I'd like to draw your attention
please to Luke's gospel chapter 7 and a passage from verse 19
where we read the following Luke 7 19. And John calling under
him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying art thou
he that should come or look we for another When the men would
come unto him, they said, John Baptist have sent us unto thee,
saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured
many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits,
and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering
said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things he
have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
to the poor the gospel is preached, and blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. Then Jesus answered and said
unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen
and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor
the gospel is preached. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. This is a startling response
to John Baptist's question. When Baptist sends his disciples
to Christ to discover whether this one of whom he has heard
reports is truly the Messiah who was prophesied that should
come. And the response he receives
could not be more in the affirmative. Christ affirms that he is the
one for whom John waited and of whom John prophesied by returning
a report of the many wondrous works which Christ performed
and of the preaching of the gospel which attended such works. What a report he sends. Go your
way and tell John what things ye have seen and heard with your
own eyes and own ears. Tells these disciples, these
messengers, you've seen it, you've come, you've seen. Go and tell
John how the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised. and to the poor the gospel is
preached. What a report, a good report. It's easy in our day and age,
especially if we're used to reading the scriptures and I've read
these accounts, read the gospels many times, it's easy to read
such things and not to think too much of them. We know that
Christ healed the sick. We know he made the blind to
see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. It's easy to read these
things and not be greatly moved by them. But ponder just what
a report this is. Think if you heard of somebody
today who was doing such things. Consider how you would feel if
you heard that these things were realities, that there was one
coming to your town, into your country, who was causing the
blind to see and the lame to walk, who healed lepers, who
made the deaf hear. How startled you would be if
you truly discover that there was one who brought the dead
to life. The dead to life. These things would make the papers. They'd make the news. The media
today makes a fuss of what is very, very little. there was
one who claimed to do some light healing, some conjuring trick,
they get very excited about it. if there truly was one who caused
many blind to see and many lame to walk and truly did bring the
dead to life and this was confirmed by many who looked on and could
say yes that man was dead there was no life in him we saw he
died And Jesus came and touched him as he did to this widow's
son in Nain in a few verses earlier. He came and he touched him and
he said unto him arise and we saw him with our own eyes. He
sat up and began to speak. It really happened. If that was
the report today it would make a sensation in the papers. And yet this is what really happened.
This was the report which the disciples of John, having seen
and heard with their own eyes and their own ears, took back
to him. Yes, this man heals the sick. He brings the dead to life. Good news. A good report. A startling report. But of course there are those
today, particularly in various circles of so-called Christianity,
there are those today who claim to perform miracles. And there
are those today who claim to heal the sick. There are those
churches and those large meetings you may attend, which are advertised
as healing meetings. And they make much of the ability
of the speaker, whosoever he or she may be, to be able to
heal the sick. And there are various reports
of those who have had various illnesses, who've gone to such
meetings and gone away healed. The authenticity of such reports
is questionable, but that does not mean to say that all are
false. There are those who would claim
that they have seen people who have been to such meetings and
they are healed. And they like to make a lot of
these things. Well, where's the difference?
I draw your attention to the last of those phrases in this
verse, which Jesus sends back in the report. Because without
this, the former could be just sensation. Yes, he tells the
disciples to go their way and to tell John what they seen and
heard. And they truly seen these things. He says how the blind
see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised. And finally, to tell John that
to the poor the gospel is preached. To the poor the gospel is preached. Now you might say that that doesn't
seem quite as miraculous, quite as dramatic as some of the former
reports. To hear that blind men now see
and that lepers are cleansed is a remarkable report. And to
hear that the dead are truly brought to life is quite astonishing. For if someone told you that
in Honiton, or in London, or wherever, that there is one who
is preaching the gospel. If someone sent a report to you
and said that to the poor the gospel is preached, would you
be so excited? Would that be so astonishing?
To many they'd think nothing of that. Tell the world that
a dead man's been brought to life and their curiosity is raised. Tell them that the gospel is
preached and they will yawn and walk away. And yet there is no
more vital phrase and no more vital report in this account
than the very fact that to the poor the gospel is preached. because it is that vital statement
at the end of this account which validates the miracles which
went before. It is the fact that Christ came
preaching the gospel which brought the power to make the blind see,
the deaf hear, lepers to be cleansed, and the dead to be raised again. The power to do those things
lay in the Gospel. In the truth and the reality
of the Gospel. In what Christ would do in the
Gospel. In laying down his life for sinners
and rising again from the dead having taken away their sins. And it is the preaching of that
account. It is the preaching of the report
of what he would do, and of what he has done, which brings the
power to heal the sick. Without the preaching of the
gospel, these reports would be just sensation. Others claim
to perform miracles. Various religions claim various
miracles in their history. But there's nothing so powerful
as the preaching of the gospel. And what proved to John that
Christ truly was the one for whom he looked was not simply
the miracles, but was the fact that Christ preached the gospel.
which brought those miracles to pass. Yes, you may hear of
churches where there are healing meetings and signs and wonders,
but do they preach the gospel? For where there's no gospel,
there's no power, and their miracles are of nothing worth. They can
heal, or claim to heal, people of temporary illnesses and ailments
in this world, but one of their soul for all eternity. For when
Christ came healing, he didn't just heal those who had temporary
illnesses, he didn't just touch a blind man and cause him to
see in this world, but he brought a greater healing. which lasted
not merely for 50 years until your deathbed, but a healing
which would last for all time and all eternity. A healing of
the soul, a healing of those who are spiritually blind, of
those who are spiritually deaf, of those who by nature are lepers,
are defiled, are unclean from head to toe, a healing of those
who are sinners, a washing clean of those who are corrupt, dead
sinners from the day they were born, a bringing to life of those
who by nature are dead, Those who in their father Adam turned
from God, rebelled against their maker and fell into spiritual
death and corruption. Those who are dead in trespasses
and sins. Those who when they pass from
time into eternity would go into everlasting judgment. would go
into hellfire because of the condemnation that their own sins
have brought upon them. The dead, the dead like you and
like me, those who either are dead or were dead. Here is one
who came to bring the dead to life. Now there were those whom
he touched, those whom he spake unto in his earthly ministry. Those who were physically dead
at the time in which he walked in this world. Like this son
of the widow in name, there were those whom he actually spake
unto and they actually physically rose from the dead before the
eyes of the people who looked on. But these miracles of bringing
the dead to life, and of making the blind to see, and of making
the lame to walk, at that time, physical miracles were merely
figures of that which Christ would do in the gospel for the
souls of those who would believe on Him. They were merely figures,
outward figures to show unto the people that yes, he was the
one with the power to heal all who are sick. Not just all who
are sick with temporary sicknesses, but those who have spiritual
sickness. Not just those who have fallen
dead in this world physically but those who are dead spiritually,
who need life not just now but for eternity. Those like you
and me. This is the one whom John sent
his disciples unto. And this is the one who sent
back this message. And what made his message wonderful
was not just the miracles he did, but was because of that
gospel, which demonstrated that these miracles, which these disciples
had seen and heard, were merely figures of greater miracles,
which the gospel, as it was preached, would bring to pass. That miracle
of truly bringing the dead, the dead in trespasses and sins,
the dead into everlasting life. Have you experienced such a miracle? Has Jesus come unto you and touched
you? Has he come unto you and said
unto you, young man, young woman, I say unto you, arise. Have you, one who was dead, been
raised unto life? Or are you yet in your sins? There's only one way in which
you will feel his touch. And there's only one way in which
you will hear his voice crying unto you, arise! And that's if
you, as one who is poor, have the gospel preached unto
you. Preached, preached in power,
preached through the spirit of God, preached in truth, preached. Many claim miracles, but where
is the miracle which is seen in the preaching of the gospel?
Where is their gospel? Where's the emphasis on the gospel?
All is of nothing worth unless that which brings the power to
heal forever attends it. Go to your healing meeting, get
healed of your ailments now. But if your soul is left in the
dust, if your soul remains dead, what good has it done you? These people have merely toyed
with you. They've led you astray. And I want to tell you of one
who will never lead you astray. One who will never mock you.
One who won't simply deal with your temporary troubles, but
one who will deal with your real problem. That of your soul. that of the darkness and the
death in your own heart, that of your sins and your corruptions,
that of your guilt, that which keeps you in the grave until
such time as you hear the voice of this one who came to the poor
and preached the gospel and brought the dead to life. Yes, the gospel
is preached unto the poor. And because the gospel was preached
to the poor, the blind saw, the lame walked, the lepers were
cleansed, the deaf heard and the dead were raised unto life. The gospel. There is no power
on earth like the gospel. Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Not miracles, not signs and wonders,
not much emotion or much commotion in a meeting. not intellectual
persuasion, not reason, not the cooing and wooing of choirs and
carefully orchestrated music. Not even is it said that the
Spirit is the power of God under salvation. We hear many people
speak of the Spirit and your need of the Spirit. And yes,
you need the Spirit. But the Spirit will never come
and will never bring his power to bear upon your soul, except
he brings the gospel. For the gospel is the power of
God under salvation. And the gospel to the poor is
preached. It's preached. You will never
hear the Gospel and you will never know its power unless you
hear that Gospel preached. The Gospel is not studied, it's
not worked out, it's not reasoned. The Gospel is not learnt in Bible
college, it's not learnt under a course, whether that course
is called an Alpha course or any other. whatever truths may
be taught in such places. That is not how God says he saves. God declares that he is pleased
by the preaching of the gospel to save them that believe. The
preaching. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians,
for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. To them that perish preaching,
and the preaching of the cross, and the preaching of the gospel
is foolishness. It's foolishness. These who are
wise, these who know better, these who know better in the
church say to us, you'll never get people to listen to preaching
in this day and age. Preaching's had its day. People
don't want preaching. That's not the way. We live in
a high-tech age. People's attention span is short. You need to get them in the first
two minutes. You need something audio, something
visual. Preaching will not work. It's
for a past generation. You need to adapt and to move
with the times. People don't like to be talked
down to. They don't like to be preached
at. They get offended. People like to work things out
for themselves. If you present it to them in
such a way that they can go and they can read and they can compare
and they can search it out for themselves, they'll be accepting
of that. But they don't like for someone
else to come and to declare something to them. They don't like to be
preached that. They don't like to be told what
they are. You can't tell people that they're
dead. You can't tell people that they're
foolish. You can't tell people that they're
sinners. And you certainly can't in this
day and age tell them of hell. You'll drive them all away. That's nonsense, that will never
work. The preaching of the cross. is
to them that perish foolishness. Well it is, isn't it? Would you
want to listen to somebody telling you that you're nothing? Would
you want to listen to somebody telling you that there's nothing
that you can do to save yourself? Would you want to listen to somebody
telling you that you're in darkness? We don't. We hate it. We want to be told that we're
great. We want to be told that we're strong, not that we're
weak. We want to be told that we're something, not that we're
nothing. We want to be told there's something
we can do, not that there's nothing that we can do. Preaching to them that perish
is foolishness. And yet Paul says that it is
written that I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Where will your disputing get
you? You may be right that the people
won't listen. Well that's to their folly if
they don't. And that's to your folly if you
don't. For except you listen you'll
remain dead. And except you listen to this
message preached, you will remain lost. There's no power unto salvation
except in the preaching of the gospel. Take your wisdom, run
with your wisdom, build with your wisdom, but you'll die with
your wisdom too. There's no power except in the
gospel. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Have not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The foolishness
of preaching. Christ came preaching. He came
preaching the Gospel. He came preaching the Gospel
of the Kingdom. He came to the poor and preached
the Gospel to them. And it's that preaching of that
Gospel which brought the poor to life. It's that preaching
of that Gospel which brought the dead to life. For the Jews
require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block.
Unto the Greeks foolishness. Is it a stumbling block to you?
Is it foolishness to you? Perhaps it is. You'll not know
life except in the preaching of this Gospel. For unto them
which are called, both Jews and Greeks, the preaching of this
Gospel is neither a stumbling block nor is it foolishness,
but it is Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. This gospel, this gospel preach
makes known Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. The preaching of the gospel is
Christ who is the power of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men. And the weakness of God, that
which men despise, that which men ridicule, that which men
say is for a former day, your weak preaching, your ineffective
preaching, your old-fashioned preaching, this, what men consider
weak, the weakness of God, is stronger than men. It's stronger than any man. It's stronger than the message
of any man. It's wiser than the wisdom of
any man. Their wisdom, their words may
fill the ears and the heads of many, but they won't save one. They'll leave them all blind,
all deaf, and all dead. And if you're ever to have your
blind eyes made to see, and your deaf ears made to hear, and your
dead heart to be brought to life, then you need what men call the
foolishness of God. And you need what men call the
weakness of God, which is stronger than any man. You need the power
of God and the wisdom of God, you need Christ and you need
to hear Christ in the preaching of the gospel. For the dead were
raised when the poor had the gospel preached unto them. It brings an offence. Christ says at the end of this
passage, and blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Why did he say that? Because
when he went about preaching the gospel, many were offended. Yes, he healed the sick. Yes,
the people saw miracles. And the masses, the populace,
will flock after miracles that they can see with their own eyes
and hear with their own ears. But when they got to hearing
that gospel, which always attended Christ's miracles, that's where
the offence lay. They didn't mind the miracles,
but they didn't want the gospel. For the gospel told them that
they who thought they could see were actually blind. And they
who thought that they could walk were actually lame. And they
who thought they were clean, unlike those lepers whom Christ
healed, were actually just the same. In their hearts, they too
were lepers. Spiritually, they were unclean
from head to toe. And those who thought they could
hear were actually deaf. And those who thought that they
were living were actually more dead than the one whom Christ
raised to life. And when he preached that to
them, they were offended. And yet that preaching was the
only means by which they would ever be brought to life. The
gospel might be offensive to you, and you might not like to
have to hear it preached. You might want to go away and
study it out yourself. And the only reason you want
to do that is because your pride gets in the way. You won't have
someone come to you and declare the truth to you. You'd rather
go to an alpha course. and you'd rather go home and
read the books for yourself and figure it out and compare it
with all the other religions and then dispense it. Because
you're wiser and you're smarter. But that will leave you dead.
Yes, the gospel will offend you. For the message I've got in the
gospel is that you, like all men, are blind. you're lame,
you're deaf, you're a leper, and you're dead, and you're poor. And you need the gospel that
declares of one who is wise, who is strong, who is rich, and
in whom is life. One for whom John sought, one
to whom John looked, one who came into this darkness evil
world to heal the sick and to bring the dead to life, one who
by a mere touch of his hand or one word from his lips could
bring dead sinners unto life, one who can take away the sins
and the corruptions. of those to whom he speaks in
his gospel. If you hear Christ's words in
his gospel, if you hear of him who laid down his life upon the
cross, that he might take away the sins and the corruptions
of his people, that he might wash those who are lepers clean,
that He might make those who are dead to live, those like
you, dead sinners. If you hear His voice declaring
unto you, I laid down my life for sinners, and I rose again
when I had taken away their sins, that I might bring them everlasting
life. Look unto me, all ye ends of
the world, and live. Should you hear his voice in
that gospel, should you hear him say unto you in that gospel,
look unto me, live, arise from the dead, then all the offense
will fall to the side. All your objections, all your
disputings, all your complainings will fall to the ground. All
your vaunted pride in your own abilities, your own wisdom will
crumble and you'll know that you are by nature blind. You are lame, you are dead, you
are poor. and only in Christ will you live. Well where are the deaf today? Where are the blind? Where are
the lame? Where are the poor to whom we
may preach this gospel? Have you ears for this gospel?
Are you poor or are you rich? Not physically, I'm not talking
about how much money you've got in your bank account, I'm talking
about your soul. Are you poor? Have you got nothing? Or do you
think that you can come before God and there's some strength,
some wisdom you've got, some ability you've got? Do you think
you can stand when you die, that you can stand before God and
you've got some claim on eternity? Do you think there's some good
in you? Do you yet think there's something that God will look
on and say, yes, you're okay. You're not the worst, you can
enter. Well, I've news for you, that's
not the case. You've got nothing. And the only
way that you will ever gain anything is when you come to see that
you've got nothing, that you're dead. You need to know you're
poor. Where are the poor today? Should
the Spirit of God show you should he teach you what you really
are and your need of one to come who can say unto you arise where
the power is in his words not yours then you'll hear the gospel
preached and then you will be one who is blessed For whosoever
shall not be offended in me, Christ says, is blessed. For those who are not offended
are the poor, the blind, the lame, the deaf, the lepers, and
the dead, who hear his gospel preached, and hear and believe,
and believe and see the one who died for them. The one who after
he has spoken these words to John, sometime later, was taken
up by those who were offended in him. Was taken up by the Pharisees
and the lawyers who rejected the counsel of God against themselves. Rejected the testimony of John
concerning Christ. Rejected the testimony of Christ
concerning himself. And in anger, and in their wisdom,
They declared that his message in the gospel was foolishness.
And they said, away with this man. We will not have this man
to reign over us. Crucify him. Crucify him. And they took him. And they gave
him up into the hands of the Roman soldiers. And they had
the Romans nail him to a tree. And the Romans nailed Christ
by the hands and by the feet to a cross. And he raised him
up in the day, in the midday sun, and left him up there for
hours to die. And when they did, something
outside of their control happened. For they thought they were executing
a criminal. falsely so-called. They thought
they were just getting away with a troubler in Israel but when
they did that God did something greater. God took his son and
God looked upon his son as a sacrifice for his people. And God took
the sins of all the poor, all the blind, all the lame, all
the lepers, all the deaf, and all the dead, whom He would save
throughout all time, throughout all history. He took all their
corruptions, all their leprosy, all their sin, and He laid it
upon His Son. And he took his sword of justice.
And he looked upon his son as the blind, as the deaf, as the
lame, as the leper, as the dead. And he slew him. And having slain
him, he judged all the iniquity of all his people. And when his
blood was shed, they were washed clean. And on the third day,
having laid in the grave, This one to whom John sought, this
one to whom John looked, this one of whom John inquired, are
you he who should come? Rose from the dead victorious,
rose from the dead with everlasting life, rose from the dead having
conquered all sin, all death and all corruption. rose from
the dead having conquered satan the evil one and all his claim
on all god's people he rose from the dead a mighty conqueror a
mighty victor and the gospel was preached to the poor, and
the Gospel was proven, and the Gospel validated all that Christ
had ever done, and all that Christ continues to do to this day. For in this day, as the Gospel
is preached, the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life. Have you heard
this gospel preached? Are you poor? Are you blind? Are you lame? Are you deaf? Are you a leper? Are you dead? Has he come unto you and said,
arise, arise? Amen.