I appreciate Jason willing to
help me and accompany me this morning so I don't have to worry
about all these notes. Thank you, Jason. How can I say thanks, Lord, for
the things you have done for me? Things so undeserved. Yet you gave to prove your love
for me. The voices of a million angels
could not express my gratitude. All that I am and ever hope to
be I owe it all to thee. To God be the glory. To God be the glory. To God For great things He has done. With His blood He has saved me. With His power He has raised
me. To God be the glory for great
things He has done. Give my life, may it be honoring
unto thee. And if I gain any praise, let
it go to Christ of Calvary. With His blood, He has saved
me. With His power, He has raised
me. To God be the glory. Did you pause it? I got it. Those two of those
hymns were two of my favorites. and be thou my vision, and great
is thy faithfulness. Love them. Thank you for them.
Thank you for that. It's all mine. Turn with me to the gospel
of Luke, chapter four. Luke, chapter four. The scriptures say that to him,
to Christ, give all the prophets witness. Our Lord himself said,
they, speaking of the scripture, the prophet, are they which testify
of me? He said to the Pharisees one
day, he says, Moses wrote of me, didn't he? He said, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. You remember
the story of the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus
in Luke 24. The Lord had been crucified and buried, and they
did not yet believe that he was risen. And he appeared to them,
but they didn't know him. Their eyes were holding that
they should know him. They just thought he was a preacher.
He was. But the Lord didn't reveal himself
to them first. He began to preach to them. You
see what an emphasis. The Lord places on preaching.
Where did he begin? It says, beginning at the book
of Moses and the prophets. He expounded unto them all the
things concerning himself. That's what we did last night,
beginning these messages that we began in the books of Moses.
Did our Lord preach on Abraham offering Isaac? I just got to
believe he did. the woman's seed in Genesis?
You think so? That's where it starts. That's
where it starts. Why preach the Old Testament?
Why preach the Old Testament? The world, the modern world would
ask that. Aren't these New Testament days?
Why do we need, what's the relevance of the Old Testament? Well, number
one, why we preach the Old Testament is, number one, we don't need
another reason. It's God's word. And if you don't know the first
chapter, you don't know any of the rest. If you don't know where
it all began, if you don't begin with God, the creator, in Hebrews
11, the chapter on faith, isn't that where it began? By faith,
we understand that God made everything out of nothing. Well, that's
where our Lord began preaching. And he preached to Moses, The
word from Moses and the prophets. Well, here in Luke chapter four,
all right, look at it. We're gonna see what the prophets
say about the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter four, let's read
verses 16, or verse 15 through 22. Verse 15, he taught in their
synagogues, being glorified of all. He taught, he preached. Another place it says that he
went into He went into all the villages and towns. He went into
every little village and preached. Isn't that wonderful? What a
blessing. Little town we live in, Rocky
Mount, but it keeps dwindling. And there's about 3,500 people
now, 4,000 people at the moment. Well, the gospel is there. Isn't
that amazing? Crow. Do you anybody know where
Crow is beside these two? Anybody? The Lord knows where
it is. What does it matter? Is the gospel
in New York City? I don't think so. Think about
it. He went into all their little
villages, teaching and preaching the word of God. What a blessing.
This is the greatest privilege and blessing known to man, to
hear God's word read and preached He talked there, he came to Nazareth.
Remember what they said about Nazareth? Can anything good come
out of Nazareth? Christ did. Can anything good
come out of Spring Lake? Christ is there. His people are
gonna come out of there. He came to Nazareth where he
was brought up. That's where he dwelled, like
he dwelled at Capernaum, Galilee, the lowest. They were looked
down upon by everybody else. People in Jerusalem looked down
on Capernaum, didn't they? The Galileans. That's who Christ
came to save. That's who Christ came. Those
were his companions. He came to Nazareth, where he'd
been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. 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.
Chapter 61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me. The Lord is reading it. He's saying, me. He has sent
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has 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. And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him witness and
wonder at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth."
If it had a title, it would be that, gracious words. Or Christ
the preacher. Christ the preacher. to Nazareth. He was a preacher. I do not introduce myself, and
I'm sure John does not either, introduce yourself to strangers
or people as a preacher. Do you? They'll find out soon
enough. When they do, they got to tell
you how religious they are. They got to tell you what they
know and so on and so forth. But the reason being, I'm not
ashamed of what I'm doing. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
We're not ashamed of this. But I am ashamed to be associated
with those men that are called preachers today. Now it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. This
is what God has chosen to you. How shall they hear without a
preacher? The power is not in the preacher. The power is in
the word, the gospel that he preaches. But this is the means
that God has chosen to save them that believe. Several reasons.
Number one, why did he choose preaching? And again, we need
no other reason. Because he did. Enough said. Number two, it humbles man. You have to sit down. We're not
sharing anything this morning. You have to sit down and shut
up. And listen to a man, open God's Word. If he's a preacher,
that's the way he's going to do it. Open God's Word and preach
to you from the Word of God. There's no discussion, there's
no argument, there's no debate. It's a declaration of thus saith
the Lord. And doctors and lawyers and the
wise and the prudent of this world have to sit down and listen
to a nothing and a nobody, usually an uneducated man, a fisherman
or a machinist or a railroader or whatever, a prison keeper,
a jailer, preach the truth. And it humbles us that And thirdly, it's in demonstration
of the Spirit and the power of God. Because if God speaks to
someone's heart, if God delivers someone from the power of darkness
into the kingdom of His dear Son, from death unto life, from
darkness to light, through an uneducated, incapable man, you
know it's of God. You know it's of God. And that's
what He does. Several reasons, many reasons why. Another reason
is that when you hear the preaching of the gospel, and you will not
find an example in all of God's words, somebody saved apart from
the preacher of the gospel, will you? Not one. You say, well,
Saul of Tarsus, boy, did he hear a preacher. The Lord Jesus cried,
huh? And then, Billy, he sent Ananias
to him, didn't he? And this one opened his eyes.
Old Saul looked down on old Ananias before, and it says from that
day forward he looked up. And he's with them coming and
going, that Pharisee. Well, here's another reason. Why he chose preaching is because
If you, when you hear the gospel, when the gospel, the preaching
of the gospel, the power of God and the wisdom of God, and God
opens your blind eyes and deaf ears and fills your heart with
a fullness of cry, from that day forward, you will need to
hear it preached. You will be with them that are
worshiping and hearing the word of God preached. And here's the
greatest reason of all. God had one son and he was a
preacher. Lord, that elevates this, what
we're doing. That makes this vital. Christ said, let's go
into the next towns and villages to preach because that's why
I was sent to preach. So he came. And verse 16 says, in the text that he came to Nazareth
where he brought up and has his custom walk. He went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. Now
it was a Jewish custom back then that when a young man reached
the age of manhood, 30 years old, that they would come to
their hometown and they would stand up and it's kind of a,
I don't know, a rite of passage of manhood. They would acknowledge
him A hometown boy, he's now a man. Read for us, young man,
you know? And so, our Lord, that was the
custom there. But I believe this is also saying
that it was his custom, a thing he was accustomed to doing. It
was a habit, as it were. He was always, the Lord Jesus
Christ was always found in the synagogues on the Sabbath day. His parents had him there. They
took him to the temple, didn't they? I was so blessed to have
believing parents, and they brought me up under the fear, the nurture,
and the admonition of the Lord. As a child, I thought it was
torture. I thought they were just being
cruel to me. But I know now it's the greatest
thing they could have done for me. They had me because you're
only going to know God by being under the sound of the word that's
able to make us wise unto salvation. And so our Lord, it was his custom.
It was his habit. He was always there. Some habits
are worth forming. Some habits are good, like brushing
your teeth. You won't have any friends if
you could brush your teeth. I remember as a kid thinking,
why do I have to do this? Well, son, you just don't know. Before long, it'll be a habit,
and you'll love doing it. And you'll need to do it. Well,
maybe as a poor example. And it was a poor example. Here's the thing. When Christ
becomes your life, Truly, when the love of God is shed abroad
in your heart, you will love to hear the Word read. You will
love to hear the Word of God preached. You need it. You have
to have it. It's your life. The Lord asked
the disciples one time when everybody was leaving. This is too hard.
We can't hear this. We don't want to hear this. All
sovereignty of the Lord and all this and the worthlessness of
man and all that. And He turned to the disciples.
There's a door. Will you go away? They said, to whom? Why? Where? No, this is words of life, that's
what he said. Words of life, isn't it? Man, a man born again lives by
the word of God. Someone asked a plumber one time,
said, what do you do for a living? He said, well, I'm a plumber
to meet expenses, but Christ is my life. See, it's a fact. If you have
eternal life, then this is your life. Christ is the head, his
body, you can't separate the head and the body. Where Christ
is, that's where his church is. You love Christ, you love him,
there's a begotten of him. The people are your life. And
we serve the body and we meet together. It's the nature of
sheep to gather together with other sheep. They have to, they
have to. Goats can go it alone. Goats can eat 10 cans. Sheep
have to have sheep. Sheep need one thing, grass. And he leads his people beside
the still water. And they gather together as one.
And they hear the word bread, hear the word priest, and it's
life. Christ our Lord. Well, he stood
up to read. Verse 16 said, he stood up to
read and they delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And he opened the book and found the place where it was written
and he began to read. Now, don't you love to hear the word of
God read? Don't you? Didn't you love hearing Psalm
110, by the way? Our Lord quoted that, didn't
he? They asked him all sorts of questions. And then he said,
now, let me ask you a question. This is the question of question
today. What think ye of Christ? Whose son is it? They said, well,
he's the son of David. He said, then why did David in
the scriptures call him Lord? The Lord said unto my Lord. If
he's just the son of David, why did David call him Lord? Well,
if he's just the son of God, which many think, and he's not
God, why did God call him God? Oh, he aggravated him, David.
I love how he aggravated him. He said, have you never read?
That's all a scribe did all day long. But they did err not knowing
the scripture. Why? Because they didn't know
him. They delivered him the book. He is the book. They said, here,
find something to read. He wrote it. If they'd have known
him, they'd have been on their knees right then, speak to us,
O Word made flesh. Isn't it? It's ever done in the book, and
it says he found the place. He opened the book and he found
the place where it's written, and he read from Isaiah 61. I
want you to go to the book of Nehemiah with me, the little
book of Nehemiah. Go back over there. You know,
Paul told young Timothy, preach the word, Timothy. In season,
out of season. It's out of season now. Well,
it's not for us. The word of God is his power.
We're born again by it. We're upheld by it. The word
of God is his wisdom, his power, the word. Now, you don't preach
the word unless you preach Christ, who is the word. You know what? There's lots of people who say
they preach the word. I asked a fellow one time, what's your
preacher preach? He said he preaches the Bible. I said, well, what does the Bible
say? He said, well, we believe the
Bible. I said, well, what do you believe? He said, we believe
what he believes. Well, what do you all believe
and preach? Same thing. I couldn't tell you. had a fella
come walking through our neighborhood. And I never met him before, they'd
just moved in. And I was standing there and
she was talking to his wife and I was talking to him and I said,
well, what are you doing here? Why are you here? And he said,
we're starting a little, I'm a preacher and we're starting
a little ministry down here in my house. Oh. And I said, What,
what, where do you, who are you affiliated with? He said, we're
Southern Baptist. And I said, well, there's Southern Baptist.
There's Baptist all over this town. Why do you need another
one? He said, oh, we're, we're, we're, we're trying to get the
unchurched. Well, I said, what do you preach? And he started, Johnny started
getting dry in the mouth. Nobody ever asked him that. Nobody
cares. Just go to church. He said, well,
we preach the Bible. I said, well, everybody says
that. What do you mean you preach the
Bible? What are you preaching the Bible? He couldn't tell me. He couldn't tell me. But say,
when we preach the Bible, when we preach God's word, we're preaching
Christ from the Bible. But here's the point I want to
make. Our Lord opened the book in the sight. He didn't need
a copy of the book. It's written in his heart. He
wrote it. He didn't need a copy of the
book, yet he took a copy of the book and held it up for everyone
to see. I'm reading from God's word. Is that important? Oh, my. If I had anything against these
electronic devices, it'd be that. People need to see that this
man is reading from God's word. That was the thing that impressed
my father-in-law when he first came to hear Henry Mahan preach.
He went to this big first Christian place in Ashland, Kentucky, where
everybody's anybody went there. And he went there, and nothing
was said there. And nobody used Bibles, like
the Methodists and all. Nobody used Bibles. Well, he
was asked, he got this. contented, and he wanted to hear
something. He told his so-called preacher,
he said, I need to hear something. He said, I'm not hearing something. He didn't know what he wasn't
hearing. I'll tell you what he wasn't hearing. He wasn't hearing God's
word. He wasn't hearing Christ's voice.
Well, he went to hear Henry Mahan preach, and the first thing that
impressed him He didn't know what he was saying. He didn't
understand anything we were saying. But here's what he told me and
his mom. He said, I don't understand what he's saying, but he's getting
it from the Bible. He's preaching the Bible, preaching
God's word. Look at verse 4. Ezra, the scribe,
stood up upon a pulpit of wood, Nehemiah 8. Say that, Nehemiah
8. Sorry, Nehemiah chapter 8. Ezra verse four, the scribe stood
upon a pulpit of wood that was made for the purpose. For what
purpose? Elevate a man? Oh no. Just so a man can stand
up and everybody see, I'm reading from God's word. And so the people
in back can hear his voice. That's it. And down in verse five, it says,
Ezra opened the book in the sight of the people. You see this? I'm reading from God's word.
Is that vital? more than ever. So, go back to
the text. Luke 4. So our Lord opened the
book. He opened the book. You know,
brethren, you know what this book is. Our Lord wrote it. He
wrote it. It's his book. It's his autobiography. It's his autobiography. It's
all about him. He said, Moses wrote it. Well, he opened the book, he
found the place where it is written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. That's Isaiah 61. Now, he could have read from
anywhere in the book and it would have spoken of him. He said,
this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. He could have read
anywhere. He could have began in Genesis, couldn't he? The
woman's seed. He could have began in Genesis, Abraham and Isaac,
the son of Prom. He could have began in Exodus,
couldn't he? In Exodus 12, the atonement, the lamb. He could have began the brazen
serpent, the smitten rock, couldn't he? Ruth, the kinsman redeemer. And on and on he could have gone.
Anywhere he could have said, this day is the scripture fulfilled. This is the purpose. This is
the end. This is why it was written. To declare, to speak of me, Christ
said. This is why it was written. He
could have began anywhere in Isaiah, couldn't he? Isaiah 6.
Isaiah saw the Lord. High and lifted up. Who did Isaiah
see? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. He could have began in Isaiah
7. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, bear a child. and
called his name Emmanuel. Who's that? Jesus Christ, God
manifesting. He could have began there and
said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He could
have began in Isaiah 9, unto us this child is born, a son
is given, called his name God, Father, this day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears. He could have began in Isaiah
11, couldn't he? The rod of Jesse, a branch, an
ensign, a flag for the nation. This day is the scripture. He
could have began in Isaiah 25. This is our God. He'll save us.
We've waited on Him. This is our God. He'll bring
forth victory. Swallow up death and victory.
This day is the scripture fulfilled. He could have began anywhere.
He could have began in Isaiah 32. A man shall be a hiding place. A covert from the tempest. A
shadow of a rock in a weary land. That's him. He could have began
in Isaiah 42, behold my servant, my elect. He'll bring forth judgment
to the Gentile. He shall not fail to be discouraged. The isles await for his law.
He could have began there, couldn't he? And said, this day is the
scripture fulfilled in your ear. He could have began in Isaiah
49, a light to the Gentile, the covenant of the people. He could
have began in Isaiah 50, despised and rejected of me and
as a lamb led to the slaughter is done. He opened not his mouth.
He was wounded and bruised for our transgression. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify. He could have began there, couldn't
he? And said, this day is the scripture fulfilled. But he began
in Isaiah 51, 61. That's where he prayed. And it says in verse 18, the
spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed me.
Now you know this. Most do not. But the name Christ
means, it literally translates, anointed one, doesn't it? Doesn't it? That's what his name
means. And when Isaiah wrote that, Isaiah was not speaking
of himself. Like the eunuch asked Philip,
Reading Isaiah 53, of whom does this man speak? Of himself or
some other man? And Philip preached Christ to
him. It's the speaking of Christ.
Isaiah wasn't speaking of himself. David didn't write of himself
that he left my soul, didn't leave my soul in hell. That's
what Peter preached at Pentecost. David preached Christ. In Isaiah,
when he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, he's preaching,
he's prophesying of the Christ to come. And when our Lord Jesus
Christ, that prophet of whom Moses wrote, stood up and said,
this is speaking of me. What do you think about that? We know
what he is. He's revealed himself to us.
We loved it. Well, the people, and the more
he preached and all that, and they knew he was a gracious speaker,
and they couldn't deny that. But after a while, they said,
you're Joseph's boy. You're Mary's son. You're Josie's
brother. You ain't God. And they wanted
to kill him, throw him off the hill. God was manifesting. Christ is
the anointed one. Now, you hear this a lot today,
don't you? This is very relevant. A lot of so-called spirit-filled
preaching, spirit-anointed preachers, that's what they say, don't they? And none take them to task for
it, do they? Who can hold them accountable
for it? About anybody can say that. I hold them accountable.
Because when a man stands up and says, I'm the anointed one,
mark him off right there. He's false. He's not the anointed
one. He's antichrist. Spirit-filled
preaching and a spirit-filled preacher and a spirit-filled
church are those that worship Jesus Christ. Those that exalt
Jesus Christ and Him alone. Those people that are filled
with the Spirit of God are filled with the things of Christ. That's
what Christ said the Spirit would come and do. He'll take the things
of man and show them unto you. He's called the Spirit of Truth.
What's the truth? Ain't a what, it's a who. Christ
said, I am the truth, I am the way. So a spirit-filled church,
a man that is anointed of God to preach the gospel, like your
preacher is, he's gonna stand up and you know what he's gonna
do? One thing, he's gonna preach Jesus Christ. That's how you
know. Christ preached Christ. Our Lord
Jesus Christ preached himself. The spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath, look at this, first thing. He's anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor. Doesn't that make what we do
a wonderful thing? And if you've heard it, been
saved by it, oh, you love to hear the preach. Don't you love
to hear God's word read? Surely no man read like Christ
did. You ever told somebody a story,
you know, you go through something, you experience something, And
if you went through it, if it happened to you, you can tell
it with feeling, you can tell it with all the emphasis, with
all the accents where they need to be. It's your story. Wouldn't
you have loved to have heard him read this book? He wrote
it. That's what he sounded like. That's what they said of him
one time. He preaches as one having authority. Not like the
scribes, you know. They're just reciting from memory. He wrote this book. Wouldn't
you have loved to heard him read it? Maybe we will. Maybe in glory
someday, he'll begin in Genesis 1. Wouldn't that be something? Oh, listen to that. I've heard
men read it. I've heard men preach it. The
half has never been told. That's why there's gonna be silence
in heaven for 30 minutes. Never heard a voice like that,
never seen a face like that, never experienced anything like
that. It anointed me to preach the
gospel, the good news, good news. You know what the gospel is?
Christ. Here's the good news in a word.
Christ. Lo, I am come in the volume of
the book it is written of me. To do what? Save my people from
their sins. That's good news. And if you're
lost it is. You ever been lost? If you're really lost, that means
you can't find your way. That means you don't know the
way, isn't it? That's what Thomas said, we don't know the way.
He said, I am the way. Philip said, show us the father.
He said, I am the father. I am the way, I'm the truth.
I am come that they might have life. If you're lost, somebody's
gotta find you. That's why Christ said, I've
come to seek and to save that which was lost, not try. If you're
lost, you're lost. If you're dead, you're dead.
Somebody's gotta raise you. Christ said, I am come that they
might have life, not offer life, give life, bestow life, resurrect
people from the dead. That's why I'm come. Do you know
every single funeral our Lord attended, the person got up, Because His life and His presence
is life. His countenance is health. I've come to preach the gospel,
good news. What's the good news? Full, free,
eternal pardon for sinners. Mercy that endures forever for
sinners. Who is this good news to? Sinners. The thief on the cross, that's
all he's done all his life. He's about to die. He knows he's
going to be punished for his sins. And buddy, when he finally looked
on Christ the Savior, the Lord showed to him in a look at a
man hanging on a cross, a substitute for sinners, a lamb slain for
his sin, that was his salvation. One thing he desired, one thing
he needed, My sin, like David said, is ever before me. That man wrote that hymn, It
Is Well With My Soul. In that hymn, he wrote that after
losing four daughters who drowned at sea. Before that, he lost
a son. Before that, he lost all of his
earthly belongings. And he wrote that hymn, and he
never mentioned those children. He never mentioned those sad
things and all that, but here's what he said. My sin, O the bliss
of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord. It is well with my soul. Everything will be forgotten
when we get the glory. Everything, everyone, everything
will be forgotten. The former things shall not be
remembered or come to mind, but this is one thing we'll never
get over, and we'll always speak about and sing about, unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That's why we meet here. That's
why we preach. That's what this is all about.
That's why Christ came, to save his people from the sin. When
he talks about the poor, he talks about the poor in spirit. I don't
have any faith. I don't have any goodness. I
don't have any righteousness. I don't have any knowledge. I
have nothing to commend myself to God. Christ says, good news,
I'm here. Because of God is he made unto
us everything we need, all we need, all the fullness of God,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. He said, I have come
to give you a righteousness. My own righteousness will never
fail. The poor have the gospel. And
do you know what? The Lord literally went into
the poor places and preached to poor people. Because they
didn't have anything. The gospel is leaving. They've
left, leaving Europe. It started over there in Jerusalem,
left there, didn't it? Everybody was rich and increased
with goods, their own goodness and their religion, their knowledge
of God, so it left. Gospel's for poor people. It
left, went into Europe, you know. Martin Luther and all their former,
it left there. They heard all they needed to
hear. And it went over to the English,
the British Isle, and it left there and it came here. Preached all over the place.
Well, it's gone down into Mexico, gone down to where the really
dirt poor people, they don't have anything. We go to Mexico,
you've been to Mexico, haven't you? Those people don't have
much, do they? Food and raiment, that's about
all they have. But Brother John, they're happy people. Our brethren
in those churches are happy people. Why? They have the gospel. Like that poor woman sat down
with one little piece of bread, an empty cupboard, and she said,
all this in Christ's name. The poor have the gospel preached.
He says, he sent me to heal the brokenhearted. That's the brokenhearted overseeing.
Didn't he say in his Sermon on the Mount, first two things,
blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that what? David
mourned. David mourned over his sin. David
said, my sin is ever before me. What can I do about my sin? I
mourn over my sin. I want to be like Christ. With
God, now I feel like my sins have cast me out of his presence.
Oh, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Oh, create in me a clean
heart. Renew within me a right spirit.
Oh, Lord, my sin, my sin's gonna be my undoing. I mourn over my
sin, gonna keep me from God. No, they won't keep you from
God, because that's who Christ came for, to draw us nigh unto
God. to bring us to God. And the way
we draw nigh unto God is mourning over sin. To this man, when I
look, he is a poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
This word speaks against sin, and that's what we are. But Christ
said, I am come to be made sin. That's why he came. That's why he came. Not to make
us happy in this world, but take us out of this miserable world.
Take us out of this world of sin. He calls it this present
evil world. And to take the evil out of us.
And take us to a land that is fairer than day. To take us to
a place where we can dwell in righteousness. Does that interest
you? Are you vexed like Lot in Sodom? Does it vex you? That
you're in Sodom? Does it vex you that Sodom's
in you? Christ said, I am come. take
you out. And this is how he does it. This
is how he does it. This day is this day is this
scripture fulfilled. If the Lord is pleased. by his
spirit to take what this poor preacher's saying that the Lord
said. He can take someone right out of darkness right now, open
blind eyes. He said, that's why I'm coming,
that's what this preach is all about. When he sent his disciples
out to preach, first thing he said, go preach the gospel, heal
the sick, open blind eyes, cast out devils. That's what the gospel
does. The gospel is the power of God.
They said to John, John sent word. They said, are you the
Christ, the one that should come? Or we look for another? He said,
you go show John again the things that you've seen and heard. Go
show John again. John, you want to hear this again?
He said, go show him again. The blind had their sight. They
were given their sight. The deaf hear the gospel. The poor have the gospel created.
The lepers are clean. The dead are raised. We see it
all the time, not nearly enough. Well, it is enough. It's just
enough to eat. But just to see one, does anything
give you more glory than to see a dead sinner raised to life?
To see somebody hear the gospel for the first time? Is it anything?
I'll tell you what it makes you rejoice. Is it if your son, or
your daughter, or your spouse, whom the Lord uses the gospel
to... Oh, nothing! is greater than
that. It's the one thing needful. Like
the woman said, Lord, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil,
please. She had one thing she desired
of the Lord. What did he do? He removed that devil. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted
over sin to preach deliverance to the captives. The Pharisees
said, we're not in captivity. We've never been captive to anybody.
We're free. That's what everybody in the
world fancies themselves to be, free. I'm free. Look at them.
Look at them. Look what they're doing to themselves,
literally, physically. I thought I was free. I was born
in the 50s, John and I. There's 10 or 12, just 10 days
between them. You're born in the 50s, raised
in the 60s and 70s. We thought that was a bad time.
But Johnny, I thought growing up in the 60s, I'm ashamed to
admit it, but I became a hippie. Back when I could grow my hair.
But I became a hippie, you know, 60 cents a time, everybody's
free. Oh, I'm free. You fool. You've never been in more
bondage to your peers, to the god of this world, or the devil.
Oh, you're doing exactly what everybody else is doing. Blind leading the blind. You're
gonna fall in a ditch if the Lord doesn't make you free. If the Lord doesn't deliver you
from that freedom you think you have. Deliverance to the captives.
Oh, and there's people just as captive in the pew as they are
in the gutter. That's even more captivity. Our
Lord said, it's the light that is in you, be darkness. How great
is a darkness if you have a false refuge, a refuge of lies. Oh,
my. My sister was a model child. My sister was a daughter of the
American Revolution, a good citizenship. She won that award. She was a
role model as a child. She was an obedient child, a
good student and all that. And I was exactly the opposite. But our God had to show her that
she's just as much a sinner as the harlot on the street. That she needed the same mercy
and grace and the same revealing gospel revealed to her heart
as this old prodigal son did. And bless God, he did. Through
the same preacher, through the same gospel, he did. This is
deliberate from captivity to religion, to tradition, to all
that your mama and daddy believed. to believe the truth. I come
to set people at the recovering of sight to the blind, blind
to God, blind to self, blind to Christ, blind to our need
of Him. Set people at liberty that are
bruised. That's what this gospel is. That's
why Christ came. Bruised. We sing that song, bruised
and mangled by the fall. Come ye sinners. poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. The Lord Jesus ready stands to
save you, full of pity, joined with power. He's able. Oh, he's able. He's willing.
Doubt no more. Come, bruised and mangled by
the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will not come at all. But you come, bruised, mangled. story of Pilgrim and the Pilgrim's
Progress and his friend. They left, got out of the way. They got out of the way. The evangelist told them, don't
get out of the way. Don't let anything or anyone
take your attention away from the way. It may look good, but
it's not the way. And they got out of the way into
Bypass Meadow. It says they fell asleep, both
of them in the chanted ground. This world, God of this world
would have you sleep as do others until the day is too late. Well,
they fell asleep and it says they ended up in Doubting Castle
under the dominion of giant Despair. This great giant called Despair
had them in the dungeon and now they were out of the way and
they thought they were lost and they thought they would never
get back in the way. They thought they were now going
to be destroyed, that there was no hope for them to get to the
celestial city. And they're in the dungeon of
the Doubting Castle full of doubts and fears. It says this giant
called Despair would every now and then get them out of the
dungeon and beat them until they were bruised. Look at you, you're
not Christian. Look at you, you're not in the
way. You're not going to the celestial city. And just beat
them down until they were bruised. Do your sins bruise you? Does this world bruise you? Do
you say like in Psalm 13, I can't have more! Is His mercy clean gone? Doubts
and fears and troubles and worry because of your sin. And you
look to the world like Isaiah 8 says it, all this dark and
dimness and anguish of spirit. And then chapter 9 says, The
people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Upon
them a great light has shone. And all of a sudden Pilgrim said, a key. I've had it all along, a key. Unlock all the doors of bondage,
of captivity. What is it? Faith. And the Lord
Jesus cried. Christ said, I have the keys.
of hell and death. It was there all along. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
he said. Believe. Full of doubts and fears? Believe. Thomas was full of doubts. He said, Thomas, reach hither
your hand and put it in my side. Behold my hands and my feet.
It is I. It is I. My Lord. He said, don't
be doubtful, but believe. The hymns that are bruised. To
preach, and I love this, and I'll close with this. He did.
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. You close the book. This day is the scripture fulfilled
in your ear. It's the acceptable year of the
Lord. Meaning, God is accepting anyone into
his kingdom. It has to be. Anyone. Oh, not me preacher.
You don't know. God knows you. He knows you better
than you know yourself. But he said, this is the acceptable
year of the Lord. Why? Because we're accepted in
the beloved. Because that's why Christ came.
He said, he's accepted me. God has accepted me. And I'm
here to be your substitute. I'm here to take you to God.
I'm the one mediator between God and men. I'm the man that
he's pleased with, whose righteousness he's pleased with. I'm the one.
Come unto me. I'll take you there. He said
he'll accept you. Do you reckon God will have me?
In Christ, he will. This is it. And brethren, today
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Need deliverance, anybody? Blind, anybody? I still feel
blind at times, don't you? This is why we need this gospel.
I still feel like a leper at times, don't you? That's why
I still need to come here to get cleansed by his word. I still need freedom. I still
feel like I'm in captivity sometimes, don't you? I come here to hear
about Christ who makes us free. How about you? May the Lord bless
his word. What a way to spend a Saturday
morning. I was thinking the only way it can be better is if the
Lord just took us. Like He did Elijah and Enoch. That's the only way it can be
better than what we just heard. Let's stand and sing 256. Paul made mention of this song
in his message. That's one of our favorites. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, My Lord, thou hast taught me
to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well. with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control that
Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed his own
blood It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole, is nailed to thee. the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul, it is well. With my soul it is well. with my soul. And, Lord, haste the day when
my faith shall be signed, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend, even so it is well. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Thank you for submitting. so