Quite a blessing to see you this
morning, Donna. Thank you, John. You bring a great joy to my heart
here. Turn to the Book of Luke once again, if you would. Last
week, we considered some scripture in chapter four. It was titled,
the message was, As His Custom Was. And this morning, that was
part one. This morning, I wanna look at
this same scripture, part two of As His Custom Was. And I've
titled this morning's message, Astonished Yet Filled With Wrath. We considered our Lord's custom
in going to a place determined for worship, just as it is for
all of God's people to come out of the world, come to the place
where God's people meet, and worship our Lord. Folks, I'm
not saying you can't. If you've got no place to go
and the only cave is the only place you got to go to worship
the Lord, that's what you gotta do. We know several folks who
don't have any place to go and worship God, but this is where
God's people come on a normal basis, just like Christ went
to the synagogue on the day of Sabbath, to do what? To read
God's word. That's worshiping God, reading
his word in truth, worshiping him in truth and in spirit. We
consider the words that our Lord gives us here and how, as his
custom was to gather together with God's people, where his
gospel should be preached, and our Lord declared scripture was
fulfilled In his actions, all that were present were affected
and amazed by his gracious words. Look with me if you would again
at verses 18 through 22 of Luke chapter four. The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he, our Lord
Jesus, closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister
and sat down. And the eyes of all them that
were in the synagogue were fastened upon him. And he began to say
unto them, fulfilled in your ears. Verse
22, and all bear him witness and wandered at the gracious
words which he proceeded out of his mouth. And they said,
is not this Joseph's son? Do you think they misunderstood
what he said? This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears." Everybody was looking upon Him. The whole congregation
had stopped to hear this man speak. They heard every word
that he said. Just like those on the mountain.
Remember the 5,000 that were on the mountain? Could you imagine?
They didn't have speakers, stuff like we have, folks. Every person
on that mountain, when the Lord preached, Blessed be, to me,
blessed be. Every person heard every word
our Lord spake. Do you think they misunderstood
him? They understood exactly. That's why they asked the question,
is not this Joseph's son? Is that not who just said that?
Those very words, wait a minute. I've watched him grow up. I remember
when he was born back in Bethlehem and there was all this fuss about
a star. I remember the day they came to Jerusalem to worship
and his parents left and he stuck around and hung out with us for
a bit. I watched this guy grow up. Think about these elders
of the congregation. Who is this man? Isn't that Joseph's
son? Who is he that claims to be God?
Who does he think he is declaring himself to be the fulfillment
of Holy Scripture? Is this not Joseph's son? Where
did he study? Where did he study? He didn't
study with any of us here in the synagogue. He wasn't with
any of these teachers that we have, these scribes that we have.
What a picture of the religious world. Where are your credentials? Where did you go to school, John?
I went to school right here. I sat under the preaching of
God's word for almost 20 years, 18. But that's not where I was
schooled. Where I was schooled, where all
of God's children are schooled, are in the works of grace in
our hearts. You must be taught of God. That's the scripture.
That's what it says, you must be taught of God. You must be
taught of him, of what grace means to you. The world, they
all know about this word grace, folks. They're not foolish. They're
not fools. They're not ignorant. They know
what the word sovereignty means. But if they have not experienced
it, they have no idea what God's word means in those areas. Who
is this man? Who is this man who declares
himself to be the fulfillment of God's word? Man will use whatever
they can to discredit the truths of God's word. even taking it
out of context, or purposely misinterpreting it, misinterpreting
the things because they don't fit to their narrative. Our false
sense of self-worth is threatened by the sovereignty of God. That's
just the way it is, folks. If you haven't been made low,
Christ is not your highest point. You must be made low. What is
it our Lord had preached? Well, let's start again back
here in verse 18. What is it he preached? First
thing he preached is the Spirit of Lord is upon me. Remember
when he came out of the waters after being baptized by John
the Baptist? What was it? What was it everybody
saw? Everybody saw the Spirit of God
descending as a dove with flaming wings, landing on his shoulders. The Spirit of God was upon this
one, Christ. declared himself to be God Almighty
right there. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Now, I couldn't help it as I
was reading this and I was thinking about, okay, what am I... There's
a guy on TV. And I know he's still there.
Some of you may have heard. I'm just scanning through the
TV and all of a sudden here's this guy. And it turns out he's
been there for a long time. And he still preaches this message.
I don't know how anybody can be so foolish to fall for this,
but he still preaches this message. If you send me a dollar, God
will give you 10. Is that ridiculous or what? He's
preaching the gospel to the poor. You can't feed your own self.
All you can afford is Food for your animals, but you can't afford
for any for yourself. Can't go see the doctor. Can't
get your teeth fixed. You don't have any money. You're
poor. I can tell you how you can get rich. Send me a dollar,
he says, and God will bless you. That's not the poor this is talking
about. This is talking about the poor of the spirit. Are there
any people here today with a poor spirit? Do you need to hear a
gospel? Do you need to hear good news?
Here's good news. He hath sent me, says our Lord,
this one who has the Spirit of God upon him. Why? Why does he
have the Spirit of God upon him? Because he is God in the flesh.
He is one with God the Father and one with God the Spirit.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, three distinct
persons, absolutely. And I say that every time because
I don't want anybody to get a misunderstanding. distinct persons of the Godhead,
but all three are of one mind. When you look at Jesus Christ,
you see God the Father because they are one mind, one purpose,
one will. Paul knew that with every fiber
of his being. Why? Because God gave him the
knowledge, the faith to believe it. When Paul wrote and he said,
I am convinced, I am confident, I am confident that nothing can
separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus the
Lord. Why? Because Christ Jesus is God in
the flesh. The spirit of God is upon him
in his job. He was sent to preach the good
news to the poor. God had sent him to heal the
brokenhearted. That's what the poor is. Those
who have a heart that is so broken, I've got nothing to give my God.
I've got nothing. I can't come down to the front
of the aisle. That's worthless. I can't get in the baptism. That's
worthless. I need a savior. I need one to
do it for me. Everything I do is full of sin.
Everything you do is full of sin. God will only accept righteousness. And we have none. That's a broken
heart. A broken and contrite heart when
you know you have absolutely nothing to offer God. He preached
the gospel to the poor, those who were brokenhearted, He preached
deliverance to the captives. What is that? Those who are captive
to sin. Lord, am I still, I know sin
is in my flesh. Am I still captive to it? No. He says to you and I, I have
paid it all. That doesn't mean you're not
gonna sin. That means that you're not gonna be held to the consequences
of it. That doesn't mean also you can
go out and do whatever you want. People will take that statement
and they'll say, you're saying that you can live any way you
want to? No, that's not what I'm saying at all. God's people
live according to the will of God. Every one of us do. We live according to the will
of God because it's God who lives in us. He cut that old stony
heart out, the one that said, I will not have this one to rule
over me. And he said, you will be my people. I will be your
God. Sin no more has no more reign
over me. I go out now and try not to the
best I can. But when I fail, and we all will,
I have an advocate in heaven. Scripture that's scriptural.
He says we have an advocate in heaven who makes intercession
for us right now. I paid for that sin, he says
to God. I've already covered that with my blood. My perfect
blood was shed for that. What else did he preach here?
He preached the recovering of the sight of the blind. What
were we blind to? We couldn't see the depth of
our depravity, could we? I was an okay guy. I hadn't killed
anybody. Oh, I've done some things. I
sawed a few oats. Yeah, I've done some things,
but I didn't do what that guy over there did. I was all right. I couldn't see that God chose
me and his son before the world began. We looked at that this
morning in the book of Romans chapter nine. Two children in
the womb of their mother, chosen before they were born. Chosen
before they were born, why? So that election might stand. I couldn't see that the atonement
that God gave The payment that Christ gave
of himself in shedding his own blood was for a certain people. Do you know the world doesn't
believe that? I think I shared with you a little bit last weekend,
my aunt in Arkansas, she believes that Christ died for everybody.
Everybody has a right to come and choose God, which takes the
blood of Christ and completely washes it under the bridge, makes
it worthless. The power of God shed his blood
on that cross, and whom he shed it for shall be saved. That's my peace. That's my peace. I was blind to the fact that
when God called me, just as he calls every single one of his
children, he said, come, and they came. Lazarus, he said,
come, and Lazarus came. The disciples, he said, come,
and they got up and left their work immediately and followed
him. When he said to John Reeves, come, I don't know why, I do
now, I didn't then, but the power of God spoke to the heart and
I came. Has God's power spoke to your
heart? Oh, if you know this, You know the joy and the wonder
of His grace, don't you? What else could I not see? I
couldn't see that once I was called into the light, once I
was given the revelation of Christ and His salvation for His people,
once I was called out of that darkness that I once loved and
walked in, that God would never let me go. Never. Why? I shed my blood for you, John.
That's worth more than anything to me. You think I'm going to
lose anything? You think I'm going to lose anything, giving
you my son, paying your price for you? The price of death.
My mom used to call it the frozen chosen. That's true. Folks, we've
been chosen from before the world began. God's Word says we were
written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the world was ever
created. I love saying this. Do you realize that everything
in creation Everything throughout all time was just so you and
I would be right where we are now, called by God to worship
Him, and we'll worship Him for eternity. Our Lord preached the
recovery of the sight of the blind, to set at liberty them
that were bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Folks, today is the day of the
Lord. Right now is the acceptable year of the Lord. Hear ye him,
hear ye him. Our Lord Jesus had just preached
the salvation for the sick, salvation for the blind, salvation for
the poor, salvation for the captive of sin, salvation for the brokenhearted,
and men wandered at his gracious words. That's the way the world
is. Oh, we love a Jesus who saves. Every religion in the world today
is for one reason, to satisfy man's guilty conscience. Take
that into thought. Every single religion out there
is to satisfy the guilty conscience men have about their sin. Gracious
words. There is salvation for somebody.
There is salvation. Oh, how wonderful. They wondered
at his gracious words. Then our Lord clearly declares
his sovereignty in this salvation, and this is where things change.
Brother Don wrote this, he said, everyone who had heard the Lord
Jesus preach was greatly impressed by his preaching. Now listen,
as we shall see, they were not impressed with what he preached,
but the way he preached it. There's a lot of guys out there
who have some real good pump you up charisma type voices,
don't they? That guy Joel Osteen, man, he's
got so many people following after his line of stuff that
he flies around in multiple jets. They loved what he preached,
but they were impressed with what he preached, but with the
way he preached, not with the way he preached it. What a danger. It says, and all bear witness
of him and wandered gracious words which proceeded out of
his mouth. And they said, is this not Joseph?
Joseph's son. Take heed, it tells us over in
chapter eight, verse 18. Take heed, therefore, how ye
hear. Our Lord's given us a warning.
Don closes with this. It says, they heard with pleasure,
but not with profit. They nodded their heads, but
did not bow their hearts. Look at verses 23 through 27
with me. And he said unto them, Remember,
this is our Lord. He's just preached these wonderful
words, these gracious words of salvation, words that bring comfort
to each one of their guilt, and now he's about to declare his
sovereignty. And he said unto them, ye will,
or no, I'm sorry, 23. Then he said unto them, ye will
surely say unto me this proverb, physician, heal thyself, whatsoever
we have heard done in Capernaum, do also in thy country. And he
said, verily I said unto you, no prophet is accepted in his
own country, but I tell you of a truth. Many widows were in
Israel in the day of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three
years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the
land, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sephardim,
a city of Sidon, unto a woman That was a widow. Verse 27, and
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elijah and the prophet,
and none of them was cleansed, saving Nahum, the Syrian. These
fine religious folks were expecting the Son of God to entertain them
with his wonders, with his miracles. We read over in verse 14, fame,
the fame of him. Fame had gone out in all the
world, all the area around him, all the land around him of his
miracles. And what they got was this. And
he said unto them, you are surely saying to me, this proverb, physician,
heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done
in Capernaum, do also in thy country. And he said, verily
I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
What? What? We expected you to do some stuff
for us here. We've heard these gracious words
about how people can be saved. So now, show us. Show us your
power, show us what it is you're claiming. Do a miracle for us.
Could you imagine seeing a miracle, a true miracle done? A man's
hand all of a sudden become whole, it was withered. Could you imagine
that? Oh, show us one of those, please. What is this one talking about?
Folks, just as the Lord knew what Peter would do in denying
him in the day of our Lord's trial, our Lord knew what these
men would do in that day also. He prophesies in what they're
gonna do when he's on that cross, when they will surely say out
in this province, physician, you who claim to heal things,
heal yourself. And then over in verses 25 through
27, our Lord Jesus declared to these proud Jews that God Almighty
is always sovereign, in exercising his mercy, his love, and his
grace. Or in other words, he says this,
like it is in Romans chapter 9. He says, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. Wait a minute. First you're telling
us that you can fulfill the scriptures, and now you're telling us that
our salvation is up to you. and not to us. That's what the
church, that's what the churches of the world are saying, isn't
it? Wait a minute, that can't be right. The message of divine
sovereignty is always too much for the proud, too much for the
self-righteous men and women for them to endure. So much so
that they'll even reject it. They love their power. That's what free willism is.
When you say that it's your will above God's, when you say that
you have the decision over your salvation, when you say that
you have the right to come down and accept God's word, when you
decide you want to do it, then you have exercised your power
that you think you have. God says you don't have it. God
says you don't have that kind of power. Those who feel that
way, they love the power and the sovereignty of God, denies
their self worth. Look over verses 28 through 29.
And all they, our Lord doesn't mix words, folks. All they in
the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city. let him
under the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they
might cast him down headlong. What did our master say to enrage
these people so? He didn't make fun of them. He
didn't belittle them, call them names. All he did was assert
that salvation is of the Lord. Our God is totally sovereign
in all things. People love to say, oh, I agree
with you. except he's given me the power. That's what it is
in religious today. He's given me the power. Don't
you think God should give us the power? Our Lord is sovereign
in all things, and that includes salvation. Men love to say that
God is sovereign, and they say, well, I have a free will, though.
I have the will to choose or to reject God's sovereignty.
And they deny God's word. That's what we read over in John.
They deny these words that we read in John 6, 37. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. They deny that. They deny that
God has the power to bring every one of his people to him. Over
in John chapter one, verses 12 and 13, we read this. But as
many as received him. Do we receive Christ? Oh yes,
we do. We are made willing in the day of His power. We are
given life who were dead and trespassed into sin. We are quickened.
As many as received Him. Now listen, here's the whole
point of those who received Him. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God. To them gave He power to become
the sons of God. Even to them that believe on
His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." God doesn't
need man's permission, folks. If your God needs your permission,
then you have no God at all. I ask you this, did the Lord
Jesus Christ wait for Lot? Remember the story of Lot? You
know, let's turn over there. Mark your place there, Luke.
We'll come back in a minute. Turn over to Genesis chapter 19, if
you would. You'll recall the story of Lot
when him and his family were in the city of Sodom. And just
to go back a little further than that, remember, there was a time
when Lot and Abraham were fighting. Their servants were fighting
between each other. And Abraham said, you choose
which way you want to go, and I'll go and take the other. And
Lot took the part that looked really nice. Oh, there's all
kinds of greenery. There's all kinds of rivers.
The trees are nice. Oh, this would be a great place
for me and my people to live, up there on the plains. Sodom
and Gomorrah grew up out of that. Abraham, the oldest, who should
have had the right to choose where he wanted to go, was left
out on the plains, out in the wilderness. So Lot and the cities
grew around him and his land grew and he prospered. One day,
a couple of angels came to visit Lot in the city of Sodom. And when the men of the city
found out, they wanted to have something to do with Lot. They
wanted to have something to do with those angels. Messengers
of the Lord had come to Sodom, and the men of the city came
out to know them, to rape them. They came to Lot's door, and
I want to pick up there. They've been knocking at the
doors. Send these men out. Look at verse 10, if you would,
with me. Genesis 19, chapter 10, or chapter
10 verse, chapter 19, verse 10. But the men put forth their hand
and pulled, what? This is speaking of the angels.
They pulled, what? Back into the house to them and
shut the door. And they smoked the men that
were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and
great. so that they wearied themselves
to find the door. And the men, the angels, said
unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides, son-in-law, and thy
sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city?
Bring them out of this place. Here the angels of the Lord are
warning them. The wrath of God is coming. That's
what we do, we warn folks that come through this door, those
that God has brought through this door, the wrath of God is
coming and we all deserve it. But the grace of God go with
some. They're warning, they're warning. Bring them out of this place
for we will destroy, verse 13, this place because the cry of
them is waxing great before the face of the Lord and the Lord
has sent us to destroy it. Verse 14, and Lot went out and
spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said,
Up, get ye out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this
city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which are here,
lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. Now listen
to this. I ask the question. I asked you
this question, does God need your permission? Did he need
the permission of Lot? And while he yet lingered, and
while he lingered, speaking of Lot, the men, the angels, laid
hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon
the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto
him, and they brought him forth and set him without the city.
I ask you again, did Lot, did God need Lot's permission? Folks, the God of Scripture needs
nothing from man. God does whatsoever he wills. His purpose cannot be turned
by his creation, and no man deserves God's grace. In fact, just the
opposite, we deserve his wrath. Look at verses 28 and 29 again. It says, And all they in the
synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. When they had heard that this
man was God Almighty and that he chose for whom he would, that
he would elect to save some and leave others to themselves, they
raised up and were filled with wrath, so much so that they would
willingly take a man and kill him for declaring himself that,
and they rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him into
the brow of the hill wherein the city was built, and they
might cast him down headlong. What was the cause of this rage?
Natural man will not bow to the authority of God is what it was.
I'll not have this one who says he has authority over me rule
me. Man denies the authority of God
in our depravity, They say, yes, I am dead in trespasses and sin,
yet I can choose whom and will I will serve by my own free will.
Listen to the words of Romans chapter nine, verse 16. We looked
at this in our Bible. I was gonna say to some of you
that were here with Bible study, you may not really realize where
Bible study finished and today's message began. They both seem
to be almost the same today. It just happens that way sometimes
when you're studying for both. It says, so that it is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in thee, that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he harden. That will say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall
the thing formed? Say to him that formed it, why
hast thou made me thus? And then Paul asks this question.
Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lamp to
make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor? Who are
we to question our maker? We must never forget that the
gospel we preach, the gospel we love, is a saver of life to
some and to death to others. Our Lord Jesus preached that
doctrine which always has, always must, and always will enrage
the carnal men of this world. Though the Son of God Himself
be the preacher, men could not hear. Look over at Matthew chapter
11 for a minute. Matthew chapter 11. Look at verses
25 and 26, and at that time, Matthew chapter 11, verses 25
and 26. And at that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed. Our Lord hides. Our Lord reveals
His gospel to His people. He revealed it to Babes, verse
26, even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. The sweet gospel doctrine of
divine sovereignty is an offense to the lost religious people.
It's an offense to men and women whose hearts are enmity against
God. Our sovereign God, particularly
His sovereignty and the exercise of His saving mercy, stands in
glaring opposition to the pride of will-worshiping men, to the
pride of idolatrous, free-will, works-religionists. The preaching
of the gospel always raises a bitter resentment instantly among such
rebels. To some, you see, God in the
flesh is not enough. Oh, I know, Christ came and he
laid down his life and he paid all of, but there's gotta be
something I can do. I have to walk straight now. I can't, I just have to walk
straight. I have to do the right things.
I have to do this, I have to do that. People call me every
once in a while, and I'm sorry, John, I couldn't be in church
today. Folks, you don't have to be sorry to me for nothing.
You're right where God would have you to be. If God wants
you here, you will be here. I know. People would ask, John,
why are you going to church? When I first started coming to
church? Because I don't know. I gotta be there. I gotta go.
I gotta hear it. My brothers, there was a death
in my brother's family. Where are you going, John? I
need to go to church. I need to go hear about my Lord. There was a lot of sorrow where
I was at. God wanted me in church and he
brought me to church that day. You may not know this. God brought
each and every one of you here today to hear his word preached. To some, the blood of Christ
is not enough. Oh, I know, Christ is God in
the flesh. I know that, I know that, and
I know he shed his blood on the cross, but there's gotta be something
I can do. I gotta make a decision. His
blood is not enough. I need more. You ever heard anybody
say that? You know, they come to this church
and they hear the same message today as they heard last Sunday. They heard the same message Friday
night as you're hearing right now. Those who were able to attend
Bible study this morning heard the same message that you're
hearing right now. And I've heard people say, that's
not enough. It's enough for me. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified is all I need. Everything else will come along
just as He has planned it. To some, the death of Christ
is not enough. To some, the resurrection of Christ is not enough. I ask
you this morning, are the works of Christ enough for you? If
so, then you have rest, a rest that the world cannot see, a
perfect rest. We rest in His grace. We have
a perfect rest in the precious blood of God Almighty, our Lord
and Savior Christ Jesus. We have a perfect rest in His
sovereign authority to do as He wishes in all things. We have
a perfect rest in Him. What grace that God would wish
to save me. What grace that God would become
flesh to save a wretch like me. What grace that God would hide
the sins of my flesh in his perfect, righteous body. What grace that
God would send his only begotten son to die in my stead. What grace that God would see
me as righteous as his risen, exalted son. What grace that
God would save a wretch like me. Now, last verse, 31. How did our master react to this
enraged mob Those who raged around. You have family come to you and
say, some of you have heard this, some of you may have not. I had
an aunt. She's gone from this world now.
Very religious. And I was up at mom's house one
day talking about how wonderful a message I heard about the grace
of God in saving me, John Rings. And it was all, I was just, I
was all about God chose me. He chose me in His Son before
the world began. That's what the Word of God said.
I was chosen in God. I was chosen by Him. Oh, how
thankful I am that God chose me, because I know that I wouldn't
have chosen Him. And she pointed her finger at
me and poked me in the chest, and she said, don't you take
my free will away from me. I talked to my pastor. He said,
that's a lie. I've never seen that woman get
angry like that, ever. Christ, when they got angry at
him, look at the example that he gave us, verses 30 and 31. But he, but he, passing through
the midst of them, went his way. That's what I did with my aunt.
Her anger raised her up in so much fury, I was so shocked,
I turned away and let it be. I told you about my aunt last
week. She wouldn't have anything to do with this election part.
Okay. I let it be. Christ let it be. He declared his word and then
walked away. We must never look to our labor
for the approval of men. Labor with your eyes towards
eternity. There is a time to dig and a
time to reap, time to sow and a time to seed and a time to
gather the harvest. Time to tear down and time to
build, but God alone determines these times. Our business is
to serve him with persevering faithfulness. He requires nothing
more, nothing less than faithfulness from his servants. And I pray,
may God in his gracious, in his graciousness, give us that faithfulness
that we need for his son's sake. Amen.