Let me go back to Luke chapter
4, which Brother Patrick read. Thank you, Patrick, for reading
for us, for praying for us, for me. Thank you, John, for the glass
of water, cup of water. Don't you love to hear the Gospel
preached, the Word of God preached? That's proof of life. It's proof
of life. You love to hear the gospel preached.
Some, sadly, tragically, come out of duty or habit. To hear
the gospel is a glorious privilege and a high honor. Scripture calls
it a heavenly calling. Most have ears to hear and don't
hear it. Our Lord said to His disciples one time, blessed are
your ears, I hear. And many prophets have desired
to hear the things that you heard and not heard them. Pleased God
by the... Scripture says it pleased God.
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. I
quoted Romans 10 to you. How shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except to be sent? They
won't call on him whom they've not believed, won't believe in
him whom they've not heard, and they won't hear without a preacher. The Lord sends preachers. The
world calls it foolishness. That's why Paul said that. The
foolishness of preaching. The world calls what I do utter
foolishness. The world thinks that my occupation
is the most worthless occupation on earth. But to those who know
the truth, know that this is the most important occupation
on earth. This is more important than the President of the United
States. Honestly, people. His things that he says and does
have no bearing on your eternal soul. But the things that I declare
from the Word of God, the things that any true preacher declares
from the Word of God, are a matter of life and death. We must hear
them. The Lord Jesus Christ. God had
one Son that He sent to earth, and He was a preacher. It says that, look at verse 15. He taught in their synagogues.
being glorified of all. Matthew 9, listen to this, you
don't have to turn, but I love this. It says, he went about
all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues. and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every
disease among the people. Remember that. He went about
teaching and preaching the gospel and healing every sickness and
every disease. This is what heals every sickness
and every disease. The gospel. He sent his disciples
out one time and said, go preach the gospel. Heal the sick. Cast
out the dead, raise the dead. The gospel is what does that.
The Word of God. Most of you know that. You've
been raised from the dead. You've had your blind eyes open,
your blind ears open, haven't you? Your leprosy cleansed. The gospel. Our Lord was a preacher
and he went about preaching, preaching. It says he went into
all the cities and villages, little villages. Then in the
cities and villages, again, I remind you, that he went to Jerusalem,
and they hated him. That's where they killed him.
His disciples said, don't go up there, they're trying to kill
you. He said, I must. He had to go to Jerusalem. This
is David, the king, to come to his city, but he's going to go
outside the camp and be crucified, and his people are going to go
to him. But our Lord is a preacher. That's the thing I'm trying to
show us. He's a preacher. And He's given me this blessed
occupation and opportunity. Woe is unto me, Paul said, and
I say, if I preach not the gospel. Woe is unto me if I do anything
but preach Christ and Him crucified. Woe is unto us if this building
is open and this church exists for anything. but the preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the purpose. The church
is the pillar and the ground of the truth. Our Lord went about preaching.
He was a preacher. Well, He came to Nazareth. Verse 16, He came to Nazareth
where He'd been brought up. Nazareth. This little town of
Nazareth. And as I said earlier, The Lord
has come to this little town. He spent most of... He grew up
in Nazareth. That's where the Lord of glory,
the Son of God chose to grow up from a child. Nazareth. And everybody, especially people
in the big city of Jerusalem, can't anything good come out
of there. They heard he was of Nazareth.
There's no prophet, they said, of Nazareth. There's one now, capital P. And he went to a town called
Capernaum. It's called his city. Remember
that? We looked at that. He dwelled in Capernaum, a little
fishing village in the mountains, in the hills. And that's where
he dwelled and that's who he dwelled with. Who are we, huh? David came from
Bethlehem, another little two-bit town. And when he was seated
on the throne one day, he said, who am I? And what of my house
that you brought us here? And we're all going to say that
someday when we get to glory. Oh, Brother Hendrick, Corn Valley. Corn Valley. Isn't he a picture
of who God chooses? He's elect. Did you read the
article on election this morning? He said he finds every center,
every elect on the dung hill. Whatever dung hill he finds them.
Corn Valley. I went with Henry. He took me
up there. You were there. Up to his hometown. I saw that
little ramshackle building where he went to school, little one-room
school building. And he told me they tore it down
as soon as he left. Don't want any more like him
coming out here. Boy, I'd like for the whole world
to be full of Henry Soyd. There's a few of them. He came
to Nazareth, where he'd been brought up. And I remind you,
at the end of this story, he left. He didn't come back. Did you
hear that? Well, he came in and as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood
up for to read. Now look at this two ways. It
was the custom that every 30-year-old Jewish, you're not a man until
you turn 30. And that was the custom when
you go to your hometown and you stand up to read. to read. And many of you men, that's about
when you started to read. That's when I started. I'll never
forget the first time my dad asked me to stand up and read
in front of the congregation. I wanted to throw up. Honestly,
I've never been so ill, so sick, so nervous in my life. Tried
everything I could get out of it. Nope. He wouldn't let me. And here I am. It's just amazing.
But you may, and it was a custom back then. A 30-year-old young
man would get up and he'd read in his home church, so to speak,
and that was the custom. But there's more than this. It was a custom. As his custom
was, it says, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
This was what he was accustomed to doing. This is what his habit
was of doing. This is what he always did on
the Sabbath day. This is what he did. What did
he do? He went to the synagogue where
God's people were made, where those who were worshiping God,
who were those who were singing the praises of God, calling on
God in prayer. The Bible was read and the man
was standing up declaring the Word of God. That's where he
went. That's where you'll find him. And that's where you'll
find God's people. That's where you'll find every
son of God. When the door of the church house is open, that's
where they are. That's where he was. You'll never
find a sabbath that he didn't meet with God's people somewhere. No matter where he was, he went
into that synagogue. Why? Duty? No. This is where the worship of
God is the life of the people of God. A sheep has to be in
the fold. Sheep have to be where the shepherd
is, and that's where our Lord said He would be. If we bring our children, and they
may think that we're doing them wrong, that we're being too hard
on them, bringing them to hear the gospel, But our Lord, through
Paul, commended Timothy's mother and grandmother, Lois and Eunice,
for bringing him as a child to hear the gospel. They wouldn't
take no for an answer. As long as he was under their
roof, Timothy, you're coming to hear the gospel. Did the Lord
bless that? We're talking about Timothy. And Paul said, you've known the
Scriptures from a child that are able to make thee wise unto
salvation. They're not going to be saved
any other way. How shall they hear without a preacher? So they
brought young Timothy every Lord's Day. Church met together on the
first day of the week, the Lord's Day. That's where you find the
Lord's people, where the Lord is and the Lord's people. That's
where you find them. Why? Because they have to and
they want to. David said, I amulet our tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts. He said, the swallow, the sparrow
has found a nest for her young. Is this not a good nest for your
young, Wesley and Eleanor? Oh, we're hoping, we're praying,
we bring them. We're hoping and praying that
the Lord will open their eyes like He did us. break their hearts
over sin, open their ears to hear the Lord's voice and the
Lord will save their eternal souls. That's what we want for
them. That's about all we want. And
to meet a young man who knows the same Lord. Settle down right
here and be members of His body and bring their children to hear
the same gospel and the Lord do the same thing for them. There
is nothing else. There is nothing else. Nothing. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Solomon wrote a whole book, Ecclesiastes,
on it. Try what you will, you'll find
out in the end. When you reach a certain age,
you'll see it's nothing. Nothing. It's all a bunch of
nothing. Christ is all. Oh, that I might win Christ.
That was His custom. That was His custom. And it's
what we're accustomed to doing. I tell you this, if you have
life, life answers to life. You don't wake up and say, well,
I think I'll eat today. You don't say, I think I'll breathe. It's life. I think I'll go to
worship. There's not an option there. And how many times, tell me,
how many times have you not felt like coming to worship the Lord
and you say, ah, this one. No, I need it. I need to hear
His Word. I need to meet with God's people.
Did He bless it? Every time. Every time. Every time. It was His habit.
It was His custom. Lord, make it ours. He went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. Wouldn't
you have loved to have heard Him read this? It was said that
no man spake like this man. Wouldn't you have loved to have
heard Him read this? Don't you love to hear the Word
of God read? Don't you love to read it? God's people love to
read it. Do you esteem God's Word more
precious than gold? There's no exceptions here. Do
you esteem it, like Job said, as my necessary food? There's
no exceptions here. Do you love to read it? Our Lord
said, blessed are they, in Revelation 1, blessed are they that read
this book. Most people have a copy of it,
they've never looked at it. But read the trash. Can't take their eyes off of
it. and won't look at the blessed
Word of God." Our Lord said, oh, blessed are your eyes. Blessed
are they that read this book. He went on to say, blessed are
they that hear, hear it read, hear it preached. I enjoyed,
the Lord gifted you to read, Brother Patrick. He gifted him
to read. He read it slowly and deliberately.
I enjoyed the way he read that. Wouldn't you have loved to have
heard the Son of God write that? He sang. The Lord sang. It says they sang a hymn before
they went to the Mount of Olives. And oh, wouldn't you have loved
to have heard him sing. Bruce and I were talking about,
Bruce and I were, I was playing the guitar and we were singing
together. And I said, wouldn't you have loved to have heard
David play the guitar? and sing. He sang all those psalms
that he wrote. He sang them. When you have love,
I'm sure his voice was melodious. I bet the sheep stopped eating. What about the Son of God? He's singing right now. They're
hearing Him sing. It's a wonder they can sing,
wanting to listen to Him. He stood up to read. No man spake
like this. They delivered him the book,
verse 17. Delivered him the book of the
prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book and found
the place where it was written. They got him the book. The minister
had the book. And he handed him the book. Did he need that book? Sure, find something to read
for us. He wrote the book. Had they known who this was,
they would have said, all of them, to a man, to a woman, they
would have said, Thou art the Word of God incarnate. Thou art
He who spoke everything into existence. Oh, speak to us right
now. Oh, Word of God. He wrote it. He's the author and the finisher
of the book. Well, the minister handed him
the book. He didn't need it. He wrote it. But he opened it
in their eyes. You see what a premium that God
puts upon this book. When Ezra, they made a pulpit
of wood. And the people of God, at the
dedication of the temple, when the temple was rebuilt, Ezra
stood up on a pulpit of wood. That's where the first use of
that term. They made a pulpit of wood for
this purpose. It says he stood up and read
the Word of God in the eyes of all the people. He wanted everyone
to see, I'm not making this up. I'm not speaking thoughts of
my heart and my mind. I'm reading God's Word. And he
read, it says he read, how long? It was all day long. And the
people stood up. The people were standing. Yes,
that's how much respect they had for him. Aren't we a sad bunch? Isn't
this a sad day? The people stood up, they read
all day long, and it says after they got through reading, they
were all crying and weeping and laughing. But the point being, that God
has put a great emphasis on His Word. And so many of these fellas today,
you see them waving this thing around? You see them walking
all over the pulpit waving it around? It's a prop! Go see them
reading. Do you? Just waving it around. I don't treat it like that. And
our Lord didn't either. He read. He who knew it, I'm
reading from this. And they saw it. And he read,
he opened it to Isaiah. The Gospel of Isaiah. I often
say that. I've quit correcting myself. Because it is the Gospel of Isaiah. If I had one book in the New
Testament on a desert island, it would be the Gospel of John.
If I had one in the Old, it would be Isaiah. He opened it to Isaiah
and he found the place, read with me again, verse 18 and following,
"...the Spirit of the Lord," this is Isaiah 61, "...the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me." I'm sure,
I'm certain that He emphasized me. He said, "...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 captive, 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. They were
looking at him. And he began to say unto them,
silent. So he began to say, 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 all said, is not this Joseph's son? Gracious words, that's the subject
title of this message, gracious words out of his mouth. And he
read this Isaiah 61, he found the place. Now he could have
found, he could have chosen just about any place, any place. This day, he said,
is this scripture fulfilled in your ear. They or they which
testify of me, he said, didn't it? To him give all the prophets
witness. He could have chosen any place,
especially in the book of Isaiah, couldn't he? He could have started
in Isaiah chapter six, where Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high
and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Our Lord could have
said, this day, is this scripture fulfilled in your ear? He could
have chosen Isaiah chapter 7 where it says, I'll show you a sign,
God said, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, thou shalt call
his name Immanuel, which being interpreted, God with us. Our
Lord could have said, this day is the scripture fulfilled in
your ears. He could have chosen Isaiah chapter
9, couldn't he? Well, he could have chosen Isaiah
chapter 9, where it says, a child is born, a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Of His government there shall
be no end. This day is the Scripture fulfilled. He could have chosen Isaiah chapter
11, a rod of Jesse, a root of Jesse shall come. This day is
the scripture. He could have chosen Isaiah chapter
25. He will swallow up death in victory. It shall be said
in that day, this is God. We've waited on Him. This is
our God. He'll save us. This day is the
scripture fulfilled in your heart. People, this day, today is the
day of salvation. I'm reading to you the Word of
God concerning the Son of God, which He read to the people then.
Oh, may He open blind eyes and deaf ears right now by His voice. May someone hear His voice, because
this day, this is the day of salvation. This is the gospel
of our salvation. These gracious words, oh, may
we hear these gracious words out of His mouth. May someone
hear them for the first time. He could have chosen Isaiah 32
where it says, A king shall reign in righteousness. This day is
this Scripture fulfilled in your ear. The Scripture that says,
A man shall be a hiding place. This day is this Scripture fulfilled
in your ear. Are you with me? Somebody! He
could have chosen Isaiah 42, Behold my servant, behold my
elect. He'll bring forth judgment. A
bruised wreath shall he not break. Smoking flax he won't quench
till he bring forth... Salvation just now. This day
is the scripture fulfilled. He could have chose Isaiah 49,
a light of the Gentiles, a covenant of the people. I'll give him
as a covenant. This day, he could have chosen
Isaiah 53. He was wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes were healed. He was led as a
sheep to the slaughter. As a sheep before her shearers
is done, so he opened not his mouth. But he was wounded for
our transgression. This day, he could have read that country. But he chose Isaiah 61. He chose Isaiah 61. Let's read
it. Don't turn back there, but this
is where he was reading. Verse 18, look at it. It says,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. Do you know what the name Christ means? Do you know what
the name Christ means? It means the anointed. That's
exactly what it means. There's only one. He said, the
Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of God is upon me. And he emphasized that. Christ
is the one who said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the
light. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the door, I am the bread,
I am the water, I am the light, I am life, I am He. The Spirit of God is upon me.
He hath anointed me. How many of these fellows today
and even some women you hear say, that we've received the
anointing, we have the anointing, my preaching is the anointing.
The minute you hear somebody say that, mark them off as a
false prophet. Christ said, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. He's the Christ. He said in Romans
1, He's declared to be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness. Without controversy, Paul wrote
to Timothy, it's the mystery of godliness, God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, meaning that the Holy
Spirit bore witness of Him. Christ came to bear witness of
the Father, didn't He? But the Father and the Holy Spirit
both bear witness of Him. And the Word bear witness of
Him, because He's the only mediator between God and men. He's the
only Savior. He's the only way to God. He's
the only one we pray to. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We've got to
come to Him, not Mary, not Saint this, Saint that. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the prophet, the high priest. He's the king. He's the mediator. He's the intercessor. He's the
way, the truth, the life. He's all. He said, I am he, this day. The whole book is written of
me, Christ said. This day is all of this fulfilled. Here I am. Wouldn't you have loved to hear
him say that? I wish somebody would hear it right now. I heard
it. I did. I keep saying I wish somebody
would hear it. I did. Now look at this. He said, He hath sent me, first
time, first time, He sent me to preach the gospel. What does that mean about this? Huh? What does that say about this?
We can't hardly get a crowd. Oh man. This is life. The gospel. Go into all the world
and preach the gospel. He that believeth what? The gospel. He that heareth the gospel and
believeth on me hath life and is baptized. It's not an option. He that heareth the gospel and
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Acts chapter 2 says
every single person that heard the word and believed the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ gladly received it. Oh, this is the
most wonderful news we've ever heard. Christ came to save sinners
and they all said, And Peter said, repent and be baptized. Every one of you confessing the
Lord Jesus Christ. Calling on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Be baptized. They ran down front and said,
let me in there. Let me in that pool. Let me confess
Christ. We've heard. What a privilege to hear this.
What a blessing. What a high honor. What a heavenly
calling. What a privilege. Christ is hung
on the cross. Well, that's embarrassing to
get in that... Amen. Denies me, our
Lord said. Doesn't confess me. I won't confess you before the
angels in heaven. Oh, Lord! Tell me, is it not true? When
somebody confesses Christ, is it not one of the sweetest, most
wonderful things you witnessed? And do you not every time say,
I'd like to get in there again? Let me confess in tune. Some
of you did that years ago. The Lord gave us a little revival
in the midst of the year. May He give us another one. But
some of you did that. Some were confessing Him. Some
of you just showed up and said, Me too! Huh? Me too! I don't want to be left
to ask. I've heard His voice. I've heard
the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's music to my
ears. Ain't tired of it? Tell me again,
again, again, again. Preach the gospel. He said, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me to preach the gospel. What is the gospel? It ain't
a what? It ain't a creed. It ain't a
doctrine. It ain't man's works. It ain't
man's will. It ain't man's choice. It ain't
man's decision. It ain't man's baptism. It's
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's what He did on Calvary's
tree. It's why He came. Why did He come? To put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. It can't be put away any other
way than by Him. Not by some silly decision we
make. Well, I've decided to let the blood of Jesus Christ be
effectual for my soul. That's blessed for me. The high priest of old went into
that holy place and God would have stuck him dead if it all
wasn't done just right according to pattern. And He went into
that holy of holies with the blood of a lamb, without spot
and without blemish. And He had names on His shoulder
plate. Not the world, His people. And
on His breast plate. And He went in to make that atonement
for them. Not try to make an atonement,
to make an atonement for the people of God, for Israel. And
He went in there. And God said, when I see the
blood, He didn't take anything but blood, precious blood. And the people of God that knew
something about it were standing outside waiting, hoping, praying,
Lord accept the blood. Accept the blood. And he went
in and he made that atonement. He had bells and pomegranates.
Wouldn't you like for me to preach another hour on all that? Bells
and pomegranates. They could hear that bell ringing.
He's living. He's alive. They hear it and
he opened that. He come out of that veil, come
out of that eastern gate with a smile on his face. God accepted. And the people let out a cheer. It wasn't up to them. It wasn't up to them, was it,
Kelly? They didn't all say out there, well, if we decide to
let that blood save us, it will. Oh, what would God have done?
Kill them all. This gospel is not about man,
it's about Jesus Christ. This gospel is who He is, what
He did, who He did it for, why He did it, and where He is now. You read the article by my pastor.
We're not going to back down on this. We're not going to tone
it down. Not going to cut the corners.
This is the issue. Who gets the glory? Came to preach
the gospel to the poor. Who's going to hear the gospel?
The very first thing our Lord said in being blessed was this.
The very first thing He said, blessed are the poor in spirit. Spirit. Meaning, there's nobody
in here that's really been poor that you didn't have anything.
Now, honestly, my parents were real poor, raised in the Depression,
but they still had food and they had a rain man. You understand
me? They still had a place over their
head. Poor is blind Bartimaeus. Poor is a man they put out on
the curb and he doesn't have anything. He's blind, he's a
beggar, and if he gets anything, somebody's going to have to give
it to him. A handout. That's us. That's us by nature. We have nothing. We have no righteousness.
We have no goodness. We have no understanding. We
don't have ears. We don't have eyes. We can't do anything. Salvation
is by grace. It's a gift. It's a handout. Not for you to accept, but for
Him to bestow. He said, I've come to preach
the gospel to the poor. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, I've come to call the poor. I've come to call sinners. I've come to call those who say,
I will not get to heaven. I will not get to God. I will
not be saved unless you save me. unless you do it all, unless
you provide it all. That means, poor, I have nothing
at all. I need it all, and you're going
to have to give. You've got it all, and if I get it, you have
to give it to me. Am I sounding like
Donnie Bell? I used to, you know, This is life. That's why we do
this. That's why the Lord told Isaiah,
get up in the high mountain, lift your voice. Why? There's
a bunch of dead sinners out there. Cry unto them. This gospel, this
is not just... Brother John Chapman told the
people at Bethel Baptist Church, he said, I'm not coming down
here just to have a Sunday service. We're coming down here to preach
the gospel. We're going to get the gospel out. Christ is coming soon. This is urgent. Don't here just
meet on Sunday. Come to hear words of life. Hopefully
somebody will be waking from the dead. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
preaching. Is this important? I keep emphasizing
it. This is what He did. Says he sent me to heal the broken
hearted. Now everybody gets broken hearted
over something. That professional tennis player,
you know, was in a car wreck and she said she was broken hearted
over what happened. Yeah, she's afraid of getting
sued. I don't mean to be cynical, and
maybe she is, but that's not the broken heart that our Lord's
speaking of. Our Lord said, this is what the
Lord won't despise. This is the thing the Lord gives. This is the thing the Lord looks
to. To Him it is a broken and contrite heart. And tremble at
that, my word. Broken hearted over sin. Sin. This is the issue God has with
us. All of sin. Here's what David said, and this
is the... This is the heart's cry of every
true son of God that's heard the gospel preached. Have mercy
upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according
unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge
my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. Against
Thee and Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight.
Because you're going to be justified when you speak, and you'll be
clear if you judge me. I was shaped in iniquity, and
in sin did my mother conceive me. You desire truth in the inward
parts. In the hidden part, you'll make
me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I'll
be clean. Wash me, and I'll be whiter than
snow. Make me to hear joy. What's that,
David? The gospel. That's the broken heart that
the Lord came to heal. You know, the same gospel that
breaks our heart, the same word that breaks our heart is the
same word that heals it. The Lord gave that story of the
good Samaritan. He said he was in a ditch. Robbers,
thieves and robbers had taken him. He's wounded and bruised,
lying in a ditch. And a Pharisee came by. He can't
help him. He can't help him. Another fellow
came by and he didn't help him. But the Good Samaritan, that's
a half-breed, half-Jew, half-Gentile. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Half God, half man. No, all God, all man. He came
by. What did he do? He says he poured
in oil and wine. He had open wounds, wounds and
bruises and putrefied sores that had not been mollified with ointment
or bound up. I got this cut on my head, you know, and
Mandy, we washed it, washed the wound, and she put some of that
soothing ointment on it, you know, and put a bandage on it
to heal it up, and it's healing fast. This gospel is the balm
of Gilead. When you're wounded, when you're
bruised, when you're bruised, mangled by the fall, the scripture
says, you'll hear this gospel, the balm of Gilead, and say,
oh, that feels good to my wounded, broken spirit. When you hear the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, righteousness to cover your wounds and your
bruises, oh, that feels good. And let the healing begin. And you'll need it from then
on. And I told the people, I brought
this in Crow, so I know you're there. Is this good again? Gospel's always good news. Always
good news. That's how you know if you've
heard it. But I told the people there, you know, the Lord actually,
though literally comes to poor people. He came to poor people.
They didn't, they came to the real literal poor in that country. It says they heard him blaspheme.
They didn't have anything. Oh, he had everything. The rich
and increased with goods, they don't need it. Don't need it. Got too many distractions. Got
too much to do. We have time for God. Now, he won't
have time for you someday. You call and he'll laugh. But down in Mexico, those people
down in Mexico, they have a dirt floor and a grass hut. And God took the gospel out of
the European continent. Took it from Germany, where Martin
Luther was. It spread all over. Took it from
Asia, where all those seven churches. Took it away. It's not there
anymore. Maybe a little. There's a little bit. He's not left himself.
Took it down through Switzerland, Calvin, Knox, England, Scotland,
all those great preachers and took it away. Moved it over to
this country. As you were moving it here. A
little here a bit, a little bit. Took it down to Yucatan Peninsula,
Mexico. Poor, dirt poor people. Church after church after church
after church. Poor. That's why I say maybe the best
thing to happen to this nation is for it to collapse. Where
we don't have anything. Where all of us will meet in
this building right here and say, preacher, tell me the good
news. I can't find anything, anything
to give me any hope anywhere. We've lost everything. But you
tell me about him who has everything that I can't lose. and the broken
hearted. You know, the only thing that
will really heal your broken heart over the loss of a loved
one, over the loss of whatever, over trials and tribulations
and persecutions and afflictions and trouble and enmity you feel
and persecution, the only thing that will really heal your broken
heart over these things is for a man to stand up and say, by
God reigneth. The Lord, to hear a man say over
and over again, I did this, it's the Lord. To hear him say one
more time, we know, we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, who are the called according to His
purpose. And if God be for us, everything's
for us. He did it. Someday we'll see. And we'll know as we've been
known. But until then, this is the thing that heals our broken
heart. The worst lose that can come.
This is how Job took courage, didn't he? It's the Lord. This
is how David, when he lost everyone and everything, all his wives
and children, he thought they were all dead. And it says, he
encouraged himself in the Lord his God. The gospel to the broken heart.
He sent me to preach deliverance to the captives. The Jews said,
we're not in captivity to anybody. You know, when I grew up in the
60s and 70s, you know, free. Free. We're a free generation. Liberated generation. Look at
us. We're all doing our own thing.
Yeah. You're doing exactly what your
peers are doing. You look like and act like and walk like and
do every single thing everybody else is doing. Oh, I'm a free
expression. No, you're not. The only man that ever lived
on this planet that was absolutely free from everything and anyone
and anything was Jesus Christ. Free. Free from the law, free. The Lord has come to set, make
us free. Free from the law, free from
the penalty of it, free from sin. He said, sin shall not have
dominion over you. It won't. And someday from the
presence of it. But you and I say, like Paul
said, I see a law warring in my members, bringing me into
captivity. The Lord came to set sinners
free from the captivity of Satan who has all men and women captive
at his will. People scoff at that. Satan's
laughing. They're his pawns. They're doing
what God allows him to let them do. He has all these things like
lures and attractions. He can just move them anywhere
he wants to. Just dangle a carrot in their paw. Easy, easy picking. The first woman was no match
for Satan. No match. And all men, when Christ
said, I have come, are stronger than he. Here's our man. Stronger than he. We'll bind
that strong man and take his goods from him. That's his people.
Take the lead captivity. Take captivity from him. What's
he do with them, John? Set them free? No, they become
his captives. Are you with me? Somebody leaves
captivity captive. Barnard used to say, the only
free man is the Lord's servant. Like my old dog Abner, I took
him home to be mine. And from that day forward, I
taught him to stay by my side. And I did it with Elish for the
longest time. Elish, Elish, Elish, don't run ahead of me, you'll
get in trouble, you'll kill yourself. Don't run with the pack, you'll
get killed. Stay by me! All his days, stay by me! But that's captivity. It's salvation! I don't want the Lord to let
me loose, do you? Old Abner, I've told you that
story. Every time, you know, he'd see a rabbit, an old dog-trace
rabbit, he'd go, phew! Haven't you learned anything?
And I'd go get him and bring him where? Right by my side. Told you! Oh, Lord, leave captivity. Make me your captain. Captivate
me with you. I get captivated by these things.
My eye, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, it holds
me captive. Turn my eyes! We sing that song,
Turn Mine Eyes Upon Jesus. Turn us again, O Lord. Anybody
want to hear that Wednesday? Come to set the captive free. Come to give recovery of sight
to the blind. A couple more minutes? There was a time when I couldn't
see God in anything. Most people can't. The fool has
said there is no God. Walk out in this glorious creation
and say, it just happened, it was all a little mud turtle and
it all became this. Aren't we clever people? Fools,
utter fools. There was a time when I didn't
see God in anything. I see Him in everything, I'm sure. Everything. The clouds are dust at His feet.
The sun comes up, that's Him. The trees, He is the tree of
righteousness, healing His way. The leaves rustle, they're clapping
their hands. The thunder rolls, that's His voice. Water, that's
Him. Bread, that's Him. Honey, that's
Him. The rock, that's Him. Don't you? There was a time when
you didn't see that. See, I've come to give sight
to the blind. You didn't see yourself. You didn't see yourself
for what you are. You didn't see the need of Christ. You didn't see the beauty in
Him that you should desire. Oh, you do now, don't you? It's why you can't hold people
captive, so to speak, to this preaching unless they are absolutely
captivated by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm here to tell you,
you can't hold people under this gospel unless they become enamored
with Jesus Christ. And then they say, don't give
me anything else but Him. Ephraim said, what have I to
do anymore with idols? I've heard Him and I've seen
Him. Just keep preaching it. I'll
be right here. And he said, I've come to set
at liberty them that are bruised. Set at liberty. Over in Jeremiah
30 it says, thy wound is incurable. He said, thy bruise is incurable
and thy wound is grievous. If you'll read the rest of the
chapter. Somebody has, they're just nodding
their heads. He said, I'm going to restore your health unto thee. I'm going to heal thee of thy
wounds. I'm the good Samaritan, our Lord
said. I am here to bind up the wounds,
to bruise us. Set at liberty. And to preach,
verse 19, the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the
book. the law. What's that? What's that? Have you ever applied for a job?
Everyone in here has applied for a job at some point. And
the place that you're applying for this position, they accept
applications, don't You send in your application, don't you? And you have your resume. And
you want it to sound good, don't you? And you list. What do you
list? Well, I was a failure over here.
And I was a failure over here. And I lost this job. They fired
me over here. No, no, no. Oh, look at these things that
I did. And I did this. And I implemented this thing.
And this is because of me. And they have all these applications,
you know. Who's it up to? Who's it up to? Huh? You. Both of you marched in that office
and said, Mr. President, I've decided to let
you hire me. You need me. You know, this company
can't be a company without me. What would he do? He'd laugh. He that sits in the heavens does
too. But now, He is accepting all
applications for mercy. All who apply for mercy, for
grace, for pardon from sin are accepted. Everyone who says,
in my hands, no price I bring. Everyone who lists their failures.
I have no accomplishments. I've done nothing but sin. I
am no good. I have no righteousness. I have
no goodness. I have no faith. I have nothing
to commend me to God. Oh God, would you accept me?
Would you accept me? Because of Jesus Christ, my righteousness. Because of Jesus Christ, his
shed blood shed for the remission of sin. You say that Christ came
into this world to save sinners and I am the chief. Would you
please accept me in the beloved? Do you know what? This is the
year of, this is the acceptable year. Right now. Today. Today
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. If you apply for mercy,
you have God's word on it. And that closes the book on that.
There weren't many people who heard it. Then he started preaching
election. Oh, that made him a fighting
man. It didn't matter. It's true. Oh, boy. Oh, my. This day is a scripture fulfilled.
May the Lord use it. Okay. Brother John,