Luke 13:10-17

Today, Pastor Jack tells us that making a change is possible. It’s why Jesus put such a high value on teaching the Word of God. Whenever the Bible is taught, people will either be changed through encouragement, through conviction, through instruction or by equipping us for ministry.

God is saying to you today:
“l know you’ve been in a difficult season. Hold on. Change is coming. I’ve heard your prayers and I am making a way for you. You’ve been
through so much, but you’re still here. You’re going to make it.”

I don’t know about you but, and maybe this is part of the frustration that I bring into everybody’s life that knows me.
I love change. There’s something about change that causes the things that we have a tendency to lean on and to get lazy or sleepy about to be shaken up.
I like that. I like to change things up.
And uh I think God likes to do that too. This word evolution speaks about change.
People will say, well, you know, is an evolution scientific.
No evolution is a religion but it says, or it speaks about change.
Yet there’s no evidence of change.
But if we were to give the world the word evolution, it would only have to be accurate in the context of a Christian life.
If there’s ever a change that’s going to really happen, it’s gonna happen through the evolution of the believer.
Oh, not that you would grow less and less hair and get taller and taller and no, no, not that I’m talking about the change that happens in the life of a Christian who as the Bible puts, it goes from glory to glory as God works with us.
That’s the real evolution. God is changing us, but Jesus is gonna be teaching us something about change this morning.
And as the title is, let there be change. I want you to follow along with me.
As I read Luke 13 verses 10 to 17.
Jesus speaks about what His kingdom does in the lives of those who will hear verse 10.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity, 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up.
But when Jesus saw her and called her to him, he said to her woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.
And he laid his hand on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God.
But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath.
And he said to the crowd, there are six days in which men ought to work, therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day.
The Lord then answered and said to him, hypocrite.
Oh, I wish I could have heard him say that.
Oh man, hypocrite does not each of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it.
So what not? This woman being the daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound, think of it for 18 years.
Be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath.
And when he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame and all the multitude rejoiced with all the glorious things that were done by Him.
Hey, listen, I like that kind of change.
Let’s see, God do that kind of change in our lives. Wherever Jesus goes, there’s change.
And if there’s no change where Jesus has claimed to be, then I want to argue this morning that Jesus may not be there.
Is your life being changed?
Have you walked in here today and you’re maybe brand new to all this stuff?
And you’re wondering is God is the Bible? Is Jesus good for me?
Oh, yeah, he he and it is good for you. But will you embrace change?
As we looked at our study this morning entitled that there be change.
Look at the first point this morning.
If there’s going to be change, we must see the need for change in our lives.
We must see the need for change.
How so number one church by this, by understanding that change is possible. Will you please write that down?
Change is possible. We’ve got to be able to see this. It says in verse 10.
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath that is on the Sabbath day.
For those of you who have been with us to Israel.
There’s the, there’s that synagogue that many of us have, have visited and here it is uh as you look to it, church, keep this in mind.
This is one of the most or best intact uh worship places during the time of Jesus literally church.
Jesus would have seen these stones erected as you see them.
He would have been in this synagogue and we’ve had a chance and in a couple of months, we’ll be going again to walk into that synagogue where Jesus himself ministered.
This is the real deal that area, the floor area there, we get to stand in that place and deliver to the tour a message and Jesus would have been on the same floor.
Oh, I, I, if I could just walk where Jesus walked, that’s where Jesus walked.
And you know, the romance of that to put your feet where maybe his sandal had been is over the top.
Exciting, wonderful. He is preaching, teaching in the synagogue.
And I want you to just mark this in your Bible for one moment because it’s very important.
Change is possible. And Jesus stresses and sets up the moment of change by teaching the word of God.
Don’t think for a moment that the Bible is somehow old and dusty and doesn’t equate to our lives today.
The truth of the matter is if you want to experience change, get into the Bible.
Jesus is teaching the Bible. He’s teaching the word of God. There’s no substitute for the Bible.
Get to it, dive into it.
Read it more and more and before somebody rules or makes a judgment on God being able to change their lives or not, I’ve got to be able to come right back at you and say, but have you read the Bible?
Are you reading the Bible? Are you staying at the Bible?
Don’t talk to me about your life, not changing unless you’re in the Bible Bible, my friend.
It is this Bible that has all power to change your life and mind.
And if this were not true, let me tell you something right now.
If this were not true, I would leave this room right now and go back to the world I came from and make big money and sell things and eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.
But this word is true.
This Bible does change our lives and there’s no substitute for the word of God.
And Jesus teaches it when the Bible is taught, a reaction will always follow. We may be encouraged.
We talked about that last time convicted instructed will be certainly equipped, but the Bible is all powerful.
I’m going to give you some verses and jot them down in the margins of your Bible.
If you would, Jesus taught verse 10 psalm 119 verse 50 says, this is my comfort and my affliction for your word has given me life.
Oh my friend. If, if, if you’ve been sick or if you’re hurting if your life is being stretched, there’s no other uh comfort or bond or aid that can come into your life than the Bible.
It is amazing to me just like a diamond.
When you go to buy a diamond, don’t they always put it on a black background?
Why to make that diamond look really good?
Really stands out the Christian in this life when the word of God is before us and that black background of pressures and difficulties come into our lives.
The word of God is designed to change us in such a way that we begin to shine forth as it were like diamonds or stars against the black background.
Isn’t God good to suspend a black drop of sky at night so that the stars would look all the brighter God does that.
And He uses the word of God to do that psalm 1 19 verse 11.
For your word, have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you?
You want to stop sinning in areas of your life. Apply the word of God.
A man came up to me yesterday and said, I just keep falling over the same sin in my life.
And I always have. And I said to him, there’s only one way for you to beat that cycle in your life.
And I dropped a hint out there.
I said there’s only one way to break that cycle in your life. I said it three times.
He never once asked what that is to break that cycle in his life.
Well, pastor, did you offer it to him? No, I did not.
If you’re not willing to receive what the answer is, then you’re not ready to accept the change that God wants to do in your life.
And here’s how He does it by ingesting the word of God, your life will be changed.
Hebrews chapter four verse 12.
For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing.
Even to the division of the soul and the spirit and the joints and the marrow and is a discern of the thoughts and the intents of our heart.
God’s word. Does that the Bible, any young people in here this morning? I know it’s early.
But listen, you want your life changed, you want to be radical, you want to be different.
You want to be a really different young person.
Take up the word of God and live after the Word of God and watch what happens.
You want to be different. Oh, you’ll be different, right? You want to be unique.
Take up the word of God and follow Him.
Your life will dramatically radically change God’s word is true.
Acts 13 47 to 49 says for so the Lord has commanded us quote, I have set you as a light to the gentiles that you should be for the salvation of the ends of the earth.
Now, when the gentiles heard this preaching, they were glad and they glorified the word of the Lord.
And as many of us were appointed to eternal life, believed and the word of God was being spread throughout all the regions.
How was the early church so powerful? And what did they do?
They preach the word and they sought to live the word of God.
It’s wonderful to realize that it is possible for us to be changed.
Parents will often say to their kids, why don’t you grow up?
I think if I had the parenting to live all over again, I don’t think I would say that to my kids.
I don’t know if I want them to grow up in this insane world anymore.
I think we need to say to our kids slow down and enjoy your childhood as long as possible.
When we say grow up, what are we saying to them?
I hope we’re saying to them, son, daughter be in the word of God.
If I have to get you a colorful pop up bible, I’ll get it.
But be in the word of God teaching your Children to look to the word of God and to encourage them.
That change is possible by being in the word of God, which leads us to this, seeing the need for change also because change is so near to us man.
It every year end and new year, it is the time to make those crazy vows of, of uh what are they called resolutions?
I think this resolution. I will do this or the other. Oh Come on, stop.
Ask God to change you. Why? Because change is near to us. It can really happen.
See, do I really want to believe you?
But I’ve been the same way all these 95 years God can change us.
Verse 11 says and behold, please take a highlighter and circle the word. Behold.
I cannot illuminate that word enough.
In fact, if I could just bend my notes over to show you, I use an extra big font on the word behold because of what it means.
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and she was bent over and she could always raised herself up the word in the Greek.
By the way means doubly bent over. She’s not only bent over severely, she’s locked in that position.
She cannot get out of that position.
But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and he said to her woman, you are loose from your infirmity.
First of all, let’s do some work with this, a spirit of in inter of infirmity, this word and we’ll see it twice in this portion of scripture here.
And a verse coming up. It truly means that this woman had been attacked by a demonic spirit. A demon.
Jesus is saying, so Luke is saying.
So here and Jesus will say it again in a moment about her being attacked by Satan, a spirit of infirmity means that whatever this woman is suffering from this doubly bent over condition is of demonic attack.
And how long by the way has this attack been upon her 18 years?
Wow, this word behold means and Luke writes it down.
It is a term that um in our modern day culture, it would be you would hear the drums breathing to a crescendo.
It would be the symbols crashing. It would be almost a light show of meaning.
You’re listening to real life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series. Just go to Jack Hibbs dot com.
That’s Jack Hibbs dot com. And for now let’s get back to our teaching.
Once again, here’s pastor Jack when Jesus came in and was teaching and when this woman was seen by him, this explosion came upon the moment.
It’s a very wonderful word behold.
And so there’s a collision of Kingdoms, her physical condition, by the way, Christian today for us is a picture.
It’s a picture that causes us to look and wonder. Now this woman has bent over.
But what a picture this is for us today, of sin, maybe of sorrow, of suffering in our lives causes us to be bent over.
In her case, she was brought under something happened in her life.
She did something in her life, something went on which opened the door for demonic activity to come into her life.
And it was very obvious that may or may not be the case in your life or in my life.
But isn’t it awesome to realize that the Bible would say to us today?
Behold, you’ve come into the sanctuary at Calvary and the word of God was going forth.
And Jesus calls to you and says, woman, man, young child, be lo from your infirmity.
What hunches you over today? Is it the weight of sin and guilt and shame?
And you try to stand up and you look erect in the mirror, you look like you’re standing up.
But in your emotions and in your spirit, in your life, your soul, you’re bent over and your way down, maybe, maybe by sorrow or sadness, maybe it’s sin and you can’t break free.
God is saying there’s change in your life coming. It’s coming near to you.
No one is exempt from God’s power to change us.
I love, I love how our God works because you know what, just when I would count myself out and unreachable by God.
God got a hold of my life.
What about you to the person this morning that thinks they’ve sinned so far gone, so beyond what God’s grace could reach out to He reaches yet further and grabs you.
Oh Jack, I wish that was true for my life.
Oh, I wish that, that forgiveness and that nearness of God’s healing touch can be upon my life.
Oh, my friend. It can. And it will.
If you’ll let him this woman, obviously, when she looked in the mirror, she couldn’t hide her situation.
See, we dress up, we put more makeup on or we get another suit or we get a bigger car or we just maybe drop another $100 bill into our pocket and we look good.
Then you’re all hunched over on the inside and Jesus wants to fix that.
We can be bowed down by sin most often. That’s the case.
Psalm 38 verse six says, I’m troubled and I am bowed down greatly.
I go mourning all the day long said King David because of sin.
We can be bowed down by sorrow. Psalm 42 5 says, why are you downcast or sorrowful?
Oh my soul. Why are you so disquieted within me? Hope in God for I will yet praise Him.
Suffering can cause us to be bowed down for our soul is bowed down.
Psalm 44 22 says, our soul has bowed down to the dust and our body clings to the ground.
Have you ever felt like that? When suffering brings you to the place?
Listen, sin, sorrow or suffering will lie to us.
It will grab us sometimes, especially if it drags on. You’ve been sick.
How long have you been sick? Are you sorrowful? How long have you been sorrowing?
Have you been living under the shadow of sin in your life? And you don’t know what to do.
Have you noticed that if it drags on, it just pulls you down and then your mind begins to think thoughts that are not of God thoughts like this.
Maybe God doesn’t love me anymore. Maybe I can’t be forgiven or how about this?
Maybe he’s not going to heal me.
Why do we think that when something pulls on us and stretches on us and we’re in that trial?
Why do we think almost immediately? Well, he must not love him anymore. Have we not changed?
Are we still like little Children? That quickly doubt comes in and robs them daddy.
Are you mad at me? No.
Why did you think that that hurts a parent’s heart for a child to think that why do we think that in this difficult life and in this world?
God is somehow not near to us or doesn’t want to change us? He’s so kind to us.
Jesus never asked this woman noted in your Bible. He never asked this woman if she wanted to be changed.
You might say, yeah, that kind of bothers me.
I’m a member of the AC L U and uh I, I want to take this issue up with you.
Jesus violated her rights. He didn’t, he didn’t ask her woman, do you want to be changed?
I’m glad he didn’t ask because you know what, most of the time, I’m too stupid to ask.
Let me change that most of the time. We’re too stupid to ask.
We go through so much and we don’t ask them.
The Bible says you have not because you ask not, we go through so much.
Listen, my friend, I want to encourage you when it comes to prayer.
You cannot pray enough, you cannot cry enough. Have you noticed? Never?
The Bible warns us against, don’t whine at praying. No, it says, keep praying.
You see why I want to whine to God. Listen.
If you want to call it whining, go ahead and, and call it whining.
But by all means, cry out to your God and never give up. She doesn’t cry out.
She doesn’t ask Jesus knows the need. Church. Does he not know the need in your life and mind today?
The God I know does the God of the Bible? Does He knows the need?
And she didn’t come to him.
She didn’t ask for change, but it was obvious that she needed change. And I love the fact.
Please note this, that this woman for 18 years, this woman had 18 years to give up on going to synagogue for 18 years.
This woman could have said, I ain’t going to church this Sunday for 18 years.
She could have said, you know what? You’re not doing anything for me.
I don’t know why we think this but God, I’m gonna take it out on you.
We look like a little ant standing on a grain of sand looking up into heaven saying I’m gonna take this out on you, God because you didn’t do it my way.
I’m not gonna go into your house of worship anymore.
It’s absolutely crazy when emotions begin to control us like that. He wants to change us.
He’s near to us to change us.
I’m blessed that this woman was still going to synagogue on that Sabbath Christian. Oh Christian.
And what am I talking to you for? You’re here. It’s the friends that you have that are not here.
Tell them today the service at church today, this woman in the bible 18 years of affliction and she still went to worship.
Tell your Christian friends who have walked out on God, get back to the house of worship, get back and seek the Lord.
Now is the time my my friend now is the time to get close to God.
Like never before the days are short. Get back to him.
You see some people in their emotional insanity are saying no, no, no.
God didn’t heal me the way I wanted.
God didn’t do it the way I was asking, I’m not gonna go worship him. Oh, not this woman.
She’s there and she’s to be commended. Little. Did she know that change was so near to her?
And she was bent over all this time. 18 years the spirit of infirmity attacked her.
The door was opened somewhere along the lines for this evil to befall her.
And I don’t want to be labor. This, I just want to warn you about this.
What happened in her life? I do not know, we may never know.
But church ladies and gentlemen, please listen carefully.
This can still and this does happen today in people’s lives.
You can open up a door that will allow evil in your life. And I don’t care this morning.
If you are a Christian or a non Christian, a Christian can open the door of evil and invite what traffics around that evil and it can come into your life and ruin your life.
Christian pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on real life radio with his message called Let there be change.
You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called the Gospel of Luke.
It’s a series on the book of Luke and the unveiling of Jesus Christ to this world.
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