Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com as we conclude this study of Luke chapter 4 verses 40 through 44 titled Jesus Saves, Delivers, and Heals. This is part 2 of 2. Whatever the case may be. Why do we do that? That's what they're doing right here. All they that had any sick with diverse diseases brought them unto Him, and that's why we pray in Jesus' name. I know sometimes I may come off as a little bossy, but one thing I always, I'm trying to get a couple of you here to get in the practice of, is pray and say you're praying in Jesus' name. Pray in Jesus' name. I'm looking at everybody right now, okay? Everybody look at me so no one thinks I'm picking on them. But I hear people pray, and I believe God's here in their prayer, but I believe we should pray in Jesus' name. Because that is how we have access to the Father. It's through Jesus. And when you pray in Jesus' name, you're doing exactly what they did here. You are bringing these people to Jesus. And if you pray to some generic God, you know, I can't read minds. I'm pretty sure I know who everybody's praying to here, but I just appreciate you stating the fact. That way I can really amen that prayer and know that you really directed that prayer to the Father. Because you know what a lot of Baptists do? They don't pray to any false god, but they really are praying to everybody around them. Or praying, you know, like the Pharisees, maybe to make themselves sound spiritual. I want to hear who you're praying to. And I encourage you, pray in Jesus' name. I was told that 30 years ago. I had prayed a prayer and I just said, amen. And the preacher comes and says, you know what? You should pray in Jesus' name. I said, oh, I was praying. He says, say it. You should say it. That way everybody in the room knows you're praying in Jesus' name. It's just like your salvation. I'm not going to take anybody's salvation for granted. I sat down with Otis and Kathy. They're going to be married in three or four weeks. whatever February 14th falls on. I sat down first thing with him. I need to hear your profession. I need to know that you are saved. Now, any of you could be telling me a story, you're not really saved. I don't know, but at least I want to hear it. I want to hear your testimony. I just love hearing the testimonies. Don't you just love hearing people talk about how they got saved? And then if they say, and then I was baptized and that's how I was saved, then you know you got a problem, amen? So later, Luke would quote Peter describing this exact thing in the book of Acts where it says, he brought unto them these people and laid his hands on every one of them, healed them. It says, and devils also came out of many, crying out and saying, thou art Christ, the Son of God. Let's look over in Acts 2 chapter 10. And in case you don't know, Luke was a Gentile. Amen. Just seeing if anybody's paying attention. Luke, you'll be taught today that Luke was a Gentile, and the Bible never says that. You know that? The Bible never says that. But in Romans, it says he gave the oracles of God to the Jews. That's why we believe that Luke was a Jew. And we believe Luke wrote the gospel of Luke, but he also wrote Acts. And so Acts chapter 10 verses 34 through 41, you see Peter basically confirming what we're reading here in Luke 4. And it's just fun sometimes to compare Scripture with Scripture. So read the odd number with me. I'll start 34. It says, Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word I say ye know which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. That's where we are in Luke 4, right there. And he says it was published throughout all Judea. That was Jesus himself proclaiming, publishing by word of mouth. And it began from Galilee. Verse 38 says, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. So there you go, verses 38 is right where we're at and forward as we continue studying in Luke. And verse 39, who are the witnesses? He's talking about the apostles basically. but there were over 500 witnesses, according to 1 Corinthians 15, verse one through six, more than 500 eyewitnesses of his resurrection. And it says, whom they slew and hanged on a tree, and then verse 40, here's the sunrise. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly. Read 41. Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And you go back to Acts 1. Turn over to Acts 1. And look at how it starts out, just like the Gospel of Luke in verse 1, the former treaties have I made of Theophilus is the Gospel of Luke. Of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up. After that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto who? whom he had chosen, now read verse three with me, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And you can lose sight of that if you don't carefully pay attention that he rose from the dead and that's how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John end. He rose from the dead. I have to say this, unless you have an NIV or an ESV, Then Mark chapter 16 ends with him in a tomb. And the last 12 verses they cut out of your Bible or tell you not to accept it as scripture. That's your new versions. But in your King James Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John end with an empty tomb. And then Acts tells you that he spent 40 days, 40 days with these eyewitnesses. Verse three, by many infallible proofs. We say, what's that? I don't think he did a bunch of tricks. I think he showed the scriptures being fulfilled. He went from the old to the New Testament and showed how he had fulfilled. And I believe that included the 69 weeks of Daniel, ending with Messiah being cut off. I just bring that up because every few weeks I get a message or an email from some kook who tries to tell me that the Messiah in Daniel 9, 24-27 being cut off somehow isn't Jesus. Because that's what they teach in seminary. You want to waste a bunch of money? Go to seminary. That's a big waste of money. Get yourself a King James Bible for as little as a dollar, and you'll be much better off than in seminary. But don't miss two, also I should say, don't miss also in verse three, look how Acts 1-3 ends. Speaking of the things pertaining to what? Now go back to Luke 4, and that's how it ends in verses 43 and 44. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. Now this will happen on a worldwide scale. All these healings, all the deliverance that you're reading about, it's selective. Jesus didn't heal all the sick, not only in the rest of the world, even in Israel. How many of you saw, by the way, that Jeopardy, the game show, apologized because they had a question about the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and they asked where it was located. The first woman answered, Palestine. No. The second man said, Israel. That's correct. And then they apologized. They apologize for being factually correct because a bunch of Muslims and Jew haters and Israel haters wanted the answer to be Palestine. Yeah. And that's all part of setting a stage for what we're about to see. But what you won't have in the millennium is a debate on that. The knowledge of the kingdom of God will be, even among those who will eventually rebel at the end of the millennium, they will be without excuse. They will know. It says in the millennium, we're not gonna need pastors or teachers. They're all gonna know the Lord is on the earth. We no longer walk by faith. They'll be walking by sight. He's right there in front of them. So all this, the healings, deliverances, and even preaching the kingdom. It'll be worldwide and done. I believe when Jesus first comes and sets up his kingdom, I believe he's going to proclaim his kingdom. He's going to preach. It'll be better than the internet, worldwide, global live streaming. And we started, or at least previously in Luke 4, looked at Isaiah 61. Now I want you to turn back there and look at that. As we pointed out, how that in Isaiah 61, in our study on Jesus giving his, proclaiming his divine call, he read to a certain point and stopped. He said, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. That's the gospel. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. and to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. And in verse two, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And in our text, there's a period there. Because that's where Jesus stopped. And we pointed out, and I'll mention it for those who might have missed it, that that comma right there in your Bible represents now. The entire church age is waiting for the word and. The entire church age we've been waiting for and. I hope you don't mind, but it's like the word Andy is in the hymn book many times. Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me. Well, this is just the word and. And the day of vengeance, is that today? Did that happen when he came the first time? Revelation 19, we referred to that Wednesday. How many of you went home? I don't wanna see a show of hands. I don't wanna cry. But we told you to, we encouraged everyone to read Revelation 19 because it was when Psalm 18 and that passage that we studied Wednesday would be fulfilled in the return of Jesus Christ. That's what this is all about. The first coming, Jesus came. He was God manifest in the flesh. And so He knew. There's another point in John where He says He knows what is in man. He knows all. He's God. And He knew to stop there. Because He obviously wasn't going to be a false prophet. Because the end, the day of vengeance of our God is after this church age that He knew was coming. And it's the end of that 70th week of Daniel. And then after vengeance comes what? To comfort all that mourn. Say that with me. To comfort all that mourn. And folks, there's a lot of mourning. But then in the tribulation time, it's going to be more direct mourning. The Bible says when he returns, that Israel will look upon him whom they have pierced and will mourn. It's a false idea that at the return of Jesus everybody's going to be celebrating because he's returning. It's a messed up time and even those who are saved by him when he returns, it's not really going to be a time of celebration at that moment according to the Bible because they're going to realize, as Jews, they're going to realize All these Jews for 2,000 years with their fake temple they call a synagogue, and all their Talmudic fake laws that they've made up, traditions of men which made the Word of God of none effect, was all satanically wrong, and they had rejected their Messiah this whole time. Thankfully, there's a remnant. of Jews who do believe. And then what happens, verse 3, read that with me. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. That He might be glorified. That's what the millennium's all about. Folks, I just emphasize it because it's what the text is telling us. That is what's going on here. And knowing that, but not knowing about the church age, think about that. And as you can imagine, people didn't want Jesus out of their sight. See, dispensational truth was not widely known at this time. So what are they thinking? This is Messiah. We're about to see Isaiah 61, 3 and 4. And that's why it was so much excitement. But they didn't know their Bible well enough. They should have known that the Messiah was going to be cut off first. Daniel 9 told him so Isaiah 53 told them so Psalm 22 even told him that he'd be pierced Told him how he would die at a time when they weren't even crucified people So that's why verse 42 They're saying basically, please don't go look what it says and when it was day sunrise He departed and went into a desert place, meaning it was deserted, to be alone. And the people sought him and came unto him and stayed him that he should not depart from them. See, that's what they're saying, don't go, don't go. How many here think that was inappropriate? I don't blame them. Man, I'd like to think I'd been right there with them. I mean, it'd be nice if I was there and actually knew all these other scriptures, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, et cetera, but in their condition, spiritually, how can you blame them? Listen, Jesus is king. He's not sitting on an earthly throne, but he is on a throne. Jesus is king, and at this moment in Luke 4, the kingdom was at hand. You think about that. Potentially, look what he's doing in verse 43. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. He's presenting the kingdom at that moment. Potentially, we could have seen the millennial kingdom at this time. I mean, it would have been a seven year, you know, 70th week of Daniel would have kicked in, but it would have been seven instead of 2,000 years. Potentially, but as we said, Don't misunderstand, God was not surprised by the rejection we're going to see as we continue in Luke. But there's just a fact. Potentially, every sinner could be saved. Amen. That's why we don't teach the L in TULIP or any other letter of TULIP. That's why we don't teach L, limited atonement. We do not believe that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for the elect only. is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world, as the Bible says. So potentially, and yet Jesus also said, few there be that go in there at. God knows it all, folks. He knows that potentially He's provided salvation for the whole world, but He knows. It'll be, well, it'll be a remnant, really, when all is said and done. Isaiah, again, 42.9 says, Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I, this is the Lord talking, new things do I declare, before they spring forth, I tell you of them. That's God. He knows all. Past, present, and future. He's all-knowing. And it says he preached in the synagogues of Galilee, and we don't have to guess at what he preached. He preached the kingdom of God. But I believe he did it exactly the way we saw earlier. He opened up the book and started the beginning of a text and read verse by verse. Let's look at just a few passages as we close. Matthew 6, we're going to go in order through Matthew. I just want you to see a few things here. This will kind of introduce us, get us ready for our final study in Luke 4. Matthew chapter 6, verse 33. And I want you to look at the phrase kingdom of God in these verses. Matthew 6 verse 33, read that with me. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Now, the hyper-dispensationalists will say, well that was being preached to people under the Mosaic law. It was being preached to people under the Mosaic law, but it was being preached for people who would become the church. So don't miss that. Look at chapter 12 and verse 28. Chapter 12 and verse 28. Now read that. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. See, he is the kingdom. He's the king of the kingdom. He is presenting the Kingdom of God to these people. To the Jew first. But we're going to see that that's rejected. And it goes to... We'll explain it in greater detail in the next study. But the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are not the same thing. And we're going to talk about that a little. And you'll understand better if you don't already in our next study. But Matthew 19. Matthew 19, 24. I'll start in verse 23 where he turned and then said, Jesus said to his disciples, verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, that doesn't mean it's impossible. It says hardly. Now read verse 24. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now, he mentions the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God in that passage. Why? Because they're not the same thing. But this truth is true about both. You'll see some similarities. There are things that are true about both kingdoms, but then there are other things that are not true about both. And so that's what Jesus is preaching as we close Luke 4. He's preaching these things, the things of the kingdom of God. It's later recorded in more detail in Luke. But one more time in Matthew chapter 21. Actually two verses in this chapter we're going to read. Matthew 21 verse 31. If you dare read it, whether of them Twain did the will of his father, they say unto him the first. Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. My note next to that in my verse is, bam. I'm not kidding, that's what it says. Now look at verse 43. And this is key. This is one of the most important verses regarding the kingdom of God for you to get. Read it with me. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. See that? He's offering it to the people of Israel and they're rejecting it by this point, Matthew 21. And now he's prophesying the church This nation is us. How many of you remember reading in Peter, you are a holy nation, a royal priesthood. Not the US. That's not United States. There's no period after U or S. Good point. I'm serious. That's a good point. This nation is us, the church of Jesus Christ. this study really be continued. So in a closing thought, I just want to ask you this, do you think about Jesus? I brought up that thing about the sunset. We do, we get busy. Jenny and I, we do our Bible reading and prayer together a lot of times and so many hurting people. So many people sick, so many people mourning someone they've lost, and people desperately in need of a job or transportation or whatever the case may be. It's a wonderful ministry to think about others and to pray intercessory prayer. But sometimes, I just encourage you to pray and don't bring up anything else but Jesus. And just talk to Jesus about Jesus. You say, why? I'll tell you. There were times when my little girls looked at me and talked to me about me. And I can't tell you what that was like. You'd have to experience it, really. One time, Kayla was laying on the towel next to me. We were at one of the lakes. And we were just taking a break. And she looked at me and looked at me in the eye and said, I wish you weren't my dad. I said, why? She goes, because then I could marry you. Of course, I have to pray about that relationship now. But I can tell you many times, I don't want to embarrass him, but you know what? Charlie said some things to me. And he knows I don't need to hear that all the time. He doesn't do it all the time, but there's something about it. And having my son tell me he's glad that I was his dad. And you ever done that with the Lord? You ever just tell him, and it may sound funny, but I tell him, God, I'm so glad you're my God. I am so glad you're my God. These other ones are fake, like fake news, fake gods. But just imagine if they were real and if they were the God. Please, like Job says, I curse the day I'd been born to live under that kind of God. But our God is such an amazing God. What we talked about in our study, that He became a man to die for your sins and mine. I don't talk about anybody but me. I'm saying, Lord, I deserve hell. I have been wicked, wicked, wicked, and deserve hell, and yet you died for my sins. And let me tell you, even if you're not emotional, there's times where it'll bring a tear to your eye. How many of you ever sung to Jesus? Just you and Him. It's an amazing experience when you realize He's listening. I mean, first time Ezra comes in the room singing a song, let me tell you something. Gloria, when she first started singing, I mean, nothing more precious. Well, that's the way the Heavenly Father is with us. Sing to Him. Some of you might want to get alone and not have anybody else hear you. But our Father said He loves a joyful noise. Amen? So make it a point. Just sit and think about Jesus sometime this week. In prayer or just in thought. It adds so much to your relationship. Amen. Stan, if you can't trace it, you want to say something? I want to thank God for you. Amen. Now I wasn't out here fishing. I just want you to know that. I want to speak to myself. We don't quite understand the time that you put in to bring forth the word of God. But I do thank you. Amen. Amen. I thank you. Praise the Lord, because He had done a lot of work in me to get me where I am. And we're all in this together, amen? Amen. Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 20, verse 21, King James Bible.