Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. A 12-year-old girl who died, two blind men, a man who is demon-possessed, touched and changed. Our Lord Jesus is victorious over disease, over our enemy, over death itself. And if you put your trust in Jesus Christ, there is no need to fear. Welcome to the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe.
This daily program is a media ministry of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Are there things in your life that feel out of control? Maybe you're worried about your health, your finances, or what the future may hold. Today, we're discussing the power of Jesus, the nature of faith, and why we shouldn't be afraid. Here's Pastor John Monroe with his message titled, Touched and Changed.
Today people are afraid of all kinds of things and we're told that children and students are increasingly fearful and anxious. But we're learning from the Gospel of Matthew That if our trust is in our Lord Jesus Christ, there's no need to fear. I love the story of the woman. who had an incurable disease for twelve years. We don't even know her name.
But you reached out. and touched the hem of the garment of Jesus. Her faith saved her. No longer was she living in fear, but in faith she touched the fringe of his garment. and was forever changed.
Let's continue to learn as we see Jesus the victor over disease, death, and the demonic world. Do not be afraid. How is it that our Lord Jesus Christ can raise a little girl from the dead? You can't do that, I can't do that. On the cross.
Our Lord Jesus dies on the cross for our sins. He dies for sinners. He dies the death that we deserve. And on rising from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ strips death of its power. and reduces death to sleep.
That's brilliant, isn't it? Our Lord Jesus is so powerful. That the sting of death, the power of death, The darkness of death. is overcome and he reduces it to sleep. Paul says in the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, that our Lord Jesus has gone ahead, and he is the first fruits.
of those who have fallen Asleep. It's not. A beautiful description of someone Who died? Fallen. Let's sleep.
I want to tell you.
Something which is very comforting. Reassuring. Jesus never ever asked you to go anywhere. where he has not first gone. He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
You want to talk about death? Our Lord Jesus Christ has gone into death. Not only has he gone into death, he has gone through death, he's conquered death, and he's entered into eternal life.
So Paul says, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? Our Lord has taken the sting out of death for his followers. And one of the wonderful pictures in the Bible to help us to understand when one of our loved ones who is a believer in Christ has died is to say that they have fallen.
Asleep. You're a Stephen. The first Christian martyr. brutally stoned to death. What does Luke say?
He fell. Asleep. He fell asleep. For the follower of Jesus, death is like falling asleep. And who's afraid to follow?
Sleep last night? I go to bed, I read a bed. I pray. What do I do? I fall asleep.
I fall asleep really fast, my wife tells me. For some reason, she takes a little more time. Am I afraid to fall asleep? Absolutely not.
Now wake up is a new day. You picture? Death for the Christian. is falling. Asleep.
Unless the Lord comes, all of us here. You love Christ, well fall asleep. That may be a very gentle passing. It may be a violent accident, it may be an illness, whatever it is. For you and for me who love Christ, we're going to Fall.
Asleep. And when we're awake, we're in the presence of Jesus. That's pretty good, isn't it?
Okay. What are you afraid of? What you afraid of? 1 Corinthians 15:49, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, that's Adam. We shall bear the image of the man of heaven.
Not only are you going to wake up in the presence of Jesus, you're going to be absolutely like him.
Now, as we follow him, the more we follow him, the closer we follow him, the more we love him, the more we become like Jesus. But we're not perfectly like Jesus.
So, excuse me when I don't act and speak like Jesus. I'm not quite there, but one day I'm going to be perfectly like him. I will awake. in his presence. Yes, death is real.
As Christians, we face it, we don't minimize it. Death is real, but death is not final. Do you hear me? Death is not the end. The unbeliever wants to think it's the end.
But they do know this. All of us will die. and we will live forever either in heaven or hell. That's the teaching of Jesus. And so I ask you: do you know Jesus as your Savior?
His promise is this. that I will give you eternal life and you will never perish, never perish. And if you're going to follow someone, sometimes people say to me, why are you following Jesus rather than Muhammad or Buddha or someone else? My answer is. I'm going to follow the person.
Who came from heaven to earth, lived a sinless life, died for my sins, was buried, and rose again and went back to heaven and is coming for me. That's the person I'm going to follow. Is there anyone else who could compare with that? Absolutely not.
We follow the one who conquers death. and is victorious over disease and over death. There's none like him, nor will there ever be anyone like him. Very quickly. Jesus thirdly is victorious over blindness and the demons.
First of all, the enemy of blindness, verse 27, as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, Have mercy on us, son of David. When he entered the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I'm able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord. I mean again, you got to.
I'd be astonished at the faith here. Then He touched the rise. See the tenderness of the Good Shepherd? He touched the rise, and saying, According to your faith, be it done to you. And their eyes were opened.
And Jesus sternly warned them, see that no one knows about it. But they went away and spread his fame through all that. District. The enemy of blindness. These two blind men presumed by friends.
were determined to be cured. Uh they cried out, did you see it in verse 27? What did they cry out? They cry out for mercy. They don't demand it.
They say, well, you know, you owe to us Jesus to heal us. No, that's not their approach at all. Have mercy on us. And then they call Jesus Son of David. That's how Matthew begins his gospel.
Matthew 1 verse 1, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The son of David, the son of Abraham.
Son of David. It's a messianic term. He's a Christ. He's David's greater son. David was Israel's greatest king, admired as this tremendous king.
Ah, but now comes one who is the son of David and who can do what King David could not do. There is no account in the Old Testament of any blind person receiving their sight. It's astonishing the faith of the man, isn't it? And it said, verse 27, they followed him. I'm thinking, if you're blind, how do you follow the person?
I can't answer that, but they went into the house. They're determined. And Jesus simply touches their eyes. and their eyes are opened. Psalm 146 verse 8, The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
And it's true, Isaiah prophesied that when the Messiah comes, Isaiah 29, verse 18: The blind shall see out of their gloom and darkness. These men were utterly dependent on the mercy of God and had great faith, and their eyes were opened. You say, well, I I've got pretty good sights. But what about your spiritual sight? Paul talks in 2 Corinthians 4 of of our enemy blinding Our minds.
Available.
So that we do not see the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That there is a spiritual blindness. We see that. We talk to people about the Lord Jesus and they just don't get it. It's not an intellectual problem.
They may be very, very smart. The problem is not their brain. Their problem is their heart. They are deceived. They're spiritually blind.
What's going to remove the veil from their hearts? You're powerful, apologetics. They can be helpful, but it is the Word of God. That's why I preach the Bible. It removes the veil.
from their hearts. Paul says, The God of this world, I'm reading from 2 Corinthians 4, is blinded. Their minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Have you seen that? Have you seen the light of the gospel of the glory of God?
Of Christ, who is the image of God. Paul says, For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves, as your servant, for Jesus' sake. For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness. Has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's pretty good, isn't it?
Spiritual blindness. What's going to produce the light? The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says we proclaim Christ. That's why I'm holding up Christ to you.
There's none like him. Do you see him? Victorious over disease. Victorious over death, victorious over blindness. Spiritual blindness, enemy doesn't want you to see.
Look at Christ. Reach out to Christ. and he'll save you. The enemy of blindness. The enemy of demons, verse 23.
And as they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute. was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled saying, never was anything like this seen in Israel. But the Pharisee said, He casts out demons by the prince of demons.
You know, there's some people that are never satisfied, are there? There's always a criticize. I mean the man couldn't speak. He started speaking. When you say, well, the reason he did this is through the Prince of demons.
We saw the Pharisees at work last week. A man who is demon oppressed. is brought to Jesus. Jesus casts out the demons and the man speaks. This is unique.
The crowd had never seen anything like this touched. And changed. By the Lord Jesus. Do you know that we have an enemy? Who seeks to oppress us?
Satan and his demons oppress us, discourage us. What do they do? They try to silence us from declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ. Satan wants you mute. We have before us the challenge of be alive, of of bringing the gospel to our neighbors and our friends and our streets.
To tell people about Jesus. Our enemy doesn't want you like that, he wants you to be a mute Christian. He doesn't want you to speak. He doesn't want you to declare the wonder. of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And have you noticed? I found this. Our enemy does everything he can. to stop you from telling people about Jesus. There's fear, there's a question of rejection, this is inappropriate, am I coming across too strong?
These people don't want to hear, and we end up being. Mute. What's the problem? Lack of faith. Lack of faith.
Do you tell people about Jesus? Are you going to trust Jesus with this? Don't be fearful. You say, well, uh this this person's a bit intimidating. More intimidating than Christ.
Mm-hmm. The Christ who's victorious over disease and death will help you, will give you all of the help you need as you trust him. Don't be fearful if you've been touched and changed by Jesus. Tell others. Abundant.
Wonderful examples of faith. What's faith? Faith is the outstretched hand accepting Jesus' love and forgiveness and healing. Faith is touching the fringe of his garment. Faith is placing our seemingly impossible situations of spiritual blindness in the hands of Jesus.
Faith. is abandoning all prospects of helping ourselves or being helped by others. Yes, faith is the only way to receive the blessing of God, for without faith it's impossible to please God. Again, I challenge you as I did at the beginning. Are you living a life of faith?
Is that true in your life? Listen to the words of Jesus to the blind men in verse 29. According to your faith, Be it done to you. The words to the woman. With a hemorrhage of blood.
Verse twenty-two. Your faith. has saved you. There's no limit. to the power of Jesus.
Very quickly, four lessons on faith. Number one. Faith receives. Christ Salvation. This is so important.
This is where it begins, isn't it? Will you reach out in faith? Not asking you. And your own power to change your life to be a nicer person. I'm sure you could be a nicer person.
That's not the gospel. The gospel is not personal reformation of behavior. It's a radical change as you reach out in faith to Christ, who then changes you, who forgives you. The Lord Jesus loves you, dies for you. Rose again.
He can be trusted. Of course he can be trusted. I'm saying to you, reach out to the Saviour. Touch. the fringe of his garment.
Do you see Christ? You reach out to him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's faith. And you'll be saved.
Secondly, faith is dynamic. It's not passive. It's not saying, well, I've received Jesus as my Savior and now I just live my life as I want. I've done that, I've prayed that prayer, that's not. This faith.
Faith isn't passive, it's dynamic. Notice the examples we have. The woman reaches out. and touches the hem of his garment. Faith in action.
The ruler comes to Jesus and tells Jesus of his needs. He humbles himself before Jesus and then leads Jesus to his home. The ruler is placing his faith not in his religion, not in his synagogue, not in the fact that he's a big shot in the community. He realizes that there's nothing he can do. He's placing himself totally in the hands.
of Jesus the Christ the Son of God. The two blind men, astonishingly, they follow Jesus. They come to the house. They see Jesus going into the house and they don't wait for an invitation, as it were. They just go in.
Have mercy on us, Son of David. Space. The demon-oppressed man is brought to Jesus. Paul talks in Romans 1 about the obedience. of faith.
Are you a pigeon? Brothers and sisters, I'm asking you each day. to faith in Christ. What are you facing today? What's going on in your life?
What's what's that fear? What's that situation that concerns you? Oh, what's that? These thoughts that wake you up at 2:30 in the morning in a cold sweat. What is that?
You see, I don't have anything of these. My life is just wonderful, wonderful. Ask the Lord that that will continue. Place Your faith in Christ each day. The just shall live, live.
By faith. Not just when you come to Christ. But each day, you're to live a life of faith. If faith is dynamic, then it will grow, it will be strengthened, you'll see God at work. Try it out.
Put your faith in Christ and act on that faith. Faith without works is dead. Don't have a dead faith, have a living dynamic faith. Third, faith accepts God's timing. This is difficult for us.
Difficult for me, not being the most patient person. Faith accepts. The timing of God. This woman waited twelve years. For America.
The two blind men, they're probably born dead. I don't know by the mute how long this demon had oppressed him. We don't know. But we struggle, don't we, sometimes with God's timing? We want God to act on our timetable, don't we?
You ever, as it were, presented your time frame to God and said, God, this is the way I want you to act. Not only. How you're to act, but when you're to act. Don't do that. Of course I ask God.
Claim the promises of God. Being in God's waiting room. does not mean that God has forgotten you. The Lord Jesus knew that woman all of his life. Why didn't he heal her before?
I can't answer that question. But I know in his perfect timing he healed her. Except God's timing in your life. Keep Trusting God. Faith accepts God's timing.
Lastly, faith always looks to the object. When I'm talking about faith, I'm not talking about faith and faith. This is not some inspirational, motivational talk that you just have faith in yourself, dream your own dream, possibility thinking, all of that kind of nonsense. Absolutely not.
This is faith in God, it's faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Bible, It's always the object of our faith. It's not so much the extent of our faith, it's where our faith is placed. That is, faith is not the cause of our salvation, but the means through which we are saved. Strictly speaking, it's not my faith that saves me, it is Christ who saves me.
The means He uses is faith. Faith is the outstretched arm. Faith is touching the hem of his garment. Faith is coming and kneeling before Christ and saying, This situation is impossible. Help me.
The faith which pleases God is a faith whose object It's the Lord Jesus. Trust them. We don't hide in the shadows. Ask God for a miracle in your life. No situation is too difficult for Jesus.
A storm at sea. An untameable demoniac, a 12-year-old incurable disease, a 12-year-old girl who died, two blind men, a man who is demon-possessed, touched and changed. Our Lord Jesus is victorious over disease, over death. Over blindness, over our enemy, over death itself. And if you put your trust in Jesus Christ, there is no need to fear.
Mark puts it this way. Do not fear. Only believe. Simple message, yes. Will you follow that?
Do not fear. Only believe. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever.
but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry.
Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte.
We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ. We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Are you afraid of becoming ill? Afraid of growing old, afraid of failure, afraid of being alone. Most of us have fears and probably the greatest fear is our fear of death. Wasn't it wonderful to see the touch of our Lord Jesus Defeating death.
being victorious over blindness and the demons. Will you by faith reach out and touch the Saviour? Take your fear to Jesus and receive His salvation. Do not fear. Only believe.
And it will be well with your soul. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
