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Alright guys, I take your Bibles go back to Luke chapter 8 and As Caleb said it is a great chapter as we're reading through it. It's pretty chunky how many verses? 56 verses and there's a lot of stories, so I'm going to try my best to get through the whole chapter If I can't get through it would be in a reasonable time. I'll save it for some other sermon But look at verse number 12 Luke 8 verse 12 It says those by the wayside are they that hear then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts Lest they should believe and be saved Lest they should believe and be saved the title of sermon this morning is believe and be saved Believe and be saved verse number one Luke 8 verse 1 and it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village Preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God and the twelve were with him Hey, what's another way to explain or express the glad tidings that Jews is preaching? What's a word that we're very familiar with when we talk about glad tidings or good tidings it me It's the gospel the gospel means glad tidings I'll just quickly read to you from Romans 10 15 the Bible says and how shall they preach? except they be sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel pay attention to that word the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things So there we have in Romans 10 15 the gospel of peace is Compared as the glad tidings of good things now Romans 10 15 it says it is written Where is it written y'all need to turn there to Isaiah 52 verse 7? Isaiah 52 verse 7 which says how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good Tidings that publish of peace. Hey, what did Romans 10 15 call it the gospel of peace? What does Isaiah 52 7 call it the good tidings that publish us peace then it says that bringeth good tidings of good and publisheth Salvation that saith unto Zion thy God reigneth. Hey, what is the gospel it is publishing? Salvation. All right. The gospel is not feeding the poor The gospel is not looking after the widows. The gospel is not coming to church. The gospel is not get baptized The gospel is preaching salvation. It's preaching the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ But I want you to notice there in verse number one That it says that he went throughout every city and village Hey, what was the purpose of Jesus Christ? Was it to go to some cities and some villages? No in his ministry his purpose was to go to every city of Judah and preach Okay, now look at the last verse of Luke chapter 8 look at the last verse Because we're gonna see this pattern many times in the Bible and he might throw you off a little bit But verse 56 after he heals the little girl the 12 year old girl from death. He brings her back to life it says here and Her parents were astonished But he charged them that they should tell no man what was done So it seems like it was you read for the Gospels well, hold on many times Jesus look don't tell anyone what's going on Don't tell them and then I say well, hold on Jesus. Are you trying to hide something? Are you trying to hide the gospel? Are you gonna are you trying to hide yourself from other people that they would not know you or follow after you or believe in you? Whatever. No, we see there in verse 1 that his purpose was to go to every city every village making self available to everyone But as you've seen as we go through the chapters, there are great multitudes following him All right, if he had everybody of Julia following him He wouldn't be able to service each person each village and every each city. Okay, so Jesus had order He wants an order in the way he would go and approach every city. His heart was to reach everybody Okay, but it was to be done orderly not out of control with these mass, you know crowds even though that still happened He had literally had thousands of people following after him So I don't want you to get the idea that Jesus trying to limit himself it's not his purpose is to go into every city and every village verse number two and Certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities Mary called Magdalene out of whom went seven devils now Mary Magdalene gets a lot of attention, you know From from certain Christians and I don't know if you've heard this but a lot of people believe Mary Magdalene was a was a prostitute Let me just say there's nowhere in the Bible that says that this is the first mention that we have with Mary Magdalene following Jesus Christ and what do we learn about her that out of her Jesus Christ healed her healed her from the evil spirit She was possessed by devils and it says out of whom went seven Devils so she was possessed by devil She had seven devils in her and Jesus Christ had healed her as he had done to many other people and cast at those devils But now we have a certain group of women Following Jesus and his disciples look at verse number three not just Mary Magdalene verse number three and Joanna the wife of chooser Herod's steward and Susanna and many others which ministered unto him of their substance So you see there are some ladies mentioned with Mary Joanna and Susanna and many others the Bible says okay, so there was a group of ladies that would follow after The ministry of Christ and what was their job? What were they doing? You know were they were they standing up before the ground the masses and preaching the gospel Not because Bible says that women are to remain silent in the churches right, but hey were they important to Jesus Christ They are absolutely important right they even mentioned in the Word of God and what were they doing they were ministering unto The preachers with their substance so I assume they were doing the cooking they were hoping maybe so You know when the clothes were ripped or whatever they were helping fix up the the garments Hey They were doing what they could to ensure that the men of God the leaders of the preachers were able to do the job at hand Okay, so that is the role there of a woman I'm not saying that it's never the role of woman to go and preach the gospel it absolutely is okay But it's not the role of the woman to stand before men in masses like in a church and preach as we see many many Today you know Joyce Meyers and other women like that. You know they are doing things contrary to the Word of God all right verse number four and When much people were gathered together and were come to him out of every city He spake a parable now this parable that we're about to read is the parable of the sower It's probably one of the most popular parables that people preach on I would say this one and the Good Samaritan are Probably the two top parables you often hear most popular ones that you hear preached in church Now what's interesting about this parable of the sower is that? It's it's interpreted different ways by different preachers, okay, then let me just say this How they interpret this parable will give you a pretty good indication of what they believe about the gospel Okay, if they believe it's by grace through faith on Christ, or if they believe it's by works And you'll have preachers that will still say yeah, I believe it's by faith But when you ask them about the gospel They'll still throw in the works all right and this parable is a good way if you if you know the preacher that preaches on this Parable listen to what they're saying and that would give you a really good indication does this person believe the gospels by works Or does he believe it's by faith alone all right, so let's have a look at this parable verse number five a Sower went out to sow his seed and as he sowed some fell by the wayside the wayside is like a footpath And it was trodden down and the fowls of the air devoured it So you know a wayside a footpath obviously you have the concrete back then But even if you were to walk on soil and like you'd have masses of people walking on soil The soil will become compressed will be hardened so if you're going to try to plant seed and throw seed on it It's not going to get into the soil. It's not going to get into the ground It's just going to sit there on the top and then as people go by the wayside. They're going to tread on that seed It's going to be destroyed or the birds will be able to come down easily and eat that for themselves, okay? let's go, let's go to verse number six and Some fell upon a rock Now if you were to take the book of Luke alone It's a bit confusing like why would some seed fall on a rock? Well the book of Matthew when he can when he talks about this parable. It says it fell on stony places Okay, so it's ground. That's rocky, but it has some soil Okay, it's rocky. It's hard, but it still has some soil And then it says and as he sowed sorry and sorry as soon as it was sprung up It withered away because it lacks moisture so because it's a rocky soil Yes, it can receive the seed yes It can spring up But because it's hard you know when it rains the moisture is not going to be ready to retain in that area very well And so it withers away with a lack of water with a lack of moisture Verse number seven and some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it Verse eight and Other fell on good ground now This is this is the interesting one this is the ground that we want our hearts to be when we hear the Word of God either as an unsafe person With a good heart or just as a church member Coming to church and being ready to receive the preaching being ready to receive the teaching from God's Word We want to have hearts that are good and ready to receive but look at verse eight the context of this will see is Preaching the gospel and other fell on good ground and sprang up and bear fruit and hundredfold and When he said these things he cried He that hath ears to hear let him hear Hey, so he tells this parable and Christ and cries out. You know he that have ears let him hear now I would say everybody has got ears right. Do you think it's Jesus's intention that we would know this parable Absolutely, it's his intention. He says he that have an ears let him hear he wants to explain this parable This shouldn't be a parable with multiple interpretations. This shouldn't be a parable. I'm not sure what this is talking about Jesus wants to reveal this to us okay verse number nine and His disciples asked him saying what might this parable be now? This is a really interesting reply from Jesus Christ And he said unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God but to others in parables that seeing they might not see and Hearing they might not understand Wow You see that so there are certain people that Jesus you're going to understand this parable Because yours is the kingdom of God, but for others they'll see they hear, but they will not understand alright So think about the nature. I don't want to go into the topic of reprobates today, okay? But there are some people that are so hardened that God himself has had in their hearts to receive his word They can see they can see they can hear but they cannot understand what is being preached from the Word of God Okay, obviously those that can hear and understand are those that are saved those that have received Christ as their Savior And they have the Spirit of God in them, and they can discern the scriptures all right Verse number 11 now Jesus explains this parable to us verse number 11 now the parable is this The seed is the Word of God The seed is the Word of God Okay, so now we're going to have a parable of the preaching the gospel Okay, what are we to do when we go and preach the gospel? You know are we to tell them hey? You know we have a good church, and we have good activities, and we have good people is that preaching the gospel Or no it says we need to go with the Word of God when we sow the seed We need to take the Word of God with us okay I would strongly encourage you to memorize the verses of salvation Memorize the verses about the gospel so you can be an effective Sower because there are times and people will not allow you to even open this Bible But they will allow you to speak the words of God and that's a great opportunity for you to sow seed Even without opening the Bible, but you can still speak the Word of God. It's essential I'll just read to you quickly from 1st Peter 123 1st Peter 123 Talking about believers it says being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth Forever, so how are we born again by the seed the Word of God not of corruptible seed hey? There's a reason why we go with the King James Bible Okay now if your Bible has an error in it if your Bible has an inconsistency It's a corruptible seed all right, so we need to make sure when we go with the Word of God We take something that's perfect That's pure, and I make no apologies to believe the King James Bible is the English is a perfect Translation in English for us that we can use to go and preach the Word of God I mean, it's um it amazes me. It's not a question I used to ask but when I would go Jason Parkin when we would meet someone that's already saved And they'd give us the God they tell us he adds my faith can never lose its eternal life They've been resurrection of Christ not my works You know one question that Jason would often ask is you know when did you hear this you know you say on this church? I was this young whatever, and you know what Bible. Did you read that from what Bible? You know they say I mean most often it surprised me the King James Bible It's the King James Bible, and then you go to others that would read from other translations And you ask them what must you do to be saved? I got to live would be a good person go to church You know live a good life, and it's like what why were you reading? It's some modern corrupted translation Okay, so it's interesting. I didn't expect to have that response, but I've seen that in the last few months or even the last year I should say of the responses people that actually know the gospel have heard it from the King James I'm talking about English speakers here all right Let's move on verse number 12 verse number 12 Those by the wayside are they that here now pay attention to this The wayside remember the footpath the hard ground with it with it with a seed would not be planted into the soil Are they that here? Then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and Be saved hey how could have these people been saved By believing the Word of God by believing the gospel they heard it did they believe it no Satan sent his messenger whatever it was to take that word away, and they would not believe us Okay, this is one group of people that we can preach to they hear the gospel Do not believe it or you know I would even I wouldn't even associate this When you when you're preaching the gospel and someone seems to be really receptive Yeah, you get it, and then somebody in the family yells out. We're not interested Hey, that's a messenger of Satan. That's someone that's trying to pluck the word out of their heart So they would not believe it's such a sad thing all right Let's go. Let's move on so this person does not believe and does not get saved does that make sense she makes sense Right is not saved this person because they did not believe Verse 13 now. Let's read this slowly verse 13 They on the rock are they which when they hear they receive the word with joy Did they receive the seed? Yes, they receive it with joy actually and these have no roots Which for a while believe now? Let's stop there for a minute do they believe? The Bible says they did for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away So what did the previous verse say to be saved you have to believe does this next group believe? Yeah, they believe what does that mean like without me trying to give my? thoughts on this if the previous verse says they believe in a saved and this person believes it means they're saved because Salvations by faith and not by works and yet this represents many Christians today they believe they're faithful for a while they rejoice even But then the temptations come the trials the difficulties of life Maybe just standing up for Jesus Christ becomes too difficult Maybe they have families that turn against them because you know that they receive the gospel they turned away from the false religion Or their first gods or whatever and they fall away because of temptation Hey that can be any of us that can be any of us today you might be filled with joy absolutely amen praise God Tomorrow when you face the trials and difficulties standing up for Jesus Christ You might be tempted to just fall away and be quiet and just you know what you know I'm saved good, but I'm not going to really stand up for the Lord God anymore Verse 14 and that which fell among thorns are they which when they heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and Bring no fruit to perfection Now Bob doesn't say here if they believed or not, but think about just the context right these see fell amongst thorns They go forth, so there's there's a there's a produce there I would say these people are saved as well that they believe because there's been something that's come out of that seed it's been brought forth, but a choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruits to Perfection no fruit. We'll talk about what the fruit represents in a moment okay, but these people get saved whoo Okay, but their eyes are not set on eternity their eyes are set on temporal things their eyes are set on the temporal riches Of this life. You know the big house the second car Whatever whatever it is that you know you can enjoy your the holidays. They'd rather put all these things first Than Jesus Christ then the kingdom of God and they're choked Whilst as they are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life You know it sounds like these believers are really enjoying life But from God's perspective. They're being choked. They're being choked, and they're unproductive They're not bringing any any fruits to perfection all right. They're not achieving great things for God They're achieving great things on this earth It's only got temporal value. There's nothing eternal for them Verse 15 verse 15, and this is the best one right, but that on the good ground are they? Which in an honest and good heart have been heard the word keep it and bring forth fruits with patience So here we have another group here that that believe they receive the word They keep the word and they bring fruit with patience All right now let me just reach you from Proverbs 11 verse 30 Proverbs 11 verse 30 the Bible says the fruit of the righteous is A tree of life and he that win of souls is wise Hey, if you want to be fruitful if you want to be a tree of life The Bible says that's the one that wins souls Okay, what is the fruit? We were reading the Bible a lot of people think of the fruit of the spirit, and that's okay I understand that okay, but the fruit of the spirit is a fruit of the spirit What is the fruit of the believer? What is the fruit of the righteous if you're going to reproduce? What are you reproducing other? believers Okay, we're mums and dads when they reproduce they reproduce other Children okay other human beings you know when churches reproduce they reproduce other churches Okay, and so when the spirit reproduces when you're born of the spirit it reproduces the new spirit in you Okay, but when believers reproduce we're reproducing new believers, okay? Now let me just quickly say this I'll just read to you from Matthew 13 verse 8 Because you might remember that it mentioned the hundredfold fruit that was produced But in Matthew 13 verse 8 it says this but other fell into good ground and brought forth fruits some and a hundredfold some 60 fold some 30 fold Do you think God gives us these numbers for no reason? Some have fruit of 30 some have fruit of 60 some have fruit of a hundred If we tie this together about bringing forth fruits bring in preaching the gospel the word of God and and having that fruit There are some people that will get 30 people saved there are some that will get 60 people saved There are some that will get a hundred people saved Hey, but it's the fruit of the season. You know trees reproduce You know in its season, so let's say it's it's a spring and a tree Producers in spring that means next year in spring. It's going to produce once again Okay, so it's not limited to these numbers, but limited to the season that tree is fruitful think about that for a minute there are some of us that in our lifetime are going to get 30 people saved 60 people saved a hundred people saved and Beyond I mean that these are good targets to aim for these are numbers that God has given us for a reason I don't believe it's just a Nonsense number that Jesus froze at us there. No, so what you'd be thoughtful about this Are you? Reproducing are you bringing forth fruits can you say to me? I've had 30 people saved and that's the small number not 60 or 100 if you get to 30 people say praise God That's awesome. That's been productive. That's been fruitful. You know it's possible to do this. That's our yeah I've got my family safe. That's awesome It's good that you got your family saved, but you can go beyond that into this community Preaching the Word of God and having a heart to receive the truth and being saved these are possible numbers there was a time in my life when I used to read this ago this impossible 30 people saved in my lifetime and Then I think I got about 30 people saved in one year once you know when I put a lot of effort into saw So can I get I'll get my boys Matthias Nicholas Christian and Sebastian Can you guys come up here? Just stand in from the pulpit here all four of you Face that way in front of the pulpit Alright, so We'll start off with Sebastian over here, so let's say I'm the sower right I go and sow the seed of the Word of God I come preach in the gospel. I knock on their doors. They're not brothers. They're at separate doors I knock on their doors, and I come to The one whose heart is like the wayside. It's being compressed. It's been hardened I come preaching the Word of God he hears us he understands it maybe Okay, but it doesn't receive it. It doesn't take any Any plantation at all in his heart then the devil comes along and snatches that word away and? Sebastian unfortunately is not saved is not saved he represents that first one so you can sit down All right Unsaved we've got three left though three left in the parable now This is what I'm talking about whether you believe salvation's by faith alone, or whether you believe it's by works Because the one that believes it's by works this one That's fruitful a hundred fold sixty fold thirty fold the one that believes in works when they interpret this parable They'll say he's unsaved. He's unsaved, but he's saved why because look at his works look at how much he's done Look how fruitful he is But because these guys don't have any fruit because these people don't have any works They must be unsaved meaning in their in their ideal ideology of the gospel That you must also have the works in order to be saved Now if we're honest with ourselves you talk about when you got saved when you receive Christ as your Savior Have you always been this productive fruitful Christian? Always in your life, or can you say sometimes in my life? I've been represented by these other guys as well I think you know if we're honest We've been represented by maybe any of these three guys at different stages in our life Okay, you might be the one that was the next one on the rock yeah on the stony places You might be the one that receives that we've joy, but there's a lack of moisture You're not going to church not reading the Word of God. You're not having fellowship with the Lord. You're not growing Okay, and then in times of temptation when he has to stand up for God because he has so little faith You know he perishes he moves away, but he's still saved He's saved you receive that with joy because salvation is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, so that's that's Nicholas okay Go sit down Then we have Christian you're represented by the the one who had cares of the life right Christian represents So the believer who's just about the holidays just about money. How much can I make how much can I earn you know? You know can I climb the corporate ladder and Mike make my name for myself in the world Rather than make a name in the kingdom of God. It's just a name in the world Yeah, you can be a believer like that. I mean I I've been there I've been safe since I was four years old and there's a time in life Where I'm just more focused on work making money buying a house doing these kinds of things and when your heart set on that You're just not being productive. You're being choked by the world, and you go no. I don't have time to serve the Lord I don't know how I don't know I just don't have time What's because your time is spent watching TV and and and feasting on the lusts of the flesh and all those kinds of things so you know that's Christian and Then we have Matthias who says hey, you know what I can't keep these words to myself I've been saved I received that I need to go out there and preach to other people because they're lost and dying and going to Hell without the gospel and so he makes it his job I'm gonna go out every week once a week 52 weeks a year and preach the gospel and it said with patience Is he going to get the first person the first door someone saved no could be a hundred doors But patience a hundred doors eventually one day He's going to get to somebody that's ready to receive it ready to believe and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved Okay, let's sit down My point is it's the first one That did not receive the word and did not believe Okay, the other three received it was saved, but they represent believers as you know I'm sure you know many believers that you could say yeah, they easily represent one of these three Okay, and you might in your life. You might go through different phases in your life and represent each one of those All right, let's move on Actually, no, let's not move on yet Keep your finger there keep your finger there in Luke chapter 8 and go to Revelation chapter 3 Revelation chapter 3 Because I want to give you guys just a bonus. I don't know what I call it but bonus material on this Revelation chapter 3 verse 10 Revelation chapter 3 verse 10 Try to remember what we've covered in this parable and now we look at this this our passage Revelation chapter 3 verse 10 the Bible says Because thou has kept the word of my patience patience of these words I Will also keep thee from the hour of temptation Which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth? Now you might say what does that have to do with this power of the sower? Because a lot of people use this passage that those that believe in a pre tribulation rapture They take this passage, and they read it this way Because thou has kept the word of my patience Whatever that means I will also keep thee from the hour, and then they'll replace our we have seven years of temptation They'll replace temptation with the great tribulation all right So they interpret it as whatever the word of patience means Will be kept from the seven years of tribulation look at this the pre-trib rapture in the Bible, okay? Now we don't believe in the pre-trib rapture here We believe in a post-trib pre-raff rapture, but now that we have scriptures we can compare scripture with scripture I think revelation 310 makes a lot more sense now when we understand this parable of the sower. Let's look at revelation 310 again Because thou has kept Now what did it say in in Luke 8? 15 but on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the word Keep it Okay, and bring forth fruits with patience Let's look at revelation 310 because thou has kept the word of my patience What is what are these believers doing? What are they patiently doing and Keeping the word of God in patience. What are they doing? They're sowing the seed They're being fruitful Christians they're going out knocking doors preaching the gospel And it's because you're one of these people in in revelation 310 I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation Think about the parable of the sower Which is the one that fell into temptation? The one that was on the rocky ground the one that would fell upon the rock remember they receive that we enjoy But then came temptation and they fell away Alright, so you say I don't want to be that Christian. What do I do? Revelation 310 gives us the answer you keep the word of his patience you go and you preach the Word of God you patiently do It and you serve God and you be fruitful and if you do that Jesus Christ promises that he's going to keep you from temptation He's going to keep you from falling away It's a wonderful thing when we have scriptures and we can compare those two things right compare scripture with scripture Anyway, that's just extra. Let's go back to Luke chapter 8 Luke chapter 8 Luke chapter 8 verse 16 Luke chapter 8 verse 16 No, man when he have lighted a candle cover fit with a vessel or put a foot under a bed and set up on a candlestick That they which enter may see the lights for nothing is secret that should not be made manifest Neither anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad now know what your thoughts are on these these passages I Used to think this this in particular was about preaching the gospel About you know the lights shining the light in the in the in the community with a lot of the gospel That's what I used to think it meant, but now when I understand it in the context of this chapter I realized that it's something else because remember what did Jesus Christ start off saying? That hey to his disciples to his believers they're going to understand the parable But to those that are potentially reprobate or just aren't ready to receive Jesus Christ right now. They're going to hear, but they're not going to Understand they're going to see see it, but they're not going to you know they're not they're not going to understand the parable all right So think about this look at verse 16 Who are those that saw the light in verse 16? So if you light a candle in your house for example who's going to see the light Look at it The second part of verse 16, but set up it on a candlestick that they which enter May see the lights Who sees the lights in the house? Those that enter the house those that are outside the house would not see the lights Think about this in the context of this parable who's going to understand the parable the disciples of Christ Those that belong to the kingdom of God Why because they've entered in they've entered into that house They see the light they understand the parable But those that have not entered into Christ those that have not received Christ as their Savior They are not going to understand this parable alright Verse 17 for nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest Neither anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad so it's our job For those that that are blinded to this teaching that are blinded to the gospel that are blinded to salvation by grace through faith It's our job to take that light then and go and make it known Okay, so you see that two part those that understand are those that are saved that have entered in and then we need to broadcast That understanding broadcast that light verse 18 Verse 18 take heed therefore how ye hear for whosoever hath to him shall be given and whosoever Have not from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have so it's sort of playing on that same idea there So whosoever hath are those that are saved Whosoever hath not are those that are unsaved and especially the reprobate Okay, they're not going to be able to it seems like they understand it there right at the end of it for him that shall be taken Sorry from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have So there are people that seem to have the gospel There are preachers that seem to have the words of God that seem to understand and seem to teach But it's taken away from them because they're not in the kingdom of God. They're not even saved Can you believe that there are preachers throughout Australia that seem to be saved seem to be spiritual seem to be Christian But they do not have the words of life. They do not have the light of understanding the scriptures verse 19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren and Could not by the way his mother did not remain a virgin Yes, he was born of a virgin, but she was married to Joseph, and they had children so here in verse 19 We have the brothers that I guess the half brothers even call it that way and and sisters of Jesus Christ coming to him as Well as in his mother Sorry it then came to him his mother and his brethren and could not come at him for the press I couldn't make their way There was just so many multitudes trying to hear Christ And he was told by told him by certain which said thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to see thee Now look I don't believe Jesus Christ was disrespectful to his family at all okay as we read this He's continuing the teaching that we've had before Okay, let's let's look at this verse 21 And he answered and said unto them my mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God and Do it If you want to be counted close to Christ, but Christ says yeah, this is my mother He's my brethren. You know I'm related to them. I'm close to them We have to be people that not only hear the word of God, but do it What's the context of what we're just reading about here of knowing the gospel preaching the gospel being fruitful? Doing these things that Christ wants from us, and if we do that he sees us as his mother and brethren Okay, more important to him than his blood relative now. They were important don't misunderstand of course right But more important those that were closest to Jesus are those which kept his commandments John 14 15 says if you love me keep my commandments Those are the words of Christ if you love Jesus Keep his commandments, and you know as we're going through this the commandment here is to be fruitful to multiply to be to be a tree of Righteous the righteous the tree of life preaching the word of God and seeing souls saved That's who Jesus wants to fellowship with that's who Jesus wants to be close to those that hear and do his commandments Okay Verse 22 Now it came to pass on a certain day that he went to into a ship with his disciples and he said unto them let us go over unto the other side of the lake and they launched forth and as they sailed he fell asleep and they came down a storm of wind on the lake and they were filled with water and We're in jeopardy and they came to me and awoke him saying master master we perish Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water and they ceased and there was a calm It's an amazing story here when we see that dual nature of Jesus Christ You know that he was definitely a hundred percent man. You know he was tired He was weary you know after doing all this work or this preaching He just wanted to get into the ship and have a sleep and have a snooze He needed to recharge his you know the flesh right, but at the same time He awakes and he stops the storms and the winds and brings peace And you see the nature obeys the words of Jesus Christ And then we hear see these reflection of God the deity of Christ that is God Almighty as well It's amazing you see that too that dual nature right there with him, right? and it's I feel sorry for the disciples because You know I'm not the best swimmer so if I was in a ship and those storms and like it was water and like sinking Down I'd be freaking out. I'd be the one going master master. You know we perish That'd be me and then look look how Jesus responds in verse 25, and he said unto them. Where is your faith? What a rebuke Well look don't you know I'm with you in the ship That's what he's saying. Where's your faith haven't you seen me do all these miracles? You know raise the dead and heal the the blind and the lame cast out devils and do all these wonderful things Hey, I'm with you in the ship Where is your faith? But that's like us we can be that way we can go through life. We're in Christ Christ is in us We're saved and we have the turmoils of life. We have the storms beat down We have Christ, but we can still panic We can still you know worry and and and and and be bogged down with the cares of this world and All Jesus would say to you is where is your faith? That's that's what he wants because he wants you to rely on him to know that he's there that is near you And he won't let you go through something that you cannot face. He'll be there to help you through the storms of life So if that's you today guys you're panicking about some situation in life Jesus says where is your faith? Okay, believe on him trust him take your cares to him rely upon him rely on his strength verse 25 I didn't finish it and they were afraid and they being afraid wondered saying one to another What manner of man is this for he commandeth even the winds and waters and they obey him? I'm a bit embarrassed by the winds and the waters because Jesus asked them to do something and they obey But us Jesus asked us to do something. We don't always obey all right I mean even the winds on the waters are more obedient than our sinful flesh many times right that should embarrass us a little bit there But verse 26 and they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes which is over against Galilee So this country of the Gadarenes these are not Jews these are Gentiles now okay, and you'll probably recognize this because they're they're like they've got a farm of pigs and obviously For the Jews and the commands of Moses that the the swine or the pigs were considered an unclean animal So you wouldn't eat them, but here we have a gentle nation and as we go on we'll see that they are they're farming pigs Verse 27 and When and when he went forth to land there met him at the city a certain man Which had devils a long time and wore no clothes neither a boat in any house, but in the tombs You know what this reminds me of? Just like a few weeks ago was it two or three weeks ago. We had Halloween okay now in Sydney I think maybe once one year I Barely ever see anybody Doing the trick-and-treat all right the kids going out from house to house dressing up as Devils Dressing up as ghosts or whatever and doing trick-and-treat now Maybe part of the reason is because it's Sydney You know I wouldn't be comfortable with my kids going out door to door either. You know alone. You know collecting candy or whatever lollies But here on the Sunshine Coast when I first arrived back in October last year I saw it happening and then again this year again a bunch of kids going out dressed up like Devils Doing the trick-and-treat, so it's definitely something that is going on more in Queensland than it is in New South Wales And maybe even more on the Sunshine Coast Maybe people feel more comfortable with their neighbors than in the bigger cities potentially But one thing that I noticed is you've got these teenage girls I mean They're not even really they're not even dressed. I mean, it's almost like how whorish can I look? You know and look like a devil at the same time Okay, it's like this man is possessed by many Devils for a long time, and it doesn't wear any clothes It's completely naked. I mean that's what you're just driving to traffic Yeah, it was church meeting on Halloween day. We're driving down. We see all these kids and these teenage girls It's like man, you know you've been are you trying to be a prostitute are you trying to be look? You know as naked as you possibly can and then it says neither boat in any house in verse 27 But in the tombs hey this man that was possessed of Devils was preoccupied with death was preoccupied with the graves of the tombs you know so I Truly believe that Halloween is a holiday of the devil Okay, I mean if you're gonna open up your children to Satan and Devils yeah, Halloween's probably the way to do it Okay, because they just reflect what this possessed man is Okay verse 28 and When he saw Jesus he cried out and fell down before him and with a loud voice said What have I to do with thee Jesus thou son of God most high I beseech thee torment me not Hey, the Devils know who's in charge It's not Satan. They know Jesus is in charge, and he's being him look torment me not Don't cast me into hell. You know leave me alone Jesus. You know. What are you doing here verse 29? For he that commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man For oftentimes he had caught him and he was kept bound with chains and with fetters And he break the bands and was driven of the devil into the wilderness So we see somehow that being possessed by Devils Gives that gave this man anyway Supernatural strength that he can be chained up You know like with handcuffs or chains or whatever and we had to break free from that You know these these people this person at least had supernatural strength, but still Even with the supernatural strength of the devil that was still afraid of Jesus Christ because ultimately guys You know great is he that is in you than he that is in the world Okay, we have the Holy Spirit in us Even if we were to see the devil himself or a man possessed by the devil It's not something we ought to be necessarily afraid of because we have Christ in us and Christ is in charge of all things Okay, here's the boss verse 30 and Jesus asked him saying what is thy name, and he said legion because many Devils are entered into him Now I looked up what Legion means Legion is a military term a legion of soldiers and basically a legion is about 5,000 men Anyway between three thousand to six thousand men, but roughly five thousand men So if we were to take this at face value this man may have very well been possessed by five thousand Devils I Mean that's that's pretty crazy. That's probably why he had this supernatural strength. He had all this power Given to him through the devil Verse 31 and They besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep All right, so where they didn't want to be tormented. They didn't want to be cast into the deep So what does this talk? What is this about? This is help? Okay, they would not they they were still roaming the earth and did not want to be cast into hell Okay, they knew their judgment. They know that God would eventually cast him into hell They know that's where they're going to end up, but they were begging Jesus Please not now right don't cast me into that deep and let me just clarify one thing about hell That's misunderstood by a lot of Christians Hell is not the kingdom of Satan Satan and his Devils do not rule and reign hell they have no power in hell Okay hell is the place of God's righteous judgment and wrath on The unbelievers on those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says it was prepared first for the devil and his angels Okay, don't misunderstand. What hell is hell is actually a good place. It's a place that God created So that he's the fires of his wrath would bring torment on those that reject and hate God Okay, and that is the ultimate destination for Satan and his angels and his Devils in The lake of fire in hell and they're not going to be ruling and raining and tormenting people They will be tormented by the wrath of God by the fires of hell. Okay, please don't misunderstand that I've seen that so many places in in some gospel tracts, you know Representing hell as Satan's kingdom. It's not you know right now Satan's kingdom is on this earth and Okay At some point he's going to be cast when we know we know where that is that's after the millennium, but we're going that's a different topic for another time verse 32 and There was an herd of many swine So these are pigs feeding on the mountains and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them and he suffered them So Jesus says all right you want to go into the pigs leave this man alone and go into the pigs and Went the Devils out of the man and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently Down a steep place into the lake and were choked When they had fed them sorry when they that fed them So saw what was done they fled and went and told it in the city and in the country So again, this just confirms that it's a gentle nation They've got these people feeding the swine farm and the swine Farming these pigs was most likely used as a food source. Just like we use it today And you might say well these poor pigs This poor swine that you know the Devils went into them this legion of Devils And they ran down the hill into the lake and were drowned the poor swine. You know the poor animals We see in Christ how important the soul of a man is It's more important than an animal. It's more important than a herd of swine Okay, Jesus would rather those just pigs just be drowned Being being possessed by those Devils and see that to have this man's soul saved to have him redeemed from the power of the devil Okay, again. We're not animals. Okay. We're not you know evolved animals. We went apes once and became human beings no God holds man will create it in the image of God Okay, we have a soul Spirit and body and animals are lower a lower animal you know and so the value of one man's soul guys is Worth more than whatever the cost was for these men to lose. You know their swine to lose their animals verse 35 Then they went out to see what was done so the people of the city went to have a look What's going on and came to Jesus and found the man out of whom the Devils were departed? Sitting at the feet of Jesus so this represents that he was sitting there. He was listening to the teaching of Christ he had received Christ Clothed hey put in clothes All right now think about this you know if you're somebody and I guess maybe the ladies You know I'm talking to you, but the men as well, and if you're someone that would rather parade You know with as little clothes as you can what does that represent? The devil the influence of Satan in your life, we have this man who's delivered now He's fully clothed standing or sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ Okay, now. I've not taught him clothing, but I will at some points, but be mindful about the clothes you wear You know does it reflect Satan and his Devils are going to reflect deliverance by Jesus Christ Clothed Was I up to Verse 35 and in his right mind The guy's not crazy anymore. I he's not he's not mad. He's clean. He's sane. He's understanding What has been told of him, and they were afraid the people city were afraid they should be happy They should be rejoicing this man. It was a wild man. They could run around in the tombs He's delivered. They should be like wow this is awesome. You know look at the power of Jesus Christ look what he can do They're afraid. What do they do in verse 36? They also which saw it told them by what means he would that he that was possessed of the Devils was healed So they even told me it was Jesus that healed this man Then the whole multitude of the country of the gatherings round abouts besought him to depart from them For they were taken with great fear, and he went up into the ship and returned back again So we see this city the people see they just rejects Christ. He does that amazing Miraculous work in their land these are Gentiles this time right we can blame the Jews for rejecting Christ But we have an example of Gentiles afraid of Christ and reject him they can't see the good works You know and they're more afraid and they tell him to leave and he does Look at look at verse 38 the man that was possessed of the Devils now the man out of whom the Devils were departed Besought him that he might be with him But Jesus sent him away saying so this man that was possessed and now is now is good now believes in Christ He wants to continue on with Christ Jesus says no you need to stay here all right. Let's look at this saying verse 39 return to thine own house and show how great things God have done unto thee and he went his way and Published that's proclaimed preached throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him so we have Jesus who's been rejected by the city He just goes back into Judah, okay, but he leaves the man to be a witness for him He says look the city rejects me But they know who you are you know you go you stay in your city And you proclaim the great works that God has done in your life So Jesus even though he left he left them a sole winner He left them someone that was going to be fruitful preach in the gospel is this possessed man in the past If it's going to get anyone's attention in the city be him right this man's now preaching Jesus Christ so look Jesus needs to use us you know don't get into the mindset well You know I don't have to preach the gospel you know Jesus can do it on his own Hold on in this case the people rejected Christ But he needed a man to stand in there preaching and representing being an ambassador of the kingdom of God all right today We don't have Christ on this earth physically But we are left here for our community for our city to be that witness That we would proclaim the great works that Christ has done in us all right verse 40 And he came to pass that when Jesus was returned the people gladly received him so he goes to a place now you know people are glad he received him that's good for they were all waiting for him and Behold there came a man named Jairus And he was a ruler of the synagogue and he fell down at Jesus's feet and besought him that he would come into his house For he had only one daughter About 12 years of age and she lay a die in but as he went but as he went the people thronged him so Jesus alright yep I'll come to your house Jairus I'll come to see your daughter but on his way he gets distracted right he gets delayed because of the amount of people that are around him verse 43 and a woman having an issue of blood 12 years which had spent all her living upon physicians neither could be healed of any came behind him and touched the border of his garment and immediately her issue of blood stanched so means it stopped and Jesus said who touched me have you ever wondered about this story this woman she sees Jesus passing along she can't even reach him because the amount of people what he's able she's ever reach and touch his garments just a bit of his clothing okay and now she's healed from the issue of blood that she had okay and then Jesus says who touched me this woman probably just wants to be hidden just wants to keep it a secret I've been healed thank God you know and go about her way sort of thing Jesus and who touched me right he wants to make this public when all denied so she's not saying a word everyone else you're not it wasn't me wasn't me when all denied Peter so these are disciples Peter and they that were with him said master the multitude thronged thee and passed and pressed thee and sayest thou who touches me doesn't look there are there's so many people Jesus they're all touching you they're all passing by you they're all trying to get a hold of you and you're you're one who's you're asking this question who touched you verse 46 and Jesus said somebody have touched me for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me so Jesus had healed somebody look Jesus knows who touched him okay Jesus knows somebody was healed he knows very well who this individual is what is he trying to do he's trying to make this individual speak out this is not something worth being afraid or hearing about that you were healed by Jesus Christ all right now verse 47 and when the woman saw that she was not hid so you see she was trying to hide when she realized she was not hid she came trembling and falling down before him she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately and he said unto her daughter be of good comfort thy faith your faith hath made thee whole go in peace hey it's a faith on Christ that saved her that made her whole and healed her from this problem guys look the lesson here is this if you've been saved if you've touched the hem of Jesus garment believed on him and you're now you're saved it's not time for us to hide in the multitude it's not a time for us to be silent about what Jesus has done for us all right Jesus is asking you the question who touched me are you going to come before the people and proclaim the great works of Christ that's what he wants he doesn't want this woman to just hide and be ashamed and be afraid no he wanted to stand up and proclaim how she had put a faith on Jesus Christ just like the man that was possessed of the devil's is now going out and proclaiming to his city the great works of Christ and so you might say I'm shy I'm timid who touched him who touched Jesus you need to speak out you know when you get an opportunity to preach the gospel you need to take it take it with both hands be of good comfort Jesus says you know don't be afraid verse 49 yeah 49 while he yet spake they come off one from the ruler of the synagogue so he's you know he's making his way to Jairus house there comes someone from from the synagogues house saying to him thy daughter is dead trouble not the master so Jesus because he was delayed because he was you know there's so many people around him he doesn't make it in time to heal this this girl this twelve-year-old girl and she dies but when Jesus heard it saying he answered him saying fear not believe only and she shall be made whole and when he came into the house he suffered no man to go in save Peter and James and John and the father and the mother of the maiden and all wept and bewailed her notice that about Jesus you know he's not so he's not prideful at all you know he comes with all humility it says there in verse 52 and all wept that includes his disciples that came with him that includes Jesus Christ Jesus came in a situation and recognize this little girl had died and he saw the morning that the sadness of sorrow of the family and before Jesus even heals the girl he weeks you know he's touched by the emotion you know he feels what they feel it's not like hey just get over it I'll raise it from the dead no he sorrows with them okay he cares about their feelings he cares about their sorrows I'm sorry and all wept 52 and bewailed her and he said weep not she is not dead but sleepeth she's she's not there she's just sleeping now think about this I'll just read to you from 1st Thessalonians 4 14 which is about the rapture the resurrection of the Saints it says for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him you know the Bible talks about death in many times as sleep it's not soul sleep the soul goes to be with the Lord if you're saved but the body is sleeping if you're saved or if you have loved ones that are saved and they died physically they're not really dead in the eyes of Jesus Christ in the eyes of God they're just asleep they're just asleep and they're coming back okay when Christ returns gives them those new resurrected bodies without sin they're going to be awakened in their bodies and be with the Lord forever and so the fact that he says that this girl is asleep to me anyway I'll get your opinions later on is that she too was a believer in Christ for Christ to be able to say that she sleeps does that make sense anyway let's move on verse 53 and they laughed him to scorn knowing that she was dead and he put them all out and took her by the hand and called saying made arise and her spirit came again so she was definitely dead her spirit had left the body but verse 55 and a spirit came again and she arose straightway and he commanded to give her meat and I love that about Christ when he healed somebody who raises them from the dead it's not like all right you know just take it easy have your rest you know you've just come back from the dead that's like you know what yes you're healed now you've been raised from the dead can you go and serve me some food I'm hungry because it's it's a full recovery you know she's got all her energy back you know she's back on her feet she's probably better than she's ever been right she's had a good sleep and Christ has woken her up brought her back from the dead and commands her to to give her meat and let me just say this I look she's 12 years old she was 12 years old and you know parents we can't baby our children forever at 12 years old she was old enough to cook she was old enough to serve you know if you've got children that are at least 12 or over and they're not doing anything around the house then you're failing as a parent okay for Jesus hey you're 12 you should be old enough to cook you should be old enough to minister and serve and let me just you know this is just another point but let me just say guys you know parents if you've got children and they're and they're off in a certain age you should instruct them teach him you know direct them to serve the house you know so if Jesus Christ comes one day that your 12 year old daughter is ready to be able to cook and bring him a meal all right anyway side note verse 56 and her parents were astonished but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done and again we understand this hey he wants people to proclaim his name we saw this in this chapter we know that it was his heart to go from city to city from village to village he even goes and spends time with a gentle people all right he was that man that was possessed of the devil all right but understand that Jesus was someone that wanted to work orderly he wanted order and not you know make all this fame known about him to be then you know a have so many people follow after him where it would prevent his ministry from being successful so we'll leave it there guys I hope you take this into consideration especially especially how important it is for us not to give into that hour of temptation what's the promise that God gives us that if we would preach his word that we would keep his word that we would be fruitful and preach the gospel that he would do that for us he would keep us from temptation and we would not be believers that would fall away you know if you've got some concern I don't know I might not you know I'm out I might not live for Christ all my life then start with the basics you know the gospel you know how you got saved you know it's my grace through faith on the death bearing resurrection of Christ take that to your neighbor take that to your friends and God says hey he will increase your faith God will strengthen you so that you would not be able to give in to that temptation and fall away from the faith let's pray