A Man Like No Other, part 2

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. We'll open your Bible with me, if you would, to Mark chapter 1.

Mark chapter 1, as we continue in our study through Mark's gospel. And we are looking in verses 21 to 45 at this section I'm entitled, A Man Like No Other.

Mark 1, 21 down to the end of the chapter, A Man Like No Other. And we looked last week in verses 21 to 34, and just to remind you of what we've covered and to help catch you up to speed for this morning, the first thing we looked at was that Jesus was a man of power.

He was a man of power. And we looked last week at three specific areas from the text of where Jesus displayed His power. First, He was a man of power in His teaching.

Mark records for us that the people were astonished when they heard Him preach in the synagogue at Capernaum because He was teaching with great authority.

Authority unlike anything the people had ever seen. He was also powerful in His power over demons. You remember as we looked at last week that a man who was demon-possessed, the demon cried out in verse 24 and said, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him and said, Be silent and come out of him.

And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out the loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying, What is this, a new teaching with authority?

And He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him. He was a man of power in His teaching, a man of power over demons. And third, we looked last week, He was a man of power over disease.

We looked how the text shows us that they would go right out of the synagogue at Capernaum, right across the way to Peter's house where Peter's mother-in-law was.

And she was ill with fever. We looked at the language of the New Testament last week and saw that actually is coming from a word that means fire. She was on fire with fever.

She was extremely ill. Verse 31 says, Secondly, let me show you this morning that Jesus was a man of prayer.

Not only was He a man of power, He was a man of prayer. So this is happening right on the heels of all that we looked at last week. And we might just pick up in verse 34 that says, He healed many who were sick with various diseases and He cast out many demons.

And He would not permit the demons to speak because they knew Him. Verse 35, And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place.

And there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. And they found Him and said to Him, Everyone is looking for You. And He said to them, Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.

And He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Jesus was a man of power, but He was also a man of prayer.

After teaching in the synagogue and after casting out the demon and after healing Peter's mother-in-law and after praying for others and healing others with various diseases and casting out others who were demon-possessed, He's going to now get up early in the morning and retreat and pray.

This is extremely instructive for us. Because this reminds us that what we must do is after days and seasons of ministry where the Lord has used us and where we have been a part of the kingdom work, it is then we must be careful to pray.

For these 27 men who are graduating from the Institute, men, you need to enter into a season of prayer unlike any other. The reason for that is whenever we are doing kingdom work, when we are teaching, when we are making disciples, when we come back from a mission trip, when we come back from a youth camp or a youth retreat, when you have shared the gospel, whatever it may be in your life, as you do what God has called you to do, if you do not quickly retreat to prayer, one of two things is likely to happen.

Either you're going to have had your ministry encountering great obstacles and you're going to despair. And if you despair, it's going to be very difficult for you to stay focused and faithful.

So you want to retreat and pray and remind yourself that it's up to you to be faithful. It's up to the Lord to accomplish the work. But the opposite is also true.

If you are serving and teaching and leading and what you see are visible results and what we would call success from those ministry efforts, if you are not quick to retreat and pray, you're going to far too easily become impressed with yourself, which is a terrible position for someone to be in that wants to be useful for the kingdom.

Despair weakens us and so does pride. And what Jesus does here is gives us really a great example that after we have been useful and doing the things that we have been called to do, we must remind ourselves that our strength comes from prayer, our focus comes from prayer, our perspective is clarified in prayer.

And Jesus lives this out, rising early in the morning while it was still dark. He goes to a desolate place and there He prayed.

There are three times in Mark's Gospel that Mark tells us that Jesus went to pray when it was dark. Here, chapter 6, when He would walk on the water, in chapter 14, in Gethsemane, the night He was betrayed.

It is an important practice that Jesus makes of prayer to the Father and how true that must be for us as well. I mean, just consider this.

Jesus thought it was essential to make time to pray. So let me just ask you, my friends, is that true for you?

Do you find it in your life essential to take time to pray and do you live by that priority?

For some, they will accept the call to study. And for some, they'll accept the call to serve.

Those are good, noble things. Few rise up to truly become a man and a woman of prayer. Jesus found it important to make prayer a priority.

And we learn a lot about prayer from that. We learn a lot about Jesus from that. So let's ask you in your life, does your life show that prayer is your priority?

If I were to ask you, what are the priorities of your life, there are really a couple of very quick ways we can know. How do you spend your time?

And how do you spend your money? That reveals for each of us what our real priorities are. And we may try to explain in a way and say, well, I know that I spent an awful lot of money on this, but my real priority is over here.

Or I know we spend a lot of time doing this, but my priority is really this. But the fact of the matter is that that which we devote our time to, that which we plan our schedules around, are the true priorities of our life.

And so I just want to say, if your life is not a life of prayer, I don't want to make you feel beat up over that.

I don't want you to leave here feeling like you were kicked when you were down. I do, though, I do want to call you to be reminded that this is who we are to be as God's people.

We are to be people of prayer. And in case you haven't discovered this, I'll just tell you, to be faithful in prayer takes a lot of work and a lot of dedication.

And there are some things you just have to say no to. If you're going to make prayer your priority, you've got to reorient your daily schedule and your weekly schedule because there are so many things that will very quickly crowd it out if you are not very careful.

And if you're a believer and you're 11 years old, or if you're a Christian and you're 19 years old, or if you're a Christian and you're 91 years old, prayer ought to be a regular part of your Christian life.

You're not too young. You're not too old. This is what it is to follow the Lord, is to be people of prayer, praying to confess our sin, praying for strength, praying for wisdom, praying for clarity, praying for boldness, praying for evangelistic opportunities, praying to be salt and light to the world around us, praying for our family, praying for our church, praying for the spiritual life of our children.

Children, we are to be people of prayer. And if you think to yourself, but my life is so busy, I'd have to get up when it's still dark to make time to pray.

That's our example. There are absolutely things we may have to say goodbye to if we're going to become the kind of faithful men and women in prayer that we are called to be.

See, Jesus is a man of power, and it's not a coincidence that He was a man of prayer. Jesus was faithful to pray, and He shows us if we are going to be powerful for the kingdom, we are going to have to be faithful in prayer.

Let me show you also, thirdly, that He was a man of priority. This is a very important part of this passage. Jesus gets up early in the morning, verse 35, to pray while it's still dark.

He departed, and He went out to a desolate place. But why does Jesus go out to a desolate place? The same reason why you've got to find your own desolate place, because interruptions just tend to find you, don't they?

When you try to pray, somebody always needs you. When you try to study the Bible, somebody always is texting or calling or asking to do something for them.

Sometimes you've just got to get away from people in order to be able to pray. Now, if you happen to be a mother that's home raising preschoolers, let me say a couple of things.

One, as we looked at last week in verse 31, that's as noble of a work as you're going to do. Raising your kids, you may have employment, you may have a paycheck from somewhere, but there's nothing more significant you can do than love and serve your family.

And understand, if you're at home with little preschoolers, you don't have the option to leave little preschoolers in the house and you go off somewhere for two hours and pray.

You can't do that. It's harder. It's tough when your kids are little. And I don't want anyone here to beat themselves up because you feel like, well, I think so-and-so reads the Bible for three hours a day and then they pray for four hours a day and then they go out and do door-to-door evangelism for five hours a day.

Listen, you've got to live life right where the Lord has you. And if you've got little ones at home, you are reading them the Word of God, you are praying over them, you are singing songs of praise to them, you are training them, teaching them to pray, teach them to come to church, teach them the foundations of the faith, and your spiritual life is not going to be a life where you've got just limitless time.

Understand that. If you're in college and you've got five or six classes and you're trying to read and go to class and study and be a good student, you don't have six or seven hours a day to just sit at home and do nothing.

At least you shouldn't. I hope you don't. And so sometimes what we tend to do is we think to ourself, because I can't do what maybe somebody else does or because I don't have the freedom or schedule that someone else does, then I just can't do anything.

Look, God knows right where He has you. God knows what your family demands are and God knows what your school demands are and God knows what your physical limitations may be and God knows all of these things.

And you're not accountable or responsible to be faithful with somebody else's schedule or somebody else's life. Your responsibility is to be faithful in your life right where God has you.

But I do want to say this, that if you take an honest evaluation of your schedule and your conclusion is, I'm too busy to pray, then your life is full of more things than God intended for it to be.

I don't say that to make anybody feel beat up. I say that to give you a sense of freedom. There may be some things that for you to be a person of true, faithful prayer, you need to let go of.

That may be. But if prayer is a priority, then it's going to be reflected in our life. And it may mean getting up really early when it's dark.

It may mean staying up really late when it's dark. It may be foregoing lunch so you've got an hour to pray and to read the Word. You do whatever you've got to do. But right in your life, with your family, in your schedule, right where the Lord has you, let it be a priority of your life to daily be devoted in prayer.

And what we see is that, thirdly, he was not just a man of power and a man of prayer, he was a man of priority. And we see this because he goes to the desolate place to pray, and verse 36, Simon, and those who were with him searched for him.

So, Jesus has taught in the synagogue, he has healed Peter's mother-in-law, he has been praying for others, healing others, doing ministry with others, and then he gets up very early in the morning while it's still dark, and he goes off to pray, and the disciples get up, and they say, where did he go?

We've got to find him. He needs to be here. We've got to strike while the iron's hot. Capernaum is buzzing. He was just in the synagogue in Capernaum teaching with an authority, unlike anything anyone's ever heard.

The people are stirred up. The people just saw him command a demon to come out of the man, and the demon obeyed, and the people are astonished.

The people have just seen him the night before, healing those who were sick, and just with the touch of his hand and the spoken word of his mouth, healing sickness and healing diseases, and it does not take long for that kind of word to spread.

It happens instantly. The disciples say, where is he? I mean, we've got people that want more of this. These people are curious.

They're interested. They're on his side. And the disciples say, we've got to find him. They can't find him. They go looking for him, and they finally, in verse 37, says they found him, and they said to him, everyone is looking for you.

It's a bit of a rebuke from the disciples to Jesus. You ever had your child walk away at the mall or walk away at Walmart, and you're looking and trying like crazy to find him in every aisle, and you finally find him, and you say, don't you know we've been looking for you?

The disciples say, Jesus, what are you doing? Everyone's looking for you. The whole town's talking about you. The whole town is in a buzz about who you are and what you've done.

Now remember, we looked at this last week. Jesus previously had gone to teach in the synagogue at Nazareth, his hometown, and how did that go? Not well.

Jesus preached at that synagogue, and he called the people to repent, and the people were so angry with him, they tried to kill him and push him off a cliff.

The disciples are saying, Jesus, don't you see the tide's turning? It wasn't that long ago, Jesus, when people wanted to kill you, and now people are astonished by you.

You've got to get up early and come with us. We've got to ride this wave of momentum. Because the people in Capernaum begin to dream about a city where nobody is sick, and where nobody is burdened, and where nobody is in pain.

And the people of the city begin to very quickly dream about what life could be like in their town if Jesus does for them everything they want him to do.

But Jesus will not simply give them what they want if what they want is not what they most need.

And so Jesus withdraws to pray because he knows the difference between the response of attraction and the response of conviction.

This is something in our culture that people need to understand. people can go to a worship service or go to a retreat or go to a conference and you can very quickly get the response of attraction.

Caught up in the emotion of the music, caught up in the emotion of the crowd, caught up in the feeling the feeling of being around hundreds or thousands of people.

But there's a difference between attraction and conviction. See, Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

That's the reason Jesus left heaven to come to earth, he says in Luke 19.10, is to seek and to save the lost. And miracles, as great as they may be, miracles do not save.

The people in Capernaum are all stirred up because they've seen Jesus do miracles. But the miracles were not an end to itself. The purpose of the miracles and the reason why you see just a couple of times in history where there's a proliferation of miracles, one of them here in the day of Jesus and the time of the disciples, is to give evidence and authenticity that Jesus is the Messiah.

The miracles he would do, yes, are done out of compassion. Yes, they alleviate suffering. But understand, for the blind man who gets sight and the lame man who's able to walk and Peter's mother-in-law who's burning up with fever, who has the infection instantly cleared up by the spoken word of Jesus, for every one of those people who receive that physical miracle, their sin must still be dealt with.

And so Jesus will perform these miracles, yes, as an act of compassion and mercy, of course, but it's more than that. It's to authenticate who he really is because he came to seek and save the lost.

And so Jesus will do these miracles so that people have evidence right in front of them to know he really is who he says he is. But for a lot of people, they just want the miracle, not salvation.

They want to be able to walk without pain, not repent. They want to dream of a city where if anyone's sick, they're instantly healed, and if someone is hungry, they can instantly eat, and if someone is poor, they instantly have all they need.

For them, it very quickly became clear if Jesus will do for us whatever we want him to do, we could have everything our way.

But Jesus did not come so that you can have everything your way. He came so that you could know him who himself is the way.

the truth and the life. And so he withdraws to pray, and the disciples say, everyone is looking for you. People love you.

But see, that's the whole issue. Jesus knows the heart. And he knows that for many people who respond favorably to the miracles, it's not because they really love Christ, it's just because what they think Christ can do for them.

And the disciples essentially are saying, why are you wasting your time praying? We've got people to go serve, teach, heal, impress.

My friends, never apologize for making prayer a priority in your life. Never apologize for living out the conviction that we must be in prayer regularly.

Jesus replies in verse 38, he said to them, let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also for that is why I came out.

Jesus says, it's time to leave and go to a different place. The people say, what are you talking about? This place loves you. Remember Nazareth?

Remember they tried to push you over the cliff? Capernaum loves you. Why in the world would you go somewhere else when this place is astonished by you?

The reason is because he came to preach the gospel. Jesus came preaching, Mark has already said.

Verse 38, we've got to go to the next towns that I may preach there also for that is why I came out. The disciples think, you know what?

We've not had it so good. This feels really good. These people are chanting your name. These people are lining up outside the house because they want to hear from you and see you and be a part of what you're doing.

Why in the world don't we just stay here? The reason is Jesus did not come to simply attract crowds. He came to save souls.

It's to the shame and detriment of our churches when we forget that. That the goal is not just to attract crowds. It's to preach the gospel.

And Jesus says to disciples, we're going to leave. I came to this town. I preached. I demonstrated who I was. They know who I say that I am.

And now we're going to go to the next town and do the same thing. Jesus was not going to be detoured by the popularity of the people.

He was living by heaven's priority. And so must we. So must we.

We must live by heaven's priority. Somebody says, I don't understand why in the world you spend so much time in this ministry.

I mean, there's just a few people who come to your class. There's just a few people who attend your Bible. There's just a few people who are a part of your ministry. Why do you spend all your time doing that? And the reason is because you're not consumed with the popularity of the world.

You're living by heaven's priority. People say, I don't understand. Why do you go on a mission trip? Why do you use a week of vacation? You only get three of these things. Why do you use a third of your vacation for the year to go on a mission trip?

Why do you do that? And you have to pay to go? Why do you spend your money to go do that? And the reason is because you live by heaven's priority. I had a guy one time, he was not a believer, had no background with the church at all.

And I was meeting with him and he was asking how the church is able to have a building and how the church pays its bills and how the church can do all the ministry. And I was telling him because our members just freely of their own desire and own accord generously give week after week after week.

And he said, well, how much do you have to pay to be a part of the church? And I said, well, no one's required to give. The Bible calls us to give, but as a church, we don't have dues that you pay.

And he said, so you could go to the church and never give any money and the church doesn't kick you out? And I said, yes. And he said, well, why wouldn't everybody do that? That's a fair question.

You mean you can just freeload? Of course. Of course. And that's how the world would think.

Why don't we just take, take, take? Why give? Why sacrifice? Let somebody else do that. Well, here's why. Because when God gets a hold of your heart, you begin to live by heaven's priority.

And now, you see your time and your money and your resources and your schedule and every priority of your life through an entirely different lens.

Jesus is saying to his disciples, I didn't come to attract a big crowd and become popular. I've come to preach the gospel and to seek and save that which is lost.

So, verse 39, he went throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

He stayed focused on the purpose for which he was set. God And for those of you who know Christ is your Savior, I want to encourage you today to stay focused on the reason that God has saved you.

There's a reason why he saved you and left you here. There's a reason he has you working in that office. There's a reason he has you on that college campus.

there's a reason he has you in the middle school you're in. And there's a reason you live in the neighborhood you do. There's a reason why he has you in the family you're in.

And as a believer, our priority is to share the gospel, live the gospel, pray the gospel, and day after day after day find ways to point people to Jesus Christ.

And we've got to be people who live by priority. But to live by priority, we must be people of prayer. We see that Jesus was a man like no other because he was a man of power, he was a man of prayer, he was a man of priority.

We'll look next week in verses 40 to 45 of how he was also a man of great compassion. Let me say to you this morning, if you don't know Christ as your Savior, today I want you to know that Jesus is the Savior.

If today you don't know what it means to know Christ in a personal way, I want you to know that you can have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The way you have that is by repenting of your sin and having faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

It was just a few weeks ago that people all over the world gathered in churches on Easter Sunday to consider the empty tomb. I want you to understand the power of that message is not just for one day a year.

that power, the truth of the cross and the empty tomb is a life changing reality for us every day of our life. And if there has never been a time in your life where you have confessed your sin, if there has never been a time in your life where you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, Savior, this can be your day.

If you would call upon the name of the Lord this day, if you would repent and turn from your sin and trust in Jesus this day, salvation will come to you this day.

And if you think for just a moment that you're not good enough to be saved, that puts you in good company because none of us are, all of us are sinners, all of us are in need of a Savior and it's for this very reason Jesus came.

Would you even today in prayer in your heart to the Lord confess that you're a sinner, acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the living risen Son of God and would you ask Him to forgive you of your sin and would you believe with faith in the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

Salvation is offered freely to you because Jesus gave up His life that all who would believe would not perish but have everlasting life.

That's the message Jesus went town to town preaching. That salvation is available for those who call upon His name. and if we can help you with that we stand ready to do so.

For every one of you you've got a bulletin when you came in on the side of that is a connection card. And if you need someone to pray with you if you need someone to sit down with you and walk you through the gospel if you need someone to help you to know how do you have a prayer life if you need someone to sit down with you to say how do we live by spiritual kingdom priorities you just turn that card in one of these giving boxes on your way out we would love to follow up with you!

Lord we thank you today for your word and pray that you would use it to the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and to help us to walk in obedience Lord we want to be people of power and to do that we must be people of prayer that live by priority help us to know how to do that and give us the courage to obey you in the name of Christ we pray amen before you dismiss two quick things number one if you have any interest or curiosity about going with us to Israel next year we're taking a group again from our church we are meeting today at four o'clock in the fellowship center that's the big room right over here by the elevator four o'clock for anyone who's interested we're going to walk through the itinerary we'll walk through the cost walk through what we do all the different sites you're going to get a chance to be a part of we've already got a good group that's already registered and paid a deposit if you're interested in being a part of that trip come at four o'clock today and learn more about it you don't have to sign up if you come but it'd be a chance to learn about that four o'clock today you don't have to be a member of our church to go if you're a guest you're welcome to go with us

Israel if there's someone in your family you want to take with you're welcome to bring them but that interest meeting is at four o'clock today ladies Tuesday night ladies night of theology 630 in here and I want to encourage all of you to look through the back of your bulletin this is a busy time of year we want you to be aware of all the events and all the opportunities for ministry and service for you take time today to look through that be a part of the life of our church be involved tonight at five o'clock our children choir stomp we'll be doing their spring musical right in here we would love for you to come and support them and you'll have a blast as you get to watch our children sing and present the gospel through their spring musical be praying for them this afternoon and come back at five to support them all right to our graduates love you guys super proud of you and we support you and cheer you on all right church family son retra Tan