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: You respond to a lot of things and a lot of influences. Respond to the word of God. Respond to Jesus. Let the Holy Spirit quicken his life within you. Come to this table and remember I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind to spiritual things, but my mind is my eyes have been opened and I see Jesus and I see life and I I'm looking into a new world.

Guest (Male): In John chapter 9, we read about a man who has been blind since birth and was known only as a beggar to the local townspeople. And when Jesus and his disciples came upon him, Jesus saw an opportunity to display God's power by healing the man's blind eyes. Let's join Pastor Jack Morris now and the congregation at the Largo Community Church as he uncovers hidden truths found in this miraculous story of healing in the message I once was, I now am.

Pastor Jack Morris: This story of this blind man. Can you believe that anybody was healed who was born blind with spit and mud? Come on, let's think about it for just a moment. You know, if I went to the doctor and he or she prescribed a prescription and then I went to the pharmacy and they gave me a little vial and I took it home and they said take it every morning and then after breakfast then you take it one more time before you go to bed. I opened it up and it was a little vial filled with spit and mud.

Now, what kind of a doctor You think I'd go back to that doctor again? A man born blind from birth. Now, Jesus was a wise physician. Jesus followed the customs of his day in order to win souls to Christ, in order to help people and to bless people. And it was the custom and the belief among the people in that ancient world that spittle from a very prominent person had curative qualities to it. And the mud was the earth that he himself created. And so he adapts to the situation, to the culture in order to help this man believe.

This man was a Jew, but he wasn't a Christian. He hadn't accepted Jesus. He hadn't seen Jesus. No doubt he had never even heard the voice of Jesus. So Jesus now is going to where the man is. You see what friend, wherever you are, that's where Jesus will come. He doesn't want you to come to where he is. He comes to where you are. Did he not come from heaven to earth to where we are? He didn't say you come up to heaven and I'll save you. No, he comes to where we are. Wherever you are today, that's exactly where Jesus is going to come, move in with his grace and his mighty power and bring blessing into your life.

So he was helping this man to believe. And he comes to this man and he now tells him now you take this off by going to this mud and this spittle, by going to the pool of Siloam and wash. And the man did what Jesus says. You know, when you do what Jesus says, when you do what he says, regardless you say oh these this is a new day, this is a new society, things have changed, we have to adapt. Who told you that? This doesn't adapt. It read it read just like it read in my grandmother's Bible and in her grandmother before her and her grandmother before her.

This has never changed. So friends, when we look for change to adapt, look out, we are naively be be moving away from what God has called us to do. He is our God, our Lord, our king. He is the word of God. So Jesus is a very wise physician. You know, if you don't have faith in your doctor, chances are you're not going to do what your doctor says. You're going to doubt what your doctor says. You may look for another doctor. The other day I got an infection in my ear and it's it's still there to some degree, but not like it was a few days ago.

But friends, let me tell you something. Don't ever get sick or get an infection on a holiday. It it it doesn't work. And there I was on Wednesday with this infection in my ear. My head was roaring. Every time I talked on the telephone, I kept interrupting myself. That roar would interrupt me. I pray that it won't this morning. So I went everywhere I knew to go, called the people I thought might be able to help me. I kept thinking I've got to preach Sunday morning. It's communion. And finally finally I gave in and I went to right time.

Have you heard of right time? You know right time? So I went in and there wasn't anybody in there but the receptionist. And I said to the receptionist, I said is this a this doctor a good doctor? That was a dumb question to ask. And she smiled, a young lady, and she said oh he's my favorite. So with trepidation I went into the little room and after a while he came in. And when he came walking in with a straight face, he looked right at me and he says we do not treat left ear infections on Friday.

I thought oh my, I found the quack. I found the quack. We do not treat left ear infections on Friday. And I thought this guy's got to be joking or I 'm dreaming. And then I told him I asked her he was doing the examination what the receptionist said. I started talking with he never smiled with a straight face. And he I said you know what I came in, I asked the reception about you and she said that you're my favorite doctor. And he just kept right on working. He said she can say that all she wants to, but she's not going to get any more money.

Well, I knew I was with the right guy. Whether he had any any doctoring ability or not, he had good bedside manners and he had me laughing. And I thought this guy's going to fix me up. And he's I'm almost fixed up. So we're on our way. Well, that's exactly what Jesus was doing with this blind man. He he went to where the blind man was in his blindness, in his lack of faith. And Jesus helped him to believe by spit and mud. Now, notice I once was, I now am. And I want you to think about where you were before you became a Christian.

We can't really celebrate our Christian faith until we remember until we remember who we are and who we were and we remember where we came from and now where we are, now we can rejoice and be happy in the Lord Jesus. We sang Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. What's the next? I once was. Say those words. Remember you once without Christ. I once was, but now I am. Say but now I am. But now I am. What a change, a miraculous change. The only way it could be described is being born again, born all over again.

I once was. This young man who begged for a living, who was born blind. He never saw light, never saw a person, never saw his own face all his life long up until that moment was healed. Then the Pharisees come to him and say told him this man's a sinner. And the man said I don't know about that, whether he's a sinner or whether he isn't a sinner. Only thing I know is I once was blind, but now I see. Friend, when you know, then you really know, don't you? Nobody can really dissuade you and make you believe differently.

And the Pharisees couldn't talk him out of this miracle of God's grace. I can only know now if I know where I've been. Now, that's where I have to get us today. I can only know now, I can only celebrate now, I can only rejoice now if I remember where I've been. And friend, if any part of you or your attitude is still there, repent, get right with God and let the Lord break those chains. Those chains will snap and they'll fall off.

Guest (Male): We will return for the conclusion of today's message following this important update on how you can make a difference in lives across the world by supporting the Healing Word Ministry. Would you consider partnering with Pastor Morris and supporting the Healing Word Ministry with your prayers and donating to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ reaching thousands? Go to thehealingword.com and click the donate button to pledge your support. And remember, the faith-building message you heard today is our gift to you. Your donation is your gift to God.

Guest (Male): Now, let's join Pastor Jack Morris for the conclusion of today's message.

Pastor Jack Morris: I was saved today because God saved me, but I wasn't always saved. I wasn't always a Christian. I remember before, but now I remember now. I can only know where I am in Christ now if I remember where I was before Christ. I've got to remember before I come to this communion table, I couldn't come. Oh, I could come. I could get up and walk. My legs were strong enough, but in my heart, in my worship to the Lord, it was useless and it was meaningless to me. But if I remember how he bought my soul at Calvary through his broken body and his shed blood, all because I was a sinner without grace, now I can come to this holy table.

Now, as I mentioned a moment ago, this was this is quite a story. And you have a story. Alex Haley was born in Henning, Kentucky, Tennessee. Tennessee. And at 5 years old, his parents moved to Ithaca, New York. But every summer, Alex would go back to Henning to visit his grandmother. I remember how I used to go back to visit my grandmother every summer for 2 weeks. And boy, did she influence my life completely. And I believe I'm here today preaching the word of God because of her influence. So I'm remembering, I'm remembering and I'm rejoicing.

But Alex Haley would go back and sit on the porch. And then the old grandmother on that old porch would talk about I believe she called him the the person furthest back. She was referring to Kunta Kinte. And she said he was the the African. And she told this little boy and he grew up year after year hearing that same story until he became possessed with it. Friend, I want you to hear the gospel of Jesus. Come to this holy communion table until it possesses your soul. Now, you're a true worshiper in the Lord. And Alex got older and joined the Coast Guard.

He decided so possessed with that story from his grandmother I'm going back. I 'm going to find my roots. And that's where he got the story. Roots. It took him years of searching. It didn't happen quickly. He was up in middle-aged man. And finally he heard of a little village on the Gambia River in Africa where there was a little tribe. And he thought that might be where my roots are. And he went. And he got with the the uh historian of the society, the the the um the tribal historian. The stories were orally transmitted.

And he would sit on low stools in the evening while the music played and the drums beat softly and the old historian told him the story of their tribe, of their people. And Alex sat there and listened and listened. And as the story progressed, this story after this story, this incident, and then it finally reached when he said the old historian said Kunta Kinte. Well, that Alex Haley almost come out of his skin. He said that's the story my grandmother told me. Now, the old historian did not know the grandmother, had never been to America, had never had, never came to America.

And the story went on how that Kunta one day, about 16 years old, the old gentleman referred to it after 16 rains, after 16 rainy seasons that made Kunta about 16 years old. He said he went out into the woods to cut wood to make a drum. And he was never seen of again. The soldiers came, captured him, took him to America and they disembarked it at Annapolis, Maryland. We never heard of him, never seen him again. Mr. Haley said that's my ancestor. I'm part of this tribe. Your blood is in me and my blood is in you.

Well, when the villagers heard about it, they began to dance all over the place. The drums were beating and the mothers grabbed their babies and ran to Mr. Haley and thrust their babies into his arms for him to bless them. And he said I'm just a man. I'm just a part of this tribe, part of this ancestry. He remembered. And he kept searching. Friend, if you and I would search our spiritual roots with such aggressiveness as that man searched his roots, friends, you have a life in Christ all because of Jesus. Remember, remember who you are and what God has done for you and how he has lifted you from sin into Christianity and made you a new creature in Christ Jesus.

You see all stories have a beginning. If you start in the middle of a story, well, that just doesn't count. That 's where grandmother, Alex's grandmother, she always went to the man to the person furthest back. And that stopped at the beginning. But Mr. Haley went all the way back to the beginning. Friend, remember the beginning. We try to in our birthdays, don't we? We have birth certificates. How about your spiritual birth certificate? Is it still enthusing you and bringing spiritual life into you and physical life into you? You see the the Bible think about the Bible.

It starts in the beginning. Go back to Genesis 1:1 and what are the four first words? In the beginning. Friend, without a beginning, there's no middle and there's no ending. But if there is a beginning and if you remember that beginning, then it all began with Jesus. It all began in Christ. You have a story. Matter of fact, you are a story. Remember, and as you remember, you will rejoice and you will come to church and you will be thrilled. How how many people come to church and this is like the Sunday before, the Sunday before that and the same courses and the same preacher and the same word.

Friend, maybe you need to get saved. But certainly you need to remember Jesus and this table and who you are. And if that has been going on and it happens to most of us from time to time, we drifted to passivity. But we need to come back and say Lord, I've been passive too long. Yes, say the word passive. Say it to him and put your joy and your love, your grace, the fire of the Holy Spirit, put it back into me again. He'll do just that because that's exactly what he wants to do for you, what you can't do for yourself, but he will do it.

You see once the sky was dark and void and empty, there's nothing up there. And then Jesus spoke, the Holy Spirit spoke, God the Father spoke. The Holy Spirit began to move and this beautiful stars, the sun, the moon, it all came about. Friend, hear the word of God. Hear the word of God and let the stars shine in your life again and let life take on the meaning that God wants your life to take on. Jesus is here today to bless and to minister to you and now help you. You see I once was.

I now am. Can you say that I once was? I now am. Now, Kunta Kinte had a daughter named Kizzy. K I Z Z Y, I suppose that's how you pronounce it. And I'm going to quote her to the best of my ability and I'm going to quote her and I'm going to try to say the words that she said. And these people were without education. They came to this country. Strangers knew nothing. So help me to understand because what I'm going to say now as I quote her comes right out of the series. You already heard it on television if you watched the series or if you read the book.

Here's what Kizzy said. She was dating a man by the name of Sam. But then she broke off the engagement because she remembered who she was, who she had become. She knew she had a future. And this is what she said. She said when I asked when she was asked why she made the decision, she said Sam ain't an American. He don't know Africa. He can't understand Africa. And if you don't know where you comes from, you can't know where you're going. Friend, do you know where you have comes from? Now, you know who you are and where you're going.

This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. I'm coming to this altar at a moment to remember who I was and who did it for me. I didn't do it for myself. Jesus did it for me. He brought me into the kingdom of God. I'm going to give you a little imaginary conversation that I had with Jesus. And I didn't create it. A man that I met years ago uh a a Dr. Foth. He had been a university professor. He came over to Largo. We had lunch together. A great man. Maybe someday he'll come and preach here at the Largo Community Church.

He said and I'm going to use my name. He used his name. This is the imaginary conversation that we had with Jesus. Morris, here's the plan. I'll leave my place and I'll come to your place. I'll take you to my place. Then we'll go to my place. Friend, it's God's plan. And God has a plan for every life and your life. And believe it or not, and I hope you do believe it and I I believe that you do believe it. God has a plan for you this morning in this service. That plan started at your conversion and every Lord's supper and every Lord's day every time the sun comes up, God's hand is on you and he's looking at you and he has a plan.

Let me read it again. Jack, here's the plan. I'll leave my place. I'll come to your place. I'll take your place. Then we'll go to my place. Friend, do you know that conversation? Have you had something similar like that with Jesus? Well, you have a story. It goes way back. But do you remember when it happened? Friend, listen to me. You respond to a lot of things and a lot of influences. Respond to the word of God. Respond to Jesus. Let the Holy Spirit quicken his life within you. Come to this table and remember I once was lost, but now I'm found.

I was blind to spiritual things, but my mind is my eyes have been opened and I see Jesus and I see life and I I'm looking into a new world. Yes, he came to my place and took my place that he might take me to his place. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I hope you found today's Healing Word message a blessing and challenged you to draw closer to God who longs to have a deep relationship with you.

Guest (Male): Do you need Pastor Morris to pray with you about a struggle or decision you're wrestling with? The Pray Now app is available to you right now. Go to thehealingword.com, click Pray Now and select the topic that matches your request. Pastor Morris will provide encouragement, pray with you and deliver a brief message on overcoming and living in victory. Again, Pray Now at thehealingword.com. I also invite you to check out all the ministry resources available for you at thehealingword.com. There you can search and listen to messages that match your need. Pray with Pastor Morris using the Pray Now app and send your prayer request directly to the pastor and he will pray for you and return it encouraging note.

You'll find all these gifts waiting for you at thehealingword.com. Would you consider partnering with Pastor Morris and supporting the Healing Word Ministry with your prayers and donating to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ reaching thousands? Go to thehealingword.com and click the donate button to pledge your support. And remember, the faith-building message you heard today is our gift to you. Your donation is your gift to God. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.