Back to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7. Luke,
chapter 7. Let's read three verses again. Luke, chapter 7. Let's read verse 17. It said, of Christ went forth throughout
all Judea, throughout all the region round about. Verse 19, John, calling unto
him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou
he that should come? Or look we for another? And verse 23, Christ concludes,
Blessed, blessed. is he or whosoever shall not
be offended in me." All right, religion today is such a ridiculous sideshow,
isn't it? Really, it is. Any thinking person
can turn on the TV and radio and hear and see what's going
on in the name of God would scoff at it, wouldn't it? And that's what's happening.
I don't blame people for the most part if what they see in religion today
is an absolute, it's because of the utter fools
that are in the pulpit. A person has to be an absolute
fool to follow these fools. And there's a, really, there's
an increasing, I hear it, I listen to what's being said, I listen
to the commentaries that read the paper, there's an increasing agnosticism, or that is, People,
they're not believing anything. They sure don't believe this
old Bible stuff. It's increasing in the world
today. Peter said that. Listen to me.
Peter said in 2 Peter 3, he said, in the last days, scoffers would
come. saying, where's the promise of
His coming? Everything's continuing like it is. The more religion
makes over the year 2000, the more foolish they're going to
appear to be when Christ doesn't come. And He's not coming. He's
not going to come January 1st, 2000. He said, how do you know that? Because
everybody's going to be looking for Him. He said, at a time when you think
not. Well, but the fact of the matter is, listen to me, the
fact of the matter is, the whole controversy is surrounding this
Jesus who lived years ago. Even today, you know, back then
there was a controversy, the scripture says, and there was
a division among the people because of him. And today, all of this controversy,
some believe and some don't. Some are absolutely fanatic,
some true believers. The controversy is surrounding
him. That's what that verse 17, you
see where it says, rumor? We've always thought, you know,
we use the word rumor in a bad sense, or that Did you hear the
rumor? Meaning it's not so. Rumor means
a story that's told. It's purported. It's reported.
A story that's told. The rumors surrounding this one
named Jesus were many and fantastic. The rumors, that is the stories
told. Now listen to me. If they're
true, if what this book is saying is
true, and I believe it is, if what is written in this book
of what Christ said and what He did is true, then this world's in real trouble. I mean, it's not smile, God loves
you. It's in big trouble. If it's not true, if it's not
true who He was and what He said and what He did, if it's not
true, everyone in this room, we're the biggest fool. We're absolute fools for being
here like this. It's your day off, isn't it? We're absolute fools. Wow, this
is Super Bowl Sunday. Goodness gracious. Super Bowl
Sunday. But if it's true, We understand
the rumors when I, if it's true, listen, listen, listen to this.
Acts 17, 31 says it. Listen, listen, every eye or
ear, listen to this word. God, listen to this, God had
the point of the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man, that Jesus that lived 2,000 years ago. It's all
the whole world. before him and after him going
to be judged by him. Listen, him whom God hath ordained,
whereof God hath given assurance, or that is, God hath given proof
to all men who he was and what he said and what he did was true
because God raised him from the dead. That's what Paul said in
Acts 17. So if it's true, listen to me,
every person in this room, young and old, every person in this
room is going to be judged according to what they believe about this
Jesus and whether or not they confessed
him and followed him and loved him. That's what it says. Did you catch this more than
an introduction? This is it. I mean, the whole
thing surrounds this person who came, you see. Rumors have it. See, that's what the Holy Spirit,
it's a rumor that, yeah, it's a rumor. But if it's true now,
if it's true, who this was that came, he said, I'm God. He said,
I'm God. That's what he's saying. No,
he's not, he's just a Jew. Well, if he's just another man
then, goodness gracious, let's go golfing. It's still warm enough. If he's not who he said he was,
if none of this happened, if this is just religious fables,
my soul, what are we doing in here? We're a bunch of ignorant,
uneducated fools, carrying on about a dead fellow, but if it's true. You see what I'm saying? Rumors have it. Well, is it true? Well, look at, our Lord said,
blessed, in the last verse there, He said, blessed, blessed is
he or whosoever, not attended in me, or blessed is he or whosoever
that believeth on me. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed,
supremely blessed, going to be happy, are happy, and going to
be, yes. And blessed, highly favored,
highly honored. Just like He said to Mary, the
angels that came, highly favored among women. Blessed, blessed,
blessed. You believe. Flesh and blood
didn't reveal it to you. Flesh fought against it. But
God gave you this gift and revealed it. Blessed, blessed, blessed
is everyone who is not offended, who takes what the world says
with a grain of salt and takes what He said as being absolute
truth. See, do you see? Do you see that? This is not just a religious
service. I mean, it all surrounds Him. If He came
and He is who He says He was, and He did what He said He did,
and He is now where this book says He is, That means he's coming
again like this book says he is. And this book says we're
all going to be adjudged accordingly. Are you sitting? Well, Luke chapter 7 and verse
11. Verse 11, it says there, a big crowd of people went with
him, much people. He came into the city and much
people, large crowds followed him wherever he went. And same
thing today, as much people surrounding Jesus today, you know. Well, you know what the old sayings,
some old sayings are pretty good. I believe the old sayings that
are pretty good came from Scripture somewhere. You can count on it. If there's any good in it, it
came from Scripture. Right? Well, the old saying is
you can fool some of the people all the time. There's some people
you can just fool all the time. You can fool all the people some
of the time. But you can't fool. all the people
all the time. That's what the old saying says.
Maybe Christ said, My sheep, they'll hear my voice. A stranger
they won't follow. And a goat won't follow a shepherd. Well, all the people at one time
would follow Christ. See, He attracted a large crowd.
Rumors surrounding Him were reported in every place. That's what this
said. This rumor about him raising this fellow from the dead. This
is what happened. Verses 12 and 13. When he came
near to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man.
Now, people, this is not like one of these healing services,
one of these Pentecostal charismatics things that go on. No, no, no. There wasn't a bunch of people
lined up in wheelchairs. No. This was a funeral possession
going by. today, if there was a funeral
procession going by, cars, you know, and they all had their
lights on, and there was a hearse, and there was a coffin in it,
and it was closed and had been for two days. That fellow's dead. I mean, he's
dead. Right? We're getting ready to
take him out and stick his body in the ground and cover him.
He's dead. And that would be like today,
our Lord standing on the side of the road and stopping the
procession, and going back and opening the
door of the hearse, and opening the lid, and saying, Get up. Now, this is what happened. It's not arthritis. This is dead. You understand
that? And all these hucksters and these,
you know, charlatans out there that claim to be healing and
stuff? Let them stop a procession. Let's
see it. Right? This fellow is dead. That's what, this is not the
only incident. It's not the only time it's happened,
you see. One of the ladies and I love to consider
how that every time there was a funeral, in Christ's presence,
the person lived. Because you can't stay dead in
the presence of life. You can go back and read. Every
time our Lord attended a funeral, that person got up, Well, here's the fact of the
matter is, and the mystery surrounding it. In verse 14, our Lord, oh,
what a picture of the gospel this is. And verse 12, it says
that as a dead man, the only son of his mother, she was a
widow and much people. And verse 13, when the Lord saw
her, she had a dead son. I believe she was a believer.
Because the Lord saw her. And he had compassion on her. And he said unto her, weep not. And he came. And he touched that coffin. And they that bear him stood
still, and he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. This. Rumors have. Rumors have. I thought about what wonder what
that young man said. What will you reckon he said?
I don't know. I know who saw. He might have said. The salvations
of the Lord. I don't know what he said, but
you see, this actually happened. He raised a dead man. And it says in verse 16, fear
came on all. Fear came on all. And they glorified
God. And saying, a great prophet has
risen among us. Oh, you don't know the half of
it. A great prophet? You don't know the half of it.
This is that prophet of whom Moses spake. That prophet of
whom the angels spake. And they said this, that God
has visited the people. Yeah, He did, didn't He? God
manifest in the flesh. That God. Do you notice that
that God has visited the people? And this rumor of Him went forth
throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about. Now let me ask you something,
all right? Let me ask you an honest question. If you had heard this rumor,
if you'd lived back then and heard this rumor and you didn't that a man raised a dead person
from the grave. Would you believe? Come on now, be honest. Let's
see one honest person shake their head. No. No. If you hadn't seen this, if you
hadn't been there, no. Would you believe it now, you
heard? No. John the Baptizer. Not the Baptist. Doesn't mean he was a Baptist.
John the Baptizer. We gave him that. He wasn't a
Baptist. He's a Baptizer. And he wasn't
a Methodist or a Calvinist for that matter. John was a believer.
John, the baptizer, who lived to tell of Christ. He lived to
tell of Christ. He prophesied of the Christ who
was to come. He was sure that Jesus was the
Christ. He was sure. He lived his life
anticipating. You see, he lived thirty years
anticipating the coming Christ. And earlier on, you remember,
in studying this, earlier on, John saw Christ come and said,
there He is. Behold, the Lamb of God. He said, I saw in bare record
that this is the Son of God. But now he's sitting in a jail
cell, looking at four walls. And he
hears the rumors, what's all going on out there. And he seems, now he seems a
little unsure, doesn't he? Is that the impression you get
here, that John's a little unsure? And verse 19 says, John, calling
two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, or asking him,
Art thou he that should come? Or look we for another? Are you
the one? Is this true? Are you the Christ? Are you the Holy One? Are you
the Son of God? Are you God? Are you the woman see? Are you
that prophet? Are you the Lord who shall suddenly
come to his temple, of whom the Scriptures speak? Does that give
you that impression that John's a little unsure here? Well, I
don't think John's unsure here. No, I've preached it that way
before. You know, like, I've preached a lot of things
before that things too wonderful for me. I've darkened counsel with words
without knowledge many times. I don't think John doubted that
Jesus was Christ. In fact, I'm certain he wasn't
in doubt. John was not asking this for
his own benefit. And I'm not preaching this message
right now to convince myself, because I'm in doubt and I need
convincing. He said, no, John called to his
disciples. They were with him. Why were
they with him? What are they doing with him? Huh? You remember before he had
two disciples and he said, hey, right there goes Christ. follow
him, and they quit following. They heard John preach, and they
followed Christ. Well, these fellows, evidently, they weren't
following Christ yet. You get to see that? All right,
he called two of his disciples, and he says he sent them to Jesus.
Sent them to Jesus. Same. Verse 19. John said, You go to him. You
go to Jesus. And you ask him, ask him this. Aren't thou he that should come? Or look we for another? Go, you
go ask him. All right? They said, OK, we'll
go. Go now. Don't tarry. Go. Go to him. Ask him. So they did. And verse 20 says they came to
him. Verse 20, when the men were come
to him, they came to Christ. All right, they came to Jesus
the Christ. They said, John the Baptist has
sent us to you saying, are thou he that should come? And we look
for another. And they waited on an answer.
John told us to come to you. And now we're asking, are you
he that should come? Or are we looking for another? And it says in the space of 60
minutes, in that same hour, look at this. In that same hour, verse
21, it says, he cured many of infirmities. and plagues and
evil spirits, and unto many blind, he gave sight. In that same hour, within a space
of sixty minutes, these disciples of John saw people cured of infirmities,
plagues, evil spirits, blind people, see? You see, they heard the rumor,
didn't they? They heard the rumor, and now they saw for themselves. They had heard with the hearing
of the ear, and now it says they saw. What did they see? His glory, His power, His authority. Job, you remember that? Job said
the same thing. He said, I've heard of you with the hearing of the ear,
but now mine eyes see it there. And there's not a person in this
room who hadn't heard this message, this preaching many times. And like I said, I'm not preaching
this because I'm in doubt, because I need to convince myself.
And what I'm telling you this morning, rumor has it that God visited
this planet. I'll tell you what to do. You go to Him. Yeah, ask Him. Are you God? Go to Him. And it says, They heard
the rumors of him, and now they saw for themselves. They saw
Him, His power and His glory. And look at this. What happened? They saw all this. His power,
His glory. Then verse 22, Jesus answering
said unto them, they heard Him speak. To whom? Not through John. He looked at them, Joe, and He
said, Now. He looked at them. They heard
His voice. And He said, Now, go your way. And you tell John what things
you've seen and heard. How that the blind see, the lame
walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised
in the forehead. Now, you go and you tell John
what you've seen and heard. If you have not, if you hadn't
been there, let me ask you again. If you had been there, if you
had not been there, if you had not been there and seen the Lord
raise this man, would you believe? Probably not. I'll tell you how you believe.
You want me to tell you how you believe that the Lord raises
the dead? if you had been sitting in that
coffin. And He raised you. Barbara, who believed more than
anybody that this Jesus is the Christ? That dead boy. He got up and said, But now I'm
alive. Who believed better than Bartimaeus,
huh, that this is the Christ? Why? He said, I was blind. I mean, I was blind, born blind. But now I see. Huh? Who believed better than
that man who was born deaf and dumb, who couldn't hear a thing,
who his parents for years had been talking to him? And the preacher would get up
and preach, and it was like... The priest would get up and read
the Word, and that young man would sit there, Then one day he heard this strength
of mine. Who better to believe than the
one whose death I hear? Who better to believe than the
one whose tongue was tied in knots, mouth full of cursing and bitterness? Then all of a sudden, one day,
he sees, he hears, and he's singing rock of ages and loving it. Whereas once before, you know,
he's nothing but rock and roll, you know. And now this tongue
is engaged in something different. Now, who better to believe than
that young fellow? I had nothing to do with it. I tell you, he's a liar. And he raises the dead. He delivers sons to their mothers. I'm talking prodigal, fist-raising,
rebellious, no-good Husky and swine delivers them
back to their mama to get their boys back. Boys that wouldn't have anything
to do with their mother are dead in trespasses. Yeah. Rumor has it that he raises the dead. Well,
people, I'm here to tell you that I have seen the dead raised.
I've seen the dead raised. Wouldn't it, God? You know, I
see some dead people in here right now. Yes, I do. Blind. I can look in any particular
direction for fear not to protect the innocent and protect the
guilty. But there are dead people in
here right now. They're blind, they're deaf, they're lame, their
feet can't walk anyway but meanness. I'm telling you. That was him. I sat in the pew
and looked and looked and looked and saw nothing. And heard and
heard and heard and heard nothing. And my feet couldn't wait to
get out from under the pew and get out and hit the rope jack. Blessed is he. You see, rumor has it, you see,
rumor has it that God walked this planet. Rumor has it that
He died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand.
Rumor has it He's coming back to receive His people. That's
what the story says. And in the process He heals and
raises the dead and so forth. That's what rumor says. You believe that? You've been dead, you do. Let
me give an illustration here of this, and maybe this will
bring it home, and I'll close with this. But he said, Blessed is he who will
not be offended. And the way I started this whole
message off was that this world, you know, is becoming increasingly skeptical
and all that. Religion is to blame. Pulpit's
to blame. The whole trouble's up here in
the pew. That men aren't preaching God's Word. That's the power
of God and salvation. And they're translating it away
and perverting it. And the Word of God, the truth,
like Isaiah 53, Nine says, Truth is falling in the street it cannot
enter. Very little truth being preached.
Very little power of God going on. And they have to drum up all these
things. Well, it's true. He's true. See, I met that woman right here
years ago. I'm not offended in her. Well,
there she is. Right. You believe she's alive.
I do. I met her years ago. and fell
in love with her. I married her. Yeah, I confessed
her before everybody. God's gift, he that findeth a
wife obtaineth favor. Blessed, happy, happy is the
man. I found a good wife. God gave her to me. He caused
me to fall in love with her. And I married her. I confessed
her before everybody in a ceremony. I didn't just live with her.
had a love of his commitment. And I confessed her before all.
And now I live with her. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of her. I go
home and look forward to it. Going home, I live with her.
I love her. Right? See what I'm saying? I'm not ashamed of her. I'm not
offended. I tell everybody, I'm married.
You're married? a wonderful woman. And in spite of, you know, what
all is going on in religion today, Christ, he lives. I know because I met him one
time. God in mercy and grace caused me to meet him. We spoke
and fell in love with him. I confessed public ceremony. I'm not ashamed. I'm not offended. And while I'm ashamed, offended,
and all this stuff that goes on in his name today, it's blasphemous,
his holy name, yet I'm not, you know, in spite of all the agnostics
and the atheists and so forth, I'm not ashamed to admit, to
believe that Jesus Christ is real. Why? He lives. I live with him. I abide with him. I hear his
voice. I'm in love with him. I'm in
love with a ghost. You say, I don't believe that.
Of course you don't. You're dead. You may have never
met him. But I tell you what, you go ask
him. You go ask him. Go ask him, are you real? Go. And I pray to God that you'll
come back and tell us, hey! I heard. The poor have the gospel. All
right. Brother Joe, you got a hymn picked out? Number 252. 252. 252.