And of course we're making our way through the gospel according to Luke on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights.
We're going verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
We're calling it a journey with Jesus and we are on a journey with the Lord Jesus Christ, learning about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And of course we ended last week there in verse number 13 with the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And right after the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've had these events that have been
building up towards the launching of the ministry of the Lord.
Of course we had his baptism and we had his 40 days in the wilderness and the temptation.
And now he's getting ready to really launch and begin his ministry.
And we're going to look at this morning the first documented sermon that the Lord Jesus Christ preached in the gospel according to Luke.
If you notice there in verse number 14 the Bible says this,
And Jesus returned, and this is of course referring to his time in the desert and the temptation.
He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.
And of course Galilee, if you're familiar with the Bible lands or you've heard me talk about it,
is in the northern part of Israel where Judea and Jerusalem and Bethlehem would have been in the southern part.
He returns to Galilee and there went out of fame of him throughout all the world.
He returns to Galilee and there went out of fame of him throughout all the region round about.
Notice verse 15,
And he, this is referring to Jesus, taught in their synagogues being glorified of all.
And just by way of introduction I want to give you a quick history about the synagogues and about this idea
because when you read the Old Testament you don't read a lot about the synagogue.
In fact I'm going to show you a reference in the Old Testament to a synagogue
but it's not something that's talked about a lot.
It's not something that's even really in the forefront of your mind.
But then when you enter into the New Testament you find these synagogues throughout the nation of Israel
and in fact you see the Lord Jesus Christ attending the synagogues and preaching and teaching there.
So let me just give you a quick history of the synagogue just to kind of get you caught up.
If you go to the Old Testament book of Psalms, Psalm 74,
if you open your Bible just right in the center you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
Go to Psalm 74 and today as New Testament Christians we often think of a synagogue as a negative thing
in the sense that it is a place of worship of a false religion and that's what Judaism is.
It's a false religion that denies the Lord Jesus Christ.
However I want you to notice that the synagogues, they didn't start off bad.
In fact they started off right as far as we can tell from the Bible.
There in Psalm 74, if you're there look at verse 8, the Bible says this,
They said in their hearts, and this is a psalm where the enemies of the Lord are speaking,
They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together.
And notice what the enemies of the Lord said,
They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
Or this is what they've done, the enemies of the Lord.
They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
So I want you to notice that in the Old Testament the synagogue is referred to as the synagogue of God.
So you'll notice that when the synagogues began it did not begin as necessarily a negative thing
or as something that was wrong.
Obviously we know in the Old Testament that the children of Israel were still following
the God of the Bible and they had not yet gone into Judaism,
had not yet turned into what would be a false religion as we see in the New Testament.
But here we see that it is referred to as the synagogues of God.
Now go back to Luke chapter 4 if you would and I want you to notice about these synagogues
that the synagogues were a precursor or a forerunner to the local New Testament church.
And what I mean by that is that in the Old Testament what you had is the children of Israel
and the children of Israel, the entire nation as a whole was what we would almost consider a local church.
In fact if you remember in the book of Acts the children of Israel in the wilderness
are referred to as the church in the wilderness.
So if you kind of want to think about the Old Testament children of Israel
think about the entire nation as a church.
They had a leader named Moses and they had a place where they worshiped in the tabernacle or the temple.
In the New Testament when the children of Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ
and God has rejected them what God does in the New Testament is instead of picking out one nation
the Bible says he calls out those that were of no nation and he brings them together into these local assemblies.
But what we see in the Old Testament is that it's hard because we were created for community
we were created to be around people. It's hard to feel within community of an entire nation.
So these synagogues were developed and were created for people within a local community
to be able to come together, worship together, pray, read the Bible together, learn together.
And that's why I say the synagogues were in some ways a precursor or a forerunner to the local New Testament church.
Not in the same way that they were established by God
in the same way that the New Testament local churches were established by the Lord Jesus Christ
but they were created as a need for people to gather together and to be in community.
And you'll notice that as you study the Bible you'll notice that the synagogues
when you look at it they look and they feel very similar to a New Testament church service.
You're there in Luke chapter 4, look at verse 16. Notice what the Bible says, Luke 4, 16.
And he, referring to Jesus, came to Nazareth where he had been brought up
and as his custom was, notice, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.
So notice the synagogue is somewhere he goes on the weekend or on the Sabbath day
and of course we know that's the seventh day of the week and he gets there and he stands up to read.
Very similar, not exactly the same, but similar. We meet on the first day of the week which is Sunday
and we do that because that's the day that the Lord resurrected.
But for example we gathered here today and we sang songs and Brother Graham stood up for to read
and we read from the scriptures and then I will speak on those scriptures and we'll notice that's exactly what Jesus did.
He went to the synagogue, he stood up for to read, then he talked about and expounded upon those words.
Go to the book of Acts if you would, Acts chapter 13. You're there in Luke, you're going to go past John into the book of Acts.
Acts chapter number 13. You'll notice that they're very similar to the local New Testament church.
They're not the local New Testament church but as far as how it felt and the need that they provided,
the synagogues were probably very similar to a local church. It was a place where local communities could come together.
And especially, and I don't want to get too far into the history of synagogues,
but especially when you get towards the end of the Old Testament when the children of Israel have been put into captivity,
when the temple has been destroyed. If you remember the temple was destroyed before Ezra and Nehemiah came back
to rebuild the wall in the temple and the children of Israel literally did not even have a place to worship.
These synagogues, I believe, were kind of formed as a place for these local communities, these believers of the Old Testament,
to come together, to worship together. The Bible calls them the synagogues of God.
And we can't just say that they were these evil, wicked places when the Lord Jesus Christ himself is attending there,
going there, practicing and participating with it. Notice Acts 13 and verse 14.
The Bible says, but when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into, notice, the synagogue,
this is now Paul, the synagogue on the Sabbath day, just like Jesus, and sat down. Notice it's very similar to like a church service.
They walk in, they sat down, and after the reading of the law, someone stood up and read the word of God.
The prophets and the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them saying, ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
So this kind of feels more like a men's preaching night. They got there, they sat down, they read the word of God.
Then the person in charge stood up and said, hey, if anybody has something they'd like to share with us from this word, say on.
Notice verse 16, then Paul stood up, beckoning with his hands, and said, men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.
And I won't take the time to read it, but if you'll notice, he goes on to preach a sermon in this synagogue.
And he stood up and he said, give audience, listen to what I'm going to say, and he preached a sermon.
So I want you to notice, they meet there on the weekend, they sit there, they read the word of God, and then somebody stands up and expounds upon or teaches or preaches upon the word of God.
So you'll notice that the synagogue feels a lot, and I believe was like a precursor or a forerunner to the local New Testament church.
Now, they started off right, they're called the synagogues of God, and they met a need, especially once the temple was gone, for believers to be able to come together and unite together.
And we'll notice that not only did Jesus participate, but we'll see it here in a minute, he participated his whole life.
It was something he did from a child going to the synagogue, and hearing the word of God read, and hearing the word of God expounded upon.
But I want to be clear about something. The synagogues, though they started right, and they met a need that was needed, and eventually God ordained the local New Testament church to meet that need.
The synagogues ended very badly. Go to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter number 2, and the reason for it is not because of the synagogue itself.
The fact that there's a place where people could meet together, and maybe sing worship songs, and read the word of God, and have somebody stand up and teach and explain the word of God, that doesn't necessarily make the location bad.
What happened was is that the people that were meeting in these synagogues eventually rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah, and Judaism became a false religion.
It became a false religion because of the fact that it is an anti-Christ religion, because the Jews believe that there is a Messiah or a Christ, but they reject Jesus Christ as that Messiah.
The Bible says that when you reject Christ, you are anti-Christ. Who is a liar but he that denied that Jesus is the Christ, he is anti-Christ that denied the Father and the Son.
So Judaism has become a false religion, and sometimes in churches people don't want you to say that. You can say that Hinduism is a false religion, and Islam is a false religion, but for some reason Judaism gets a free pass, but let me tell you something.
Anyone who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ is going to die and go to hell. And any religion that rejects the Lord Jesus Christ is a false religion.
And I don't say that in a way, you say, you know, are you anti-Semitic? Hey, I think we should get Jews saved, I think we should get Arabs saved, I think we should get everyone in the world to believe and to teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 2, look at verse 9, notice what the Bible says. This is Jesus speaking to the churches in Revelation. He says,
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy. Notice what Jesus says to the local church about another organization that is bringing persecution upon them.
He says, I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not. You say, why would Jesus say they are Jews and are not?
Because the Bible teaches that you can be a Jew outwardly, but that doesn't make you a Jew before God. You are a Jew when you have the same faith as Abraham, and Abraham had his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that Jesus said about Abraham that Abraham rejoiced to see his day. So here we see that the blasphemy of the Jews say they are Jews and are not. Notice what Jesus says, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Here, Jesus identifies the religion of Judaism and he calls their place of worship the synagogue of Satan. This is not the only place. Go to Revelation chapter 3, look at verse 9.
Revelation chapter 3 and verse 9. The Bible says, behold, I will make them, Revelation 3 and 9, behold, I will make them, notice, of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.
Behold, and look, the Jews in the synagogue today, they say they are Jews and are not. You say, what do you mean? They're lying. That's what Jesus said.
Which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I love thee.
So here's what's interesting. It's called the synagogue of God in the book of Psalms, and then it ends as being called the synagogue of Satan in the book of Revelation.
And it just shows you the transition that it started off right and there was maybe a need that was met there with having a place for people to come together and have community and worship together.
But because they rejected Christ, it ended up as the synagogue of Satan. It ended up as a false religion. So I just want you to know that.
So when you read this, you know, because you might say, well, I knew that it's called the synagogue of Satan, and then you might wonder, well, why is Jesus going there?
But when Jesus was going to the synagogue, it was not yet the synagogue of Satan. It was on its way there.
Definitely by the time that they rejected Christ and they crucified him and Jesus established the local New Testament church,
at that point, not only was the blessings and the promises removed from the nation of Israel and given unto a nation which would bring forth the fruits thereof,
but also the blessing, whatever blessing there was upon the synagogue was removed and given to the local New Testament church.
So I want you to understand that as we move forward in the Gospel of Luke because we're going to see Jesus not only in a synagogue this morning,
but we're going to see him in a synagogue tonight, in the sermon tonight. So I want you to understand that and have that understanding of a synagogue.
Go back to Luke chapter 4. With that background, and if it's helpful to you, maybe think this way.
When you see Jesus in a synagogue, think of a church. It's not a church. I understand that. Somebody's going to send me emails saying you're a heretic, you know.
It's not a church, but it kind of served that purpose within the time of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It was a place for people who were believers at that time to come together. They would pray, they would sing, they would read scripture, and they would have somebody teach or expound upon it.
That's what we see Jesus doing. Now, when it comes to Luke chapter 4, what we find is the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's been baptized. He's gone through his temptation. He's fasted 40 days. Now he's getting ready to begin his ministry.
Literally, we're going to see the very first sermon he preaches in the Gospel of Luke, and I want you to notice several things here from the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you're taking notes, I'd encourage you to write these things down on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to write down some things.
And the first thing I want you to notice is the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ. The pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice there in Luke chapter 4 and verse 16, the Bible says this.
And he, referring to Jesus, came to Nazareth, and we're going to talk about that in a minute, that's important, where he had been brought up and, why don't you notice these words?
As his custom was. You see that word custom there? As his custom was. The word custom means a habitual practice. Something you do routinely or on a regular basis.
So I want you to notice that Jesus goes to Nazareth. Nazareth is his hometown. We're going to talk about that in a minute. That's his hometown. Notice where he had been brought up. This is where he grew up.
Jesus is known as Jesus of Nazareth, and as his custom was, as his habit was, as his practice was, as his routine was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
I want you to notice that Jesus was a man of routine. He was a man of habits. He had customs. And one of his customs was that he would go to the synagogue where he would meet and fellowship with God's people.
And he would go there on a regular basis. He went there on the Sabbath day and he read the word of God. He heard the word of God preached. This was his custom. This was something that he did.
I want to submit to you this morning that if Jesus would have came today, and I understand that we have the New Testament because of the death, resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I just want to make this point that if Jesus was here today, he would be someone who had a custom of being faithful to the house of God and to the church of God.
He was a man of pattern. And Jesus, I want you to notice, he was someone that had a pattern of being and gathering and assembling with God's people on a regular basis as his custom was.
Now you're here this morning and you say, well, I'm a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that's what you are. Maybe you're not. Maybe you're here. You're not even saved. And we'd like to get you saved.
We'd like to help you know how you can know for sure you're on your way to heaven when you die. And that is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I would assume that the vast majority of you here this morning are saved individuals. And you might say here on a Sunday morning, hey, I'd like to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'd like to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what that means is that you follow his pattern, that you do what he does, that you become someone who tries to be like Jesus.
And I'm here to tell you, if you do not have a custom or a pattern of being faithful to a weekly assembly of believers, you're not being like Jesus.
Because Jesus had a custom. The Bible says that he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.
Look, if you're going to be someone that is highly successful in life, you're going to have to become someone who develops routines.
You're there in Luke chapter 4, go to Luke 22. Luke 22. Look at verse 39. Luke 22 and verse 39.
Luke 22 and verse 39, the Bible says this, and he, and he came out and went, notice the wording, as he was want.
You see that word want? The word want means a customary behavior, something he does on a regular basis, as he was want to the Mount of Olives and his disciples also followed him.
Notice Jesus had some routines. He had some things he did on a regular basis. We see throughout the Gospels that he had a routine of getting alone and having a time of prayer.
We see that he had a routine of gathering with God's people and assembling with them at the synagogue. He was somebody that had routines.
Let me give you another example. Go to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 17. You're there in Luke, John, Acts. Acts 17.
Let me tell you something. If there was a list, and I talked about this recently, if there was a list that was an actual accurate list of the most influential people who have ever lived on this earth,
number one would be the Lord Jesus Christ, and number two would be the Apostle Paul, without a question.
And I'm not going to re-preach the sermon on the genealogies that I did, but look, we base our entire scheduled timeframe, you know, the way that we view history and life is based off the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is without a fact the most important influential human being that has ever lived, period. And the Apostle Paul would be number two.
And what's interesting is that the Bible tells us that Jesus, as his custom was, that as his want was, he was a man of routine, he was a man of patterns.
Acts 17, look at verse two. Notice what the Bible says about Paul. And Paul, notice these words, as his manner was.
The word manner means a prevailing custom or habit. Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days, talking about the synagogue,
reason with them, out of the Scriptures, what they did at the synagogue, go to Acts 20, look at verse 18, flip a few pages over, Acts 20 and verse 18.
The Bible says, Acts 20, 18, and when they were come to him, he said unto them, ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, notice what Paul says,
after what manner I have been with you at all seasons.
He says, look, you know what manner, you know what prevailing custom, you know what prevailing habit, you know what manner I have been with you at all seasons.
I'm here to tell you this morning, Jesus, the most influential man who ever lived, and Paul, the most influential man only second to Jesus that ever lived.
The Bible tells about them that they had customs, they had manners, they had a want about them, they had things that they did on a regular basis.
And I'm here to tell you, if you want to succeed in your Christian life, you're going to have to develop some routines.
John Maxwell writes on leadership, he says this, the secret to your success is found in your daily routines.
Will Durant said, we are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit.
I'm here to tell you something, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but I am trying to preach the Word of God to you.
Some of you are failing spiritually because you don't even have a habit of being consistent to church.
You ought to develop a pattern that says, hey, I'm going to have a custom, I'm going to have a pattern, I'm going to have a manner, I'm going to have a habit.
And you say, well, you think it's important to come to church and make that a priority?
Well, the Bible says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
By the way, Sunday is the first day of the week and when you give God the first day of the week, you're literally seeking first the kingdom of God in your week.
The Bible says that in all things he should have the preeminence.
Look, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, but I'm here to tell you, this whole, you know, I go to church and then I don't go for a few weeks and then I go to church and then I don't go for a few months and then I go to church and then I, you know, skip here and skip there.
Hey, that's not being like Christ, if you're going to succeed in your Christian life, you need some habits, you need some custom.
By the way, your kids need to have a habit of being in church consistently on a regular basis.
We used to teach us Baptist three to thrive, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, it's what you need.
So what do I need in my Christian life? You need to gather with Christians, you need to gather with other believers, you need to sing hymns, you need to have the word of God read and you need to have a man of God stand up and preach the word of God to you and help you learn it and understand it.
Hey, you ought to develop a habit of being in church.
In fact, you ought to be so consistent that when you miss church, when you miss church, it's not this thing where it's like, well, you know, they miss all the time.
You know, it shouldn't be this thing where it's like, when you miss church, it's like, well, football season must have started again.
Hey, you ought to be known as someone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and the house of God and the people of God so much that when you miss, people are like, something must have happened to brother so-and-so.
Something must have happened to sister so-and-so.
And look, let me give all the disclaimers because as soon as you start preaching like this, everybody gets mad at you.
Obviously, if you're sick, stay home, okay? I'm not talking about being sick, you know?
But since you're looking for something to be offended about, let me go ahead and offend you.
I don't understand this concept how the whole family has to stay home because the three-year-old got sick.
The whole family has to stay home because, look, when one person in the family is sick, that doesn't mean everybody has to stay home.
I mean, I understand a kid is sick, so mom has to stay home or dad has to stay home.
Okay, get the rest of the family in church.
And if dad's sick, why is everybody going to stick around and take care of dad?
Oh, my pastor, we ought to miss church because, you know, my husband's sick, so the whole family has to stay home to take care of dad? What kind of a wimpy?
Well, my wife's sick, so are you rubbing her feet? What are you doing?
Pick her up lunch, pick her up dinner, get the family in church.
Say, pastor, I don't like your preaching. I think you're offending me.
Look, like half of you miss church all the time. I'm preaching at all of you.
You're looking for somebody to be offended about, something to be upset about.
I'm here to tell you, you ought to make a pattern, you ought to make a priority, you ought to decide that the house of God is important to you.
And some of you think, some of you think you're more faithful than you actually are.
And I would encourage you to maybe start tracking your faithfulness.
I literally would encourage you and I want to challenge you to take a calendar out and start marking when you go to church and when you don't go to church and you might be shocked how much you miss church.
That's not what Jesus would do.
The Bible says that as his custom was.
The Bible says about Paul, Paul said, Paul, as his manner was.
Paul stood up and said, when they were come to him, he said unto them, you know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all.
He said, you know the type of life I've led.
And look, this is what your kids need. Your kids need to be taught that church is a priority.
Say, well, you don't think we should go on vacation? I didn't say that. I think you should go on vacation.
But you know, when you go on vacation, you ought to go to church.
Well, you know, but that's not our church. Hey, but teach your kids when you go on vacation that if vacation happens to fall on a Wednesday night, if vacation happens to fall on a Sunday morning, if vacation happens to fall on a Sunday night, teach your kids that we make a priority of God and we may take a vacation from work and we may take a vacation from school, but we never take a vacation from God.
We don't take breaks from God.
I'm just saying make a priority of the house of God.
Take vacations, but go to church while you're on vacation.
If you're sick, stay home.
But don't use sickness as an excuse to just be unfaithful to the house of God.
Develop patterns. Look, some of you need to develop what we call daily disciplines.
A daily discipline of reading your Bible every day.
A daily discipline of prayer every day.
A habit of soul winning every week.
A habit of church attendance Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and look, you say, ah, that sounds like a lot.
Okay, look, if you're hit and miss Sunday morning, why don't you just make it a goal? I'm going to start being faithful on Sunday morning, Sunday morning, Sunday morning.
You say, I've got the Sunday morning thing down. Then why don't you add a Wednesday night service?
You say, I already go Sunday morning, Sunday night. Then why don't you add Sunday night?
You say, that's a lot of church. There's no such thing as too much church.
The Bible says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of summits, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Look, in 2022, we don't need less church, we need more church.
You don't need less preaching, you need more preaching.
You don't need less of the word of God, we need more of the word of God.
The secret to your success is found in your daily routines.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.
And you'll notice that Jesus, you'll notice that Paul, they had a custom, they had a manner about themselves, they had habits, they had things they did.
And look, if you know you're not faithful, you say, perhaps if you're ever hurting my feelings. Maybe your feelings need to be hurt.
I'm done apologizing for my preaching.
Maybe you say, I feel like you're talking about me.
There's like 200 people in this room. I'm talking to all of you.
If you're not faithful to the house of God, you ought to develop a habit to be faithful to the house of God.
You ought to just make it a goal. Hey, I'm going to develop a custom of being faithful to the house of God.
You don't have a habit of Bible reading, you ought to get a habit of Bible reading.
You ought to get a habit of prayer. You ought to get a habit of soul.
When we sit, number one, the pattern of Jesus.
Now I want you to notice, secondly, we see the preaching of Jesus.
We're there in Luke chapter 4, look at verse 17.
And there was delivered unto him, this is Jesus, the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Remember, he goes to the synagogue as his custom was, and at the synagogue he meets with people.
They deliver unto him the word of God, and he stands up and he read, notice, there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
This is of course the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written.
I want you to notice in verse 18, he begins to read, this is a passage out of Isaiah, it's a quote from Isaiah.
He says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.
Now I want you to understand the significance of this passage.
Jesus just, remember we're early into his ministry, he just got baptized.
The Bible says that the Holy Ghost descended upon him like a dove.
There was a voice heard from heaven where they said, where God the Father said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
He was driven of the spirit into the wilderness.
He fasted for 40 days, 40 nights, being tempted by the devil.
He's already at this point started doing miracles and preaching because his fame has already gone out.
And in this circuit of preaching, he goes to the synagogue where he was raised, where he had a custom of going.
They gave him the word of God, he opened to the book of Isaiah, and he found the place where it was written.
And he's reading this as kind of a launch to his ministry.
He says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.
And he's reading, this is a prophecy of the coming Messiah and the ministry of the coming Messiah.
And Jesus is teaching, this is what I'm here to do.
What was he here to do? Number one, to preach the gospel to the poor.
He says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He had sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the sight to the blind, to set out liberty to them that are bruised.
That's what Jesus came to do.
And by the way, Jesus said, as my Father has sent me, even so have sent I you.
What are we trying to do at Verity Baptist Church?
We're trying to do exactly what Jesus did.
What is that? Preach the gospel to the poor?
That's why we go out so many knocking doors.
To heal the brokenhearted. You know there's people that their hearts are broken today.
They need somebody to love them and help them.
To preach deliverance to the captives.
You know there's people, we literally have a prison ministry with 200 some odd names on it that we send sermons to every month and on a regular basis to people that are in captivity.
But you know what, there's people in captivity to drugs and alcohol.
And we are to preach deliverance to the captive, recovering of the sight to the blind, to set out liberty to them that are bruised.
Hey, there are people out there who need help.
Who need us to show up and preach the gospel to them and preach freedom to them and tell them that ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
And the truth is the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we see the purpose of Christ's ministry. To preach deliverance. To preach the gospel. To heal the brokenhearted. To deliver the captives.
To give recovering of sight to the blind. That's not just physically though he did that physically, but that's spiritually.
We sing that song Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost and now I'm found was blind, but now I see. Through the Lord Jesus Christ. See the purpose of Christ's ministry.
I want you to notice there's also a prophecy to Christ's ministry.
If you notice this passage, Luke 4, 18 and 19, it's a quote from the Old Testament book of Isaiah.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. To preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind. To say that liberty to them that are bruised.
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. I want you to notice there at the end of verse 19, it says to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And you'll notice the verse ends with a period. Do you see that? Who sees that? Raise your hand if you see that period.
Luke chapter 4. Who's still awake? Luke chapter 4, 19. Luke 4, 19. Some of you need a habit of going to church. It's the only place you sleep, apparently.
Luke chapter 4, verse 19. To preach. You weren't sleeping last night when you were watching that movie. Just saying.
You can tell what kind of mood I'm in. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Period. You see it? Period.
Go to Isaiah. Keep your finger there in Luke chapter 4. Go to Isaiah. If you open your Bible just right in the center, more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
Right after Psalms you have Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 61.
Isaiah 61. I want you to notice where Jesus is reading from and what he's quoting.
Isaiah 61, verse 1. The Bible says, Isaiah 61, verse 1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. See how that's similar to what he read in Luke 4, 18?
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Now I want you to notice Isaiah 61, verse 12. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, comma. Do you see that? Not period. Comma.
And the day of vengeance of our God to come for all that mourn.
I want you to notice when Jesus was handed, the Bible says that there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book he found the place where it was written. He found Isaiah 61.
At that time it wasn't in chapters and in verses that came later. But he found that passage of scripture.
He got to Isaiah 61 and verse 1 and Jesus began to read, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
The verse is not done. There's a comma there and it goes on. And the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn.
But I want you to notice that Jesus ended right there in Luke 4.19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Period.
He ended there and then the Bible says in verse 20, and he closed the book and he gave it again to the ministers and sat down.
I want you to notice that Jesus purposely, Jesus purposely ended before the verse had ended and he put a period where there's a comma.
You say why is that? Here's why and here's what you need to understand.
When you look at Isaiah 61 and verse 2 and you see that comma, there are thousands of years that come between the phrase before the comma and the phrase after the comma.
See this is a passage about the coming Messiah. And the first part, verse 1 and part of verse 2 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, all of that was fulfilled in Jesus' first coming.
But there is a second coming, a second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ and that happens after the comma and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn.
In the second coming, see Jesus came the first time as a lamb, he's coming the second time as a lion.
He came the first time to die, he's coming the second time to judge. The wrath of God is going to be poured out upon this earth at the second coming, the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, the vengeance of our God.
So Jesus here, he stops and he reads only the part that has to do with his first coming and he puts a period where there's a comma. He doesn't continue because that has to do with the second coming.
Now oftentimes people are confused by this. They read the Old Testament and they're confused because the prophets oftentimes, and let me just kind of explain this to you, I've got some things here written down, I'll just read this for you.
The term is called prophetic foreshortening. Foreshortening doesn't sound like a real word but it is. It means to portray something as closer than it is or having less depth or distance than it really does.
And here's what I need you to understand about the Old Testament prophets and if you've heard me teach on ways to study the Bible, one of the rules that I give you for Bible study is that we allow the New Testament to explain the Old Testament.
We use the New Testament as a flashlight to shed light upon the Old Testament.
One of the reasons is because of this. Because the prophets did not necessarily see two comings of Christ.
Isaiah is teaching and preaching in Isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2 about the coming of the Messiah.
So when he says the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the good tidings, hey that's all true in regards to the coming of the Messiah because it all happened in the first coming of the Messiah.
But when he goes on to say Isaiah and he says and when the Messiah comes and the day of vengeance of our God is going to happen, hey that's true too because that's also going to happen at a coming of the Messiah but it's just a second coming, a different coming.
It all applies to the coming of the Messiah. See the prophets did not necessarily see two comings of Christ and were unable, if they did understand that there were two comings of Christ, they were unable to distinguish between the two comings of Christ.
God might have revealed to a prophet the coming of the Messiah. Paul put it this way, when it comes to prophecy, he says we see through a glass darkly.
The prophets, they looked into the future as they prophesied but they didn't have every detail, every sequence, they saw through a glass darkly, they saw the coming of the Messiah and God may have revealed to them the coming of the Messiah.
He may have revealed his birth which was prophesied in the Old Testament, his life which was prophesied in the Old Testament, his death which was prophesied in the Old Testament, his ruling and reigning on the earth which was prophesied in the Old Testament.
The prophets may have seen all that. The prophets however, though he may have seen, and here specifically Isaiah, he may have seen several prophetic events coming, he may not have been able to delineate, to precisely describe the sequence of events or the gaps of time between those events.
It's called prophetic foreshortening because foreshortening is something that happens physically with your eyes. The illustration that's often used to explain this is that of a mountain range.
If you're looking out to a mountain range, from a distance you might look at some mountain range, the Sierra Nevadas or whatever, and from a distance it may look like a flat, single, flat peak. I mean you look at a mountain range and it just looks like, you know, and it looks like one huge mountain.
However, when you get closer, you realize that it's not one peak but several peaks. In fact, many peaks, different peaks. And between those peaks are valleys. Between those peaks there's distance.
You look at some mountain range and it's not just one, you know, mountain. It's many mountains that make up that entire range. From a distance it all looks flat and the same.
When you get closer you realize, oh there's some depth here. There's some valleys between these peaks. There's some space that happens. You see the prophets, they saw the mountain range of coming events. They saw the different peaks but they did not necessarily see the intervals between them or the sequence of events between them.
So it's very common for you to be reading a passage about the coming Messiah and it's talking about his birth and then all of a sudden it's talking about the millennial reign. And you're like, what's that about?
Well, it's all about the coming of Jesus but because they had prophetic foreshortening, they weren't necessarily able to understand that, oh there's going to be time that happens between that. But Jesus, when he's here, he knows that.
So he reads, go back to Luke chapter 4, he reads the prophecy but he stops and he puts a period where there's a comma because at that point, that's the point that they were at prophetically.
And by the way, we're still in that comma. Jesus has not yet returned. The vengeance of God has not been poured out on this earth. We're still within that comma of Isaiah.
So I want you to notice we not only see the purpose of Christ's ministry and the prophecy of Christ's ministry but we see the procurement of Christ's ministry. We see that his ministry is fulfilled.
Notice, it's important that he reads, it's important that he says the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the copters and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Period.
He puts a period there instead of a comma and instead of continuing to read, the Bible says in verse 20,
And he closed the book and he gave it unto the minister and he sat down and the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, notice this is why he ended right there, because he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your eyes.
He reads a prophecy that everyone there would have known was about the Messiah coming, the Christ coming, the anointed one coming.
He reads this prophecy about the spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach deliverance unto the copters, to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal those that are broken and bruised.
He reads this and then he sits the book down and he says, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Don't tell me that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. He reads this, he finishes and he says, this is what you're seeing.
The fame you've heard of me, the miracles, the preaching, I'm this. I'm who Isaiah was talking about.
But he stopped short of the second coming because he wanted to be able to say this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
And that second part had not yet been fulfilled. So we see the procurement of Christ, the fact that he fulfilled the prophecies that were given of him.
Then I want you to notice, lastly this morning, we saw the pattern of Jesus, we saw the preaching of Jesus.
I want you to notice the persecution of Jesus. Luke chapter 4 and verse 14.
And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee and there went out of fame of him through all the region round about and he taught in the synagogues being glorified of all.
Why don't you notice this is a receptive area. Jesus here, he's in Galilee. You're going to find as we journey with Jesus that Galilee was the most receptive area that Jesus went around the Sea of Galilee.
He was loved, people accepted him, they wanted to hear him preach. But then the Bible says in verse 16, and he came to Nazareth. Remember Nazareth is his hometown.
He's called Jesus of Nazareth. Where he had been brought up, where he grew up. And as his custom was, he went to the synagogue and sat up and stood up to read.
He went to the synagogue that he grew up in. He went and did the things he did his whole time growing up. Look at verse 22.
And all bear him witness and wonder that the gracious words were proceeded out of his mouth and they said, so notice, Jesus, and we don't really get it here, but all we see is that he reads, he reads to a certain point and he finishes.
But he said some things, he spoke some things, he expounded upon it. And then the people, verse 22, all bear him witness and wonder that the gracious words were proceeded out of his mouth.
And they said, here's what they said, here's their response. Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, ye will surely say unto me this proper physician, heal thyself.
Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. They said, look, he says, look, you're going to hear about the great works that I've done in Capernaum, another place that was receptive.
And you're going to say, why don't you do that here in your country? And he said, Luke 4 24, verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
And Jesus is teaching us here, and we see that they despise Jesus. When Jesus went back to his hometown, Nazareth, they despised him.
Go to Matthew chapter 13, if you would, first book in the New Testament.
There is a principle in the Bible that Jesus refers to, which we're going to look at here. In Luke, he referred to it as no prophet is accepted in his own country.
In Matthew 13 and verse 57, the Bible says this, and they were offended in him, but Jesus said unto them, that's what Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country and in his own house.
There's this principle in the Bible which teaches that a prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country. Meaning this, the people that are closest to you, the people that are your family, your friends, people you grew up with, they're going to be the ones that are going to give you the least honor.
Other people will respect you, will love you, will admire you, but a prophet is not without honor. Notice the phrase, is not without honor, meaning prophets do get honor, saved, the word saved means except for, in his own country.
And you say, oh, is that just because of you or because of some other preacher? No, this is Jesus. Jesus says, look, I go to Capernaum, they want to hear me preach. I go all throughout Galilee, they bring people, we're going to see tonight, they're bringing people by the multitudes for him to preach, for him to teach, for him to heal, for him to perform miracles and cast out devils.
But he goes to Nazareth and when he does the same thing, they say, isn't this Joseph's son? Don't we know this kid? This guy used to play hide and seek with my son.
And Jesus says, hey, a prophet is without honor, saved in his own country and in his own house. This is something you need to be aware of.
Say, why do I need to be aware of? Because it will explain to you why your own close family and friends will often be less likely to listen to you and respond to you.
Sometimes people come to me and they're like, pastor, I don't understand, I go out soul-winding every week, I knock on people's doors, I preach the gospel to them and they get saved, but then I try to give the gospel to my best friend and he won't listen to me.
I try to give the gospel to my mom and she won't listen to me. I try to give the gospel to my brother and he won't listen or my uncle and he won't listen or my aunt and she won't listen.
And the response is this, a prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country. And sometimes, and look, sometimes people can get their own family when we're saved, praise God for that.
My wife after she got saved, she got most of her family saved and praise the Lord for that. But oftentimes that's not the case.
So sometimes you just have to get somebody else to preach the gospel to your family. And people say to me, I really want my grandmother to get saved, I really want my grandmother to get saved, I really want my mother to get saved, I really want my dad to get saved, but they won't listen to me.
Here's the response. You go out and get as many other grandmothers saved as possible. You go out and get as many other mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and other people saved and then Lord willing, God will bring a soul winner around and maybe you can be used to God to orchestrate that to have somebody else give the gospel to your family because the prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country.
You need to know that if you're a soul winning Christian, which you should be.
But by the way, let me say this. We've been talking about ministry a lot lately in 2nd Corinthians. This is something you really need to just be aware of in ministry.
There's a common realization that virtually all pastors and their wives experience. And I know this for a fact because I feel like I virtually had this conversation with many pastor and many pastor's wives.
When not all, but it seems like many of your church people, not all, please understand that, not all, but a lot of times it seems like many of your church people will seem like they love, respect and admire some other pastor, some other pastor's wife more than you.
And look, I've communicated this. There's a reason why Pastor Jones preached a sermon about insecurity. Pastor Thompson jokes around. He's like, yeah, whenever you come preach, I call it Jimenez Easter because all these people, Pastor Anderson Christmas, all these people that are part of the new IFP, they won't come and hear him preach because the prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country.
But some guest speaker shows up and they're like, oh, well, I'm not going to go to hear you preach, but I'm going to show up. And you know what? Whenever I go there and people show up, I always tell them, you need to come back and hear your pastor preach.
But it's true everywhere. I go preach places and people are just acting like I'm the greatest thing ever and like your sermons are awesome. Thank you so much. Your sermon helped me with this. Your sermon helped me with that. This series you did was such a blessing to me.
And I'm thinking to myself, man, I wish my preaching would help my own people as much as it's helping these people. But you know what? A prophet is not without honor, saved in his own country. And you say, what's the lesson to take from that? Couple lessons.
Number one, you should be mindful about how you treat your pastor and your pastor's wife. And I'm not saying that for me. I'm saying that, number one, because you need to hear it. Number two, because there's people listening online that need to hear it.
There's pastors listening online that need to hear it. But let me just tell you something. I settled that insecurity issue a long time ago. Sometimes you feel like people do it on purpose.
Like they'll just like go on and on. Like they want to talk to my wife and they're like, man, I just got, I just spent the weekend in faithful word and let me tell you something.
Mrs. Anna Anderson, she's the greatest pastor's wife ever. I mean, she's so amazing. She's great. And then my wife talks to Mrs. Anna and is like, she was out of town that weekend.
It's like, what are you talking about? She wasn't even there. You know, and it just seems like people would just like try to throw it in our face.
Let me tell you something. First of all, we did away with that a long time ago. I decided a long time ago, I don't need, I don't need to be your friend. I want to be your friend, but my job is to preach the word of God.
But you should be mindful about how you treat your pastor. You know, be mindful about traveling everywhere and going everywhere to hear somebody else preach.
And you say, well, okay, then wait till I'm dead and then apply to that pastor. But you got to love your pastor. You got to respect your pastor. You got to love your pastor's wife.
You got to love those who are actually working and ministering and the ones that actually take your phone calls, the one that actually goes to the hospital, the one that's actually there for you.
That's the ones you got to respect and love. And if there's anybody that should have said Jesus really is the Christ, it should have been the people he grew up with because they should have known and said, yeah, that guy, he never did anything wrong.
But instead they rejected him. Why? Because a prophet is without honor, is not without honor, saving his own country and his own house.
So Pastor Anderson comes here and everybody treats him like a rock star. But you know what? I go there and people treat me like I'm some great thing too. It's just the way life is.
And then they get mad at Pastor Anderson and you're mad at me right now. It's just the way life goes. You say, does it bother you? No, but I want to teach you and help you understand it and learn it.
And understand that, look, you got to be mindful about the people that are closest to you and they invest in you. They pray for you. They're there for you. You got to love them.
Go back to Luke chapter 4. We see that they despise Jesus. But I want you to notice, and we'll finish up here soon, that they persecuted Jesus.
I want you to notice something. Jesus was not just, you know, this limp-wristed preacher. I mean, I feel like these people, they kind of upset him.
Because, you know, he's preaching in Capernaum. He's preaching in all these places and people are coming to hear him preach, flocking to hear him preach.
And then he shows up to his hometown and he preaches this and they're like, it's not this Joseph son.
And he says to them, you know, the reason you're treating me this way is because a prophet is not without honor saving his own country.
But by then I think they'd already pissed him off. So now he's like, oh yeah, you want me to take, let me take my gloves off.
And now he begins to preach this really angry sermon at them. I want you to notice it. Luke chapter 4, verse 25.
Now you might think, well, what's so mean about this? But you got to get yourself in the context of who you're speaking to.
But I tell you of a truth. This is Jesus preaching. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias.
Okay, keep in mind, he's in the nation of Israel. He's in a synagogue.
And he says, let me tell you something. You know that there was many, because he's talking about the fact that they are rejecting him, right?
Nazareth is rejecting him. But it kind of gets him thinking about the fact that the Jews are going to reject him as a whole.
The Bible says that he came unto his own and his own received him not.
So he is saying, he's going to start talking to them about the fact that, hey, you're rejecting me, but you know what? You're going to get rejected.
God's going to end up rejecting you because of your rejection of me.
And he says, this has already kind of been seen throughout the Bible. He says, but I tell you of a truth that, he says, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias.
When the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, Jesus says, remember Elijah?
Remember how Elijah prayed that the heavens would be shut up and there was a great famine and people were literally starving to death?
Jesus says, did you know that there were many widows in Israel that were starving to death during the time of Elijah?
Verse 26, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Seraptah a city of Sidon, not a city in Israel, a Gentile city, unto a woman that was a widow.
If you're familiar with the story of Elijah, you know this is true. Elijah, there was a famine and God sent him to a widow outside of the nation of Israel and she had one last morsel of bread.
She said, I'm going to eat this and my son and then we're going to die because this is the last food we have. And he says, okay, that's fine. Just feed me first.
And she fed him by faith and then God protected them and gave them food throughout the famine. That's a very famous story.
These Jews would have known that story and Jesus says, have you ever thought about the fact that there was lots of widows that were starving during this time?
And God could have sent Elijah to any widow to save any widow in the nation of Israel, but God chose to send him to a Gentile widow.
Why would God do that? Jesus was making the point. Maybe because they rejected Elijah. Maybe because a prophet is not without honor saving his own country.
And then to make it worse, he says, and, have you ever thought about this? Verse 27, and many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisah.
She says, since we're talking about Elijah, let's talk about his partner, Elisha.
Jesus said, have you ever thought about this? That there was many lepers. Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisah, the prophet.
And none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Elisha goes to heal a leper. There's lots of lepers in Israel, but he only heals a Gentile leper.
Couple things. Number one, Jesus was not a Zionist.
Jesus was not, you know, he was saying, hey, you know what, they rejected Elijah, so Elijah went to the Gentiles.
They rejected Elisha, and Elisha went to the Gentiles, and you're going to reject me, and the gospel's going to go to the Gentiles.
That's the point that he's making.
But he's really, because, you know, the Jews, they're like, hey, we're God's chosen people. We're the greatest things in sliced bread. I mean, we're amazing. Look how amazing we are.
And Jesus is like, well, if you were so amazing, why didn't Elijah heal, why didn't God send Elijah to bring food to one of the widows in Israel?
Why did God send Elijah to save a Gentile? If you're so amazing, then why didn't Elisha heal? There's many lepers in Israel, but he heals a Syrian?
There's many widows in Israel, but he goes to Sarapta, a city of Sidon?
Jesus is predicting for them that God is getting ready to move away from Israel and that the gospel's going to go to the world.
But in that, he does it in a very pointed way, so notice how they respond, verse 28.
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, just like some of you when I was preaching about church attendance, were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city.
Notice, this is the first sermon recorded in the gospel according to Luke. How does it play out?
He preaches a sermon, he goes to hold an invitation, and they don't walk down the aisle.
The Bible says they thrust him out of the city, notice verse 29, and rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him unto the brow of the hill.
The word brow is referring to the highest point or the summit of the hill, whereupon their city was built that they might cast him down headlong.
Their response to his sermon is, we're going to throw you off a cliff.
Let me tell you something. The Jesus that you're taught about is not the Jesus of the Bible.
The Jesus of the Bible is hated because his preaching was pointed and applicable.
They rejected him, and he says, you know what, no big deal.
A prophet is not without honor saving his own country. Go ahead and reject me. They rejected Elijah.
And then he's talking to these Jews and he says, have you ever thought about the fact that there was many widows in Israel?
They're in the fandom. Remember when I was dying and God sends Elijah to a Gentile widow?
Have you ever thought about it? The fact that there was many lepers in Israel, and Elijah, he was a leper, but he was an Israelite leper, he was a Syrian.
And they got so angry because they got the point. They understood what he was saying.
They got so angry that they led him, they were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him into the brow of the hill whereupon the city was built that they might cast him handlong.
And then notice verse 30, and he passing through the midst of them, this had to have been miraculous, went his way.
I mean, think about that. They're so angry and upset, they're pushing him to the hill, and then they get to the cliff and they're like, wait, where is he?
And I don't know, you know, I don't know how this happened.
It kind of reminds me of like when the angels went to see Lot and Sodom, how all the Sodomites were there trying to like kill them and rape them, and the Bible says that the angels blinded them.
Or Elisha, how the Bible talks about how the enemy nation, the army came against them and he blinded them and he confused them and he took them to the king.
I'm not sure what happened here, but they were going to throw him off a cliff and he passing through the midst of them went his way.
And this goes back to what we talked about last week. Remember when Satan quoted that prophecy from Psalms where he says that the angels of God, that God gave charges to the angels that he would not dash his foot against the stone?
Jesus was not going to die until he was ready to die. He laid down his life. They tried to kill him. After his first sermon, they tried to kill him.
You know, this encourages me because I feel like people have tried to kill me after I preach sometimes. They've tried to throw me off a cliff.
They wanted to cast him headlong. Go to John chapter 15. We'll finish up. Luke, John 15.
We saw the pattern of Jesus. He had a pattern of being faithful to the assembly of believers and you should too.
We saw the preaching of Jesus. We saw his purpose that he came to preach the gospel, that he came to heal the broken hearted, that he came to set out liberty to those that were captive.
We saw the prophecy of Christ that he was the Messiah at the first coming and also at the second coming, but he makes sure to stop there between that common.
He puts a period because he says this day has been fulfilled in your ear and he wanted to make sure he did not cover what he's going to do in the second coming.
We saw the procurement of Christ that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah, that he was the Messiah. We saw that they despise him. He stands up to preach and though other places are excited to hear him, other places are willing to receive him.
In his hometown, they said, is this not Joseph's son? And he says a prophet is not without honor saving his own country.
He preaches a sermon about that and we see the persecution of Jesus.
And here's the point. Look, this is his first sermon. First sermon recorded in the Gospel of Luke and they try to throw him off a cliff. That ought to tell you something.
John 15 verse 18. This is what Jesus said.
If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I sent unto you. The servant, that's us, is not greater than his Lord. That's Jesus.
If they have persecuted me, Jesus says, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake because they know not him that sent me.
Let me tell you something. When you hear that people are bad mouthing or persecuting or blaspheming your pastor or other men of God that are preaching the word of God.
Hey, don't let that scare you and say, oh man, is there something wrong with my pastor because, you know, if he was like Jesus, everybody would love him.
Oh really? Because when Jesus preaches his first sermon, they try to throw him off a cliff.
And Jesus says, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
He says the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
He says they're going to do this for my name's sake. Look, don't be surprised when persecution comes.
They hated our Savior. They didn't like his preaching. They rejected him and they will hate and reject us too.
We should be ready for that. We should be prepared for that. In fact, the Bible says we should rejoice when they do because we're being like Christ.
The point of the sermon is this, we ought to be like Christ. You ought to have a pattern like Jesus had a pattern.
You ought to preach like Jesus preached. The gospel to the poor and if you stand up to preach in an assembly, make sure it's applicable and pointed.
And when persecution comes, rejoice. Because he says they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
That's why I had tonight a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word and for this passage of scripture.
This first ministry of Christ that we see in the gospel of Luke, it's an amazing story.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to pattern ourselves to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, I pray that people would not leave here today angry like the Jews did.
Maybe there was something preached that applied to them. Help them not to get angry, help them to get right with you, make it right.
Help us all to draw closer to you. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.