Lord Jesus and Heavenly Father, we thank you oh so much for the many, many blessings you've already poured upon us all throughout this day. And now, once again, the awesome opportunity to get back in your word. Help us now as we do then. So pray in Jesus' precious holy name. Amen. Continuing our Bible study of Medusae and the word preach, we'll go to Matthew chapter 11, just one verse here where it says, And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Talking about the cities of the children of Israel going around preaching and teaching because it was prophesied that the gospel came to the the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. As we continue here we go to Matthew in chapter 12 and picking it up in verse 38 where it reads, Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." That wicked generation that he was preaching to there, comparing them to the things of the past there, and that they needed to repent, turn from their ways, but they had not. They refused. All right, now go to Matthew in chapter 24 in verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come. This is in the midst of the prophecies given to the Disciples About the Last Days. Speaking of how the entire world will be preached to, the entire world will be preached the kingdom of God, the availability of salvation and forgiveness and everlasting life. And during the tribulation time, even the angels themselves will have a part of the preaching and spreading of the gospel. We now go to Matthew in chapter 26, and picking it up in verse 6. Now, when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her. All right, now go to the Gospel of Mark. We see some use of the word preach here in the Gospel of Mark in chapter one. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Of course, that's speaking of John the Baptist and the preaching that he was able to do. It reads, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and he did eat locusts and wild honey, and preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens open, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness, And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beast, and the angels ministered unto him. Now after that, John was put in prison. Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel. Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther, thence he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after him. And they went into Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. And it was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commandeth, He evened the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and Anon they tell him of her. And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up. And immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of divers' diseases, and cast out many devils, and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon, And they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also. For therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and cast out devils. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straightly charged him, and forthwith sent him away. And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. But he went out and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places. And they came to him from every quarter. Everyone wanted to come, wanted to get something from the Lord. It's all about what they wanted. And they came to Him, and He preached. And in Mark chapter 2, we see here, And again, He entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noise that He was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them. And he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why doeth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, He saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, and took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Preaching, teaching, healing, over and over we see this. I now go to Mark in chapter 3. It reads, And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had a withered hand, and they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth. Straightway he took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan. And they about Tyree and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did came unto him. And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many, insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him. As many as had plagues and unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straightly charged them that they should not make him known. and he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would, and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." Notice, he ordained them and gave them assignment to go and spread the gospel, to preach, like he's been preaching. and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out devils. Passing that power and that authority on to his disciples. All right, now go to Mark in chapter 14. Here, Mark chapter 14, verse 1 reads, After two days was the feast of the Passover and of unleavened bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she broke the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and had been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone, why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good, but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could, she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial to her." Just like we read earlier in Matthew about that event. All right, now go to Mark in chapter 16. We see here another use of the word preach, and giving them the assignment, giving them the commission to go out and to preach. That commission goes to all believers, as we see here in Mark in chapter 16, picking up in verse 14. Now this event unfolding here is after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He stuck around some 40 days preaching and teaching and we have some of the events recorded such as this one in Mark chapter 16 verse 14. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. commandment, that commission, that assignment given to the disciples there and given to all of us believers to preach and teach. As he continues, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. giving them great assignment to go out, preach and teach the gospel, and telling the disciples there that they would be protected as they went on that journey. All right, now go to the Gospel of Luke. We see here records of the word preach being used in Luke chapter 3, beginning with verse 1. On the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, Caesar, Pontius Pilate, being governor of Judea, and Herod, being tetraarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, tetraarch of Aetolia, and of the reign of Trachonitis, and Lysanias, the tetraarch of Abilene, Annas, and Caiaphas, being the high priests The Word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness, and he came unto all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the Book of the Words of Isaiah, the prophet saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you, And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not, John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh, the lachet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the weed into his garner. But the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable and many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. John the Baptist going about preaching and teaching and spreading that gospel and we see further in Luke chapter 4 picking it up in verse 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. Now this is speaking of Jesus, not of John the Baptist, as it continues. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable ear of the Lord. And he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months. when great famines was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elias the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, save Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days, and they were astonished at his doctrine. for his word was with power. And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! For what authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out? And the fame of him went out into every place of the country, round about. And he arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever, and they besought him for her. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and ministered unto them. Now, when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them unto him, and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ, the Son of God. And he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. And when it was day, he departed, and went into a desert place. And the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. Going about preaching and teaching, we see the accounts there in Matthew, Mark, and now in Luke of the healings and of the preachings of both John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus Christ. and the great commission given to all of us to go out and spread the gospel, to preach the gospel, to preach righteousness, to preach the truth. And it is such an awesome thing that he allows us to be a part of his work. Let us pray. Lord Jesus and Heavenly Father, we thank you oh so much for the many, many blessings you pour upon us each and every day, and the blessed opportunity you've given us to actually preach your gospel, to spread the word, to share it with others, help motivate all of us to do that very thing, to bring honor and glory to you, and to be fully obedient to your will. As we pray in Jesus' precious holy name, amen. Thank y'all.