Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] A good word for you today.
[00:00:06] Does anybody.
[00:00:09] Are you ready for the word? I want you to stand. As we honor the reading. I want you to open to Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. If you're wondering, we will take a moment later in the service to highlight the one day offering. You may have done that just now, and that's okay. If you did, we'll still pray over that in just a few moments. But if you came today prepared to give that, we will do that in just a few moments.
[00:00:35] Luke chapter 4.
[00:00:38] In verse 16, it says this. So he Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, as his custom was. He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he opened the book, he found the place where is written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed upon him.
[00:01:28] And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. They said, is this not Joseph's son? Now, I'm going to skip a parable, a story that Jesus shares. I'm going to highlight it in just a moment, but I want you to notice. Jesus presents this word. And the Bible says that their heart bore witness with the word that Jesus spoke. They were in agreement, they're liking the word that's coming forward. But then something happens. Jesus shares a parable. And this is the same crowd, the same service, the same meeting. But later in the service, verse 28 says, those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, they were filled with wrath. They rose up, they thrust him out of the city, and they led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him over the cliff. Then, passing through the midst of them, he went on his way. And this, my dear friends, is God's word. And we believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:02:48] Over the last couple weeks, we've had some great, really, what I personally call heart check moments. Moments where I really began to look inwardly. And, you know, I feel like I don't know if it was in a prayer moment, but there was the question of, like, the church of Ephesus, have you left your first love? And I don't know if you take it seriously, but every time I hear someone reference that, I always do a heart check, like, God, do I still love you the way I loved you when I first believed? Am I still as excited about you and what you're doing as this season when I was so on fire? And every one of us has those stories, but we have moments where we get busy, where we forget where we, as it was put, I think last week, we grow past our passion. Like, here's what God's asked me to do, here's what he's assigned to me, but I begin to do things out and beyond and above what he's actually asked of me to do. Do we ever have times where we get so busy with church, with ministry, that Jesus is actually standing outside the door knocking, saying, hey, how about you let me be a part of what you're doing? Let me be a part of your ministry, your church, your business. Now this is just me. I'm just, I'm telling you where I've been. I'm sure you guys got it all worked out as you were hearing the messages and responding over the last number of weeks. But I really have taken it to heart, like, Jesus, are we still good?
[00:04:25] Do I still love you the way I ought to? Am I. Am I doing things above and beyond what you've asked me to? Are you standing outside of the things that I'm doing, asking to come and be a part?
[00:04:37] And I had something that happened kind of this last week. It sort of brought this message together. This may seem unusual, but we were with our family and one of our family members, their kids are getting older, this is one of my nephews, and someone in the family started, I'm going to say this carefully, started questioning the existence of a particular gift giving, bearded saint.
[00:05:06] And so the debate was going on whether, you know, how do we handle this? And I'm not going to say anything more. You guys know what I'm talking about. If you don't, that's good.
[00:05:17] But we began to go back and forth and talk about how to handle this with the kids. And my wife made the statement. She says, once the wonder of Christmas is gone, I don't know if you can ever get it back.
[00:05:31] Once the wonder of Christmas is gone, I'm not sure if you can ever get it back. And I think it's important for each and every one of us, especially during this season, it's important. Especially as we are familiar with this time of year. We know the things that happen. We know that the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas, music begins to play on the radio, the lights go up. Maybe you knew this was the weekend you'd show up, and the Christmas trees and the lights and the decorations were going to be up in the church. You know what to expect. We go here for Thanksgiving and we go there for Christmas. You know, the nativity story, the virgin birth, baby in a manger, angels, wise men, shepherd. Yeah, I've heard that story.
[00:06:17] But the question that came into my heart is, do I still have wonder?
[00:06:24] Am I still in awe?
[00:06:28] This testimony, Do I still look at what Jesus accomplished in his years on the Earth? Does it still wow my heart? Do I still have awe and wonder? And this is one of the things that I want to challenge. Pastor prayed this in our. In our morning prayer meeting and earlier. But I'm praying to grow my affection towards Jesus in this season.
[00:06:56] I don't want to go through this time. Like, okay, I went to the production and I heard the choir and I gave the gifts and I gave him the offering. And I know the things that we do this time of year, like, I want the awe, I want the tenderness, the heart behind those things. Because some of you remember what it was like when you first came to believe in Jesus and then began to consider, wow, born of a virgin. Whoa.
[00:07:28] Sinless life. Wow.
[00:07:32] Miracle working. You remember when these things brought awe and wonder to your heart. This is where I want to be. And so part of how I decided that personally I would keep this fresh is I began to look back at the story of Jesus. I went to Luke chapter four. This is where he releases the mission statement, if you will. I mean, he's just been baptized. Spirit of God comes on him. He goes into the wilderness. He's tempted, but he overcomes the devil. And then he shows up to synagogue. He goes to church on the Sabbath, and he reads this passage. But it leads into some really incredible things. And I don't know if you're still there in Luke 4, but you might just stay there, because I'm going to just reference things in Luke 4 and Luke 5. But the testimonies are powerful. Now, they teach you in homiletics, the art of preaching, that you're never supposed to show your tools. Like, don't show where you get your points. Don't show, you know, you know, point number one, all this and that. But I'm I'm throwing that out the window because I want you to get what I'm talking about and I want you to look for these things as well.
[00:08:38] I began to look at these testimonies, the response of the people.
[00:08:46] How is it just in this one account that we read that they went from a place where their heart bore witness with the testimony, with the preaching and the word that Jesus brought forward. But within a matter of moments, they were ready to kill Jesus. They were filled with wrath. How do they go from agreement in heart to filled with wrath? And I began to look for these phrases all throughout chapter four and chapter five. Jesus worked a miracle and they were amazed. They were filled with wonder. Or there were moments where hardened hearts were filled with anger. How dare he? Only God can do things like that.
[00:09:34] And it began to just really challenge me because I read this passage and this was really the inspiration behind this entire message.
[00:09:43] In Luke chapter 5 and verse 26, Jesus now has a multitude that is following him and they're observing the miracles and they have great moving of God. And this is what the people said. Everyone, verse 26 was gripped with great wonder and awe. And they praised God, exclaiming, we have seen amazing things today. They were gripped with wonder and awe. They praised God, exclaiming, we have seen amazing things today. Now, friend, there were people that were in the exact same meeting whose hearts were hard.
[00:10:28] How dare he. The Pharisees would show up to these meetings and their question would be like, I wonder what he's going to do.
[00:10:39] Those who were hungry for the Lord would show up, leaning on the edge of their seat, I wonder what he's going to do.
[00:10:47] You hear the difference in this? One had a hardened heart. And this is what the Lord kind of impressed to me. In fact, when Jesus was calling out, rebuking the Pharisees, he says, listen, you have some thoughts that are in your heart. Why do you in your heart say?
[00:11:05] And so I began to look at my own heart and I began to question God. Have I become calloused in observing the things that you do?
[00:11:18] Am I ever hard hearted? Does it ever become just like, oh yeah, I've seen God do miracles, no big deal. Oh yeah. 80 people got right with God last week. Oh yeah, that happens every week. Does it ever become a small or a minor thing to us, or do we still have awe and wonder? What I believe it really comes down to, friend, is what is the condition of our heart?
[00:11:44] Earlier this year, pastor preached about hard hearts, calloused hearts and callouses can come in a Number of different ways. Anybody who works out you, you do things repetitively. You work out the same muscles, you grab the bar the same way. And you'll notice that you'll get calluses on your hands. It becomes hard and it's not sensitive the way that it ought to be. And so you'll notice that sometimes repetition, this is what religion can become. Traditions are wonderful. But if we go through religious motions, if we do the traditions for the sake of the traditions without considering why, we can become calloused and we can miss something mighty that God's doing right in front of us.
[00:12:30] On the other hand, you have. You have calluses that come through wounds and through bruising and affliction. My. My wife reminded me we had a car. This was years ago. We were. We were living in Cedar Hill and we. We had a particular vehicle. And every time my wife got into the car, she would hit her knee on the dashboard in the exact same spot. And she knew, she's telling me, she's like, I knew I could just move the seat back, but man, that would just take like five extra seconds. And I had to get in the car and go. And so she didn't. So because she didn't want to change what she was doing, she ends up hitting her knee in the same spot over and over and over and ended up growing a little, you know, callous on her knee. That took years before it was healed.
[00:13:20] Hear me on this.
[00:13:22] Wounds are inevitable, but calluses are a choice.
[00:13:28] Life will happen. Storms will come, demonic assaults. Friend, it happens.
[00:13:36] But we have a choice. Am I going to remain tenderhearted or am I going to become hard hearted over this? We can watch. And sometimes it's just the repetitions. I've done Christmas this way in this church for 20, for 30, for 40 years. I know what's coming. I've heard the story. I've sang those songs. I know all. And we can lose the sensitivity. We can become calloused, hard in heart.
[00:14:07] To be tender hearted means to be compassionate, to be full of mercy, to hate injustice, and to love the broken. And in the book of Ephesians, we're actually commanded to be kind to one another and to be tender hearted.
[00:14:24] Tenderhearted is one of the most frequently named attributes of God himself. In Exodus 34, he's called tenderhearted. In Psalm 86, he's called tenderhearted. In Isaiah 4:49, he's called tenderhearted. Lamentations 3, and there are many other examples I could give, but the Lord is frequently called tenderhearted.
[00:14:48] You consider this was a thought that just as I was praying and I was considering Jesus.
[00:14:56] The Bible says that he was moved with compassion when he saw crowds who were like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36. The Bible says that he was moved with compassion over a number of blind men who came to him. Matthew 20 and verse 34. They said when he saw those who were sick and in need of a physician, that he even wept as he went to a funeral in John 11:35, and that he wept over Jerusalem for missing his appearing in Luke 19 and verse 41.
[00:15:29] What stuns me about this? Now, here's some theology for you. You know, Jesus was eternally existent. Not just in the future, but he did not come into existence when he was born of a virgin. He was there for creation. He participated with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Even in the creation of the world. Jesus is eternally existent. Now, the reason I highlight this is I'm just thinking like God in the flesh. Jesus has been watching mankind for a long time.
[00:16:05] For a long time. He's seen wandering, backsliding people for thousands of years. I don't know. Are you old earth, young earth, flat earth? I don't know. But he's been watching people for a really long time is my point.
[00:16:21] He's watching them and his heart is still moved by them. His heart is still stirred when he sees those who are lost and wandering, when he sees a blind man who is suffering, when he sees those whose hearts are broken at a funeral, even though he knows he's the resurrection and the life, he's still moved by this.
[00:16:43] Is your heart tender?
[00:16:45] Some of us go through one season of testing and trial and our hearts become hardened.
[00:16:51] I mean, you guys, to pray over Abby and to see our pastor weep as he is, that's a tender heart.
[00:17:07] I guarantee you. Pastor Jim could tell us story after story. I prayed for this person and they died. I prayed for this situation. I contended over this one. It didn't work out. And yet somehow his heart has remained tender. And we'll still weep and believe over a situation that's right here. Jesus carried the very same heart. And I don't know about you, but I want to be tender to the things that Jesus is tender towards. I want to be sensitive towards the things that he is sensitive to.
[00:17:39] So in Luke 4, we see the ministry of Jesus.
[00:17:43] He begins his ministry, he's baptized, the Spirit's upon him, and he declares, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. The anointing is upon me to preach good news to the Poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, to open blind eyes and freedom for those who have been bruised by Satan. The time of God's favor has come. And then he says something so radical in verse 21. He says, this scripture is fulfilled in me.
[00:18:17] And all verse 22 bore witness to Jesus. You know what that term bore witness is?
[00:18:25] You know, we use it when we talk about, like, testing prophecy. There was a prophetic word that was released in the first service, and the question was asked when the word was released, does that bear witness with you? What are we asking? Is there a yes in your heart? Is there something in your spirit that finds agreement with the Word that's just come forward? It'll happen in prophetic words. It'll happen in the preaching of the Word. There's just moments where it's like, I don't know how that's possible. Yes.
[00:18:57] I don't understand it all, but yes, bear witness. Then there's moments. How many of you have ever heard a prophetic word that was given? And you're just like, I don't know about that. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I really think that, like, testing prophecy, that's really what a lot of it comes down to, is just what does the spirit say? Does that sound like the Holy Ghost to you? Does that sound like the heart of Jesus being expressed to you? Got examples that are coming to mind right now, but I'm just telling you, does it bear witness? Now, here's what's amazing to me. I want you to write this down and I'll explain it. Number one, tender hearts, trust in God's word.
[00:19:39] Tender hearts, trust in God's Word. So what happens here is Jesus preaches this word and says, this is fulfilled today, right now. I'm the one. And the Bible says that there was an agreement in their heart. This is right.
[00:19:59] This is good.
[00:20:01] But then they began to reason.
[00:20:06] Don't we know this guy?
[00:20:09] How is he the Messiah? I thought he was a carpenter. We know his family. In fact, in the Mark and in the Matthew Testament of this same story, the Bible says that Jesus was hindered from doing mighty miracles because of their unbelief.
[00:20:24] They heard the Word and it bore witness with their heart. But they reasoned it away.
[00:20:31] Was it familiarity? I don't know. Was it contempt?
[00:20:37] Possibly. But they began to view the word of Jesus through the lens of their own experience and friend. If that's what we do, we're going to miss it every single time. It needs to be the other Way around. This is my circumstance. Jesus, what do you say about it? What does your word declare over this? The problem happens is, well, I prayed, I gave, and I didn't get the breakthrough like the Word said. I believed the word and I tried it. It didn't work. Must not be true. You're viewing scripture in light of your experience.
[00:21:11] You're viewing Jesus through your own understanding. Friend, we need to flip the script. We need to look at it the other way. Jesus, I've seen brokenness, but I'm not going to become calloused. I've had disappointments, I've prayed. I didn't see breakthrough. I've watched other people suffer. But I believe your word and I'm going to stand on it even if other people don't. Friend, I love the fact that we stopped in our service to pray for Abby. We're going to pray for her on Wednesday. We're going to pray for her as she goes into her procedure. I want. How many churches do you know that would stop in the middle of their service for a moment like that?
[00:21:55] I want to be that place. I want to always be that place. We've got a need. They have cancer. They need a financial breakthrough. What happened with Rodney and Peyton a few weeks ago? Oh, my goodness, how beautiful. We saw a need.
[00:22:11] We could meet this right now. What was that? It was the heart of God. His compassion, that tender heart that was reaching out and saying, I can be a part of the solution here. God is a miracle worker. God is a provider. God can restore your broken marriage. God can bring your prodigal son home. God can break that addiction off of your life. Are you with me today, Church? I feel like you guys are locked in as good first service was shouting me down. I was already falling out under the spirit by this point in time.
[00:22:44] But I'm walking by faith. You guys are with me.
[00:22:48] So Jesus is ministering and he shares an example, and this is really what made them angry. He said that there was a lot of need in Israel. You can read this, it's in verse 23.
[00:23:07] But he says that there was a lot of need. There was a famine in Israel and Elijah had the answer.
[00:23:13] But only one widow received her miracle breakthrough.
[00:23:17] And then he said there was many sick in Israel and Elijah had the answer, but only Naaman was healed. There were many sick and they missed it, but one received. Now, I don't know about you, but their heart already they were questioning Jesus. And I feel like it was a warning from the heart of Jesus. Like, listen, if you try and reason this away, you're going to miss what's right in front of you. I am the fulfillment of this prophetic word, this Messiah, what Isaiah prophesied, I am this. And the hour of your favor, of God's favor has come. Don't miss it.
[00:23:59] But a lot of people missed it.
[00:24:02] A lot of people missed it. Friend, I don't know about you, but I'm just. I'm praying in this season like Jesus. I don't want to miss a single thing that you're, spiritually speaking, that you're doing. I want my heart to be sensitive. I don't care how many times I've been disappointed, wounded or afflicted. Jesus, help my heart to remain tender, insensitive to who you are. Don't allow me to put up shields or grow a hard heart because I've been disappointed, I've been hurt, or I've done this a million times already. May my heart be tender to who you are and what you're doing today.
[00:24:39] It's amazing how quickly hearts can harden. I mean, literally, in the course of one message, their heart turned away. This is where we grab hold of the Word. If you find a word that bears witness with you, don't let it go.
[00:24:55] Don't let it go. Reasoning, understanding. No. The Word says, jesus even declared, heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word will never pass away. In Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 40:8 says, the grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of our God will stand forever. Friend. One of my favorite verses in the Bible says it over and over again. It came to pass.
[00:25:27] That's a great verse.
[00:25:31] It came to pass.
[00:25:37] The storm, it came and it passed.
[00:25:42] That trial, that assault on your life, it came and it passed.
[00:25:49] Don't give up and don't grow a hard heart in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, so continuing. Jesus, oh, this is awesome. He goes into synagogue. Everybody still doing good. He goes into a synagogue. He's preaching with great authority, the Bible says. And a demonized man begins to manifest. It calls him out, jesus, you are the Holy One of God. And Jesus commands the Spirit to come out. And it does. And In Luke chapter 4 and verse 36, the Bible says, they were all amazed. There's the response. And they spoke amongst themselves, saying, what a word this is. With authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits and they come out. And the Bible says, the report about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. The report went out. They were amazed with what Jesus did. And the Report went out. I want you to write this down. Tender hearts are eager to testify.
[00:26:52] They are eager to testify.
[00:26:56] Guys, I want to be like that. You know, when I first got saved, I mean, before I got saved, I was a drug addict. And I was a great evangelist for drugs. You ought to try this. Have you ever experienced this? I was a great evangelist. And see, this is why I believe God doesn't. God doesn't squash your desires. He redirects them, he reorients them. I had something built in me by God that wanted everybody to experience what I've experienced. I used it for bad for a lot of years. But when I got saved, you could not shut me up. I saw a miracle over here. Let's pray for miracles. I cast out a demon. Do you have demons? Let's pray for real. I just like, I began to experience and I just, I could not be quiet about it. That's why, like, ask my wife. I was crazy. I mean, it's just like, Leah, maybe you have demons. You ought to come talk to this guy. Come here.
[00:27:48] I just, for real, that's the way. I just got hungry for it. But what happens is when you have a tender heart, you can't help but be impressed by what God is doing and tell others about it. And it really is simple. You guys. Like, I hear these. There was a lady who talked to me before the first service. She said, my husband and I made a fifteen thousand dollar pledge to. Can you imagine? We don't have fifteen thousand dollars. She's like, my husband, he was a little upset that we made such a large commitment, but we both agreed that that's what we were going to do. And she said this last week I got a call from the IRS and they said, listen, you've been putting money into this account. Your husband has this retirement, but you also have this. She got a check for $19,000 from the IRS.
[00:28:40] That's like a double miracle, right? Nobody gets money back, but she got $19,000 back. And so I'm like, do you hear that? Last week we heard about a homeless lady who got a house and a car and a job. I'm like, God, that's awesome. We heard a testimony about one of our chaplains going into public school ministering over young people. But then the teacher in the classroom says, my mom has cancer. Well, let's pray. And they pray for the mom right there in the classroom. She comes back the next week again to minister in the schools. And the testimony comes back, my mom just had a checkup and her numbers are so much better. And this was the teacher's testimony. My mom is defeating cancer.
[00:29:30] I'm looking at that. Like, does your heart still like, wow, God, that's amazing. Or do we. Yeah, I've seen stuff like that before. Oh, yeah. God will provide if you give. Yeah, he just does that kind of stuff. No, wow, God, you're amazing, Lord, how do you faithfully show up and work on our behalf every single time? I mean, seriously, you guys, last week, I don't know how many between the two services we had, but like dozens and dozens of people. I need to get right with Jesus. You ever consider people were in these altars, a lifetime of guilt, sin, shame, and in one instance, a lifetime of sin is washed away. Like, does that amaze you that people come in heavy, burdened, weighed down, but the blood of Jesus, 2,000 years later, is still working on our. Wow, God, you're incredible. You are awesome. I am filled with awe and wonder. I am impressed and my heart is tender towards you. Oh, my. So the story continues. Now this is awesome because Jesus casts out a demon. The Bible says that the report went out, they began to testify. It was church people just talking about what God did at church. And they go out and Jesus, I don't know if you've ever seen this before, but you can look through, you know, he casts out the spirit in verse 31, and then in verse 38, he arose from the synagogue and he went to Simon's house. Simon Peter's mother in law was sick. She had a fever. He prays, she gets healed. Awesome.
[00:31:27] Rejoice over that. You ever pray for somebody and they got better? Well, it was just a headache.
[00:31:34] It was just a fever.
[00:31:36] Praise God.
[00:31:38] Thank you, Jesus. So she did. And she made a celebratory meal. She gets up and she cooks Thanksgiving for them. And then in verse 41, when the sun was setting, this is the same day Jesus was in church casting out devils. Heals mom before Thanksgiving dinner. And then they go, and outside they realize there's a mass of people that are gathering around the testimony of Jesus. And then the Bible says, I Love this verse 40, the sun was setting. All those who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. He laid his hands on everyone and healed them. You realize that testimonies have multiplication power to them.
[00:32:30] You know, I'm serious. Like, go tell somebody. This is, this is a true testimony. We shared it. Last Wednesday, lady with a migraine headache comes into church. Nobody Even prays for her. She just gets in the presence of God and her migraine goes, wow, that's not a small thing. Anybody who's had migraine headaches knows that's a big deal.
[00:32:54] We should go tell somebody. You know, we got people just showing up to our church and they get healed before anybody even prays for them. Isn't that amazing?
[00:33:05] You know, somebody gave $15,000 in an offering and God gave them back $19,000. Isn't that amazing? You know, a homeless person show. I mean, for real, this is all it is. You don't have to have the verses to go along with it. You don't have to have a polished, exegetical message. Just talk about what you're seeing. Wow, God. We were worshiping and I felt God show up. Do you realize. I know you're used to that. If you've been coming to church more than two weeks, you're used to that already.
[00:33:39] But, my gosh, have you ever noticed? Have you ever watched new people in church? Never been to church.
[00:33:45] They come in and the song begins to go, and the scriptures are read and they just cry, what is this?
[00:33:53] It's God.
[00:33:55] They've never felt it in their life.
[00:33:59] Try other religions, try other practices. But we come and we meet God here, guys.
[00:34:10] I think about it so often.
[00:34:13] I grew up in a lukewarm, really stale church. The kind of church that relegated all, you know, supernatural stuff to back rooms and, you know, Tuesday night prayer meetings.
[00:34:26] And I remember when I came to Christ for the nations, it was the first time I remember in my life when the Spirit of God. It was just a guy on a piano. The first meeting I was in was during a men's orientation. It was just one guy on a piano. And people began speaking in tongues all around me. And I remember the presence of God coming.
[00:34:51] It's nothing unusual for us. I know you grew up with this. I didn't grow up with it. And I remember when I felt. I remember like I was singing along. But, man, after about 30 seconds, I start looking around. I'm like, what have I been missing my entire life?
[00:35:09] Do you realize you have friends and family who are desperate? Like, just come to church.
[00:35:16] Come to church. You'll meet God.
[00:35:21] That's a big deal.
[00:35:25] Let me just give you a couple other. And then we're going to receive an offering, and then we're going to pray for miracles, and God's going to work miracles.
[00:35:36] I want you to write this down. Number three. Tender hearts are willing to follow Jesus.
[00:35:41] Tender hearts are Willing to follow Jesus. It's amazing. Jesus hops into Peter's boat at the beginning of chapter five. He multiplies fish. And the Bible says in verse nine that they were astonished at the catch of fish. How does your heart respond? Again we see a heart response. They were astonished at the miracle that Jesus worked. And their response was, they brought their boats, verse 11, to the land. They forsook all and followed Jesus.
[00:36:13] Tender hearts, amazed hearts were willing to follow Jesus. Number four.
[00:36:21] Tender hearts receive a great exchange. This is the last story I'll share.
[00:36:29] Tender hearts receive a great exchange. Look with me at verse 12, Luke, chapter 5.
[00:36:37] It says it happened when he was in a certain city. Behold a man full of leprosy.
[00:36:44] We've seen people full of thanksgiving, full of awe and wonder. We've seen people full of wrath.
[00:36:50] He was full of leprosy.
[00:36:54] He was full of leprosy. And he saw Jesus. He fell on his face. He implored him, saying, lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.
[00:37:10] If you are willing, you can make me clean. Even his very verbiage there tells me that his identity was in his sickness. He needed to be remade.
[00:37:26] He says, lord, are you willing? I know you can.
[00:37:30] Are you willing? And I feel like this is how many of us come into the house of God. Like, I know God healed that person. I know God provided for that poor person. I know God took that addiction off of their life, and he saved their marriage and brought their kids home. I know God did that for them. But is it always God's will?
[00:37:51] Is it his will? For me, this was the question that the leper had. He came and he fell on his face and he said, lord, are you willing to remake me?
[00:38:07] I'm full of disease.
[00:38:10] I'm full of sickness. He was full of leprosy.
[00:38:16] The Bible says Jesus touched him.
[00:38:25] He touched him and he said, I am willing.
[00:38:32] Be clean.
[00:38:36] Be cleansed.
[00:38:41] There's something in theology terms that we call the Great exchange comes out of Second Corinthians, chapter five.
[00:38:50] And it says that he, the Father, made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that through Jesus we might become the righteousness of God. Through him, Jesus lived a sinless life.
[00:39:09] This is called the Great Exchange. Jesus lived a sinless life, but he died taking your sin upon himself and giving you his righteousness, his perfect life.
[00:39:27] That's what Jesus did for us.
[00:39:31] That's the great exchange. But did you know that Jesus purchased more than the forgiveness of our sins? The Bible actually says he takes our sins and he gives us his righteousness. Someone say thank you, Jesus.
[00:39:45] The Bible also says that he takes our grief. This is Isaiah 53. He takes your grief, he takes your sorrows, he takes your sin, and he restores you. He makes you whole. The Bible says in Second Corinthians 8, 9 that he took poverty, he was rich, and he became impoverished so that he could make us rich.
[00:40:08] What? That's right. And if you don't think that's about money, read all of chapter eight and all of chapter nine. The entire chapters are about giving and generosity. Jesus took upon himself poverty so that he could leave his children with an inheritance. That's a good word. He takes leprosy and he makes lepers clean. I don't know what you need to exchange today, but you can. You can take your sin and receive his righteousness. You can give him your guilt, your shame, your sorrow, your weightiness, your burdens. And you can receive his wholeness. You can give him your disease because he carried it, he bore it for you. And you can receive wholeness. You can give him your poverty, your burdens, your debt. And he can bless you so much, you can be a blessing. This is the great exchange. This is what Jesus has done for each and every one of us. Now, worship team, if you'll come.
[00:41:08] We're going to do something very special, and I think it's very fitting for us.
[00:41:13] We're going to give an offering.
[00:41:16] One of the interesting ideas that we see here with this man who was cleansed of leprosy.
[00:41:23] Jesus says in Luke 5:14, he charged the leper. Don't tell anybody what I just did for you. He already had a multitude. You can see it in verse one. Multitudes were following him. He says, go show yourself to the priest and give an offering. Go to church, say hi to the pastor and give an offering.
[00:41:45] That's your thank you for being cleansed of leprosy.
[00:41:50] Go to church, share the testimony. Give an offering. That's what Jesus told him to do. He says, this is just as Moses commanded. But the report went around concerning Jesus all the more and great multitudes. He went from multitudes in verse one to great multitudes in verse 15. How do you grow from multitudes to great multitudes?
[00:42:17] Healing leprosy will do it. I guess that's why we pray for this. I want this to be a house of miracles. I want everybody who has cancer get healed right here. I think it's a great church growth strategy. You know, everybody with addictions get set free when they come to church. You know, every heathen, their life gets transformed. It's amazing, guys. We show up to Thanksgiving dinner, and it's like I look around the room, and, like, all y'all used to be heathens.
[00:42:48] But look what God has done. I mean, literally. We were, like, having Bible study at our Thanksgiving dinner this year. I had the joy of leading half of my family to the Lord. I'm looking around. I know how you used to be. I know how you used to be. Look at what God has done. Now. Some of you, your testimony is still being written, but he can do it, and he will.
