Preach the Gospel

[0:00] My message to you is preach the gospel. And what is that? Luke 4 verse 15 through 21, Our Lord taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

[0:12] ! 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. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

[0:26] 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.

[0:37] 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 year of the Lord.

[0:54] 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.

[1:11] Our Lord said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[1:23] There's a gospel, a gospel message, and it's to the poor. It's to the lowest, to the poorest, to the downtrodden, to the outcast, and to the well-to-do. They can have it, but they generally can't be bothered.

[1:39] The gospel message is a message of hope, of riches, of faith, of glad tidings. This is glad, great, good news. And it's here for those who will receive it.

[1:51] Good news for the battlers. And it's not in some politician's election promises. It's here. It's now. It's not to a select audience. It's to whosoever will.

[2:02] It's not limited by class, by colour, by bank account, by education, by any privilege of position or status. It's food for the hungry. It's drink for the thirsty.

[2:13] It's life for the dead ones. It's hope for the hopeless ones. It's for the poor and needy. It's for the lost and dying. It's for those who cry out in their need and emptiness.

[2:25] It's not for the self-satisfied. It's not for the smug and self-righteous ones. Our Lord comes as the rejected one, as the one despised and rejected of men.

[2:36] And he comes to those in misery, and he brings glorious purpose and destiny. He comes to the struggling ones, and he becomes their lifeline. And this message is still available, still there for the poor and needy, still a message to be received, and a message for us to deliver.

[2:56] It's still a gospel for the poor. Friends, are you poor enough to receive it, to see your desperate lack, your need of him, of his salvation?

[3:08] Are you willing to cry out in mercy that you can partake of it? The gospel is here to be proclaimed to those who will hear it, who will receive it, and who will act upon it.

[3:22] Preach the gospel to the poor. Our Lord also says he's come to, secondly, heal the brokenhearted. Are there any brokenhearted ones in this city?

[3:33] Are there any whose hearts ache and long for perfect love, perfect peace, for God to bring what only he can do, to mend the heart broken and torn? There's a healing for the hurting.

[3:46] That's the gospel. There's a caring, loving saviour. There's a soothing, healing balm in Gilead. There's a great physician. There's a hand of healing that can touch your deepest hurt, your sorrow, your pain, your anguish, your grief, your unforgiveness, your turmoil, your storm.

[4:06] And he's here today. He does not turn aside the broken. He does not throw them away on the scrap heap as our world would do. It's still true today.

[4:17] This man receiveth sinners. Are you brokenhearted over your sins? Has God touched your heart by his overwhelming grace? He does not prescribe painkillers and psychoanalyse you.

[4:31] He does not refer you to a specialist. He is the specialist. He is the heart doctor. And it is he, he, only he, who can perform that life-saving operation.

[4:45] He puts the pieces back together. He joins us back together. He mends. He takes the shattered heart and he makes it whole again. He takes the battered nerves, the tortured mind, the soul of man, and he makes it complete again.

[5:00] He restores it back to health again. And he is the only one who can. He says, will you surrender to the operation on your own heart that you so desperately need?

[5:14] If you're broken in heart, there is healing for you. He has come to preach the gospel. Thirdly, to preach deliverance to the captives.

[5:26] There is a one who can unlock the gates of hell, who has the answer to the human condition, who has the key that unlocks life's puzzles and unravels and unravels and explains all of life's mysteries, where nothing and no one seems to have the answers.

[5:41] One can. One can. Who can break the prison bars? Who can set the prisoners free? Who can declare the guilty pardoned? Who can free the imprisoned soul?

[5:54] God can. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. He preaches deliverance and he brings deliverance. He is the deliverer.

[6:06] He commands the prison guards, release, let them go, let them go free. And he issues that full unmerited pardon, if we will but receive it.

[6:17] Yet some still will not believe. He extends the pardon in his nail-scarred hands, yet they turn him away. He says to the captives of sin, to the oppressed, the prisoners of war, you are free, you are set at liberty.

[6:34] Even while we were enemies. He comes to us. You are released from your bondages. You are captives no longer. Let go of the chains that bind you.

[6:46] Let go of the bolts that lock you, of the bars that imprison you. He beckons you to step out of the cage, out of the cell, out of the gloom and confinement. Friends, there is complete deliverance in him.

[7:00] Yet some will cherish their shackles and even polish their chains, not receiving his deliverance. They will not step outside the prison bars of sin.

[7:11] They want to linger on, linger on in their darkness, linger on in their helter-skelter ride to hell, linger on in their blindness and confusion, linger on in their emptiness and deception.

[7:23] Yet they are prisoners. Our Lord has come to preach the gospel. Number four, to preach recovering of sight to the blind.

[7:36] Our Lord comes to the blinded ones and he gives sight. He helps them see. He opens their eyes. He gives their sight back. He makes those blinded eyes to see.

[7:47] He banishes the darkness by his overwhelming light and the brightness of his glory scatters the darkness, the shadows away. The perfect day shines.

[7:58] The day star has come. 2 Peter 1 verse 19, it says, We have a more sure word of prophecy, Where unto you do well, that you take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.

[8:18] One of his names is the sun of righteousness. No longer need we grope around in the darkness. There is a beam of light, a glorious, bright glow, a ray, a bright and glorious new day.

[8:37] He's come to preach the gospel. Number five, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Has life bruised us and dealt us harshly?

[8:47] Maybe some harsh blows? Have we felt torn and tested? He comes to you. You, the bruised and aching ones.

[8:57] He comes to you, the battered ones, the battle-scarred ones, the beaten down, the weary ones. And he reaches out with life to the crushed and burdened ones. He opens the doorways.

[9:10] He unlocks the chains. And he brings true freedom. True liberty. He treats and he cares for our wounds. Like the good Samaritan.

[9:23] The crushed and the wounded, he delivers and he sets free from their chains. He takes the burdens of the burdened ones. He wears the bruises for them. He takes the stripes for them. He carries the guilt for them.

[9:37] Isaiah 53 verses 3 to 5 says, He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him.

[9:49] He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

[10:02] But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed.

[10:16] He was bruised that we might be forgiven. Will you see him there, bruised for you, smitten for you, nailed for you, in pain for you, in agony for you?

[10:29] Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel.