Sermon notes from Sunday 13 November 2016
Luke
4 verses 16 – 30
Here
we find something that is wonderful and remarkable. In verse 16 the Lord comes back to the place
of his youth, the place where he was reared.
Nazareth was built on a hill.
Even after they listened to the preaching of the word of God they took
him outside Nazareth and would cast him over the hillside. What a privilege it really should have been for
these people. The Lord had come back to
the place of his childhood. It was the
custom to enter into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. What a privilege they had. The presence of God was there.
Notice
the courtesy Jesus was paid. He was invited to read. The chief rabbi took the word of God and
offered it to him. He was going to read
from the book of the prophet Isaiah. It
was the custom for a visitor to read the word of God and bring a thought on it. You have the presence of Christ, the word of
God being proclaimed. The power of God was
experienced and he was given the place to read.
We need to have that courtesy tonight.
As we listen to the Lord in his still small voice. He was known to them. They were happy to share in their
worship. As we come into the house of
God it is wonderful to know that same presence.
There were no objections to his word being opened up. This is a mighty thing to have the presence
of the Lord in our midst. Samuel
Rutherford stood to contend for the faith.
Stood in his day when others were being put out of the pulpit for
preaching. He was cast into prison and
he wrote to his parishioners to encourage them.
“The strangest thing happened to me even as I lay in my bed in prison
cell something happened, Jesus Christ stepped into that cell. Every stone began to gleam like a pearl of
the most costliest price.” The Lord has
promised to be one of our number when we meet together. How often we favour the testimony, the singer
in the meeting, the big named preacher.
Somehow we miss the presence of the Lord, miss his touch because we have
our eyes on something else. Every eye
was fastened on the Lord as he opened up the word of God and preached. I would not want to point you to this
preacher but to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. The blood flowed from his side. He is the one who is able to redeem and save
your soul. That is what he wants to do
tonight. Maybe you are not saved, maybe
you are cold at heart, know you have wandered far from God, not where you once
were. Because of the precious blood, the
sacrifice he made for you he can draw you back to himself. If you know you are not walking with the Lord
he wants to draw you back to himself. In
verse 17 he opens the scripture and reads aloud. Imagine the voice of the Lord falling on their
hearts. What an experience that must
have been. Tremendous that the people listened.
The
claims that Jesus makes. He was given the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah. Sometimes we find that in a
meeting like this this was the very portion of scripture for that very
day. Notice in verses 18 and 19 the claims
he was making. He was speaking of one
who would come into the world to set the captives free. Jesus came to set you free from your
sin. Isaiah spoke of the birth of Christ
right through to his death in chapter 53.
What a sad situation if we miss the truth about the death of
Christ. We can be saved through that
wonderful work at Calvary if we turn the search light on our hearts. Is the courtesy we give him as Saviour and
king of our lives? What about the claims
he makes on us? We have sinned and never
can come to Christ only through the cross of Christ.
The
complacency Jesus found – verse 22. They admired him then they said “is not this
Joseph’s son?” In other words is he not
the one who grew up amongst us? They had
grown so familiar with him. You and I
could grow so familiar with the gospel of saving grace. That is why we can sit in the gospel meeting
night after night. So familiar with the
teaching of the cross of the Saviour who came to seek and to save that which
was lost. Therefore we leave him aside,
never bothers us very much. Felix trembled
when he heard what Paul had to say.
Maybe there was a time when you felt the burden of your sin, you
trembled at the preaching of God’s word.
Almost responded but not now.
That day is gone. That is sad,
sad when people can listen to God’s word and it never affects them. We grow complacent. Jesus stood in their midst with power. They shrugged their shoulders. They had that complacency. We have that same complacency tonight. There was a complacency in Pilate’s judgement
hall. Here was a man who had listened to
Christ, got to know him so well but all the people could cry out was “crucify
him”. They didn’t want him any
more. Many churches don’t want this
teaching any more. Does the word of God
not affect us any more? Jesus was given
courtesy this day. We will give him
courtesy. Also think of the claims he
makes.
There
is the conscience that Jesus teaches
– verse 28. The Holy Spirit was taking
the word of God and started to teach them.
Their conscience made them angry.
Maybe it was the claims he had made about himself, that God was speaking
directly to their hearts. Their conscience
was pricked. Maybe the word of God has come
to your heart in other meetings. The
Holy Spirit has been touching you, showing you your need of salvation. In Acts 2 the multitude gathered and Peter
was preaching to the people that day.
The Holy Spirit pricked their hearts.
They cried out “what shall we do, how shall we escape if we neglect this
great salvation.” Peter told them “repent
and be baptised. Sometimes we come into
a meeting like this with an idea in our hearts that we are alright, not perfect
but we are alright. They were Gentile
people and that was the last straw.
The
confusion Jesus bears – verse 29. There was such anger and malice. They couldn’t get rid of him quickly
enough. They tried to throw him over the
cliff where Nazareth was built on. John
the Baptist told Herod he was doing wrong and Herod had him cast into
prison. Verse 30 in all the confusion
they were trying to push him over but Jesus slipped away in their midst. Maybe tonight you will let him slip away from
your grip. Will you listen to him
tonight? Accept him as your
Saviour? Don’t let him slip away, come
to Christ, trust him as Saviour, give him your all. Come to Christ and trust him.
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