In this sermon, the speaker focuses on the earthly work of Jesus Christ. He emphasizes the importance of being taught and how Jesus was an excellent teacher. The speaker highlights that a teaching message should affect believers in four ways: by hearing, seeing, doing, and being affected by the Holy Spirit. The sermon also emphasizes that Jesus came into the world to save sinners and give them hope, not for religious purposes. The speaker encourages the audience to remember and respect those who minister to their souls.

Turn, if you would, with me to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4, and we're going to be looking at and using this morning verse 23 as our text for the series that we are embarking upon, which is the life and times of Jesus Christ. And so this morning we come to a new topic, and that is Christ and His earthly work. Those of you who are notetakers, I encourage you to be a notetaker here. There's paper in front of you, available there in the seat pocket in front of you. But if you'd jot down on your notetaking, we're going to be using Matthew chapter 4, and we're going to be looking at verse 25 this morning. Did I say verse 25? Sorry, verse 23, this morning. Very, very important. Matthew's gospel, chapter 4, verse 23 says, Now Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, listen carefully now, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases among the people. Three things I want you to notice. Verse 23, Matthew chapter 4, it says, Now Jesus went about all Galilee teaching. Then it says that He went about preaching. Then it says that He went about healing. We're going to look at the very important topic this morning in our series regarding the life and the times of Jesus Christ, and that is His earthly work, that it was predominantly made up of three things. So if somebody asks you, why did Jesus come? The response that you can give is that Jesus came teaching. We'll look at what that means in a moment. He came preaching. There's a big difference, you know. There's a lot of churches today that are saying that they're preaching, or saying that they're teaching, and they're not doing one or the other. And it also says that Jesus came healing. And we'll take a closer look at that this morning. If you're joining us for the first time, we're looking at a series, in fact it's a 16-part series of the life and times of Jesus Christ. And last time together, we looked at the purpose of His mission, the mission of Christ. And we saw last time together that the very purpose of His mission was that He might fulfill all that was written about Him. Remember that? We looked at that last time. Also, we looked at the fact that His purpose for coming and His great mission was that He might redeem or ransom Israel. Oh, that's a fact. The Bible makes it very clear. Jesus Christ came first to ransom Israel, as the Christmas hymn says. But also, He came to give the gospel to Israel first. Why? Because Israel is His chosen people. He, or they, are His chosen ones. And that is true today. And we talked a little bit about the rise of anti-Semitic feelings or anti-Jewish sentiments or feelings in the world today. That is a sign, by the way, as you see it in your news, it's prophetic of our day and age, that we are living in times of increased demonic activity. Whenever you see a nation or a people come against the Jewish nation, you are seeing a satanic force at work. Very, very pronounced. Regarding the purpose of His mission, we also saw that He came to save us Gentiles too. That unlike or untrue to the declaration of many Orthodox who say Gentiles are created for fuel for hell, which the Bible doesn't teach, the Bible says though in the book of Isaiah that we who are not His people shall be called His people. And we who knew not God will call Him our God. And the Lord is working that true in your life. The second thing we saw last week regarding His mission is that it had a great scope. That the scope of His mission was first of all to bring temporal liberation. That is Jesus Christ brought peace between God and man. The Bible says that there is one go-between. People will say, will you pray for me? Or they might ask you, will you pray for me? Yes, we can pray for you. But know this, when it comes to your sin being forgiven, we'll cover this more in the redemption of Christ in that study forthcoming, that the fact of the matter is we can pray for you and we can intercede for you and we can fast for you, we can weep for you, but the fact of the matter is the Bible teaches clearly there is one mediator. That is the word go-between. Between God and mankind and that is Christ Jesus. And He has come to liberate us and give us peace with God. Also, regarding the scope of His mission, Christ provided physical relief. We'll talk more about that today. But He brought about healing and liberation to those who were physically distressed. Also, finally, we saw regarding the scope of His mission that He provided eternal freedom for all those who would trust in Him. What a story! What a message we have as Christians. That our God, Jesus Christ, offers to the world forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And abundant living both now and forevermore. I challenge you, go and search any religious proposal that's out there on the table that can even come close to what Jesus Christ has offered. Free eternal life. You don't change your life and then come to Christ. He says, come to me just as you are. You come as a broken down, messed up, strung out, arrogant, prideful, whatever your case might be. Come as a sinner. And He embeds the Holy Spirit in your life and He begins to do the work. I love saying, someday I need to write a book on this saying of ours here. If you're doing Christianity and it hurts, you're doing it wrong. Christianity should not hurt. Christianity, yes, in some respects is bloody in that God will say to you, I want you to give up your will, I want you to give up your agenda, I want you to give up your thing, and let me lead, let me guide. But there's this strange paradox. When you let Christ at the controls, things go easier. Life goes better. There used to be a saying, it's Pepsi or Coke, forgive me, but things go better with Coke, I think is what they used to say. And I've seen this T-shirt, it says, things go better with Christ. That's so true. Life has a meaning and a purpose. We saw regarding the mission in that He executed His mission. Jesus did that by performing all that was necessary for us. He went to the cross for us. We also looked at Jesus Christ directing all that was important, that the Holy Spirit was to come and to teach us. And then finally last week we saw that He imparted to us all that we need, and that is the powerful works of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. We saw last time, and I want to just provide this for you again. We saw last time that the very mission of Jesus Christ also dovetails into the earthly work and that the scripture tells us it was for this very purpose Christ came into the world. He came for us. He came for all mankind. And what an unselfish declaration is made there in John's Gospel. Jesus said, And for this reason came I into the world. What reason? To save sinners, to give people hope, to give them life. Not for religion. None of that. No. But to give us true life. The Bible says in John chapter 12 verse 32, Jesus said, If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself. That means that every person on the face of the earth has got to consider Jesus Christ. Isn't that awesome to think? That Jesus Christ declared Himself that every human being must consider Him before they depart this earth. In some way, some shape, some form, even to the one who's in the deepest, darkest of India or Africa who's never heard the Gospel, Romans chapter 1 tells us that God will reveal Himself to that person so that they are without excuse. They will be able to hear somehow, even without a missionary. God will somehow speak to the heart of every man or every woman, even in the most remote places of the world, that He is the Creator God. Every person must be confronted with the fact of God. And by the way, everybody is. Everybody does. In our following study, we're going to get into Christ and creation. We're going to talk about some evolution things and some recent claims which are absolutely hilarious. And we're going to look at those. But the fact of the matter is the Bible says that God has revealed His existence to all that He has created, even nature itself. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. You're not getting out of this world, friend, without having to consider Jesus Christ. You may not bow your knee to Him in this life. You may refuse Him and you may reject Him and thereby purchase tickets for hell, which you shouldn't have to buy. But every person must consider Christ. Jesus is certainly, get a load of this, is certainly the most famous human being that has ever lived on earth. Did you know that? I know the Beatles once said they were, but that's not true. Jesus is, He has been, He is now, He always will be. And in fact, Jesus is the number one most written about person in all of human history. Not only that, but the annual bestseller since it came out, the Bible, every year. You know the Bible is sold more than any other book every year, every year. It sells, Bible is sold more, more people buy Bibles than any other book every year that they don't even post it now on the all-time bestselling list annually. Whatever is posted is second to the Bible because it's always been that way. Jesus, of course, the Bible is written all about Him. But more people have written books, either pro or con, doesn't matter, about Jesus Christ than any other person on earth. In fact, Jesus Christ over the ages have had tens of millions of people follow Him, if not billions. And it's estimated that right now at the close of the millennium, in a few months, at the end of the 20th century, it is estimated that Jesus has on this earth living one billion followers. Isn't that something? That's according to statistics. One billion followers. He is the most famous person that has ever, ever come into the world. And that is the case and that's what it will be until this world is done away with. The Bible tells us that Jesus had His beginnings, really, in ministry regarding His teaching the disciples in the northern Galilee region. As you can see, very beautiful, very lush, there up in northern Israel. And the scriptures tell us there in Matthew 4, verse 23, and Jesus went about all Galilee. You're just seeing a fragment. You're seeing the western shore of the sea there. That city that lies in the distance, that's Tiberias. Jesus went all around Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and disease. Jesus' earthly work can be summed up in that wonderful verse. In Matthew chapter 28, verse 18 and 19, Jesus said, Go therefore into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Well, that began in Jerusalem, or excuse me, in Galilee, there north of Jerusalem, in that region. That's where it began. Jesus began to spread His message and create disciples. And that message was to go out into all the world. When He says in Matthew chapter 28, 19, all nations, the word is ethnos. Go into all the world and bring about disciples from all ethnos, from all nations of various, and here's what the word means, colors. All the various colors, all the various people, the gospel transcends and looks into their hearts and their lives and brings them hope. So the first thing that we'll see this morning, jot it down if you would, very, very important, is this, that we are looking that Jesus Christ came to earth to teach. Jot that down if you would, that He came to teach. Jesus Christ came. Why teaching? Because when Jesus taught, and it must have been awesome to hear Him teach, and literally to see Him teach. When He taught, He was unlocking to the hearts and minds of mankind secrets and mysteries that had been held forever, spiritually held back. When Jesus came teaching, as the scripture says in Matthew 4, 23, that He went about, that was His earthly work, to go about teaching. You might say, what's so big about teaching? It's all important. We as humans learn by being taught. Could be by visual manifestation or by maybe some sort of tutorial care or maybe some sort of apprenticeship where we've got hands-on. We learn by hearing, by seeing, and by doing. Jesus taught. He gave always a good message, and a good message, well taught, should result in the listeners being the people that are affected in at least four ways. Very important. Jot it down in your note-taking, if you would, that a teaching message should affect me in four ways as a believer. Well, why should we even ask that question or make that statement? Because when Jesus taught, people were affected. And when the Holy Spirit moves in a message, people will be affected. 2 Timothy 3.16, very important verse. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. That means God breathed out the Bible. Well, you know, Harriet told me that man wrote it. Man did not write the Bible. God possessed men who under the possession of the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible. He incorporated their personality. He incorporated some aspects of their intellect. Example, some biblical authors wrote according to their customs, where they lived, or their education. But the entire Bible is without contradiction. It is absolutely perfect. It is flawless. And it is accurate scientifically, linguistically, and in every way. How did that happen? Because God breathed the Scriptures. He wrote them. Using men, yes, but He wrote them. In 2 Timothy 3.16, He says four very important things. And we'll look at them this morning regarding teaching. That the Gospel, or the Bible, I should say, is profitable for, number one, doctrine. That is useful teaching. Teaching that you can use. Number two, for reproof. That word means to make us realize what's wrong in our lives. Number three, for correction. That is, the Bible straightens out our lives. It has that power to do it. We'll visit these things later in more detail. Number four, that the Scriptures are helpful to us in that they instruct us in righteousness. That is, the Bible teaches us what we should be doing right. So the first thing is doctrine. The teaching of the way, we can put it, of Christianity. Reproof, that is showing us what is disapproving to God. Correction, that is, to straighten out our life. And instruction, to give us practical knowledge. The Bible says in Micah 6, verse 8, great old verse. Many of us remember this verse many years ago. It was a very popular song. It says, He has shown thee, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. And this is it. But to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. How does that come about in your life and in my life? Through teaching. So the first thing that we see this morning is very, very important. And it is this. His teaching whispered obedience. Jesus' teaching whispered in it obedience. Example, when Jesus taught, there had to be an explosive vitality about His teaching. Why? Because in Matthew 7, verse 29, the Bible says, For He taught them as one having authority and not like the scribes or Pharisees. Well, the scribes and Pharisees would go like this. They would open up the Old Testament. They would say, And Isaiah said that my word shall go forth and accomplish what I have sent it out. It will not return to me void. Then they would close the book and they would say, Rabbi Hillel says, and they would quote Hillel, and Rabbi Shamal says, and then Rabbi Kaplan says, and they would quote all these ancient rabbis. And people would be falling asleep. It happened for millenniums. Jesus comes onto the scene, opens up the Old Testament, and explodes with vitality. He spoke with one having authority. When He taught the Bible, people sat up, and it came to life. Why? Because He spoke from what He knew. When He taught the Bible, the Holy Spirit took the truth of the word of God and through the messenger, in this case Jesus, brought the word of God alive to the listeners. That is extremely important. Jesus taught as one having authority. But listen to this. Very much unlike the scribes and Pharisees. Quickly. I don't want to make a big deal of this, but watch this. Biblical authority is an awesome thing to be around and to embrace. Did you hear me, everyone? You and I live in a culture that when we mention the word authority, we get all bent out of shape. Sometimes we're justified in getting bent out of shape. You want to know why? We have been given a very ill representation of what authority is. Biblical authority draws you to it. You are invited to come and enjoy it. Well, Jack, I was in a ministry and there was authority all right, but I was beat to death by it. I'm not talking about worldly authority. No, no, no. This was in a church. I'm not talking about worldly authority. When Jesus exercised authority, people gathered around Him. Isn't that an exciting and encouraging thing to know? When Jesus is in control, you want to get closer to Him. The scribes, what did they do? They pounded on their pulpit. They put yokes upon people that they themselves wouldn't dare bear or try to even attempt to carry. They were men who were insecure and men who imposed authority. Jesus taught in such a way that He caused the Bible to come to life and to light and they saw it in front of them. Listen, excellent teaching is when the Bible is being taught and there are graphic representations to it. For example, Jesus said in His teaching that for those who offend a little one, it would be better for him to have never been born, but in fact would have a millstone tied around his neck and cast into the sea. Why did Jesus use that word picture or that description as a millstone? Because millstones are everywhere there and they weigh anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 pounds. My friend, if you have a millstone tied around your neck and God throws you into the sea, you're going to go down. And when Jesus taught like that, people went, wow, I see a millstone here. Hmm, with what He just said, I see little children standing around. Boy, if anybody offends any of these little ones, he's going to tie that millstone around the offender's neck and cast him into the Sea of Galilee, which is right there. Wow! What teaching! And that caused people to gather near and to gather around, not to drive them away. The Scripture says in Mark 12, 37, and the common people, the word common in Greek means the bulk, the most of the people, the greatest of the attendants of the people, and normal people. The common, normal, and most of the people heard Jesus gladly. The word gladly in Greek means to be receiving something sweetly or to receive something with pleasure or something that is enjoyable. When Jesus taught, people gathered around and listen up, everyone. Unlike many of the messages that I might deliver to you here, they were pleasurable to hear. People went, awesome! My goodness, I understand these mysteries that He's teaching. Never before, as the Scripture says in John 7, 46, has a man spoken like this man. Jesus taught, and when He taught, He whispered obedience and the people probably didn't even mention the word obedience. They just gladly followed Him to obey. When you hear Jesus teach, you're going to want to gather around Him more and more often. His teaching whispered obedience. Very quickly, jot it down. Don't want to spend much time there. Hebrews 13, verse 7. Hebrews 13, verse 17. And Hebrews 13, verse 24. All of those three Scriptures imply to the religious... I hate to use that term, but you'll know what I mean. To the religious overseer or the pastor or pastors or evangelist or you name it that is ministering to your soul. Listen to what Paul says. Very important. He says, remember those who rule over you. Now, if somebody comes on the scene and says, submit, I rule over you. I'm the pastor. You know what? I think it's time for you to find another church. There's something wrong with that guy. That's not how Jesus did it. And that's not what the word authority would mean. Remember those who rule over you, who spoke the word of God to you, whose faith you should follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. They're going to stand before God in the end. And every teacher, evangelist, pastor knows that I better be careful about what I teach and how I teach it because I will stand before God in the end alone and He's going to hold me accountable. That fear in a godly way or the word actually for fear as I should use is the word awesome. That awesome appointment that I know I have with God should cause me to be humble, to be simple, should be careful and never assume or impose authority. Paul says, remember those who rule over you. If somebody is ruling over you, this is what the result should be biblically. You should grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. If you are well-loved and well-taught, you should be growing up in Jesus, dependent upon Jesus, not the church's hotline, not a few people in the church, not the pastor or not the priest, not the father or the mother. Jesus. Hebrews 13, 7 says, Obey those who rule over you and be submissive to them. Why? Because they watch out for your souls. It should be a joy. Can you imagine? Jesus is my what? Yoke, it's easy. My burden, it's light. That was radical for the people to hear. It was inviting. Another thing that we see this morning, His teaching whispered obedience. Yes, but also His teaching painted pictures. When He taught, He had the ability, when He came teaching, to paint pictures with words. Very, very important. You remember in 2 Timothy 3, 16, it says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. This now, in teaching, this would be now reproved. Consider this. To make us realize what is wrong in our lives. How did Jesus often do that? Hey, you don't come on the scene. And a lot of zealous Christians have this tendency. They get saved on Sunday and they get to work on Monday and they burn the whole company. You're all going to hell. Somebody says something. Oh, that's it. You're going to burn. You're out of here. That's not going to win people to Christ. Reprove. 2 Timothy 3, 16 tells us that scripture is given that it is to reprove. This word is very, very important because it's to show us what is disapproving. What's not pleasing to God. How do you walk up to somebody and say, Excuse me, but God's called me to rebuke you. They will not listen to you, friend. Who made you the Holy Spirit in their life anyhow? There's always the little fault finders and sin sniffers that are around every church. I don't know why, but they're in every church. Do you realize what you did? What? Did you hear what you said? What? You know what? And they're just fault finding. Get a little notebook. They don't. They look like a spiritual poindexter. Oh. And away they write sin sniffers and fault finders. You will never get someone to grow in Jesus that way. How did Jesus Christ do it when he reproved someone? How did he do it? Well, example this way. When he was teaching the disciples, he said this. It says in Mark 12 38, Jesus in his teaching said to them, beware of the scribes who desire to go around with long robes. Men love long robes. Religion loves long robes. The longer, the better. They love greetings in the marketplaces. Hi, Rabbi Joe. Yes. I'm Rabbi Joe. They love greetings in the marketplace where it's crowded. Hello. Hello. Oh, yes. Thank you. Thank you. They love that. The flesh loves that recognition. Jesus is beware of that. Be careful. He says they love the best seats in the synagogue. A little name on it. Little name there. I donated $1,000. So this is my seat. Interesting. Wow. Jesus says, listen, don't be like those guys. And he says for a pretense, make long prayers. He says, but in reality, they receive the greater condemnation. See, long prayers for some strange reason. Long prayers are synonymous with, in the Bible, of fleshly offerings. The scriptures warn us to be careful about prayer, to be short at prayer, quick at it. When you come before the Lord, speak it directly and that's it. But not the religious person. Long prayers, all this stuff. So what's Jesus saying? When he's teaching, he's painting a picture. He says, you guys, listen. And he might have even pointed across the courtyard. See the scribes and the Pharisees? Look at them over there. He graphically presented the word to them. He said things like this. Consider the lilies of the field. They neither toil nor do they spin. Yet Solomon, in all of his beauty, was not arrayed like one of these flowers. And if you would have been there with Jesus in his picturesque teaching, you would have laughed. You don't see a lily going, and, you know, stressing out. Jesus says, look at the simplicity of this. And it clicked in the mind of people. My goodness. Lord, I understand this. No, the scripture warns us. And he taught us when he reproved us, and he continually does it because he loves us. He will often use very graphic pictures to get our attention. Why? That's how we learn. That is how you and I learn. In Matthew 23, verse 27, a very horrible verse. Matthew 23, 27, says, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs. Well, that doesn't make any sense to you and I. Not yet. And indeed, they appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and uncleanness. When Jesus spoke that picturesque statement, everybody recognized immediately what he was saying. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees! You're like a whitewashed tomb. They paint tombs there white, graveyards, they paint them white, so people don't stumble over them in the night because that would defile you. And they're very bright, they almost glow from a distance, even in the moonlight. Outwardly, Jesus says, you look great on the outside, but the inside you're full of absolute hypocrisy. That was graphic teaching. People got it. Somebody today, and I'm just making this up, if this offends you or upsets you, I'm sorry, I don't mean to. But somebody might say today, you know, be careful of that man over there, he's as truthful as a politician. Whoa, that means, I understand exactly what he meant. He meant, don't trust that man. You know? Watch out. Jesus in his teaching unlocks to the heart of man what he's trying to convey. Let's continue on with this. His teaching whispered obedience, his teaching painted pictures, and his teaching warned of consequences. Yes, warned of consequences. And that corresponds to 2 Timothy 3.16. The third admonition there is that the Bible is profitable for correction. That means it straightens us out. In Luke chapter 22, verse 25, the Bible says, And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, he who is the greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs among you as he who serves. For who is greater, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? Is not the one who sits at the table greater? Yet I am among you as one who serves. Jesus is obviously the greatest, but he came serving. And he taught regarding correction this type of a warning, that if we are Christians, and he's speaking to his disciples, he says, Don't get all haughty and puffed up that you know the way to heaven. Don't be all haughty and puffed up that you know how to find a verse in the Bible, that you know how to serve people. He says, In fact, I, being the creator of the universe, I've humbled myself, and I'm serving you. What an excellent way of teaching a deep truth that, look, let's be honest, every one of us have a hard time with. I'm going to confess something of yours, because it's something of mine. All of us enjoy being served. And don't tell me you don't. We do. Jesus says, Listen, the example is this to those who follow me, serve one another. And he taught us that if we didn't do this, that there's consequences. And there are obviously consequences to many things, things that we neglect to do, and things that we shouldn't be doing. And Jesus teaches not by slamming down the cosmic flyswatter out of heaven and splatting you. He teaches by picking you up. Remember, I've told you before how God spanks. I think it's a wonderful way how he spanks. When he spanks us who believe, his children, he'll never spank somebody who's not his child, by the way. But when he spanks us, he comes down and scoops up, catches us right in the rear end there. And with his spank, we're uplifted. Only God can spank like that. I know as parents try, we'll discipline our child, and then, you know, we'll sit them down. First, we tell them, this is why you're going to get a spanking. You ever done this with your child? If you have young kids, let me give you some advice here. My kids are older now. This works. Tell them, what you did was wrong, and you know that you're going to be disciplined for this. You knew that you shouldn't have done this. Go to your room. I'll be there in a moment. I'm going to come and discipline you. Now, immediately, they go down to the hallway, which seems about 40 to 50 miles long to them. They get into the room, and what seems like two minutes, seems like an hour. And let me tell you something. When you come in there, and you say to them now, now you're going to get a spanking, but before you get a spanking, do you know what you did wrong? Yes. They've been thinking about it. This is good. You don't spank a kid to spank a kid. You spank a kid to curve that evil direction or will that's in their heart, not to break it. You love them. Yes, I did something wrong. What was it? I barbecued the cat. Yes, we don't barbecue cats. Okay. Now, I'm going to spank you. Daddy, don't. Daddy, you know, don't, don't. Listen, much of the discipline already without me, even having to spank, has already been done. There's repentance, but even in the light of repentance, there are times when judgment must come, even in the light of repentance. You can break the law today, ask God to forgive you, and ask the judge to forgive you. The judge says, you're forgiven. Pay 1500 bucks. Oh, you're forgiven, but you still have to pay. Dependent upon the infraction, so you spank your child, and I believe one time, and then the next thing, which is funny. What do they do when the discipline has truly affected them the way it ought? You'll hear this. Daddy, I love you. I love you too, peanut. Come here, sit down. And it's a big hug, big kiss, and it's all gone. Everything's over. If you don't discipline a child with love that way, you know what you're going to do? You're going to raise up a child that is filled with guilt, because that infraction, will load up on their conscience, over and over, on top of the next, on top of the next. It must be cleared. And you owe that to your child, to love them that way. Let their heart be freed, because the judgment has come. God does that with us. He corrects us, but it always builds us up. Always builds us up. So the next thing that we see this morning, in Christ and His earthly work, is this. And that is, His teaching brought about assurance. When Jesus spoke, He brought about assurance to our hearts. Assurance. And He does it today. The Bible tells us in John chapter 10 verse 27. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them. They follow Me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. I love when God talks like that. They will never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. If I count the hands that are involved, there's the hand of Jesus, and there's the hand of the Father, and the Bible says in John chapter 10, you're right in the middle. You're right in the middle of the hands of God, and you're safe. When Jesus taught, He brought assurance to the soul, to the heart, of everyone who heard Him. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 15, beginning at verse 3, He says, What man is there among you that has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray? Does he not leave the ninety-nine, and go after that one sheep that is astray? And once he's brought him, or caught him, he brings him back and rejoices? That's how God loves you. Are you sinning? I know we sin. We sin in our thoughts, or we sin in our imaginations. We may even sin in action. But are you backslidden right now? Are you backslidden as a Christian? Are you looking back at a time when you were more right on with God? If you can, you're backslidden. And God would say to you right now, I've left the one hundred, and I've come, or I've left the ninety-nine, and I've come after the one, that's you. And He says, I want to pick you up, and put you over my shoulders again, and bring you back home. I want to encourage you, friend, listen to Him. Listen to Him, because a faithful shepherd, if a sheep continues to wander away, a faithful shepherd will break the leg of that lamb, to keep him from wandering off. He loves you. He loves me. Jesus' teaching brought about assurance. It's awesome to realize that when Christ taught, the scriptures say, yes, that the common people heard Him gladly, but it says that gathered to Him were all the tax collectors, or the IRS agents today, the prostitutes, the muggers, the bums, the thieves, the outcasts. Now that's teaching. That is an awesome thing. Jesus did this very teaching. The next thing that we see this morning, the second point to our study is this. Christ came to earth to preach. Here's the difference. The teaching is instructive. Preaching is evangelistic. There's the teaching that goes to the body, that goes to you. Those who are already saved, those who already know Christ, He teaches. Preaching is evangelism. The word preaching means to herald forth the news, or the evangel, good news, God news. So Jesus came to earth to preach. We saw this in Matthew 4, verse 23. He went all about preaching the kingdom of God. Luke 20, verse 1 says, now it happened, on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel. That is a wonderful thing. That meant that Jesus was teaching to the believers who probably brought some unbelievers. You see this? I'm sorry, I get a kick out of this. This is like important stuff to me. In teaching, He recognized that there were unbelievers in the group, and so He preached. Isn't that great? I love that. To proclaim. To preach is to proclaim. The word in Greek means to make broadly announced the news, or to spread the news widely. And you know the word gospel. The word gospel does mean good news, but it's actually, in its more correct form, it is God news. God news, or God's news, the gospel. Jesus called us to preach. He preached Himself. Evangelism is not always done with words, though, by the way. It's done more importantly and sometimes more powerfully by the lifestyle you live. We can talk to people all day long. I've noticed with my children, and you've noticed with yours, that it doesn't matter what I say to them, they remember what I do. And yet some people will say, don't do as I do, do as I say. That's impossible. People will do as is done. But we see this in our study. We see this, that Jesus came to earth to preach. And the first thing that we see is that Jesus preached to the heart of man. He preached to the heart of man. When Jesus preached, He cut right straight through the crowd and got into every heart of those who were listening. When Jesus preached, He was relevant and He was current. People could associate and relate to Him when Jesus preached. And that's how you became a Christian. When someone, under the power of the Holy Spirit, preached the gospel to you, Jesus became relevant. How did that happen? It's miraculous. I mean, look at you in here. If you're a Christian, then it's a miraculous event that brought you to this place. The Holy Spirit took the words of some person, which were not His words, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Bible came out, the Holy Spirit found your seat, where you were, and said or announced to you, this is truth, and you need to respond. When Jesus preached, decisions were made. Interesting. Billy Graham has said this. He said, And I know that if I am faithful to preach the gospel, in every outreach, decisions will be made. He says, if He preaches the gospel, decisions will be made. And this is what He said. The next line, some decisions may be yes, and some decisions may be no. That is all that preaching is to accomplish. You've been witnessing to your friends. The whole act of your witnessing to your friends, I know this sounds brutal, but we are not the ones that cause the growth. We are not the ones that cause salvation to happen. Did you know that? We are simple messengers, and the decision they make is upon their own head. We have been called to preach the truth. Do you have a friend that you have never told the gospel to? You've never preached to them the gospel. Then my friend, if a house was burning, and your friend was in that house asleep, would you go in to get him? Or would you stand outside saying, Oh my goodness, his house is burning. You'll go in to get him out. To preach to your friend is to run into his house that's on fire spiritually, and to get him out. To say, listen, your house is on fire, you need to get out. Jesus preached with relevancy and a current heart on the position of men, wherever they might be. In Luke chapter 4, verse 43 and 44, Jesus says, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, because for this purpose have I been sent. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. Plural. He went all over preaching. The next thing that we see this morning, he preached to the heart of men. He also preached to the minds of men. You can preach to the mind and simply affect the mind. You can preach to the heart and get an emotional response. But when Jesus preached, he preached to the heart and to the mind of all those who heard. In other words, this, and we'll move on. It is that when Jesus Christ taught and preached the gospel message, it made sense, and it was logical and reasonable. It was verifiable. When Jesus said something, it was factual. You would listen and say, my goodness, that's true what he just said. When Jesus Christ preached, he preached to the mind of men. He didn't divorce the intellect of man. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that God has created us as intellects. We think, we reason. In fact, the Bible says in Genesis that he has created us in his own image. That word means moral likeness. It doesn't mean that God is six foot tall and weighs 215. Moral likeness. Let us make man in our image. Our moral likeness. We have the ability to choose, to reason, to argue, to love, to think, to create. No other created being on earth has that capacity. God has given that to us. Why? We are the only ones created in his image. That is so important because he has also given us an intellect. Again, our society has so fallen, the world has so fallen in the last 100 years. Where the greatest minds, the greatest thinkers up until the last 100 years have been Christians. Or Jews. Or Judeo-Christian believers. Somehow, because of the Scopes trial in the 20s and this ridiculous claim of evolution, which has absolutely fallen apart. Again, we will talk about that in our next series. That God is not real. God doesn't exist. And yet, every human being on the inside knows that there is an eternal witness regarding his intellect. God is out there. And people don't want to believe in God because it is a moral issue. It is not an intellectual issue. Don't let anybody ever say to you, Well, I can't become a Christian because I am an educated man. Well, you have been educated beyond your intelligence then. You think you are so smart. I would like you to talk to Sir Isaac Newton about that. Go tell Newton he didn't know what he was talking about. Some of the other greats. Kepler and the great astronomer, the father of astronomy. Love the Lord. Amazing. Exciting. Also, he not only preached to the heart, he preached to the mind. He preached to the whole of man. When Jesus Christ preached, the very whole of the person was touched. That there was this concept in their minds generated that life is temporal. And that there is an eternal life. And that there is a sense of urgency that I need to make a decision for Jesus Christ. He preached to the whole of man. Thirdly, and we will end with this. Jesus came to earth to heal. Yes, to heal. He has authority over traditions. I want to simply say this regarding healing and traditions. In that culture, there were those both of the Jewish world and the non-Jewish world. They had their traditions. Example. And you know this. In Mark's gospel chapter 7, Jesus is in the area of the Decapolis. The region of ten cities. And a man came to him, or men came to him, dragging their friend. Because obviously his friend didn't want to come. They had to bring him by force. And Jesus sees these men. And Jesus takes this man. Mark chapter 7 around verse 35-ish. Jesus takes this man off, away from the multitude. And it says in the scripture that the man had an impediment in his speech and he couldn't hear. And the word in the Greek is so graphic. It means that the man once was able to hear and once was able to speak. And it implies in his infancy or in his young age. He had lost that. Maybe from a fever. We don't know. But Jesus pulls him off to the side from the multitude. And you know people who once were able to hear and able to speak. The noises that they can make. Kind of embarrassing sounds. Inarticulate sounds. Jesus pulls him off, away from the multitude. I love that. Maybe to spare embarrassment. Because maybe the man just sounded so terribly. And it says there in Mark chapter 7 that Jesus looked at him. It says that Jesus grabbed his tongue. Not his own tongue. Jesus grabbed the other man's tongue. He spit on his fingers. Touched his tongue. Then it says that he put his fingers in the man's ears. What is he doing? What's he doing? Fingers in the ears and grabbing the tongue. And then it says that Jesus looking up into heaven sighed. And that word in the Greek is to snort like a horse. Very exaggerated movements Jesus made. Why? Well he was conveying to the man that couldn't hear or speak. Regarding the culture where that man lived. He broke the traditions. And the traditions were this. If a physician came to you in your culture where he lived. If he grabbed your tongue you'd be made whole. If you gave, did, thus, the other. It would be fine. Jesus met the man where he's at. Even in his traditions. Jesus had authority. And he grabs his tongue. He puts his fingers in his ears. He looks up. He sighs. And all this. And Jesus says finally, which is in Aramaic says, Be opened. Be loosed. Be healed. And Jesus healed him. A woman came with an issue of blood. And she said to herself, If I just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. That is not biblical. Did Jesus say, Excuse me. But don't you dare think that just by touching the hem of my garment you'll be made whole. No. He says, Who touched me? The crowd was pushing him. He said, No, no, no, no. Virtue's gone out of me. I felt power leave me. Can you imagine? Jesus turns around and says, Who touched me? And the woman being afraid, Fessed up. And Jesus says, Your face made you whole. Go. You're healed. That was not a biblical approach to him. But he has power over tradition. My mom's life. All her life. My mom bowed to statues in prayer. Condemned by the scriptures. She bowed to saints and to icons and statues in prayer. Four weeks before her death, She bows her knee to Jesus. In fact, She says that day, I've been praying. Why aren't these saints helping me? And I said, They can't help you. They can't. I've been telling you this for years. They can't help you. Well, Then how can I find help? Mom, On your knees and talk to God direct. She accepts Jesus Christ. Four weeks later, She enters eternity. Into the kingdom of God. He's authoritative even over traditions. Amen. Quickly. He has authority over suffering. Simply this. Jesus Christ uses suffering. To bring people to him. All of us know someone who's suffering right now. Don't despise that suffering. As much as it hurts. Oftentimes, I have found in my life and in your life. That suffering softens the heart towards the truth. I think suffering is one of God's greatest evangelists. Number three here. On the third point. Jesus Christ came to heal. He has authority over death. This is what we are so excited about, of course. Is that Jesus Christ has completely robbed death. Of its sting. And of his pain. The Bible says. You can close your Bible and rest if you want. We're done. The Bible says. To be absent from this body. Is what? Is to be present with the Lord. Well, Jack, what's going to happen to me when I die? Well, first of all, you Christian. Yes. The moment you blink here. You blink there. Wow. Well, the Bible says. That those who sleep in Jesus. Speaking only of the appearance of the physical body. Not your soul. Not your spirit. To be absent from the body. Says the scriptures. To be present with the Lord. Hey, Jesus came. Teaching. Preaching. And healing. And by the power of the Holy Spirit. He does it still today. Father, we thank you for your word. And we ask even now at this hour. Lord, that you would continue to touch us. Through the teaching of your word. As we look and consider. The earthly work of Jesus. That he came to teach. He came to preach the everlasting gospel. And he came to heal. Father, we thank you. That you are in business today. To do the same. Until the culmination of the ages. We praise you for this.