Episode Transcript
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Unto the Lord's Word this morning.
We need his illumination to come upon it.
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And so let us first pray before
we read God's word. And now,
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Lord, we come to THY holy
word, the word that you,
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through the ages, have protected,
the word which you have kept pure,
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the Lord that even today, about
two thousand years separated from you, we
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still have that word, that faithful
word, that we can trust him.
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And so, Lord, we thank
you for your word. We thank you
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particularly this morning for the Gospel accounts
of your earthly life and ministry and how
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much it has to teach us.
And so, Lord, I pray,
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as we look at this account where
you were rejected by the people of your
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own hometown, and I pray that
you would speak to us and help us
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not to be offended, as you
said to uh your apostles. Would you
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be offended also? Lord? We
would not be offended, but would want
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to hear your word and we'd wanted
to speak to our hearts this morning.
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So illuminate us, make it clear, enlighten our eyes that we maybe hold
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wondrous things out of your law.
For this we pray in Christ name.
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Amen. If you turn in your
bibles to follow along with Luke Chapter Four.
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I'm going to be reading UH Luke
Um, beginning with verse, excuse
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me, Verse Fourteen, and through
verse thirty. And again I remind you
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that this is God's word. and
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit
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to Galilee and the report about and
went out through all the surrounding country and
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he taught in their synagogues, being
glorified by all. And he came to
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Nazareth, where he had been brought
up and, as was his customer,
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went to the synagogue on the Sabbath
and he stood up to read and the
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scroll of the Prophet Isaiah was given
to him. He and rolled the scroll
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and found a place where was written
the spirit of the Lord is upon me,
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because he has anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor. He
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sent me to proclaim liberty to the
captives, recovering of sight to the blind,
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to set at liberty those who are
oppressed, to proclaim the year of
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the Lord's favor. And he rolled
up the scroll and gave it back to
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the attendant and sat down and the
eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed
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on him and he began to say
to them. Today, this scripture has
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been fulfilled in your hearing, and
all spoke well of him and marveled at
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the gracious words that were coming from
his mouth. And they said, is
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not this Joseph's son? And he
said to them, doubtless you will quote
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to me this proverb, physician Hell
Yourself. What we have heard you did
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at Capernaum, do here in your
hometown as well. And he said,
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truly, I say to you,
no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.
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But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows and Israel in
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the days of Elijah, when the
heavens were shut up three years and six
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months and a great famine came over
the land, and Elijah was sent to
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none of them, but only to
Zopath in the land of Sidon, to
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a woman who was a widow.
And there were many lepers in Israel in
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the time of the Prophet Elisha,
and none of them was cleansed, but
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only name and the Syrian. When
they heard these things, all in the
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synagogue were filled with wrath and they
rose up and drove him out of the
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town and brought him to the brow
of the hill on which their town was
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built so that they could throw him
down the cliff. But passing through their
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midst, he went away. Thus, since the reading of God's word,
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please be seated. So last week
we finished looking at the temptation account of
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Jesus and the Wilderness and looked at
how the main temptation of Christ throughout his
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life was going to be to avoid
going to the cross. Well now this
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morning we come to the return to
his own hometown and we're going to look
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get the rejection that comes to him
there at that town. And I want
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to start with looking at verses fourteen
through one. And so I told you
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last week, when we look at
the second and third temptations of Jesus in
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Luke, that those temptations were exactly
the opposite in Matthew and that what was
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the second temptation and Luke was the
third temptation in Matthew and vice versa.
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And I told you then that Luke
was not so interested in telling the chronology
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of the events, but he has
interested more in themes and putting things together
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in a certain order. And I
mentioned that in the Temptation Account Luke has
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opposed to Matthew, doesn't give time
marker words. He uses just a conjunctive
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word that just goes on. In
Greek it's Kay, but in in English
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it's a simple word. And and
if you look through this chapter here,
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you'll see there's a lot of hands
at the beginning of verse and that that's
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all luke is do this is putting
them together. But he's not saying,
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like Matthew does, and then and
afterwards. He's not doing that because it's
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not a chronology that he's doing and
not. Why is that important here?
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Because again, verse fourteen starts with
add why does that matter? It matters
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because there's about a year of ministry
that occurs between verse Thirteen and Verse Fourteen
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here of Luke Chapter Four, and
that can be confusing to people because Luke
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doesn't record it or talk about it. He talks about Jesus returning in the
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power of the spirit to Galilee,
but he doesn't tell us what happens in
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that first year. And all of
those events are recorded for us by John.
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Well not all of them, but
the ones John Chooses de pick in
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that year and they're found in John
Chapter one through four. But a man
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by the name of Dr Stalker UH
divided the Ministry of the Lord into four
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parts. He said first there was
the Year of obscurity, which is what
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gives to us in his Gospel,
and then there is a year of public
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favor Um, which would be this
year, although it doesn't really start with
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much public favor, but uh,
that's what he calls it. Then there
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is a year of obscurity and then
he says there is the end. Now
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I don't know that that's inspired or
anything I got, but but it does
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kind of give us a cycle of
the Lord's Ministry and I think those kind
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of things happen again and again.
So it can appear in your bibles at
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verse fourteen, happens right after verse
thirteen, but I want you to see
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that it doesn't. And so Jesus
coming in the Holy Spirit, power the
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spirit. This is Luke's third reference
to the Holy Spirit in this chapter.
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If you're talking, we are following, I should say. And so we
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see that in verse one he was
full of the Holy Spirit and also led
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by the spirit. Now he comes
in the power of the spirit and Luke
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mentions the report of him goes out
throughout the surrounding country. So we have
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a summary of the activities of Jesus
beginning in Verse Fifteen, that he's teaching
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in all the synagogues being glorified of
all. And although most of the versions
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translate the verb there he taught,
which is is a fine translation, but
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the more literal translations translates he was
teaching. And the reason because in the
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Greek this isn't imperfect, which means
that it's not a completed action. And
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so instead of just and he taught, it's it. I think better.
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You know, and I'm not criticizing
our translation, but I think it's better
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to say that he was teaching,
because it gives us an idea of the
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importance of teaching in this ministry time
of Jesus. But the reception is going
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to be a little different in Nazareth. It begins, as Luke says here,
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has his custom was. In other
words, what was his custom?
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His custom was to go to the
synagogue on the Sabbath Day. I'm going
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to come back to that and the
application and you might be able to guess
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a little bit what I'm gonna you
in that. But as his customers,
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it says he stands to read.
Now, in those days the ruler of
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the synagogue could really pretty much decide
whoever he wants to to do the reading.
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And give this sermon, he would
decide he was qualified and do that.
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So apparently the ruler of the synagogue
and Nazareth has asked Jesus to do
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this. But before everything is done
and Jesus has finished, he's going to
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find rejection here at Nazareth. Now
again, the Gospel accounts can be a
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little confusing when you try to compare
them, because if you read Matthew and
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Luke, excuse me, Matthew and
mark, it appears that Jesus rejection at
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Nazareth happens much later than Luke gives
it here, and this gives rise to
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many to believe there are actually two
rejections at Nazareth. Now I think really
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there's only one, because uh Jesus
says the same thing about no profit being
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acceptable in his own town, and
he bade sally says the same thing in
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Matthew and mark, and so I
believe these are the same. But some
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say that Luke puts it at the
beginning of Jesus Ministry because this is going
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to be kind of the way his
ministry is going to go. He's gonna
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Start, people are going to be
wondering at him and excited and then they're
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uh, they're not going to like
him at all and they're and they're going
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to reject some reject him. Hendrickson
in his commentary says the Ministry of Jesus
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usually follows three stages enthusiastic interest,
then amazement and then rejection. It's also
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interesting to think about this Um Jesus, we know, was born at Bethlehem,
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a center of Ministry. When we
read the Gospels, appeared to be
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out of Capernum, where Peter was
from, and that appears to be where
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center of Ministry was. And yet
he will always be known as Jesus of
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Nazareth. In part of the reason
this is interesting is because there seems no
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good reason to identify with Nazareth.
You might remember Nathaniel's comment to Philip in
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the beginning of the gospel of John, where he says can any good thing
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come out of Nazareth? That's the
reputation that Nazareth had those days. And
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the town of Nazareth. You can't
find it mentioned in the Old Testament anywhere.
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You don't find it mentioned in the
Jewish talment anywhere. You don't even
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find it mentioned in the writings of
the Jewish historian Josephus. So it's pretty
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a negligible town, and yet our
Lord is going to make its name great.
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Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Yes, indeed, something good
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can come out of Nazareth. Our
Lord comes out, and so over seventeen
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we have a summary report of a
sermon preached by Christ. Now we have
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a lot of the teaching of Christ
recorded, but this is the only place
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we have which is kind of a
summary of a sine dog sermon. And
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really this account is thought by many
to be the earliest account we have of
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a synagogue service. Now, those
who have researched a synagogue service say that
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it had these elements. There would
be the Shima, which was Deuteronomy six
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four. Here Israel, the Lord, our God is one Lord, and
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there would be blessings and thanksgivings with
that. Then there'd be a prayer with
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an amend by the congregation, just
like we do, reading from the pentituch
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or from the first five books of
the Bible, very similar again what we
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did here this morning are reading from
the Prophets. Uh. They would then
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have and then a sermon like we're
doing here, and a Benediction, like
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we will do so very similar.
So the services of the Church today are
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very similar to what the synagogue services
seemed to be. And we're told that
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the role of the Prophet Isaiah was
given to him. Now what we don't
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know, because none of the gospel
writers tell us us. Was this role
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pick doubt by Jesus beforehand, or
was this where the ruler of the synagogue
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just gave him and he began to
read? There? We we don't know.
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But we know that our Lord knew
exactly what he wanted to read and
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as the man Jesus has been studying
the scriptures throughout his life, he knew
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where the scriptures were and he knew
what he wanted to say, and so
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he read the verses. Here in
verse eighteen and Nineteen had come to us
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out of Isaiah Sixty one versus one
and two. Now I noted earlier that
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says Jesus was continually teaching wherever he
went. But what's interesting here in this
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verse is three times in this passage
we have the word for preaching or proclaiming,
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and so Jesus not only his teaching, but his ministry is also to
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preach or to proclaim. We have
that the puritans used to say God had
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only one son and he made him
a preacher. Now What's interesting to me,
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for that might be a little interesting
to you. I read that in
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somebody's commentary. There wasn't a puritan
and in my reading and the Puritan this
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morning, writer Thomas Goodwin, said
exactly that. So well, that's that's
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interesting. I didn't even know the
Puritan said it until I read it in
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another book and now here I come
upon it in my daily reading. So
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that was good. Um. But
if you're looking at the Isaiah scripture this
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morning, which I don't know that
any of you are need to be,
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but if you're looking at Isaiah sixty
one and that you are comparing it to
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the scripture here that Luke gives us, we find that it's not exactly the
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same. For example, Jesus skips
the phrase in Isaiah to bind up to
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brokenhearted and the phrase opening the eyes
of the blind that Jesus used in the
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Old Testament. It is the opening
of prison to those that are bound.
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And I'm not going to go into
all the reasons why there are differences here,
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but there are good reasons that are
here. It could be that the
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scroll of this synagogue was actually translated
that way because there were different translations depending
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upon the Septuagient, the Greek translation
they had and different things like that.
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It could be that some of this
is Jesus comment on the passage, or
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could be that Jesus is interested in
giving the main intent of the passage,
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or could be a lot of other
things. But that that really doesn't matter.
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There's nothing out of the ordinary or
nothing conflicting here in what Jesus says.
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But the question of people, I'm
sure you've heard this before, if
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you've ever heard a sermon on this
passage. I'm sure this has been brought
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up to you and this is something
you're very familiar with, which is why
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does Jesus Stop the passage when he
does? Why does he stop reading where
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he does? Because he stopped reading
with to proclaim the year of the Lord's
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favor and he doesn't go on to
say and the day of vengeance of our
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God. So why does he do
that? Now there's different ideas and I'm
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sure you've heard, and probably there's
truth to this, that the reason is
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that his first coming was not to
come in the day of vengeance but was
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to come to proclaim liberty. But
he will come again, the second time
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for judgment, and perhaps that's why
he does it. But again, Jesus
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says, to proclaim the year of
the Lord's favor. Now, what is
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the year of the Lord's favor?
You probably know what it is. It
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was the year of you believe it
was the year when slaves were set free.
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It was. It was the year
when deaths were canceled. It was
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the day that all of this stuff
that Jesus is talking about here in this
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passage is what he's come to do. It's defined for us and what's going
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on is given to us in Leviticus, Chapter Twenty Five. But Jesus comes
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to give liberty, and he said
in John if the sun set you free,
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you will be free indeed. So
the question is, how do we
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understand what Jesus says here about his
ministry? Is he speaking literally or is
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he speaking spiritually? My aunt's it
would be yes. That's how I would
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answer it. We could say,
is he speaking of the literal poor,
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the literal captives, the literal blind
and the literally oppressed, or is he
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speaking spiritually of those who are poor
in spirit, those who are in captivity
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to the devil, those who are
blind in regards to spiritual things and those
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were spiritually oppressed by the devil.
I think scriptures lead to both. Acts
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Ten thirty eight. How God annoying
that Jesus of Nazareth, with the Holy
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Spirit and power, he went about
doing good and healing all who were oppressed
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by the devil, for God was
with him. But I think we also
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have to include literal because he did
open the eyes of the literal blind right,
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and he did these other things.
So I think we can say both
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of those are there. And so
in verse twenty, Jesus Rolls The screw
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up, scroll up, gives it
to the attendant and sits down and every
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eye is upon him. Why?
Because he sat down time for the sermon.
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I told you that the living in
the parables study knows that. I
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talked about how, uh in the
beginning of Matthew Thirteen, when Jesus gives
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the parable he goes to the boat
and sits out and everybody else stands and
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I said I think that's a good
practice. I should be sitting, you
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all should be standing. A spurgeon
said it would stop people from falling asleep
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in church. Um If we did
that, although I've known people that can
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sleep standing up, so maybe that
wouldn't work either. But I could lobby
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for that practice, but I won't
here. But Anyway, uh, because
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then I know sometimes I'll be listening
to a sermon don't have to stand,
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so I don't want to do that. So Uh. In Verse Funny One,
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though. He has a very short
application. He says today the Scripture
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has been fulfilled in your hearing.
And we think about that. That's not
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the greatest application there's ever been given
to a sermon. Now, every time
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I'm preach a sermon it's my goal
at the end of the sermon to make
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application. I want expositive to text
to as best I can, but then
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I want to apply the text here
everyday life. I seek to do that,
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maybe to give a better understanding of
your salvation or understanding of the Lord.
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But in all the sermons I've ever
preached I've never had an application as
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wonderful or powerful as this. He
says this is the day you've been waiting
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for. This is the greatest day
in the history of mankind. This is
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a day when all of the prophecies
you've been studying are coming true. This
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is where God is coming to do
what he has promised. This is a
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day of salvation, this is a
day of liberty, this is all of
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these things. I am the one
you're waiting for. I am the fulfillment
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of all these script scriptures. This
is a wonderful time and of course all
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the people get excited and there's great
rejoicing and the Latin no, not exactly.
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The first reaction is quite positive.
If we begin looking from verses twenty
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two says all spoke well of him
and marveled at the gracious words that were
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coming from his mouth. But then
they began to think about that for a
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little bit and they say, isn't
this Joseph's son? Now, this is
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the last reference to Joseph in the
Bible, chronologically, the last reference we
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have to him. Now Mark gives
us a fuller account of this statement.
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And Mark six three. Is Not
this the carpenter, the son of Mary,
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brother of James and Joseph and Judas
and Simon? And are not all
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his sisters here with us? And
they took offense at him. So they
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hear what he says and they're excited
about it, but then they start thinking.
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Wait a minute, we know this
guy. We know his family,
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we know what he did when he
was brought up here, and they started
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thinking about him and and and they
think, well, no, this,
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this cannot be the guy that's going
to fulfill all those scriptures. And Jesus
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then UH begins at verse twenty three, to get to the heart of what
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he's saying. He says you're gonna
probably say the proverb physician, heal thyself,
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which what it means in his context. Is What they're saying is,
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if you're gonna do healings like you've
done in other places, do it here
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in your hometown. That's what they
mean by that. When he says that
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proverb. Do the things you did, do it here as well. In
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First Corinthia's Paul says the Jews demand
signs, and that's what they're doing here.
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But the one thing we know what
God is. He doesn't have to
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give into our demands, does he? We can want science doesn't mean God
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has to give those signs. Now. Jesus could have done those works in
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Mark's, the count he says,
a very strange thing he says, and
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he could do no mighty work there, except he laid his hands on a
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few sick people and healed them and
he marveled because of their unbelief. Now
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I don't know what that means.
A few sick people. I don't know
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if that means. You know,
I couldn't do anything with, you know,
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tuberculosis or paralysis or anything like that. But but you know, he
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could. He could heal covid or, you know, the common cold or
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something like that. Guy, I
don't know what it is, but the
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phrase he could do no mighty work
there sounds wait a minute, no,
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he's God, he can do what
he wants. Why couldn't he do mighty
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works there? Well, Calvin has
a good comment. He says not that
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it is in the power of men
to bind the hands of God, but
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that he withholds the advantage of his
works from those who are rendered unworthy of
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them by their infidelity. I think
that's a very good comment on that particular
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phrase. And so Jesus Marvels in
his human nature at the response that he
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is receiving here in his hometown.
But one thing to note. Nobody,
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even Jesus greatest enemies, nobody denied
the fact that Jesus indeed did miracles.
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Even the Pharisees and the scribes and
his address. Even they admitted that Jesus
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did Miracles in Verse Twenty Four Editors. What's a I'm? A kind of
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proverb that has been said through the
years in different forms and actually, for
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the first time in Luke we have
the word Amen. Luke only uses the
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word six times, just much fewer
than the other gospel writers, but it
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is used by Jesus to say I'm
I'm saying something important here. Of course
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everything Jesus says is important, but
this is something Jesus is saying. I
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want you to really hear what I'm
saying here. And he says no profit
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is acceptable in his hometown. Our
proverb goes something like familiarity breeds contempt,
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but it's the same proverb. When
I've gone back to my hometown, Rochester,
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Minnesota, to preach, I know
there are people in the audience.
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UH, now they're getting less and
less now because I'm getting older, but
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I know there were people in the
audience that think, wait a minute,
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I remembered this guy. He used
to smart off to me in Sunday school
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class. I know that's hard for
you to believe and you could never think
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I could do such a thing,
but it's true and they would, they
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would. I'm sure they would think
that and I even heard it from people.
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You know, I never thought you'd
turn out too much. You know,
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you, uh, the way you
started and all of those things,
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but this is very true to a
lot of us. And then Jesus is
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going to say something in the next
three verses that's going to really anger the
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church, the crowd, and he's
going to tell two Bible stories that his
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listeners, as well as you,
are going to be well acquainted with.
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And he's going to tell the story
of Elijah and the widow that's found in
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first king's chapter seventeen. and Jesus
does add something here that's not found in
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the Old Testament account. He says
that the heavens were shut up for three
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and a half years. We're not
told that in the Old Testament. Now
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James also repeats that. So people
say, well, how can they know
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that? Uh, you know that
that? Uh, it's not in the
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Bible. Well, Jesus was there, so I think he knew. So
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we can accept that. And he
tells that story and again it relates how
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Elijah was there in the home of
this widow of their path and the flower
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in the oil never ran out as
long as he was there. And then
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he tells another story that relates to
Elijah's successor, Elisha. He tells a
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story that we're probably very familiar with
again that is found in second kings five
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of name and the Syrian Leopard.
It comes to Elisha and you know the
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story always told to wash in the
Jordan River and all of those things.
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So you might wonder, why are
the crowd so angry that he tells those
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two stories? I mean, what, what's? What's so bad about that?
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I'll come back to that. Let
me finish with vers. The crowd,
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as I said, gets angry,
very mad, and I want you
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to notice they're not just a little
angry. Okay, they're really upset to
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the point they want to kill him. That's how upset they are. Now
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I have had people in my ministry
that have not been exactly enamored with my
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sermon, and there may be some
here this morning, but nobody has ever
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wanted to kill me. That I
know after I finished the sermon, that
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that's never happened to me before.
So one thing I think I can say
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positively about our Lord's sermon. I
don't think we can describe it as seeker
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friendly. Um. That that much
I gather from from what he says here.
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And so in Verse Twenty Nine it
says they brought him out to the
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brow of the hill so they could
throw him off the cliff. Now this
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isn't the first time people have tried
to kill Jesus. You might remember Herod
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and his attempt, and it won't
be the last time either. And of
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course they will finally succeed with what
with killing him. But Verse Thirty says
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passing through their midst, he went
away. Now that's one of the most
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enigmatic versus in the New Testament.
Really isn't what? You read that and
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you go, how does that work? You know, what did he do?
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Is it a miracle and he's got
out this peer and reappear somewhere else,
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or or what it did? The
hearts of the people all change and
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you're kind of like Luke, tell
us more, but he doesn't Um.
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So we're not sure exactly, but
he is going to leave Matt Nazareth at
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this time. And I love the
provocative statement Fred Kradock makes here. He
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says Jesus doesn't go elsewhere because he's
rejected. He's rejected because he went elsewhere,
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and I think that's very perceptive.
And as far as we know,
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Jesus never returns to Nazareth again.
John says he came onto his own but
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his own did not receive him.
James Edwards says the N I v Subtitles
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this section Jesus rejected at Nazareth,
but the text suggests that Jesus also rejected
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Nazareth. So let me make some
applications this morning. One of the things
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I mentioned earlier and I want to
come back to is as we look at
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the ministry in life of Christ,
we see in several scriptures that he was
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regularly in attendance at the synagogue services. Now, the synagogue services are not
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found in the Old Testament. We
don't we don't get him from there.
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They apparently started either towards the end
of that period or in the intertestamental period
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when the temple was destroyed and people
wanted a place to worship, and that's
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where the synagogues were born. But
it was in obedience to God that his
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people would gather together on their Sabbath
Day and the Lord was faithful in attendance
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at the synagogue has his custom was. Now you might say, well,
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yeah, he was the preacher,
he had to be there, but I
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don't think that's the main reason.
He's doing it in obedience. He is
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going as a pattern to us.
That tell us that we need to gather
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together regularly on his day. Has
was his custom. It's not one of
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these like well, we've all mad
people like this. Wow, I don't.
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I don't have to go to church
to be a Christian. So you've
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all heard somebody say like this.
The Christ was obedient to the laws that
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said you need to attend with God's
people. Deuteronomy twelve, five, you
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shall seek the place the Lord,
your God has chose out of all your
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tribes to put his name and make
his habitation there. There you shall go,
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the Psalmist says, and saw made
four. How lovely is your dwelling
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place, O Lord of hosts.
My soul longs, it faiths for the
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courts of the Lord. My heart
and my flesh sing for joy to the
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Living God. Even the sparrow finds
at home, and the swallow a nest
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for herself where she may lay her
young. At your altars, O Lord
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of hosts, by King and my
God, blessed are those who dwell in
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your house, ever singing of your
praise. See how I think of our
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Lord's words to disciples. I mentioned
before the Lord's supper where he said with
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great and word. There is the
actual word lust. With Great Lust,
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I have lusted to eat this password. He's coming to the end, he's
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coming to his death and he wants
to be with God's people. He knows
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how important is. Our Lord wants
to do that. Well, you say.
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Well, yeah, but I don't
really care for our pastor's sermons.
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Hey, think about the sermons Jesus
had to listen to him. I mean
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there was nobody on par with him
right there was nobody could say, Oh,
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I could have done a lot better
with that. Of course he could,
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but he was in attendance, he
went. So let's be faithful to
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the House of the Lord on his
day. But I want to go back,
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and our songs today are centering around
this, if you didn't notice.
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But the question, what is it
that made the people so angry? You
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just told a couple of Bible stories. That's all he did and you looked
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at it while you so mad.
He didn't say anything. The scriptures didn't
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say and he said. The truth
is that the fact that he said a
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prophet wouldn't be accepted board his own
hometown. Maybe, but more to the
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point are the examples he chose to
bring that day in the story involving Elijah,
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he's bringing out the point there were
many widows in Israel during the days
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of Elijah, but Elijah wasn't sent
to any of them. He was sent
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to a widow in Sidon, a
gentile territory, in Zeropeth. He was
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said, to that area. That's
not Israel, that's a gentile. And
406
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:47.279
then he adds the story of Elisha
when he says there were lots of lepers
407
00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:52.559
in the days of Elishah in Israel. But who gets cured? Not only
408
00:30:53.519 --> 00:31:03.839
Assyrian, not only a gentile,
but an actual enemy of Israel. That's
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00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:07.359
who was hell, James Edwards says, at the time of Elijah being sent
410
00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:15.079
to name and Naman was a Syrian
general besieging Israel. So we need to
411
00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:22.079
recognize what the topic what this first
sermon is talking what is it that angers
412
00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:26.559
the people? And the thing that
angers them shouldn't surprise us because it's the
413
00:31:26.599 --> 00:31:30.880
same thing that's been angering people even
in the church for years. When you
414
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:37.400
bring it up and it's the doctrine
of election, that's what's making the man.
415
00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:41.160
God could have sent Elijah to any
widow, but God said no,
416
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:47.640
you're going to this gentile. Out
of all the widows that could have been
417
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:55.200
Elijah could have went to, God
elects a widow in Sidon, and that
418
00:31:55.480 --> 00:32:00.319
doesn't seem good to the these Israelites
that day in the synagogue. God gives
419
00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:08.240
sent any leper in the land of
Israel to Elisha, but instead he sends
420
00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:14.880
an enemy, a gentile, and
this is the one that is healed.
421
00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:22.039
And just as the people in Nazareth
hated that doctrine, people still hate it
422
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:25.960
today. And let me say that
is a good clue to the fact that
423
00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:31.000
the doctrine is true. When the
natural man hates something, it's a good
424
00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:37.319
sign to us that is true.
The doctrine of election, because it's taught
425
00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:43.440
so many places clearly in the Bible, is hated. Why is it hated?
426
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:50.200
Because it takes glory away from me
and I want the glory. I
427
00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:53.720
want to say I chose God,
I want to say I found God,
428
00:32:54.160 --> 00:33:00.359
and then somebody says God wasn't lost, he found you, and there's something
429
00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:06.119
about that that bothers me. In
my free will, I want I want
430
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.039
to I want to say that I
have something to do with it, but
431
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:15.359
people have always hated this idea and
they've always rebelled against it. I read
432
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:20.839
in the biography of Martin Lloyd Jones
years ago that when he was preaching,
433
00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:23.279
he was he was sharing the pulpit
at Westminster Chapel with G Campbell Morgan in
434
00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:30.279
the morning and then he preached at
night. Mostly and and Morgan was an
435
00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:35.799
Armenian, and and h Lloyd Jones
was was a calvinist, and it was
436
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.200
sad that when people would go to
the service at night they would kind of
437
00:33:38.200 --> 00:33:43.960
say under their breath and without mean, we're going to hear that calvinist tonight.
438
00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:49.119
They didn't want to hear Lloyd Jones. And in that sense we would
439
00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:53.440
much rather be able to say we
had something to do with things, but
440
00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:59.960
then he chose us in such a
way we can't even figure out why.
441
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:01.240
Isn't that what it's all about?
When you think, I mean when I
442
00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:07.200
was committed Armenian, you know what
it was? That that changed my whole
443
00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:09.079
mind. I mean some of what
was reading, I was doing us,
444
00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:13.039
for sure. But then I started
thinking. I had a brother three years
445
00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:17.760
younger than me and we were as
unlike each other as any two people probably
446
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:22.559
could have been. He was always
in jail or a children's home or a
447
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:27.039
hospital or a jail or a prison
or Fort Leavenworth. He was always somewhere,
448
00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:30.360
and I just scared to do anything
wrong. I never did anything I
449
00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:34.519
was so afraid and I would always
think we were born in the same household
450
00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:37.559
and all of this. Well,
why, why did we turn out so
451
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:42.679
different? And I couldn't come up
with an answer. And and people say,
452
00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:44.320
well, you know, you were
a lot smarter than your brother,
453
00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:45.719
who I was. I'm not going
to deny that. I'm not gonna sound
454
00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:49.599
really humble here today. I was
smarter than my brother, but he was
455
00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:52.159
no genius, so don't it's not
saying a lot. But I'd say,
456
00:34:52.199 --> 00:34:55.880
well, why was I smarter?
I had nothing to do with me.
457
00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:00.679
God created me the way I was. I I didn't just all of a
458
00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:05.480
sudden learn more something like like this. is where it was. Because said
459
00:35:05.480 --> 00:35:08.079
well, well, you were more
tender hearted. Well I was. Well,
460
00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:13.280
why was I more tender hearted?
Nothing to do with me. God
461
00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:17.159
made me that way, and so
we say why? Why? ME,
462
00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:22.159
Calvin writes. But still we ought
to hold that none are chosen in preference
463
00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:27.800
to others for their own excellence,
but that it proceeds rather from the wonderful
464
00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:31.840
purpose of God, the height and
depth of which, though the reason may
465
00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:37.840
be hidden from us, we are
bound to acknowledge in the door. And
466
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:40.400
you can hate that doctrine as much
as the people of Nazareth hated it,
467
00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:45.360
but it's still true, because it
gives all the glory to God. What
468
00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:47.559
am I able to Glorian? What
can you glory in? What do you
469
00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:52.400
have? There's nothing, as Paul
says, is the Corinthians. What do
470
00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:55.559
you have that you didn't receive?
And if you received it, why are
471
00:35:55.559 --> 00:36:02.000
you boasting like like you didn't receive
it, but God has done that.
472
00:36:04.199 --> 00:36:07.880
And finally, let me look at
the condition of those who came. Christ
473
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.880
came to preach the Gospel too.
I said, it could be either natural
474
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:14.840
or spiritual, but let me deal
with it spiritually. When it's this poor,
475
00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:17.119
and this relates to what I just
said as well, the word poor
476
00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:22.320
there is the word that means reduced
to beggary, as there gives it first
477
00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:29.239
definition reduced to beggary, begging,
asking alms. Its second definition is destitute
478
00:36:29.239 --> 00:36:34.079
of wealth, influenced position or honor. It's the same word found in the
479
00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:38.679
first beatitude. Blessed are the poor
in spirit. There's another word in Greek
480
00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:44.039
that means working poor, but this
is not that word. We're not working
481
00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:49.119
poor, we are destitute beggars.
We are like the beggar and in Luke
482
00:36:49.239 --> 00:36:52.800
sixteen that Jesus talks about, that
was covered with sword and the desire to
483
00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:57.519
be a fed from the crumbs that
fell from the rich man's table, that
484
00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:01.920
the dog came and licked his swords. That's us. So I'm thirty four
485
00:37:01.960 --> 00:37:06.039
eighteen. The Lord is near to
the broken hearted and saves the crushed and
486
00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:09.519
Spirit Isaiah Sixty six. To all
these things my hand has made, and
487
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:13.679
so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is
488
00:37:13.719 --> 00:37:16.159
the one to whom I look.
He was humbled and trite and spirit and
489
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:21.920
trembles at my word. Second,
he preaches to the captives. We were
490
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:28.400
all captive. The Greek word literally
means a captive of war. It's those
491
00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:30.840
who are captive to any kind of
sin, secontivity. Twenty six that they
492
00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:35.880
may come to their senses and escape
from the snare of the devil, being
493
00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:39.599
captured by him to do his will. Malcolm Muggeridge, who is the British
494
00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:45.079
journalist who came to Christ very late
in life, he wrote all other freedoms,
495
00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:50.159
once won, soon turned into new
servitude. Christ is the only liberator
496
00:37:50.599 --> 00:37:55.519
whose liberation lasts forever. Spiritually,
we're blind, according to second Grintians,
497
00:37:55.559 --> 00:38:00.800
fore, for the God of this
world has blinded our minds. And then
498
00:38:00.840 --> 00:38:04.800
it says set at liberty those that
are oppressed. Earlier, earlier, it
499
00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:07.760
says give liberty to the captives.
That word liberty, if you look it
500
00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:12.880
up in your lexicon, that this. This is a fine translation. But
501
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:17.599
in the King James The other fifteen
times this word is found, it's translated
502
00:38:17.679 --> 00:38:24.440
as forgiveness or remission. This is
what Jesus comes to give, in whom
503
00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:30.199
we have redemption to his blood,
the forgiveness of our trestpasses according to the
504
00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:35.239
riches of His grace. Because that's
what we really need, folks, His
505
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:40.480
forgiveness, Charles Wesley said, he
breaks the power of canceled sin. He
506
00:38:40.599 --> 00:38:50.800
sets the prisoner free. We need
the forgiveness of sins. So I want
507
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:54.559
to close this morning by asking you
the question who do you see yourselves as?
508
00:38:57.360 --> 00:39:00.760
Do you see yourselves as those who
are conquered by to whom you had
509
00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:07.599
nothing to do with, and you
see God's work totally in your salvation?
510
00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:13.960
And let me tell this story and
then we're done. One Sunday the pastor
511
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:19.119
of a church in London saw former
burglar kneeling beside a judge of the court
512
00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:22.079
of England. And it happened to
be the very judge who had sent him
513
00:39:22.079 --> 00:39:28.920
to jail, where he served seven
years. After his release, the burglar
514
00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:32.119
had been converted and became a Christian
worker. Yet as they knelt there,
515
00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:36.400
the judge and the former convict,
neither one seemed to be aware of the
516
00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:39.800
other. After the service the judge
was walking out with the pastor and he
517
00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:44.960
said to the Pastor, did you
happen to notice who was kneeling beside me
518
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:50.039
at the communion rail this morning?
The pastor replied yes, but I didn't
519
00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:57.119
notice that you noticed. They walked
together in silence for a little while and
520
00:39:57.159 --> 00:40:04.239
then the judge said what a miracle
of grace. Pastor nodded in agreement.
521
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:12.559
Yes, what a marvelous miracle of
grace. And the judge said, but
522
00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.960
to whom do you refer? The
Pastor said, why, to the conversion
523
00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:22.280
of that convict, the judge said, but I was not referring to him,
524
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:27.880
I was thinking to myself. Pastor
said, you're thinking of yourself.
525
00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:31.800
I don't understand. The judge replied. It was natural for the burglar to
526
00:40:31.840 --> 00:40:36.800
receive God's grace. When he came
out of jail, he had nothing but
527
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:39.840
a history of crime behind him and
when he saw Jesus as a savior,
528
00:40:40.519 --> 00:40:45.320
he knew there was salvation and hope
and joy for him and he knew how
529
00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:49.960
much he needed that help. But
look at me. I was taught from
530
00:40:49.960 --> 00:40:52.199
the earliest infancy to live as a
gentleman, that my word was to be
531
00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:55.360
my bond, that I was to
say my prayers, to go to church,
532
00:40:55.480 --> 00:40:59.880
take communion and so on. I
went through Oxford, took my the
533
00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:05.079
Greece, was called to the bar
and eventually became a judge. Pastor,
534
00:41:05.639 --> 00:41:09.239
it was God's grace that drew me. It was God's grace that opened my
535
00:41:09.239 --> 00:41:15.719
heart to receive it. I'm a
greater miracle of His grace. I pray
536
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:20.519
that's how you see yourself this morning. Let's pray, Lord, we thank
537
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:23.639
you for your word. And indeed, we were those who were captive.
538
00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:28.199
And these we are, those that
were poor and had nothing to offer,
539
00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:34.719
but in your marvelous grace and mercy, you came upon us. But we
540
00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:38.679
all have our own particular natural story
of our life, but each of us
541
00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:44.639
that belonged to you and are confessing
you this morning our triumph of your grace.
542
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:50.400
You overcame US somehow, Lord,
our strong will, for without you,
543
00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:52.480
God, we would still be in
the paths of Sin, choosing on
544
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:59.000
righteousness, choosing to walk away from
you. But because of the great love
545
00:41:59.039 --> 00:42:04.440
wherewith you loved us, because of
your great mercy, we are triumphs of
546
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:12.079
your grace and we have nothing,
nothing, Lord, nothing to claim but
547
00:42:12.199 --> 00:42:15.280
your grace and your love. And
Lord, I there are those that are
548
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:21.320
here this morning that have never come
to you. I pray you would make
549
00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:27.199
it clear to them that they also
are poor and need you, that they
550
00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:31.199
also have nothing to offer but God, that your grace may triumph over them
551
00:42:31.239 --> 00:42:36.199
as well. And we pray,
Lord, that your will would be done
552
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:39.679
in the lives of your people this
morning. But we ask it in Jesus
553
00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:43.679
name Amen Man
