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April 19, 2019 - Jim Bakker Show
11:02
The First Evangelist - Pastor Jim Bakker
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Mary Magdalene's Journey 00:02:19
John chapter 20, verse 1 says, Early on the first day of the week while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
Who is this woman?
Mary Magdalene.
I'm going to tell you about it in a few moments.
This woman was the first person at the tomb.
Go to the book of Luke, chapter 8, verse 1.
Book of Luke.
Hurry.
And it came to pass afterward that he went through the city, every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.
And the twelve were with him.
They're talking about Jesus.
And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.
Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils.
Wow.
She was possessed of the devils.
She wouldn't have been chosen for your woman's missionary club meeting in your church.
But she was chosen by God.
Yes.
To be the first one at the tomb.
1 Corinthians 1.26.
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.
Not many of you were wise by human standards.
Not many were influential.
Not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chooses the lowly things of the world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
Let's go on to Luke 8.
Let's look at verse 3.
And Joanna, the wife of Herod Stewart and Susanna, and many others which ministered unto him of their substance.
Women still are serving God.
Women's Ministry Impact 00:08:57
The biggest share of offerings that come to Christian television and many churches are given by women.
Did you know that?
Absolutely.
Do you know that, Mondo?
It's a statistic.
It's a fact.
It is a fact.
Women are still the givers.
And today, Lily Knows is with us.
She's given her whole life.
She's really married to Jesus.
I mean, she just loves Jesus.
She loves people.
And so Joanna, the wife of Herod Stewart and Suzanne, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance, the women were very active taking care of the men that were serving God as well.
The women took care that they took care of Jesus.
They cooked.
Yes.
But they walked and talked with Jesus.
You know, my favorite thing is to walk and talk with the Lord.
If I'm out at the lake or the ocean, I love when nobody else is there.
And I can talk out loud to the Lord.
That's right.
And I walk and talk with him.
Would you like to have been one of those in the days of Christ to be able to walk and talk with Jesus?
You still can.
That's why I'm building Prayer Mountain as a place to really meet with God.
You can talk to God in your prayer in your closet at home.
You know, the Bible actually at one point says, go into your closet, basically, and close the door and pray and pray in secret.
And the God who sees in secret is going to reward you openly.
Matthew 25, 35, for I was hungry and you gave me food.
I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger and you took me in.
I was naked and you clothed me.
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me.
Kenneth Copeland was on the show, our last program, I think it was.
He came to see me in prison.
And he never made a big thing about it.
But the Bible says if you visit someone in prison, you know, and everybody who visited me in prison were honestly, it was like Jesus had visited me.
But he says, as you do it unto the least, you've done it unto him.
I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me.
You know, prayer is talking to God.
And that's why this chapel needs to be opened as close to this Easter time.
We want to celebrate this very, very, very important mountain, this prayer mountain.
So on that mountain, it'll be a mountain of prayer.
We're even building a prayer lodge where people can just get a room for the night or for a week and just go up there and pray in that chapel or go into one of the prayer grottos.
But let's get back to our text, John 20, verse 2.
So she, Mary Magdalene, came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one who Jesus loved.
John, we just tell you.
John just loved to say he was the one that Jesus loved.
That's right.
Well, Jesus did love him.
Don't you feel like he loves you?
When I was a young preacher, I honestly felt that I was special to God.
I walked with him, talked with him.
Miracles took place.
You know, most people don't even understand what it was that PTL Heritage, USA.
And I can tell you without anyone condemning it, but they may.
Heritage with its land and the networks in the satellites was valued at about $1 billion.
God gave me miracles.
And I felt like God blessed everything I touched.
But one day it came apart.
But you know what?
When I walked through prison, Jesus never walked away.
And as you study the Bible, that's why he puts all the warts and all the problems and all the pains and all the failures in there, right?
And we see people who have failed.
But God forgave.
God cleansed him.
God lifted him up.
So here's Mary Magdalene, who had been filled with demons.
She came running to Simon Peter and the other disciples, the one who Jesus loved, John, and said, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have put him.
So Peter and other disciples started for the tomb.
Both were running.
And I have a big painting in the prayer chapel of these two disciples running to find Jesus.
And it's huge.
There it is, right on the wall.
There they are, running to find Jesus.
That's in the prayer chapel.
That's an original painting.
It's a copy of the original, but it's an oil painting.
And so both were running.
There they are.
But the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
He bent over and looked at the stripes of linen lying there, but did not go in.
Then Peter, then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.
He saw the stripes of the linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head.
The cloth was folded up by itself, separated from the linen.
Finally, the other disciples who had reached the tomb first also went inside.
He saw and believed.
They still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to raise from the dead.
Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying and she wept.
She bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, Woman, why are you crying?
They have taken my Lord away, she said, and I don't know where they have put him.
At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
Woman, he said, why are you crying?
Who is it you are looking for?
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me what you've done with him, where you have put him.
I will get him.
Jesus said to her, Mary, she turned toward him and cried out, Teacher.
Jesus said, do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.
Go instead to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my father and your father, to my God and your God.
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news.
I have seen the Lord.
And she told them that he said these things to her.
Wow.
Mary ran with joy.
Matthew 28 says, and they departed quickly, ran from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, and did run to bring the disciples the word.
I'm out of time for today's show.
Maybe I could finish this on Monday.
Do you think we could go on and let Easter flow over a little bit?
This is the woman that met Jesus at the tomb.
The first person to see Jesus alive was Mary Magdalene.
That's the kind of God we serve.
That's why politicians today, they want anybody's sins, they want to throw them out.
They want to fire them.
They want them to step down from their job.
But Jesus says, I'll forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
Here's a woman that was demon-possessed.
And she was chosen to be the first to see Jesus resurrected.
And they all were running.
I mean, I used to preach about running because they were all running.
And I'll tell you, it's time for us to get up and start running.
Running to Jesus, standing with Jesus.
Oh my.
I got so much I want to talk about today.
And they ran with fear and great joy.
What a moment to see Christ.
He's alive.
And that's what Easter, Easter is so important, people.
Christmas and Easter are my two favorite times of the year.
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