Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000063
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00:00 ♪ (Theme Song) ♪ ♪ Jesus is worthy ♪
00:11 ♪ oh yes, he's worthy ♪ ♪ worthy of all... ♪ 00:18 ♪ (Music) ♪ Pastor Byrd: Make Jesus famous. 00:25 For Christians, Jesus is the central figure of the Bible. 00:29 His life is told four times over in the Bible, 00:33 in Matthew, Mark, Luke and in John. 00:37 His life was so important that it transformed 00:42 the entire course of western civilization. 00:46 The impact of Jesus' life on society cannot even begin to 00:49 be quantified, because people everywhere either know Jesus, 00:56 have known Jesus, have heard Jesus or will hear about Jesus. 01:02 Jesus was about people. 01:06 Someone once said, if your vision is for one year, 01:10 plant wheat. 01:12 If your vision is for ten years, plant trees. 01:17 But if your vision is for a lifetime, plant people. 01:23 And that's what Jesus did. 01:25 He planted people. 01:29 He impacted people. 01:31 He cared for people. 01:34 He made a difference in the life of people. 01:37 And I'm here to remind somebody today that Jesus 01:41 can make a difference in your life. 01:43 Do I have a witness in this place? 01:45 In fact, I want to suggest if you have it, try Jesus, 01:50 because if you don't like Jesus then the devil will 01:53 gladly take you back. 01:54 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 01:56 Jesus' earthly life began in the manger, went through 01:59 a carpenter's shop, made several stops 02:02 at the temple, baptized in the Jordan river 02:07 and then at the age of 30 he began his earthly ministry 02:11 on what we call planet Earth. 02:14 When on Earth Jesus went about doing good. 02:18 His ministry, his miracles, my friends, they were not 02:20 confined to one place. 02:23 They were not limited, but Jesus went everywhere 02:25 and everywhere he went people stood in need 02:28 of what he gave. 02:29 Jesus healed every sickness and disease known to man. 02:35 None too bad, none too hard for my Jesus, 02:37 because I believe I've got somebody 02:39 who knows there's nothing too hard for Jesus. 02:42 In the text, Jesus has just finished overcoming the 02:46 temptations of Satan. 02:48 He has called the first four of his disciples, Peter, 02:52 Andrew, James and John. 02:55 His earthly ministry is just beginning, 02:58 his fame is beginning to spread throughout 03:01 Galilee and he's about to preach his famous 03:05 Sermon on the Mount. 03:06 The text says in Matthew 4:23, and I read, "And Jesus went 03:12 about all Galilee." 03:14 Everybody say all. 03:15 And everybody say Galilee. 03:20 Now, let's stop there. 03:21 Jesus begins where the people are. 03:26 He begins in Galilee. 03:28 If you're going to spread the gospel you've got to go 03:32 where the people are. 03:34 You do no good in your house, in your closet, in secret 03:40 trying to spread the gospel. 03:42 You've got to go where the people are. 03:45 I believe a preacher preached from this pulpit, if you're 03:48 going to go fishing for souls you've got to go 03:52 where the fish are. 03:53 Too many of us want to limit the ministry to the four 03:56 walls of the church. 03:57 We want to sing to us, preach to us, teach to us, 04:03 talk to us. 04:05 We're insulated and we're isolated, but you've got to 04:08 get up and go beyond the four walls of this church and go 04:13 where the people are. 04:14 Jesus said, Go ye therefore. 04:17 Not come where I am, but go. 04:20 Do I have a witness in this place? 04:22 Jesus went about all Galilee, not some of Galilee. 04:26 For the Bible says, he went to all of Galilee. 04:30 Not just to the high and to the mighty, but to the last, 04:33 the least, the lost, the lowly, the lonely, 04:36 the unlucky and the left out. 04:38 He went to the rich, to the poor, to the black, 04:39 to the white, to the old, to the not-so-old, 04:43 to the male, to the female. 04:46 He went to the young. 04:48 Jesus, the Bible says, went about all Galilee. 04:51 There was something about Galilee. 04:55 Jesus' earthly parents were from Galilee. 04:58 Jesus was raised in Galilee. 05:02 Jesus began his ministry in Galilee. 05:06 Jesus' disciples were called from Galilee. 05:10 The women who accompany Jesus were from Galilee. 05:13 After the Resurrection Jesus met his disciples in Galilee. 05:18 Galilee was where the people were. 05:21 The reason, Galilee, history says, was approximately 05:24 70 by 40 miles. 05:27 History says Galilee had 240 cities and villages, 05:31 each with no fewer than 15,000 people. 05:34 Galileans were not highly regarded, but were looked 05:38 upon with contempt. 05:40 Even Nathaniel had his doubts about Galileans for it was 05:44 Nathaniel who said, can anything good 05:46 come out of Nazareth, which was in Galilee! 05:50 When Jesus' ministry began to spread, the people asked in 05:54 John, Chapter 7, verses 40 to 42, is this really 05:58 the prophet? 06:00 Others said, this is the Christ. 06:03 Still others said no, for the Christ doesn't come from 06:07 Galilee, does he? 06:09 The Bible says that he "went about all Galilee, teaching 06:14 in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the 06:16 kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all 06:20 manner of disease among the people." Now in verse 23, the 06:24 verb here is went. 06:27 Everybody say went. 06:29 Jesus went, went here, understand, is used in the 06:33 imperfect tense and when you have the imperfect it does not 06:37 mean that it's less than perfect. 06:40 It just means that it's continuous action 06:43 in past tense. 06:45 Somebody's going to get this in a minute. 06:47 Jesus went, continuous action, in the past tense. 06:53 In other words, Matthew is trying to let us know that 06:57 Jesus was constantly going about, constantly going 07:01 around, regularly going to and fro, always ministering 07:05 to all of the Galileans. 07:07 Jesus never stopped. 07:09 He was moving all the time. 07:11 He was trying to touch as many people as he could. 07:13 The greater portion of our Lord's ministry, earthly 07:17 ministry, occurs in Galilee. 07:19 Here, Matthew describes the commencement of Jesus' 07:23 Galilean ministry as starting out with a bang. 07:27 It was an instant success. 07:30 It could not have been otherwise. 07:32 Jesus went about Galilee teaching, preaching 07:36 and healing, and because he was teaching, preaching and 07:41 healing, you can imagine how much his fame 07:44 must have spread. 07:46 Now, the text gives us three things that encompass 07:50 his ministry. 07:51 Number one, he was teaching. 07:52 He was doing what, everybody? 07:54 He was teaching in the synagogues. 07:56 Now, the synagogue, quickly, was one of the most important 07:59 institution in the life of any Jew. 08:01 It's like what the church is to you and me today. 08:04 The synagogue was important. 08:06 The church is an important institution in our lives. 08:11 Your family is here. 08:13 Your kids are here. 08:16 Your friends are here. 08:18 This is your life. 08:19 It was no different back in the day. 08:22 The whole of Jewish life centered around the synagogue. 08:27 Divine worship for the Jews, if you will, would be held, 08:31 just like today, on Saturday morning, because they 08:34 regarded it and recognized it as the Sabbath. 08:37 The synagogue also served as the center of education. 08:41 Young men would go there in their childhood and they 08:44 would learn the Talmud and further the synagogue was 08:47 a theological school for men. 08:49 So this was the center of the whole concentration 08:52 of Jewish life. 08:53 And when Jesus went there to teach, my friends, he would 08:56 be directly influencing Jewish thought 08:59 and Jewish practice. 09:01 Secondly, it says in verse 23 that not only was there 09:06 teaching in the synagogue, but there was also preaching 09:10 in the synagogue. 09:11 Jesus was preaching the gospel of the kingdom. 09:16 Now, let's be clear. 09:18 Teaching is different from preaching. 09:20 Nothing wrong with teaching and, yes, I need teaching, 09:27 but every now and then, I don't know about you, 09:30 but I need some preaching. 09:31 Do I have a witness in this place? 09:33 I need what's on the printed page to come alive. 09:37 I don't know about you, but I need to be, every now 09:39 and then, stirred up. 09:41 I need to be fired up. 09:43 I need to be shaken up. 09:45 And unless you shake a bottle of orange juice, its 09:48 concentrate will fall to the bottom. 09:51 Its flavor. 09:52 Its savor. 09:54 Its essence will fall to the bottom making its power and 09:58 strength weak and watery. 10:01 When you're given a bottle of medicine, you're told, shake 10:05 it before you take it. 10:08 We come to church, yes, for teaching, but we also come 10:12 to church to be stirred up. 10:15 If we don't get stirred up around here, all of our 10:18 flavor, all of our savor, all of our zest, all of our zeal 10:21 will fall to the bottom and there's not going to be too 10:27 much happening around here. 10:29 And so I come to be stirred up on Sabbath morning. 10:33 Nothing wrong with being taught. 10:35 But I come so my soul can get happy on Sabbath morning. 10:39 It's my baptized brain that makes me want to shout. 10:42 It's my sanctified psyche that makes me want 10:46 to stand up and say, glory. 10:47 Teaching is explanation. 10:51 But preaching is proclamation. 10:53 Proclamation means to tell it. 10:56 That's preaching. 10:57 Go tell it. 10:58 Teaching is the careful instructive relating of 11:01 content that goes from the mind to another mind. 11:04 Preaching, however, is the proclamation of content that 11:07 goes from the soul of the preacher through the mind of 11:11 the preacher, through the mouth of the preacher to 11:15 the ears of the hearer than penetrates the heart 11:18 of the hearer. 11:19 With Jesus, what I love about him, there was never teaching 11:23 without preaching. 11:25 And there was never preaching without teaching, because 11:28 Jesus did both. 11:29 Hallelujah, somebody. 11:31 Let me give you some good gospel news today. 11:33 Jesus died for you. 11:36 Jesus bled for you. 11:39 Jesus hung for you. 11:42 But Jesus also rose for you. 11:47 And Jesus is coming back to get ya. 11:51 Your sins are paid for. 11:53 Your eternal life is already purchased and you 11:55 can be in God's kingdom. 11:57 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 11:59 It's that good news today. 12:01 That's what Jesus came preaching and teaching. 12:03 The plan of salvation is good news, somebody, that Jesus 12:08 went to Calvary to save a wretch like you and me. 12:13 That's love. That's love. 12:15 They hung him high. 12:17 They stretched him wide. 12:19 He hung his head, for me he died. 12:21 That's love, that's love. 12:23 And that's not how, The story ends, in three days 12:28 he rose again. 12:29 That's love, that's love. 12:31 Jesus say, I've got some good news. 12:34 I've got a kingdom just for you. 12:38 First teaching, then preaching. 12:41 And then the Bible says, number three. 12:43 Healing. 12:45 Now, Matthew 4:23 says, he came and he was healing 12:51 all--say all, everybody--manner of sickness 12:53 and all manner of disease among the people. 12:58 Now, what you had in verse 23 is a one-verse summary 13:03 of Jesus' entire Galilean ministry. 13:06 Matthew, in this one verse, takes summary in chapter 4 13:12 and then he expands it in chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. 13:18 And so these chapters, 5 through 9, they are merely an 13:22 expansion of verse 23. 13:25 In fact, his words in the Sermon of the Mount, the 13:29 beatitudes, alms, prayer, forgiveness, our treasure, 13:35 God, mammon, they are all the subjects of Matthew, 13:39 chapters 5-7. 13:41 But then if you look carefully at chapters 8 and 9, 13:44 we see now his works, cleansing the leper, healing 13:50 the centurion's servant, healing Peter's 13:53 mother-in-law, stilling the tempest on the sea, casting 13:58 out demons, healing the sick of the palsy, healing the 14:02 woman with the issue of blood, raising Jairus' daughter. 14:05 These are now the subjects of Matthew, chapters 8 and 9. 14:09 So, Matthew actually and simply introduces the two 14:14 elements of word and works here. 14:17 His words, the great truths of the Sermon on the Mount, 14:20 and then his mighty works and miracles 14:22 in chapters 8 and 9. 14:23 In his works, Jesus healed everybody. 14:26 So, all that came to Jesus, he healed everybody. 14:29 Literally, in verse 23, the Word of God says, and he 14:32 healed every kind of illness, every kind of disease 14:35 among the people. 14:36 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 14:38 He healed every kind of illness, he healed 14:41 every kind of disease. 14:42 Are you hearing what I'm trying to say? 14:44 Physical, he healed it. 14:46 Social, he healed it. 14:48 Mental, he healed it. 14:51 Economic, he healed it. 14:53 Spiritual, he healed it. 14:55 You name it, he healed it. 14:58 You all still don't get it. 14:59 I know it's a tough crowd. 15:00 Let me try it this way. 15:02 One minute he's a podiatrist, the lame are walking again. 15:08 The next minute, he's an ear, nose and throat specialist, 15:12 the dumb are talking again. 15:14 One minute he's an audiologist, the deaf are 15:18 able to hear. 15:20 The next minute he's an hematologist, the woman with 15:22 the issue of blood. 15:24 One minute he's an ophthalmologist, he's given 15:27 sight to the blind. 15:29 The next minutes he's a cardiologist, he's fixing 15:32 broken hearts. 15:33 One minute he's a dermatologist, he's healing 15:36 lepers of their disease. 15:38 Next minute he's a gynecologist, 15:40 he's giving new life. 15:41 One minute he's a psychiatrist, 15:45 he's fixing deranged minds. 15:47 Next minute he's an anesthesiologist, 15:51 he's easing the pains of life. 15:55 He's Dr. Jesus. 15:57 All manners--I think you feel me now--of sickness. 16:02 All manners of disease Jesus heals. 16:07 And so, because of this, verse 24 says, "And his 16:12 fame," his what, everybody? 16:16 "Went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all 16:19 the sick people that were taken with divers disease and 16:23 torments, and those which were possessed with devils, 16:25 and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; 16:28 and he healed them." Now, notice that there are three 16:33 diseases mentioned here. 16:35 The palsy, which is the greatest weakness of the 16:38 body, lunacy, which is the greatest malady of the mind, 16:42 and possession of the devil, which is the greatest misery 16:45 and calamity of both. 16:49 That Jesus heals all. 16:50 Mmmm-mm. 16:55 What a mighty God we serve. 16:58 Now, verse 24 says that his fame--his what, 17:03 everybody, again? 17:04 Spread throughout all Syria and they brought to him all 17:08 sick people taken with divers diseases and torments, those 17:11 who were possessed with demons, those who were 17:13 epileptic and those who had the palsy and he healed them. 17:15 Now, remember, to show you the power of this, 17:20 in those days, medicine was not what 17:24 it is today back then. 17:28 Disease was rampant. 17:30 Plagues were a problem, and death was all 17:34 over the place. 17:36 But the people heard that there was a healer, 17:41 that there was still a balm in Gilead, that there was a 17:47 person who could heal them, and this healer could heal 17:52 everybody of everything. 17:55 Can you imagine being sick and knowing that there was 18:00 someone who could heal you? 18:04 Can you imagine--I mean, let's be real today. 18:08 I mean, you have cancer but you know someone 18:14 who can heal you. 18:15 Maybe you've never been sick like that so you don't know 18:18 what I'm talking about. 18:19 Let me try this. 18:20 You have diabetes, but you know someone can heal you. 18:25 You can't walk, can't talk, have a missing leg, have a 18:31 missing arm, but you know someone who can heal you and 18:36 not only would they heal you, but they'd heal you 18:38 free of charge. 18:40 All you had to do was get to that person. 18:45 You talking about fame, you talking about news 18:48 spreading about. 18:50 All it took was a touch. 18:52 Just one touch from Jesus. 18:54 Just one word from Jesus. 18:56 Remember there was a man in the Bible who once came and 19:00 said, "Just say the word, Jesus, and he'll be healed." 19:04 Somebody in this place knows, somebody watching knows that 19:07 Jesus can just say the word and you can be healed. 19:11 Jesus can just say a word. 19:13 Somebody knows that you can just say the name of Jesus 19:17 and you will be healed. 19:20 Jesus, sweetest name I know. 19:22 Jesus, I've got to tell it everywhere I go. 19:26 Jesus, at that name demons tremble. 19:28 At the name of Jesus, demons fickle. 19:31 Jesus, just a touch from Jesus. 19:35 The woman with the issue of blood said, "If I could just 19:37 touch the hem of his garment, then I will be made whole," 19:40 and that's why the old folks used to sing. 19:42 I don't know if we sing it anymore. 19:44 He touched me. 19:45 Oh, he touched me and all the joy that floods my soul. 19:50 Something, I don't know what that something is, but 19:52 something happened and now I know he touched me 19:58 and made me whole. 19:59 But what I love about Jesus, when Jesus healed, Jesus 20:03 healed immediately. 20:06 He healed at once. 20:08 You see, with Jesus it wasn't, you're going to get 20:11 better, it was, you are better. 20:14 It wasn't, take this medicine and you'll get better in time. 20:18 It wasn't go through this chemotherapy treatment 20:21 and you'll get better in time. 20:23 It was at that moment you're healed. 20:26 When he healed the blind man, the blind man 20:28 was healed immediately. 20:29 When he healed the deaf man, the deaf man 20:31 was healed immediately. 20:32 When he healed the dumb man, the dumb man 20:34 was healed immediately. 20:35 When the lame man was healed, he was healed immediately. 20:37 It wasn't any stumbling or mumbling around 20:39 that's going to get better. 20:40 Jesus healed with a word, a touch and he healed 20:43 immediately every time. 20:45 There was never any lingering healing. 20:48 This was not processed healing. 20:52 It was immediate. 20:54 Not only did Jesus heal immediately, but also what 20:56 I love about Jesus is, Jesus healed totally. 21:01 There was no partial healing. 21:04 You know how it is. 21:05 Well, we think we've got most of the cancer. 21:08 I restored your left foot, but your right foot 21:12 is still missing. 21:13 No, that wasn't Jesus. 21:15 Jesus healed totally, Jesus healed wholly. 21:18 Next thing I love about Jesus. 21:20 Not only did he heal immediately, not only did he 21:22 heal fully and wholly, but Jesus healed everybody. 21:26 No discrimination. 21:28 No bias. 21:30 No precedent. 21:31 No preference. 21:32 Jesus healed everybody. 21:33 All manner of illness, all manner of disease, all manner 21:36 of sickness with a word, a touch, immediately, totally, 21:40 wholly healed everybody. 21:42 He healed the demon-possessed. 21:44 He healed the paralytic. 21:45 He healed the lame. 21:47 He healed the dumb. 21:48 He healed the deaf. 21:50 He healed the deranged. 21:51 He healed them all. 21:53 He could even heal demoniacs, because much of illness was 21:56 caused by demons. 21:58 Jesus was able to handle that, too. 22:01 Jesus had the power to cast out demons. 22:03 He had the power over the kingdom of darkness. 22:05 Let that be a reminder for us today. 22:07 Jesus has power over Satan. 22:09 I said, Jesus has power over Satan. 22:11 The power of God is greater than the power of Satan. 22:16 You hear me say it all the time. 22:18 Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. 22:20 If God is the greater than is in me, there must be 22:23 a less-than and that less-than is the devil. 22:25 Jesus had power. 22:26 Power to cast out demons and he could even end 22:31 a demon-caused disease. 22:32 So the Bible says in verse 25, his fame spread. 22:36 "There followed him," the Word says, "great multitudes 22:39 of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from 22:42 Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." 22:46 His fame spread. 22:47 Multitudes followed him. 22:48 They came from the north, the south, the east, the west, 22:54 they came from around the world. 22:57 They came from every direction. 22:59 They came to hear him, they came to be healed by him, 23:01 they made him famous. 23:05 But that was then. 23:09 But this is now. 23:12 That was first century A.D. 23:19 This is now 21st century A.D. 23:25 And my Bible says that he's the same yesterday, 23:32 today and forever. 23:35 Which means he still teaches, he still preaches, he's still 23:43 healing and we've been called to make him famous. 23:47 Go tell your family, I know that my Redeemer lives. 23:53 Go tell your friends, what a wonderful 23:56 change in my life has been wrought since 23:58 Jesus came into my heart. 24:00 Go tell your friends, 'tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. 24:06 Just to take him at his word. 24:09 Go put it on the Internet, Jesus saves. 24:12 Put it on Facebook, Jesus saves. 24:15 Put it on Twitter that Jesus saves. 24:19 Does anybody know that Jesus saves? 24:22 Make it known. 24:23 Make him famous. 24:25 Imagine if you were in Jesus' day. 24:27 If a family member you had was terminally ill. 24:32 You take them to see Jesus. 24:36 If you knew without a doubt that someone could heal your 24:40 loved one, wouldn't you do everything in your power to 24:43 get that loved one to the person that could heal him. 24:47 You'd stand in line. 24:50 You'd wait long hours. 24:53 You'd do whatever it would take to see Jesus. 24:55 Jesus teaching. 24:56 Jesus preaching. 24:57 Jesus healing. 25:04 And so, that made him famous. 25:07 The fact that there was no sickness too difficult for 25:10 Jesus to heal promulgated his fame. 25:13 Jesus gathered a following from everywhere: Decapolis, 25:19 Jerusalem, Jordan, Judea, everybody 25:25 was talking about Jesus. 25:26 Jesus' withdrawal to Galilee did not destine him to 25:30 obscurity, rather it propelled him to prominence. 25:35 Can I talk about Jesus for a minute? 25:38 He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman. 25:41 He put on humanity so that we might put on divinity. 25:45 He became son of man in order that we might become 25:47 the sons of God. 25:49 He came from heaven where the rivers never freeze, winds 25:52 never blow, flowers never fade, and one is never sick. 25:56 Somebody put on the Internet that in infancy he startled 25:59 a king, in boyhood he puzzled wise men, 26:02 in manhood he ruled the course of nature, 26:05 he walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. 26:08 He healed the multitudes without medicine and made 26:10 no charge for his services. 26:11 He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries in the 26:14 world cannot hold the books that have been written 26:15 about him. 26:16 He never wrote a song, yet he inspires the theme of more 26:19 songs than all the songwriters combined. 26:21 He never founded a college, yet all the schools 26:24 everywhere together cannot boast of how many 26:26 students he had. 26:28 He never practiced psychiatry, but he healed 26:33 more broken hearts than doctors have 26:35 healed broken bodies. 26:36 He never marshalled an army, drafted a soldier, 26:38 nor did he ever fire a gun, yet no leader ever made 26:41 more volunteers who have, under his orders, 26:44 made rebels stack arms of surrender without a shot 26:47 being fired. 26:48 He's the star of astronomy, the rock of geology, the 26:54 lion and the lamb of zoology, the harmonizer of all chords, 26:58 the healer of all diseases. 27:01 Great men have come and gone, yet he lives on. 27:04 Herod could not kill him. 27:06 Governments could not silence him. 27:09 Money could not buy him. 27:11 Satan could not destroy him. 27:13 Death could not destroy him, and the grave could not hold 27:17 him, because he's my Jesus. 27:18 And I've come, I said, I've come to make him famous. 27:26 And just like the people told it, we've got to go 27:29 and tell it. 27:30 Tell it to everybody. 27:32 Tell it everywhere. 27:34 Tell them Jesus was born. 27:36 Tell them Jesus was raised in a carpenter's shop. 27:38 Tell them that he as a child he amazed great preachers 27:41 and teachers and theologians of his day. 27:43 Tell them he was baptized in the Jordan. 27:45 Tell them Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, 27:47 fed five thousand hungry souls. 27:48 Tell them. 27:52 >: The Breath of Life gift offer this week is the book, 27:56 "What the Bible Says About the Sabbath." 27:59 Just call our toll free number 877-BOL-OFFER. 28:02 That's 877-265-6333. 28:03 "What the Bible Says About the Sabbath" is yours 28:05 for a gift of $5 or more. 28:07 Please have your credit card ready when you call. 28:09 Or you may write us to request your copy. 28:12 Just send your check to Breath of Life, P.O. Box 340, 28:16 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 28:19 PB: When you're sick, tell them he healed you. 28:24 When you're hungry, tell them he feeds you. 28:26 When you're naked, tell them he clothes you. |
Revised 2015-02-06