unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. Matthew 8:16-17 Notice the word, took. It is the Greek word, lambano and means “to take, to seize or remove, take (away, up).” Other translations say: (NLT) This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases. (MSG) …He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill. He fulfilled Isaiah’s wellknown sermon: He took our illnesses; He carried our diseases. (TPT) In doing this, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: He put upon himself our weaknesses, and he carried away our diseases and made us well. PETER SPEAKS IN THE PAST TENSE — YOU WERE HEALED. Peter looks back to Isaiah 53:4,5 and Matthew 8:16,17. Healing is now a finished work! First Peter 2:24 says, “who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” The Wuest translation says, “...by means of whose bleeding stripe* (singular), you were healed.” F.F. Bosworth says in his book, Christ the Healer, “The atoning death of Jesus Christ secured for us not only physical healing, but the resurrection and perfecting and glorifying of our bodies…. The Gospel of Christ has salvation for the body as well as for the soul.” Healing is not an afterthought, but the Scripture consistently reveals: 1) God identifies Himself as Healer. 2) Isaiah prophesied that healing was included in redemption. 3) Jesus fulfilled that prophecy. 4) The apostles affirmed it. 5) We receive it through faith. u Permission Granted MARK HANKINS MINISTRIES PO Box 12863 Alexandria, LA 71315 8649 HWY 165 South Woodworth, LA 71485 318-767-2001 contact@markhankins.org 16 GLAD TIDINGS AUGUST 2026 filled with handwritten notes carefully copied from chalkboards. Research required patience, long hours in libraries, and stacks of heavy books rather than a quick internet search. We learned to slow down and think through ideas because information did not arrive instantly. Mistakes were corrected with erasers and ink, not with the click of a delete button. Love carried a different rhythm as well. We fell in love while vinyl records spun on turntables and cassette tapes clicked softly inside plastic players. Music became the background to first dances, long conversations, and dreams about the future. Those relationships grew into marriages, families, and lives built step by step through the 1980s and 1990’s; decades that saw technology begin to reshape the world around us. Yet nothing compares to the bridge our generation has crossed. We are the only generation to have experienced an entirely analog childhood and a fully digital adulthood. We remember waiting days — or sometimes weeks — for handwritten letters to arrive in the mail. We remember rotary telephones and party lines where neighbors could accidentally overhear conversations. Communication required patience and anticipation. Today, we can see the face of a loved one across the ocean instantly on a screen small enough to fit in a pocket. The world changed in ways few could have imagined. We watched humanity land on the Moon in 1969, a moment when millions of people sat in living rooms staring at black-and-white televisions as Neil Armstrong took humanity’s first steps on another world. We saw the rise of personal computers, the birth of the internet, and eventually the arrival of smartphones that placed entire libraries of knowledge in our hands. Machines that once filled entire rooms now exist on devices lighter than a paperback book. We moved from punch cards and mechanical tools to artificial intelligence and global networks connecting billions of people instantly. And through every shift, we adapted. Our bodies carry the marks of the times we lived through as well. We grew up during fears of polio and tuberculosis, illnesses that once terrified entire communities before vaccines helped bring them under control. We witnessed the global challenges of pandemics and health crises across decades, including the recent silence and uncertainty of COVID19, which reminded the world that resilience is still required in every generation. Science itself transformed before our eyes. We saw the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, the decoding of the human genome at the turn of the century, and the early steps into gene therapy and advanced medicine. Transportation evolved from simple bicycles and steam engines to hybrid vehicles and electric cars gliding almost silently through city streets. Few generations have witnessed such sweeping change. And yet, despite everything that evolved around us, certain things remain unchanged. We still understand the joy of a cold glass bottle of lemonade on a hot afternoon. We still remember the taste of vegetables picked straight from a garden. We still know the value of a long conversation that unfolds slowly without a keyboard or screen interrupting it. Our memories stretch across decades. We have celebrated births, mourned losses, watched friends depart, and carried their stories forward. Those of us who remain share something rare: the experience of standing at the crossroads of history, holding memories from a world that younger generations know only through photographs and stories. But we are not relics. We are living bridges. Our perspective reminds the modern world that progress does not have to erase wisdom. The speed of technology does not have to replace patience, kindness, or reflection. We remember what life felt like before everything moved so fast — and that memory carries quiet lessons worth sharing. So when someone calls us “elderly,” we can smile. Because behind that word lies something extraordinary. We are the generation that crossed two centuries, witnessed eight decades of transformation, and walked from the age of handwritten letters to the era of artificial intelligence. What a life we have lived. What a remarkable story we continue to carry. And if you belong to this generation, take a moment today to look in the mirror and recognize something powerful. You are not simply growing older. You are living history. You are part of a generation that will always remain one of a kind. And perhaps, in the quietest and most meaningful way, you are becoming legendary." u David Wyles and Robert Anger WE ARE THE LAST - Con’t MARK HANKINS- Con’t There is nothing wrong with the law given by Moses. Like the stairs, it can get you to the "top floor". The problem is that we are unable to keep the law. Thankfully, God provided the elevator, His Grace, which covers our sin. But, you can't operate this elevator on your own. You have to go through the elevator operator, who is Jesus.
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