The Healing Word

Guest (Male): The Healing Word ministry on one place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the links provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in him.

Pastor Jack Morris: Friends, if you've accepted Jesus, you haven't you have him. He now wants to have you.

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Healing Word, a ministry dedicated to offering strength and encouragement through God's word for anyone facing life's challenges. As believers, we want to serve God and walk in his will. Though the path isn't always easy, today's message is here to meet you at your point of need, bringing hope and renewing your faith now. Here's Pastor Jack Morris.

Pastor Jack Morris: Within you is a treasure. I want you to know that within you is the spirit of God if you have indeed given your heart to God through Jesus Christ. So on line one in your outline, write down the word a treasure. We what we have is a treasure. After you've written that down, I want you to look to second Corinthians chapter four verses six and seven. Hold your Bible up and read these two verses with me. Are you ready? All right together. For God who said let light shine out of darkness made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Over verse seven, go right ahead. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. Now your parents have given you something, that is your body. But God has given you an eternal spirit and that didn't come from our parents. That came from God. God has blessed us with that blessing. Now notice verse six, the last part of verse six, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Christ has come into our hearts if we have indeed given our hearts to him.

If we have confessed our sins and asked Jesus to come into our hearts, the eternal spirit of God has come in. Now that's the part that is your treasure. A lot of people aren't paying any attention to their treasure. You know, if you have a treasure of money or your treasure is your house or your treasure is your boat or your treasure is your car, you pay some attention to it, don't you? But all of those things that I've just mentioned are going to pass away. But there is an eternal treasure and friend, you need to pay some attention to that treasure because that's going to be around for a long time forever and ever, world without end.

That part of you will abide forever. Now if you've given your heart to the Lord, I want you to know something this morning. Let's say you're already a Christian. You've given your heart to Christ. You've confessed him as your Lord and Savior. You've given testimony to having been baptized by being baptized. You've taken of the Lord's supper. Well, now I want to tell you again and remind you again lest you have already forgotten, you have a treasure within. That's Jesus living in your heart. That eternal spirit of God has come into your eternal spirit and bonded you with God and now you are one with the Lord.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of that. That's what I want to do today to remind you that you have the Lord in your heart. Now notice it it says here the knowledge the knowledge. Now this is not a knowledge of in the head, an academic knowledge, a knowledge of facts. But this is a knowledge of experience. We have experienced this truth of Jesus. We have experienced the reality of Jesus. We this this knowledge has been turned into experience. We go to school, we get our degrees, we store facts, we store facts, we store facts and so that we can go out into the world and use those facts to make a living and and gain be gainfully employed.

But this knowledge that is spoken of here in verse six is a knowledge not just a facts. You didn't learn about Jesus and facts about Jesus. You have learned Jesus and met Jesus and experienced Jesus yourself in your heart. This is a knowledge of experience. Today when I speak to you, I'm speaking to you the word of God. You're hearing the word of God. But I pray that you will not just come away from this service more knowledgeable with certain facts than when you came in. But that you will come away from this service with that knowledge transferred and transfigured into an experience, an experience with Jesus, an experience that will bless you not only for time but will bless you throughout all eternity.

Now God spoke in the beginning of time. God spoke. The world was in chaos. The world was in in darkness. But God spoke and when he spoke, his word went out and pierced the darkness. And when it pierced the darkness, the darkness fled before it and all became light. Now today I'm giving you the word of God. I'm praying. I'm I'm praying. Listen to me friends. I'm praying that what you're hearing today will will come forth and pierce your heart. It will like a two-edged store sword, the word of God will stab your heart. Will stab you awake and will bring in enlightenment to you.

I don't want to give you just knowledge. I pray the Holy Spirit will turn the water into wine and take the knowledge that you have about Jesus and bring Jesus to you and make Jesus very real to you. Jesus, the son of God. This is the word of God that is coming forth talking about him who is the eternal word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice it says the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Let me say it again. The knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

That's the treasure. The knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. What I'm saying this morning is I want Jesus to get right in your face. Someone said to me one time we he came back after a little bit of a conflict and he said oh pastor, I didn't mean to get right in your face about this. Well, that 's what Jesus is trying to do this morning and that's the word of God is coming forth. But prayer is that Jesus through this message that I'm preaching will get right in your face today.

And some of you need to be made to feel very uncomfortable when Jesus gets right in your face today. And he looks you straight in the eye and he knows whether you're saved. He knows whether you're right. He knows if you're a phony and a hypocrite. You see Jesus has come this morning to get in your face to help you and me to to reconcile with God to confess our inadequacies to acknowledge our hypocrisy and to say oh God, oh God, oh God I'm a phony. I need repentance and I do repent. I need confession and I do confess.

Friend, let Jesus get in your face today. The word of God is coming forth. Let something happen. The knowledge that you're getting, let God turn it into the very presence of Jesus to bring your life into a relationship with Jesus. Now that's the eternal spirit. That's the eternal treasure that you and I have. Now often you'll hear me on a Sunday morning and you heard me many times on a Sunday morning give the same benediction that Moses gave to the children of Israel. It comes out of numbers chapter six. It says the Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Listen friend, it's time to get in the face of Jesus. If we're going to have peace, if we're going to have happiness, if we're going to have the joy and we're chasing joy and happiness and we're doing everything we can and it's so elusive. It continues to escape us. Come to the Lord today and allow the Lord to help you to experience this great eternal blessing through Jesus Christ that is yours because of Calvary.

So what we have is a treasure. And what is that treasure? It's the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. We have come face to face with Jesus. We have also come face to face with ourselves. We've come face to face with eternity. Now number two in your outline, write down the word within us. Where is this treasure? This knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Where is it? It's within us. Look at verse seven in second Corinthians chapter four verse seven. But we have this treasure in jars of clay.

We have it. We have it. If we have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, you already have it. And today is a reminder to you and me. The word is reminding us that we are already abundantly blessed. The treasure is within. As we reflect upon that treasure, the glory of God now will come forth. See we we forget that we carry in our bosom today the very presence of Jesus because Jesus has come into our hearts. We have it. We presently possess it. Now if you have not accepted the Lord as your Savior, you do not possess this uh this uh knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

But you can by asking him to come into your heart. But some of us are going through some very difficult times. But if we will remember that the glory of God is within us, that our our body is the house that the glory of God lives within. Yes, I I'm talking about you, your body, your body. Let me see your hands. Those of you who have truly accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, let me see your hands. Okay, that's wonderful. That's you're the ones I'm talking about within you. Everybody who raised your hand within you is the glory of God.

And I want you to think about it, reflect upon it and listen intently to what I'm talking about today. Be reminded and be blessed knowing that he lives within you. Notice we have this treasure in jars of clay. Now Paul took a very common thing in his day, a jar of clay, just a clay jar. People in that time would store their valuables in jars of clay. We have a lock box or we have a safety box and or whatever where we store our valuables. Well, in Paul's day, they would store their valuables in these jars of clay.

The jar of clay was very ordinary. It was not expensive. It it didn't look valuable at all because it wasn't valuable at all. But within that jar of clay with that lid on it, there was something of great value, maybe jewels, maybe money. I don't know what they had but if they had anything of value, they would put it put it in there. Now this is what Paul is trying to say. You need to look at yourself this morning. Those hands that went up, you need to look at yourself. Now you may look very ordinary but I want to tell you within you is the very glory of God.

Your body is that jar of clay and God has stored his spirit, the very spirit of Jesus within you. Yes, Jesus is within you. He walks around when you walk around. He's there walking with you in this jar of clay. You see Jesus was transfigured before the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17. He was a very ordinary looking man, Jesus was. He he was very ordinary. He didn't walk around with a halo around his head. You wouldn't think that he was the Messiah or the Christ. He's very ordinary. For 30 years, he worked in the carpenter shop, wore an apron, take a towel and wipe his sweaty brow, take his sweaty clothes off and his mother would wash them for him and get him ready to go back to work again.

He'd go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day as is customary. Very ordinary, very ordinary man. But on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, something absolutely phenomenal happened. The glory of God came forth from his body. All of a sudden, they saw in him, Peter, James and John, saw in Jesus something that had been there all the while that they hadn't seen before. The glory of God just burst forth. His face was brighter than the sun. His clothes became whiter than white. And they saw the glory of God and they fell before him with their faces on the ground.

Now what has happened? The glory of God that had been invisible was now made visible. Now you you you you you have the glory of God within you today. And God is so anxious to bring it forth into your life, into your circumstances, into your sorrows, into your hurts, into your disappointments. He desires to bring the glory of God forth. Now notice it says this glory is not of us. It is of God. But it's there, the very seed of God being planted by God. Can you say praise the Lord?

Guest (Male): Praise the Lord.

Pastor Jack Morris: God is there within you. He lives within you. Now number three in your outline, write down the word empowers. How this treasure blesses us? It empowers us. We have within us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It enlightens and empowers our lives. Friend, I've been doing this work for a long time Christian ministry. And and my heart actually breaks as I see Christians, godly people hurt, disappointed, in pain, feeling dejected, feeling like a failure. And and I want to tell them and I do tell them.

Within you is the mighty presence of Jesus. And he's waiting for you to bring him forth and to release him into your situation. Your body is only a tabernacle. But within you is the glory of the Lord. When Stephen, the first deacon, one of the first deacons was accused and ridiculed and then lied upon and then stoned to death. The scripture says that Stephen looked up. Dear God, if you and I would just look up today. He looked up and he said I see Jesus. And he is standing on the right hand of God. The scripture says when Jesus ascended, he was seated.

But Jesus looked down and he saw one of his own. I'll tell you friend, Jesus will stand up for you today. You don't have to stand up for yourself. You have but to look up. And he will stand up. And they the scripture says that the people became so angry that they they didn't bite him. But it says they gnashed with their teeth like a mad dog of hell. A human being gone wild in anger. And the scripture says there came forth from Stephen the very glory of God. They looked upon him and they said his face shine like an angel.

And the spirit of God came upon him before the last stone crushed his skull. And he said Father, don't lay this sin to their charge. Friend, within you, within you, within me, in this body, in your body is the very power and presence of the Lord. There is a light. There are too many Christians. They're just walking around. When will the darkness pass? When will the trouble fade? When will my dreams come true? When will my expectations become a reality? Look up. Jesus is here today to bless and to help you. I want you to know you have you have dynamite within you, the very power of God, the very presence of the Lord.

He is there ready now. Now on the wall way over here, you see that little black box way over here. It's a switch. If I were to walk over there, I could flip the switch and the lights would go out. The lights weren't on until earlier this morning. And when somebody came into the sanctuary, they flipped the switch and the lights came on. What was what what was what does that mean? That means there was power here all night long in readiness. Now how do you flip the switch? How do you do that? By hearing the word of God that brings faith, by reflecting on what God has done to you, by remembering and giving praise and giving thanks, by simply saying Pastor, thanks for reminding me that the light of God is within me.

The light of God that dispels the darkness of my sadness and my disappointment. It's it's in your thoughts. It's in your thinking. It's in your reflecting. It's in your believing. Believe. Believe. Now I want you to I'm not finished with the sermon yet but I want you to bow your heads with me for just a moment. Now what we're doing now with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, we're going to flip the switch which will cause the power of Jesus that is within you to begin to flow into your situation. However dark your situation is, well this is how you begin just like you did in the beginning.

You say after me thank you Jesus for saving my soul. Thank you for coming into my heart. Thank you for coming into my life. I received you as my Lord and Savior. Even now I open my heart to continue to receive you as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for saving my soul. Thank you for coming into my heart. Thank you for transforming my life. Thank you for living in my body. The mighty power of God is Jesus, is Jesus within me. Amen. Now friend, you do that in your way using your words. Whenever there's a difficulty and when there isn't a difficulty, what you're doing, you're flipping the switch.

You're remembering who you are. You're remembering who he is. You're remembering what you have done and you're remembering what he has done. And in that remembering the mighty glory of God begins to flow. Light begins to flow through you. It will flow. It will do for you what you cannot do for yourself. It is the look at verse seven. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. There are things that you can't do. It's not from us. It's from him and it's all surpassing.

All surpassing meaning there is an abundance. There is a flow of glory that will continue to flow into you and flow into you and flow into you. You see I've I've heard the word of God with my ears. And I I I begin to believe what I have been hearing. And as I believe it, now it goes into my heart, the word of God. This knowledge is being being transfigured now. It's transfiguring me. It goes into my heart. Now my heart takes it and begins to pump it into my bloodstream. And my bloodstream now goes out into my the cells of my body.

There comes a joy all over me. There comes a presence all over me. It's in me but it's now working itself out through me into my life, into my home, into my job, into my circumstances. Wherever I am, my blood is pumping the glory of God, the very light of Jesus. And my behavior now is changing. I'm able to believe. I'm able to smile. I'm able to to love and not hate. I am able to do so many things that I'm not able to do in myself all because there's a light in me, the light of him who is the light of the world.

It is the light of the glory of God. Friends, if you've accepted Jesus, you have it. You have him. He now wants to have you. Hallelujah. You have a treasure in you.

Guest (Male): We love to hear from you. Your thoughts, questions and testimonies are so important to us. They truly bless Pastor Morris and the entire Healing Word ministry team. Please email us at contactus at thehealingword.com. Again, that address is contactus at thehealingword.com. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.