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Jesus Makes People Whole Again
by Pastor Jim Feeney, Ph.D.
Sermon Summary: Do you or someone close to you feel broken? desperate? hopeless? ready to give up? Turn to Jesus Christ, who takes shattered lives and people and makes them whole again.
Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, [2] to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, [3] and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
Luke 4:16-21 He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. [17] The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: [18] “The Spirit of the Lord is ON ME, because he has ANOINTED ME TO preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, [19] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [20] Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, [21] and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
•• This speaks of Jesus taking BROKEN people and making them WHOLE AGAIN.
• the brokenhearted
• the captives
• those in darkness
• the prisoners
• those who are mourning and grieving
• the poor
• the blind
• the oppressed
•• And all of these Jesus makes into:
• solid oaks of righteousness
• a planting of the Lord
• for the display of His splendor
•• JESUS said (paraphrased), “The Holy Spirit, the Anointing, is ON ME to change you, to heal you, to deliver you, to transform you, to take your heavy hearts and fill them with JOY.” He is ready and able to help all who cry out to Him, "Lord, make me whole again!"
1. The brokenhearted
•• Mary and Martha ... brother Lazarus was dead ... Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again ... I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:23, 25).
2. The captives
•• The ten lepers were captive to their debilitating disease and shunned by society. Jesus freed them by healing their terrible affliction.
3. Those in darkness
•• Of Jesus walking by Sea of Galilee, Matthew 4:16 says, “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
• That describes me in February 1969. Then Jesus came into my life as my Savior, and light replaced the spiritual darkness in which I had been living.
4. The prisoners — e.g., the demoniac Jesus delivered in the graveyard
•• My wife and I prayed for a young lady in Anchorage, who was possessed by four demons. She was suicidal and desperate. In the all-powerful name of Jesus, she was delivered completely. Within minutes of her release by Jesus, she had received Him as Savior, was born again, and was baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaking in other tongues. She joyfully exclaimed, "This is what I've always wanted!" The Lord Jesus had set another "prisoner" free and made her whole again!
5. Those mourning and grieving
•• Mary of Magdala was grieving, then she saw the empty tomb, and then saw Jesus: “Master!” she cried, then raced to tell the disciples: “I have seen the Lord.” (John 20)
• And seeing Jesus gave her gladness instead of mourning.
• A garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair
• FIX YOUR eyes on Jesus, and He’ll do that for you.
6. The poor
•• Matthew 11:5 ...the poor have the gospel preached to them.
• And you become inundated with spiritual riches.
• And you begin to learn God's promises of provision.
7. The blind and others with illnesses and infirmities
•• Matthew 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up...
• Jesus makes sick bodies well.
• Jesus makes infirm people whole again.
8. The oppressed
•• Acts 10:38, KJV tells “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil...”
• A friend of mine, now an ordained pastor, testified: “I was crazy; the Lord healed my mind.”
• I knew a young man in a psychiatric hospital in Alaska. He turned his life over to Jesus, received the Lord's therapeutic touch, and discharged himself from the mental ward.
• Whatever oppression you may be under, Jesus is willing and able to remove that from you today.
Jesus takes broken people and makes them whole again. Let Him do that for you today.
Preached at South Valley Church, Phoenix, Oregon, February 4, 2005
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A related bible study — Divine Healing | Spiritual Healing — reveals that Jesus also makes the physically sick and infirm whole again.
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of the Zondervan Corporation. All rights reserved.
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© 2005, James H. Feeney, All rights reserved.
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Additional free online bible studies and free sermons on speaking in tongues, divine healing, gifts of the Holy Spirit, divine inspiration, pro-life vs. pro-choice, apostles and prophets today, and more may be linked to or viewed at Online Bible Studies and Free Sermons by Pastor Jim Feeney (http://www.jimfeeney.org). |
