniquity and just allow it to remain
here's something that i know god disapproves of here's something that
god wants out of my life here's some thought some attitude some action some
sin whatever it is here's something that god wants out i
know it's not right but i regard it in my heart
then the lord will not hear you
and look the disciple gets heard by god and we
need to be heard by god what's the fever in your life
who's the sick mother-in-law in your life and i'm speaking figuratively
what's the need that you have in your life that you need god to hear
if it's pretty discouraging to sit there and think well i don't think god's going
to hear that and that's exactly the situation we're
in if we're regarding iniquity in our heart
isn't it what the bible says you know i'm not just trying to
to be mean up here this morning or something that's what the bible says
that if i regard iniquity in my heart the lord's not going to hear me
look at proverbs 28 verse 9 he that turneth away his ear from the hearing of
the law right the bible the words of christ
the word of god the law if we turn our ear from that
the bible says even his prayer shall be an abomination
and it's not the prayer of the wicked it's not the prayer of some unsaved he
then praying to some false god some idol somewhere it's god it's one of
god's people that they're it's not that they don't
have the law it's that they refuse to hear it
they turn their ear and say no i'm not gonna listen to that
if that's what we do then even our prayer shall it's not even now we've
gone beyond we will not be heard right psalm 66
the lord will not hear me that's half the picture if i regard
iniquity in my heart if i turn my ear from hearing the law
god's not only not going to hear me he's going to actually look at my
parents say that's an abomination
what happens when jesus drops in on his disciples
on those that are open to it that are willing to just throw the door open and
say welcome is that they're heard
and they are heard quickly it says there in james excuse me
mark and anon they tell him of him anon meaning quickly
immediately they tell him see disciples they pray according to
experience and knowledge that's why they pray
according to his will they didn't get it they told jesus
quickly of simon's wife's mother they went to him immediately without
hesitation because of everything they'd already seen
up to this point they'd already seen jesus healed they'd already seen jesus
cast out demons they already knew this was god's will
and that he was able to do this so they just immediately went to him and
said well could could you do something about
my mother-in-law
and they knew that they would have that petition that they asked of him
they knew that they would be heard of him because they prayed according to his
will and the only people that are ever going
to pray according to god's will are disciples are people that follow
christ
what else happens when jesus drops in one there he hears their need two
there's comfort when jesus drops in you know maybe we're thinking about the
idea of jesus literally dropping by and it's making us a little uncomfortable
if that's us we ought to examine things we ought to do some soul searching we
ought to pray and maybe fix some things
because if if that's making uncomfortable it's the exact opposite
feeling that you should have when jesus drops in
the presence of god should bring comfort into our lives it shouldn't make us
nervous
mark one verse 31 again he came it says after they went to him and told him of
her and they came and took her by the hand
and lifted her up and immediately the fever left her
and she ministered unto them when he hears this petition when his disciples
come to him and say we have this need because they're his
disciples because they follow him because they are asking
according to his will because they've known and seen and experienced his will
he immediately responds he immediately replies and takes her by the hand
and it's such a such an amazing thought to think of the lord jesus christ
taking you by the hand physically reaching out
and touching this woman's hand
you see the disciples they you know we're obviously not going to
have the physical touch of god in our lives but we'll know his presence
we'll know he's close we'll get to feel the touch of god in our lives we'll get
to see the hand of god work in our lives if we're disciples
but if we turn our ear from the hearing of the law our prayer is an abomination
if we regard iniquity in our heart the lord will not hear our petition
if we're upright our prayer will be his delight and he will come close and he
will come quickly and we'll see his hand in our lives he
will take us by the hand not only that it says there that he
lifted her up and what happened and immediately it
works right there and he lifted her up right
you know when you're when you're really sick just the idea of getting up and
moving is is hard i remember when we got covid
you know the first time who knows how many times we've had it now
all right the common cold everything every time you get sniffled
it's covid right it's my 12th round with covid but i remember that first time i
got it because it's real okay is i've never
been sick like that i mean i was out for weeks
and i remember i would just lay in bed just lethargic didn't want to do
anything and a few times i got up and it was just
like i walked out and i'm like why am i even up
everything's aching and you just go and you lay down we've all been there
you're weak you can't do anything you don't want to do anything you're
physically you know just enabled there's no
strength but look when jesus comes near and he
touches this woman's hand he lifted her up the strength came back
into her feet and into her legs her body she stood up right
and the fever left her and immediately the fever left her
she was restored
see when disciples have jesus close when they understand that jesus has already
dropped in and they start to live the life they're
supposed to be living they're doing those things which always please
their father they can have the assurance that god will hear their prayer that he
will comfort them and not only that he will strengthen them he will
like her lift them up i think i had you in first peter
earlier if you want to go back to first peter chapter number five
when god's hand touches our life there's comfort and there's strength
in genesis 49 i'll just read to you it says but now his bow
abode in strength this is isaac speaking of joseph
and his hands joseph's hands were made strong by the hands of god the mighty
god of jacob god's hand in our life brings strength
just like in joseph's our hands will be made mighty by the
mighty hand of god
strengthened for what what do i need strength for i can get through my day
i can i can meet my responsibilities i can get to work
i can do my duties around the house i i could do what i need to do
day by day i function just like the heathen out there i could do everything
that they do what do i need god's hand for what do i
need strength why should i be concerned about it
because as a disciple you're strengthened for what for battle
for battle you know it was his abode abode in strength
speaking of joseph it was his bow in his hands a bow is a you know and
we're not talking about a violin bow we're talking about
an bow and arrow okay that's an that's a implement of you know offense
right that's hunting that's fighting wars that's what we need strength for
strength for the battle
look at first peter chapter five verse six humble yourselves therefore under
the what the mighty hand of god that same hand that heals that same
hand that comforts that same hand that strengthens
is the mighty hand of god it can do other things in our lives too
just like our hands you know our hands are capable of much aren't they
we can help people we can work we can create things we can minister to people
we can nourish others we can bring comfort we can you know bring
people in you know there's touch all that stuff
but our hands can also do a lot of bad things too they can bring a lot of pain
and hurt that's the same way with god you know
god we want god's hand in our life in the right way and all i'm saying this
morning is god's hands already in your life
it's going to be there well if you like it or not it's just what side do you
want you know how do you want it to be in your
life do you want it to be like in in the house of simon here
where when god put his hand on his mother-in-law she was comforted
and she received strength and she was able to stand again
or is that mighty hand going to show up in some other way
well it takes humility right to be exalted
humble yourselves therefore in the mighty hand of god that he may exalt you
in due time simon's mother was exalted she was
lifted up casting all your care for upon him for
that's that comfort again be sober be vigilant
because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion's walketh about seeking
who we may devour look we need god's strength in our lives
for the battle the spiritual battle that is
very real
because there is the devil our adversary that we cannot resist on our own
that's why it takes humility to say god i need you to help me i need your help
to get this victory i need you to help me fight this battle
yeah we have our part to do verse 9 whom resist steadfast
in the faith knowing the same afflictions are accomplished in your
brethren that are in the world look at verse 10 but the god of all grace
who have called us into his eternal glory by christ jesus
after they have suffered a while make you perfect establish
strengthen settle you strengthen you to him be all glory and dominion forever
never amen so when the decide when jesus drops in
what happens to the disciples they're comforted and they are
strengthened for the battle not only that but when
jesus drops in they serve notice there again in mark 1
verse 31 and he came and took her by the hand there's that comfort he lifted her
up there's that strengthening and immediately the fever left her and
she ministered unto them ministering is just serving
this is what happens when the hand of god works in our lives
when jesus shows up when he drops in they serve she
ministered unto them this is what we need to be
strengthened for the battle and for service
if you would go over to john chapter number 14 john chapter 14
i'll wrap up here you know nehemiah when he went to build the walls
again of jerusalem when he's trying to encourage his brother and he says he
told them of the hand of got my god which was good upon me
so they strengthen their hands for this good work
you know god's god wants to put his hand on us god wants to come in and
into the the lives of his disciples and yes comfort them and yes strengthen
them but it's not just strength not only to
resist and to and to and to stand fast in the faith but
also to serve him it takes strength to serve god
they were strengthened they strengthened their hands for this good work it says
there
of course you know serving jesus is what she did here you know she
stood up and she ministered but notice it says that she in mark chapter one
that she ministered unto them plural not just jesus
okay and this is a whole nother point that i really don't have time to develop
i i need to make application and close here
but you know we're obviously not going to
literally serve jesus today he's not physically present with us
but jesus commanded his disciples in the last supper to
do as he has done to be as one that serves among his brethren
right he told them you know he called me master and lord and
so you say you well for for so i am but you know he said but he also said but i
am among you as one that's serving you know he girded himself with the towel
and washed their feet at the last supper jesus did that you know and not just to
prove how humble he was or something but to set an example
for all of us who is it that we're supposed to be serving
obviously jesus but how do you do that today
you know you can't go bring jesus a bowl of soup or whatever it is that she
served him whatever was on the on the stove that
night i don't know and that's what that ministering might
have been you know maybe maybe there was a literal washing of their feet that
was a custom back then maybe there was something on that she made up a meal or
or or got the bedding ready i don't know exactly but she did something
and obviously jesus was there but we can't do that for him anymore
we can't meet his physical needs there's no need for it he's not here
we serve jesus today by yes doing his will doing the things
which are commanded of us but we also serve jesus day by serving one another
serving one another galatians 5 says for brethren
you have been called unto liberty only use not liberty for an occasion to the
flesh but by love serve one another you know
we've been called on liberty we're set free in christ
we are saved we're not bound by sin we're not going to hell
does that mean we should just live for the flesh
he's saying don't use your liberty as an occasion for the flesh
well no matter what i do i'm i'm on my way to heaven so
i can just do whatever i want yeah that's true
but the admonishment is to by love serve one another make your life a life of
service
this is what happens when jesus drops in
their needs are heard their needs are met people are comforted people are
strengthened people serve
and i know i have you in john but if you would go back to mark
keep something there in john but we're going to go back to mark
the last thing that happens when jesus drops in his disciples
is that his disciples get to see the work of god
they get to see that hand of god working in their midst
this is such an amazing verse in mark chapter one and
sometimes you read the bible you got to slow down and smell the roses and really
put yourself there use your imagination think about
the situation put yourself in the story you know make yourself one of these
disciples you know maybe you're just a bystander
who's not mentioned in the scripture and you got to kind of tag along and see
all these things happen you were just in the synagogue and saw
everything that happened there and then you're going over to simon's house and
you're you're there with the disciples and you're watching jesus perform this
miracle on simon's mother-in-law and she's standing up and she's serving
and then at verse 32 and at even when the sun did set
the sun's going down they brought him all that were diseased and them that
were possessed of devils meaning the people in that region
verse 33 and all the city was gathered together at the door
everyone said we know where jesus is he's at simon peters house
let's get all of these people that are diseased let's get all the sick people
and let's get all those that were possessed with devils
let's go over to simon peters i mean you imagine that you just finished dinner
with the disciples and jesus and you're maybe on the front porch or whatever on
the rocking chair and all the thing over the hill comes this great throng of
people you're just hey i'm just here to watch
the sunset it almost sounds like something out of like a zombie movie
all these disease coming they're gonna surround the house right
i mean what a sight all these people possess with devils
you know like again there's a proof text that some people weren't all like the
demoniacic vadera some people could be brought
he had to be bound with chains and no man could could contain him right
but there were some others that could be that were possessed with devils i mean
what a what a motley crew what a what a group of people coming over the hill
you know that's not exactly somebody we're just gonna throw the doors open
for necessarily yeah come on in you know but look when we throw the
doors open for jesus we get to see god work
we get to see god do things on a big scale
not just in our own lives but in the lives of everybody else
when we're disciples and we serve others
when we're strengthened we're comforted we're brought back and put in our feet
and we decide to not use our liberty as occasion to the flesh but by love to
serve one another that's when we get to see god work in
the lives of those around us
and it says all the city was gathered at door and healed many of the sick of
diverse diseases and cast out many devils and suffered not the devils to
speak because they knew him this is what happens in the lives of
those in which jesus drops in but here's the
thing it's something only disciples see because it's something only disciples
are comfortable with only disciples say
if they're see if look you know if there be any wicked way with me
show me lord search my heart and know my thoughts today
try me oh savior see if there be any wicked way in me
that's that's the prayer of a disciple who says drop in you're welcome
it's something only disciples are comfortable with
let me just close by saying this i know you're still in john 14 if you want to
go there dropping in here dropping into church
does not make you a disciple this is something i can't remember where
i heard it said but i heard this said recently and i've
been thinking about it and i don't know if anybody has this
mentality but it would surprise me if people do
that people think that they're a disciple or they're spiritual because
they came to church today that's all it took for discipleship and
the cost of discipleship is pretty low
because from where i'm standing it doesn't look like it's taking a lot
for you to just sit there and feign interest
i'm just joking right but look just and i think even amongst our brand our
stripe of baptists you know in the new uh the the new
independent fundamental movement the new ifb and sometimes people get this
mentality well i go to a new ifb church where they preach hard and they think
just by virtue of crossing some physical threshold at the front door
that some all of a sudden they're the spiritual being
that they have some deep walk with god just because they came into a church
like this and sat down look discipleship
is something that happens throughout the rest of the week when you're not here
this is just where you come to get encouraged or whatever else you need
what makes a disciple is following jesus daily
it says there at the end of mark verse one
chapter one verse 35 and in the morning this is after healed everybody
rising up a great while before the day he went out and departed into a solitary
place and there prayed so jesus does this great
work gets up early the next morning a great
while before the day meaning before the sun has even risen
and he goes out and he goes into a solitary place meaning
nobody else is there and they're prayed and notice in verse 36 and simon and
they that were with him followed after him you know they were
disciples before jesus ever showed up they were
disciples because when jesus left they kept following him
they're not disciples because they got to hear the preaching or see
see jesus do all these miracles they're disciples because when jesus went
somewhere they were with him the next day when the crowd's gone and
there's no one there to see or hear anything
they're there with jesus that's what makes a disciple
following jesus daily is what makes us a disciple not showing up to church a
couple times a week you're still there in john 14 verse 15
he said if you love me keep my commandments keep my
commandments that's what we do if we love god and if we keep his commandments
then we obviously must have to know what those
commandments are and if we know his commandments then we will pray
and ask those things that we desire of him and we know that we'll have them
because we pray according to his will because we are his
disciples and he says and i will not leave you
comfortless i will come to you he said if you continue in my word john 8
then are you my disciples indeed if you continue in my word
then are you my disciples if we hear preaching of the word of god if we read
something in the word of god and it conflicts with our outlook our
philosophy if it conflicts with something we're doing in our lives
and we continue in his word if we say if we change
that's what makes us a disciple
you see the you know the miracles they're there they were done in the sun
weren't they they were done out in the open
the sun was setting and everyone was seeing it but the disciples in the story
were made under the moon when the moon was still
up they were made in the dark when there was no one else around to see
or hear or to give praise or or to take note
they were just there with jesus you want to be a disciple you know
here's a good recipe get up great while before the day
you know obviously some of us have conflict scheduling conflicts with that
whenever get alone with jesus go to a solitary place that's where disciples
are made when the door is closed and locked and
shut before anybody else has gotten up before
the sun has even risen we're there in god's word and praying and reading and
letting him speak to us if we're speaking to him
and god's ministering to us through the spirit that is already
in us when we've thrown up open those doors
we've thrown those doors open and welcome jesus in those early
morning hours in those private moments that's when disciples are made
because that's when real change comes into our hearts and into our lives
showing up to church doing things at church look we ought to do them
but those are just outward things that we do it's what's in the heart that
matters most that's that's what makes the difference
so that's that's the question this morning you know jesus dropped in he
went into the house of simon are we comfortable with that we should
be because we're saved we already have the
indwelling of the spirit and if we live in the spirit let us also
then walk in the spirit let's close in a word of prayer
lord again thank you for the indwelling of the holy ghost lord thank you for
the the great privilege and opportunity we have to see you work in our midst
as as individuals lord to know the comfort and the strengthen
strengthening of the holy spirit and lord to see the
the hand of god work in our lives or in the lives of those around us
and lord and through this church lord i believe you could do a great work that
lord if we as god's people would welcome you in
and we would live those lives that we ought to live lord we would see you do
great things that this church would be built and
that the spiritually diseased and and others
lord would their lives would be changed in this community i i believe that lord
i prayed help us to be a body of disciples
or not just people who show up or people who are fans of a movement lord we're
grateful for all those things lord but that we would
first and foremost be disciples of christ and that we would learn what that
means to be a follower of jesus christ lord to
to be with you daily and to lord to to make the changes that
that we need to make we ask these things in christ's name amen
all right we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go
amen
by us again
hallelujah
amen
glory and praise
to the land that was slain
lord, for all our slaves
land, land, land, every slave
hallelujah, thy holy
hallelujah, amen
hallelujah, thy holy
be by us again
each heart with thy love
lead so deep we can go
with pride for all
hallelujah, thy holy
hallelujah, amen
hallelujah, thy holy
be by us again
amen