Turn with me if you would back
to Isaiah 61. I had a brother tell me that this
verse of scripture was blessing his heart. So I turned over to
it and read it and it blessed my heart. Verse 10, Isaiah 61
verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels. That is reason to rejoice. Man,
that's reason to rejoice. He said, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. For He hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation. He has clothed me in His blood. The garments of salvation. And
he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments. And if you have a center margin
in your Bible, it says, decketh as a priest. He's clothed me
with righteousness as a priest. And as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels. God's people rejoice in the covering
that Christ has provided for them. They rejoice over the forgiveness
and the perfection that Christ has provided for them. Forgiveness
in His blood. In His blood. And perfection in His righteousness. They greatly rejoice in what
He has done for them. God's people are not just church
goers. They rejoice in the Lord. They
gather to worship God. They gather to glorify God and
rejoice in Christ. Their souls are overjoyed because
of Him. All because of Him. I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord because of what He came to do for His people.
What did He come to do for His people? What did he come to do
for his bride? Well, this is him speaking in
verse 1. He said, The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. I had an uncle, I had
a great uncle, my dad's uncle, Harold Stoniker was his name. And he was a tail gunner in a
B-24 bomber in World War II. And his plane was shot down and
all the crew, I believe there was 10 men in one of those All
of them jumped out. He was in there on his gun, and
one of his crewmen tapped him on the shoulder and signaled,
we're jumping out. And he lived in Tupelo, Mississippi,
and it was right on the way. I grew up in Nashville, and we'd
go down to, my family lived in Louisiana. And so we'd stop about
once a year. And this story is the only thing
I ever remember coming out of his mouth. This is all he talked
about. The day that B-24 was shot down, and he used to say,
I made two jumps that day. I made my first jump and my last
jump. But that whole crew landed behind enemy lines, and they
were all taken prisoner of war. And the conditions were terrible. He talked about those conditions.
And they were fed just above starvation. And he was a prisoner
of war for two years. Two years. And he said every
day he just dreamed of the day his liberation would come. If
he could just get out of this place. And he said on the day
that the. Those US soldiers stormed that
prison camp. He said we we all. It made me think of what David
said. Just listen. David said in Psalm 126, When
the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that
dream. This just can't be happening. Can you imagine the joy as they
went out of that place? Can't you see them in all their
two-year-old rags, their ripped, torn rags, receiving brand new
U.S. military coverings? Verse 1 says, The Spirit of the
Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the weak. That's what meek means, humble,
low, weak. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted. to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that
they might be called trees of righteousness. The planting of
the Lord that he might be glorified. He said the spirit of the Lord
God is upon me to do every bit of that for them. Every bit of
that for my bride. Now these scriptures. Led me
to something that I'd like for us to look at tonight. They led
me to Luke chapter 4 and the reason is because that's where
the Lord stood up in the temple and preached this very passage
of scripture. And as I read it there in Luke
4, there was something I just couldn't help but dwell on. Let
me show it to you over in Luke chapter 4. Luke 4 verse 16 says, And he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And let me just go ahead and
tell you, what got my attention was the line, as his custom was. as the desire of his heart was. He came to Nazareth where he
had been brought up and as his custom was, he went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day. And just see if you can enter
into this. Every Sabbath day, he was in that temple worshiping
God. I mean, faithful, faithful, faithful. He was a member of
that congregation. They saw him every week, just
like we see each other every week. They knew him from a boy. for 30 years, watched him grow
up. And now this is the beginning
of his ministry and he comes back into the temple and this
time they ask him to read scripture. They call on him to read scripture.
Verse 17, And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet
Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave
it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all
them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. This is
the only time you want the eyes of every person there to be fastened
on the preacher. Our goal is to remove ourselves. We don't want to have any part
in this. But they couldn't help it. They were all fastened on
this preacher. Verse 21, and he began to say unto them, this
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears and all bear him
witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of
his mouth. And they said, is not this Joseph's
son gracious words? They all wondered at the words
of grace that proceeded out of his mouth. His words are words of grace. And the reason is because he
is grace. When we talk about God's grace,
we're talking about God's Christ. When we talk about the gospel,
we're talking about Christ. He is the good news. He is God's
gift for sinners. He's the only remedy they'll
ever have. The gospel is a person. The gospel is a person. The person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we see this person, we have
seen the gospel. If we hear this person, we have
heard the gospel. To know the truth is to know
him. That's why we're here. That's
the reason we're here. We are here to know him. We are here to get to know him. We're here to know more of him. We're here to hear more of him. When the father calls his people
to Christ, when he calls, quickens and calls a child to Christ,
when he reveals Christ and they see Christ, this is what happens. They fall in love with him. They fall in love with him. It
happens every time they become enamored with him, they dwell
on him. They greatly rejoice in Him. We dwell on who He is. We search,
we dig and we search for more of what His mind is and more
of what His heart is. We search for more pictures. That's what we do when we study.
We're looking for more pictures. We listen for more words. We
cry with the Apostle Paul, Oh, that I might know him. Oh, that
I might know him. Everything else is dumb. I just
want to get to know him. I love the scriptures that tell
us that he rejoiced in spirit. What that means is something
blessed his heart. Something in that moment blessed
his heart. He rejoiced in spirit. I love the scriptures that say
he laughed. I love that. That's the personality of someone,
whether or not a person laughs a lot or whether they're real
serious, that's their personality. Well, what is his personality?
What is it like to be in his presence? What is it like to
be in his presence? That's what I want to know. What
is it like to be in his presence? What does he do and what does
he think and what does he feel? I'd like for us to take the rest
of our time. I'm going to try to not go over. I want us to
take the rest of our time. Skimming through Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John. getting to know Him. Through
His Word, let's see if we can get to know more of Him, who
He is, what He's like. Let's begin with Matthew 4. Go
with me over there to Matthew 4. Matthew 4. Verse 17, it says,
from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He came to preach the gospel.
He had a heart to preach the gospel to people. He did what
he wanted to do. And he wanted to preach the gospel
to people. That's what he said in Luke 4
and Isaiah 61. He said, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me to do this. The Lord's Spirit is on me to
do this. And we just read in Luke 4 that
he preached to people with gracious words. Truthful words. The Pharisees
didn't like what he had to say because they didn't like the
truth. But he was a gracious preacher. He was a gracious preacher. It says, the common people heard
him gladly. They listened to him. Would you
like to go hear him again? Oh yeah, I'd like to go hear
Him again. I would gladly hear Him again. Everything about Him was gracious.
His countenance was gracious. His tone was gracious. Every person who truly heard
Him, I mean every person who truly in the heart heard Him
said, no man ever spake like this man. He was and he is a preacher of
grace. And he is a gracious preacher.
I can't wait to hear him. I cannot wait to hear him. He's
the most gracious preacher you'll ever hear in your life. Look at chapter five, verse one.
It says, in seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain and
when he was set, his disciples came unto him and he opened his
mouth and taught them saying he was a preacher and a teacher.
You have to have a lot of patience to be a teacher. We have some
teachers in here. Takes a lot of patience to be
a teacher. He was a preacher. He was a teacher.
The scripture says the long suffering of our Lord, his patience. That's
our salvation. His patience. We're going to
see, see that in just a second, right here in Matthew five. This
message is called the sermon on the Mount. It's three chapters
long. As soon as he ended the message,
it says in chapter eight, if you look with me at Matthew chapter
eight. Verse one. When he was come down
from the mountain, great multitudes followed him and behold, there
came a leper and worshiped him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean. And this is who he is. This is
what he is like. This is what he did. Verse 3,
Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will be
thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Yes, I most certainly will. He
delights in healing the sick, even those who are sick with
sin. He delights to show mercy. He came to heal the sick with
sin. Spiritually and physically, He
delights to heal His people. Every sick soul that they brought
to Him, He healed every one of them. Every one of them. I wonder how long He was out
sometimes healing the sick. I wonder how much time he spent
healing the sick. They just kept bringing them.
They just kept bringing them. One would be healed and how many
do you think he went and told? How many people cried, come see
a man? And they kept bringing them and
kept bringing them. At times the disciples said, Master, you
need to take a rest. Never did he turn one sick soul
away. Never. Not one soul who came
to him begging for help. He never has. He never will.
He never will. Turn with me over to Mark chapter
eight. Mark 8 verse 1 says, In those
days the multitude, being very great and having nothing to eat,
Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them, I have
compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with
Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away
fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way, For
divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him,
From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness? Where are we going to get bread?
There's nothing out here. And he asked them, How many loaves
have you? And they said seven. Perfect
number. He came to fill the hungry. That is the desire of his heart.
He desires to fill the hungry. He said, blessed are those who
hunger for righteousness because it is the desire of my heart
to fill them. They are going to be filled. He is able to fill to the uttermost. But this is what I want us to
enter into. He had compassion in His heart to do it for Him.
He thought on Him. He cared about Him. Everything originated with Him.
He is the loving, caring, compassionate God and Savior. Now here's another
example of His patience. Look with me at Mark chapter
10, verse 1. It says, And he arose from thence, and
cometh into the coasts of Judea by the farther side of Jordan.
And the people resort unto him again. And as he was wont, as
he was used to doing, he taught them again. He taught him again. He taught him again. He taught
him again. He taught him again. He taught
him again. That's what he's doing for us
right now. He is teaching us again. He is
so patient. He is so kind. Do you remember
when John sent the disciples to the Lord asking, are you the
one that should come? John recognized him from his
mother's womb. And now here he is later saying,
are you really the one that should come? He said, go show John again. He didn't upbraid him. He didn't
rebuke him. He said, go tell him again. Preach it again. Sing it o'er and o'er again. Turn with me to Luke 15. Luke 15 verse 1 says, Then drew
near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. That's who he has chosen to eat
with. That's who he's chosen to dine
with and commune with. And aren't we so thankful? Aren't
we so glad? That's what we are. That's what
we are. Look with me at John 11. John 11 verse 1 says, Now a certain
man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary
and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto
him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. He came to love His own. He whom thou lovest is sick. They knew the Lord loved Him.
He had proven it to them. He showed it to them. He told
them. He was affectionate with them. He whom thou lovest is
sick. Look at verse 14. Then said Jesus
unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Verse 32, Then when Mary was
come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet,
saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had
not died. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned
in the Spirit, and was troubled. and said, Where have you laid
him? And they said unto him, Lord, come and see. And our Lord
started crying. Then said the Jews, Behold, how
he loved him. What's in his heart? True love
for his people. True love. Chapter 13 says, Having
loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end.
And that's the reason we so greatly rejoice in the Lord. It's because
He loved us all the way to the end. He said, Father, I pray
for them. I pray for them. I think about
that all the time. I ask that all the time. Lord,
pray for me. Would you pray for me? He said, My desire is that they
might be with me where I am. That's what He wants. He said, I'm going to keep them
safe. Until that day, I'm going to keep them safe. Look with
me at John 18. Verse 1, When Jesus had spoken
these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook
Cedron, where was a garden into the which he entered in his disciples.
And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus
oft times resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having
received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus
therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he said unto
them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then
asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled, which
he spake of them, which thou gavest me, I have lost none. Don't you love that? I entered into something reading
that today. Everything he did was that the
scripture might be fulfilled. And he is the scripture. Everything
he ever said must be fulfilled. That saying that had to be fulfilled,
he just said it in John 17. Immediately it had to be fulfilled.
Everything he says must be fulfilled. And he said, Of them which thou
gavest me, I have lost none. Verse 12 says, Then the band
and captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound him. Verse 37 says, Pilate therefore
said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest
that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Every one that is of the truth
heareth my voice. For this cause came I into the
world. This is what is in my heart to
do for my people. Chapter 19, verse 16. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him
away. And he bearing his cross went
forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called
in the Hebrew Golgotha. where they crucified Him and
two other with Him, on either side, one and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews. Now look with me at verse 25. Now there stood by the cross
of Jesus His mother and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he said unto
his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple
took her unto his own home. Always caring, always considering,
always watching out for his people, even at that moment in time.
Verse 28, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were
now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I
thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon
his and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Living, He loved me. Dying, He
saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. Chapter 20, verse 1 says, The
first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it
was yet dark unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away
from the sepulcher. He was not there. He had risen,
He fulfilled all the work. Rising He justified freely forever. Look at verse 26. And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be
unto you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side. And be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they
that have not seen and yet have believed. Now watch verse 30.
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. Wouldn't you love
to know what those things were? Wouldn't you love to know what
those things were? Wouldn't you love to know more
about Him? More, more about the Lord Jesus. Many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this
book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might
have life through His name. And he said in John 21, he asked
Peter three times, do you love me? Peter said, yea, Lord, I
love you. He said, then feed my sheep.
Feed my sheep, feed my sheep. Lord, what do they feed on? They
feed on me. They feed on hearing about me. They feed on getting to know
me through my word. I love telling about the Lord Jesus
Christ. I love telling people about Christ. This is my favorite subject. I love telling things that He
has revealed concerning Himself in His Word. But on the day that
He comes back, there won't be any more preachers telling anybody
about Him. He's going to tell them Himself.
He's going to tell all things Himself. He's going to tell us
all about Himself. Who He is, what He's like, and
what He's done. And there is so much more to
come. There is so much more to come.
Alright, this is the last verse. Verse 25 in John 21. It says, There are also many
other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written. I'm so thankful for
this book because it's all about Him. It tells us what He did,
who He is, what He's like. And there's so much more to come
that if it were possible to write it all in books, this world,
it couldn't even hold all the books. It'd reach, you know,
the ozone layer and they'd just all start floating out into space.
You could not, there's no way you could exhaust who He is,
what He's like, and what He's done. And you know what God's
people say in anticipation of that? Amen. John couldn't help it. John had
to say it too. He, under the inspiration of
God, he started writing this and he cried, Amen. So be it. I can't wait. Tell me more about
the Lord Jesus Christ. More about him. We're going to
sing that. Let's all stand together.