WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 If you have your Bibles with you, would you turn with me to Mark chapter 7? 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.800 We're going through the Gospel of Mark. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:10.880 Do you remember the title? 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:13.039 Messy Gospel. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:17.679 How many of you have some messes in your life? 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.920 If you don't have them, then you're not really living. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:24.879 You should be having some messes. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.879 Life is messy. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:32.000 Relationships are messy because people are messy. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:36.240 And it was no different in the time of Christ. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.640 And we've been marching through this messy gospel of Mark. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:53.119 And you may recall from the last few weeks that it seems like every time Jesus does a miracle, the Pharisees show up. 00:00:53.359 --> 00:01:07.680 And when the Pharisees show up, they've got an issue with everything Jesus does because, folks, listen, religion is antithetical to the power of God. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.280 The power of God does not work through religion. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:17.920 It's one of the greatest strategies of the enemy in church history. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.239 I'm going to talk about this in Windstorm. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:27.040 Every time there's a great move of God, there is a counter move of the church against it. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:34.000 I had the privilege years ago of being a part of the vineyard movement in Anaheim, California. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:45.120 And through sovereign work of God, I became the assistant to the pioneer and the apostolic leader of the vineyard, John Wimber. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:58.879 And to see the letters that I got that I had to answer for him from evangelical leaders, just crucifying the guy, just full of lies and innuendos was amazing. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:13.599 Listen, guys, when you sign up to be a worshiper and a warrior, when you sign up to follow Christ and be a wholehearted disciple, you will have counterattacks from the enemy. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:15.280 Just count on it. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:25.199 If you don't want that, then just stay safe in the little religious box of doing everything that everybody says, and don't step out of that. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:28.400 Because when you do, the devil's gonna nail you. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:29.680 He's going to attack you. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:33.199 And so we follow up here in Mark chapter 7. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.080 Jesus is doing signs and wonders. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:37.439 Jesus is healing the sick. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:39.439 Jesus casting out demons. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:42.639 Jesus is doing supernatural stuff left and right. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.439 And we pick it up because religion's right around the corner. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:48.879 Mark 7, 24. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.039 That's where we left it last week. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:59.599 From there he arose and he went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:07.039 And he entered a house and he wanted no one to know it, but he could not be hidden. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:08.560 Here's one of the things we see. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:15.360 Jesus in his work is now gathering, some scholars believe somewhere around 50,000 people. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:22.240 Wherever Jesus preaches, somewhere between 30 and 50,000 people are following him and listening to him. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.400 And he does not want to be known. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:26.800 And so he's trying to stay hidden. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.639 He doesn't want to be known too quickly. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.840 He's fighting the popularity that's pressing in on him. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:35.280 Let me just say this. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:37.199 This is really important. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:48.960 Whether it be sports or whether it be religion, be careful with what people say about you. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:57.439 Our heads can get so big, so quick, you can't even get through a doorway, and you haven't even done anything. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:04.000 Jesus has significantly done stuff, and he's trying to stay hidden. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:07.360 Be careful with popularity. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:09.599 Be careful with reading your own headlines. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:10.560 I would say this. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:19.439 Don't receive too much of the applause of men, listen, but don't receive too much of the criticism of men either. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.759 There's an element of truth in both, and there's an element of a lie in both. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.040 And so be careful. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:30.399 Jesus is hiding out, but he goes to Tyre and Sedon, which is there on the coast. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:36.319 It's the northern coast up from Israel along the Mediterranean. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:44.079 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:55.680 There's nothing like our family being attacked by the enemy to get our heart's attention. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:59.279 She's not a Jew. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:01.040 She's a Gentile. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.800 And she came and she fell at his feet. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.360 The woman was a Greek, so she's not a Jew. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:14.959 She's a Syrophonician by birth. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:26.160 And she kept asking him, by the way, Matthew says she was begging him, she was crying out to him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:27.839 So, church, listen to this. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.199 She's a Gentile. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:39.040 She's of a different religious background, different cultural background, different language background, different values background. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:49.360 The trip that Jesus is taking to the Syrophoenician area of Tyre and Sidon is 50 miles out of his way. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:53.680 And she's crying out for her daughter. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:57.839 And some of you are doing that tonight. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:02.720 Some of you are crying out for your sons and your daughters. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:08.639 No time is it probably more difficult than at Christmas. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.120 Because the in-laws are coming. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:24.000 And if there's ever a thing that burns in our hearts, it's for those that are disenfranchised from Christ right now in our lives. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.800 And some of you have cried out for a husband. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:40.480 Some of you tonight are crying out for a husband that's a prodigal, that has chosen to leave his family, ditch the family, and who knows what's happening in his life right now. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:47.759 Some of you men are crying out for your wives because of things that are happening in their life. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.279 And some of us have sons and daughters that are prodigal that are that are on their own. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.399 And here's the battle we have, is it not? 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:09.839 There's this battle of guilt on the one hand for maybe we looking back with regret over mistakes that we've made and wishing we had done those differently. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:15.839 On the other hand, there's a tendency toward blame for what's going on. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:29.600 This mother comes and she cries out to Jesus, possibly feeling guilty, possibly feeling the conviction, because remember, she's Syrophoenician. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.240 They worshiped Ashtar and Baal. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.920 Some of you say Baal. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:36.399 Baal and Ashtar. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:45.600 So she had probably taken her daughter to idol worship. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:51.040 She had taken them to idols, and possibly that's where she got demonized. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.079 We don't know. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:56.240 But she's watching her daughter writhing on the bed. 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:02.639 She's watching her daughter empowered by demons, possibly losing her mind, losing her faculties. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:12.399 And I can't believe that her mother's not concerned about looking back that what was created in her daughter's life was her fault. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.240 And some of us have done that. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.920 Believe me, I've got older children now. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:25.439 We've made a ton of mistakes. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:27.199 Just ask Anna. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:29.519 Just ask Daniel. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:31.680 Ask Isaac. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.440 Ask Deborah. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.720 We are, I am not Jesus. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.840 And she is not the Virgin Mary. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.399 Definitely not the Virgin Mary. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:48.480 Yeah, we've blown it. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.879 I mean, Liz and I talk about it all the time. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:53.600 On some things we were too strict. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:55.519 On some things we were too lineant. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.080 Some things we had we didn't have good enough boundaries. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.480 Other things we had too much boundaries, right? 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:07.440 So you can just you can sit here and you can beat yourself up till the cows come home. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:09.919 Or you can do what this woman did. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.799 And she cries out to Jesus. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:21.840 And and she is a picture to me of the language of the heart. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:29.919 Nothing more powerful than a mother crying out for her daughter or son to Jesus. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:32.960 Cry out to Jesus. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.559 Or a husband. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.879 A wayward husband crying out to Jesus. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:42.720 Take it to Jesus church. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:48.000 Jesus understands the language of crying out. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:56.399 There are things in our life that there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:04.000 There are people, circumstances that are going to oppose you, and it shocks you. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:05.679 It comes out of nowhere. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:07.200 You never expected it. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.240 And in the process of that, you begin to feel guilty. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.120 Some of it's conviction of the Holy Spirit, some of it's not. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:14.480 How do you know the difference? 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:15.679 I can't tell you sometimes. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:22.960 I don't know the difference sometimes between demons and their voices and God's convicting power, but you cry out to God. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:25.360 You cry out to God. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.679 Even with fasting and prayer. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:33.679 Verse 27. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:42.480 Now, Jesus' response is probably less than what maybe we would get from Counseling 101. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:53.919 But uh Jesus said to her, let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:59.519 Now, the Jews in the Hebrew language do not have curse words like we do. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:05.120 We Americans invented cursing in some ways. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.039 Maybe we could blame it on the English. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.960 They at least sound more sophisticated than us when they cuss. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:20.000 But um but this is about as close as you can get. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:30.159 The way the Jews curse is using words like dog, dog head, pig, stuff like that. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:36.000 But you gotta understand, this actually this Hebrew word that's being used here means puppy. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.399 So Jesus is actually being kind of nice. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:41.919 You're he's calling her like a little puppy. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:52.480 And she answered and said to him, Yes, Lord, even the little dogs or the puppies under the table eat from the children's crumbs. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:12:02.000 Then he said to her, For this saying, go your way, the demon has gone out of your daughter. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.120 She understands that she's nothing. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.200 She understands that she's a Gentile. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:08.879 She understands that she's a dog. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.799 And he doesn't call her a dog, he calls her a puppy. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:12.080 And you say, Well, what's the difference? 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:13.279 Big difference. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:22.879 He's saying that you don't have a right religiously and legally to be asking anything of me. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:29.279 And it's almost like Jesus is putting her off to challenge her heart. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.879 Have you ever noticed that about God? 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.320 God sometimes puts you off to challenge your heart. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:43.919 Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayer to make us more passionate and eager and zealous and bold to go after the answer to prayer. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:45.919 Folks, don't give up. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:48.559 Don't give up. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.320 Be zealous for the things of the kingdom. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.399 Cry out to God. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:56.240 Cry out to him. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.120 And she acknowledges that. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.360 That a crumb from, here's what she's saying. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:11.919 Jesus, a crumb for you from you is worth anything else in this earth. 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:22.159 I'm gonna beg at your table that I might even, I'd rather have the crumbs of the kingdom than the feast of the devil. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:28.240 And he goes, Wow, you get it. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:35.360 Thus, he just says the word, and the healing comes. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:36.799 Verse 30. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:45.039 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out and her daughter lying on the bed. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:55.279 For the first time, maybe in years, she sees her daughter lying peacefully in her bed. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:05.919 Men and women, if you have a prodigal tonight, if you're going through a marriage struggle, if you're going through issues where it seems impossible, cry out to God. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:09.200 Cry out to God heart to heart. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:10.720 Don't give up. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:12.159 Don't quit. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:13.919 Fast and pray. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.240 Knock, seek, ask. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.000 Keep crying out. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.200 And don't listen to people who tell you otherwise. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:23.919 And there'll be a lot of detractors. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.399 And it's always people who've never cried out to God. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.919 It's always for people who have not cried out to God. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.840 They say, Why are you doing that? 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:33.279 Here's what you need to do. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.919 And there's always practical advice. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.200 The most practical advice is cry out to God. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:43.759 The most practical advice, kingdom speaking, is to cry out to God. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:55.360 Because here's what's going to happen: as we enter into these latter days, and as the power of demons increases, as the power of the enemy increases across the globe, God is going to increase our power in prayer. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:56.240 He is. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:00.399 We're going to see that during windstorm. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:07.519 During windstorm, what we're going to do is we're going to have teaching and then we're going to go into worship each night and we're going to lace it with prayer. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:10.639 So we're going to have a mic up here, or maybe we'll even have two mics up here. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.759 I don't know if we can do that or how many mics we got, but we'll maybe have two mics up here. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:23.600 And as we're worshiping, as you feel led in your spirit to come up and pray, then the worship will come down and you'll just go into prayer about something on your heart. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:25.120 And we're going to agree with you. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:29.679 And so that's what God does is that he speaks to our hearts. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:34.960 And when he speaks to our hearts, men and women, I'm telling you, you've got to cry out to God right then. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:40.320 Not a day later, not when everything's perfect, not when the house is quiet. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:42.720 At our house, it's never quiet. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:43.600 House is never. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:45.919 That's where I do, that's why I do prayer walks. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.960 Because I mean, literally, I mean, I love the I love the outdoors. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:50.000 I think outdoors are great. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.240 I love to see if pikes peek, and that's really cool. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:53.600 I love living in Colorado. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:16:01.759 But part of it is I can just focus better because I'm not looking at all the things that are broken in the house and um and kids running around. 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:08.480 And so and so, whatever it works for, I mean, when you hear from the Lord about something, I would challenge you, go to God. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.000 Cry out to God. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:22.080 God is allowing those circumstances in your life so that you will, because he's changing you, and he's transforming you in the process of answering. 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.000 You thought it was all about the answer prayer. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:24.720 It's not. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:26.240 It's about you. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.080 Because he loves you. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:32.080 He's making you a worshiper and a warrior. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.519 So she finds her child lying on the bed. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:40.639 This woman is our model. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.799 It's interesting, you know, don't turn there, but just make a note of it. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:56.000 Acts 21, when Paul is coming back to Jerusalem, he actually stops over in Tyre in his ship, and it says, He found disciples there. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.480 This is years later. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:06.240 Don't you know that that mother and that daughter greeted Paul years later because they were believers. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:09.680 Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:10.720 Let's just stop there. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.000 I mean, that's just incredible. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:25.519 Departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, he went, Jesus went 50 miles, so round trip a hundred miles out of his way to heal one daughter of a Gentile. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.839 Folks, that's crossing borders. 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:40.480 He went out of Israel to Tyre and Sidon to heal one demonized daughter who's not even a Jew. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:45.039 He will cross borders for you. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:52.240 Wherever there's someone crying out to God, God always shows up. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.880 And he will go out of his way to show up. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:01.680 I don't care where you're at, I don't care what your ethnic background is, I don't care what you've done on Saturday night. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:07.920 The Lord's with you, he loves you, and he is in hot pursuit of you. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.279 And if you go after him, you get his attention. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:16.240 Something gets, I mean, when we go through the Gospel of Mark, look, that'd be an interesting study. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:21.759 And whoever does it, I'll give you a cappuccino or something. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:27.599 But do a study, someone here who's this way, analytical this way, do a study. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.440 Who gets Jesus' attention in Mark? 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:49.359 I bet we'll find that it's the most zealous, it's the most bold, it's the most passionate, it has nothing to do with their behavior, it has nothing to do with their ethnicity, it has nothing to do with their religion, it has nothing to do with how perfect their life is. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:50.880 Who gets his attention? 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:55.519 Because the most perfect people he seems to have a real problem with in here. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.680 And they're about to show up, by the way. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.240 They always come hovering around. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.240 So listen to this. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:11.359 Departing from the region of Tyre and Sedan, he came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:11.920 Guess? 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:15.759 Does anybody remember what happened in Decapolis a few chapters ago? 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.480 Which would probably be a few weeks ago chronologically. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:19.279 Does anybody remember? 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.519 Demonic man of the Gatherings. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.799 So he cast out a demon with the Gatterings, and you remember what happened? 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:29.039 They said, get out of here to Jesus. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:29.759 Get out of here. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.759 Right after he cast out the demon on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they said, get out of here. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.559 But do you remember what Jesus said to that guy? 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.440 He said to everybody else, don't tell anybody. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:41.519 He says to him, Go tell everybody. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:43.119 Guess what's happened? 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:44.799 It's a new day. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:46.160 He did it. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:20:06.240 Historically, when we did our tour of Israel, when we came to Decapolis in that area, which is a tin city region of Gentile cities in that area, our guide told us that history, Christian history and church history tells us that guy who had been who the demons were cast out of, that all the pigs went into the pigs, you know, and they went into the sea. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:12.000 That guy became one of the leading evangelists in that area, and they believe that it's through him that whole area was evangelized. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:14.559 So he comes back to Decapolis and listen to this. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:23.039 Then they brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged him to put his hands on him. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.200 Different day, guys. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.279 Different day. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:29.759 They begged him to leave before. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:31.599 Now they're begging him to come. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.119 That's the gospel. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.359 That's what God does in a family if we let him in. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:41.039 I mean, the first one who gets saved is always crucified. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:42.480 They just are. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:50.480 How many of you are the first in your family to get truly, I'm not talking about going to church and church, I mean, you say kind of radically saved. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:51.119 Anybody? 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:51.599 Okay? 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:53.519 Lots of you. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:55.200 You got crucified, right? 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:59.839 I mean, you got nailed because you're you're taking this religious stuff too seriously. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.400 It's fine to just go to church, isn't it? 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:05.279 Even the devil goes to church. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:08.319 I mean, he knows all, I mean, the devil's in church. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.160 He goes to church. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:16.880 In most cases, there's not much happening in the church that's really a hindrance to what he wants to do. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:29.440 But when a life gets changed, and a life gets radically changed, and addictions get broken, and we start telling the truth, and we start loving people, and we start making a difference and serving, oh man, all hell breaks loose. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:40.799 But then you've got this breakthrough period, and then people start kind of observing what's going on, and people start getting saved. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:42.559 People start coming to know the Lord. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.440 Don't give up, don't quit. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.000 Keep going against the tide. 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:49.279 Keep going against the tide. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:53.680 Hang with believers, but go against the tide with your family. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.359 Because that guy went back. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.440 I mean, that's I mean, can you imagine? 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:04.160 Like, Are you the guy that was always like nude up in the tombs and stuff? 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:05.839 Yeah, I'm that guy. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:07.440 Whoa. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:10.240 You got clothes on and stuff, man. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:12.319 I mean, you're kind of styling now. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:13.279 You know? 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:16.319 And he says, Well, let me tell you what Jesus did. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.359 And he had a pretty good audience, you know? 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:22.319 And so the whole region starts to get saved. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.200 So they bring this guy, he's deaf, and he's got an impediment. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:27.599 So my sense is that he was deaf. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.279 And so because he was deaf, he can't speak very well. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.279 But it's kind of interesting what they beg him to do. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:39.279 They beg Jesus to put his hands on him. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:46.400 Because they see Jesus, where he's going most of the time, he's laying hands on sick people and they get healed. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:49.839 And he lays hands on people and they get set free from the demonic. 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:52.480 But he's not going to do that here. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.880 Don't box Jesus in with how he wants to work in your life. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.079 It's really weird what he does. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:08.400 And I would actually not recommend that you use this on ministry team at the altar. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.920 He took him aside from the multitude. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:12.960 So note that. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:18.000 First of all, Jesus shows such dignity to this man. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.400 He pulls him away. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:22.720 Here's this crowd. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.559 They, I mean, they're probably dragging this guy along who's deaf. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:31.039 And then he just, I think he must have just, with compassion, he sort of stops. 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.400 And I don't know, maybe he put his arm around him. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.519 But he pulls him away from the crowd. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.680 And that's when we have ministry time up here each week. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.880 Want that, even though there's a lot of people around, I want it to be a private time with you and the person who's praying with you so you can share your heart. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:53.680 That's what we care, that's what we train our guys to do up here is to show dignity. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:24:01.279 We're not here for counseling, but we're here to dignify the humanness of each one of us that are creating the image of God. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:03.039 And Jesus shows that here. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:04.799 He pulls him aside. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:08.079 But what he does next is like so weird. 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:10.799 And he's not done because we got more to read here. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:13.200 He does another weird thing tonight. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:16.079 And he put his fingers in his ears. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:20.799 And he spat and he touched his tongue. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:26.799 Now, I don't know if you read that sort of just as it is. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:29.519 It sounds like he just spit in the guy's face or something. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.079 I think what he did is he put his fingers in his ears. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:37.759 Maybe he spat on his finger and he laid it on his tongue. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:43.599 No Ebola experts hanging out that day, I'm sure. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:52.960 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and he said to him, Epithah, that is, be open. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:55.519 So here's what's interesting. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.559 The guy's looking at him, I don't know if he can read lips or not. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:01.839 He puts his finger in his ears. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:11.359 I'm going to say he spat on his finger, and then he lays it on his tongue, and then he says something that the guy can't hear. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:18.880 Jesus understands the language of the heart. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:25.119 I'm going to surmise that this man has never heard Jesus speak because he can't hear. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:34.160 I'm going to say that it wasn't even up to him to come because, as the scriptures say, that they brought to him a man who is deaf. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:40.240 But Jesus understands the language of his heart and he wants to be healed. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:43.680 And men and women, Jesus understands the language of your heart. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:45.759 He knows what you need. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:48.480 He knows what this guy needed. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:53.039 And the Aramaic term that he uses is be opened. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:55.039 Verse 35. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:26:02.640 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:03.599 This is a miracle. 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:05.279 This is really a miracle. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.799 Then he commanded them that they should tell no one. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:13.200 But the more he commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:18.720 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, He has done all things well. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:23.519 He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:24.880 Now here's what's amazing. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.720 It takes a child about three years to speak. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:38.079 So just by osmosis, a child learning and observing and seeing people speak in their native tongue, it takes about three years for them to begin to speak. 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:41.519 He immediately can speak plainly. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:48.559 This is a supernatural creation miracle by which, and this is what a miracle is. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.599 A miracle is speed, is most of the time speeding up a natural healing. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.079 It is speeding up a natural healing. 00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:06.160 So he puts his finger, whatever's missing in his eardrums, whatever's missing in his hearing, Jesus speeds it up, but not just that. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:16.720 He then spits on his hand, lays it on his tongue, and he speeds up what should be a three-year process for him to be able to speak, and he can speak plainly. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:17.839 Hello? 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:20.720 Is that a Jesus you want to follow? 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:24.960 Is that a Jesus you want to beg for miracle from? 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:27.279 Is that a Jesus you want to cry out to? 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:29.519 Can you imagine a marriage? 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:38.319 Where there's adultery, where there is physical, emotional, maybe sexual abuse. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:41.839 It's a mess. 00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:44.559 It's a mess. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:58.960 Who else but Jesus can come into a situation like that, speed up a healing and a miracle where God almost overnight can change things. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:00.960 Only Jesus can do that. 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:08.720 That's who we serve, that's who we worship, that's who we follow, and it works and it happens all the time. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:18.079 And he is the one who came at Christmas, and he's the one who came and became a man and showed us perfect manhood. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.200 That's good news. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:22.720 Fires me up. 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:24.480 That's why I signed up, gang. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:26.400 Chapter 8. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:39.359 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the multitudes, because they have now continued with me for three days and have nothing to eat. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:46.799 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:51.279 So this is this is gonna be healing the multitudes 201. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:53.920 Because remember, just last week he did that. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:29:02.880 So he's gonna do it again, except this time he's gonna do it for Gentile believers, because this isn't that decapolis area, this is in the tin city area of the Gentiles. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:11.279 So before it said it was 5,000 men, which you believe to be about 20,000 people if you count women and children. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:14.240 So he has compassion, he's about to do it again. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:15.680 Verse 4. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.519 Now, I don't know about you, but this is pathetic. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:27.359 I mean, it's gotta be at lit, it's it's less than a week. 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:34.079 He fed 20,000 with nothing. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:39.839 Here's his mighty disciples. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:48.640 They answered him, How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:54.720 He asked them again, well, how many loaves do you have? 00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:56.240 They said, seven. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:02.000 So he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and you know he's gotta he's just gotta be going like this. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:03.599 He's just gotta be going like this. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:06.799 I mean, he's he's fully human. 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.039 He's fully God, but he's fully human. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:13.039 And it's like, I wonder if he just kind of looked up and went, again. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.519 Again? 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:17.359 Really? 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:19.519 You're gonna be kidding me. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:23.920 And so he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:26.720