Matthew pt. 53 - Grabbing Jesus, Telling Others, & Healing

So we're turning in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 14.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

We're finishing chapter 14, remember, still in the same 48

hours here, Jesus here is John the Baptist eyes.

He says, all right, I'm going to I'm going to go get a loan.

He shows up, thousands show up because they heard that he had

shown up there. He heals everybody.

Then he feeds the Scripture says 5000 men, and that doesn't

include the potentially up to some, say maybe 25,000 people.

I don't know how you know, does the miracle really become that

much greater 5000 versus 25,000? The point is the Lord is the

provider. And then he sends his disciples.

He says, hey, get in the boat, go across, the day is finally

done. He sends them, and now he comes

walking to them. On the water.

On top of the water. And now we come to where they

have finally landed. In verse 34, they land in Kiss

Center at the other side of the lake.

Verse 34. And when they had crossed over,

they came to land at Gesseneret. And when the men of that place

recognized him, they sent around to all that region, and brought

to him all who were sick, and implored him that they might

only touch the fringe of his garment, and as many as touched

it were made. Well.

God, we thank you for your word. It's powerful, it's living, and

it's active. And your, your power accompanies

it this morning, and faith accompanies it this morning.

Already even the the reading of that passage is building faith

in your Saints and your people, that they would have the

expectation that they would remember what's true about their

King, about their Christ, about their Lord, that he is the one

who changes not. He is the.

Same yesterday and today and forever.

Well, we know exactly what you would have done for us if we

were there that day. In Casinorat and even more so on

this side of the cross, we have great confidence and

expectation. Even so, because of the stripes

of Jesus, the full weight was. Put upon him, the full weight of

the curse was carried away by him, and because of that we can

receive everything. That he intended for us to have.

But we honor you. We thank you for all that you

have provided for US. Open the eyes of our hearts now

in Jesus name, Amen. You know it's one of the values.

Of our church that we. Emphasize and we say God is good

and we go farther than that because everybody everywhere

agrees that God is good. There's I've never met a

Christian who won't say that God is good and yet I go farther to

say and good can be defined by a six year old good is not some

What do you mean by that pastor? What I mean by that is we don't

have a twisted definition that says I go out and get T boned by

a car in the street and we say that was a good thing.

No, that was an objectively bad thing.

Everyone knows that a six year old knows that that's an

objectively bad thing. It's not complicated.

We don't have any fancy footwork.

We just say good things are good things and bad things are bad

things. God is good and but also the

world is broken. The curse is real and there is

still Satan still has limited lives, limited jurisdiction in

the earth. So bad things still happen,

failures, catastrophes, and tragedies.

We mourn those things appropriately, but we are bold

enough and honest enough to keep coming back and saying, but but

what would happen if Jesus was still alive?

And then we come farther through to the place of conviction where

we say Jesus is still alive. And then we put our faith in our

expectation on God's Word and on God's promises, not on our

circumstances, not on the many things that have broken our

hearts, not on the many things that we still struggle with and

the pains that we still walk through.

We don't deny any of them. And still we come back to the

Word of God and say, look at Jesus.

Jesus is perfect theology. So when we see Jesus, we see the

will of God perfectly made manifest.

We see the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form.

What does God really like? What does God want?

When a person is sick? We don't have to pretend that

that's a complicated question. We shouldn't pretend that that's

a complicated question. What would God, what would God

want, you know, for the, for the Children's Hospital?

What would the, what would the will of the Lord really be for

all these difficult circumstances?

Well, thankfully we have a Bible.

Thankfully we have God's word and we approach it with

humility. We approach it with faith and we

say, look what Jesus does. Look with the one who carried

away our sin, our sickness, our disease, our pain, our torments.

Look what he does. So this builds.

Confidence in this builds faith. So we start there pointing out

the obvious, but we are going to see what else the Lord has for

us in this passage. There's actually more to it than

you might think at a quick surface level reading.

First of all, in verse 34, we're just recapping.

Jesus commanded that they should cross over to the other side.

He said, guys, go to the other side.

I'll meet you over there. Maybe he didn't tell them he

would come walking on the water, but they were obedient to Him

and Jesus got them to the other side.

Mark actually tells us that they were struggling all night.

He tells it he has a different account, but it's the same

story. And he says they were struggling

and when Jesus got in the boat, immediately the boat reached

shore. So many interpret that to mean

that they were translated. They were transported in the

moment that Jesus got in. So we struggle, we struggle, we

struggle, we struggle in obedience.

But when Jesus shows up the the fulfillment is completed.

Jesus is the greater Moses. He did not split the water to

deliver his people. Jesus walks on top of it to show

that he has authority and dominion over all things.

This is comfort to you and I Jesus has dominion over all

things in your life. He walks on top of the things

that you and I struggle with. You and I are rowing against the

wind, fighting against the waves.

Jesus comes walking on top of it.

And when Jesus gets into the boat, everything is solved.

He has dominion over everything. So what's that mean for you?

And I? Obey His word.

Walk by faith, and He will get you to the other side.

Keep going to verse 35. And when the men of that place

recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought

to him all who were sick. So the men of this region

recognized him. Jesus hasn't travelled here yet,

so there's speculation as to how they recognized him.

But it's the, the language that's used here reveals that

it's more than just a I've heard rumors.

The language reveals that they had a clarity, they had a deep.

Recognition. Not just AI recognize you from

somewhere, but I'm not sure. Who you are, what you're about,

They have a clear understanding so they recognized and then they

sent around. That's the calling that's on

your life. That's the calling that's on my

life as a disciple maker, as a Christian who is called to

spread the gospel of the Kingdom.

You witness you saw the thing happen and then you testify to

it. I was once subpoenaed subpoenaed

to court for something that I had witnessed a crime took

place. This was years ago.

Natalie and I are first place that we lived in an apartment

complex and some couple was in the backyard screaming at each

other and I opened my blinds. And so now I'm a witness to to

this chaos And I was I was called into the courtroom.

It's a simple, simple thing, right?

You saw the thing and now your testimony has wait, because you

have something that you can testify.

You can say, hey, here's what happened.

He said this, she said that there wasn't much to it.

By the way, in case you're looking for a juicy story.

There wasn't much. It was late.

I was woken up. I was not pleased about it and I

was just eager to go back to bed and I was not thankful that I

got subpoenaed for this nonsense, but I did that

reluctantly. The believer, of course, doesn't

do this. Reluctant, reluctantly.

Someone here was a witness to something.

They saw something. And then they went and spread

the word. We don't know what they saw.

Maybe they saw the woman with the.

Issue of blood. Maybe that's what they

recognized had happened. Maybe they had heard her story.

Maybe her testimony had spread. Remember, Jesus has healed

thousands and thousands and thousands of people to this

point. This is not a small movement.

This is not a tiny thing. The whole region has been shaken

up. By this rabbi.

Who's healing everybody? Who's doing miracles?

Who's feeding many thousands of people?

That story is spreading. The story is building, so maybe

they saw her, maybe they saw any of the thousands of healings

that have happened by this point, but they witnessed

something and now they go out of their way to tell others about

Jesus. So this recognized, this is not

a shallow recognition. It's having understanding.

When someone is fully known and fully come to understand Jesus,

they go out of their way to tell others about him.

This is a natural byproduct of walking with Jesus.

It is the automatic response when somebody meets Jesus.

You can't shut up about him. You won't shut up about him.

Why would you? How much would you have to hate

the world around you to not tell them about what Jesus has done

for your life? How much, how much would you

have to hate somebody? How much would these men have

had to have hated someone to not go around and say, hey, the

healer has come? So Mark tells us they are

actually running out throughout the community when they realize

it's Jesus, when they realize he gets off the boat, they're

running throughout the community to spread the word.

Imagine they know where the sick people are.

They know what's going on. But there's a lot, there's a lot

riding on them because now they are witnesses who are testifying

him. Scripture also says that the men

carried the message all around. It actually doesn't mean a lot

of times when scripture says men or or man.

It's actually most of the time. Many times I should say

referencing mankind, it's just saying the people did all of

these things as were named after Adam and mankind and humankind.

But in this particular case, it means the males.

They actually carry the message all around.

What do we do with that? We see that men should lead

their families and their communities to Jesus.

Let's state the obvious and the plain thing.

Spreading the gospel and being excited about the Kingdom is not

only an assignment. For your wife, often times in

America it has become a thing. It has become the the Church has

more and more and more. Had more women in attendance

than it has had men. And it's been a chronic thing

that church leaders have talked about for a while.

Why? Why is Christianity losing men?

And there's a lot of theories, and I'm not going to get into

why they are. I have some strong beliefs

around that as well. But the point is, thank God for

the women who are following Christ.

But to the men, what are we supposed to do?

Well, you're supposed to lead. That is a part of your masculine

design, protector and provider and leader.

Those are the essence of who you're, who you are.

There's lots of freedom and lots of expression within that, but

you cannot be boiled down and reduced to any less than that.

So these men, thankfully, carry out the good news of the

message, spreading the message all over the place.

Their joy is overflowing and the love of God compels them.

That's what you and I experience.

Does the love of God really live in you?

Then the love of God is going to come out of you.

It's going to look like something.

It can't look like nothing. If your love for Jesus looks

like nothing, then I would say I'm not sure that that's love

for Jesus because I don't know that it's possible to encounter

Jesus and not be changed by Jesus.

Let me let me not say it in a mealy mouthed way.

It is impossible to encounter Jesus and not be changed by

Jesus. What are you saying?

I'm saying what I'm saying. It is impossible to encounter

Jesus and not be changed by Jesus.

We continue to see that through the Scriptures.

If Jesus always forces a fork in the road, If you encounter the

living Jesus, something has to happen in that moment you have

you have two paths to pick. You reject him or you worship

him. There's nothing else left.

So it should look like something.

It can't look like nothing to the believer.

This is a comforting message to say I do love the Lord and that

is why his love flows out of me and that's why I do the things

that I do. Or maybe to the lukewarm, it's a

concerning message and you would say?

Whoo. Maybe my love has grown cold.

Maybe things have cooled off. That's a challenge and a

conviction from the Lord to bless you and to cause you to

draw near to Him again and to press in in prayer for the lost.

And then there are others who would say, I really don't

experience that at all. I've been around church world

and church life and Bible world and Bible life and all the

things for a long time. But maybe I don't have any of

that fruit. 2nd Corinthians 13, Five and six tells us.

Examine yourselves. What should we examine ourselves

for? Examine yourselves to see.

Whether you are in the faith. Wow.

Paul writing to the church in Corinth and he's closing out his

his last letter to the Corinthians and the last chapter

of the last letter. And he ends it with, hey, all

the all these things. I've been talking to you as

though you're Christians. I've been talking to you as

though you are believers. Let me put this, let me put this

Pebble in your shoe or this thorn maybe in your shoe.

Examine yourselves. OK, We can do that, Paul, to see

whether you are in the faith. That's an alarming thought.

Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about

yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?

And then so he brings them that comfort and then he says, unless

indeed you fail to meet the test, which is it, Paul, where

am I? That's not my decision.

That's for you to determine. That's for you to judge.

That's for you to assess, test yourself.

But how would you test? Jesus has already taught us how

do I test the tree. What kind of tree is that?

How could I ever figure it out? The fruit will talk.

The fruit is always reporting something.

The fruit is always communicating something.

Whoo, there's a piece of bad fruit that's an alarm.

What's it mean? But look at the whole rest of

the tree. Oh, that's good fruit.

OK, let's prune that thing off. Let's repent and let's pursue

healing again. But we got a tree full of bad

fruit. Oh, there's one piece of good

fruit. Can we be honest?

Can we be honest? I will never preach somebody

into heaven. I will never preach somebody

into hell. It's not my jurisdiction.

I will preach the Word and I will tell people what Jesus

tells people. Examine yourselves to see

whether you were in the faith. Test yourselves.

Testing is assessing. Testing is measuring.

Testing is judging. Or do you not realize this about

yourselves? That Jesus Christ is in you

unless. Indeed, you fail to meet the

test. Paul's gone.

You're a believer. Test yourself to make sure you

really are a believer. Remember, Christ is in you if

you actually have Christ in you. And I thought, I thought I just

repeated the prayer when I was seven years old.

I thought like that locked me in forever.

I'm sorry you were told that. No.

We can teach. Birds to repeat words that

doesn't. That doesn't save a person's

soul now. Yes, confession is made unto

salvation, but with the heart belief happens and when that

happens, the transformation is profound and it's real and all

the fruit follows. If you truly are a witness to

Jesus, then you have a testimony.

You have one. I've talked about this often and

I wish my testimony was, you know, we thought that I wish I

had the tragic thing. I wish I had the terrible thing.

I thank God I don't have the tragic and terrible one.

I thank God I was raised in the presence of God by parents who

love the Lord. I was born with four aces in my

hand because of it, and I thank the Lord for it.

And I still have a testimony because Jesus still saved me

from sin, from my sin, from my filth, from my unrighteousness,

from my disease that I got from my father Adam, and that you got

from your father Adam. You have a testimony if you have

come in contact with Jesus. Everybody who's come in contact

with Jesus has been changed. So think about this context.

It's estimated that 50%, roughly 50% of a population at any given

moment would be experiencing some sort of problem in their

body, whether it's sickness or whether injury.

If you take out any, any medicinal advantages, if you

take out the healing power of God at any given point, the

estimates say from like 40 to 70, but we'll just say 5050% of

the population has something wrong.

If there's been no intervention and no possible way to help him.

There's, it's a sprained ankle, it's a dislocated finger, it's

a, it's a concussion. It's, you know, it's cancer, you

name it. There's a big spectrum of all

the possibilities of issues and ailments.

So how many people, how many sick people are coming?

A lot, a lot of people are are coming.

So think about these guys who who are carrying the message.

They're running around the community.

They're going throughout the center it which is a region, not

just A1 little village. Christ, the healers come to the

center it you've got their answer.

You know that in that house right there, a sick person is,

would you, would you run past their house and go to somebody

else's house because you don't like that guy or because you're

not sure how he's going to receive it?

He might not believe. He might not believe, like he's

not a really a faithful follower.

And he might, it might be kind of an awkward conversation.

You know, he's sick, you know the healer's here, but do you

really want to bother him? Is it he?

He sleeps this time of day. Maybe they're not home.

Thankfully, these men were aggressively telling everyone.

You ask, you seek, and you knock.

Imagine how many people were healed and transformed just

because of the men who spread the word in that place.

This isn't a story that we often emphasize.

It's 3 verses. It's all we got.

But it's another group of people who were very thankful,

everybody whose door was knocked on, everybody who heard the

message that the healer has come.

Christ the healer, it's the Messiah.

None of this. Is lost on the Jewish readers,

of course, the Jewish hearers of Matthew, the target audience,

the original audience of this gospel, they understand the

Messiah is coming with healing in.

His wings. So these men are carrying the

message. When someone hears a witness,

faith is generated in the hearers.

The Lord does that. He used these men and He wants

to use each of you. This is the means that the Lord

chooses to spread the gospel throughout the earth.

I wouldn't have picked it this way.

I wouldn't have done it this way.

I would just have Jesus stay the whole time.

But Jesus said, no, I want to build my church, I want to build

my church, I want to empower and fill my people, and I want them

to carry out the dominion mandate that they were given in

the very beginning. Be mine, act like mine and carry

my message out and I will fill you with power from on high.

Nothing shall by any means harm you.

You will overcome all the power of the enemy.

Go and make disciples. Teach them to obey.

Don't just tell them God loves you and He has a wonderful plan

for your life. Tell them that it's true, but

don't you dare stop with that. Teach them to obey everything I

have commanded and I am with you even under the end of the age.

This is the message of Jesus. This is the method of Jesus.

Jesus started with 12. And look at the world now, you

and I, someday we'll be able to trace our lineage back.

Who led you to Christ? Well, who led them to Christ?

Who led them to Christ? Someday that's going to trace

back to one of the 12. So we have that heritage and of

course we all come from Christ himself.

It all came the message that hit your ears and has changed your

life. It came out of Jesus mouth and

it is traced down. You'll be able to, you'll be

able to build that family tree. The Lord will show us in heaven

and we're going to be able to thank each of those people and

go thank you and thank you and thank you.

Thank you for opening your mouth and testifying.

And they're going to go what? Choice did I have?

How could I not bring the good message?

How could I not? Bring you the good news.

How could I not tell all the sick about the healer?

How could I not tell all the dead about the resurrection?

How could I not tell all the lost about the shepherd Saints,

you should be. You should be motivated.

You should be convicted. You should be stirred to carry

the message of the gospel again and again and again.

Because when someone hears a witness, the Lord has built it

such that faith is built in the heart of the hearer.

What else do we see here? We see that seeing Jesus should

spark faith for healing, for physical healing.

I've spiritualized this passage some, and that is good and right

and appropriate. But that is the secondary

application of what's happening here in the text.

Primarily, the primary application is physical healing

for physical bodies. Seeing Jesus should spark faith

for healing. This is the first thought and

this is the initial reaction of the people.

When Jesus got off the boat, they took off running and said

everybody's got to know, Everybody's got to hear.

This is what's happening. This is the primary application

again, Jesus. Heals people's bodies.

Like I said, I would never if I was just mapping out my own

year. As much as I love the Lord's

truths around healing, and as as much as that is a subject that I

will always # the pulpit on, I wouldn't preach this many

sermons on healing if I was just writing my own schedule.

And yet when we come through the gospel, we go, man, it's almost

like he heals people a lot, man. It's almost like he really likes

to do that, man. It's almost like now in chapter

15, we're finally going to see it.

We've been counting up all the people he turned away.

Remember, we've been counting them up.

We're still at a total of 0. Chapter. 15 we're going to come

to number one. We're going to walk through it

together. It's funny how people will will

take the exception and want to make it the rule.

Have you noticed that in life? But Matthew 15 is going to bless

you. It's not going to it's not going

to weigh you down. It's not going to rob your

faith. It's only going to build it.

Let's keep going. Verse 36 And they implored him

that they might. Only touched the fringe of his

garment, and as many as touched it were made well.

So again, everybody's healed. Everybody who comes is everybody

who's healed but they. Implored him this word,

implored. They asked, they begged, they

pleaded. Once again we see people set the

terms. The woman with the issue of

blood, she had come to him, but she just said to herself she

didn't even want to communicate with him.

She goes, If I touch the the fringe of his garment, then I'll

be made well. The original language clarifies.

That the sick were the ones who are making this request, by the

way. So you and I might in, in the

English we read over and we say, OK, everybody's imploring him.

Was it, was it the men who brought them and told them about

Jesus who are pleading? No, it's actually the sick who

are who are pleading and saying, Lord, if we could just touch the

fringe of your garment. So faith has been built.

Where does it come from? I suspect it came from the woman

with the issue of blood. I suspect that that testimony

had spread. Because and I laugh at that

story with you and say, this is crazy.

She just wrote her own script. I'll just do it this way.

Says who you got a verse for that sister, Come on, come on,

give me a verse. But she knows the nature and the

character for God. And then he goes and Jesus, it's

even unconscious to him who touched me, who touched me.

Lord, everybody said no, this was different.

Again, that messes with folks theology.

I thought Jesus knew everything all the time, at all times.

Well, he's limited himself for those temporary moments in the

ways that he chose to. Not because he's limited, but

because he did this. There's mystery in it, and yet

it's it's still the reality. The Scripture also tells us

Jesus grew in wisdom in stature. How can the very wisdom of God

grow in wisdom? Well, I don't know, but Jesus

did. But they're pleading, they're

begging, they're asking Jesus, can we just touch the hem of

your garment will be made. Well, I don't know.

We don't know if he's walking through the streets and that

people are just coming up. We don't know if he's just

seated and they form massive lines and people come up.

We don't know exactly how it happened, but we know that they

came up and just touched the hem of his garment.

But how did they do that? Why do they know to do that?

I believe that there was a a witness who then testified and

now faith has come for all these people who go well, if it was

for her, then it'll be for me. If he did it for them, he's he's

no respecter of persons. He won't change it up on me.

I have faith, I have confidence. But the thing I love is that

these people are coming to Jesus directly.

Notice they come, and they beg, and they plead, and they.

Ask there is no go between at this point.

They were brought near by the witnesses, but now.

Nobody grabs Jesus for them. They have to grab Jesus for

themselves. Nobody can grab Jesus for you.

You have to grab Jesus for yourself.

Children, I'm talking to you. Spouses, I'm talking to you.

Friends, family, whoever we may lean on, pastors, other

Christians, they can all be witnesses who testify to you and

bring you near. But if you won't grab Jesus for

yourself. You can't have him.

You don't have a relationship with Jesus through someone else.

Jesus is the high priest. He is the way.

You don't have to go through Pastor Jim.

Michael, can you put a good word in with the Lord?

No, I do pray for you and I will continue to pray for you, but I

can't pray instead of you. So I will pray for you, but I

won't pray for you. I won't pray instead of you, you

walk with the Lord. You know the Lord he is your

high priest. He made the way so the the old

high priest, he was the go between the people of Israel

would say. He will go and represent us.

And now Jesus says you have direct access to me.

I am the high priest. I am your way in.

We have to grab a hold of Jesus for ourselves, our young men,

our young women. You have to grab a hold of Jesus

for yourself. You are blessed that your

parents love and follow King Jesus.

You have every advantage in life because of that alone.

That's plenty, and that's enough.

But you still have to grab a hold of Jesus for yourself.

Jesus is our high priest. We don't have an earthly man who

goes to God on our behalf. God came to us through Jesus,

and now we can go straight to the throne of grace.

You can go straight to the throne of grace with confidence

so that you may receive mercy and that you may find grace to

help you in your time of need. But that looks like something.

It can't look like nothing. You have to grab a hold of

Jesus. What does it look like?

How do I do it? By faith?

And then faith will always find an expression.

Faith might say I'll grab his garment.

Faith might say it'll be like this.

Faith might say it'll be like that.

But faith comes from knowing his nature and character and walking

with Him and grabbing a hold of Jesus for yourself.

Do not be content like the children of Israel were to let

Moses go meet with God without them and they they wanted that

you meet with God lest we die. You go, you be the go between.

We prefer that. This is a different attitude

that says no, I have to get him for myself.

I want you instead. God wants all of us instead to

be like Joshua. Scripture says that Moses would

meet in the tent with God as a friend meets face to face.

And then Moses would retreat and leave the tent and go out into

the camp and go back to be with the Israelites.

But there was a young man, Joshua, who remained in the

tent. I.

Didn't even know he was in there until Scripture says he.

But he wouldn't leave. So he's Moses right hand man.

And Moses says, all right Lord. They finished their conversation

and Moses met with God as a friend and he says and now he

leaves to go be with Israel. But Joshua stays in the tent.

Why? He's not looking for efficiency

here. He's not looking for OK, we'll

receive marching orders, General.

We'll move on to the next thing. He is he's.

Looking to experience the Lord. He's looking to be a friend of

God. He's looking to build fellowship

with the Lord. I want him for myself.

I want him all for myself. And I'm and I'm not.

Content to have somebody else's experience.

I I know Moses is the prophet. I know he's got something unique

going on, but might I linger a bit longer?

That's hunger, that's thirst, that's devotion, and the Lord

honored it. The Lord honors Joshua and the

Lord blesses him. I saw recently Kid Rock was on

the Joe Rogan podcast, and I think the Lord is.

I know the Lord is working on Joe Rogan because he continues

to bring people who speak the name of Jesus with love and

adoration. And that man's podcast.

So this is a podcaster is the most famous podcast in the

world, But he's asking Kid Rock. He's like, if you could go back

to any time in history, where would you go?

And Kid Roger says Jesus. And Joe Rogan goes, OK, Joe

Rogan is not a believer. I don't know Kid Rock's whole

story. I just know this clip.

But Joe Rogan goes what if you go and nobody's there?

And Kid Rock goes even better. I get him all to myself.

So he totally misunderstands what Joe Rogan was implying,

which was like the most innocent and, as the young folks say, the

most base possible response because he's like, yeah, but

what if you go, nobody's there? He's like, that's awesome.

I have Jesus all to myself. Which is like the absolute best

response for a sheep of the shepherd.

And Joe Rogan's like, no, no, no, I meant like, I meant like,

what if you go and Jesus isn't there and he's like, oh, he'll

be there. Oh, of course, of course he'll

be there. But what was your point there?

Well, I want the Lord for myself.

That was my thought, kid. Ron was like, I get him all to

myself. Like, I like this.

I like this game even more than before.

He is there, but thankfully, more importantly, He's here.

He is in you. He is with you by the Holy

Spirit. And we are not content to let

somebody else grab a hold of Jesus for us.

We grab a hold of Jesus for ourselves.

So what is this, the fringe of his garment?

We've seen it before. We're going to see it again.

We're going to see Jesus rebuke the Pharisees later.

So there were there were commands given in Deuteronomy

for how Jewish men were supposed to dress.

And there were certain emblems and there were certain things to

represent. The Lord is big on symbolism.

He wants things to represent to. Be a moral reminder and an

encouragement for you. The problem is, the Pharisees

took what was supposed to be a moral reminder, and they made

the thing that was supposed to be the moral reminder.

This the signifier of of holiness.

So if you're supposed to have a few tassels on you, then they

said, well, the longer the tassel, the holier you are.

No, no, no bro, that wasn't the point.

The point was just like the tassels are enough like.

I'm going to have bigger tassels than you like.

OK, guys, I think you're missing the whole thing now.

And that's what the Pharisees did.

Oh, we're supposed to have the scripture on our forehead.

Well, then I'm going to have the bigger scripture box on the top

of my hat. So then, you know, so then

people walk through the streets and go look how holy he is.

Look how much. Bible he's got hanging off the

front of his head. And so that's what they wanted.

They wanted you to admire them. They wanted you to go.

That's a holy man. That's what they wanted.

It was pride. They wanted to inflate

themselves in front of you. They wanted to be big and puffed

up and go, wow, that's a holy man.

Not because of his good fruit, but because of his outward show.

And that's the problem. Anyone can make an outward show.

You got to know somebody and walk with somebody.

Fruit talks over time. It's easy to walk through the

crowd and go, wow, he looks the part man, Look how?

Look how big his scripture boxes on his head.

Look how long his tassels are. But these tassels weren't

nothing. Still a.

Humble. A humble holy man like Jesus

very likely still would have had these.

So it's very likely that this is what these Jewish people are

grabbing a hold of these tassels on this, on this prayer shawl.

I know Gordon and Linda know what I'm talking about.

So this, this garment and there was there was blue stripe on it.

There was white stripe on all these things were were

signifying heaven and earth and purity and prayer and holiness.

This is the fringe of his garment.

Again, the Jewish listeners to this gospel, they understand

what these people are grabbing a hold of.

If I could just grab a hold of the tassel, these tassels

signified holiness and they could be worn in the appropriate

way, which of course would have been the way that Jesus did it.

Not with pride, not with pomp, not with circumstance.

But the Jewish. Hearers again.

They knew what this was about. The one with healing in his

wings, the one with the healing in his tassels was walking among

the people. They named the terms and say

we're if we just touch, if we could just touch your tassel,

then we'll be healed. And Jesus says, let's do it,

let's do it. I'll bless you that way.

I love you that way. As many as touched it were made

well, made well. To spare, to save, to bring

safely through. What a relief.

The doctors might not have loved it, but the whole community is

transformed again by Jesus and his kindness and his generosity

and the will of God being revealed.

What does God want for people? Let's look at Jesus and we'll

always have our answers. Coming into contact with God.

Changes you and we're closing and we're going to prepare to

receive communion. Coming into contact with God

changes you where? Where do we see that?

Look at the leper, remember? Jesus touches the leper.

Does Jesus then get leprosy? No.

The leper gets purified, he gets made whole.

Isaiah comes before the Lord, and he says, oh, I'm a man of

unclean lips. And the Angel flies.

He grabs one of the burning coals from the altar and he

flies, and then he touches it to Isaiah's lips.

Is the coal now tainted with impurities?

No, Isaiah is made pure and made clean.

You and I, we reach out and touch Jesus.

Does he become sinful? Well, the Scripture says he

became sin, but Jesus did not sin.

He was never impure. And still we become now the

righteousness of God in Christ. We have a genetic disease.

From our Father Adam and we need healing.

It's sin. We have other diseases, we have

other ailments, we have other malfunctions, we have other

injuries, and we need healing from all of it.

Jesus is the one that we grab a hold of, and we're going to do

that now in just a moment, Chris and Kayla, if you would serve us

the elements, we're going to grab hold of Jesus again,

through his body and through his blood for the forgiveness of

sins, the most important. Miracle.

And also for the healing of our bodies.

Last week I laid hands on you in obedience to the Word of God.

That with the anointing of oil. But it's not a script, it's

faith. God didn't intend to give

formulas. He intended to give faith.

So even as you receive communion, as you drink the

blood and eat the body this morning, you can receive all

that the Lord has, all that you need, all that He has intended

for you. So we're going to pray.

Elijah Fayne, if you would bring up the music again, Saints, just

meditate. Just pray.

The encouragement I'll give you and the instruction that I'll

give you is to inspect your own heart, to test yourself, to see

that you be in the faith. And the warning I'll give is

only the warning that Scripture gives.

Do not partake of the Lord's body.

Do not partake of the Lord's blood in an unworthy manner.

Don't come to it as a small thing.

Don't come to it as a light thing.

If you would do something like that, you would be eating and

drinking condemnation unto yourself.

There's this thing in the body of Christ.

There's these theological terms and ways that people go about

it. And some pastors say, well, do

you prevent people from receiving communion?

Do you let everybody receive communion?

The way I know to do it is to present the Lord's body in the

Lord's blood, and then to also present the warning out of love

for every partaker to say, do not eat and drink condemnation

unto yourself. It would be better to not

partake than to partake in an unworthy.

Manner. How can I do it in a worthy

manner? Is there sin in your life that

you're not repenting of and you know you're not going to repent

of? Do not take the body and the

blood of the Lord. Have you determined in your

heart this morning that this is who I am?

This is as Christian. As I'm ever going to get, and I

have no intention of going any farther.

I would if I were you. I would not.

I wouldn't trample the blood and the body of Christ.

If we trample the body and the blood of Christ, what lies next

for us? What safety is there?

What protection is there? On the Interstate, flying off

the Cliff, Jesus is the only thing standing between me and

that edge. If you trample him, there will

be nothing else after him. Pastor, you trying to scare us?

I want you to have the fear of the Lord, of course, and the

whole truth. But remember the body and the

blood. What it represents, it

represents His mercy for all of our sin.

But it will require, like our sister prophesied, it will

require our obedience. God keep me close is a good

prayer, but it will ultimately require me making choices.

So I want you to partake. I want you to drink deeply of

the cup. I want you to feast on the body

of the Lord because it is your salvation, because your it is

your purity, because it is your holiness, because it is your

redemption, because it is your healing.

So we move forward prayerfully, we move forward humbly, we move

forward gratefully, coming to the throne of.

What? Grace the throne of.

Grace, Chris and Kayla, would you serve us?

You can boost it a little bit, Thank you.

You can just hold them to the elements as as you pray and then

we'll take together in a moment. Thank you, brother.

Thank you, my sister. There is anything in

pure mega free me, deliver me from people, deliver me from

flesh, deliver me from people. Lord, we've confessed our sin,

we've prayed, we have asked forgiveness, and we come again

to the cross. The cross.

It's foolishness to the world, but it's a treasure to us.

The Lamb of God was slain before the.

Foundation of the. World in the heart of God.

And now, 2000 years later, we still look back to that moment.

Your passion, your sacrifice, you did it all for the joy set

before you, the joy of a restored people, the joy of your

name glorified, the joy of pleasing your Father.

So we come to the cup and to the bread with gratitude and with

joy, knowing that we have much more than the people of Israel

had, even as they were delivered from Egypt that night, as that

first Passover meal was taken. They were delivered from

oppression, yes, but God, we've been delivered from so much

more. Jesus, you changed that

Passover. You said this is the new

covenant in your blood. No longer would it point only to

Israel, but and to Egypt. But more importantly, it points

to every person who will call. Upon the name of the Lord to be

saved and the death Angel passes over us.

Because it didn't Passover. Jesus the Father pointed his

wrath at his Son so that all of his enemies could become his

sons. And now that is exactly what we

are with full inheritance as joint heirs with Christ seated

with you in heavenly places at that throne of grace that we

approach with confidence as thankful children, as forgiven

children, as redeemed children, and now righteous children.

God carry us forward not with a consciousness of sin, but with a

consciousness of righteousness, aware of the high calling on our

lives as ministers, as ambassadors for the King and his

Kingdom, as witnesses who've seen something.

And now? Not only are we required to

testify, we joyfully testify. I was reluctant to testify in

court years ago, but as believers, God, we are joyfully

thrilled. To carry the message of the

Kingdom Lord, even before we partake, we pray for all those

who don't know you and Saints, I want you to just hold someone in

your heart, a particular person. Not the whole wide.

World but a particular person right now God bring them into

the Kingdom and save them. Save them and use me, use me God

to bring them near that they would be LED close, but then

that that they would grab a hold for themselves.

The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the one with healing in

his wings and for the physical needs we have in our bodies.

Whether great or small, they're all small.

For the one who walks on top of all things, with all authority

for the body and the blood accomplish everything that was

needed. We receive healing by faith,

right? Now for the cough that won't go

away, for the vision that hasn't yet been perfected, for the

issues, for the ailments, for the wound that hasn't been

opened, for the headache, for the chronic pain.

Every name that can be named bow down in Jesus name before Jesus.

We believe Lord, we believe by your stripes we were healed, by

your blood we redeemed. Let's take the body of the Lord.

And together let's take the cup. Isaiah was cleansed by the hot

coal from the altar. Jesus is the greater coal.

We're cleansed, forgiven, loved, secure.

God, thank you so much for a conscience that's been

sprinkled. By your blood.

Thank you for protecting us from shame and condemnation, but

thank you so much for the loving correction of a father.

Thank you for the identity of a son.

Lord, send your people out today as effective equipped.

Ministers full of your spirit, full of your power, full of your

love. Or we expect good fruit.

We expect people to respond when we share the gospel.

We expect them to be eager to come to the healer.

We expect to see your glory. And now the.

Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face Shinedown

upon you, and be. Gracious to you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you great

peace in Jesus name, Amen. Adam and Angelina are going to

be up front for. For.

Prayer for anyone who would like some extra ministry.

They would be honored to pray with you.

Thank. You, brother.

They're still going. You might need to.