Matthew 9:27-34

Matthew chapter 9. We'll be looking at verses

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

27 through 34 this morning. Let's turn on this

mic. Verse 27. When Jesus departed from there,

two blind men followed him, crying out and saying,

Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he had

come into 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.

Then he touched their eyes, saying, According

to your faith, let it be to you. And their eyes

were opened, and Jesus sternly warned them, saying,

See that no one knows it. But when they had departed,

they spread the news about him and all that country.

As they went out, behold, they brought to him

a man, mute and demon -possessed. And when the

demon was cast out, the mute spoke, and the multitudes

marveled, saying, It was never seen like this

in Israel. But the Pharisee said, He cast out

demons by the ruler of the demons. Let us pray.

Oh, Father Lord, I would ask so very much, Lord,

for your help right now. God, let me humble myself

before you and ask Lord for the help and aid

of your Holy Spirit. Lord, would you feed your

people with the true man of the true bread of

life, which is Christ himself? Let them see in

this passage the glory of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

One of the things that I have discovered as I'm

going through the book of Matthew is what really

a brilliant storyteller he is. Some authors are

easy to read, some are a little bit harder and

you have to wade through it, but Matthew is very

gifted. And I think he's particularly gifted

in the way he lays out a series of events. So

if you're reading Matthew compared to Mark, one

thing you'll notice about Matthew is he is known

for the way that he condenses narratives. He

leaves out a lot of extraneous material. But

what really strikes me is the way he places them

in a certain sequence to kind of form a picture

or to tell a story. Matthew is king of telling

a story indirectly. He lets you connect the dots

and figure it out. He doesn't come right out

and directly tell you his point. Instead, he

shows his point. And we'll see that this morning.

For example, as you look at the miracles and

you look at the sequence in which those miracles

occur that Matthew's including in this gospel,

you're going to get an idea that he's letting

you in. He's going to let you figure out who

Jesus is. Now he begins in Matthew 5, number

5, 6, and 7, that big sermon on the Mount. And

there you see an an itinerant rabbi preaching

with great authority. In fact, so much authority

that the people who were hearing him were left

astonished as he preached. They could not believe.

The question we are left with at the end of chapter

7 is, who is this man who is teaching with this

great authority? Well, then, Matthew, he begins

to show you who he is. and he lets his readers

drop in and witness what Jesus was doing. So

the Sermon on the Mount ended chapter 7. Beginning

in chapter 8, we see Jesus immediately start

healing. He touches a leper, touches the leper

and heals him. Then following that miracle, Jesus

healed a centurion. That's a Roman soldier. He

healed the centurion's paralyzed servant with

just a word. Now that was interesting because

there was no touch needed. Jesus didn't even

go to that man's house. The paralyzed man wasn't

even near Jesus. But just a word from Jesus from

far away, that paralytic was healed. We then

see him go back into the house and Peter's mother

-in -law is lying sick with the fever. And Jesus

heals her. After that, we are told that there

were many coming to him from outside, many who

were sick and many who were possessed by demons.

And Jesus healed them all by just his word. And

then later we see him get in a boat. And we see

that He has control even over nature. A huge

storm, just a wonderful tempest arose, and Jesus

commanded the wind and the sea to calm down,

and they immediately obeyed. We then see Him

heal another paralyzed man. This man had been

brought to Jesus by four friends. But before

healing that man, Jesus forgave his sins. So

whoever's teaching with this authority Not only

does he heal, but he forgives sin. Then we see

Jesus start to call another disciple. He calls

this man Matthew, the one who wrote this gospel.

Matthew, as we saw a few weeks ago, was this

despised tax collector, hated, notorious sinner,

a fraud, a crook, a thief. Jesus called him to

be one of his disciples. He heals people, he

forgives sin, and he calls sinners to be his

disciples. Later that evening, he enjoyed this

big celebratory dinner with Matthew and his friends,

and his Matthew's friends were also notorious

sinners. They were the profligate of the town,

if you will. And watching all this over here

were the Pharisees, religious leaders, the purity

police, and they are indignant. They hated what

they were seeing. They could not believe that

Jesus was willing to eat, to have table fellowship

with men and women such as Matthew's friends.

They couldn't believe He's willing to eat with

sinners. They could not believe that Jesus could

be a holy man sent from God because no holy man

would ever deign to eat with such notorious sinners

as Matthew and his friends. Jesus was undeterred.

From there we read that He goes on and He heals

an unclean woman who had an issue of blood, some

type of hemorrhage, for 12 years. She reached

out and touched to Him with His garment. And

on that same day, Just a few hours later, we

see him raise Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue.

His daughter had died, and we see Jesus raise

this young daughter back to life. Who is this

man? He teaches us authority, so much authority

that the people are astonished. He controls nature,

wind and seas obey him. He forgives sin. He heals

sickness, and he raises the dead. All that is

in Matthew 8 and 9. And then we come to our passage

today and there are two blind men. Men who could

never see and they're crying out for Jesus and

they want him to have mercy on him. And we read

that in verse 27. It says when Jesus departed

from there, two blind men followed him crying

out saying, son of David, have mercy on us. It

says Jesus departed from there. Well, you have

to understand he was just at Jairus' house. That's

where he raised that dead little girl back to

life. And now there's two blind men. side of

the road, and they're crying out to Jesus. And

what do they want? It says they wanted mercy.

Friends, that's what you better want from God,

by the way. You don't want justice. You want

mercy here. But what they really wanted, they

desperately wanted to be healed. But I love what

they're doing here. Notice what they're calling

Jesus. They don't cry out using His name. They

don't cry out, hey, Jesus! Instead, they cry

out, son of David, have mercy on us. Son of David

is loaded with theological meaning. In fact,

the way Matthew opens his gospel, he uses that

very same title, chapter one, verse one, the

book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son

of David, the son of Abraham. The son of David.

The blind men are using it. It's a Messianic

title, and it recognizes Jesus as the promised

Messiah who would come in the line of David and

rule over God's people as king forever. Now what?

These blind men are using that? The irony here

that Matthew is letting us witness is that these

two blind men could see that Jesus was the promised

Messiah, yet the Pharisees, who were their religious

leaders, they were blind. to who Jesus really

was. Later on we'll see that the Pharisees even

accused Jesus of being in league with Satan himself.

So Matthew's arranging this narrative on purpose.

There's a juxtaposition here. You have the Pharisees

and you have the blind men. It's a striking contrast,

right? So the Pharisees representing the religious

elite, the leaders, the scribes and Pharisees,

they should have known who Jesus was. There's

no excuse for learning to believe, but they're

blind to him. But the irony is, you have these

two blind men, and we assume they're peasants

because they couldn't work, there is no welfare

system, and yet they were able to see him. They

were able to recognize Jesus for who he was.

Now the question I immediately said, why is this

the case? Why were the Pharisees blind and the

blind could see? Now I'm going to steal my thunder

from a few weeks from now, but you can see the

answers clearly in Matthew 11. So Matthew 11

beginning verse 20. Jesus begins to rebuke. You

don't see Jesus rebuking a lot in the Gospels.

But he begins to rebuke the cities in which most

of his mighty works have been done. Now notice

why he rebuked them. Because they didn't repent.

Now can we stop and just imagine? Imagine you

are there and you're seeing all this. Dead are

raised, lepers are cleansed, blind see, mute

speak, deaf hear, wind and seas calm down. And

you're like, no, I don't believe this guy. They

did not believe. They did not repent. They had

seen the miracles. And Jesus now issues woes,

condemnation. Woe to you, Coruscant. Woe to you,

Bethsaida. For if the mighty works which were

done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would have repented long ago in sackcloth

and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more

tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment

than for you. You're going to be judged harsher

because you had much more revelation. And you,

Capernaum, that's his home base of operations.

That's where Peter's house was. That's when Jesus

was in Galilee. That's where most of these miracles

were taking place. He said, and you, Capernaum,

you who are exalted to heaven, you will be brought

down to hell, to Hades, to the grave. Why? For

if the mighty works which were done in you had

been done in Sodom, it would have remained until

this day. But I say to you that it shall be more

tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of

judgment, then for you." And at that time, Jesus

answered, and he starts to pray, I thank you,

Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have

hidden these things from the wise and the prudent,

and you have revealed them to babes. Even so,

Father, for it seems good in your sight. All

things have been delivered to me by my Father,

and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor

does anyone know the Father except the Son, and

the one to whom the Son wills, chooses to reveal

him." Now that's the text. That's a straightforward

reading, right? Why were the Pharisees blind?

The Pharisees were blinded, and the blind saw

because it was deemed good in God's sight. Now

let me just say in this passage, that passage

in Matthew 11, you see both human responsibility,

woe to you because you should have repented,

but you didn't. And we also see divine sovereignty.

God is the one doing all this. God chooses to

reveal or to conceal according to His own wisdom,

and Jesus is in a complete agreement with that

Father's will. Complete agreement. God chose

to reveal His Son to the least likely, and that

pleased Him. Spiritual sight, friends, is a gift

from God. So far in Matthew's gospel, and I go

out and check it out, so far in his gospel, no

one other than demons has shown the level of

understanding of who truly Jesus is except these

two blind men. These blind men were the very

first people to use that title, Son of David,

in Matthew's gospel. They were the first to use

it. Why do you think they used it? I suspect

it's because they knew some promises. I don't

know this. But I suspect that they had heard

about these other miracles. They had not seen

anything. But the word was sweeping town. They

knew that Jesus was doing the extraordinary,

and they remembered, hey, we have a prophet that

we hear read in the synagogue, Isaiah, and he

talked about this time. Isaiah 35. Say to those

who are fearful -hearted, be strong and do not

fear. Behold, your God will come to you with

vengeance. with the recompense of God, He will

come and save you." Now, how do you know when

this is going to happen? Verse 5, then the eyes

of the blind shall be open and the ears of the

deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall

leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb or

the mute shall sing, for water shall burst forth

in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Isaiah is saying something. He said, listen,

when Messiah comes, the blind is going to see.

And the deaf are going to hear, the lame are

going to walk, and the mute is going to sing.

And these men, these blind men, they're like,

hey, I heard that he healed a lame man, a couple

of paralytics. Hey, he's healed other blind men.

He's allowed the deaf to hear. So they heard

about all these miracles, then he must be the

one promised by God. He must be this. So believing

he was the Messiah, they have the boldness to

cry out for the healing, as foretold in Isaiah.

And Jesus says when he'd come into the house,

verse 28, these blind men, they followed him

into the house, and Jesus said, Do you really

believe that I'm able to do this? And they said

to him, Yes, Lord. Now Jesus had been outside

with the crowds, right? He left Jairus' house.

Crowds were always following him, and he entered

into the house. And the scriptures do not tell

us whose house he entered, but most likely from

inference we can say this is Peter's house. Remember

Peter's mother had been healed, she had had a

fever, and Jesus raised her back to health. So

this is Capernaum, most likely Peter's house,

and this served again as Jesus' base while they're

in Galilee, specifically Capernaum. So these

blind men, they follow Jesus into the house,

and Jesus turns and he says, hey, I've got a

question for you. They're like, go ahead. Do

you believe that I'm able to do this? What is

he doing? He's testing their faith. believe on

the promised Messiah? Do you truly believe that

I am the one that's foretold by Isaiah? Do you

really believe that I can restore your sight?"

And they immediately answered, yes, Lord. And

Jesus basically touched their eyes and said,

well, we'll see. According to your faith, let

it be to you. Now, let me just say this. This

is an important part. Their faith did not merit

their healing. Their faith was not the basis

of their healing. The basis of their being healed

was Jesus' sovereign authority and goodness.

Faith did not cause this miracle, but faith was

the conduit through which God chose to do and

perform this miracle. Faith is not always present.

Grant Osborne, in his commentary, he said, faith

is not a necessary ingredient in Jesus' healing.

Let me give you an example. Do you remember earlier

when that Roman centurion came with a paralytic

soldier? That paralytic soldier was nowhere near.

And the centurion said, hey, will you heal my

soldier? And Jesus did. That paralytic had not

exercised faith in Jesus. The centurion did,

the paralytic had not. So faith is not a necessary

ingredient in the healing, but it turns healing,

and I love this, into salvation, and it brings

the person into the process. Jesus not just wanted

to heal them, he's wanting to save them. So the

Lord touched their eyes, and we read their eyes

were open. Jesus touches, immediately they receive

sight. And then he says he sternly warned them.

Hey guys, be quiet about this. He did not want

this miracle published all over town. Why not?

Again, we're not told. But here's a couple things

we can know. If it were made known, even more

people would come to Jesus, right? I mean, if

Jesus were just looking to gather larger crowds,

and he just wanted to attract more people, then

he would certainly want this miracle published

all over town. If you're just trying to get people

in the door, hey, let that be known. But Jesus

did not want people coming to him for the wrong

reason. And this is the problem I have today

with a lot of the church growth gurus. They need

to take note. And I don't say this critically.

Perhaps I do. I don't want to have a critical

spirit. But they use gimmicks. to get a lot of

people in the door. And I believe they have good

motives saying, let's get people into here. But

they're attracting people to Jesus for the wrong

reason. Much of what goes on today is really

akin to a dog and pony show. And moreover, whatever

it takes to get them in the door is what's going

to take them to keep them inside. So why do people

need to come to Jesus? Why bring people to Christ

today? Because you are sinners who have broken

the law of God. You stand under God's judgment

and you need to be saved from God's wrath. That's

why you come. The Lord did not want people to

come to him simply to be healed without understanding

who he really was. He could have gotten all Israel,

both Galilee and Judea, to come to him to be

healed, but that's not why he had come. Why did

he come? To seek and to save the lost. Chris

Miller, I love what he said, I put Christ Miller,

his name is not Christ, it is Chris, sorry about

that. Although a magician wishes for fame, a

redeemer longs for repentance. Now keep in mind,

remember, there's a common misunderstanding among

the Jews of that day concerning the role of the

Messiah. They knew he would come as king, they

wanted their king, but they had sadly overlooked

his role as a suffering servant. Isaiah wrote

about that extensively. They did want deliverance.

They did. The Jews wanted deliverance, but they

wanted deliverance from Rome. And they could

not see they needed delivering from their sin.

They knew about the lion from the tribe of Judah.

Yes, come lion of tribe Judah, come and rule.

And they could not see they were blind to see

that that lion would first come as the lamb of

God to save. Most of Israel was blind to who

Jesus was because they did not understand their

need of salvation. These blind men got it. They

knew they needed help, but most Israel didn't.

They were blind because they placed confidence

in their lineage. They were the sons of Abraham.

They had the sign of covenant, the circumcision.

They assumed they were automatically right with

God, and none of that was true. And they're at

now, so we're back to the miracles of Jesus.

And we see none of these were done so that Jesus

might garner praise or popularity or prestige.

Why were the miracles done? They were signs,

pointing to the dawn of the Messianic age. They

were done so that people might see a new day

had dawned, the King had come. All that Isaiah

had prophesied the Messiah would do was taking

place right before their eyes. So there is no

excuse for human unbelief. No one should be an

unbeliever at this time. Blind receive their

sight, deaf hear, mute speak. All these were

authenticating Jesus' message that the kingdom

of heaven was at hand. Now sometimes critics

will ask, why do we see so many miracles in the

Bible but we don't see those miracles today?

You don't see the blind receiving sight or the

deaf receiving hearing? Why? That's a good question.

First, it is important to note that miracles

have never been common in any age. No age. Miracles

tend to appear in concentrated periods when God

is revealing something new or he's advancing

his redemptive plan in a major way. For example,

let me give you a few examples here. You see

miracles in the Exodus. Moses was given authority

to perform miracles, think about the plagues,

to show that God had sent him and to show the

people that He was about to deliver them from

Egypt. You go centuries later, probably about

nine centuries later, almost a thousand years,

you have prophets like Elisha and Elijah, or

Elijah and Elisha, I should say. They were given

the abilities to perform miracles. Why? To confirm

God's Word in a time of widespread idolatry throughout

Israel. You have Christ. Christ comes on the

scene and He performed greater miracles than

anyone had ever done. Why? To prove that he was

the Messiah sent from God. Later we see the apostles.

They're performing miracles in the early church.

Why are they given that ability? To authenticate

that the message they were preaching was true

as it spread beyond Israel. But apart from these

epics, not many public miracles took place. It's

not as though this was happening willy -nilly

all the time. In fact, that's why it captured

the attention of the people. This was something

different. Now let me hasten to say, one day

in the future the blind will see, and the deaf

will hear, the lame will walk, and the mute will

sing, because another epic, another day will

dawn. And all that is going to take place when

the kingdom of God arrives in its fullness. The

kingdom of God, when it is fully realized in

its full eschatological completion, is heaven.

At that time, There won't be any more sickness,

and there won't be any more suffering, and there

won't be any more need for funeral homes or hospitals,

because there won't even be death at that time.

But in the meantime, you and I, in the meantime,

we work with faith in our risen King, praying

daily for his kingdom to come. So we go back

to Matthew. What do you see? The blind are receiving

their sight, but the people who have sight are

becoming more... blind. It's a reversal of roles,

right? Verse 32. Right after the Lord had healed

these two blind men, another desperate man was

brought to him. They brought to him a man mute

and demon possessed. That's a pretty severe case.

What's Jesus going to do? Now, we see this man

was mute and the muteness was caused by the demon.

Demons often use a few physical ailments and

illness to torment people. For example, in the

Gospels we read that sometimes those who were

demon -possessed were blind. Sometimes the demons

would cause epileptic seizures. Sometimes it

would cause muteness or other forms of suffering.

Because demons, just like their ruler, came to

steal, kill, destroy. But the demons don't match

our Lord. We're told Jesus cast out that demon.

We're not told how. Did he touch the man? No,

no. We're just said he cast out the demon, setting

this man free, and the man began to speak. The

blind see, the mute speak. These crowds are gathered

there and they could not believe what they had

just witnessed. Miracles like this had never

been done in Israel, they said. Not even in the

great epics of Elijah and Elisha. You don't see

these things. None of their miracles compare

with Jesus's. Jesus was the true prophet sent

into the world. He's the great healing prophet.

He's the Messiah and the promises of God were

being fulfilled. And the people were left in

awe and wonder except one group of people. The

Pharisees, they're blaspheming. Instead of falling

on their faces and repenting of their unbelief,

they amped up their attacks. Earlier in the same

chapter, chapter 9, the Pharisees were upset

why they saw Jesus eating with sinners. They

just don't like it. How dare he? Now, they are

attributing his miracles to the power of Satan.

What's interesting, they can't negate the miracles,

they can't deny that they occurred. I mean, they

saw them themselves, so they concluded that Jesus'

authority to heal and to cast out demons must

have come from Satan himself. Now, let's forget

he also controlled the wind and the sea and can

raise the dead. These men are just, you use the

word, I mean, they're almost idiotic. They refused.

They refused. to believe that he was from God

because he didn't meet their expectations of

what the Messiah would be like. I mean, the Messiah

in their mind would not fellowship with sinners.

And the irony is they're blind to what great

sinners they are. So they're blind to Jesus,

and the blind begin to see Jesus. And this is

true for all of humanity. All of us, everyone

in here, including myself, are born spiritually

blind. all of humanity is blind to the things

of God. Now, sure, we see well enough for this

world, right? But we are blind to the things

of God. That's what the Bible says. Our problem

does not lie in our optic nerves. The problem

is that our heart is darkened, our heart is blind.

Our heart is corrupt, naturally. And you and

I cannot see the things of God unless God first

removes the scales from our eyes. He's got to

do it. God must first give the grace that you

have spiritual sight. Then and only then will

you see in Jesus the glory of God. God must do

it. Jesus said to Nicodemus, that leading Pharisee

in John 3, he said, most assuredly I say to you,

unless one is born again, he cannot see, not

even enter, he can't even see the kingdom of

God, much less enter it. You must be born again.

You must be born again. If today you see Christ

as the one sent from God and you can see in Jesus

your salvation, that is because you have received

a gift that God has granted to you. Praise Him

for that. Just as Jesus opened the eyes of these

blind men, so God has also opened the eyes of

your heart so that you might see His dear Son

as Savior and Lord. You know what that ought

to do? It ought to make all of us fall on our

faces in worship before the one who has shown

us such mercy. But you might be thinking, okay,

well, I understand, all right, these miracles,

but I mean, okay, Jesus, Messiah, but what does

that have to do with us today? And the answer

is everything. Since Jesus can forgive sin, And

since He has power over nature, and He has authority

to heal, and He can cast out demons, He can even

raise the dead. That changes everything, by the

way. Everything. Jesus is the Son of David. He

is the Son of God who came as the promised one.

And since He's the Son of God, then you must

surrender to Him or you perish. That's what the

scriptures teach. Your confession, like all Christians,

must be, Jesus is Lord. Psalm 2 says, kiss the

son lest he be angry with you and you perish

in the way. Lord, Jesus is Lord. We're saying

Jesus is Yahweh. He's the ultimate authority

in heaven and in earth. That means, at that time,

Caesar's not Lord. That means today, Trump is

not Lord, your boss is not Lord, your bank account

is not Lord, and not even you are Lord of your

own life. It is not your body, it is not your

life, it is not your choice. When you come to

Jesus, you surrender yourself, you surrender

your rights, you surrender your decisions, you

surrender your values, you surrender your desires,

you surrender your very life. What? Because he's

the one who's Lord. Jesus said, in the gospel,

He said, no man can serve two masters. You're

not going to straddle the fence with Jesus. He's

not going to allow you to say, I'll take a little

bit of Jesus and I'll take a lot of this. He

doesn't give you that option. There can't be

any competing loyalties. Why? Jesus alone is

Lord. And since He is Lord, you must bow before

Him. There is no other power, ideology, or person,

or hobby, or sport, or anything who's ultimate.

Nothing. Jesus alone occupies that space. He

changes your identity, your self -worth, and

your purpose now come from belonging to Him.

We are the children of God. We are Christians.

And we see here in Matthew's gospel that He will

not allow you to remain neutral. The crowds,

they marveled at Jesus. And the Pharisees blasphemed

Him. What do you want to do with Jesus? To remain

undecided, as though you had that option, is

to reject Him. Jesus, you either stand with me

or you're against me. You're either with me or

you're not. You know, I think about that great,

you know, choose you this day whom you will serve,

Joshua said. It's for me and my house. We will

serve the Lord. If Baal be God, go and serve

Him. But if the Lord be God, fall on your faces

and serve Him. You cannot remain undecided. And

church, I want you to see that in these miracles

that Matthew's pointing out, they parallel our

salvation. Just like these blind men, you and

I were once blind. We were helpless. We could

not fix ourselves. But the grace of God reached

for us and gave us sight. Now seeing, just like

that mute man who once couldn't speak, now our

mouths have been open so that we can tell others

about him. That's our responsibility. Because

Jesus is Lord, the Great Commission is not optional.

Evangelism. It is about calling others to place

themselves under the rule of the rightful king.

Hey, you're in the wrong kingdom. You're serving

the wrong savior. You're suffering the wrong

deliver. Come to Jesus. Because Jesus is reigning

right now. The world doesn't see him. The world

doesn't recognize him. But Jesus is seated on

the right hand of the Father on high, ruling

over all people. History is not random. It is

moving toward its planned end. What is the planned

end of all history? It will culminate with the

Lord of glory returning in triumph and every

knee bowing to Him and every tongue confessing

to Him. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of

God the Father. That's where we're headed. You

will bow. Bow now or bow then. But since He is

Lord, He holds ultimate authority in our lives.

He calls us to wholehearted allegiance and obedience,

and we participate in his ongoing mission in

this world with faith in our risen King. You

know what we can do now? Let's fellowship with

him. Jesus gives himself to his church today

in the table and he says, fellowship communed

with me because he's the risen Christ. And this

is our privilege. Our faith is strengthened,

but friends, we participate. We commune with

the Lord of glory now at the table of the Lord.

Let us prepare our hearts. Father, thank you

so very much, Lord, for your word. Lord, it is

glorious. It is rich. It's so helpful. God, would

you help? Lord, I cannot make people see who

Jesus is. Lord, I pray that you'd wake up cold

people who are indifferent, who are serving lesser

masters, who are not masters, who are serving

lesser gods, which are not gods. They were serving

things that will enslave them instead of set

them free. Oh, Lord, if the Son sets us free,

we are free indeed. But Father, now we come and

we read and what we cry out is a mystery. Paul

said, Lord, we participate in the body and blood

of Christ. It is a true koinonia. It's a true

participation, a true fellowship in the body

and blood of Christ that was given to us and

given for us. Oh, God, we receive that today

and we fellowship with Jesus, our Lord. Lord

bring people who don't know you maybe people

who Lord have have been deceived Lord they're

deceived because Lord their their hearts are

cold and dead Awake them awaken them more to

life this morning. We pray in Jesus mighty name.

Amen Deacons if you would come and prepare the

table of the Lord, please