LUKE 8:1-3 WHAT JESUS BRINGS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 8:1-3 What Jesus Brings

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Well, this morning as we look at Luke chapter 8, we're looking at these three verses and there's

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Four things I'd like to highlight for you. Four things that really popped out at me as the Lord was speaking to me about this portion. And it's four things that Jesus brings. We're looking at the subject of what Jesus brings, what he brings into our lives, what he brings to the people that he comes to. And there's four things that we see here in this passage that Jesus brings for each and every one of us.

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And I want to encourage you as we look at these four things to consider your own heart and life.

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I believe that it's important for each of us personally to experience all four things that we'll be talking about today. That it's not just we understand that Jesus does those things in some people's lives, but these are things that are essential for each of us as believers. That God wants to work in our lives. There's things that he wants to do and we need to engage with the Lord in such a way that

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that he is able to bring all of these things for us.

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Not just initially when we first give our lives to the Lord and we're born again, but throughout our Christian walk that we continue to be refreshed and renewed in these things that Jesus brings. And so the first thing that we'll look at this morning is found there in verse 1, and that is that Jesus brings glad tidings. Jesus brings glad tidings. Look again with me at verse 1. It says...

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Now it came to pass afterward that he went through every city and village preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the twelve were with him. We see here in verse 1 of chapter 8, Jesus is now going from town to town, from city to city,

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And he's preaching and he's bringing glad tidings. Good news, it could also be translated or we often refer to it as the gospel. Jesus is bringing forth the gospel. These glad tidings from town to town, from city to city. It says it's the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.

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What is this glad tidings that Jesus brings? What is this message that he is speaking forth to the people? Well, I hope that you're familiar with it. It's the gospel message. It's the reality of what God is doing in providing for us a Savior.

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But in order to understand the glad tidings and really backing up and just looking at the word glad for a moment, we need to understand that the tidings that Jesus brings are glad or they bring gladness. It's good news because...

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of the severity of the bad news. The reason why it brings gladness is because, well, there's some bad news that we need to grasp hold of in order to understand the gladness that the message of Jesus brings. Here's the bad news. The bad news is you and I as human beings are born into this life with a sinful nature. And because we have a sinful nature, we sin.

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We disobey God. We rebel against God. We break His commandments. We violate His laws. And as a result, every single one of us deserves the judgment of God. This is really bad news. You and I, just being born into this world, we inherited a sinful condition from Adam and Eve. They first disobeyed God there in the Garden of Eden. And we live in a world that's affected by sin.

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that sinful action that they took. And we experience hurt and sorrow and heartache and pain and there's crime and there's atrocious things being committed because we live in a world that is affected by sin. And we look around and we can see that, but we also need to recognize the bad news is you and I are affected by that sin as well. And we, because we sin, we deserve God's judgment.

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We deserve a penalty. We cannot work hard enough to deserve or earn forgiveness. We cannot work hard enough to make up for the sin that we commit. There's nothing that we can do. We're in a hopeless condition. Again, this is really bad news that we're lost. We're hopeless because of our sinful condition.

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And so if that's all that we had, then you could understand this is really bad news. But what makes the message of Jesus glad tidings, what makes it such a joyful message, is Jesus comes and says, God loves you. And God has made a way for you to be forgiven. He's made a way for you to

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To receive salvation and to have right relationship with God so that God would deal with you as if you had never sinned. That's the message of Jesus. These are the glad tidings of the Lord. That Jesus himself is the Savior. That he loves you. And because he loves you, he took your place. He took my place upon the cross and received the penalty that we deserved.

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Because of our sinful condition, because of our sins that we have committed, that we commit right now, and the things that we've not yet committed, we deserve the judgment of God. But Jesus took the full penalty for all of that sin in our place there upon the cross. So that we have a Savior. We have a way of escape. That although we deserve judgment, we don't have to experience it.

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Although we deserve judgment, although our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, we can be cleansed and have our guilt removed. And we can have right standing with God by faith in Jesus Christ, by believing in him, who he is, and what he accomplished for us at the cross. And the result of that is a new life. Jesus in John chapter 10 calls it an abundant life.

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an overflowing life, not just kind of a ho-hum normal type of life, but a life that, well, you just, you cannot even imagine what God wants to do in you and through you. An abundant life results from this message of Jesus, from this Savior that is provided. And on top of that, then we have the promise of eternity.

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And so these are the glad tidings of Jesus. And you can understand, looking at the bad news, understanding why this is such good news. Because Jesus provided himself as our Savior, although we don't deserve it and we could never earn it, he offers to us, by his grace and mercy, forgiveness and life and eternity.

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And this is not just a message for a few particular people. Notice it says there in verse 1, he went through every city and village. He went through every city and village. I'm talking about the region of Galilee where he was. He went through every city and village. He wanted to make sure everybody hears this message. It wasn't just for people in Jerusalem.

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It wasn't just for people of this class or people of this type of status. It was a message for every person, for every individual. The gospel, these glad tidings are for every city, for every village, for every nation, for every class, for every education, for every age. These glad tidings are for everyone. This is the gospel. This is good news.

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And many of you have received this good news. You've believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior and you've been born again. But today I want to encourage you as we look at this portion that, well, it's not just something that we do that one time. It's not just glad tidings for that one moment.

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When we go from being an unbeliever to being a believer. It's not just for that one moment where we decide, yes, I want to follow Jesus Christ. I believe He is the Son of God. I believe He died on the cross for my sins. And there's that good news because we're delivered. We're saved. And it's glad tidings for us before we're Christians in that unbelieving state and being converted to the Lord.

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But I want to encourage you today who are believers in Jesus, and perhaps you've been a believer for some time. I want to encourage you to be refreshed in these glad tidings. It was glad tidings at that time when you turned and gave your life to the Lord. But for us as believers, it still is good news. It's still glad tidings.

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Understand, you can't get any better news. Even if you've been walking with the Lord for 20 years, you can't get better news. If you get the news that, hey, you got a promotion or a raise or this new house or this new family or whatever, you could get lots of things that we would consider good news, but it doesn't compare to the good news.

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It can't bring gladness in the way that the message of Jesus Christ and who he is and what he's done for us can bring gladness. There's nothing that brings gladness like the message of Jesus. And initially, when you and I became believers, when we got saved, we received this message by faith. We said, yes, I believe in Jesus. I receive what he did for me. I'm turning from my sin and I'm going to follow him.

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And that's what we did when we first believed. But I want to encourage you today, we need to be refreshed in these glad tidings because, well, in the same way that we first became believers, we need to continue on in faith. That we never grow beyond the need to receive the work that Jesus did by faith. We never grow beyond the need to believe in Jesus and receive His forgiveness and life.

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Even still to this day, we need to be in that condition of receiving his work for us, his grace extended towards us. And I point this out because there's a danger of turning away from the glad tidings to a system of works, to a plan of legalism. The Apostle Paul had to deal with this with the church of Galatia. And he wrote the book of Galatians to this church and

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Because they're turning away from the glad tidings and they're beginning to practice a system of works, or we would maybe call it legalism. Paul tells them in Galatians chapter 1 verse 6, he says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. He goes on to explain it's really no gospel at all because it's

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There is no good news apart from Jesus. The bad news is you and I, we are all deserving of judgment. The good news is that Jesus is the Savior and there's no other Savior. There's no other way to have that sinful condition addressed. And so there is no other gospel. There's no other message that delivers. There's no other message that brings forgiveness from God. It's only found through Jesus Christ.

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And so Paul says to the Galatians, I marvel because you're turning away. You received the grace of God, but now you're turning to the system of works. And you and I, we have this tendency, although we may not recognize it in ourselves all the time. We have this tendency where we kind of develop the mentality, well, Jesus, you did a great job getting me started, and I'll take it from here.

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Thank you for what you did on the cross. You got me saved. And now I'm going to work really hard and earn God's favor. Now I'm going to work really hard and earn and deserve God's goodness and blessings to me. And it's not possible. The glad tidings that Jesus brings is that we receive everything that God has for us by faith in Jesus Christ, by His grace, by His mercy, by His finished work upon the cross.

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We cannot earn or deserve anything. Paul will go on in the book of Galatians and he'll ask them, hey, how did you first receive God's work in your life? How did you first receive the Holy Spirit? Was it by faith or was it by the works? Because they were turning to those works and trying to earn and deserve the working of God's Spirit. But he goes on to say in Galatians chapter 5 verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit.

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The Holy Spirit being given to you by faith in Jesus produces in you this fruit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and so on and so forth. You can check it out in Galatians chapter 5. These are the things that are produced by the Holy Spirit in your life, which you received not by your works, not by earning it, not by your merit, but by faith in Jesus Christ, receiving from Him the grace of God.

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You see, this is glad tidings. If you want to be a miserable Christian, live your life based on your works. Then live based on trying to earn and deserve God's blessings and God's working. You want to be miserable? That's a surefire way you can do it, absolutely. Become legalistic and try to base your relationship with God on how you behave. There's a quick test that we can do here to see, are you...

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refreshed in these glad tidings, the question is, the test is, are you glad? Do you have this gladness, this joy when you and I receive the message of Jesus? Again, it's not just a one-time thing, but we continue to receive what God has for us by faith in Jesus Christ. And when we

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When we're grasping hold of that message, when we're receiving these glad tidings, you know what it does? It brings gladness. It brings joy. Even though we have trials and we have difficulties and we have sorrows and that is appropriate, still in the midst of that we have this joy that's inexpressible because of these glad tidings, this good news that although we deserve judgment,

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God loves us so much that he provided us his only begotten son as a savior. This is a message that it never gets old, even though as a believer you've heard it hundreds and hundreds of times. It never gets old because it's glad tidings. We need to be refreshed in these glad tidings. Be reminded of how good this news is, what God has done for us.

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And so this morning we have the opportunity to partake of communion together. And so we have three more points that we're going to get to in the passage, but we're going to come back to that and we're going to take some time right now and partake of communion together. And the worship team, you can come on up and the ushers are going to make ready. And as they get ready, I want to invite you, I want to encourage you to take this time to reflect on the glad tidings. Are you glad?

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Do you have this joy? This is an opportunity for you to remember what Christ has done for us. He told us, as he gave to us this idea of communion, he says, do this as often as you do it in remembrance of me. And he gave us the bread. He said, look, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Remember what I did for you upon the cross.

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Not to beat you down and make you feel terrible and say, look how dumb you are and look what you made me do. I had to go die on the cross. No, he's saying, look, this is how much I love you. This is what I'm doing for you. I am offering to you forgiveness by taking the penalty on your behalf because I love you. This is good news. And as we partake together, let this be stirred up within you again, the gladness, the joy that comes from receiving forgiveness

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what Christ has done for you. And he gave us the cup. He said, look, this is my blood which is shed for you. It represents, it reminds us of the forgiveness of sins that we have, that we are brought into right relationship with God, given full access to God because of what Christ did for us. Now, if you're here today and you've not yet received Jesus as your own Savior and Lord, you've not received these glad tidings, I would encourage you

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This is your opportunity. Today is the day of salvation and you can receive that right now by believing in Jesus. It's by faith in what He did for us, who He is, and His work upon the cross that we are saved. And so I would encourage you, if that's your heart, you want to have that right relationship with God, then partake with us and join us and do so saying, yes, I believe in you, Jesus, and I receive.

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What you have for me. I receive your glad tidings. And so the ushers are going to pass out the bread and the cup. And I would ask that you hold both portions. We're going to worship the Lord together. And at the end of the song we'll partake together. But let's take this time to ask God to refresh us. In these glad tidings. In the joy that is provided. In what he offers for us. Let's worship him together.

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Jesus, you endured my pain. Savior, you borrowed my shame. All because of your love. All because of your love. Maker of the universe.

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Oh, maker of the universe Broken for the sins of the earth All because of your love All because of your love Because of your love

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because of your cross my sins are washed away

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Lord, I freely give because of your love, because of your love I live. Innocent and holy King, innocent and holy King.

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You died to set the captive free. Oh, all because of your love. Lord, all because of your love. Lord, you gave your life. And Lord, you gave your life for me.

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So I will give my life to you. Oh, all because of your love. Lord, all because of your love. Because of your cross. Because of your cross, my debt is paid. Because of your blood, Lord, my sins are washed away.

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Because of your love, because of your love I live. Lord, I live.

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You did it for me. You did it for love. It's your victory. Oh, Jesus, you are enough. You did it for me. You did it for love. It's your victory. Oh, Jesus, you are enough. You did it for me.

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God, you did it for love. It's your victory. Jesus, you are enough.

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Because of your cross, my debt is paid. Because of your blood, Lord, my sins are washed away. All of my life, Lord, I freely give. Because of your love, because of your love, I live.

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The Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat. This is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner, He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it,

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in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Lord Jesus, we hold in our hands the elements that you gave us to remind us of what you accomplished for us, the glad tidings that you bring to us. And God, as we hold these elements, we confess to you that we believe in you.

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You are the Son of God. You are the Savior of the world. And you received the penalty that was due to us. And so Jesus, we rejoice in your great love for us. We rejoice in who you are and the promises that you've given to us. And Jesus, as we partake, Lord, we receive. It's our confession to you that we believe in you and we receive you.

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Your offer of life and forgiveness and salvation and everything that you have for us. Let's partake together. These are glad tidings that Jesus brings. It's good news what he offers to us. But that's not all. That's the beginning and that's what we need to continue to be refreshed in throughout the rest of our Christian walks. Who he is and what he did for us.

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But there's more as we continue working our way through Luke chapter 8. We're back now in verse 2 to find the second thing that Jesus brings. What does he bring? Well, first of all, he brings glad tidings. And secondly, we find that Jesus brings healing. Look with me at verse 2. It says, "...and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities."

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What we see happening here is Luke is showing us the group of people that is traveling with Jesus from town to town and from city to city. And he's pointing out that people in this group that is traveling with Jesus have experienced the miraculous healing works of Jesus.

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Not only did he bring glad tidings and good news, but he also brings healing and restoration and deliverance. The word healed that Luke uses here is a word that means to heal miraculously. It's a supernatural work of God in healing that Jesus brought.

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And it's not just for certain types of, you know, physical illnesses or ailments, but notice it says that they've been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. It's kind of giving us the range there. That they've been healed of spiritual issues, demonic possession, demonic oppression, things happening spiritually.

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but also things happening physically. Those who were physically ill received healing from Jesus. We've already seen throughout our study of the book of Luke many incredible works of deliverance that Jesus has done. He heals people spiritually,

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mentally, physically, issues of the mind, issues of the heart. Jesus brings healing and restoration to people. Really the worst of the worst we have as examples for us. The worst of the worst Jesus is able to deliver, to heal, and to restore. Later on in this chapter, in Luke chapter 8 verse 26, we'll be introduced to a man we refer to as the demoniac.

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He was a man who was possessed by demons. Not just a couple, but legion is their name. That's how they respond to the Lord. Because we are many, they say. He's severely demon-possessed so that nobody can control him. Nobody can contain him. They tried to bind him with chains and they were unsuccessful. Nobody could help him. This guy was completely hopeless and helpless.

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until he encountered Jesus. And you know what Jesus did? Jesus brought healing, deliverance. He was restored, delivered from this oppression, this possession. Later on in Luke chapter 8 verse 43, we'll see a woman who has an issue of blood. She's got this continual flow of blood and she sought medical attention for 12 years. She's had this condition for 12 years. She's

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Asked the doctors for help. She's sought out physicians. She's tried remedies. She's attempted, and they've attempted, to bring healing. And they were unable to for those 12 years until she reached out and touched the tunic of Jesus. And instantly, she was healed. These are examples of people in hopeless situations, but Jesus was able to bring healing to them.

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You know, it's so fun to watch God work in people's lives. It's so fun to see the transformation takes place. This transformation that just, it brings new life and revival, deliverance,

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Where people as they walk with Jesus are delivered from habits and addictions and oppression. They're healed physically, emotionally, spiritually. There's this work that Jesus does as he restores and he renews lives. It's kind of like a person who restores old cars.

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You know, they take a car that's beat up, it's old, it's rusted, it's missing the engine, all the tires are gone, and they work on it. They sand it down, they polish it, they repaint it, they rebuild the engine or whatever needs done. And out of what was just junk comes this glorious restored vehicle. In a similar fashion, only to a far greater extent, Jesus takes us.

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And we're beat up and we're broken and we're messed up and we're rusted and we're corroded and we've got all these issues. And he begins this restoration process. And it doesn't happen overnight. It's not like, you know, tomorrow, ta-da, here I am, perfect Jerry. No, no, no. It's a process, you know. There's still some sanding to do, some refining to do. There's still a work to be done. But there's this transformation that's taking place. There's this healing that is going on.

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Jesus brings healing. And I would encourage you to consider for your own self. Again, as I said at the beginning, these four things that Jesus brings are not just, you know, things that God does occasionally or sometimes in other people. But I would encourage you, I would challenge you, you need to experience these things for yourself. That these are things that Jesus brings to you if you will receive what he has for you. Jesus brings

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has healing for you. Have you received healing from Jesus? Now, if you're a believer in Jesus, if you've been born again, you've already received the biggest kind of healing that you can get. Because Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1, he says, and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, is there any greater type of healing than resurrection from the dead? I don't think so.

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And Paul is explaining, look, spiritually you were dead. You had no life. You were dead in your trespasses and sins, but you've been given life. You, he made alive. He regenerated. He gave life to you spiritually by faith in Jesus Christ. And where you previously were spiritually dead, now there's this new life that abounds within you, this spiritual life that is real.

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that is noticeable. It's a healing that has already taken place, that has already begun. You've been healed as a believer in Jesus. And of course, we have the ultimate healing to look forward to, right? In eternity, where there's no more pain and sorrow, no more tears, no more death, but we'll be finally healed of this sinful condition.

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This body that's affected by sin, that's the final healing when the restoration process is complete and we'll stand before the Lord perfect. And never have to deal with sin again. Never have to struggle with these bodies, with this flesh. And so there is a healing work that we've experienced and that we are yet to experience. And so each one of us experiences the healing that Jesus brings, but

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I would extend it even further to look at your life right now. And I would ask you, are you experiencing the healing of Jesus, the healing that he brings right now? If you have issues in your life, you need to receive the healing that Jesus brings. Listen, are you a lousy husband because of that old issue, that one thing, that past situation?

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And you just can't shake it. You can't escape it. And so you say, well, I'm a lousy husband. I know I'm a lousy husband, but I'm a lousy husband because of this thing. Listen, Jesus brings healing. He wants to work. He can work. He can bring deliverance. But like salvation, we receive what he offers to us by faith. We need to ask him. We need to believe. And we need to receive.

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What he has for us. In obedience to the things that he instructs us. Are you a bitter wife? That there's this bitterness within and you've tried to shake it. You've worked hard. You've tried to dig it out. You've tried to get rid of it. You've gone through this. You went through that program. You read those scriptures and there's just this bitterness and you just can't seem to escape it.

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And it leaves you in a condition. You don't like the condition, but you feel like you're stuck. Listen, Jesus brings healing for you. There's deliverance from those deep issues of the heart. There's healing for those conditions in Jesus Christ.

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And it doesn't all happen overnight, but we need to go to the Lord and seek Him and allow Him to work in us the way that He desires to, to receive from Him the healing from whatever it might be, evil spirits to all kinds of infirmities. Is your heart hurting? Is there a gap? Is your heart broken? Is there this ache within, this emptiness? Listen, Jesus brings healing and He can restore healing.

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And revive and renew your spirit, your mind, your heart, and your body. Are you suffering physically? Listen, Jesus brings healing. Now, please understand, I'm not saying that everybody who believes in Jesus will never be sick because he brings healing. No, God allows suffering. He allows pain. He allows disease. If you ever doubt that, you can just look at the cross.

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And see how God allowed suffering and pain. He allows it. It's an important part of His plan. He works through it. Yet at the same time, the Bible is clear. It says, look, if you are sick, then gather together with the elders. Call the elders together. Let them lay hands on you and pray for you. James tells us, sometimes we don't have because we don't ask. And so Jesus brings healing together

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Definitely, He heals our spirits, He heals our hearts, He works in our minds, and perhaps He wants to heal you physically as well. We, as a church, we have seen this countless times, where God has done incredible, miraculous, supernatural works. He's still in this business of working miracles, of delivering people, and bringing healing. He doesn't promise to heal all our physical afflictions in this life. Some of them, He waits till the next life.

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and eternity, then that's the final healing when we will be healed of all of those things. But it's not by works. It's not by earning it or deserving it. It's by receiving the glad tidings of Jesus, the goodness that he offers to us. Are you experiencing the healing of Jesus? Because that's what he brings. Well, we also see in this portion that Jesus brings fellowship.

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He brings fellowship. And we see this in verse 1, 2, and 3. There at the end of verse 1, it points out the 12 were with him. So Jesus was going to town to town, city to city, but he wasn't by himself. He had the 12 disciples with him.

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But then we see in verse 2, along with the 12 disciples, was Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons. And then in verse 3, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others. Luke is pointing out here, there's this group of people that are with Jesus as he goes and delivers these glad tidings.

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And so we see that Jesus not only brings these glad tidings and these healings, but he also brings this fellowship. He gathers together this group and gives them unity, gives them one another. Now, we've looked at the 12 disciples before. We've already seen a little bit how unique a group this was. I mean, they were an unlikely group to gather together. Without Christ, they

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These 12 disciples would not have been friends. You know, a couple of them were in business together already, but collectively, they wouldn't have hung out together. They wouldn't have spent time with one another. In fact, they probably would have hated and fought against each other because we have people like Simon the Zealot, who is one of Jesus' disciples. Now, a zealot in those days was a radical political activist, right?

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And by that, I mean they would carry with them knife strapped to their thigh everywhere they went so that if there was an opportunity to kill a Roman and get away with it, they'd be able to take him out because they hated Roman rule. They wanted to be free from Roman influence and the authority that the Romans had over them. And so they were radical. They would go to that extent. Whatever it took, whatever it would cost, we got to get free of these Romans.

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Yet in the same group of Jesus' 12 disciples, you have Matthew the tax collector. He was the official representative of the Roman Empire to say, give me the money so I can support and I can fund the Roman Empire who's ruling over you. These two guys, without Christ, would not have got along. They would have been enemies. But with Christ, there's this unique, incredible work where they're together with Jesus as he goes from place to place.

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as he delivers the glad tidings. Not only that, but Luke is careful to point out, there's also, along with these 12 disciples, and probably many other disciples as we've seen in the past, but along with those disciples, these men that we tend to focus on, there's also these ladies who are there in the mix. Now this is really unique because in those days, in that culture,

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This was not done. Generally, the ladies and the men were kept separate. In fact, the rabbis would refuse to teach women. They would refuse to teach while a woman was present. You got to go, leave, go somewhere else. I don't care where you go. I'm going to talk to these guys. That was their attitude. But here with Jesus, there's this group of men and women, all kinds of different backgrounds. You have Mary who is formerly demon possessed. Now,

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There's a lot of tradition about Mary Magdalene that is not biblically accurate. You can't find it in the scriptures. There's a lot of things that are just made up. And what we do know about her, though, is that she was possessed with seven demons and she was delivered by the Lord. Having been possessed by seven demons, Mary Magdalene comes from not a real high standing as far as society was concerned.

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You know, demon-possessed people weren't considered, you know, oh, well, they're something to aspire to. No, they were looked down upon. They were despised. They're demon-possessed. And yet, alongside of Mary Magdalene is Joanna, who it says is the wife of Herod's steward. Now, Herod's steward, well, a steward was one who had charge of the family affairs, right?

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If you're reading with us through the Bible in three years, today in Genesis chapter 39, we see that Joseph becomes the steward for Potiphar. And we see how he is second in command over the whole house. That is, he has charge of everything. He's responsible for everything that happens. He's responsible for the investments. He's responsible for the servants. He's responsible for all the details. It's a great responsibility. It was a high privilege.

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that was given to the faithful servants. And so Herod has a steward who's in charge. Now Herod was the ruler of the region. And so his steward has charge of his whole household. And that steward's wife is there in the mix alongside of Mary, who is formerly demon-possessed. And then we have Susanna there in verse 3, who is unknown. And so you have this mix of people.

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Some come from a high status, some from a high social standing, some from a criminal background, some from, you know, just unknownness. Just nobody knows them. They're not important. They're not significant. And then also in verse 3 it says, many others. So you get the idea here. There's this great group of people, but they don't really have anything in common until Jesus. And so Jesus brings this fellowship here.

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where people from all kinds of backgrounds and all types of upbringings and all types of social statuses gather together. I always remember Pastor Chuck sharing about, you know, this one guy who...

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was part of his church and it was during the whole Jesus movement right at the beginning of it. This guy, he was all dressed in a suit and very kind of uptight. He came to church with his daughter who was going there to Calvary Chapel and he was all like, oh man, there's all these dirty hippies around and how do they let them in here and all this kind of stuff. That's just judgmental attitude.

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But he forgot to bring his Bible that day to church. And so the shoeless, dirty hippie next to him smiled and said, here, you can share with me. And God convicted his heart and showed him, look, you're so judgmental, but this guy loves me. And so you had there in those days in the 70s, as God was doing that revival, these businessmen and businesswomen sitting next to these dirty, homeless, jobless hippies and

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Having the fellowship, having the union, the communion together because of Jesus. This is what Jesus does. He brings this fellowship. Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14, talking about the Jews and the Gentiles. Now, Jews and Gentiles did not get along, at least as far as the Jews were concerned. They did not like, they hated the Gentiles.

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And yet Paul explains in Ephesians 2.14, he says, Jesus is our peace who has made the both one. Jews and Gentiles, he's made them one and he's broken down the middle wall of separation. He says, look, there used to be a middle wall of separation between the Jews and the Gentiles, but Jesus is our peace. He's broken down the wall and united them together. This is the work that Jesus does.

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So that as believers in Jesus, we, well, we have peace and we're united with and we have fellowship with people that we would never have fellowship with, that we would never walk with or be friends with outside of Christ. But it doesn't matter the background. It doesn't matter the upbringing. It doesn't matter the prejudice that you used to have. In Christ, there's this new peace, this new fellowship.

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We're very familiar with walls of separation, even to this day. But in Christ, there is no wall of separation that He brings us together with, those that we would normally not associate with. And not only do we associate them, I'm not just saying, you know, now we can say hi to people we would never say hi to before, but we can actually link arms and say, we're going to work alongside together to accomplish the work of God. We're not just...

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you know, sitting in the same building, but we're working together and we're sharing with one another and ministering to one another and building each other up and correcting each other and helping each other overcome obstacles in life, that we're invested in each other's lives. That's what fellowship is really all about. It's so critical for us as believers to have this kind of fellowship. And it's not just with those that we would normally associate with outside of Christ.

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God has brought together here at this church a whole mix of all kinds of different people. And he's united us together as his body. And I want to encourage you to participate in the fellowship that Jesus brings. You know, you miss out if you only come, sit through the service, and then leave right away. You miss out if the extent of your relationship with other believers is, hello, goodbye, goodbye.

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Here's who I'm voting for, you know, for the Super Bowl. If that's the extent of your relationship, you're missing out. Listen, God has so much more for you. Jesus has broken down the wall, but sometimes we rebuild those walls. And we need to learn to open ourselves up and to engage in these relationships with the people that God has placed around us.

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God has placed you here. He's brought you here for a reason. And the other people that God has brought here, He's brought them here for a reason. We need one another. We rely upon one another more than we actually know, more than we can really understand. We are knitted together as the body of Christ. If you don't have relationship, if you don't have fellowship with people here that you would never have fellowship outside of the Lord, listen, you're missing out. There's so much more that God has for you. He brings this fellowship.

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There's this strengthening. There's this building up. There's this edifying that takes place as the Lord ministers to us through one another. As God works in us through each other. As we join together with Jesus and go from city to city and town to town to bring glad tidings. Well, finally, the fourth thing that Jesus brings here in verse 3 is He brings opportunity. Opportunity.

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Jesus brings opportunity. Again, verse 3 says, Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, notice this, who provided for him from their substance. Check out what's happening here. This is so amazing to me. Luke's talking about this great mix of people, right? But he points out, now he says, this group of people provided for Jesus from their substance.

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They had certain things. They had certain resources. They provided for Jesus from their own resources. Jesus gave them opportunity. The creator of the heavens and the earth. God Almighty. That's who Jesus is. He humbled himself and he became man.

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He humbled himself to a position not to just where he would die on the cross, but he humbled himself to a position where he would be relying upon these people who would provide for his needs. It just boggles my mind. It's so incredible how much he humbled himself. Think about it this way. It really doesn't relate, but it kind of does. So think about it as if you had a box of Legos and you built a Lego city. Right?

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And you put all the Lego men inside this Lego city and then you humbled yourself to the point that you survived by what the men in that Lego city could provide. I know it's stupid, right? Because they can't. But that's the point. That's kind of what Jesus did. He humbled himself so that this group provided for him. That they met his needs. He gave them an opportunity to be part of his work.

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This word provide, it means to attend or to wait upon or to serve. He gave them opportunity to serve by humbling himself. This wasn't, you know, hey, I'm the master, you better serve. This was, he humbled himself to the point where he had needs. And they saw and they said, oh, Jesus has needs. He's hungry. He's tired. He's poorly clothed.

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I'll provide for, I want to serve him. I want to help him. I want to minister to his needs. He humbled himself to have needs and let this group provide for that. This is incredible. But you know, it's the same way that God continues to work today. Jesus could do his own work. He doesn't need us. It's not like he's like wishing like, man, if only I had someone who could like speak really well, man, how am I going to find someone like that?

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If only I had someone who could, you know, have this talent or have this ability. If only I could find someone who was strong, you know. Where could I find someone? Jesus doesn't worry about that. Like, where can I find? He could do it all himself. He could just snap his fingers and do whatever he wants to do. But he humbles himself, really. The gospel message, he could proclaim it himself way better than we can.

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He could present himself to every human being in the world and say, here I am, believe in me and be saved. Jesus could do that. But what has he chosen to do? He's chosen to bring us opportunity to be part of his work. And so he's delegated to us. He's humbled himself so that there is this need for the kingdom of God to be furthered, for the gospel message to be delivered, for people to demonstrate and to extend the love of Christ to people around us.

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to serve one another. All kinds of opportunities abound and exist because Jesus brings us opportunity. And he lets us participate with whatever we have. You might remember the poor woman who brought the two mites to the temple and gave them to the Lord. And Jesus was watching. He said, she gave more than everyone else because she gave out of her poverty, out of her lack. And you might think, I don't have anything to give to the Lord. These things

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People provided for Jesus out of their substance, the things that they possessed. And you might think, I don't really have anything, but that's not true. Because first of all, the Bible tells us every believer in Jesus is gifted by God supernaturally. You have a spiritual gift, and so you have opportunity. You have this substance that you can offer to the Lord, and it might be little in your mind. It

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But God has a way of taking the little that we offer to Him and multiplying it so that two loaves can feed thousands. He works, but He gives you the opportunity to give of yourself, to involve yourself, to participate, and to share in the eternal rewards that go along with that. Our Lord is truly amazing. And so I would ask you today, how are you using your substance, what God has given to you? And it might be spiritual gifts, it might be

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resources, it might be time, it might be energy, whatever. How are you using what God has given to you to participate in His kingdom, to participate in His work? I'm not just talking about doing good deeds and walking people across the street and giving homeless people money. Those are all things that are great to do to shine forth the love of Christ. But think about the kingdom of God, the gospel message. How are you involved in

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In the work of God. Not just doing nice things for people. But for bringing forth the message of God. And being part of building his kingdom. It's amazing how God lets us be part of his work. And we have really very little to offer. But he gives us the opportunity to offer it. And he multiplies it. And he works miraculously. And he lets us share in the rewards for eternity.

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the creator of the heavens and the earth, our savior relies upon you for his kingdom to be furthered. He gives you the opportunity to be part of that. And so here in verses one through three, we get to see what Jesus brings. And again, these are not just things for, you know, someone who's never received Jesus, but these are things that Jesus brings to every one of us today.

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And I want to encourage you to be refreshed in these things, to be renewed in these things, in the glad tidings, the great joy that comes from his message and who he is, what he's done for us. To come to him, to receive the healing that he offers because we're all a work in progress and there needs to be healing in us. And Jesus can provide that healing. To link arms together and partake of the fellowship that he brings to us.

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He's placed people around us that we need and they need us. And we get to join together to participate in His work. Be refreshed and be renewed in that. Develop some relationships. Stick around. Encourage one another. Help each other. Love one another. And He brings us opportunity. Don't just walk in, walk out. Don't just think about God once or twice a week. But live your life for His glory.

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He gives you the opportunity to be involved in His work that lasts for eternity. Let's pray. Lord, we cannot begin to say thanks for how good You are towards us. Your grace and Your mercy, Lord, they're beyond our comprehension. And yet, Lord, it's really not about whether or not we understand it. It's whether or not we accept and receive what You offer to us by faith.

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And so, Jesus, I pray that you would help us to not walk by sight, to not just live based upon what we can understand, but help us to receive from you all that you bring for us. Lord, that we would not lack in any of these things, but Lord, refresh us anew with all of them. Lord, for those who are miserable, for those who are broken and hurting, for those who

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who are not engaged, for those who are disconnected. Lord, bring us this refreshing, this renewal of your glad tidings, of your healing, of your fellowship and the opportunity to be part of your work, something meaningful and significant where your name is magnified. Thank you, God, for your goodness towards us. We receive it. We don't deserve it. We can't earn it. We don't understand why you offer it. But Jesus, we receive it.

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what you have for us. You have your will. You have your way. We surrender to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.