Okay so whenever someone experiences bad service at a restaurant, usually that person would look for the store manager or anyone who is in charge during that time. Kapag good mood yung taong iyon, ine-express yung concerns here in a in a polite and calm manner. Pero pag di naman maganda yung mood, sadly out of frustration ay nagiging disrespectful siya towards the store manager, towards that person who has authority. I’m pretty sure that some of you guys have witnessed or watched maybe yung mga trending videos di ba, ng mga angry customers making a scene in public. Usually they throw tantrums and say hurtful words and shows how they dismiss the authority or any command given to them in that time. On the other hand, an excellent and humble store manager will address the concern of a raging customer in a way that is gentle, calm, kind, yet authoritative. And some may say na dapat hindi na tinutulungan yung mga ganyang tao. Why would you extend grace to someone who oppresses people? But regardless of the situation, the store manager is assigned there to serve the needs and requests of their customers.
In our text this morning we will read about a man with a position of authority in a desperate situation and in need of assistance. This person of authority came looking for Someone who is greater and more powerful than him. Someone who has Authority like no other. In Matthew chapter 8, we will learn about a centurion, a person hated by the Jews, pleading to Jesus for him to command an immensely sick person to be healed. Today’s sermon will help us see how a desperate situation is sometimes or most of the time used by God to humble us, even those who have high ranks or high statuses in life. In our lives, when we are faced with tough challenges we either run to God or run away from God. And when we run away from God in times of despair, it shows that we doubt Him and His plan. We throw tantrums when we see things not going our way just like an angry customer who doesn’t get what he or she wants. But when we run to God in times of confusion, in times of despair, it shows our desperate need of help from Him. It shows that we trust Him kahit na sobrang hirap na hirap na tayo sa challenges ng buhay. And my prayer for all of us this morning is that we get to cultivate a deep need and appreciation of God being our final Authority regardless of our circumstances. That even if we see things not going our way, we can trust in the sovereign will of God and humbly live a life of worship that pleases Him.
So if you have a Bible with you, kindly open it with me to Matthew 8. that’s Matthew chapter 8 verses 5 to 13, this is our text for this morning. I’ll be reading from the English Standard Version. When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralysed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marvelled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Verse 13, And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Before we dive deeper into our text this morning, let us open in a word of prayer. Father God in heaven thank You once again as you have gathered us here at Mount Zion to find spiritual rest oh Lord. Thank You that you have assembled us to just set aside all our worldly aspirations, work or anything or that has been hindering us to just worship You today and find spiritual rest. We pray Lord that you said that You allow us to set all of those things aside and help us focus on You. And oh Lord, I pray that through the preaching of the word this morning that we would hear the very words of God, that we would hear and know Christ. Lord may You be glorified and may the church be edified. May the lost the day be saved in Your name we pray, amen.
Alright, so for those who are visiting here for the first time this morning, I would like to just do a quick recap on what we’ve discussed so far. We’ve been going through the the gospel in Matthew and in the opening chapters we’ve learned about your ministry John the Baptist in preparing the way of the coming Messiah at sabi niya that this Messiah is greater than him. In fact greater than anyone. We also learned about the genealogy, the birth and the baptism of Christ where we saw the beautiful interaction of the Triune God. Nabasa natin in chapter 3 verse 17 you precious words in the God the Father coming down from heaven to his son saying this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Then we move to chapter four where we learned about the temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness and how he fought every temptations with the authoritative word of the Lord. Then in chapters five to seven we learned about the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher ever Jesus Christ on his sermon on the mount. And by the end of chapter 7, sabi doon na sobrang amazed yung crowds sa teachings in Jesus for he was teaching them as one who had authority. And all throughout the seven chapters that we’ve finished so far, masasabi natin talaga ay yung, yung sinabi ni John the Baptist about Christ that He indeed is the greatest. And even as we continue to the next chapters, magtutuloy-tuloy pa rin yung theme na ito. In fact, the whole scriptures point us to the great power and authority of God. In chapter 8, we will continue to see the authority of Jesus but this time not through His teachings but demonstrated through His healing ministry. And last week we learned about Jesus healing a leper in verses one to four. A leper as we have learned was isolated from society, someone that people thought during their time was good as dead. And yet in Christ’s first public healing, He chose to heal a leper, an outcast. And in our text this morning as we’ve read earlier, the strength of healing the not so favourite ones of society continued. After the leper, Jesus heals a centurion’s servant.
Now for context, alamin natin. Ano ba ang mga centurions? Well, centurions are Gentiles and as we all have learned in the scriptures, Jews typically avoided gentile people. And add to that, centurions are part of the Roman army and during their time, very oppressive yung empire ng Rome. That’s why the Jews hated them. And so we wonder why Jesus a Jew, would interact with a gentile, a centurion, who was disliked by many people. So ano nga ba ang nakita ni Jesus sa centurion na ito? Well nabasa natin sa text kanina in verse 10 that Jesus marvelled at the faith of the Centurion. And sabi ni Jesus, truly I tell you with no one in Israel have I found such faith. The Centurion, a non-jew most likely lived in a pagan culture but had more faith than the Pharisees, who had deep knowledge about the law. Interestingly, Jesus being amazed at the faith of the Centurion, showed His humanity. We must take note that during the Earthly life of the God- man, Christ experienced emotions. Alam natin na in grief over Lazarus, Jesus wept. He experience pain, agony and suffering in this humanity. Yes, He was able to express His emotions, He marvelled at the faith of the Centurion. And at the same time in His deity, He knows he will not put their faith in Him. So nung nag- marvel si Jesus sa faith ni centurion, this doesn’t mean na parang na-surprise Siya na uy! Meron ka pa lang faith. This amazing wasn’t because he was caught by surprise. It was because Christ was pleased with a great faith that the Centurion exemplified. In Hebrews 11, we actually see there God being pleased because of faithful men and in verse 6 it says there that without faith, it is impossible to please God. And before some of us think that this faith was possessed on our own strength, let me remind all of us that in the next chapter of Hebrews 11, in chapter chapter 12, it says there that Christ is the Author and the Perfecter of our faith. So we only possess this faith if the One who has authority over all things are sovereignly gifted it to us. And since He knows who will have this gift of faith, He also knows who will not receive this gift of faith. In Matthew 26, alam ni Jesus kung sino ang magre-reject sa Kanya. Jesus says that one of the twelve disciples will betray Him. And Judas did betray Jesus. And in his helpless state, he ran away from Jesus and took matters into his own hands by taking his life. This teaches us that those who do not have faith in God in times of hopelessness will reject Christ, will betray Christ and run away from Christ. But on the other hand, the Centurion, in his helpless state, did not run away from Jesus. But instead looked for him and exemplified true faith and the power and authority of God which amazed and pleased Jesus. Jesus thought that the Centurion was humble enough to admit his unworthiness and desperate need for help. He also saw that the Centurion truly believed in the power and authority of Jesus to heal. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what true faith in God looks like.
In our message this morning is simple. True faith displays our desperate need of Christ and our humble submission for God’s ultimate Authority. And we will go through this message into two sections: the first one is The Centurions Desperate Need. the Centurion servant was going to die. On the parallel account in the Gospel of Luke, pinakita doon how the Centurion, we read this earlier sa scripture reading how the Centurion talk to the Elders of the Jews and ask them to look for Jesus.In chapter 7 verse 2 a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death heard about Jesus he sent to him Elders of the Jews asking him to come and heal his servant. He desperately needed Jesus to heal his servant and he also had faith in Christ’s power and authority over sickness which we will discuss further in the second section of our sermon, Christ’s Power And Authority.
Okay, so since God is all-powerful and can heal the sick, does He automatically heal everyone who is sick? If He does not heal a sick person, does that mean He is not all-powerful? Or baka kulang lang ba Tayo ng faith? These are the questions we usually think about when it comes to God’s power to heal anyone. Church, friends there is no clear teaching in the Bible that says God will always heal physically the sick. Because if this is the case then Christians should never physically die. However, it is also wrong to have an attitude of doubting the power of God when it comes to healing the sick. We should keep praying for the sake because scripture tells us to pray for them, to pray for one another. But when we do so, let us not think that God is a genie na if we pray for healing, He will grant our prayers all the time. Yes, we trust in His power to heal, but at the same time surrender to His authoritative will and find comfort in the promise that His will is pleasing and perfect. Perfect, pleasing and authoritative.. and this is His will. To the suffering saint, and to those who desperately need Him.
So come let us look to our greatest need Jesus Christ as we consider the first point of our sermon, The Centurions That Script Need. Centurion in desperation, humbly pleaded with Jesus to heal his servant in Luke chapter 7 we read about the Jewish elders that the Centurion sent to Jesus pleading their case for the servant to be healed. Itong elders na ito, they told Jesus na worthy yung Centurion to have his servant be healed. Why do they think of that about the Centurion? Well, pinresent nila na meron daw siyang love kasi for the nation of Israel. And that he also built a synagogue for the people. So In fairness it looks like this Centurion is different from the others. He wasn’t an oppressor like most of them but was actually generous and loving. In fact even his care for his slave is very commendable. A sick slave or servant during their time was of no use already, especially when that slave was about to die. All the master must do is to look for another one. But the Centurion is different. He cared deeply about his servant and sent a message to Jesus for help. Sa isang company, usually yung mga, may matataas na posisyon, sadly hindi nila kilala yung mga nasa mababa ng corporate ladder. Minsan, hindi na nila nare-recognise yung mga efforts ng mga nagttrabaho sa kanila. And sadly kapag may mga kailangan I-lay off na sa company, madalian lang silang nagtatanggal ng mga employees na may mababa na posisyon. In the case of the sick servant of the Centurion, pwede na siyang i- terminate eh. Pwede na siyang I-lay off. Pero iba yung na-experience niya. Even if he was terribly ill, hindi siya pinabayaan nung master niya. And what’s beautiful here is, the Centurion was so desperate doing whatever he can to help his servant encounter the power of Jesus.
Do we have people under us who desperately need help? Actually hindi lang people working for us, perhaps a dear friend, a family member na tingin niyo, kailangan talaga niya ng tulong? How do we help those who are in need? Do we even bother sharing with them man’s greatest need? Mga kapatid, let us have the urgency to point those who are in need to Jesus. How about here in this local church? Question po ito para sa ating lahat, including myself. Nakapag-reach out na ba tayo sa mga iba pang members dito? May mga hindi pa ba tayo nakakausap? Kung comfortable lang tayo sa click na meron tayo sa church. Kapatid, humingi tayo ng tulong sa Panginoon to be bold, bigyan tao ng strength at confidence to reach out to other members in this local church. Ano ba ang naghi-hinder sa atin? Is it differences, politics, personalities, social economic status? Whatever that is, let us set all those differences aside and have a deep care for one another. Let us reach out to other members, di natin alam, baka yung iba dito nagsstruggle na deeply pero tahimik lang sila. The messengers of the Centurion knew that his servant was suffering terribly. And so in desperation, they were telling Jesus to come to his house and help him. Sinasabi nila kay Jesus, worthy tulungan yung Centurion. Napakabait nya kasi. He served and gave so much for our people. He deserves the help.
Sadly, in our lives, there are times we think we are worthy enough for God to comply with our requests. And if we’re not living as good Christians, we think that God won’t draw near to us and hear our prayers. Church let us not live with this kind of thinking that God will only come to our concerns if we have made ourselves worthy before Him. And at the same time, we shouldn’t demand God to come to us because we deserve it. What we actually deserve to get this judgment from God. All of us are sinners before a holy God and our hearts are desperately sick and in need of help from Christ. We ask Him to come to us not because we are worthy people, but because we are in desperate need of Him. No matter how pious we think we are or how holy we look at times, or on fire tayo, deep inside our hearts we are desperately sick. And so our hearts need cleansing and praise be to God because God understands the human heart and can heal it through His cleansing power.
I would like to take this time to talk to those who are probably hearing this for the first time about sin, about our greatest need of Christ. In Luke 5 31-32, sabi doon ni Christ, He didn’t come to those who have no need of a physician. He came to those who are sick. He didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. So dear friend, admit that your heart is sick and in need of spiritual cleansing. Repent of your sins now and come to Jesus Christ in faith, the great physician. Believe that He alone can save you from your spiritual sickness. At sa mga kapatid ko in faith, maybe some of you guys here are feeling discouraged already, maybe because of your..sa tingin niyo mabagal yung progress ng sanctification ninyo and perhaps you’ve been struggling with a sin that has been difficult to deal with na parang..palagi na lang ako nag-sstruggle Lord, ah. I encourage you to repent as well of your sin and humbly acknowledge your need of the gospel and know that you are welcome to draw near the throne of grace in repentance and faith. Repenting of your sins will not eliminate every wickedness in this lifetime because there is no such thing as perfect sanctification while we are living in this foreign world. But what real repentance does is that it will make us hate sin and will make us beg to God for help.
So going back to our text, we read about the Centurion statement when Jesus was about to come to His house, he said to Jesus through his Messengers: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Ironically, yung messengers nung centurion was telling Jesus na “Jesus, worthy yang taong iyan huh. Tulungan mo siya.” However, as much as the Centurion needed Jesus to come to him and heal his servant, he knew that he was not worthy. His messengers told Jesus good things about him but for the Centurion, all his qualities and good works didn’t matter anymore before Jesus. He disregarded all concerns about his status, about his rant, about his privilege and all he was concerned about was for his sick servant to be healed. The Centurion displayed humility and faith in God for he was only dependent on the power and mercy of Jesus during this desperate time. How about us? Paano tayo nagre-respond sa mga ganitong hardships? Do we just focus too much on how difficult life is and how we can deal with it by ourselves? Or do we have faith in God’s power to carry us through? Church, let me challenge all of us today with this: Depend On The Grace Of God That Strengthens Our Faith In Him. There will be days that even when we think we are holding on to Him, our grips will still be loosened. Our faith will be tested during times of grief, sorrow, hopelessness. We might end up holding on tightly or losing our grip on Him. But let us take heart and find comfort and strength in knowing the promise of God that He is faithful even in our unfaithfulness. He is the one holding us tightly to the point that nothing will ever separate us from Him.
One of the most comforting hymns ever written is about the faithful hold of Christ in the life of a suffering Christian. When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold, through life’s fearful past. For my love is often called, and He must hold me fast. And he will hold us fast. Christ indeed will hold His people dearly. It is during the toughest of times in our character and faith are exposed, but it is also during the toughest of times that we see the providential hand of God holding us and carrying us through. We can find hope in the faithfulness and sovereign authority of God over all things. Sabi nga ni Spurgeon, whenever we go through a trial and I quote, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head. And so dear church, dear brothers and sisters, let us find comfort in knowing that God who is all powerful and who has supreme authority cares for us. He cares for you brother.. He cares for you sister.
This leads us now to the second part of our sermon, Christ’s Power And Authority. And so we read in verse 8 that the Centurion had faith in the power of Jesus to heal through His word. Sabi niya kay Jesus, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. You have to remember that Jesus wasn’t physically there with the Centurion during that time. The Centurion didn’t want Jesus to enter his house when he recognized his unworthiness. And yet he still believed that Jesus could heal his servant by simply saying a word. Aside from acknowledging his unworthiness, he also acknowledges the power and authority that Jesus has over sickness. Alam niya na sapat na yung isang salita ng Diyos dahil naiintindihan niya yung authority na meron si Jesus. It’s also interesting to know how the Centurion also shares yung personal experience and knowledge niya about how authority works. Sabi niya dun sa verse 9, For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” And so even at the at a distance when a command is given, alam niya na matutupad ito. And with the authority that Jesus has in heaven and Earth, healing from a distance was possible, for His power reaches wherever He ordains it.
I want us to see another story in the Bible of someone who was also ill and was about to die and they were also waiting for Jesus to arrive sa bahay nila to heal the sick. In John 11, Mary and Martha stayed with Lazarus who was about to die. But Jesus wasn’t physically present with them during that time. Actually, Jesus arrived four days later but Lazarus was already dead. Sabi ni Martha: “ Lord had you been near our brother would not have died.” Now compare that statement to this Centurion who believed in the power of Jesus to heal even from a distance. Grabe yung confidence and assurance ng centurion sa power ng word ni Christ. Mary and Martha didn’t understand that Jesus didn’t even have to be there if it was His will for Lazarus to be healed during that time. The power comes from the word of Jesus. And when Jesus arrived, how did He demonstrate his authority and power not just in sickness but in death over death? He raised Lazarus from the dead by opening His mouth and pronouncing a command. Ganun ka-powerful yung word ni Christ. And the Centurion had faith in this powerful word, only say the word and my servant will be healed. There are many things in the Bible that display the powerful word of Christ. John 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The word is eternal. Hebrews 11 3, by faith we understand that the universe was created, was created by the word of God. Hebrews 1 chapter verse 3 He approached the universe by the word of His power. The powerful word didn’t just create the world and isn’t just sustaining the world right now. But this Word dwelt among us and became flesh. Jesus Christ is the Living Word and when He lived here on Earth in every word that Jesus spoke, His power and authority were displayed. He commanded the winds and the waves to calm down. His words would make the demons flee. And all throughout His earthly ministry, His authority is affirmed by his powerful word. And here’s the thing, whenever we open the scriptures, we see the power and authority of Christ as well. From Genesis to Revelation, the whole Bible, the whole world points to Christ.
Alistair Begg puts it this way: “we find Christ in all the scriptures. In the Old Testament, He is predicted. In the gospels, He is revealed. In Acts, He is preached. In the Epistles, He is explained and in Revelation He is expected.” And so, if we truly believe that Jesus is all-powerful and has ultimate Authority and that He is the word The Living Word, and brothers and sisters, do we put our trust in the word of God that is all powerful and has ultimate Authority? Second Timothy chapter 3 all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. If God is the Divine Author of scripture, then God must be our only reliable Authority because God Himself is infallible. The problem is sometimes we take the word of God lightly. Thinking or reading through it casually, forgetting that every page of the Bible is the word of God. Even in the preaching, as the word every Lord’s Day when a preacher Faithfully presents the word of God to us, faithfully, he doesn’t just say words and present his ideas. He actually presents to us Christ. In Thessalonians chapter 2, when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God which is at work in you, believers. It is as if Christ is speaking through the preaching of the word. Sabi ni J.I. Packer, “a true sermon is an act of God and not a mere performance by man. The sermon is God’s ordained means of speaking and breaking.” Again, sadly there are times, minsan, parang wala na tayong bilib sa salita ng Diyos. Mas may bilib pa tayo sa kung paano magsalita yung preacher at sa mga iba pa kesa doon sa mensahe na dala niya from the word of God. Do we still see the word of God as powerful? Do we still believe that God’s word is the Christian’s final authority? Do we still see that we desperately need the word of God? Church, let us not undermine and disrespect the power of God’s word. Know that this has the power to convict us of our sins, the power to edify the church and the power to save the lost. And if you are here today still unmoved by the word of God, tinatawag uli kita kaibigan na mag-repent ka sa iyong mga kasalanan. And believe in the power and authority of Jesus to save you from being thrown into the outer darkness. Nabasa natin yan kanina sa text, yung verse 12, yung outer darkness na yon, in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ibig sabihin nito, for eternity in pain and in agony. At kung hindi ka pa rin alarmed dito kaibigan, I pray that God would show mercy to you and regenerate your heart. Grabe si Jesus, He wasn’t afraid to talk about hell in verse 12. Sinabi Niya doon na yung sons of the Kingdom, those who are ethnic Israel, ay hindi lahat maliligtas. In fact, may mga iba sa kanila, itatapon doon sa outer darkness. Isipin ninyo, ito yung mga binigyan na ng physical blessings and privileges. Pero meron pa ring iba sa kanila na hindi naniniwala kay Jesus. There are those who think that just because they know about Christianity or just because they’re part of a church, automatically means that they are part of the Kingdom. They profess that Jesus saved them from their sins but when it comes to submitting to His commands of slaying their sins, they do not take it seriously.
If this is you this morning, ang challenge ko para sa iyo, para sa ating lahat, is to Submit To The Final Authority Of The Living Word. May you find His word life-giving even if it goes against your will most of the time. By nature, di natin talaga gugustuhin kasi mag-submit sa salita ng Diyos. Paiba-iba yung nagiging final authority natin. Minsan yung boss natin sa work, minsan yung parents natin, kadalasan yung sarili natin. When we are tempted to have others and not the word of God as our final Authority, let us humbly ask God to make us submit to His will and Trust in what He wants. Or maybe some of us here, kaya tayo nahihirapang mag-submit sa salita ng Diyos dahil, hindi natin nakikita yung outcome na gusto natin sa mga pinagp-pray natin. Maybe we have been praying in faith for a loved one to be healed from cancer, from a disease, from physical pain. But we know that God doesn’t always physically heal people, right. I’ve been praying in faith in naman. Bakit wala pang healing? Kapatid, tandaan natin na having faith, it doesn’t mean that we demand things from God na basta-basta na lang Siya susunod sa gusto natin. Having faith in God actually means denying ourselves and trusting in the will of God. And if it is His will then our prayers of physical healing or other prayers that we’ve been desperately asking God for, then that means, if hindi sagutin ni God, then that means there’s something more important that God wants us to know and we must submit to His will. This doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care. Actually, He does care because He’s showing us what we truly need, our greatest need and that is to see that having Jesus, is having everything we need. In His Divine Providence, most of the time He allows His children to go through suffering, even if it’s physical pain so that he would desperately want Him more than anything. We might be thinking kasi nga in verse 13 ang text natin, hineal naman ni Jesus yung servant, yung servant nung Centurion. Bakit ang prayers ko hindi sinasagot ni God for healing? Again, God’s will is not always to heal physically so that we would desperately again want Him more than anything. And we have to submit to the will of God. In fact, in the Bible many of the great characters there faced suffering, yet humbly submitted to the will of God. Joseph was envied by his brothers, he was thrown into a pit and later on was even imprisoned because of false accusations. And yet he still had faith in God and said that what happened to him was meant by God for good. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, he encountered many false prophets and a lot of idolaters during his time and was persecuted. Yet despite his hardships experiencing rejections, he believed that God’s compassions never failed. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. Job who was tested by Satan with the permission of God children and his property. He physically suffer terribly and was forced to denounce God by his wife. And even if he had lost everything, he knew that it was God’s doing and he was still able to praise the Lord, for the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. With the name of the Lord be praised. The Apostle Paul who was beaten in prison experienced shipwreck for the sake of the Gospel was given a thorn in the flesh as well. He pleaded to God desperately three times about this. But he knew that God’s grace is sufficient and that God’s power is made perfect in his weakness. And lastly, Jesus Christ, the greater Joseph, the greater Jeremiah, the greater Job, and greater than the Apostle Paul; no one has ever suffered more tremendously than Jesus. He experienced rejection and mockery, He was beaten, bruised and experienced all kinds of anguish in His body. He knew that He was going to go through deep suffering and knew that the cup of wrath was going to be poured on Him. Yet He prayed to the Father if You are willing take this cup from Me yet not My will but Yours be done. And so He gave His life as a perfect sacrifice, nailed on the cross for our sins and took the whole wrath of God it was supposed to be ours. He willingly obeyed and endured suffering for our sake. Church, suffering is part of the Christian life and when we find it difficult to comprehend what’s happening to us, let us turn to the word of God and find comfort and assurance in His will. He may allow us to suffer some more but know that our sufferings now have meaning in Christ and that it is to strengthen our faith in Him. In closing, may we rejoice even in our weakness for it is in our desperate need of Him that His power and authority is displayed.
Let’s pray. Father thank You for Your word. Thank You Lord for allowing us to hear Your word Your very words O Lord. Lord, may it move us, may it allow us to tremble. May we reverently and humbly submit to Your word, the word for us today. Thank You that You are with us and that You care for us. Thank You that You are close to the brokenhearted and thank You Lord that You are our ever-present help in times of desperate need. Thank You O Lord that You are here with us. We love You. It is to Your Name we pray amen.