The Purpose of a Church sermon teaches us that every true church is commissioned to carry on the work of Jesus Christ until He comes again. This sermon was preached on the morning of the 40th anniversary of West Park Baptist Church.

Key verses:
Luke 14-21

I am going to ask you to take your Bible now and turn with me to the Gospel of Luke, chapter four. Brother Ryan Price talked to us about true church history, not that which you would read in some of the books that only tell a portion of the story. But he talked to us about the different stages of church growth and how a church comes to maturity. This morning I’m going to talk to you about the purpose of the church. He and I did not get together to talk about that, but I think the Lord knew what He would lay on each of our hearts.

As we read this morning, I want to share a word of personal testimony with you, and I hope I won’t be misunderstood. It was November of 1969. I don’t remember the exact date during the week of Thanksgiving. I was up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and I was a new Christian, only been saved a few weeks, a couple of months, I guess. And then, I was having devotions and reading this fourth chapter of Luke. When I got to the 18th and 19th verses – I don’t want you to misunderstand, I didn’t hear any voice, I didn’t see any vision, it wasn’t anything like that – but the 18th and 19th verses stood out to me like they were the only words on the page. They weren’t, obviously, but they just stood out to me, and I felt like the Lord was saying something in particular to me at that time. I’ll leave it at that.

Jesus Prepares His Disciples

John chapter 14, Jesus was preparing His disciples for His arrest, His trials, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. He told them about these things before, and they heard Him, but they still did not fully understand what He was teaching them. In a matter of hours, they would begin to understand. Over the next few days, their understanding would become enlightened to the degree that they had never imagined. And then, for the rest of their lives, they would spread the good news that the Savior had come. He paid for our sins, He lives today, and He would forgive our sins so that we may live forever.

I want you to listen to a little bit of what He said to them. He said to them, “Let not your heart be troubled.” He knew what was coming up. He knew about the trauma that they were about to go through. So, He is preparing them and said:

John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

If it were not so, He would have told us how it really was. Then He said, “I go to prepare a place for you.”

John 14:3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Four very important words, “I will come again.” And “that where I am, there ye may be also.”

John 14:4: “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”

Thomas spoke up:

John 14:5: “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”

Thomas, I understand where he’s coming from. He’s saying, “Lord, I don’t know where you’re going. If I don’t know where you are going, how can I know how to get there? He didn’t understand; he didn’t get it. I wouldn’t be too hard on Thomas. I’m not sure we would understand any better than he did. But listen to Jesus’ answer.

John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Some of the most important words ever spoken. People say there are many ways to God, there are many ways to Heaven. There are many ways to believe. Well, there are many ways to believe, but there aren’t many ways to God, and there aren’t many ways to Heaven. Jesus said:

John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

He went on to say:

John 14:7: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Philip, another one of the disciples, spoke up:

John 14:8: “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”

I see where Philip is coming from. He said [paraphrasing], “You can show us God? I want to see God. Show us God.”

John 14:9: “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

John 14:10: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

John 14:11: “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”

John 14:12: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

That’s John 14:1-12.

I thought you said we were going to read from Luke chapter 4. We are; we’re getting there. Jesus spoke these words in John 14 near the end of His earthly ministry. He promised, here, as He had promised again later, that His followers, His disciples, would continue the work He began to do here on the earth.

Why Jesus Came to Earth

John 14:12: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Now think about that. How could people do greater work than Jesus did? Can we do the miracles that He did? Absolutely not. Can we accomplish the same salvation on the cross the way that He did? Not in any way could we do that. So, what did He mean when He said that we would do greater works than He did? “Greater” does not necessarily mean more important or bigger, but it means more in quantity. And what He was saying is that after He is gone, His followers would continue the work that He has done.

Why did Jesus come to the earth in the first place? Well, people have different ideas about that. Some say He came to do the Father’s will. That’s true; He did. Someone else said He came to glorify the Father and that is also true. There’s no doubt about it. But in what way did He accomplish the Father’s will, and in what way did He glorify the Father?

Listen to Luke 19:1-10, where we have the story of Zacchaeus, the publican. Many of you know that song we teach the little children, “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.” Well, this passage is where this story comes from. “Climbed up in the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.”

In that story in Luke 19:1-10, Zacchaeus, the publican, sought to know the Lord Jesus. And Zacchaeus is a known sinner. He was known as a traitor to his own people. He was known as a crook in business. He was known as a man who had not loved the Lord God with all his heart. He was known as a man who had not loved his neighbor as himself. And yet, as Jesus came, Zacchaeus gladly received the Lord Jesus as his Savior. And when he did, Zacchaeus’ sins were forgiven. Look what it says in Luke 19:9-10:

Luke 19:9: “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”

Luke 19:10: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Jesus came to the earth for people like Zacchaeus, who were not good people, who did not have a good reputation, who did not love the Lord with all their heart, and who did not love their neighbor as themselves. People who needed to be forgiven. People who needed their souls to be saved. That’s why Jesus came to the earth.

Luke 19:10: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Then in 1 Timothy 1:12-15, Paul, who had been a great persecutor of the church, they called him Saul, Saul of Tarsis in those days. He had become a great persecutor of the church. He actually had Christians arrested and hauled them off to jail. He had some of them killed. He was consenting to the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. And yet, the great persecutor became a believer. He met the Lord Jesus Christ, and his life was changed forever. And Paul writes to another young preacher:

1 Timothy 1:12: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;”

1 Timothy 1:13: “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”

1 Timothy 1:14: “And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

1 Timothy 1:15: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

I’ll tell you folks, myself and a lot of other people think we can give him competition for that title. But he said that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul, who writes half of the New Testament, says He came to save sinners. Why did Jesus come? To save lost mankind. No question about that. That is it. Jesus Christ came into this world for the express and exact purpose of saving lost mankind from their own sin, that the sin of each and every human being separates them from the holy loving God who created them could be forgiven. In doing that, He carried out His Father’s will, and in doing that, He glorified the Father.

In John 15:8, He says, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” We’ve talked about this before. Let’s talk about it again. I like apples. One of my favorite fruits is apples. I like grapes a lot too, but I really like apples. Unfortunately, apples don’t really grow well in this area. If they did, I would have an apple tree, but they don’t grow well in this area. But if you went to an apple tree and it was the season for fruit to bear, what kind of fruit would you expect to see on an apple tree? Oranges, right? Well, it’s Florida; you’d expect to see it grow oranges, wouldn’t it? No. Apple trees grow what? Apples. And grape vines produce? Grapes. And orange trees produce? Oranges. And strawberry vines produce? Strawberries.

And Christians produce? Christians. It’s that simple, it’s the fruit of the Christian – to produce other Christians. That’s what Jesus meant when He said [paraphrase], “greater work than I have done, he shall do.”

Jesus’ Ministry Begins

Let’s read our text, Luke 4:14, this is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. I’ve read to you about the end of Jesus’ ministry, this is the beginning, 3-1/2 years earlier.

Luke 4:14: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.”

Luke 4:15: “And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.”

Luke 4:16: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

Don’t miss that. It was His normal procedural habit. “And, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day,” every week He went to worship.

Luke 4:17: “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,”

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

Luke 4:19: “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Luke 4:20: “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.”

Luke 4:21: “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

They had been looking for the coming of the Messiah. They were looking for the coming of the Savior. They knew the time was right. They knew from the prophecy of Daniel that the time was right that the Messiah would come. And many had come claiming to be the Messiah, and all of them had failed. But now, Jesus comes and reads this prophecy of who the Messiah is and what the Messiah, the Savior, would do when He came. And then He says to them, “This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

Did they understand that He was telling them that He was the Messiah? They did. If you read the rest of the chapter, you’ll see that they did understand that. I want us to focus on the 18th and 19th verses:

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

Luke 4:19: “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

What a Church Is

Jesus’ work was finished here on earth, and He commissioned His followers to carry on the work and to bring lost souls of the earth back to their Creator God. Now, the only way to God, as we read in John 14:6, is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes about this. There’s only one way to God:

1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

1 Timothy 2:6: “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commanded His followers to continue His work in this world:

Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Matthew 28:19: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

Matthew 28:20: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Three things He told us to do. He said to go and teach all nations. Teach them what? Teach them the Gospel. And then He said to baptize them once they believe the Gospel. Not in order to be saved, but because they have been saved. And then teach them to observe all things which I have commanded you. Everything that is in this book is to be taught to the believers.

Ephesians 1:22: “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,”

Ephesians 1:23: “Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

In that same book, Paul continues as he writes about the home and family. He uses this as an illustration of the relationship between the Lord and the church. He says:

Ephesians 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

Ephesians 5:26: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”

Ephesians 5:27: “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

In verse 32 of that same chapter, He teaches us that:

Ephesians 5:32: “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Then Peter in 1 Peter 2:9-10 speaks of:

1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

People who are called out of the darkness of this world come to the light of Jesus Christ. Paul goes on:

1 Peter 2:10: “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

“Which in time past were not a people” – they were scattered, they were individuals, they were not organized. They were not brought together until they came to Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on, “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” That is what a church is. That is what the church is. It is people who have come out of the darkness, been called by God out of the darkness of the sin of this world to the light, the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, so they enter into a relationship with God for all eternity. That’s what a church is.

But then we have to have a local church, a body of believers gathered together. And we must be here as a group to carry on the work of Jesus Christ. The definition of the word “church” is a body or group of people who have been called out of or away from all other people who are lost in the darkness of this world to assemble together in service to God.

In the Sunday School hour, Jeff mentioned Dr. Lee Robison, who preached here many times. He pastored for over 40 years at the Highland Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That church grew tremendously under his leadership. They had baptisms every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night for decades. Many other things I could tell you about that ministry. They had up here where we have the cross here in their church auditorium which seated thousands of people, they had:

Mark 16:15: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Dr. Robison gave the definition of a local church as this. He said, “It is an organized body of baptized believers in Christ gathered together for the carrying out of the Great Commission.” It’s a good definition. “An organized body of baptized believers in Christ gathered together for the carrying out of the Great Commission.” To do what? To continue the work that God has called them to do.

The Work of Jesus On Earth

So, here, in Luke chapter four, Jesus laid out the work that He came to do. This is why He came to the earth. In His time on earth, He gave a pattern to the church, His body of believers, to carry on after He returned to Heaven and until He comes again. Pastor Price talked last night about how different people have different ideas about when the church began. I’m not going to debate with anything he said or try to debate with anybody. I’m not going to either, but I truly believe the church began when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. And the church age will end when Jesus comes to take believers out of this world.

How did God work before that? Pastor Price told us last night. He worked through the people of Israel. After the Lord takes the church out of this world, how is the Lord going to work? Through Israel. No question about it. God is not finished with the people of Israel. Never, never get the idea that He is. God has not replaced the people of Israel. He has given us this temporary situation, mentioned in Sunday School several times, this temporary situation which we call the church. One day when the Lord comes, the church mission will be finished, and the job will be given back to Israel.

So, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? We are supposed to do what Jesus did while He was here. We are supposed to be like Jesus in this world. In verses 1-13 in Luke 4, you have the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Satan had tempted Him. Jesus had fasted 40 days and after His temptation, verse 14:

Luke 4:14: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.”

Why did all this fame spread? Well, you remember, this is Luke chapter 4, but in John chapter 2, Jesus did His first miracle in Cana of Galilee. I’ve not been to Cana, but I saw it once. I’ve told you before about other places I’ve not been to Jordan, but I saw Jordan once. I’ve not been to Mexico, but I saw Mexico. Well, how do you see these places when you are not there? Because you are standing close enough to it that you can see it in the distance, and that happens. So, when we were at Nazareth, we did not go to Cana, but we could see Cana from where we were standing in Nazareth. It’s that close. It’s within easy walking distance just north of Nazareth.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, and He had gone to Cana. He attended a wedding with His disciples, and they ran out of wine. And Jesus’ mother said to them, “Whatsoever He tells you to do, you do. Do what Jesus says.” You know, that is Mary’s counsel to everybody. Mary never says, “Do what I say.” Mary never said that, not one time. She says, “Whatsoever Jesus says to you, that is what you do.”

There were some empty water pots there, and Jesus said to fill the pots with water. They did, and then when they took the water out, it had become wine. That was His first miracle, and so the fame of Him went throughout all Galilee. But not only because of that but also because He had begun teaching. John points out in John chapter two that this was just the beginning of miracles. There were many miracles that would follow after that. Then in verse 15, it says:

Luke 4:15: “And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.”

The different synagogues in the different cities and towns of Galilee, He was teaching, when? Every Sabbath day as His custom was. He went into the synagogue, and there he taught.

The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me

And then, in verse 16:

Luke 4:16: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

Luke 4:17: “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,”

Now, what they gave Him was a scroll, and He unrolled the scroll to this specific passage. He would have known how to find it. Today, we would say He turned to Isaiah 61:1-2, and that’s what He read. But they didn’t have chapter and verse division in those days. They didn’t have it in book form as we have it now. It was on a scroll, and He would have been brought the scroll of Isaiah. And He would have known how to find the exact passage that He wanted to read, and this is what He read:

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” In Matthew chapter three, we have the account of the baptism of Jesus. And at the time that He was baptized, it says that Jesus came to John and wanted to be baptized.

Matthew 3:14: “But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?”

Matthew 3:15: “And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

Then John baptized Jesus and took Him down into the Jordan River. I don’t know how anybody knows this exact spot after all these centuries have gone by. But I will tell you this. When we built this building, I hired an artist, and I gave her a black and white photograph that I had. She took that black and white photograph that I had and added the color to it and painted that picture right there [pointing to the painting behind him] from the photograph that I gave her. She did that from a blank white wall. She did it in eight hours, and I paid her accordingly and gave us that picture there.

The significance of that picture is this. They say, whoever they are, people say that that is the spot on the Jordan where John baptized Jesus. That is the place where Jesus was baptized. That’s why we have that picture over our baptistry. Now, I know that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. Do I know that it was that exact spot? I don’t. I’m taking other people’s word for it. But if it is not the exact spot, it is close enough.

But the thing I want you to understand about it is this. Jesus when He was baptized and came up out of the water. Can I share something with you? Jesus could not have come up out of the water unless He had first been down in the water. Does that make sense to you? Okay, that is not something hard to figure out, is it? When He got down to the Jordan River, John didn’t take Jesus down to the river to scoop us some water and pour it on His head. He could have done that on the shore. He took Him down to the water because he was going to immerse Him into the water and bring Him back up again.

Why are you explaining all this to us? Because we are planning to have a baptism at the end of the service. I want you to understand.

So, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah, this is following the baptism, and He reads in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” It was at that baptism that John saw the Spirit of God like a dove descending upon Jesus. Now, did Jesus not have the presence of the Holy Spirit before? Of course, He did. This was God the Father, giving Him empowerment to do the work that He called Him to do.

If you read through your Bible and start back at Exodus and you read through the rest of the Bible, you’ll find every time God gives people the power of the Holy Spirit of God, it is so they can carry out His will and His work. He has a job for them to do, and He empowers them to do it. You find that in Acts 1:8, where Jesus said:

Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Pastor Price preached on that last night. So, the Spirit of God came upon Jesus, and He reads here in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me” – to do something. He anointed Him; He sent Him; He commissioned Him to do something. And He has sent us and commissioned us to do something – to carry on His work. What is that work? Take a look at it.

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” We’re in Luke chapter four. If you would, please turn back; it won’t be on the screen; just turn back in your Bible to Luke chapter two. You know this passage well.

Luke 2:8: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

Luke 2:9: “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”

Luke 2:10: “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

Now, stop right there at verse 10. The word “Gospel” means good news. A lot of times in the old English Bible you hear where we read “good tidings.” And “tidings” means the same thing as news. They didn’t have such a thing I’m sure in New Testament times, but if they had, you would have turned on your television and watched the 6 o’clock tidings. Because that is what it means, it means news.

So, what did the angels say? The angels say, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings” – good news. The word “gospel” means good news. It’s not just any good news. It’s THE good news, THE Gospel. And look at what the angel said:

Luke 2:10: “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

What is it? Here it is:

Luke 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

That’s the good news – that the Savior came. And He came to save His people from their sins. He came to save all who would trust in Him from their sins.

Preach the Gospel to the Poor

And so, the Spirit of the Lord, in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” Now, why does He start preaching the Gospel to the poor? I think there are a number of reasons. But I think number one, there are more poor people than anybody else. And in addition to that, they are the most neglected people, generally speaking. So, the Lord came to give them the Gospel.

Not only that, but the Lord also said in His Beatitudes, in the first sermon, He preached, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” and He came to those who realized they were in need. They realized that they had not satisfied God in their life. They are not good enough to satisfy God. At the end of that chapter, Matthew chapter five, the Lord said:

Matthew 5:48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

How good would you have to be to satisfy God? How good would you have to be to earn eternal life? You would have to be perfect, and you would have to be as perfect as God is perfect. And none of us are. You may be better than some people. I would not argue that point with you.

You might be able to point to somebody else and say, “I’m not perfect, but I’m not as bad as him, or I’m not as bad as her.” And that may very well be true. I wouldn’t argue that point with you at all. What I am going to say to you is none of us are as good as God. None of us are perfect; therefore, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

So, Jesus comes to the poor in spirit. He comes to the poor economically. He comes to the poor physically. He comes to the poor in spirit. To do what? To preach the Gospel to them. And we need to be busy preaching the Gospel to the poor. There are people with all kinds of needs today. They have physical needs, they have material needs, and if we can be a blessing to them in those areas, we need to do so.

Just yesterday, we were working around here, and a fellow came up and said, “I’m out of gas could you give me some money.” I said, “I don’t have the cash, but I could give you some gas.” Now, would you give him the gas? Sure, why not? Of course. He had a need; we had the means. Why not meet his need? And that is what we’re supposed to do. That’s not the Gospel; that’s just what we’re supposed to do. The Gospel goes way beyond that. The need that everybody has is the need to have their sins forgiven, their soul saved, and know that they are on their way to Heaven.

Heal the Brokenhearted

“He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted.” You know, Jesus is the healer of broken hearts. And those who come to Him with a broken heart, He will heal them.

The sad thing is our world is filled with brokenhearted people who don’t know the Healer. And how shall they know except they should hear. And how shall they hear except they be sent. How shall they believe in Him? Paul says:

Romans 10:14: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

“He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted.”

Deliverance to the Captives

And then He says, “to preach deliverance to the captives.” People are held in bondage to addictions. They are held in bondage to other sins, and they can’t seem to break free. I’ve known so many people who say that “I just wish I could get out of this situation that I’m in, but I can’t. I’ve tried, and I’ve tried but haven’t been able to do it.” You need the Lord.

Jeff showed us a video of Pauline. I don’t think she’d mind me telling this story. One day, Pauline and her husband Al called me. They said, “Would you come over to our house?” They didn’t live very far from here. So, I went over there one afternoon, and there on the couch sat their son. They had a couple of sons. This one was Jim and if you ever met him, you’d remember him. He was 6’7” tall and weighed 380 lbs. That door [pointing at church entrance] is 6’8”, so it is an inch taller, but he would always duck his head every time he walked in the doorway.

But Jim, if you think he should have played football, he did. He was sitting on the couch in his parents’ home, weeping like a little baby. I sat down beside him and asked, “Jim, what’s wrong?” He said, “Cocaine. I can’t quit it. I want to quit. I tried to quit. I can’t quit.” He said, “I would do anything to quit.” I said, “Would you do anything to quit?” He said, “I would.” I said, “If you’d do anything, we could help you.”

We talked to him and gave him the Gospel and did more than that. We sent him to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he went to a place called The Lighthouse, and there they filled him with scripture. They filled him with prayer.

He came to know the Lord and loved the Lord. He came back and said, “What do I do now?” It wouldn’t be my counsel to everybody, but it was my counsel to him. I said, “I think you ought to go to Trinity Bible College.” He did. And from there, he and his wife worked in a children’s home in Tallahassee. And then Jim came back to Jacksonville, and for the rest of his life, he pastored the Southgate Baptist Church in Jacksonville. I was on his ordination council.

This is what He means when He says, “deliverance to the captives.” Setting the captives free; having people go free from the bondage that sin holds them in.

Recovering of Sight to the Blind

And then He says, “recovering of sight to the blind.” There are people who need their sight restored physically. A man came to our church years ago when we were still on Congress Avenue. His name was Billy Renstrom, and he had been a singer and traveled with Bill Rice, founder of Bill Rice Ranch. But he came on his own to be with us in church, and he was blind. He was blinded during WWII. He was wounded in combat and then blinded in WWII.

This was the early ‘80s when he came over to the church there. He had been blind for all of those years, from the 1940s to the 1980s, about 40 years. But he loved the Lord. He sang, and he gave testimony; a beautiful singer. After he was with us, we got a letter one day, from him and his wife, and a surgeon had been able to help him. Billy Renstrom regained his sight after being blinded for over 40 years, he got his sight back.

What did Jesus say? He says, “and recovering of sight to the blind.” I’ll tell you something else. There are a lot of people in this world whose eyesight is fine physically, but they are spiritually blind. They are blinded to the truth. And Paul writes, “the god of this world” – little “g” talking about Satan, has blinded people from the truth. There are so many people in this world who are blind to the truth, and they believe a lie, and they follow a lie, and think the lie is the truth. They think the truth is a lie because they are blind. But Jesus opens the sight to the blind. And He can and He does recover the sight of the blind.

Set at Liberty Them That Are Bruised

And then, [Jesus came] “to set at liberty them that are bruised.” – those who have been wounded, those who have been hurt. I heard this a long time ago and I think it was a very wise statement. The statement was this, “Whatever you have against the church” – using the church in the generic sense.

“Whatever you have against the church” – many people have things against the church. Sometimes because they’ve never been to church and they don’t know what it’s all about, they just heard things and they just don’t like it. But sometimes they have been to church, and they get wounded, they’ve been hurt. Sometimes, they were hurt deliberately. Sometimes it wasn’t intentional, but they were still hurt and that wound bothers them. That wound hinders them and they have trouble going on in the faith in the Lord and following Him.

Now let me finish the quote I started a while ago. “Whatever you have against the church,” and it may be legitimate, it might be real. You might have something legitimate against the church. That’s very possible. “Whatever you have against the church, and it may be legitimate, what is it that when you look at Jesus, when you take a look at Him makes you say, ‘That isn’t right’”?

Because, ladies and gentlemen, it isn’t all about the church. The church is made up of lost sinners who have been saved but they are still not perfect. And we still do things we shouldn’t do and say things we shouldn’t say. And we still don’t say and do things we should say and do. We are all just growing, we’re all trying to get better but none of us have arrived yet. Thank God, one day we will arrive. The Bible says in 1 John 3:2, when we see Him, “we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” But until that day, we are still growing. We need forgiveness just like everybody else. And so, Jesus comes to “set at liberty them that are bruised.”

Preach the Acceptable Year of the Lord

And then, [Jesus came] “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” In my Bible, there is a note that says this refers to Jesus’ first coming and that is what He is talking about certainly on this occasion. He is telling the people that He is the promised Messiah. But I think He also had in mind His second coming. and “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” – to preach the fact that the Lord is coming again.

So, that is what Jesus came to do. He came “to preach the Gospel to the poor … to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to preach recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And then in verse 20:

Luke 4:20: “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.”

Luke 4:21: “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

Jesus would minister 3-1/2 years on this earth and then He would give His life on the cross to pay for our sins. The wonderful news is that Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the grave. He came back and said:

Revelation 1:18: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

The Purpose of the Church

Folks, Jesus is the only Savior. He has commissioned our church, He’s commissioned every true church that’s following Him, following His Word, to carry on His work. What does that mean we’re supposed to do His work? It means we are supposed to preach the Gospel to the poor so that they can hear, believe, and be saved. We’re supposed to heal the brokenhearted. We’re supposed to preach deliverance to the captives, we’re supposed to preach recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty to them that are bruised. That is what we are supposed to do. That is the purpose of the church in this world, to carry on the work of Jesus Christ until He comes again.

So, that leaves us with some questions. We know what the purpose of the church is. The questions are these: Number one, are you saved? Do you know the Lord as your Savior? I’m not asking if you are a good person, I’m not asking if you’ve done more good than bad. I’m not asking if you are a religious person. I’m asking if have you come to Jesus and trusted Him to save your soul? Not this church, certainly not this preacher, but have you trusted Jesus to save your soul?

Are you one of His people? If so, wonderful. If not, the great news is, you can be. You can be right here, right now. You just open your heart and trust the Lord and ask Him to save you. “Preacher, that sounds kind of okay to me, but I’m not sure I understand it.” I’ve been where you are. I didn’t understand either, [pointing to Dr. Schermerhorn] until this man right over here explained it to me from the Bible. And I’d like to offer you that same opportunity.

We’re going to sing a hymn in a moment. If you’re here and not sure that you’re saved, I want you to come to the front here; meet me. We’re not going to do anything to you, you’re not committing to join anything, we’re not asking for that. We’re just asking you to come, sit down, and one of us will sit down with you and take the Bible and show you how to be saved. It will only take a moment or two. We won’t keep you from doing anything this afternoon. You’re not going to miss a ride, you’re not going to miss lunch. Nothing like that is going to happen. Just take a moment or two, take the Bible and show you what it means to be saved. The question is, will you come?

Then, if you are saved, have you been baptized as a believer? “Yes, I got baptized when I was three weeks old.” That’s not what we are talking about. Have you been baptized after you trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior? That’s the Bible pattern for doing it. You can look through all of the New Testament and you won’t find it any other way.

Then, if you are saved and you have been baptized, are you a member of a local, Bible-believing church that is gathered together to carry out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel to every creature? If you could not say yes to any of these questions, will you right now, make a decision to follow Jesus? To believe and be saved, or to be baptized as a believer, or to be a member of a local church? To serve Jesus faithfully with a loving heart, with gratitude for all that He has done for you.

“Preacher, can’t I do that another time?” You could, but why not now? This is a prime opportunity for you, why not now?

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Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you for every soul gathered here together. Lord, I look on the outward appearance and I see wonderful people. You look on the heart and only you know the need of each heart and life that are gathered here today. It may be, Lord, that someone is here that doesn’t know you as Savior, perhaps they don’t even know the concept of knowing you as Savior. Lord, it is my prayer for that one or those individuals who may be here present or listening electronically. My prayer is that they will open their heart right now and call upon you. The Bible says:

Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Call upon you and say, “Jesus, I believe.” I believe that you love me. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. And right here, right now, I’m trusting you to forgive my sins, and to save my soul, and to give me life forever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. I believe you rose from the grave and am trusting you as my Lord and Savior, trusting that you’ll give me a home in Heaven. Maybe you prayed that prayer, maybe you didn’t. But you’d like to have that question answered just as I have over 50 years ago. I want you to come.

Just as we begin to sing the hymn in just a moment, slip out of your seat, and come down up front. Somebody will meet you here, I’ll meet you here. Not on the platform, I’ll come down and meet you. We’ll have somebody sit down and take the Bible and show you exactly what it means to be saved, and then you make your own decision. You won’t be asked anything that you won’t want to do. You just come and let us help you.

Maybe you’re here today and the Lord’s spoken to you. You say, “I’m saved, no doubt about it.” Thank God for you. “If I had to, I could tell you the time and could show you the place.” Again, thank God for you.

Maybe the Lord has been speaking to you about something else. You’ve got the matter of salvation settled. That’s wonderful. But the Lord is speaking to you. This is your time to make a decision. This is your time to make a commitment. You need help, we’ll pray with you. We’ll help you; we’ll counsel you. We’ll do what we can to find the answers that you need. You just come while we sing. Don’t hold back, don’t wait to see what somebody else is doing, you just come.

Father, bless now and move in this invitation time we do pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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