This morning we're in Luke chapter
4. We'll be looking at verses 14-21. I can't express the joy that
it brings to my heart when a brother or sister comes to me, they've
been away for a while, sick, traveling. I've expressed this
to you often times. It seems that when go away on
trips for vacation for a long period of time. I just get down
to that couple of days before we're going to return, I just
start looking forward. Oh, I can't wait to get back. I can't wait
to get back and go to church. I need to hear about my Savior. I've missed it. And when one
of my brothers and sisters comes to me and says, man, it's so
good to be back. I have just been... James came,
the last one that came to me, remember he was sick with the
COVID for like the fourth time, old COVID magnet over here. He comes to me and he says, you
know, going through the sickness is
a bit of real pain. Yeah, but the worst part about
it is I've been away from the church. I need to be here. Can I come even if I'm sick?
Sure you can. You just sit back over there
on the way back over there and don't touch anything. Sorry. Well, tell the ladies so they
can move forward a little bit more. Or whoever. You know, I
was talking about this, or I was reading something on this the
other day and somebody was mentioning, and he says, you know, folks,
this is a big room. There's very few people in this
room right now. There's all kinds of space we
could put somebody sick back in the corner and make sure that
they don't give it away to anybody else. If you've got to be what
the Lord has preached, come. I'd understand it completely.
Come. It blesses my heart when people
come to me and say, I need to hear the Word of God. I've been
away traveling for a bit. Maybe an illness has kept me
from attending services. or maybe work. There are some who attend when
they can because they have to work. Whatever might be keeping
them away, it's a blessing when they come and say, I need to
hear the Word of God. It's a blessing because I feel
the same way. I cannot understand one who claims
to have experienced God's grace in saving them and not being
troubled by being away from the Word of God. I just don't understand
it. I don't understand how that can be. How can you not be around
the Word of God when you know and have experienced
His grace in saving a wretch like you? See, that's God's people. We're
all wretches, and we know it. Just look at the inside of my
heart, and you can see it. I'm thankful you can't. I'm thankful
she can't. I'm thankful there's only one
who can. And because of what he has done,
he doesn't even see it anymore. He says, My sins are remembered
no more. Isn't that amazing? He knows everything. He knows
everything. He knew everything before anything
was ever created. Is that not the God of Scriptures?
That's what it tells us in God's Word, isn't it? He knows all
things, yet He remembers My sins and your sins, if you are in
His Son, in the Lord Jesus Christ, no more. That's some deep stuff. That
guy who's flapping around on top of the pond, who's not getting
deep enough into God's Word, I'm telling you, that's going
deep. That's going so deep that we don't even understand the
depth of our Lord's love for us, that He can look upon me
and not see my sin, but see the blood of His Son. It's even more
amazing that He can look upon His Son and see that that sin,
not just the one, but all of our sins are paid for by His
blood. He who knew no sin was made sin,
that you and I would be made the righteousness of God in Him. When Kathy and I travel on vacation,
where there's no meeting of God's true saints, we earnestly miss
the coming together and the worshiping of God with God's people. We
begin to thirst. It's like going out without any
water for a period of time. And when we return, oh, the taste. It's like taking a cold glass
of water, sitting with God's people. Oh, that's good. Oh, that's good
water, as long as you don't take it from our well. It's the feeling you have when
you have a nice cold drink of water. Do you have the same experience
when you're gone? Do you experience that same feeling
when you're away from the Word of God? Do you thirst for God's
Word after being away for a time? If you do, You may want to examine the faith
that you have in Jesus Christ our Lord. You should be examining
it anyway. But you may even want to more. Our greatest example to follow
in this life we tread stands right before us here in Luke
chapter 4. Look with me if you would at verses 14 through 16. Luke chapter 4. beginning at
verse 14. And Jesus returned in the power
of the Spirit into Galilee, and there went out a fame, a report. He was producing miracle after
miracle after miracle, so many miracles that you couldn't fill
all the books of the world at that time with. His name was
going out with great fame. He went out a fame of Him through
with all the region around about. verse 15, and he taught in the
synagogues, being glorified of all, and 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 a reading. Our greatest example to follow
in this life In this life that we tread, walking through this
valley is a shadow of death. Because that's what it is. It's
death to those who are reprobates. We deserve it to be our death.
But because Christ shed his own blood for us, it's nothing more
than a shadow of death. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. I shall in no way cast out those
who come to me. You cannot be plucked out of
God's hands. Nobody has the power to take
you out of God's hands. People like to use the phrase,
once saved, always saved. The true faith is this, God's
people have always been saved. Our names were written in the
book of life before the world was ever created. God looked
down through time and he saw each one of his people and he
says, I'll come to that one then, I'll come to this one then, I'll
come to that one right then. Why? Because it pleased the Lord
to do so. It pleased the Lord to come to
John Reeves sitting in that pew when he came here the day to
cry on his brother's shoulder. And God used a man standing in
this very pulpit to say, your mind. To shine the light of grace in
my heart through the preaching of his word. as His custom was. Our Messiah, our Deliverer, the
Creator of all things, as we read in John 1, verse 3, was
accustomed to attending services. He was accustomed to attending
the worship hour. He was found in the synagogue
on the Sabbath day, reading God's Word. We just recently read about another
who regularly was found where God's people would gather to
worship. Turn back, if you would, to Luke chapter 2. Let's read
it again. Luke chapter 2. Just a couple of pages back. In Luke chapter 2, verse 25,
we read this, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose
name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout. Now we know the only way any
man outside of Christ is just is to be in Christ. And it says
he was devout. He was devoted to coming to the
worship place where God's people worshiped. He was waiting, as
it says in that verse, for the consolation of Israel. And the
Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. Where was he going to see the
Lord's Christ but in the church? in the synagogue where God's
people worship. He didn't go out to some tree
somewhere and sit underneath the trees and worship some whatever
was in his mind there. He went to where God's people
were. God drew him there by the Spirit
just as He has drawn each and every one of us. Just as He drew
John Reeves to come here that day and cry to his brother. came by the Spirit in the temple. And when the parents of the child
brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of
the law was, then took he, then took Simeon up in his arms and
blessed God and said, Lord, now let us that I have served depart
in peace according to thine eyes, thy word. Mine eyes have seen
thy salvation. Where did he see it? He saw it
in the place of worship. Jesus Christ our Lord over here
and look forward. He was in the synagogue as His
custom was. Back in our text in 4, and 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. What was He doing? He was reading
God's Word. It was customary for men to stand
up and read from the Bible, from the Old Testament scrolls. And
we know what they read about. Our Lord told two men on the
road to Emmaus everything there was to know about himself from
Moses all the way through the prophets. He expounded unto them
the things concerning Himself, as it says in Luke chapter 24. Now, our Savior was not like
us in the way of spiritual needs. He was in the ways of the flesh.
He lacked nothing spiritually, though. You and I lack much.
We lack much physically. We lack everything spiritually.
Christ being a 100% man, He needed food, He needed water, He needed
rest to sustain the flesh, but as a 100% God, He lacked nothing
spiritually. Christ Jesus was God in the flesh,
folks. The Spirit of God was always
upon Him. Let me repeat that, the Spirit
of God was always upon Him for three or one. God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, they are all of one mind, of
one purpose, three distinct persons, absolutely, yet all the fullness
of the Godhead can be seen in the one face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, when you have seen me,
you've seen the Father. He lacked nothing spiritually,
yet he was found, as his custom was, in the place of worship.
You and I are weak in the flesh and in the spirit and in faith.
To spend much time away for us is to deprive our spirit of nourishment. Our spirit becomes dry and as
weakened as our bodies would be if we deprived ourselves of
water and food. Old story, I think Henry Mahan
was the one who, I think I remember somebody going back and somebody
said this, somebody said a story, and I think it led back to actually
Henry Mahan. He heard from somebody else. There was a man who was
attending services at every service there was. Wednesday night, Friday
night, Sunday three times. He attended all the services
and for some reason one day he just stopped. And after some
time had gone by, the pastor went over to the man's house. Knocked on the door, he entered
the door. They didn't say many words to each other. Maybe just
come in, sit down. He came in, sit down, and there
was a fire going in the fireplace. And he looked at it, and he looked
at it, and he sat there and stared at the fire. And after a moment
or two, the pastor reached in with a pair of tongs, and he
pulled out a piece of coal. And he set it on the hearth, on the rocks over here, away
from the fire. And as he sat there watching
it, the coal began to get dark. Very dark. After a few moments, the pastor
reached over and picked that coal back up and put it back
in the fire, and soon it was full of flames again. He got
up without saying a word, went to walk out the door, and the
man said, I got your message. I got your message. Do you ever
feel like that? Do you ever feel like your coal's
going a little chilly? Come to the Word of God as often
as you can. As often as you can. We're weak in the flesh and in
the spirit. We spend much time away and we
deprive our spirit of nourishment. Just as our bodies are weakened,
at the deprivation of food and water. So is our spirit. Look with me if you would over
2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Our subject matter is Is that your custom? Can you
call it your custom? To be where the Word of God is
preached? Look with me, if you would, at 2 Peter 3, beginning
at verse 11. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, destroyed, what manner, speaking of all
the things of the world, the elements shall melt, the fervent
heat, the earth also, and all the works that are therein shall
be burned up. Seeing then what these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation? That word conversation means
living. That means your walk and godliness. Verse 12, look
for the hasty, look with an earnest desire unto the coming of the
day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt in fervent heat. Nevertheless, we,
according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent, be careful, be earnest, that
ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless,
not in your own works, but be found of him in peace with Christ,
without spot in Christ, blameless in Christ. Verse 15, an account
that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our
beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him
hath written unto you. Verse 16, as also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things which are some things
hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable
rest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction,
ye therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things, before,
beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness." Now, I want you to understand
something. What that just said is not being falling into the
depths of hell. Our Lord Jesus paid the price
and went to the depths of the hell for us. This is talking
about stumbling and being weak in our walk with God. That's talking about having that
cold, it gets a little cold. How do we get it fired back up
again? What's our custom? Is it our custom to come before
God with His people at the time of hour and worship? Seeing you know these things
before, beware. Beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness,
but grow in grace, verse 18, and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. How do we keep from falling into
that error? How do we protect ourselves? What can we do not to fall into
that error of being led away with the error of the wicked
and fall from our own steadfastness? Grow in grace, and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be glory both
now and forever. Amen. How can I grow in grace
and in the knowledge of my Savior? Our Lord shows us, as His custom
was. Let's go over Romans chapter
10. Let's go over Romans chapter
10. as his custom was grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. How? How can I do that? Our Lord chose the foolishness
of preaching to strengthen, to save, the foolishness
of preaching to shine His gospel in the hearts
of His believers. Look over here at chapter 10,
verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As
it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith,
Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh. How? You see that? How does faith
come? How are we going to grow in the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and in His knowledge of Him? Are we going to learn it? Are
we going to grow by going out and sitting under a tree? Praying
in a closet by ourselves? Faith cometh by hearing, and
what? And the hearing by the Word of God. What was Christ
doing? He was standing in the synagogue
on the day appointed for worship, and he was reading His Word. What are we doing right now?
We're doing exactly that! We're gathering together in the
name of our Savior. Where two or more are gathered,
He is in our midst. That's what His Word says. Teaching
us. Teaching us what we need to do.
Teaching us how we need to walk. Teaching us who it is we're to
look to. Not here. To Him. To our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing
by the Word of God. Has God given you a desire to
grow in His grace? Has He given you a desire to
know more about the Savior? We sang this song. Let me read
it for you. We sang this for our Opening
Hymn and Bible study. Let me read these words. Hear the words. Oh, how I pray
you hear with the ears of the heart. More about Jesus would I know. More of His grace to others show. More of His saving fullness see. More of His love who died for
me. More about Jesus let me learn. More of His holy will discern. Spirit of God, my Teacher be,
showing the things of Christ to me. More about Jesus in His
Word, holding communion with my Lord, hearing His voice in
every line, making each faithful saying, Mine. More about Jesus
on His throne, riches in glory, all his own, more of his kingdom
sure increase, more of his coming Prince of Peace. Does that resonate with you? Do those words ring in your heart? One of the most blessed aspects Do you ever wonder why, I know
I made a few comments today, but usually we try very, usually
very rarely do I make any comments during reading scripture. I want
God to be your teacher in that. I want you to read God's word,
maybe he'll inspire a question. Exactly what you brought up.
Sitting over there between services. reading His Word. Even in our most degenerate times, we need to read with great reverence
the Word of God. Great emphasis was given to us
through the reading of the Holy Scriptures. Back in our text
in Luke chapter 4, look with me again at verse 16.
And 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 a reading. Now read with me, if you would,
what his response was to that reading. Look at verses 17-21. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah. Now remember, in the old days,
it came in scrolls. It wasn't in one book like we
have here. The scroll of Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,
he found a place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel the good
news to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord." And he 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 on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day, this scripture, this day
is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Christ is declaring
the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled right then by him. Our Lord fulfills everything.
Everything prophesied in the old scriptures about Himself
is being fulfilled by Himself. The message spoken of by the
prophet Isaiah was preached. No mere man can speak to the
hearts of men, but we do bring the good news, we bring the gospel,
And God the Spirit uses that sinner who stands in a pulpit
to speak, and then he applies the word to his people's hearts. In this case, Christ is the speaker
as well as the amplifier, as well as the applier, I'm sorry.
And our Lord fulfilled the word spoken of right there, right
then. He was anointed by God Almighty
to preach the good news to the poor at heart. The Apostle Paul
told the young pastor Timothy to give attendance to reading
scriptures. He said he was exhorting to the saints and teaching them
the doctrine to the gospel. He said this in 1 Timothy 4.13,
Now the scripture that we just read that the Lord is referring
to there is over in Isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2, and I'll read
it for you just so you can see, it's almost word for word what
Christ says. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek. That's the gospel, the good news,
good tidings. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty to the captives, and
to open to the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn. Our master was a man And as a
man, a preacher, anointed by the works of his Father, he prepared
for the work by a special gift of his Spirit. And I want to
bring before you three things true preaching requires, and
think about what we just read from our Lord and Savior, and
you'll see where it applies to this. It says the Spirit of God.
You must have the Spirit of God in order to preach God's Word.
If I just stand here before you and read God's Word, folks, there
are thousands and thousands of men and women who are doing that
very thing today, at this very hour, probably within a couple
of miles of here, that are reading God's Word and preaching without
the Spirit of God. That's where free willism comes
in. That's how men interpret three verses out of Scripture
about God does not desire to lose any, and they'll take that
as any of the whole world, when what it really means, if you
take it into the whole counsel of God, it means He won't lose
any of His chosen people. He won't lose any for whom He
paid the price on the cross for. It means that who He paid the
price for on that cross shall come to Him. Isn't that what
God's Word says? All that the Father giveth Me shall come to
Me. Is that not God's Word? The Spirit
of God is not with you. You are not preaching the Gospel. Then it also says that the second
one is the anointing of God. If God has not anointed a man
to stand in the pulpit and preach His Word, that man will preach
anything else but God's Word. How else could you not explain
for a thousand different religions all preaching something that
they call the Word of God? And then thirdly, the message
must be of God. Paul says, I wish to know nothing
of you save Christ and Him crucified. Why is that? Because anything
else can be interpreted into works. When we preach Christ
in Him crucified as the sovereign God of all creation who laid
down His life, shed His blood, it's a perfect message that cannot
be misinterpreted. It can be ignored. It can be said, well, I don't
believe that. That was the message that was
given to the Jews. And what did the Jews do? They
got angry. hum our Lord on a cross for it. We're going to look at
that next week. Part 2 of this message is the
response from the people when God's Word is preached. Our Master
was more than just a preacher, though. He is our Savior. We
preach what He did. He preached what Himself was
going to perform. This is why He said, This day
is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Because he was the
one who was fulfilling it. I tell you what he's done. He's
telling the people, I'm doing it. He preached the gospel, glad
tidings and good news. He didn't give good advice. He
preached the gospel of who it was that would save his people. Not like most pulpits today,
modern preaching is nothing more than advice given to sinners.
If you just do this, if you'll start acting like this, if you'll
get in the waters of baptism, if you'll worship on Saturday,
if you'll go in a box and tell that guy what you've done wrong.
Telling dead sinners what they must do. Folks, the gospel of
Christ is a proclamation of grace. It's the good news telling poor
sinners what Christ has done. Our Savior preached the gospel
to the poor, it says. That word poor means meek. Not one person that ever walked
this earth became meek on their own. Even, I'm sorry if this offends
you, but even that little meek woman, who did all the nice things
for all the poor people, that Catholic woman, Sister Teresa. Folks, we must be made meek. We must be brought to understand
our standing before God. If you think you have something
before God, even if it's your works and what you're doing,
the good works that you're doing for the poor, It's worthless
unless it's God and you doing it. He preached the gospel to
the poor. These poor sinners that he was
preaching to who were broken before God, God had to break their hearts that they would understand they
needed a savior. knowing that they had nothing
to offer a holy Lord and they had no ability to produce anything
that He might except from them. These poor were meek and humbled
and broken in the weight of sin and the weight of guilt upon
their conscience before God's glorious holiness. The Lord Jesus
Christ heals. He binds up the brokenhearted.
He makes blind eyes to see. He gives comfort to the liberty.
and liberty to the bruised souls. The Son of God opens the prison
doors of those who are captive by their natural... All this grace that
He pours out to sinners is upon the basis of His justice satisfied. Satisfied by His blood atonement.
He was proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord, the day God's
righteousness, His vengeance and justice for His people would
be satisfied at Calvary. That's what he was proclaiming.
The year of the Lord. The day of the Lord. It's coming.
Remember what he told his disciples? He goes, we must go up to Jerusalem. And this is what we're going
to do. And the Jews are going to persecute me. They're going
to beat me. They're going to do all this
stuff to me. And then they're going to hang me on a tree. He
wasn't bashful about what He came here for. Everything the
Lord Jesus Priest was about Himself and what He was here for, to
save His people, to save you and I. It says then in Luke 4, 20-21, And he closed the book, and he
gave it again to the minister, and he sat down, and the eyes
of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them,
This day the Scriptures are fulfilled in your ears." Our Lord fulfilled the message. He is the message. He is this
message of all Holy Scripture. He was the fulfillment of this
passage, as it said in Isaiah 61, and just as He is the fulfillment
of all Old Testament writings. He fulfilled all the law. Where
you and I could fulfill none of it, He fulfilled it all. He
fulfilled everything that the prophets said about Him. He fulfilled
all the types that were given about Him. The covering of Adam and Eve in the
garden. of our Lord and Savior when our
Lord would lay down His life and cover you and I with His
righteousness, with His robes. Our Lord fulfilled all the Psalms.
He fulfilled all the Proverbs. He fulfills all the history of
the Old Testament. And He speaks about the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we find the fulfillment in Him. After our
Lord had gone to the cross and died in our stead and was risen
to the victory over death, He gives us these words in Luke
24, 27, And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, That all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures." Where do you learn?
Where do you grow in grace and the knowledge of our Savior?
In the meeting place where God has determined for us to meet.
Brother Don Porter wrote this, he says, In a word, God gave
faith to His chosen in the Old Testament, just as He gives you
and I faith, by supernatural revelation. We do not just become
smarter one day. Our Lord must reveal his word
to us. He reveals his word to his chosen
sinners. Look at Hebrews 11 sometime in
your own time. The revelation in the Old Testament
was just as clear as it is to you and I in today's world. It
says in Romans 10 and 17, so then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. What grace for God to reveal
His word of truth to us. You know He didn't have to, right?
As a child of God, I know my Lord, if He had given me all
that I deserve, I would go through that doormark death and spend
it in eternity in hell. And I would have deserved it.
I had earned it. Yet by His grace, my Savior took
it for me." For God to reveal His truth to
us, He could have just left us to ourselves as others, yet God
has led the people. A people chosen from the world
before the world was made. A people chosen to be the recipients
of His love through the cross of His Christ. To be recipients
of His mercy. Look with me one more place if
you would. We were reading it today, as you would over in Romans
chapter 9. Turn over to Romans chapter 9. Look with me if you
would at verses 21 through 23. Hath not the power over the clay
of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another
unto dishonor? What if God willing to show His
wrath and to make His power known endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fated to destruction? and that He might
make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy
which He had aforeprepared unto glory." Lord willing, we'll look
at those words a little more detailed in next Sunday's Bible
study. But for now, I want to take this with you. I want you
to take this with you as you go out into your week walking
in this world. What is your custom? What is your custom? If it's being with the saints
of God at the hour of worship, reading the word of God, I pray
these words fit you and experience. Vessels of mercy, which he had
aforeprepared unto glory. Amen.