Adapted from a David Nolte sermon https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/jesus-is-david-nolte-sermon-on-deliverance-244876?ref=SermonSerps

2. The best discovery you will ever make is that of
Who Jesus is and place He has and what role
He plays in your life.
When you say, “Jesus is ......” the list is
practically unending. Actually there are about
200 names or titles for Jesus in the Bible. For
instance, “Jesus is: Lord; Master; The Way; the
Lion of Judah; Prince of peace; Son of man;
Son of God; Savior.” The list goes on and on.

3. The most important discovery you will ever
make is Who Jesus is in your life. I want to
share three important truths about Jesus and
Who He is and what He can mean to you:
Let us consider the Psalm which describes Who
the Lord is to His people both then and now.

4. NIV Give thanks to the LORD, for
he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the
redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those
he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those
he gathered from the lands, from east and west,
from north and south. 4 Some wandered in
desert wastelands, finding no way to a city
where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and
thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.

5. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their
trouble, and he delivered them from their
distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a
city where they could settle. 8 Let them give
thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and
his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he
satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with
good things.

6. 10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains, 11 because
they rebelled against God's commands and
despised the plans of the Most High. 12 So he
subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled,
and there was no one to help. 13 Then they
cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved
them from their distress.

7. 14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter
darkness, and broke away their chains. 15 Let
them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing
love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 16
for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts
through bars of iron.

8. Our situation is not unlike that of those ancient
Israelites. In ways, our world is in darkness and
there are many things that bring us pain and
many things that put us into bondage.
The Lord heard their cry for relief and He
helped. Even today the Lord can help those who
cry out to Him because:

9. Notice some examples of their pain:
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding
no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They
were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed
away.
10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor; they
stumbled, and there was no one to help.

10. They were in spiritual, mental, emotional and
physical pain.
But,
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He is moved by our pain and sorrow.
In His time and way, He takes our pain onto
Himself and gives us relief.
He invited…

11. Matthew 11:28 NIV "Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I
am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light."

12. Isaiah rightly foretold it, and as The Message
puts it: “But the fact is, it was our pains He
carried — our disfigurements, all the things
wrong with us. We thought He brought it on
Himself, that God was punishing Him for His
own failures. But it was our sins that did that to
Him, that ripped and tore and crushed Him —
our sins! He took the punishment, and that
made us whole.” Isaiah 53:4-5 MSG

13. What a one-sided exchange.
We gave Him all the negatives and in exchange
He gave us all the positives.
We gave Him our sins, and in exchange He gave
us righteousness.
We gave Him our soul sickness, and in
exchange He gave us healing.
We gave Him our disfigurements, and in
exchange He gave us beauty.

14. Please understand that I am not suggesting that
you will never hurt or experience pain.
What I am saying is that Jesus steps into the
picture and gives us grace, mercy, endurance
and His presence alongside us to share our
burden with us and in every hurt to bear a part.

15. Have you ever felt physical sympathy pain when
you see or hear something painful or harmful to
someone else?
That is because when we receive cues that
another person is in pain, our own pain circuits
within the brain are activated and we feel actual
pain.

16. Jesus feels our pain and steps alongside of us
to take it onto Himself and helps us bear it.
Experience has shown me that you can bear
anything if you don’t have to face it alone!
You can bear pain and trouble and distress
because Jesus is “a very present help in time of
need.”

17. He may
Take your pain away entirely.
Take it onto His shoulder alongside you and
give you grace to bear it.
But He will not let the one who cries out in
surrender and faith go on for long unassisted.

18. E. Rusell Brownworth wrote;
“I had emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen
when I was 16. I was not nearly as indestructible
on the football field as I thought when my soft
underbelly met the knee of my team-mate, one
6’3” Harry Adams.

19. Two days following the surgery the ancient
nurse came into my room and said, ‘All right,
young man, time to get up and do our walking!’ I
wanted to say to her, ‘What do you mean “our”
walking – you got a squirrel in your pocket,
lady? I’m in this bed in pain here!”
My thinking was if we were going to do walking,
I wanted her to share some of the pain.

20. In actuality she did. That nurse, small but wise,
and not one with whom you’d trifle – she had
‘the look’, the kind that could freeze hot tamales
– she knew about pain. You could tell it in her
eyes. She’d borne children and known hardship
and discipline. She’d lived four times as long as
me, and she shared my pain. We walked, and I
eventually felt better, stronger.
She helped, because she understood.”

21. So, He is in that same way the Pain Taker and He
is even more because once He enters the picture
and bears our pain with us:
The people were then, and people are today, in
darkness and bondage.
“Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
NIV

22. NIV He brought them out of
darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away
their chains. 15 Let them give thanks to the
LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful
deeds for mankind, 16 for he breaks down gates
of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
He brought them out. He broke their chains.
He shattered the gates and cut the bars that had
imprisoned them.

23. What was the crime for which they experienced
bondage and incarceration?
They were idolaters.
They despised, disregarded and disobeyed
God’s commands.
They were immoral.
They were cruel to the defenseless, the weak
and the widows.

27. 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding
no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They
were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed
away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their
trouble, and he delivered them from their
distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a
city where they could settle.
Once He set them free, He led them home.

28. Some say, “There are many ways in life.”
In truth, there are only two ways.
Matthew 7:13 NIV "Enter through the narrow
gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow
the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

29. Regarding that, here is an abbreviated and
paraphrased William H. Smitty outline:
There Is only One "Right" Way.
Jesus said, “I am the way."
There is also the Wrong Way.
It is the Fool's Way.
Because on it we are enticed to go in the
godless world's way.
Because it leads to destruction and death.

30. God will lead us all in the "Right" Way.
But we must be willing to follow.
We must walk with Him by faith.
We live in a world that is being misled
by secular humanistic anti-Christ belief and
dogma:
The evolution theory: “Mankind evolved from
lower life forms so there is no creator to whom
to be accountable.”

31. The idea seems to be, “There is no absolute
standard of right and wrong, so follow society
and let your heart be your guide.”
Misled by anti-Christ moral/secular values such
as;

32. Claiming that “If it is enjoyable, it is okay.
After all, God wants me to be happy.”
Yes, but not at the cost of holiness.
Not at the loss of virtue and purity.
Asserting, “It’s my life, my body, my choice and
I answer to no one, so bug off.”
Wrong! God says,

33. NIV Flee from sexual
immorality. All other sins a person commits are
outside the body, but whoever sins sexually,
sins against their own body. 19 Do you not
know that your bodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? You are not your own; 20 you were
bought at a price. Therefore honor God with
your bodies.

34. Misled by false religions which demean Christ,
deeming Him to be just a prophet, an example,
or just an extremely godly man.
When we are misled, we get lost, and we can’t
find our way. Don’t you get aggravated when
someone gives you incorrect directions or when
your G.P.S. fouls up and misguides you?

35. When I go home to South-East Oklahoma it’s a
good thing I know the roads because my phone
usually says “G.P.S. signal lost!”
I sometimes still get turned around & confused
when I miss a turn I’ve taken 100’s of times.
When that happens, I go old school & dig a map
out of the glove box.
It’s comforting knowing I have a reliable source
to get me going the right direction.

36. Jesus will never mislead us and He doesn’t let
us wander all around without clear instructions.
He not only shows the way,
He makes the way and is the way.
As Dottie Rambo’s song says, so we ought to
pray:

37. “Roll back the curtain of memory now and then
Show me where you brought me from and
Where I could have been
Just remember I'm a human and human's forget
So remind me, remind me dear Lord.”
Remember, He is the way maker and He is much
more than capable of leading us home.

38. Jesus did for us what no one else could do:
He died our death to give us His life.
He came to earth that we might go to heaven.
He became poor that we might become rich.
He became sin that we might become righteous.

39. As Dottie Rambo put it:
“Nothing good have I done
To deserve God's own Son;
I'm not worthy of the scars
In His hands.
Yet He chose the road to Calvary
To die in my stead.
Why He loved me I can't understand.”

40. But love us He does and with what marvelous
grace He wants to take our pain, break our
chains, and make our way.
He provides God’s Grace, Amazing, Wonderful,
Powerful, Marvelous Grace that is greater than
all our sins. Take that Grace today!