The Amazing Christ, Part 3

Father we thank you for the reminder of your greatness and I pray that today as we study your word we would see the beauty of that greatness as your word so explicitly tells us how great you are and I pray father that because you are so great we would bow in submission to your greatness and that we would follow you Lord without reservation that we would see your glory and thus respond to you in a way that would bring honor to your name thank you father for all that you do and the opportunity you give us to study your word we pray in Jesus name amen turn me in your Bible if you would to Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter 9 today we once again are able to receive a glorious glimpse of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ our Lord it's an opportunity for us to to come to grips with who Jesus is when we study the Bible we study the Bible for one purpose and that is to know God it's not about acquiring a whole bunch of information about God although that is useful it's about coming to know the greatness of our God so much so that he rubs off on you to affect everything that you do and all that you say that's how you know you've come to know God he rubs off on you in such a way that he changes and alters everything about your life and so as we open the word of God our desire is to show you Jesus Christ our Lord there are many people who read the Bible and never see Jesus the Pharisees were that way they would read the Bible they would study the Bible they were meticulous about the law of God and yet in their studies they would miss the identity of the Messiah they would miss the beauty of the master they would miss the reality of Jesus Christ our Lord in front of them the Bible says these words in the gospel of John the fifth chapter Christ says you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is these that bear witness of me and you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life can you imagine searching the scriptures day after day after day reading them studying them and yet missing the Lord Jesus Christ and all of us splendor and he stood right in front of you can you imagine that they were like those of second Timothy chapter 3 verse number 7 ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth a lot of people like that they love to acquire information about God but never come to the knowledge of the truth the great thing about the scriptures is that the Bible says these words to you and me those of us who know Christ 2nd Corinthians 3 18 but we all we believers with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed to the same image from glory to glory just as from the Lord the Spirit in other words we when we look into this perfect law of liberty when we look into the glorious gospel of Christ we do so with an unveiled faith face in other words we are able to see things clearly why because we are people of the New Covenant we are people who understand the Old Testament because we are people who have received the New Testament and therefore we look into the Word of God we are able to see the glories of Christ and upon seeing those glories the Spirit of God uses his word to transform our lives so that we become reflectors of the image of God we of all people are are most richly blessed to be able to study God's Word and to see his glory and to be able to respond in a positive way now of course there are there are many people who read the Bible with an unveiled face but they're not being transformed from one level of glory to the next level of glory question comes why is that Peter tells us that over in 1st Peter chapter 2 when he says therefore putting aside all malice and guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the Word that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if when you go to the Word of God and you don't see Jesus and your life's not being changed it's because you have not laid aside all malice all slander all guile all hypocrisy the phoniness the wickedness the vileness you have not laid aside those things reign supreme in your life so you are unable to long for the pure milk of the Word as a as a baby would long for its mother's milk so therefore we know that the Bible is transforming we know the Bible is is powerful and yet these Pharisees when they would study the scriptures they would not see the Lord Jesus Christ we so desperately need to see him my prayers that when you come on Sunday morning you see Christ when you come on Wednesday night you see the glories of Christ you see so many times when we read we are not riveted by the Redeemer of Israel and we should be we study but don't see the Christ that's a problem because why else would we study the Bible why else would we read the Bible other than coming to know the greatness of of our Lord Jesus Christ Paul would say in flipping three ten oh that I might know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering but that was a long you know the Apostle Paul and the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 9 would record the words of our Lord when he said let not the the mighty man glory in his might or the rich man glory in his riches why because those things really don't matter let not the mighty man glory in his might or the rich man glory in his riches or the wise man glory in his wisdom but let him that glories glory in this that he understands and knows me you want to boast in something both in the fact that you know me don't boast in the fact that you have lots of money you have wisdom you have intellect you have education you have power don't boast in those things because those things all fade away they're all temporary boast in the fact that you know me that I am the God who exercises loving-kindness justice and mercy on the earth because in those things the Lord God says I delight I delight in those things and so as people of the living God we want to come to know him and delight in the things that he delights in and come to realize the greatness of his wonderful beautiful glory so we come to a passage of scripture that talks to us about the amazing Christ and all of his greatness it's so important to understand how great our God truly is years ago J.I.

Packer wrote a book called knowing God and in that book he tells us as to why it's important to grasp the greatness of God he says this this is knowledge which Christians today largely lack and that is one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby we are modern men and modern men though they cherish great thoughts of man have as a rule small thoughts of God when the man in the church let alone the man in the street uses the word God the thought in his mind is rarely of divine majesty we are poles apart from our evangelical forefathers at this point even when we confess our faith in their words when you start reading men like Luther or Edwards or Whitefield though your doctrine may be theirs you soon find yourself wondering whether you have any acquaintance at all with the mighty God whom they knew so intimately today vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are weak inadequate ineffective and a little pathetic but that is not the God of the Bible our personal life is a finite thing it is limited in every direction in space and time and knowledge and power but God is not so limited he is eternal infinite and almighty he has us in his hands but we never have him in ours like us he is personal but unlike us he is great in all its constant stress on the reality of God's personal concern for his people and on the gentleness tenderness sympathetic patience and yearning compassion that he shows towards them the Bible never lets us lose sight of his majesty and his unlimited dominion over all his creatures the unlimited majesty of Christ the Bible says in Isaiah 66 verse number two that this man is the one to whom the Lord God will look to him is broken and of a contrite heart and who trembles at his word folks the Bible is very true when you open your Bible and you study your Bible if you study it and you don't shake you didn't see Jesus if you study your Bible and you don't shake and you don't tremble under the authority of God you didn't read it right you read it as if you read a novel or as if you were reading the USA Today because God looks for a certain kind of person the one who's broken and of a contrite heart and shakes uncontrollably under the authority of my word you see when you read the Bible and you see Christ in all of his glory and all of his greatness and all of his majesty you can't stay the same you can't remain in limbo you can't be as you were before you opened it and began to read it if so you didn't read it right you didn't look at it with an unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord you're not being transformed from one image of glory to the next level of glory by the Spirit of God Peter tells us because the malice because the wickedness because of the envy because the jealousy because of all those sinful attitudes that we have it keeps us from shaking under God's authority because we don't go with a broken and contrite heart we go with an arrogant spirit a bitter spirit so many people they would see the Christ they would be amazed at the Christ but they would not shake uncontrollably under the authority of his dominion and thus they would remain the same in spite of all of his splendor and all of his beauty being put on display on a daily basis before them folks it is so important to understand that we hold within our hand the truth of God's Holy Word and you can't just treat it like you treat any other book that you read it must be your life's sustenance you must grab it first when you get up in the morning because it's your food for the day you must memorize it study it and meditate upon it throughout the day because it feeds you regularly throughout the day you can't live without it it's so important that when we open the Bible we see Christ today my prayer is that you see his greatness that you somehow see his greatness in his power that you see his greatness in his plan that you see his greatness in his pity for man so that you respond in praise to your God because of his majesty because of his greatness we know from Luke's account in Mark chapter 9 that when the people saw Jesus coming down from the mountain they looked at him and they were amazed and they would run up to him in other words there was a wonder about him Mark's account says they were amazed when he came down from the mountain and they saw him and they ran to him and Luke's account doesn't record that neither does Matthew's account but Luke's account records that when it was all said and done and Christ cast a demon out of this young boy that everybody around him was once again amazed at the majesty at the greatness of the Lord Jesus they were amazed they were first of all amazed because of the radiance of his glory and second of all they were amazed because of the revelation of his greatness and yet in spite of all that in spite of all that they still missed him they still didn't see him for who he was folks when you open the Bible and you read about Christ you can't afford to miss anything about his majesty anything about his glory anything about his identity anything about his mighty power you can't afford to miss anything about him let me read to you our text for this morning just three verses first 43 down to verse 45 and they were all amazed at the greatness of God but while everyone was marveling at all that he was doing he said to his disciples let these words sink into your ears for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men but they did not understand the statement and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it and they were afraid to ask him about this statement the Bible says that these people were all amazed they were all amazed and I wonder this morning if you are amazed at the Christ they were amazed number one because because of his power it speaks to his supremacy his power we know the story we've studied the story the last couple of weeks so we know that when Jesus came down from the mountain his men could not cast out the demon the other nine Peter, James, and John were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration but the other nine were unable to cast out the demon this man begs the Lord Christ if you can cast him out I brought him to your men they could not but if you can would you Christ says if I can it's not a question whether or not I can for all things are possible to him who believes and the man said I believe help my unbelief and the Lord would would bring said bring this this child to me bring this boy to me and that demon would slam this boy down we saw in Mark's account as well as Matthew's account that this demon would take this boy and throw him into the water so as to drown him or throw him into the fire so as to to burn him and to to kill him it would slam him down he would go into convulsions he would foam at the mouth it is the most severe testimony to demon possession in the scriptures and Christ would would have this boy come to him and he would simply cast out that demon in his authority his power would once again be displayed but this wasn't the first time was it his power his supremacy was seen over and over again remember back in Luke chapter 7 Luke chapter 7 it said these words in verse number 21 at that very time he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits and he granted sight to many who were blind I mean his authority his supremacy his power was seen over and over again when it came to disease when it came to death when it came to demons when it came to anything his power was clearly seen by all who came in contact with him his power was there and sure enough this account of Luke chapter 9 is just one in a whole slew of evidences that prove the supremacy of Christ the power of the Messiah and the Bible says but while everyone was marveling it says it's a mean it's a word that means to wonder beyond explanation it's a word that describes the fact that what was happening was absolutely astonishing to people what they could see they could not understand they could not comprehend because there was power that was so foreign to them so alien to them they were marveling at the power of the Lord Jesus his sovereign authority over all things created was unexplainable whether it was disease whether it was death whether it was demons it was over and over again explained to them he had the power and the authority to forgive sin right had the power and authority to judge man he had the power and the authority to lay his life down and take it up again nobody has that kind of power and authority but Jesus did Jesus did the expanding evidence of his power was all-consuming everybody could see it his limitless boundless authority was everywhere but it was only in the land of Israel only in that little place called Israel the Holy Land in Matthew 28 Christ says all authority both in heaven and on earth has been granted to me has been given to me all authority the authority of the greatness of God would now be limitless worldwide because it had been granted to him and him alone we'd like to think that if we lived in the land of Israel during the days of Jesus that we would respond differently than everybody who was there but that just goes to show you how much we don't understand the sinfulness of sin or the blindness of spiritual blindness or the deadness of spiritual deadness these people they did not see it they did not understand it they did not get it they would see his work they would marvel at his works but when he spoke they hated him that's why they ended up crucifying him they did not want to submit to what he said so every time he spoke words he spoke words of truth and because they love to live a lie when he spoke the truth to them it would cut to the quick it would cut to the heart of their sinful character and they did not appreciate it although astounded by their power they would follow the religious elite and they would crucify him they would kill him I wonder today if you are amazed at the power of God which speaks to his supremacy overall now understand this in the midst of this the disciples now would begin to have a heightened hope as to the coming of the kingdom they would begin once again to realize you know what maybe now with all these people and their amazement and their wondering and their astonishment at the greatness of the Lord God maybe now he will restore the kingdom to Israel maybe now he will and Christ understands what they're thinking how do we know that's what they're thinking because verse 46 says in an argument arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest context the greatest in the kingdom of God will see that next time we're together so in their minds they were wondering to themselves who is going to be the greatest where in the kingdom so as a result of the response of the people they now begin to wonder about the messianic kingdom and Christ ascending his throne and Christ revealing that he is the Messiah so all will know clearly that he's the king and all will worship him as the king and they will rule and reign with him in that kingdom which leads us to point number two from his power to his plan it says this but while everyone was marveling at all that he was doing he said to his disciples now remember it has been nine days since he last said these words just nine hasn't even been two weeks yet been nine days now we know the story through ancestry of Philippi he asked the question who do men say that I am?

Thou art the Christ the son of the living God he says don't tell him that tell him this tell him I must die and then he goes on and talks about how it is they too must if they're going to be followers of him take up the cross daily follow him having denied themselves already it's been nine days since that conversation since then there's been that ascent on the Mount of Transfiguration by Peter, James, John, Jesus where they saw Moses and Elijah and Christ metamorphosized before their eyes now they're down in the valley Christ has cast out the demon people are marveling and wondering what's going on the men now begin to say wait a minute wait a minute maybe this now is going to be the time the kingdom is restored and things are going to be right back where they were Jesus says let these things sink down deep into your ears you need to understand this you need to grasp this you must understand the plan this is why Christ is so amazing not only is he all-powerful but he has a plan because he's all-powerful he can enact a plan as he sees fit because he is a supreme one his supremacy leads to his sovereignty his power helps us understand his plan and so we now begin to say let these things sink deep into your ears you gotta get this because I know you haven't got it yet you need to understand it let these words sink into your ears for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men remember back in Luke 9 earlier he said the Son of Man must be delivered it speaks of the necessity of the cross now he says he is going to be delivered which speaks to the certainty of the cross not only is that a necessity it is an absolute certainty don't forget fellas this is how it's going to play out this is how it's going to unfold before the world you need to understand this let it sink deep into your ears you need to come to grips with the reality of all that's happening all their amazement about the greatness of God is only temporary six months later they're going to cry to crucify him they're going to want him dead just six months from this point in the life of Christ don't be expecting the kingdom to come now disciples wondering about the popularity of Jesus amidst this crowd could this be the time Jesus says let this sink deep into your ears the Son of Man is going to be delivered paradidomy it's a word that means it's a deliver a prisoner for punishment or for execution this is a very crucial time in the ministry of Christ the Son of Man is going to be delivered you need to understand that it's a familiar term over in Matthew 17 verse number 22 Jesus said these words the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third day now the question comes who does the delivering it's a certainty he will be delivered who will deliver him well if you read over in Matthew chapter 26 it says these words Matthew chapter 26 verse 24 the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is delivered it would have been good for that man if he had not been born so Judas is culpable in the delivering of Jesus into the hands of the enemies note also that the Bible says in Acts chapter 3 verse number 13 these words Acts 3 verse number 13 the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus the one whom you delivered up and disowned in the presence of Pilate so not only is Judas capable or culpable but so are the Jews culpable in delivering up Jesus if you read over in Matthew chapter 26 verse number I'm sorry Matthew 27 verse number 26 it says that Pilate delivered Jesus up so we understand that Judas delivered Jesus to Pilate Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews and the Jews delivered him up to be crucified to the Romans but that doesn't get to the heart of the issue because the Bible says these words in the book of Acts second chapter verse number 23 this man Jesus delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death it was God the Father who delivered him up it says over in Romans chapter eight verse number 32 these words it says he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all you see while Judas is culpable while the Jews are culpable why the Romans and Pilate and even you and me according to Isaiah 53 are culpable in delivering him up because of our ultimately it was God the Father who delivered up his son for your sins and for mine folks let me tell you something it was a plan it was a plan from the foundation of the world that's why over in Matthew chapter 16 it says these words Matthew 16 verse number 21 from that time Jesus Christ began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day it's those divine musts it speaks to the necessity of the plan of God to be fulfilled he must go to a certain place and that is he must go to Jerusalem why because according to Genesis chapter 22 he must die on Mount Moriah Mount Moriah is in Jerusalem Mount Moriah is Calvary today he must go to Jerusalem he must die Moriah by the way means foreseen by God and in Genesis chapter 22 we know that Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ the day that there would be a substitute for the sins of man and that took place in Genesis chapter 22 so he must go to Jerusalem why because he must go to one place and one particular place to die and the Bible says that not only must there be a place there is no other place there is no other process he must suffer many things he must experience a mock trial he must experience injustice, blasphemy, scorn, beating he must according to the process go to a particular place that is Jerusalem and according to Matthew chapter 16 he must be murdered because there's no other provision there's no other place there's no other process there is no other provision because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins and there is no other promise he must be raised on the third day this speaks to the power of Almighty God it speaks to his plan to fulfill all that was spoken so important to understand it speaks to the supremacy and sovereignty of God himself that's why we are so amazed at the Christ we read the text we realize that his power was incomparable to anything else we can ever imagine and then we see he had a plan all along there was a plan for him to die for the sins of man he wants his men to understand that plan they must grasp it they must come to grips with the reality of the Messiah he must die he must the Bible says but they did not understand the statement it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it and they were afraid to ask him about this statement Matthew's account says they were deeply grieved in their hearts why their hopes were dashed once again they were deeply grieved Mark's account says they were afraid to ask him well why were they afraid to ask him because last time they asked him he went into the whole cross thing about them denying themselves and burying the cross and they don't want to hear that again it's not going to ask him anything afraid to ask him about that once again but but to realize that he is going to die remember 1st Corinthians 1 says that the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews it's foolishness to to the Jewish nation and these men are having a hard time grasping listen carefully the very fact that God will deliver up his son that God listen will kill God how can that happen how do we know that well nine days earlier what what what did Peter say thou art the Christ the Messiah the son we us of the living God you are living God in the flesh the Messiah is God in the flesh and now he says he is going to be delivered up how does God kill God how can God curse his Messiah you can begin to understand why they were deeply grieved you can begin to understand why they could not grasp what was taking place here why they would even be afraid to ask him even again for pray tell he would go once again that whole long discourse about denying yourself and take up your cross and following me and they didn't want to hear that why well verse 46 says they were consumed with them their own selves they were consumed with with with their own greatness they still didn't understand self-denial in the ramifications of following Christ and so we see the amazing Christ by looking at his power by looking at his plan and thirdly by looking at his pity his sympathy for his men look what it says it says but they did not understand the statement and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it now you'd think that the Lord would say okay guys you don't get this yet nine days ago I said this to you now you need to get this and why you don't understand it by now I don't know but you better get didn't do that did he he concealed something from them this shows us the pity of the Christ how he is sympathetic to you and to me remember we serve a merciful and faithful high priest and he conceals something from them instead of rebuking them he's already done that old perverted and unbelieving generation he's already embarrassed them public publicly he's already called them exactly what they were a distorted a twisted unbelieving generation he's already said that he could add you know fuel to the fire but no he conceals something from them how does he do that well only Jesus knows the future right only Jesus knows what's gonna happen next and yet he conceals those things from them because they could not handle the anxiety of what would happen next he concealed it from them because if if they knew all it was gonna transpire they'd have left that day and their training wouldn't be complete we know that was all said and done they all forsook him and fled right at the at the arrest of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane they would all forsake him and flee they can't flee yet they got six more months of training so in the sympathetic mind of the high priest he conceals any further knowledge of what was going to happen next for fear that they would be so overwhelmed so distraught they could not continue on folks listen we live every day in anticipation right there's always something we are anticipating the joy of anticipation if you're in school you you anticipate the day of your graduation you anticipate the day you're you're you're accepted in the college you you anticipate the day you find somebody that you can settle down with and one day get married you anticipate your wedding day you anticipate the arrival of the very first child you you anticipate all that happens is that child grows you anticipate your birthday you anticipate anticipate your anniversary you anticipate Christmas and in the holidays you anticipate all kind we live every day in anticipation of the next great event in our lives because is it not true that the anticipation of the event is a lot more joyous than the event itself right think about once the event arrives you got to pay for it right we anticipate Christmas until January comes and we got to pay all the bills we anticipate the wedding and still the bills come we got to pay for the wedding right we anticipate all those things until the bills come but we live in anticipation can you imagine what it would be like if our Lord let you know the future how you would no longer anticipate the joys of life but you would anticipate the tragedies that would come your way you'd have to live in anticipation of the death you'd have to live in the in the anticipation of the rebellion you have to live in the anticipation of the heartache and the tragedy and all those things that would come and they would overshadow any joys in your life right because you know that in a week you celebrate your anniversary but in two weeks your wife's gonna die and so the anticipation of the joy the anniversary would be overshadowed by the death of your wife can handle it that's the mercy of God not to show you the future he only reveals certain things and conceals others because he knows if you knew the tragedy that's going to happen tomorrow morning on your way to work it will consume you today these men had enough anxiety in the moment right based on what Christ said that was enough for the day that's why Christ says take no thought for tomorrow because each day has enough trouble of its own and that what Jesus said but we're thinking about tomorrow we're thinking about next week that's all we think about and Jesus said don't don't even go there take no thought about tomorrow he's got enough trouble of his own deal with today deal with today and that's exactly what he does with his men he concealed the future he concealed the tragedy of events oh he let them in on just a little glimpse of it to always keep it in the forefront of their minds that they would know that yes he's going to die but he concealed all that was going to take place during that tragic passion of his life that tragic passion week because they couldn't handle it that's the pity the sympathy that God shows to people like you and me we don't know the future we don't can't anticipate the tragedies that are gonna come our way because they're gonna be there our life was filled with tragic events it is we just don't know when they're gonna happen next so we anticipate the joys of life we anticipate what's gonna happen next so that we can look forward to something on the horizon that's how we live our lives and because of the pity and the sympathy of our Savior he conceals the future so we can live each day in the moment he wants us to live in anticipation of what his return right that's a joyous thing his return now listen look at this way his power demonstrates to us his supremacy his plan demonstrates to us his sovereignty his pity demonstrates to us his sympathy that's why he is so great he is the amazing Christ he is the greatness of God incarnate but there's the response and that's our praise to him our praise because of his sufficiency our praise to him because of his sufficiency our life should be filled with praise to God because he's he's powerful to control all things he is a complete control of all things and he shows sympathy and mercy to us as we go through all things our response to him is to praise him for the excellency of his greatness for the greatness of his power the Bible says over in Ephesians chapter 1 verse number 19 that we somehow might understand the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe the power of God that number one the number one evangelizes sinners the power of God that evangelizes sinners for I'm not ashamed of the power of God the power of the gospel why because the gospel is the power of God that saves people's lives you see God in his sovereignty equips us with a sufficient power to share Christ with others now we don't know who's going to receive Christ and who doesn't receive Christ right that that's the mercy of God see if we had it all met that well we know who's gonna be saved who's not gonna be saved we would live in the realm of tragedy knowing that maybe there's somebody in our families not gonna be saved God never reveals that to you does he because he's equipped you with the power of the gospel to evangelize sinners because God's Word transforms people's lives and so we live in the anticipation of the salvation of loved ones the anticipation of the salvation of those close to us why because we believe that God is not willing that he should perish but that all should come to repentance and so we we pray for that salvation and we share the gospel with them because we want to know the surpassing greatness of his power to evangelize sinners number two to endure suffering to endure suffering the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse number 7 we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us Paul would speak about that in light of all the suffering he went through and how he was able to make it from day to day because the power of God in his life the greatness of that power kept him enduring day after day after day knowing that God's power was sufficient in the realm of his weakness and so we praise him because of the power to evangelize sinners we praise him because the power to endure suffering we praise him because of the power to energize our service the Bible says these words in Colossians 129 Paul says I labor striving according to his power which mightily works in me it's God's power that energizes our service that allows us to continue serving him in the midst of overwhelming difficulties in the midst of overwhelming tragedy we can continue serving him because he is the one who energizes us to live for him and to continue laboring fervently agonizing fervently by the power that works in us and that power that greatness of God that that surpasses anything that we can understand this side of heaven evangelizes a sinner endures suffering is that which energizes our service and lastly is that which enables our sanctification Philippians chapter 2 verse number 13 says it is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure God's at work in you he's at work with his power fulfilling his plan through the sympathy of of his ministry in your life and mine he wants us to grow by the power that works in us day in and day out folks we serve a great God an amazing Christ and in a you know just a few short verses in verses 43 to 45 we see his power we see his plan we see his pity and our response is to praise him for the greatness of his power for the greatness of his plan and for the sensitivity of his pity towards us when we so desperately need it he's a great God I wonder if you know him not do you know about him but do you know him do you know him in a way that he rubs off on you and changes your attitude is your attitude been altered and changed and transformed by the Christ or you live in the realm of bitterness wickedness jealousy unforgiveness envy folks you need to see the Christ in wall of his glory that you might worship him in all of his beauty need to have him rub off on you in such a way that he transforms everything about your life that's what it means to know him do you truly know him in a way that he has transformed everything about your life if not you can know him today after our service is over we'd love to introduce you to Jesus Christ our great Lord let's pray together father we thank you for this wonderful day a day Lord that you've given us another opportunity to to look at you to see you for who you are our prayer father is that we would come to grips with your reality that we would serve you with all of our hearts we love you Lord and thank you for your word if there's one today that doesn't know you may today be the day of their salvation where they come to know you in the most intimate way we pray in Jesus name amen