Thank you, nice to be back with you. I called up with Leslie but got no response. Got an opportunity to talk to his neighbour and I invited him to come along and he gave me a sort of a smile and that was it. But as I said to you this morning, the outcome is God's responsibility. We can only ask and pray and depend on God. to move the hearts of men. I've got a text for you this evening and it's just really three words. Three words. You'll find them in Mark chapter 1 and the way down the chapter in verse 41. You can nearly guess what the three words were. Mark 1 and 41 moved with Compassion. Three words, moved with compassion. Just to get the context, I'll read a few verses from Mark 1 starting there in verse 40. Mark 1 verse 40 says, And there came a leper to him, Beseeching, the word beseeching is stronger than you might think, it's actually begging. There came a leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him, that is Jesus, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. Verse 41, and Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him. You don't touch lepers. I need to stress that to you. You don't touch lepers. But Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him and said unto him, I will be thy clean. Verse 42 says, And as soon as he had spoken, Immediately, I want you to lodge the word immediately in your heart. Immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. God will bless those few verses to our hearts this evening. What we read about there was an act of compassion. And I really mean that and we're going to go into that in a wee bit of detail. But the reason I believe the Lord brought me to that text of scripture is that Christians should be men and women who are filled with compassion. You and I as Christians this evening should be compassionate people. The word concern and compassion go hand in hand. I don't want to be controversial. I've said this to you before, controversial speakers are remembered for the controversy, not so much for the message that they preach. So I don't want to be controversial or even to express my own personal theories on issues which are somewhat divisive in these days, such as healing. I'm not going to go into it, but there's a lot of nonsense talked about healing today, but that's another subject. I believe in my heart that God is able to heal. I have no problem with that. The problem I have is with some of the healers, but that's another argument. And you'll notice that in verse 42 of Mark 1, the word immediately appears. And that's a very strong word in there. Indeed, throughout Mark's gospel, if you read the introduction and some of the commentators, you'll find that the key word throughout this gospel is the word immediately. Mark's gospel is a gospel of action, it is a gospel of concern, it is a gospel of compassion. I quoted John Wesley this morning, let me quote it again. Jesus, thou art all compassion. We have not only a great God, but we have a saviour who is full of compassion. For you and I, full of compassion for sinners. I'll get to that in a moment or two. In the first chapter of Mark's Gospel, Jesus and some of the disciples, they've been in the synagogue, and they leave the synagogue. Verse 29 says, and forthwith, or the word there is immediately, when they had come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon, Andrew, James and John. Verse 30, that's Simon Peter by the way. And it says, his wife's mother lay sick of a fever. His wife's mother lay sick of a fever. I want you to notice in passing, and a lot of people don't grasp this at all, and I don't want again to be controversial, but Peter was a married man. And there are many friends of mine in the Roman Catholic Church and they'll say to me that Peter was the first Pope. And they say it with a big smile on their face. And I said, you're right, you're right. And then in the next verse I said to him, did you know he had a wife? I'm the sort of back off a wee bit. It's a bit of humour, but there's a lot of truth in it. Verse 31 says, or no, where was I? All right, verse 29. When it says that Jesus came into the house, it says immediately, Immediately. That's when they left the synagogue and they went along to Peter's house, along with the friends. There they discovered that Peter's mother-in-law, she was sick. Very sick. And it was quite serious. I was looking into this a bit. It says in verse 31, it says, and Jesus took her by the hand. It really means that he helped her to sit up. And it says when he took her by the hand and helped her to sit up, immediately the fever left her. Immediately the fever left her. It says that she then got up and she seen to her guests. She didn't go back to bed, she went back to work. She didn't take time off on the 6th or anything like that. She went straight back to work because she was healed immediately. Now this gospel message this evening is really about a man, Jesus Christ, who was moved with compassion and moved with concern for you and I. For you and I. He was certainly moved with compassion for this man. We read in 1 Timothy 1 and 15 that Christ Jesus came into the world for one purpose and that was to save sinners. So we're going to consider briefly this evening Jesus who was moved with compassion. We'll look briefly at the plight of the leper, then for a few moments at the pain of a man called Jairus, and then we'll look at the plea of a man called Bartimaeus. And I'll only touch on them briefly, they're great stories. But on all three occasions, Jesus was moved with compassion. And that blesses my own soul when I read about it. Can I remind you again of what I did this morning of Wesley's hymn, Love Divine? O love excelling, joy of heaven to earth, come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, thou art all compassion. I love that. pure, unbounded love, thou art, visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart. That's our prayer for across this nation this evening. Indeed, across the world this evening, that we would pray that God, the Holy Spirit, would enter gospel meetings where the gospel is being preached and turn those who are lost to the Savior. That's our prayer tonight as a gospel witness to reach the lost with this great precious gospel that we share. Let me consider for a moment the plight of this leper. We read in Mark 1 verses 40 to 42, the plight of this poor man. I'm a bit like you, when I read the scriptures, and I'm sure you do this too, you stop sometimes and you put yourself in that place and you try to get a grasp of what's actually going on. And so this poor man, he comes to Jesus and he's actually pleading on his knees. I can just picture it. Beseech means to plead with earnestness. And this man had a faith to believe that Jesus had the power and the ability and the authority to heal him from this cursed disease. Because that's what it was. You need to consider that in the state of Israel at the time, leprosy was recognised as a curse of God upon people. And it was quite serious. Lepers had to go about shouting a warning. Indeed, I have a school bell at home, one of these bells in the ring, and I thought, I'll bring that along tonight and I'll demonstrate. But then I thought, no, we're not, because it was too loud. But lepers in Jesus' day, many of them had to go about carrying a sort of a bell, and they'd ring the bell if anybody came near them, and they had to shout out, unclean. Lepers were unclean. And if you touched a leper, you could have been contaminated. And that's why lepers in the scriptures were isolated, and they had to go about shouting unclean. But when I read about this leper, I discovered that he had a determination. He had a determination. It's said in verse 40, when he came to receive, he says, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. How do you know that? He came to Jesus and he said, if you will, you can make me clean. I looked at some of the different translations. One of them says, if you want to, you can make me well again. NIV actually puts it, if you're willing, you can make me clean. And I read those different translations and it says to me, you know, faith cries out, thou canst make me clean. And that's what stuck in my mind. The real value of a person is on the inside, not the outside. I watched a program during the week, Victoria Derbyshire. She had a panel of young people, all of whom had Down syndrome. And they gave a wonderful talk on how they managed to cope in spite of all the difficulties that they had to face. Some of the name calling, they were teenagers. And it was absolutely brilliant. And I worked with challenging behaviour for some years. And when I listened to those young folk with Down syndrome, I just said, well, thank God for them. They really spoke their mind. And it made me think that the value of a person is not what you can see looking at them. It's what's inside. It's what the heart's like. And these young people were amazing. The scripture says, doesn't it, the Lord knoweth the hearts of all men, Acts 1 and 24. But in this man, he knew his state. And that's where I got the text that says, and Jesus moved with compassion. In the picture, the scene, there's a crowd around and there's a man and he's on his knees and he's a leopard and people are backing off. because he was a leper and says that Jesus touched him. Nobody else would have touched him. Jesus touched him and then he said to him, I will. I'd love to have been there and heard that. I will. Be thou clean. And even this afternoon and during the week in preparation, when I read those words, the hymn flooded my mind, shackled by a heavy burden, neath a load of guilt and shame. And then it says, then the hand of Jesus touched me. And now I am no longer the same. Remember when you were saved, and the hand of God touched you. Love the chorus in that hymn. It says, he touched me. Maybe you're listening this evening and you don't know what I'm talking about. It's an experience that comes from putting your trust and your faith in Jesus Christ. He touched me, oh, he touched me. And then he said, oh, the joy that fills my soul. Something happened. You know what happened, I got saved. Something happened and now I know he touched me and he made me whole. In other words, he made me a new and a different person. That's what happens when you get saved. You put Christ in your heart and God makes you a different person altogether. Did you notice how personal this was? He touched me. And I always stress that when I come to texts of scripture that say things like, He touched me. Because salvation is very personal. It's very personal. I've told you my testimony up here before. When I got saved, there were people sitting all around me. But He touched me. And He saved me. And I was in tears. Why? Because of the joy that filled my soul. And perhaps there's someone listening and you're not saved. I want to tell you as clearly and as simply as I can this evening that God knows you personally. And that God loves you personally. And right now, at this moment, as you sit and listen to the Gospel message, He has moved with compassion towards you, otherwise you wouldn't bother listening. The Holy Spirit can make you sit down and pay attention and listen to the Word of God. I wonder, could you not say with the leper this evening, and maybe you think that's being a bit offensive? But I wonder could you not say with the leper, thou canst make me clean? Because this leper heard the voice of Jesus and he called on his name and it's already been quoted, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord. And this leper called on his name. And he cried out with compassion. And Jesus had compassion on him. And let me tell you this evening, my dear unsaved friend, he'll hear your cry. He will. We verse in Matthew 11 and 28, I hope I'm not taking it out of too much context. Some people might say you are. It says, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. If you come to him this evening on the authority of God's word, he can save your precious soul. I want to move on from the the plate of the leper because I went on to read about the pain of Jairus. Wee verses in Mark 5 and 22. It tells us this man Jairus was a leader in the synagogue. This man Jairus was actually well respected. Indeed we could say he was a religious man. And in verse 23 of Mark 5, it says, he besought or he pleaded with Jesus, not for himself, but for his 12-year-old daughter. I thought that was wonderful. Here's a ruler in the synagogue who must have knew a bit about this man, Jesus, because his reputation had followed him. But he had also a 12-year-old daughter who was at home, and she was a death storm, and he knew it. Verse 24 says, Jesus went with them. They were going to his daughter's house. And Jesus, in this sort of crowd, followed. And then you pick up the story again in verse 35, it says, where Jairus is told by those he met on the way, if you read the passage at your own time, says he was told by those he met on the way, your daughter's dead. Your daughter's dead. And I can just imagine that man's broken heart. And he's standing there and people are saying, you know, she's dead, there's not much more you can do. And I believe in my own heart, Jesus heard these comments. And Jesus turned to Jairus and he said to him, be not afraid, only believe. In our English, I wonder what he had said to him, Jairus, don't be afraid, your daughter's not dead, just believe. And I read that and I thought, believe what? believe that Jesus is able to heal the sick, to rescue the perishing, to cure for the dying, to lift up the fallen. That's why Fanny Crosby wrote the great hymn, Rescue the Perishing, Cure for the Dying. Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave, and then she said, weep over the fallen one, lift up the fallen, tell them of Jesus. Tell them what about Jesus. Tell him that he's mighty to save. And that's what pastors and ministers and evangelists and lay people and Christians the world over are called to do. We're to tell sinners the old, old story of Jesus and his love. We're to tell them of his love for poor lost sinners. Love that brought him to Calvary. love that made him shed his precious blood that they could be saved. Jairus believed that Jesus could heal and save his daughter. I don't want to dwell on the topic because I'm sure there might be those who are listening or even gathered and you could stand beside Jaris this evening, and you can say it to him face to face. I know how you feel. I know your broken heart. I know your tears, Jaris. And I can feel your pain. And some of us can say much the same. But let me tell you this evening, when you were there, Jesus was there before you and he was moved with compassion. I read this hymn during the week. O aching heart with sorrow torn, thy Lord is near and knows. He knows it all, the feet where worn, the weary cares and woes. The load of grief in anguish borne, Thy Lord is near. And he knows. And my dear friend this evening, let me tell you this. He knew about the plight of the leper. And he seen the pain of Jareth. Let me tell you, he hears the plight of a man called Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus. Read about Bartimaeus in Mark 10 and 45 onwards. There's much that could be said about this man, Bartimaeus. Not only much that could be said, but we could apply it to the gospel message. Bartimaeus was blind, physically. The unsaved are blind, spiritually. And they wouldn't thank me for saying that to them. And indeed when I'm witnessing on the street or person to person, I try to go down the road of love more than anything else. But this man was blind physically, unsaved people are blind spiritually. But what I want you to notice about this man also, is that he also had determination. And he heard Jesus was nearby. What did he do? He started to call out his name. And he must have heard something in the past about this man. Jesus, I'll prove that to you in a moment or two. Him neither said, there is a name I love to hear. I love to speak its worth. It sounds like music in my ear. It's the sweetest name on earth. And I believe this man, Bartimaeus, I believe that hit his heart there and then. Others told him, of course, and you get that in a roundabout sort of way even today. Others told him to be quiet. You know, you can imagine someone saying, would you shut your mouth? You not see there's an awful lot of people here and we want to hear. Can you not be quiet? And that's what they said to him. But this man's determination shone through. And this man was determined to be heard. I want you to notice carefully his words. You find them in verse 47. He said, Jesus, thou son of David. Jesus thou son of David. You see the fact that Bartholomew has called Jesus the son of David shows that he recognized him as Jesus the Messiah. Otherwise he would never have said Jesus thou son of David. This man had a bit of information. Might not have been able to see but he knew something. And his faith in Jesus as the Messiah brought about his healing. And I believe that. He believed that this Jesus could open his eyes. That's faith in action. Sometimes we sit and you say, oh, I believe that. But you're not prepared to do anything about it. And it's the same in the gospel. It's the same when you have a personal witness and you say to somebody, well yes, God loves you, and Christ went to the cross for you, and if you'd put your trust in Him and Him alone, you could be saved this evening. But they're not prepared to take that step of faith. And they either walk on or make some excuse. This man believed that Jesus could open his eyes. And I find it interesting when I read it over and over that he went from begging for money to begging for mercy. I want you to notice Jesus asked him a question. I thought that was very important because it's a two-way process. You're involved. When somebody witnesses to you on the street or gives you a gospel track, it's a two-way process that you're involved in this. And so Jesus asked, what would you like me to do? You'd think that was a fairly obvious question, wouldn't you? What would you like me to do? You'd like me to give you some money? No. Bartimaeus replied in verse 51, Lord, that I might receive my sight. That I might receive my sight. And I pictured, you'll forgive me for putting it this way, I pictured Bartimaeus beginning to sing, open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus. I want to reach out and touch you. And because you healed me, I want to say that I love you. And this man, Bartimaeus, had determination. Absolutely. And I would say to you this evening, would you not look away to the cross? Do you not see the one who there shed his precious blood that you might have salvation? The scripture says on more than one occasion that Jesus was moved with compassion. He was moved with compassion at the plight of the leper. He was moved with compassion at the pain of Jairus for his daughter. And he was moved with compassion at the plea of Bartimaeus. And I wonder, could I add just this? He's moved with compassion at the position of the sinner. Why? Why is Jesus moved with compassion at the plate of the sinner? You're on your way to hell. You're not saved this evening. I take no pleasure in saying that whatsoever. You might even be saying in your heart right now, there's no need to mention hell. There's no need for that. Luke 16 and verse 22 tells me about a rich man who died and who was buried and verse 23 says this, in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments. Now you can argue with me on the point of what hell is in the Greek, and I know what it is about Hades, and I know all that. And you can argue the point with me, but let me say this to you. It says that this man lifted up his eyes being in torments. Wherever he was, it wasn't a very nice place. And hell is certainly not a nice place. And this man actually started to plead for mercy. Can you read the story? And there was none. There was none. I must be honest with you this evening. I don't know a polite way of saying things like that. And I don't ever mean to be offensive. If there's a heaven for believers, there's a hell for unbelievers. And I know it's not easy to take. Let me quote to you a wee verse in Matthew 5 and verse 30. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. I didn't write that. I didn't write that. That's in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 5 and verse 30. I didn't write verse 22 either. It says, There thou fool, thou shalt be in danger of hell fire. I wouldn't be faithful to my calling as an evangelist if I didn't warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come. I'd be unfaithful. But I'll close with the words of a hymn, the words of really invitation. And if you're not saved this evening, you could make these words your own personal property. John Stockton, who was another Methodist minister, John Stockton wrote a hymn, Come every soul thy sin oppressed. There's mercy with the Lord. And he will surely give you rest by trusting in his word. And the chorus repeats that. Only trust him. Only trust him. Only trust him now. He will save you. That's a promise. He will save you. And he will save you now. God's word says the only way of salvation is the way of the cross through his precious sheer blood. God bless you. I wonder could we sing that hymn, it's 196 and redemption songs, fairly well known, I think we should know it.