 Matthew chapter 4 verses 12 through 17. I'll read that portion and we'll get into our study. Matthew chapter 4 verses 12 through 17. Now, when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison he departed to Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Napthali. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying the land of Zebulun and the land of Napthali the way of the sea beyond the Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who sat in darkness saw a great light and upon those who sat in the region in shadow of death light is dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's a blessing that we actually have four gospels because if we only had this one gospel we would actually be losing out on an entire year of ministry that John in his gospel records for us. See what we have in Matthew is we have in chapter 4 we have the Lord Jesus Christ going through the temptation. In chapter 3 it gives to us his baptism. But when you get to verse 11 and then move into verse 12 there's actually about a year that transpires in the ministry of Jesus that Matthew didn't was not led by the Holy Spirit to record for us but that John actually recorded and you can see that if you're interested by simply reading chapter 1 through 4 in the gospel of John. And when you look at the gospel of John you see that Jesus was very busy in ministry there we go after the temptation because in his temptation after his temptation John records that well that John the Baptist made a declaration that Jesus is the Son of God and then Andrew Peter Philip and Nathaniel began to follow Jesus that Jesus's first miracle occurred at Cana of Galilee. He records the first cleansing of the temple and a conversation that Jesus had with a man by the name of Nicodemus. He also records the final testimony of John the Baptist as well as ministry that Jesus performs in Samaria to the woman at the well and many other Samaritans. All of that is left out of Matthew's gospel so what we have with Matthew is we have verse 11 when it speaks of the devil leaving him and angels coming and ministering to him and then you have verse 13. So in verse 13 Matthew now picks up his account and wants to continue communicating to us that that God is doing his work through his Son Jesus Christ. Now notice how it begins in verse 12 it says when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison he departed to Galilee and so what that is for us is a time of the events so that we can know what's going on. It says that this is when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison. Now it's interesting how John rather Matthew uses the time of John's imprisonment for the start of Jesus's ministry. Someone said the conclusion of the herald's work signaled the beginning of the kings and so John has been put in prison. He's been imprisoned for his faithfulness to his call and I want to talk about that with you for a moment as we develop an introduction to our study. You see John has been imprisoned because he was faithful to the calling God gave to him. Remember in Matthew chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 how that Matthew says in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and so John had a ministry of repentance and in the ministry of preaching repentance we need to understand something about that. That ministry of preaching repentance is not just to just do a single group of people it's to all people and that all would include those who are poor and those who were in the highest political offices. Everybody was called to do the same thing whether you are rich whether you were poor whether you are powerful or whether you were weak. We were all called to do the same thing and John was faithful to the proclamation of this message repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Well he had been imprisoned for doing so you see the message included this politician named Herod and Luke records in chapter 3 verses 19 and 20 Herod the tetrarch being rebuked by him concerning Herodius his brother Philip's wife and for all the evils which Herod had done also added this above all that he shut John up in prison. What had happened is John in his proclamation of repentance included a direct rebuke to this politician by the name of Herod. Herod had gone to Rome and while Herod was in Rome he made a connection with Herodius. Herodius was his brother Philip's wife and so Herod literally stole Herodius from his own brother but at the same time was married to another woman and so what he did is he forced divorces to occur and according to scripture you find that in the book of Exodus chapter 20 verse 14 what he did was commit the sin of adultery and the Bible says thou shall not commit adultery. John being aware of what he did came and preached and said it is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife. It was his responsibility as a prophet of God to speak the truth courageously and with conviction regardless of the outcome and that's what he did. You see living a righteous life and speaking out against unrighteousness is costly. It isn't an easy thing to do to stand up and say thus saith the Lord this is what we're to do and there are tons of people who resent the fact that you will actually share with them that they need to get right with the Lord and that there are elements of their life that are are simply not pleasing to God and when you stand up and you actually will say to somebody but this is what God's word says you shouldn't be living with your girlfriend or your boyfriend that's called fornication people get upset when you stand up and say listen I understand that you've made a choice in your lifestyle but the lifestyle choices you're making are harmful to you for eternity people get upset they don't want to hear that and if you speak that to somebody in power they may find a way to harm you and in the case of John he spoke that to a man in power this man's name was Herod and Herod got upset over that but John knew that with the preaching of righteousness would come a reaction and very often it's a reaction of rejection and persecution. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 12 it says all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution and John 15 19 Jesus said it like this he said if you were of the world the world would love its own yet because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore he said the world hates you. People don't like hearing that there's something wrong in their life they don't necessarily shake your hand and congratulate you for saying that to them sometimes they get upset sometimes they get angry at you because they come under what is called conviction and they're upset sometimes conviction is painful and it's difficult and when you experience it it isn't something that you want it's not something that you like hearing and you can have a response to it it can be painful I've shared this with you before in a different way but some of you will recognize this once I continue and share this but when I was 14 years old how do you put it when I was 14 years old I got stabbed I got stabbed in the abdomen right here I still have a scar in my lower abdomen on the right side I got stabbed and I have to tell you that's not a pleasant thing to have somebody put something in you and slice you that is not a pleasant thing and the thing that's even more bothersome about that is my mom was there and did nothing to stop it you see the one who stabbed me was a surgeon gotcha I had a bad appendix my mom took me to the doctor the doctor diagnosed it took me to the hospital and the surgeon plunged a scalpel inside of me and sliced me open and removed an appendix that was close to bursting that had it burst could have infected my body to the point of even taking my life it was not a pleasing thing to have my body sliced open it was not a pleasing thing to have them remove that appendix but it is a pleasing thing to know that it saved my life conviction sometimes is like the plunging of the holy spirit scalpel into the soul of man but it removes the decay and the death that is destroying that person's life and when you love somebody you love them enough to tell them the truth that's why Paul said have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth you see God has called us to do that and John did that and when John preached the truth he went from not only the person who was on the streak but he also spoke that same message to a politician named Herod it is not lawful he would say to him and and just the thought of the courage and courageous way that this man spoke it is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip's wife is what he said and Herod did not like it and neither did Herodias so sometimes taking a stand for righteousness will cost you more than freedom it cost John more than his freedom it ultimately cost John his life but that's what righteousness demands is for you to speak the truth and so as John has been faithful to his calling calling people to repentance he's been arrested for doing it he's been arrested for doing what he was called to do there is a price that you pay when you preach the truth but what was Jesus's response well notice it says in verse 12 again when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison his response he departed to Galilee so he withdrew himself from the south from Judea went to the north which is a region there that is called Galilee now John chapter 4 informs us that that they knew that Jesus was having a greater impact on the people than John in John in John chapter 4 verses 1 and 3 it says the Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John when the Lord learned of this he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee now Jesus is not reluctant to confront them any more than John was reluctant to preach the truth you see eventually Jesus had many confrontations with the Pharisees and he never minced his words with them when you read your New Testament and especially the Gospels and you see Jesus as he's speaking to the Pharisees well very often he had some very scathing words for Pharisees it's interesting how that he speaks with the gentleness and a love in a way that's very open to those who were in sin he spoke in that way to those who needed him but to those who were the religious leaders he had some strong words all you need to do is read Matthew chapter 23 for example and you'll see this because in Matthew chapter 23 this is how he spoke to them he said to them that they were hypocrites he said you are children of hell he said you are blind guides he said you are fools you are serpents you are a brood of vipers and so Jesus spoke very strongly to these people you think of Jesus and you think of him as Jesus meek and mild but Jesus Christ was straightforward and and so he would say these things but at this time it just wasn't it wasn't the moment that he had to deal with them and so what he does is he he leaves the south and he goes to the north the minister there now in leaving for Galilee he's going to continue to expand his ministry and so in verse 13 continuing it says leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum which is by the sea in the regions of Zebulun in Napthali that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet saying the land of Zebulun the land of Napthali the way of the sea beyond the Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles the people who sat in darkness saw a great light and upon those who sat in the region in shadow of death light has dawned and so Jesus has gone from the south it's called Judah Judea he's gone to the north he's passed through Samaria into a region of the north by the sea of Galilee that is called is called Galilee but it's referred to in verse 15 as the land of Zebulun and the land of Napthali Zebulun and Napthali were two of the 12 tribes of Israel who received an allotment of their land that they were given as the 12 tribes because the the promised land was divided into 12 sections for tribes one section well and one tribe the tribe of Levi didn't receive any land because their allotment was the Lord and so when you look at a map it's actually divided into 12 segments and I have a picture just to give you an idea of what it is that we can show here on the screen here and they'll turn out on other than seeing me looking up at the stars like shadow puppets and the Holy Spirit came I guess we don't have oh there it is okay if you look to the top there you see Napthali Zebulun Ishakar Asher that's the general region and off to the east in that area is the sea of Galilee and so that's what's being referred to here in this passage here the land of Zebulun the land of Napthali Jesus went from the south went up to the north and so he he dwells in a city called Capernaum now Jesus had lived in a city called Nazareth but he now leaves and makes his ministry headquarters in this place called Capernaum why did he leave Nazareth well for a variety of reasons including the fact that he had been rejected there you see Jesus had preached in a synagogue he had read the scriptures and said this that I'm reading to you that was written by Isaiah has been fulfilled in me and when he did that the people in the synagogue were greatly upset with them and took them to the brow of the hill that is there in the city of Nazareth and tried to push him down to kill him so they flat out rejected him so he left Nazareth and he moved now to the city of of Capernaum now the region as mentioned the region of Zebulun in Napthali speaks of a portion of land that was divided to the two tribes it's there in the Galilee it's a land that is around 60 miles from the north to the south 30 miles from the east to the west it contained the sea of Galilee it was heavily populated during the time of christ about two million people lived there and it's called the way of the sea and you'll see that in verse 15 the way of the sea beyond the Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles it's called the way of the sea because there was a road that went from the Mediterranean all the way into Damascus and so it was away from the sea of from the Mediterranean Ocean it would take them all the way into Damascus so it's called the way of the sea now the people who live there let me give you some insight into this because I'm going to develop this with you the people who live there were not pure Jews they were actually what would be called a hybrid race one commentator used the word mongrel and that's not a proper way to say it but that was from a guy who was writing for many years ago and that's how they would speak at that time but it was a hybrid race it was made up of Jew and Gentile and during the time of christ there were more Gentiles there than the Jews and so it had been basically overrun and populated by Gentiles so to the Jews in the south Galilee would be a region that was at least to them Gentile but Isaiah had prophesied that they would hear this message and this mixed multitude would come to faith in in in the Lord but I want to develop this with you now I want to make application notice verse 16 how it says the people who sat in darkness saw a great light and upon those who sat in the region in shadow of death light has dawn I want to talk to you about that for a moment when it says they sat in darkness they were in a region of the shadow of death sitting in darkness is is one of the ways that the bible speaks concerning being spiritually blind and let me develop this with you for a moment you can go to church from the time that you're small you might have been in the in in the nursery you went through Sunday school all your life and then you got older and you went to what the kids here they'll say big church coming with the older people there's a time that you may have matured to come into the church with the adults so from the time that you were small all the way the time that you become a young adult you were raised hearing things about God but that doesn't mean anything if you don't embrace them by faith it doesn't mean anything if you haven't by faith received Christ's Lord and Savior you're still seated in darkness as a matter of fact you're inoculating yourself from the truth and you're in a dangerous position because you're not responding to what the truth is and what happens is your heart gets hardened because you think in terms of gaining information being a spiritual transformation and that's why a lot of people say well I don't know I've heard the gospel all my life I believed it as a kid I don't believe it now it doesn't make sense to me now no you you heard it as a child but never embraced it by faith as a child you never were born again you were seated in darkness then and you're you're still in darkness now I was raised not in a religious home I but I did have religious instruction as a child I I was taken to to a small church in Los Angeles I was baptized in December of 1950 when I was a few months old when I was around seven or so I started going to catechism classes received my communion when I was 12 I received my confirmation so I was raised learning certain basic principles theologic principles to the point where I could actually argue with people concerning religious things because I was raised in such a way that I had been inculcated with some of these things so I could talk about God I could talk about some things related to heaven and if you asked me at that time do you believe in God I'd say yes do you believe in Jesus Christ I say yes if you said who is he I'd say the second person of the most holy trinity if you said do you believe in the virgin birth I would have said yes do you believe in heaven yes I would answer yes all your questions I firmly believed myself to be a Christian but I was in darkness I argued with people who would present their case to me about Christianity I would argue with them when somebody spoke to me at a tasty freeze across the street from Sierra High School there in Whittier he walks up to me and he says to me I want to share with you about Jesus Christ and I said where do you get your information about God and Jesus Christ he said from the Bible and I said how do you know the Bible is God's word how do you know that and he says to me because I have faith and I said well my faith tells me now that that 12 men who are loaded on acid wrote this book can you disprove that so I got kind of hostile but I have been raised in those things as a matter of fact even even at that time when I was just about you know at the same time when I argued with this Christian guy who was trying to present Jesus to me my cousin Carlos who was raised in Jehovah's Witnesses and he was my age so we hung around growing up and he only lived a few blocks away I can still remember he would he was sitting with me as we're smoking pot arguing about God and he was arguing the Jehovah's Witness position and I was arguing the Catholic position as we're getting high with one another sharing a joint and I told him you're wrong man what kind of religious thing do you believe in that's how it was and I did not see myself as a hypocrite I didn't I saw myself as a lapped Catholic at that one of these days I'm going to get right I'm going to outgrow my alcohol I'm going to outgrow the drugs I'm going to meet a nice Catholic girl and and she's going to pray my soul out of purgatory that's that was my hope of heaven true story and so that's what I thought that was where my life was headed I was going to be like my dad my dad didn't go to church my dad didn't go to church but mom would go to church and she would take the kids to church and so I was going to be like my dad it's going to mow the lawn drink a beer on Sunday they'd go to church I'd have a good wife a good family because it's all going to work out because that's how it works out that was what I believed and so if you would speak to me at the age of 17 18 19 20 years old and you would tell me about Jesus Christ I would talk to you I would be polite sometimes I'd be a little straightforward I might argue a bit but I would listen to you but I'd say I am a Christian I already am a Christian I've been baptized I've been I've received communion I've been confirmed I am a Christian I'm just not practicing my faith but I will when I get married and that means I was sitting in darkness because I was not illuminated by the spirit of God I wasn't born again these these people that are being spoken of are spiritually blind in Proverbs 4 19 it says the way of the wicked is like darkness they do not know what makes them stumble they are spiritually blind and they need the illumination of the Holy Spirit and so the light has to dawn on them how is the light going to dawn on them because it says the people who sat in darkness saw a great light upon those who sat in the region in shadow of death light has dawned how did they get a chance to see this light verse 17 from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand preaching the bible says in luke 1910 that Jesus came to set people free he said the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost and so Jesus began to preach the word preach means to proclaim or to publish to openly and publicly make known a message and what Jesus did is he preached preaching is the proclamation of certainties not the suggestion of possibilities it is not a message that is voted on it is a message that is to be acted on gospel preaching is not reasoning and it's not disputing it's simply presenting God's truth and Jesus preached and his message was preached with conviction and his message was preached with certainty in Matthew 729 says he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes concerning his message Jesus said I speak the things which I have seen with my father in John 12 49 he said I did not speak on my own initiative but the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment what to say and what to speak Jesus spoke and preached with authority because Jesus was on a mission and the best messages and the best ministry that is ever going on is when the ministers of the gospel including you are taking that word on of God out and proclaiming it with certainty this is the word of God the very word of God that God has given to us instructing us how to live and what to do that he might bless us yesterday December 27th I celebrated my 44th anniversary of coming to faith in Jesus Christ I'm now 44 years old in Jesus Christ and and and I was 20 years old thank you I was 20 20 years old 20 years old when I gave my heart to Christ a hippie a druggy alcoholic barefooted snotty nose little punk that's what I was filled with anger filled with hatred filled with rejection of authority a rejection of my parents a rejection of my family a rejection of all who love me somebody who could not have a dating relationship with anybody without destroying that relationship because I was so filled with myself filled with my own needs my own wants arrested three times all alcohol related arrests drunk in public burglarizing a jewelry store running my car into a lamp post put in jail taken to a psychologist my dad took me to a psychologist to try and figure out what's wrong with my son and nothing he did nothing my parents did changed me at all I remember dropping five reds barbiturates and drinking half gallon of wine with a friend two friends of mine three friends of mine we drank about a quart of that half gallon went off for a while I came back and killed the rest of it and I remember climbing in the backs of my car I had a 1962 Ford Falcon station wagon with the bed in it and I used to just crash when I was too loaded to drive anymore too drunk to drive I would just pull over and sleep in the car sleep it off in the next morning just drive wherever it was that I was going and I remember being in the back of that laying into the blankets there and I remember I was on my back and I was looking towards a headliner when my body began to want to regurgitate to vomit because I was suffering with barbiturate poisoning I knew a guy named Freddy Reyes a young guy around my age who had died of a barbiturate overdose and I knew what the symptoms were and I knew that I was dying and I still remember at that age of calling out and I didn't even pray I hadn't prayed for so long but I opened up my mouth and I remember crying out God help me don't let me die I'm too young and then I passed out the next morning I woke up I found the empty bottle I threw it in the field next door and I got even worse and in the last month before I gave my heart to Christ I went from 183 pounds to 145 pounds because I was in deity and I was just drinking smoking dope and just living that life and that's where I was at on December 20th when my friend Bill took me to a place called the Hollywood Palladium and I heard the gospel I'd already been introduced to one message of the gospel that was in the summer of 1970 I had attended this small church in Costa Mesa called Calvary Chapel they preached a message about salvation through Christ and I rejected it because I already was a Christian I just wasn't living my Christian life I said but there I am December 27th 1970 seated with thousands of young people and this guy by the name of Arthur Blessed gets up and he begins to preach a message and as he's preaching about Jesus I'm listening carefully and as I'm listening the conviction of the Holy Spirit comes upon me and I I remember thinking and a voice spoke to my heart to this day it was an audible internal voice it was a voice asking me a question and the voice said to me you're uncomfortable aren't you and I without any reservation or hesitation I spoke within myself and I said I'm very uncomfortable and the voice said why are you uncomfortable and I said in response because I'm not like these people I'm not like these people you see they'd been standing and singing they'd been worshiping hugging each other they'd been doing things that I was very uncomfortable with holding hands and praying and things that I just wasn't comfortable with and so I said I'm not like these people and the voice spoke to me again and said what's the difference between you and them and for the very first time in my life and I thought I was just speaking to myself for the very first time in my life I admitted within I said I'm not a Christian up to that day if you would have asked me are you a Christian I would have argued hammer and tongue with you that I was yes I'm a Christian how dare you judge me and say I'm not I've been baptized I've done communion I've been confirmed I am a Christian I would have fought with you I would have argued with you that was the very first time in my young life that I admitted and I thought it was to myself even to myself that I was not a believer I am not a Christian what makes you different from these people why are you uncomfortable because I'm not like them what's the difference I am not a Christian Arthur blessed gives an invitation a few minutes later if you're not a believer in Christ I asked you stand to your feet there were I I think there were three four thousand people in this room we were all these hippies sitting on the carpet and I prayed again I said I can't I remember saying this God I need you but I am shy I can't stand in front of people you know that but if somebody would stand with me I would stand as God is my witness as God is my witness when I said I would stand if someone stood with me Arthur blessed said perhaps you're afraid to stand by yourself but if somebody stood with you would you stand and my friend George Adams tapped me on the shoulder he just wrote me two days ago anniversary greetings and wishes he tapped me on the shoulder and he said I'll stand with you and December 27th 1970 I stood for Jesus Christ and I've been standing for 44 years 44 years I stood for him and I stand for him to this day preach the word with conviction and authority it is the word of God we ministers have to avoid the temptation to try to tickle the ears of the ear so that we will have nickels and numbers in our congregations a lot of pastors are afraid to preach the truth but we have been called by God to preach the word of God because it's the word of God that sets the captive free and that's why Jesus preached it and it's not popular and it's not popular that is the truth it is not popular but it's the only message God gave to us it's the only one and every pastor needs to preach the truth and if they don't they ought to get out of the pulpit move out of the way so a man of God can occupy it and tell the people the truth because that's what sets them free that's what sets them free and Jesus spoke with conviction and he spoke with authority I don't I'm no theologian but I do know this God's word is true and Jesus said the truth will make you free and I stand as a 44 year testimony that truth sets you free Jesus Christ will set you free and that's what he did when he came and died on that cross and that's why we need to repent that's why we need to change our mind turn away from our sin and turn to him Jesus was not calling us to a resolution he was calling us to a revolution he was not speaking of reformation or renovation he was talking of transformation and that's what happens and the truth is genuine repentance will lead you to seeking God's truth and applying it in your daily life and it results in a complete transformation of your life God calls us first repentance and when we turn to him then he blesses us so the question has to be amongst us this morning do you know the Lord you see I came home December 27th the first thing I did is across the street because I was supposed to get loaded that day some friends of mine were receiving a kilo from Thailand and we're going to get high I went across the street to try and find my friends they weren't there so I witnessed what had happened to the mom and a couple of the daughters then I came home and I went into my parents' den where mom and dad and my two sisters were and I said mom dad Becky Madeline I love you praise the Lord Madeline came and asked me what happened to you my mother went to do a rosary for me because she thought I was crazy true story she went to the her room to do a rosary because she was sure I was crazy and my sister Madeline went to bed that night and she said to Jesus whatever you did for him please do it for me she got saved two or three weeks later I'm reading the Bible I walk into my parents kitchen where they were seated I open the Bible I hold into my hand this is the word of God I said and I read Revelation 9 and I said dad I don't understand what this means but I do know this it's not speaking to me it's talking to you and I said daddy you're a good man you are the best man I'll ever know but you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ I said daddy I love you and I don't want to go to heaven without you bow your head you're receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior right now and that's how my mom and dad got saved then I kept praying for my brother my brother got saved August 4th 1974 and then I started a home Bible study here in Ontario and a young woman named Marie Lopez showed up she gave her heart to Jesus Christ in my Bible study and she needed discipling so much I married her and I've been with her for many years now my sister Rebecca went into a homosexual lifestyle and remained in it she says something like 27 years but in 1998-99 I gave an invitation and my sister Becky committed her heart to Jesus Christ walked away from lesbianism never has returned and is serving the Lord to this day my God changes lives my God transforms my God forgives my God renews and it all comes by the word of God it is true speak it with certainty speak it with conviction speak it with love but speak it and watch what happens when people hear that God loves him he sent his son Jesus to die for him and he can forgive you of any sin and every sin if you come to him and ask he can he will and he transformed I am living proof of what God can do from the gutter to glory that's what God can do I believe it with all of my heart