Would you turn back to Luke chapter
14? My personal testimony. That's what I want to do with
the Lord's help. I want to give my personal testimony. Now, I have heard a lot of testimonies
which I would rather have not heard. People get up and give
their quote personal testimonies and what they generally do is
they talk about how wicked they used to be to let you know how
cool they used to be and how good they are now. You know,
how the Lord really got a hold of me and did something for me
and now look at me now. And they usually spice things
up and enhance things and you're not really getting the truth.
You've heard those kinds of testimonies, and I would rather not hear them
at all. As a matter of fact, most personal
testimonies I've ever heard, oh, please don't let me have
to suffer through that again. Personal testimonies. But I'm always interested in
the personal testimony of someone God has saved. Now, I am interested in that. And I hope, by the grace of God,
that I'm going to be giving a personal testimony as one that God has
saved. Now, there's not going to be
much biographical information in this. My personal testimony
is found in verse 4, the latter part of the verse, he took him,
he healed him, and he let him go. That's my personal testimony. There's not going to be a lot
of biographical information in this personal testimony, but
what caught my attention was verse two, and behold, there
was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. Dropsy is edema. It's caused
by renal failure, it's caused by heart disease, it's caused
by liver disease. I know I'm not a doctor and I'm
speaking ignorantly. I looked it up on Google and
that's the information I got. But this man was very swollen. If you looked at him, you saw
someone who looked like he was filled with water. Swollen. Now, several years ago, 1988
to be exact, I had severe edema. I became very swollen. I remember
in one weekend, I gained 22 pounds. One weekend. And I thought, man,
did I eat that much? What's wrong with me? And I was
having headaches. And I said, Lynn, do I look funny? She said,
you need to go to the doctor. I was swollen. had edema. I had the dropsy and I wondered
if this man looked like I look like. What it ended up being
was I had nephrotic syndrome and it was causing kidney problems
and I was swelling. Now I know this, the disease
of sin certainly causes swelling, doesn't it? Overinflated views
of self. Now what did the Lord do for
this man? We read in verse four that he took him healed him, and he let him go. Now that word took is a very
strong word. It's he apprehended him. He arrested him. He stopped him. I don't know that this man was
even looking for healing, but the Lord took him, and he healed
him, and he let him go. He set him free. He released
him. Now, here is my testimony. He took me. He apprehended me. He arrested me. Enwrapped in thick Egyptian night
and fond of darkness more than light, madly I ran the sinful
race, secure without a hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran, almighty love, arrest that man. I felt the arrows of distress
and found I had no hiding place. He took me. He arrested me. And he healed me. The scripture
says by his stripes you were healed. That's my testimony. He healed me. He healed me by
stripes. And then he let me go. And that
word is literally, he set him free. He set him at liberty. He released him. Now I know that
this testimony I'm giving is the same testimony that every
believer has. This rings true with you if God
has saved you. You know he took you. You know
he healed you. And you know he set you free. Paul said that God had saved
him to make him a pattern to them which should hereafter believe
on him to life everlasting. So Paul's the pattern. He says
that. Paul's the pattern. If you're
saved, you're going to have the same testimony that Paul the
Apostle had. Now, I don't mean that you're
going to see the bright light while you're on a horse and it
knocks you down, although you do see a bright light. You do
see a bright light. And I'm not saying you're going
to have Ananias come to you, but you had a preacher come to
you and bring you the gospel. And you heard the same thing
he did. Now, listen to these words in 1 Timothy chapter 1,
verses 15 and 16. He said, this is a faithful saint.
and it's worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Not I used to be, of whom I am
the chief. Verse 16 says, how be it for
this cause, I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might
show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
believe on him to life everlasting. Now you'll follow this pattern.
You'll say the same thing Paul did. Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Is that your testimony? And verse
one of our text in Luke chapter 14, and it came to pass as he
went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread
on the Sabbath day that they watched him. Now this man obviously
had no good motive in having the Lord over. He was watching
him. He was a chief Pharisee and he was watching the Lord,
looking to catch some inconsistency in the Lord, catch something
he would say that he could condemn him. And we've all had people
watch us like that. looking for something. Problem
is, if someone's looking for something with us, they can find
it, can't they? They can find it. If you're looking for some
inconsistency in me to criticize me, you won't have a hard time
finding one. Well, it's contrary to love,
though, isn't it? This man wanted to catch Christ in his words,
but here is the thing. With Christ, there wasn't anything
to catch. Everything he said and everything he did was perfect. He never sinned. He could say to these fellas,
which of you convinces me of sin? It can't be done, but they
were watching. Now the word Pharisee means a
separated one. It's the religion of the natural
man. Something that I do separates me from other people. Something
I do. This man was the chief of the
Pharisees, and Pharisees are always watching people to see
if they keep the law. If you or I are people who are
always watching others, that's a dead giveaway. comparing myself
to others, darkening their light so mine might shine a little
brighter. Pharisees are always concerned about the conduct of
others. And what is so funny about that
is they are blind to their own. Thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judges. For when thou judgest another,
you do the same thing. But we need to hear that always,
don't we? Verse two, and behold, there
was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. He had
severe edema. It's something that you could
see. You didn't have any doubt that something was wrong with
this man. And Jesus answering, verse three, spake unto the lawyers
and the Pharisees. They didn't say anything, but
he could read their hearts. He could read their minds. You know,
I love thinking about that. The Lord can read my mind. He
can read your mind. He reads every thought going
through there. Now, he sees the bad thoughts,
no doubt, but you know what else he sees? He sees you in Christ
and he sees the good thoughts. He sees the high views you have
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, it doesn't terrify
me. He reads my mind. I mean, he just does. I know
it. He sees all the bad stuff. He sees what he's put there,
too. He reads my mind. And he read these fellas' mind,
and he knew what they were thinking. They were criticizing him. They
were thinking, is he going to heal this man on the Sabbath
day? I think it's interesting that most of the Lord's miracles
took place on the Sabbath day, purposely. He knew how this would
irritate the Pharisees. They had no understanding of
the Sabbath in the first place. They'd made a work out of not
working. That's what they'd done. The command of the Sabbath is
to not work. And the first time the word is mentioned is in Genesis
chapter 2, where after God had finished his work of creation,
and behold, it was very good, and he rested. Wasn't anything
left to do. He wasn't tired. It's just that
his work was finished. Rest is a response to the finished
work. Hebrews chapter 4. This is an
example of what faith is. Faith is called resting, isn't
it? In the scriptures. Come unto me and I'll give you
rest. He that's entered into his rest has ceased from his
own works. Have you ever done that? Have
you ever ceased from your own works, known or no good anyway,
and rested in Christ only? When he said, it is finished,
it was finished. You rest. Oh, what a blessed
thing it is to rest, to cease from, have you ever ceased from
your own works as God did from his in response to the work of
Christ? But they were being critical
of the Lord. They wanted to see if he would heal on the Sabbath
day. And Jesus answering, spake unto
the lawyers and Pharisees saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? And they held their peace. They didn't know how to answer
the question. Obviously, they thought probably it wasn't, but
they were before divine wisdom. They were before God. They didn't
know it, but they didn't know how to answer this. They held
their peace. Verse four, and he took him,
and he healed him, and he let him go. Now, was this swollen
man seeking divine healing? I don't know. But I know this,
the scripture says the Lord seized him. He apprehended him. He took him. He laid hold upon him. The Lord
laid hold upon him. Now what's the point? Salvation is of the Lord. If
you're saved, God did more than initiate it. You didn't have
anything to do with it. He apprehended you. He arrested
you. You were totally satisfied without
him. You didn't have this hole in
your heart, hungering for God all your life, the way people
present it. You didn't care anything about
him, and he apprehended you. You might have been religious,
but you were satisfied in your religion, and he apprehended
you. You might have been living in
base sin, and he apprehended you. This is the way salvation
begins. It begins with him arresting
you, arresting you. Now, what's the point? Salvation
is of the Lord. That's the point. You see, if
I want to argue that point, I prove two things that are true about
myself. Number one, I don't believe in grace. And number two, I don't
care whether Christ gets the glory or not. If I would want
to argue that point, no, my salvation begins here. He arrested me. Is that your testimony? He apprehended
me. He apprehended me before time
began. When he took full responsibility
for my salvation as my surety. He said to the father, what Judah
said to Jacob, I will be surety for him. I don't know of one
scripture that touches my heart more than this scripture. I will be surety for him. Of mine hand shalt thou require
of him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. And that's what Christ said is
my surety. He took me before time began
and said, I will be surety for him. David put it this way, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant. ordered in all things and sure,
and this is all my salvation. There's David's testimony. This
is all my salvation. Though he make it not to grow. He took me with him on the cross. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ. When Christ was crucified, I
was too. When Christ bore the wrath of
God, I did too. He made payment for my sins. He took me with Him on the cross. When He ascended back to glory,
I went there with Him. You say, how can you say that
if I'm standing there looking at you? You're saying you're
in heaven? Yes, I'm saying I'm in heaven
because as I'm united to Him, I'm there right now in the person
of my Savior. united to him. When I was dead
in sins with no desire for him, he arrested me. He apprehended
me. He took me. I didn't care anything
about him, but he cared about me. John chapter 6 verse 44 says,
no man can come to me. I couldn't come to him, but God
the Father apprehended me and drew me to his son. No man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him, invincibly,
irresistibly draw him. Now is that your testimony? He apprehended me. He took me. That's the first
point of my testimony. He took me. What all happened,
it doesn't really matter. He took me. What did you experience? That doesn't matter either. He
took me. He took me. By sovereign grace,
he took me. And then next, it says in verse
4, he took him and he healed him. He took him and he healed
him. He healed me. Now what all does
that mean, he healed me? Now I remember when I had this
edema. At first, for a long time, they
didn't really find out what was wrong, and they were treating
me for nephrotic syndrome. And what really was wrong is
I had Hodgkin's disease, which was causing it. And they didn't
treat me for Hodgkin's disease. But as soon as they treated me
for that Hodgkin's disease, the swelling left. It was gone. They'd
been treating the wrong thing. Now, Christ Jesus the Lord healed
me. He took care of what was causing
the problem. 1 Peter 2, as a matter of fact, turn there with me.
1 Peter chapter 2. I hope the Lord gives me the
grace to say this the way it ought to be said. I say that every time I preach. Verse 24, who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. Boy, that's mysterious, isn't
it? My sins actually came into his body. Who his own self, and remember
this, sin can't be two places at once. If my sin was in him,
I don't bear it anymore. Thank God for that. His sins
were not placed on us, or on him, but in him. Now, don't ask me what all that
means, because I don't know. That's just mysterious. But just
believe what the Bible says. He was made sin. Go on reading. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, You know the Bible says reckon
yourself to be dead indeed to sin. Now why would God say that? Because you are dead to sin.
Sin has nothing to say to you. Christ put it away. What about
when I commit sin? Christ put it away. You're dead to sin. That sin
has nothing to say to you. You're dead to it. You're dead. What does the law have to say
to a dead man? Nothing. He's dead. That we being dead
to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Now note, it does not say by
whose stripes you are healed. It says by whose stripes you
were. The moment he died, I was healed. Hebrews chapter 10, I want you
to listen real carefully. Verse nine, then said he, lo,
I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
first covenant that he may establish the second grace. By the witch
will, by God's will, we are sanctified, holy, sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. When Christ died, God said, Todd
Nybert, is holy. He's healed. He's without sin. By whose stripes you were healed. Go on reading. Verse 11, and
every high priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat
down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And this is precious to me, and
here's why. If him healing me was realized
by me becoming less sinful and holier than I used to be,
the symptoms of the disease have been severely weakened. If that
is what would tell me I'm being healed, you know what I think?
I've not been healed. I wouldn't have any confidence
in myself. Just looking at myself, I couldn't believe that I've
been healed. If my evidence of being healed by him is having
all the symptoms weakened and almost gone and they're still
there. They're still there. And if that's
the case, I don't believe I've been healed. Not if I'm honest.
Now I can pretend Most people do that. They pretend and make
up some kind of thing that makes them think, well, I must be saved,
blah, blah, blah, you know. But in reality, if my healing
has something to do with me not being sinful anymore or being
less sinful, then I can't say I've been healed. Not in honesty. However, if my healing really
did take place outside of my personal subjective experience.
If I was healed when he died, if I was healed by what Christ
did, I'm healed. Now here's my personal testimony.
He took me and he healed me. by whose stripes you were healed. This song describes it better
than I can. This is my testimony. What can
wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing came for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is that flow. That
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Now that's my testimony. He took
me and he healed me. When he said it is finished,
what was? My healing. My healing. My healing took place outside
of anything I feel and I believe that. That's what faith is. This
is what I'm relying on. This is who I'm relying on. He
healed me. Now somebody that says, well,
he's healed me because I feel that I'm holy and less sinful. Well, I'm sorry. Congratulations. That's not my experience, and
it's not the experience of any true believer. I've already quoted
what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.15 when he said, Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. And so
you don't follow the pattern, if that's the case. I got bad
news. You may think that, but you don't
follow the pattern. Not the pattern of Paul. He healed me. You know, this word is used with
regard to the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. He said to her, oh woman, great
is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt, and her daughter
was made whole. That's the same word. Her daughter
was made whole from that very hour. Now, when he bare our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should
live unto righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed, you
were made whole. And the only way you can lay
hold of that is by faith. You can't lay hold of that by
experience. You can only lay hold of that by faith. Made whole by the blood of Christ. Let him go, release him, set
him at liberty. He loosed him. Woman, thou art
loosed from thy infirmities. Oh, he set him free. I think
of Barabbas. laying in that dungeon, waiting
to be crucified, having no idea what was getting ready to take
place. He hears the guards coming to get him. They open up the
door and they say, you've been set free. Somebody took your
place. He was set free. He was healed. And the scripture says, Thirdly, here's my testimony. He took me. He healed me. Luke chapter 14. And he let him
go. He let him go. And that word is
literally, he released him. He set him free. He set him in
liberty. Oh, the free, if the Lord set
you, you're the Lord's free man. You've been set free. Now, what is involved in this
thing of being set free, being liberated, being released? Barabbas
experienced it when they opened up that door, release him and
let him go. He was set free, he was loosed. What is involved in this thing
of a believer being set free? Now, I've said this a lot, so
I'm not going to say something you haven't already heard, but
I hope it comes in power to you. To be set free is to not owe
anything. And to be set free is to really
get to do what you want to do. That's what it is to be set free,
is to have all your debts paid, and you really do get to do what
you want to do. You're not doing what you have
to do, what you're afraid not to do. Oh, I'm afraid if I don't
go to church, I'll probably pull out and wreck my car and probably
lose money in the stock market. You know, if I don't do all that
kind of bondage. And that's all that is, is bondage.
And most people's religion is a religion that makes them very
unhappy. It's people doing things they
really don't want to do and not getting to do what they really
want to do. But that's not the way it is in the gospel. Every
believer is set free. Loose him and let him go. Now, I don't have any debts. Christ paid them all. We don't sing, Jesus paid a half
the other half I owe. No. We sing, Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. He paid it all. And when he saves
somebody, you know what he does? He gives them a new want to.
Somebody said, if I thought all my debts were paid completely
and there's nothing I had to do, why? I've sinned all I want. I sin a whole lot more than I
want to. I want to be like Christ. That's my want to. I want to
be like my Redeemer. That's what I really want to
do. I want to be found in him. I
want to be faithful to him. That's what I want to do. Turn with me for a moment to
Mark chapter 10. You know, Bill Clark, the old
missionary, I call him, he's been dead, I guess, 15 or 20
years. Some of you knew him, loved him dearly. But he made
a statement many times. He said, here is Christianity. Trust Christ and do what you
want to. People are afraid of that. Now, if that makes you go out
and think, well, I can live in immorality, and your want to
has never been changed. You never trusted Christ. You
never trusted Christ. When you trust Christ, your want
to is to follow him. Now look at Mark 10, verse 46. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side, begging, blind as a bat. poor a beggar. What a horrible condition to
be in. Now I don't know how old Bartimaeus
was, but I don't have any doubt that
he was led by the hand on the Sabbath day into the synagogue
and heard the scripture read. And I have no doubt that at one
point He read or heard read where the Messiah would heal the eyes
of the blind and give them sight. Don't you know that that meant
something very special to him? Now I'd read it and I'd think,
well, that's good. But what about when a blind man heard it? He
said, oh, if Messiah ever comes my way, I'm going to cry out. And he sat there by that highwayside
begging, and he heard all the news. He'd hear people coming
back and forth. And one time he heard of Jesus
of Nazareth, who had given sight to one who was born blind. And
he knew in his heart at that time, that's the Messiah. Only
Messiah could do that. And at that time, I believe he
became a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He might have heard
other people slamming him. He wouldn't do it. Oh, he knew. How could one who gives sight
to the blind be a bad person? He believed him to be the Messiah. And he thought, oh, if he ever
comes my way, how I'm gonna cry out to him. Verse 47, and when
he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, He began to cry out
and say, Jesus, the son of David, have mercy on me. I wish I could
say that the way Bartimaeus said it. Can you imagine what he must
have said? This is my time. This is my time. Jesus of Nazareth passing. Jesus,
the son of David, have mercy on me. And verse 48, many charged
him that he should hold his peace. But it didn't stop him. He cried
the more a great deal. Thou son of David, have mercy
on me. If you know the only place of
mercy is in Christ, it won't shut you up. You will continue
to cry just like he did. And Jesus stood still. Do you know that that is the
one cry that'll stop him dead in his tracks? You can talk about
how you're going to get your life straightened out and all
the good things you're going to do and change and all that kind
of stuff. He's going to keep going. He's not paying any attention
to it. But if you ever, if I ever cry for mercy, that will stop
him in his tracks every time. He's always quick to hear the
cry for mercy. Oh, I need his mercy. And he commanded him to be called.
And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort,
rise, he calleth thee. And he Casting away his garment. Now there's such imagery to that. He huddled up in that filthy
garment, but when he comes to Christ, that security blanket,
whatever it was, it represents his righteousness. If you ever
come to Christ, first thing you're going to do is cast away your
own righteousness. You know it can't stand before
his holiness. You're going to see it for what
it is, and you're going to get rid of it. he casting away his
garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? You know, that's what I want
him to do something. What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him,
Go thy way. You've been set free. Go thy
way. Thy faith made thee whole. Go
thy way. And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus in the way. What was his way? following Jesus in the way. You see, God changed his want
to and his great desire was to follow Jesus in the way. Now this is my testimony and
this is the testimony of every believer here. If God has saved
you, this is what you experienced. He apprehended you. He healed
you. and he set you free. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you took us, that you healed
us, and that you set us free. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that even at this time, you would take some poor sinner,
cause them to see that by the stripes of your son, you healed
them and set them free in the liberty the joy there is in following
thy dear son. Oh, Lord, cause our greatest
freedom to be to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow
thy son. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name I pray. Amen. Saud Rakim, number 272, will
stand and sing.