The Healing of a Crippled Women 03/31/2024

First Baptist Church Leominster

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read the rest of 1st Corinthians 15 beginning with verse 35 through the end of the chapter 1st

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Corinthians 15 35 and then he'll pray for us but someone will say how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come foolish one what you so is not made alive unless it dies and what you so you do not so that body that shall be but mere grain perhaps wheat or some other grain but God gives it a body as he pleases and to each seed its own body all flesh is not the same flesh but there is one kind of flesh of men another flesh of animals another of fish and another of birds there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another there is one glory of the

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Sun another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differs from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead the body is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonor it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body and so it is written the first man

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Adam became a living being the last Adam became a life -giving spirit however the spiritual is not first but the natural and afterward the spiritual the first man was of the earth made of dust the second man is the

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Lord from heaven as was the man of dust so also are those who are made of dust and as is the heavenly man so also are those who are heavenly and as we have borne the image of the man of dust we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man now this

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I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does corruption inherit incorruption behold

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I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality then shall then then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory

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Oh death where is your sting Oh Hades where is your victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our

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Lord Jesus Christ there move therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast and movable always abounding in the work of the

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Lord knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord let's pray our father we thank you for the gospel we thank you for the good news that Jesus Christ died to save sinners and we thank you

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Lord for the life that we have in Christ Jesus that he has delivered us from a life of futility a life of misery and he has given us great promise he's given us a great inheritance an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading an inheritance that is reserved in heaven for us and Lord as we exalt you and worship you this morning we thank you for these tremendous gifts and so Lord help us now as we open up your word and as we continue to worship you through the preaching of the word we pray

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Lord that we would hear what we need to hear that your spirit would teach us and convict us and change us thank you

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Lord in Jesus name Amen well let's turn in our

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Bibles to Luke chapter 13 and today we want to give our attention to verses 10 to 20 in which we have this account of the healing of a crippled woman this account is unique to Luke's gospel it is a glorious account of this poor woman receiving mercy from the

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Lord Jesus and healed of her infirmity that troubled her for so long a time and so we wish to consider the blessing of this troubled suffering woman as she that she as she came to the synagogue that Sabbath morning to hear the

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Word of God taught by Jesus now this was a woman who had suffered for many years with no relief but the

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Lord Jesus saw her distinguished her out of the crowd called her to come to him and he healed her of her infirmity it's a wonderful story of the mercy and grace of God and Jesus Christ shown to a woman of faith but a woman who had suffered from a terrible physical malady but at the same time it's an account that reveals and manifests a hypocrisy of the

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Jewish leader of the synagogue the ruler of the synagogue he claimed to care much for Sabbath Day observance before God but he cared little for the people of God and their difficulty and suffering

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IH Marshall the commentator of the Greek text described the account the story of the healing of the woman with the bent back is then presented from two aspects it is an illustration of the hypocritical attitude of the

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Jewish leaders which has already been castigated in back in chapter 11 37 through 54 and at the same time it exemplifies the saving power of God in delivering his people from the power of Satan and thus provides the kind of sign that should have been recognized by the

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Jews and so here's Luke 13 verses 10 through 20 now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the

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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

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Jesus saw her he called her to him and said to her woman you were loosed from your infirmity and he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified

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God but the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the

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Sabbath and he said to the crowd there are six days on which men ought to work therefore come and be healed on them and not on the

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Sabbath day the Lord then answered him and said hypocrite does not each one of you on the

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Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it so what not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom

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Satan is bound think of it for 18 years be loosed from this bond on the

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Sabbath and when he said these things all his adversaries were put to shame and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him and then he said what is the kingdom of God like and to what shall

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I compare it it's like a mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches and again he said to what shall

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I like in the kingdom of God it's like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leaven we first read that Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the

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Sabbath Jesus was fulfilling one of his most important duties and one of his greatest delights to teach and preach the

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Word of God to the people of God on one occasion he declared that this was central to his mission the mission to which he was called he said

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I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent even as a young man

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Jesus was involved in making known the scriptures in his hometown synagogue we read in Luke 4 16 when he traveled back home he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was it was a customary thing he went into the synagogue on the

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Sabbath day and stood up to read but though the

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Lord was chiefly given to teaching the Word of God on this occasion whether it was during this teaching or after he had concluded his teaching we do not know he saw this woman and had compassion on her and called her to come before him to come up to him and so let's consider this troubled woman we read in verse 11 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 we read of her poor condition first that she was a woman and that day as a woman she would have been regarded and treated as a second -class citizen in Jewish society and so she would have been regarded and treated as a marginalized person not held in high regard

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I've read that some rabbis would not even allow the testimony of a woman in a court of law they did not regard it as valid this woman as other

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Jewish women attended the weekly meetings at the local synagogue but unlike the men the women were not participants but rather they were observers only they sat separate from the men who sat by themselves front and center the women and children remained in their own gallery off to the side or in the back out of the way and so this woman must have been quite startled and quite timid and retiring when

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Jesus spotted her and called her forward but further yes she was a woman but she was a crippled woman she was not an ordinary woman she must have felt herself less than a woman where she was bent over and could not straighten at all her spine was the immediate physical problem her vertebrae had fused together pushing her back up and her head over forcing her eyes to look downward and there have been medical persons that have attempted to diagnose her condition but she was also spiritually afflicted the immediate cause of her illness is attributed to an evil spirit she had a spirit of infirmity and our

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Lord appealed on her behalf as a woman whom Satan has bound not every illness has its origin in spiritual causes but here

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Luke Luke who himself was a physician described her case as so the devil had afflicted her and causing her life to be characterized by pain and suffering and so she's depicted by this metaphor of being tied up by the devil bound with cords so that she could not be loosed but the

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Lord Jesus would loose her and we read that she had suffered a long time 18 years she had suffered and now she could in no way straighten up at all we could perhaps imagine this woman in her youth a bright cheerful spry young woman she encouraged others with her presence and her cheerfulness she walked erect like others looking up at the trees in the sky and the

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Sun during the day and the stars at night but gradually her infirmity dragged her down and drew her more and more towards herself and perhaps for many of the 18 years she could no longer except with great difficulty see the

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Sun or the stars and perhaps that only out of the corner of her eye as one described her she walked about as though searching for a grave and I do not doubt she would have been glad to find one for herself this was a woman in misery the long -term nature of her illness must have caused her to give up hope of a cure perhaps she lived in the past thinking and longing for the former days when she was healthy and well normal like others her observation of those about her who did not seem to be suffering as she must have only caused her to hold her head that much lower in her difficulty but before we move on from this woman take note of her spiritual condition she was a woman of faith of saving faith after all she was in the synagogue some in her condition might have long before abandoned their faith some only come to church and attend to the things of God because they see some hope for some cure in an immediate need or concern they have but soon if they perceive there will not be an immediate fix it to their condition they depart never to be seen again but it was not that way that with this woman her infirmity was a severe one but it did not keep her from the house of God she would be found where all the people of God should be on the

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Sabbath day with the Lord's people worshiping God and learning more of him as they were taught from the

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Holy Scriptures as one wrote sickness was no excuse with her for tearing from God's house in spite of suffering and infirmity she found her way to the place where the day and the

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Word of God were honored and where the people of God met together and truly she was blessed in her deed she found a rich reward for all her pains she came sorrowing and went home rejoicing she was in God's house despite the fact her prayers had gone unanswered her problems did not keep her from God's house she was there just the same why because it was right to be in the place where God is worshiped and his

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Word is taught she had faith in the Lord but of course just attending church does not assure that one has faith or it appears even the synagogue ruler lacked true faith he revealed that Jesus called him a hypocrite but we know that this woman had faith in the description that the

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Lord gave her as being a daughter of Abraham that's a significant description this is the only woman in all of Scripture who's declared forthrightly of this standing she's a daughter of Abraham it's an expression full of meaning

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Jesus was stating that this woman was one of the elect people of God a spiritual descendant of Abraham to whom the promises of God belong later in Luke's gospel we'll read of a man being declared a son of Abraham that description surprised everybody but it carries the same meaning in Luke 17 we read of Jesus speaking to Zacchaeus a converted tax collector today's salvation has come to his house after he announced his public repentance because he's also and here it is a son of Abraham for the

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Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost of course it was to Abraham and his descendants to whom

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God to whom the promises of God's salvation blessings were given God had said to Abraham in Genesis 17 7

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I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a

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God to you and to your descendants after you when God promised blessing upon Abraham it came in two forms upon two different peoples both related to Abraham one people was the physical offspring of Abraham the ethnic people the

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Jewish people the other people were his spiritual offspring a spiritual

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Israel people of faith just like their spiritual father Abraham they believe

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God the ethnic people of Israel the physical offspring of Abraham were indeed a blessed people

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God had promised them a physical land and wonderful physical blessing conditioned on them ordering their lives according to the

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Mosaic law but God gave far greater promises to the spiritual descendants of Abraham those people who had the same faith as Abraham he was their spiritual father and they were his spiritual offspring children of promise like Isaac was a child of promise true

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Christians people who have faith are children of promise Paul declares when

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Jesus referred to this woman as a daughter of Abraham he was declaring her to belong to the spiritual people of God the elect the true

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Israel who all have the same faith that their spiritual father Abraham had possessed and exhibited through his life you might recall it was after Abraham had attempted to offer his son

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Isaac was gratefully spared from doing so but when he was to offer his son

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Isaac as a sacrifice in Genesis 22 God promised eternal salvation for his offspring to his seed to Abraham's seed and so in Genesis 22 15 and following we read of God's promise to Abraham then the angel of the

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Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said by myself I have sworn says the

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Lord because you have done this thing you've not withheld your son your only son blessing I will bless you multiplying

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I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens as a sand which is on the seashore and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies and then he made this promise in your seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed because you have obeyed my voice

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Abraham actually it's because most clearly and fully

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Jesus Christ himself was the promised seed that God was referring to when he made this promise to Abraham and then through faith in Jesus Christ believers whether they be

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Jewish or Gentile become the spiritual children of Abraham to whom all the eternal promises of God are realized

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Paul wrote of this proving that the promises of God and Christ are not to ethnic

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Jewish people but to those who have faith in Jesus Christ the promised seed of Abraham and so we read of this clearly in Galatians 316 and following now to Abraham Paul writing now to Abraham and his seed were promises made he does not say to seeds as of many but as of one and to your seed who is

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Christ and this I say that the law which was 430 years later cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ that it should make the promise of no effect for if the inheritances of the law that is through the

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Mosaic law or through ethnicity through the physical descendancy of Abraham where if the inheritances of the law it is no longer a promise but God gave it to Abraham by promise he went on to write is the law then against the promises of God certainly not for if there had been a law which could have given life truly righteousness would have been by the law but the scripture is confined all under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to all those who believe it's not those who are physical descendants of Abraham but those who believe like Abraham believed but before faith came we were kept under guard by the law

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Mosaic law kept for the faith which would have to be revealed New Testament Christianity therefore the law is our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith but after faith has come we're no longer under a tutor we're no longer under the

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Mosaic covenant verse 26 for you are all the sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ for as many of you as were baptized into Christ to put on Christ there is neither

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Jew nor Greek there's neither slave nor nor free there's neither male nor female think of the woman in the synagogue for you're all one in Christ Jesus and if you're

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Christ then you are Abraham see and heirs according to the promise if you have faith in Jesus Christ the same kind of faith that Abraham had in God then you are

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Abraham's child to whom the promises of God given to Abraham belong to you in Jesus Christ it's by God's grace that people are saved not because of their race

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Paul had written in this epistle to the church at Rome that the true

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Jew who had salvation was blessed of God not because of his physical birth his ethnic identity as a

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Jewish person or because as a male he was physically circumcised Paul declared that the true

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Jew to whom the promises of God were given were people who had circumcised hearts hearts regenerated by the

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Spirit of God and so here is Romans 2 25 through 29 for circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law but if you were a breaker of the law your circumcision has become uncircumcision in other words you know you're not the people of God even though you're physically circumcised therefore if an uncircumcised man being a

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Gentile keeps the righteous requirements of the law will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision in other words he'll be counted as a true

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Jew and will not the physically uncircumcised if he feel fulfills the law judge you who even with your written code and circumcision or a transgressor of the law for he is not a

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Jew who is one outwards link according to God that's not how you define who a true

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Jew is not because of their ethnicity and circumcision is out of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not from men but from God and so in these verses the

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Holy Spirit had inspired the Apostle Paul to set forth the nature of true Israel a view that was not known or believed before Paul taught it it was a view of Israel that few understand and few embrace today even among evangelicals

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Paul taught that the true Jew that is the one who is in a saving covenant relationship with God who is one who is what is one who has undergone a spiritual circumcision of the heart a circumcision performed without hands that is

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God does it a circumcision of the heart performed by the Holy Spirit again salvation is by God's grace not by one's race 25 of Romans 2

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Paul declared that circumcision only has value for the one who obeys the law it would seem here that he's speaking of perfect obedience to God's law it only has bearing or importance if you keep perfect obedience to the law prior to Paul's teaching here the

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Jews believe that physical circumcision was a necessary right to be numbered among the true people of God and Paul basically says no it has nothing to do with it

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Paul declares that a lawbreaker renders his circumcision as though it were uncircumcision in other words

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Jewish ethnicity counted for nothing before God if they had failed to keep the Mosaic law the

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Mosaic covenant the Jew who was circumcised but did not keep the law was regarded as no different than an uncircumcised

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Gentile he was no member of the true people of God who alone are in covenant relation with God and again this is all conveyed through that simple little appellation given to this woman she's a daughter of Abraham she was a true

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Israelite like like Jesus said of Nathanael behold a true

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Israelite indeed and so was this so is this poor woman and so where the

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Jew fails to keep the law he's regarded as uncircumcised verse 26 declares the

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Gentile who keeps the law will be regarded as a true Jew a covenant member of God's people so if a man who is uncircumcised a

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Gentile keeps the precepts of the law will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision and of course

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Paul's rhetorical question implies yes he will and furthermore rather than the

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Jew being a judge of the Gentile as all Jews thought themselves simply because they were Jewish Paul reasoned that the

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Gentile who keeps the law would sit in judgment of the Jew who fails to keep the law this would have been a shocking to a

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Jewish person reading it verse 27 then he who is physically uncircumcised that's a

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Gentile but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law

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Gentiles were going to sit in judgment of Jewish people that is Gentiles who have faith and Paul's explanation of why this would be the case is in verse 28 for no one is a

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Jew who is merely one outwardly nor a circumcision outward and physical an understanding of this would change you know geopolitics on a grand scale and it would change a lot of evangelical churches natural birth or physical circumcision does does not determine the identity of a true

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Jew but rather the one who has faith in Jesus Christ is in covenant relationship with God it's a matter of God's grace and the work of the

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Holy Spirit not a matter of physical descent or the physical right of circumcision merely being born

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Jewish does not bring one into a right relationship with God simply being Jewish by physical descent and possessing the written

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Word of God does not make one a Jew rather one becomes a true Jew a true member of the covenant community who's been the object of God's work of grace in the soul who receives

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God from God a spiritual circumcision of the heart described elsewhere of course is the work of regeneration being born again which results in him becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God he is the true recipient of his salvation from sin and destined to inherit eternal light and so here's this woman though bowed down from her infirmity she was a blessed daughter of Abraham an elect child of God highly favored of God although she may have had little awareness of the fact at the time but on the other hand it may also be with you you may be able to identify with this woman feel quite alone so different so low but do you believe

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God in his word have you entrusted yourself to his care do you love God and his son and desire to see him glorified in your life well then you may rejoice in this you are a son or daughter of Abraham despite your infirmity don't assess your spirituality based on the events and circumstances that are happening in your life it's faith in Jesus Christ and if that is your case you may rejoice in this again you are a son or a daughter of Abraham despite your infirmity you may feel yourself bound by the devil himself but God in Christ has bound you to himself firmer still your name is engraved on his hands and your plight is on his heart and so the devil may afflict you but he cannot destroy you he may cause you to fear a thousand deaths but he cannot cause you to experience any death maybe you haven't sensed the love of God and his blessedness for 18 years as this woman but if you believe on him cling to him obey him then rejoice you are beloved by him what this woman encountered and received from the

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Lord on this occasion should be an encouragement of faith and perseverance or one who may feel to be an insignificant person within the larger work of the kingdom of God and there are lots of us like that the kingdom of God is such a great and broad matter that encompasses all of scripture and is at the heart of the purpose of God in history the individual can feel himself or herself to be a very minor insignificant part of the great work of God one can conceive or think who am

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I I'm a nobody what are my problems compared to those of others oh yeah they're very significant to me but how and why should

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God be concerned for me in my situation and then there are those of us who have had a problem perhaps a personal problem or family problem may it may be a physical infirmity of which we've endured many long years and this seems to reinforce in our minds that we're insignificant and our problems are secondary in the broad scope of things which

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God is doing in the world but God's heart is for you his purpose to save you from sin will be realized you will be blessed eternally blessed by him if you believe on him as your only

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Lord and Savior and your only hope for salvation from sin and death this woman was blessed before she was healed although she probably didn't know it well let's take a few moments and consider the ruler of the synagogue this was quite the fellow upon Jesus healing this woman which was to the amazement of all present that resulted in her publicly praising

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God before them all the ruler of the synagogue speaking on behalf of others he was voicing his opinion the opinion of others who were with him the leaders protested vehemently to the people but the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus healed on the

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Sabbath he said to the crowd there are six days on which men ought to work therefore come be healed on them and not on the

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Sabbath day so whereas the woman was looking down at the ground in sorrow this man was looking at himself in pride in his beauty his own stature his own authority he looked down on others about him as being beneath him this man was the more pitiful of the two whereas the woman was to be pitied this man was to be scorned and Jesus did heap upon him scored we're only going to give him a little attention because I I just as soon give him as little press as possible we consider the following he was a religious man like most of us but much above most of us he was a synagogue ruler a leader of the people of God he was concerned about the letter of the law of God or so he thought he thought the

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Lord Jesus had broken the fourth commandment remember the Sabbath and keep it holy he was wrong the

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Sabbath laws allowed for acts of mercy and he should have known this it's interesting to note that every protestation against Jesus regarding Sabbath observance was an accusation that something he was doing on the

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Sabbath was unlawful they would say you shouldn't be doing that but in every instance that the

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Lord rightly rebuked the legalist regarding Sabbath practice it was due to his failure to do what he should have been doing on the

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Sabbath the fact is that his attitude toward the

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Sabbath day reflected that he was little concerned about the people of God and this was the nature of our

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Lord's rebuke the Lord Jesus revealed he thought more of his animals and he did a people there's a lot of that going on too this is a fitting rebuke for whole segments of our society

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Jesus would ask reasonably is it not so that any of them would lose his ox or donkey from it stalled in order to take it to a source of water and give it drink that was permitted on the

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Sabbath the mission of the Jewish law book of the day presuppose that cattle may go out on a

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Sabbath provided that they do not carry loads there was dispute as to what kinds of knots might be tied or untied on the

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Sabbath when you're tying up your cow to get them out to water but it was permitted to tie up cattle as they stray but the fact is they made all kinds of allowance for seeing to it their animal would not be thirsty but they would not permit the least relief of suffering for a woman like this this man was a legalist a man who thought that he was right with God because of who he was and what he did and of course we should be on guard against legalism one of the great threats to biblical grace what is legalism it can be seen in several forms legalism is present when works are viewed as meritorious in order to obtain or retain

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God's favor or blessing there are lots of churches that are legalistic in that way secondly legalism is present when extra biblical or demand or demands that are not taught in the

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Bible are placed upon the believer or unbeliever in order to obtain or retain God's favor or blessing the world tradition that the

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Pharisees had and there's a lot of that outside of Bible tradition that's imposed you cannot be a good

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Christian unless you do these things and they're not found in the Bible third legalism is present when extra biblical requirements are imposed as a basis of fellowship with other believers if you don't you know jump through our hoops you're not one of us and for legalism is present when one trusts in one's own ability to obey

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God apart from the empowering grace of God through the Holy Spirit self -confidence self -righteousness is legalistic and so with respect to obey

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God's law we're not to strive to obey the law of God to obtain merit before God that's heresy that's legalism but every true

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Christian should strive to order his or like her life according to the law of God because this of course is what it is to love

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God and love one another to order your relationships according to the law of God the

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Ten Commandments Paul the Christian could write

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I delight in the law of God in my inner being as a Christian the law of God governed his thinking and his heart he said

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I myself serve the law of God with my mind that's Paul the Apostle speaking but let us also be on guard against legalism for those of us who have a high regard for God's law may fall into this error as easily as others who may fall into the air of licentiousness or antinomianism or an anti law view legalism is a common error among religionists legalists have characteristics in common with one another a legalist focuses on outward conformity to a legal standard a legalist is little concerned about inward righteousness appearances are most important a legalist is ignorant and void of true righteousness he has self -righteousness but not true righteousness a legalist is only concerned about himself and has little love for others as demonstrated by this ruler the synagogue a legalist loves recognition desiring foremost to have the esteem of others legalist corrupt all the influence a legalist imposes rules on others that he does not observe himself and he has no desire or means to help them under the load he wants to be in control a legalist prevents others from seeing the truth for they themselves are strangers to it this ruler the synagogue was clueless a legalist will persecute the true people of God they persecuted

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Jesus the legalist will suffer the judgment of God again

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Jesus said in another place similarly woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites you tithe and that you should do but you leave off the weightier matters of the law justice mercy and faithfulness this man had no mercy toward this poor woman 18 years bound perhaps however what was most offensive regarding this ruler the synagogue on this occasion was his little concern regarding the

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Lord Jesus note he did not voice his objection for this woman's healing to the

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Lord Jesus personally attempting to correct and instruct him in the ways of God more properly rather the ruler turns and directs directly speaks to the people he disregarded

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Jesus his lack of regard for Jesus was apparent to everyone present he sought to discredit the work of God and the act of mercy performed by Jesus and so rightly the

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Lord put him and all his adversaries to shame they should have been praising

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God along with the woman for God having been so graciously working in her life by the way it's a point of interest this is the last time in Luke's gospel you read about Jesus teaching in a synagogue well just in the last couple minutes we have let's consider the

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Lord Jesus in verses 15 and 16 how gracious and powerful our Lord is we see that he was was in maybe in the midst of teaching when he saw her apparently he stopped teaching at that moment and said come here you imagine this woman back there she can't even stand up straight she bent over among the women and he points her out and says come on up here after 18 years a synagogue ruler would have her wait another day you can come any other six days when not this day

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Jesus would not have her wait another minute but when Jesus saw her he called her to him and said to her woman you are loosed from your infirmity and he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified

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God and so the poor creature came up the aisle out of the gallery of women through the throng of men to the feet of Jesus as one once described her is it a woman at all has she a face she shuffled to him in humility and faith basically she came to Jesus the same way each of us are to come to the

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Savior for our deliverance we come to him as we are recognizing our terrible condition but also recognizing that it's no barrier to his blessing since it is of mercy and grace again you might identify with this woman you might say but I'm a mess you might think that you stand out in the crowd or maybe you've been in sin for so long but the

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Lord commands you to come to him as he commanded this woman and everyone who comes to him in faith he looses from their infirmity if the son shall set you free you will be free indeed and although we cannot assure you he will heal you physically at this time we can assure you a spiritual healing if you come to him and thankfully there will be a day when all of us who believe on him will be bidden to come before him and all our physical maladies will be eradicated and will be fitted with new bodies thankfully which are suited for eternity but you need not wait for spiritual wholeness this is yours today if you come to him humbly and trusting the guilt bitterness jealousies anger hatred faithful faithlessness failure can be removed in a moment through the powerful grace which he can and will bestow upon the believer as she received physical healing on this occasion you can receive pardon and cleansing from sin and be granted spiritual life eternal life and be immediately restored to spiritual health and vitality as a result be praising

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God before you even leave this place today if you cast yourself on Jesus Christ but the point of the story is this although the leader of the synagogue thought that he was a true worshiper of God because he kept the

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Sabbath when even this Jesus did not in reality himself had broken the spirit of the

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Sabbath day when he would have denied this act of mercy to be extended to this poor woman he was the hypocrite but then we see these two parables they seemed at first to just kind of be attached here

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Luke records giving for two parables parable of the mustard seed parable of the yeast or leaven in the flour then he said she said within the same context then he said what is the kingdom of God like and to what shall

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I compare it it's like a mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden it grew and became a large tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches and again he said to what shall

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I like in the kingdom of God is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leaven now our

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Lord gave these two parables on another occasion recorded in Matthew 13 in that context

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Jesus would teaching his disciples regarding the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but we should not rest these two parables from the context in which the

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Holy Spirit moved Luke to record them they are included here too in Luke's gospel they're recorded as having been spoken by the

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Lord Jesus while yet in the synagogue immediately after healing this woman the point is this although this poor and obscure woman may appear to be a little event in the larger picture of the kingdom of God actually the kingdom of God will be manifested increasingly by such small events as God deals with individuals one by one and so the mustard seed the point is this the kingdom of God is advancing and God is conducting his work through small beginnings and insignificant people people like you and me be encouraged by this it may seem that the kingdom of our

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Lord Jesus is not advancing very rapidly we're in great proportions but it is it may seem like the influence is small but it's there and it'll have far -reaching effects the

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Lord advances his kingdom in the world and what appears to be at first insignificant beginnings the healing of this woman portended a worldwide kingdom in God's own time it was only in the beginning stages the kingdom is like mustard seed and the

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Lord also works in individuals in this fashion the Lord advances his in a single heart through working in small ways and only after the passing of time can the growth be truly seen someone was making a comment about the encouragement that a person was with respect to the life in the church and he was surprised when

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I told him where this person was a year ago God often does great things in small increments and it appears to be but a small seed a small beginning give it time

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God is at work be patient and then a similar thought may be seen in the second parable the yeast in the flour frequently the idea of lavender yeast in scriptures is a picture of evil permeating that which it in which it comes in contact that's how

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Paul used it in first Corinthians 5 if the church in Corinth failed to excommunicate that man who was committing fornication living in sin

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Paul reasoned with him with them do you not know a little leaven will leaven the whole lump if you fail to deal with this man rightly your whole church is going to be adversely affected but that's not how the

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Lord uses leaven in this instance in this case here leaven is a good thing again it speaks about yeast in the flour

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JC Ryle applied this parable to address the small almost imperceptible working of God's grace and bring it a soul to true conversion to salvation and so here's an appropriate and proper application as we close the first beginnings of the work of grace in a sinner are generally exceedingly small it is like the mixture of leaven with a lump of dough a single sentence of a sermon or a single verse of the

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Holy Scripture a word of rebuke from a friend or a casual religious remark overheard that was

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John Bunyan self -righteous walking through town and heard two women speaking about their love for Christ and he realized that's nothing in my experience and it resulted in his conversion attract given by a stranger or a trifling act of kindness received from a

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Christian some one of these things is often the starting point in the life of a soul the first actings of the spiritual life are often small in the extreme so small that for a long time they're not known except by him who's the subject of them and even by him not fully understood a few serious thoughts and prickings of conscience and a desire to pray really and not formally not just formally a determination to reading the

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Bible in private a gradual drawing towards the means of grace an increasing interest in the subject of religion a growing distaste for evil habits and bad companions these are some of them are often the first symptoms of grace beginning to move the heart of man their symptoms which worldly men may not perceive and ignorant believers may despise and even old

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Christians may mistake yet they are often the first steps in the mighty business of conversion they are often the leaven of grace working in a heart give it time and I'm sure many of us can testify well that's what happened in my life but let us emphasize one more point in conclusion there are no insignificant citizens in the kingdom you should not regard yourself as so and certainly you should not regard others as so we might speak about the greatest and the least but often they are the reverse in God's sight in contrast to what we might assume every person in Christ should be treated and regarded with dignity concern and compassion just as Jesus regarded and treated this poor suffering woman and may

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God give us grace to be ourselves and others in the light of this truth and this event amen let's pray father we pray for that soul that may feel spiritually as this woman did physically our

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God bound as it were by Satan and unable to be loosed we pray for your a wonderful miracle of saving grace in the soul our

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God in which you'd set that imprisoned soul free from sin may you extend pardon our

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God for the one who confesses sin and looks to Jesus Christ alone in faith as the

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Savior who lived and died upon the cross and rose again who is now enthroned in heaven may that sinner cast himself herself wholly and fully on Jesus Christ alone for salvation help us our

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God to rejoice in what you've given us so freely in Jesus Christ help us to glorify you our

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God is this as this woman did on this day this great occasion in which she was released and set free from bondage help us our

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God always be attentive and mindful of the reality of the Liberty we have in Jesus Christ even as we await our

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God in this fallen world for the day when Jesus Christ returns help us to be faithful and true as disciples following you and obeying you in faith and obedience and help us our

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God to have genuine love for one another encouraging one another helping one another lifting one other up when cast down instructing one another when ignorant or in error help us our