Tongredan 67, please.
Six, five, seven.
Now comes to my heart one sweet string.
A glad and a joyous refrain.
I sing it again and again, sweet peace.
The gift of God's love.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven, please.
Now comes to my heart one sweet refrain.
A glad and a joyous refrain.
I sing it again and again, sweet peace.
The gift of God's love.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult
to
sing a little bit, but all the good
singers now need to sing out and keep
it going and all the rest of it,
you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a little bit, but
all the good singers now need to sing
out and keep it going and all the
rest of it, you know all about it.
Six, five, seven.
It's difficult to sing a
little bit, but all the good singers now
need to sing out and keep it going
and all the rest of it, you know
all about it.
Six, five,
seven.
It's difficult to
sing a little bit, but all the good
singers now need to sing out and keep
it going and all the rest of it,
you know all about it.
I should have said that we have another
Bible reading ready for you for next week.
These are just a few that I brought
along to remind you of them.
And what we're going to do, we're going
to go through the book of the Liberation
and pick out some of those outstanding messages
that we preached in those days.
We're at Luke's Gospel, chapter four please.
Luke's Gospel at the fourth chapter.
You remember last week we were following the
footsteps of Christ in the wilderness of Judea.
And we saw him going through that terrible
trial of temptation from the old tempter himself.
And we learned that Jesus suffered being tempted.
Now he's leading the wilderness here, verse thirteen.
And when the devil had ended all the
temptation, he departed from him for a season,
and that ought to be marked.
Now Jesus returned in the power of the
Spirit into Galilee, I like that bit.
Because you know he was raised of the
Spirit into the wilderness.
You remember when he was baptized with Jordan,
that the Holy Ghost descended upon him as
a dove.
And it was the Spirit that led him
into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil.
Well he came through that whole battle of
temptation without even a scratch.
And he's still filled with the Holy Ghost
as he heads for Galilee.
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit
into Galilee.
I think that's worth noting that if you
go to Matthew, chapter four, you'll find something
else to put beside it.
Verse eleven.
Then the devil did with him, and, behold,
angels came and ministered unto him.
Now when Jesus had heard that John was
cast into prison, he departed into Galilee.
So that immediately that the temptation was over,
John was arrested soon after that.
Was cast into prison, and Jesus returned to
Galilee filled with the Holy Ghost.
But you can see that circumstances played a
part in his departure into Galilee.
I think that's all worth noting.
I think there are one or two things
more worth noting.
Let's go to John's Gospel, and we're at
the first chapter.
John's Gospel, chapter one.
When we're following the footsteps of Christ, we
have to put the four Gospels into one
to get the steps properly.
And we remember John saying in verse thirty
-three, And I knew him not, but he
that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me.
And we remember that he was sent from
God, there was a man sent from God.
And God said unto him, Upon whom thou
shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on
him, the same as he which baptizes with
the Holy Ghost.
And you remember John saw this when Jesus
was baptized with water.
And after that John testified and said, I
saw.
And bear record that this is the Son
of God.
Again the next day after John stood, and
two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus
as he walked, he says, Behold the man
of God.
I think that's a great mark for the
picture, isn't it?
When he takes his disciples and those who
sit at his feet, and he directs them
to behold the Lamb of God.
It's a great thrill for me when I
can fix and focus your attention upon the
Lord Jesus.
Now here's what happened then.
Verse 37, And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus.
You know John is decreasing here and the
Lord is increasing and that's exactly what John
wanted.
Then Jesus turned and saw them following and
said unto them, What speak ye?
They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to
say being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou?
I think that's a great question, but you
have to watch what way you say it.
Say, I'm teaching a lot of preachers out
at the school that we have.
And I've been trying to pump it into
them that no matter what text you take,
you should turn it over in your mind
and in your heart and in your soul
until you get where the source should be
laid.
Where you put the emphasis is what I
say to them.
See how you can say this question, where
dwellest thou?
And that's pathetic, that's what that is.
When you ask the Son of God, where
dwellest thou?
That's pathetic.
Supposing you should say, where dwellest thou?
That's specific, isn't it?
You want to know where dwellest.
I don't think they said it like that
at all.
I think they said, where dwellest thou?
They weren't taken up with the building, you
know, or the place, or the party.
They were taken up with a person.
That's dynamic.
There's nothing pathetic about that.
It's dynamic.
They were taken up with him.
John had focused their attention upon the right
one.
And we're going to look for a moment
just now at the first name of the
Master.
You see, before he went really back to
Galilee, this took place.
And there was the conversion and the call
of some of these men.
And you'll have to learn to differentiate between
the conversion and the call.
Some of the critics come to me and
talk about Peter.
One told me, said to me, well there's
a contradiction here.
It says in John 1 that Andrew found
Peter and brought him to Jesus.
And it says in Matthew chapter 4 that
the Lord Jesus called Peter at the Sea
of Galilee.
And they said, you can't see the difference.
Is that your trouble?
I said, you know, the day that Andrew
brought Peter to Jesus, he got saved that
day.
That's his conversion.
But a few years later or weeks later,
it may well have been, the Lord called
him into full-time service.
Leave your books and come on with me.
There's surely that difference.
There's a difference between the conversion and the
call.
I can take you to the spot where
I was converted.
And it was some years later when the
Lord called me to leave all and follow
Him.
That's different, sure.
Well, we're going to look at these men,
the first men that were with the Master.
And we're going to look at their call
and we're going to look at their conversion.
And then we're going to go back to
Galilee with him.
And we're going to look at the first
message the Master preached.
That is the first recorded message.
And the whole recording is here.
Wasn't made on a recording machine like what
we have.
How long the Holy Ghost inspired John with
every word that the Master spoke.
The whole message is there.
And we want to see the recording of
the message and then we want to see
the results.
Let's have a look at these first men.
It's quite clear this isn't it?
It says, verse 38, Then Jesus turned and
saw them following and said unto them, What
city?
And they said unto him, Rabbi, which is
to say, being interpreted, was to where dwellest
thou?
He said unto them, Come and see.
They came and saw where he dwelt.
That doesn't tell you where it was.
Was it the secret place of the Messiah?
Doesn't tell you where it was.
They came and saw where he dwelt and
abode with him that day.
For it was about the tenth hour.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon.
And they went with him and they abode
all day.
And I have a feeling that they abode
all night.
But it doesn't say anything about the night.
Because there's no real night where Jesus is.
There'll be no night in heaven.
Now one of the two which heard John
speak and followed him was Andrew.
But that's the first one we're going to
think about.
I think the other one was John himself,
the writer, because in his gospel he always
hides himself.
You know, they're always spoken.
If you don't pick them up and say
what you should say about them, you're in
trouble.
But here was the man who always hid
himself.
But he gives the other fellow all the
change he can.
He says one of the two which had
John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother.
And the word Andrew is a very wonderful
word, you know.
It means manly.
And I think you know of all the
disciples and all the apostles.
He certainly was one of the manly ones.
And this fellow had great courage.
Well if you had a big brother and
they called him Peter and he was like
Peter, it took a manly man to go
home and tell him.
It says that he first finds his own
brother Simon.
I think the way John writes this, he
covers up himself and he covers up what
he is doing.
Because I think he was home to find
his brother too.
He was home to find James and John
were brothers.
How could Andrew be confused?
He first, he says, he first found his
own brother.
The word first is there to direct us
if we just take what time.
He had no need to say that it
was only Andrew who was finding his brother.
It's very carefully done.
It's the mark of a very humble character.
We should learn from that.
It took a man with great courage to
go home, you know.
Because when you get saved, you know, home
is the most difficult place.
You could nearly tell the Queen or you
could nearly tell anybody but when you go
in through your own door, you know, and
take your shoes off there.
It's not as easy there.
But that's where Andrew headed for.
He went home.
And I can tell you this, it took
a manly man not only to go home
and say that he had given his life
to Jesus.
But it took a very manly man to
tell his brother all about this.
Because Peter was a difficult character, you know.
There wasn't any thought that we fell for
Peter.
I always think he was a big man.
Quick tempered, you know.
Cut the ear off you with a sword
in a minute.
You all said when he drew the sword
in the garden, he was either a very
clever swordsman or he was a very poor
one.
For if he meant to cut the fellow's
head off, he only cut his ear off.
But if he was only wanting to take
his ear off and leave his head alone,
it was a pretty good shot, wasn't it?
But he was a quick tempered character.
You know, Peter was one of those men
who would rush in where angels would fear
to turn.
There's a whole lot of us still living,
you know.
And we make more blunders than anybody else.
And at the same time, you know, while
he was quick and while he was ready
for anything, he was a weakling at heart.
When a weak girl spoke to him, he
nearly fainted once.
So you can see the character that Andrew
had to go home to.
And I'll tell you this.
Here's what he said when he went home,
verse 41.
He first found his own brother Simon.
And said unto him, we have found the
Messiah.
Now, I'll tell you, that's a mouthful, isn't
it?
He's a Fisherman, you know.
He's the wee brother of a big man.
And he's coming into the house and says,
listen, listen Simon.
We have found the Messiah.
I don't know, Bobby, a boss man would
have dared say it.
He was pretty sure about what he was
about, mind you.
When you go home and say to your
brother, I have found the Savior.
There must have been something taking place in
your heart.
I had two big brothers in with me
the other night, they're in the meeting now,
bless them.
And the big one said, you know, I
met the Lord, I could see him when
he was coming up the field.
I could see him on the cross.
I went into the barn and got down
on my knees.
And I went and said to my brother,
I've met the Savior.
Brother says, you know, I didn't care about
them things at all.
I think it's a man to go in
and tell his brother, isn't it?
If something has happened to you, will you
go and do that?
Now, what happened to him was just the
wee fella of this family.
He was a manly wee fella.
He says, listen Peter, I know you're a
big man.
We have found the Messiah.
It's a good man to do that.
But he went further than that, you know.
It says this, we have found the Messiah
which is being interpreted to Christ.
And he brought sin to Jesus.
Isn't that thrilling?
You know, Peter became the big man of
the party.
Oh, he's the man that preached on the
day of Pentecost.
I'll tell you who brought him to Jesus.
It was Andrew.
And if we had a lot more wee
manly Andrews in the church, we might have
a lot more of big burly Peters.
But we need the wee Andrews.
Don't be afraid to go home, you know.
And bring him to Jesus.
Now I want you to watch how these
men came to Jesus.
This man was brought.
This is what you call a personal worker,
isn't it?
Andrew became a personal worker.
You never see him preaching in this book.
I don't think he could do it.
I'll tell you how Andrew was brought.
Through Peter.
John the Baptist.
And behold.
Oh, some folks are saved through Peter, you
know.
Some were saved through personal workers.
These two boys came different roads.
Oh, you'd say different.
You'll find that out before we're through.
And then he took this.
And he brought him to Jesus.
You know, Peter is a tremendous character.
We went through the two epistles of Peter,
and we know a lot about them just
now.
You know, his name was Simon.
Of course he was a rough diamond.
Of course he was quick tempered.
Of course he was a rough man.
Of course he was a weakling.
Maybe he knew all this about himself.
I have a feeling he did.
You know, big men who make blunders at
times, in the quietness of their own heart
and soul, they know they're far too rash.
There are times in my life, away in
the back there somewhere, when I wished to
God I had been a dummy.
But I wasn't.
I think, you know, you might have said
it's all right, Andrew, I've been easy.
Go you and serve him, son.
Because if I'd have done to him and
given my life to him, you know, I'll
do something and I'll spoil a thing.
I think he might have been afraid to
go.
Oh, Andrew says, come on, Peter, come on.
I'm going to have a look at him
anyway.
And I'll tell you the moment he came,
watch it now very carefully.
Verse 42, and he brought him to Jesus.
And when Jesus beheld him, he said, thou
Simon, the son of Jonah, thou shalt be
called Cephas.
Which is the old Aramaic word for stone.
And the English word for stone is Peter.
He says, look, don't you be afraid because
you're so miserable.
I'll make you a stone.
I'll put back bone in you.
I'll tell you, you know, that's what the
Lord said to him.
He says, don't you worry, you know, I'll
make a new fellow out of you altogether.
Are you afraid to come to the Lord?
I'll tell you, the Lord will do things
for you.
Take a monitor.
Yes, you know, this is how Peter came.
It was a personal worker that brought him.
It says, verse 43, the day following, Jesus
would go forth into Galilee, this was to
tell you just before he went to Galilee,
and find Philip and say unto him, follow
me.
Did you get that?
Because I can tell you no preacher preached
to Philip.
And nobody bought him.
It seems there was nobody cared.
No preacher, no brother, no friend, no personal
worker.
Christ came and got them.
When we all fail, Jesus will get them.
I'll tell you a wee thing.
This is the first man who was asked
into full-time service.
He was not only converted, he was brought
into full-time service on the same day.
The Lord says, you just leave all now.
Follow me.
That's different.
He said, and they're all get saved differently.
And as I went through the whole book
of all the people who got saved, they're
all different.
See us all in here.
We're all different.
All got saved differently.
Wonderful.
Don't go after somebody else's experience.
The Lord has one for yourself, you know.
It'll be all your own.
It's yours.
I think that's worth thinking about, isn't it?
Well, Philip was called.
And he was called to leave all and
follow Christ.
Now, Philip was off to Bethsaida, it says,
the city of Andrew and Peter.
He came from the same spot.
Philip finds his Nathanael.
He becomes a personal worker.
Philip says unto him, we have found him,
of whom Moses in the law and the
prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph.
He was a personal worker and he was
willing to go and talk, but he put
his foot in it.
I wasn't perfectly shocked about Jesus being the
son of Joseph.
That blathers.
Sometimes we have wee fellows who make mistakes.
Never mind about the mistakes.
The Lord will bless the mistakes.
Don't behold them back because you just make
a blunder, you know, son.
The Lord will bless the blunders too.
Yes, he was willing to go.
And I'll tell you this.
Nathanael said unto him, 46, Can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth?
Oh, Nazareth was a terrible place.
We have looked at it one of the
nights we were here.
It was a stinking hole.
There was nothing but down and up in
Nazareth.
That's why it was so humiliating for Christ
to be called a Nazarene.
Nathanael says, can any good thing come out
of Nazareth?
You see, if you're going to be a
personal worker, you'll find this, that when you
go, there'll be opposition at times.
Everybody doesn't say amen, you know.
And everybody doesn't lick on your arm and
follow Jesus.
Some of them will say to you, I'll
tell you the thing that this man did,
you know.
When this fellow started to argue, this is
what Nathanael said.
This is what Philip said.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth?
Philip said unto him, Come and see.
Come and put Jesus to the test.
This is a great thing to say.
People start shying off.
They say, look you, you come and put
Jesus to the test.
Go and put him to the test.
You put my Jesus to the test.
He'll not let you down.
There are promises he hath made and he'll
have to keep them.
He'll keep them.
So you can see this, you can see
these men.
These are the men, the first men with
the master.
And it was after this, you know, that
the Lord Jesus went to Galilee.
I think I should do this little bit
here, just for the class.
Verse 47.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said
of him, Behold, and this shall light indeed,
in whom is Nogail.
You know, I like this scene.
I can see Philip bringing Nathanael in.
Nathanael has a whole lot of doubts in
his mind.
He didn't like this at all.
Could any good thing come out of Nazareth?
And when he's just coming up to the
Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus said, Behold, and
this shall light indeed, in whom is Nogail.
Now why did he say that?
Now what's that for to talk for?
Listen to what Nathanael says.
Nathanael breaks what he is.
Nathanael says unto him, Prince, no sorry.
I'll tell you, this shocked him.
He nearly jumped out of his sandals.
He says, whencemost are me?
He never spoke to me before.
Whencemost are me?
Listen to what Jesus says.
Verse 48, in the middle of the verse,
Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that
Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee.
You know, the Lord Jesus is not just
an ordinary 5'8".
He was God the Son.
He saw this man under the fig tree
long before Philip called him.
What was he doing under the fig tree?
Well, it's very easy if you look at
the text.
He was sitting reading the Old Testament.
He was reading the story of Jacob.
Reading how the angels ascended and descended upon
the ladder.
He was reading how Jacob had had lied
to his father.
How Jacob had bittled his brother.
How Jacob had whipped his employer.
He was all Jacob.
He would never be like Jacob.
He would be a misrelation.
He would be the new man.
The Lord knew all about him.
Jesus said, Behold, a misrelite and thief, in
whom is no God, is once most fond
of me.
It was before that Philip called thee, I
saw thee.
Watch Nathanael's answer, verse 49.
Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, Thou
art the Son of God.
Thou art the King of Israel.
He was persuaded immediately.
He was content now, wasn't he?
He'd heard the answer.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I
said unto thee, I saw thee unto the
fig tree, believest thou?
Of course he did.
Thou shalt see greater things than these.
And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven
open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending upon the ladder.
Not on your life.
On the Son of Man.
Because that ladder was speaking of the only
way back to God.
So you've seen the first name, haven't you?
You've seen their call, and you've seen some
of their conversions.
We'll find the call of the rest of
them sooner or later.
But let's go back to Luke's Gospel, chapter
4, because we're going up to Galilee with
the Lord Jesus.
I think you can follow this on the
chart without me doing very much about it.
You see the wilderness of Judea is right
down here.
And John was here at Bethlehem, beyond Jordan.
And it was here that he was speaking
to these disciples.
And then it was in this time that
they were called.
And then Jesus returned in the power of
the Spirit, back into Galilee.
He's going back to Galilee.
Now let's watch this.
Verse 14, may that Luke's Gospel, chapter 4,
verse 14.
And Jesus returned in the power of the
Spirit into Galilee.
And there went out a flame of him
through all the region round about.
And he taught in the synagogues, being glorified
of all.
And he came to Nazareth.
This is this miserable, stinking town that we
were talking about.
Where he had been brought up.
Of course he was about 28 years in
this town.
Came back from Egypt just over two years
of age, a little bit.
And stayed here in the carpenter's shop until
he was 30.
And then went out in his full-time
ministry.
So he was 28 years here.
And he came to Nazareth where he had
been brought up.
And as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
He had done this when he was a
boy, you know.
And he had done it when he was
a young man.
He had done it when he was 25
and 26 and 27.
I think they should teach the whole lot
of us a whole lot of things.
Because I'm perfectly sure when as a young
man he sat in the synagogue.
He must have heard things that must have
amused him.
Sometimes I go to conferences and hear young
preachers and they amuse me.
They talk in riddles but they don't know.
But I would never take it out on
one of them.
I would try to help them quietly.
He would never know I was doing it.
At least I wouldn't want him to know.
Talk to him, kid with him.
Tell him at the same time, if I
could.
I'm sure there were a thousand things in
the synagogue that would have made him get
out if he'd been as crooked as some
of you.
Oh yes, I hear the boys.
And there is little thing you don't catch
them.
God pity you.
Your master went to the synagogue and sat
for years.
And there must have been a thousand things
he could have put his finger on.
Old fellas handling the word of God that
were no use.
But he did.
Some fella said to Dr. Irons, there's not
a perfect church in this town.
Dr. Irons said, where were you looking for
one?
He said, I've been looking for years and
when I get a perfect church I will
join it.
Dr. Irons just said, well that will be
it finished when you join it.
There are no perfect churches you know.
And if there was one and you joined
it, that would be it all over.
Because you're not perfect.
But don't let's get off too high on
the high end.
Watch this.
It seemed a matter of where he had
been brought up and as his custom was,
he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day.
He had done that when he was a
boy and when he was a young man.
And stood up for to read.
Because you know they recognize in the synagogue,
those that can read and those that can
minister a little bit.
Recognize.
And he must have been recognized long ago
in this synagogue.
So on this particular morning he stood up
to read.
Verse 17.
And there was delivered unto him the book
of the prophet Isaiah.
It's just the Greek way of saying the
Hebrew word Isaiah.
It's the prophecy of Isaiah.
I think that the superintendent of the synagogue
would ask him the moment he stood on
the seat, What book do you want?
And he would say, Isaiah.
It wasn't a book like this, it was
a long scroll rolled out on each side.
When I was up in Samaria I had
this scroll one day of Isaiah.
And I, it was written in Hebrew of
course, and I was still in blue to
find the place.
Because there are no chapters of Ressus.
And to get what we would call chapter
61 in Isaiah, you would have to know
where you were about.
But the Lord Jesus knew.
And there was delivered unto him the book
of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book he
found the place where it was written.
And this is chapter 61 now in our
Old Testament, but don't turn there now.
Because what is this?
The spirit of the Lord is upon me.
It fills me to think that the Lord
Jesus read these very words one day in
the synagogue.
That I should be privileged to stand up
and read the very same thing that he
read.
And then I'm sure that my master did
all things well.
And I think you should read well, you
know.
Learn to read well.
Go to the commas every time.
And go to the semicolon and then take
a little bit more time.
And go to the full stop and take
more.
Learn to read the thing right.
He stood up and held his straw and
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 captives.
And recovering of sight to the blind.
To set at liberty them that are bruised.
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book.
And I can tell you that he stopped
at a comma.
He didn't finish it.
I know there's a full stop where we're
looking.
Have a look back at Isaiah 61 just
for the fun of the thing.
Isaiah 61.
And we don't need to read it all
over again.
Do you see verse 2?
When he had read right down he said,
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Then he closed the book.
He stopped at a comma.
He didn't go on to finish the thing.
Because the next phrase says, On the day
of vengeance of our God.
Because he differentiated between the dispensations.
Some people try to talk to me about
dispensational preaching.
I can tell you that the Lord Jesus
knew all about the dispensations.
He knew all about the dispensations.
They give him all mistakes about that.
He had not come on the first occasion
to bring vengeance.
Oh, not at all.
That's for later on.
He'll come again to this world and he'll
come with vengeance.
So he knew what dispensation he was in.
And he stopped at the comma.
That was very wonderful, you know.
It's thrilling to see the Master do it.
And you should learn from that, that there
must be dispensations.
Otherwise he would have went on and finished
the phrase.
I think this was a great message.
And we'll get into it in a moment.
You know, when you look at it, it
says the Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor.
And I like that.
You know, I think this brings out the
humility of the Lord Jesus.
We know already that he who was rich
became poor.
That we through his poverty might be made
eternally rich one day.
But you know, he didn't only become poor.
And he didn't only live in a poor
family because we saw that when Mary had
to offer a sacrifice, she could only muster
two turtledoves.
She hadn't got the money for a lamb.
Of course he worked in the carpenter's shop
at the carpenter's bench and was known as
the carpenter's son.
He didn't only become poor and live in
a poor family.
He came to the poorest district of a
poor country.
And when he went out preaching, he knew
that his congregation would be the poor.
His God has anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor.
You know, the poor heard him gladly.
They were glad to hear him.
Of course it's the same tonight, you know.
When people are making tons of money and
they have plenty, they have no time for
God.
You'll find that the poor have a better
ear for the gospel.
It shows the humility of Christ, because he
was quite prepared to have a poor congregation.
And then he went a little bit further
in this message.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.
And if the first phrase, preaching to the
poor, shows his humility, then the second phrase
shows his deity.
I've gone to brokenhearted souls a thousand times,
you know.
But I can never heal them.
You know, this is the Lord's work himself.
Why, when tragedy has come to some life
or some home, and you walk in.
I walked into that little home where a
mother and four or five daughters sat, and
the son was in the coffin, a bullet
through his head.
You see, our man shot down there at
our man.
What am I going to say to that
woman?
I just know that the least I say,
the better.
You need to shut up and weep.
You need to learn to weep with them
that weep.
And stop talking.
There are hearts in this meeting that have
come through tragedy.
And you know tonight that only Jesus heals
you.
Only Jesus.
That shows his deity.
And you can see this, not only was
he sent to preach to the poor and
to heal the brokenhearted, but to give deliverance
to the captives.
Ah, that's his ability, isn't it?
Thank God he set me free, you know.
There have been drunkards in this meeting set
free.
There have been bad men and bad women
set free.
Ah, he gives deliverance.
Yes, when he came to preach to the
poor, you could see his humility.
When he can heal brokenhearts, he's God himself.
I can tell you when he sets the
captive free, what ability he has.
Set me free.
Look at this.
It says, and recovering of sight to the
blind.
You know, friend, that's his sufficiency.
Ah, some of the nicest people in this
world, self-righteous religious people, have been so
blind.
Only Christ is sufficient to give them light.
The old devil has blinded them.
And the sufficiency of the Lord is here.
And I think you can see this, to
set at liberty them that are bruised.
You know, with a voice of authority, in
which your chains fell far off.
Can't you see the humility of the Lord?
Can't you see the deity?
Can't you see the ability?
Can't you see the sufficiency?
Can't you see the authority for whom the
Son sets free?
Free indeed.
And then he calls the book.
Gave it to the minister and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were
in the synagogue were fastened on him.
He was a great preacher and he could
hold the congregation.
Never blind-speak like this man.
And he began to say unto them, this
day is this picture fulfilled in your ears.
And all bear him witness and wonder at
the gracious words which proceeded out of his
mouth.
And they said, is not this Joseph's son?
Which that's what they'd always believed.
They thought he was Joseph's son.
It was the common chatter around Nazareth that
he was the carpenter's son.
No, he wasn't the carpenter's son.
Nor he wasn't a superman either.
Nor a superstar either.
He was the Son of God, you know.
Nay, he was God the Son.
And he knew exactly what was going on.
Verse 23 said unto them, he will surely
say unto me this program.
Petition, heal thyself.
Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do
also here in thy country.
Because he had been preaching all around.
We heard as we began this wonderful passage.
Verse 15, he taught in the synagogue.
And he said, verily I say unto you,
no prophet is accepted in his own country.
Watch how well he knew the scriptures.
But I tell you of a truth many
wiggles when in Israel in the days of
Elias, when heaven was shut up three years
and six months, that's the Greek word for
Elijah.
When great famine was brought all around, but
unto none of them was Elijah sent, save
unto Pharaoh, a city of Sidon, unto a
widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the
time of Elias.
That's Elias, the prophet.
And none of them was transcribed, name and
the period.
You know, he's letting these people see that
God not just came to Israel, nor to
Nazareth, nor to Capernaum.
He can take the widow from Sidon.
He can take the leper, Naaman, from Syria.
He can heal the city.
Now watch.
We've heard the message recorded.
Watch the results.
And only in the synagogue when they had
these things were filled with wrath.
Why do you think if you have the
Lord here preaching next week in a wonderful
church?
It may not be, you know.
Maybe you wouldn't like it a bit.
Sometimes I say mean things in these meetings
and there are people who wriggle.
But I'm just like the Lord.
I don't care whether you wriggle or not.
If I start to please the people, it
will be a poor day, won't it?
I need to preach the word on whether
you wriggle or not.
That's what I'm sent to do.
Watch this.
Verse 29.
And rose up and thrust him out of
the city and laid him on to the
ground of the hill whereon that city was
built, that they might cast him down headlong.
You don't say.
Did they really take him?
Did they rush him out of the synagogue?
Did they rush him through the little manor
street?
Did they rush him onto the brow of
the hill?
When I was out at Nazareth, I went
up to the brow of the hill, you
know.
I said, you know, boys, there was a
lot of people who thought that Jesus should
die on this hill.
That wasn't the hill he was to die
on.
It wasn't the hill at Nazareth, you know.
It was Calvary Hill that he was dying
for.
You can see that when Jesus preached, instead
of revival, there was wrath.
Instead of salvation, there was sin.
Instead of receiving him, reception, there was rejection.
Ah, that was the results.
We're going to follow the Master's footsteps further
next week into Cana of Galilee.
He's in Galilee.
That's the marriage supper, isn't it?
There's a lot of things to learn there.
I trust you'll come and learn them because
I think there are more things than that
passage than we'll be able to deal with
next week.
Just two verses of 176.
Our Lord is now rejected and by the
world disowned, by the many still neglected and
by the few enthroned.
But soon he'll come in glory.
The hour is drawing nigh for the crowning
day is coming by and by.
And we'll sing the first and the last
verses.
That's 176, please.
The Lord speaks of me and in faith
and by the world disowned, by the many
still neglected and by the few enthroned.
But soon he'll come in glory.
The hour is drawing nigh.
Christ is born.
When our Lord came
down from heaven, there He was coming, our
God and Lord.
O Lord, put us in Thy fear, and
with Thy blessing, and take us to our
homes in safety, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.