Well, we're going to continue
in the Gospel of Luke, and I want to turn your attention to some
verses in Luke chapter 4 this morning. Luke chapter 4, verses
14 to 32. And I want to start with a question.
How do you view God's salvation? Think about the world around
us. How do you view God's salvation? For many, they view it with complete
disbelief. irrelevant to them, indifference,
of no concern whatsoever. This appears like the majority
that we come across every day. God's salvation? Why would I
need such a thing? It's of no interest to me. It's
got nothing to say to me. It's an utter irrelevance. We
will not have this man to rule over. It's got nothing to do
with me. You can go following your religion if you want to,
but don't bother me with it. That's one end of the spectrum.
But then you'll find those who have an interest in it. You've
maybe heard it for a long time. There's an interest there. There's
not opposition to it. There might even be some sympathy. Oh, I can see what it says. I
see the point of it. Yes, I've been taught it all
my life. I see the point of it, but it's not for me right now
because I've got other things to do at the moment. or at the
other end of the spectrum wholehearted belief and commitment that's
how the true children of God view the salvation of God with
wholehearted belief and commitment it isn't something you can pick
up or put down at will it's not something that is in your hands
to pick up and put down at will it's God's prerogative to save
And it's God's prerogative to pass by. He passes by many, many
people. who are on the broad way that
leads to destruction. God is not waiting, as modern
religion tells you, God is not waiting for you to decide to
follow him. You know, God has done, you'll
hear these blasphemous preachers say, God has done all that he
can, now it's up to you. No, he's not waiting for you
to decide. This is what God is doing. He's
declaring his truth through his true preachers, and he's giving
light to whom he wills. We read that just before with
Cliff in the first chapter of John's Gospel. It's of God, not
of the will of man, not of the will of flesh, but of God. It's
God's will. Now let's set the scene for what's
happening here in chapter four of Luke's Gospel. God's promised
salvation had come. The Messiah who was promised
throughout the Old Testament has come. where Isaiah in the
Old Testament in chapter 40 says, say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your God. There he is, he's come. Christ
has been born. Simeon in the temple held that
little baby in his arms and he said, now I can die in peace.
I've seen God's salvation. He was holding the salvation
because the salvation of God was not a philosophy. It isn't
a system of belief, it's a person, the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he's holding that baby in his arms and saying,
I can now die in peace because I've seen the promised salvation,
he's come. And John the Baptist, about nine,
ten months, not quite a year older than Jesus, he'd been preparing
the way as that promised prophet that the Old Testament said would
come before Messiah came. And you remember we saw last
week, multitudes were convicted. Multitudes of all types of people. Religious folks, soldiers, Roman
soldiers were convicted at the preaching of John the Baptist.
because of, because there was the remission of sins. He was
preaching the remission of sins in a perfect substitute who was
coming imminently. He's coming. I'm not worthy to
undo the shoelace, the latched of his sandals. He's so much
greater than I am. He is the one who will baptize
you, not just with water as a symbolic outward thing, but inwardly with
the Holy Ghost. He is coming. John the Baptist
had prepared the way. And his baptism, the baptism
of John, was New Testament baptism. There isn't an Old Testament
baptism. There's nothing resembling it.
He baptized with New Testament baptism. And what was it? What
all New Testament baptism is. Symbolical union with the Savior
in his death and his resurrection. That's what it is. My life, this
is discerning the body and blood of the Lord, which we'll think
about later when we break the bread and wine. discerning the
body and blood of Christ, knowing that He came to do everything
that was needed to make me right with God for all eternity. That
it might be well with my soul, that I might have peace with
God, that I might have eternal salvation, that I might face
the judgment day, not with fear and dread of punishment or loss
of reward, but with rejoicing that God is doing all things
right. John the Baptist came proclaiming substitutionary atonement,
particular redemption, the forgiveness of sins in the Savior. And now
John the Baptist is decreasing, as he must, because John the
Baptist himself said, he must increase, I must decrease. Christ
is increasing. And in the first part of chapter
four, Christ, the man, the man Christ Jesus. You know, when
the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem those who are under
the law he had to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh
yet be without sin and in every way he had to be subjected to
the hardest rigors of the law of God and of the temptations
of Satan and he goes into the wilderness and he's tempted forty
days of Satan and Satan we're not going to look at we're not
going to look at it in any detail but he was tempted for forty
days with extreme temptation, that the man in whom dwelt God,
the man, the Word made flesh, that this man, this flesh like
Adam and Eve's flesh, like our flesh, that this man would crumble
and give way to the temptations of Satan, and thereby the eternal
plan of salvation would be frustrated. This has been the objective of
Satan, and yet he comes out of it. as the perfect lamb. The Passover lamb had to be set
aside for 14 days. Examine it. Look at it. Check
that it's perfect. It must be a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Not one that's lame in its legs,
not one that's blind. It must be perfect in every respect. Look at it, examine it. He's
had 40 days, the Lamb of God. Our Passover Lamb has been examined
of Satan 40 days and he hasn't given way. He's perfect. He comes
out of it having shown perfect submission to his Father's will. And now he comes in verse 14
back into his public ministry. And he comes in the power of
the Spirit. that he is a man who Isaiah tells
us has no comeliness that we should desire him. There is nothing
about his physical appearance. He didn't walk around in glowing
white robes with a halo around his head. There was nothing about
him that distinguished him in physical appearance from any
other man. In fact, he looked the man of sorrows more than
anything else. He looked 50 years old when he
was barely more than 30 years old according to the Jews. He
was one who'd suffered and experienced all
the ravages of growing up at this time. So there was nothing
about him that made them think, oh, here was somebody extra special. But on this man was poured out
the Spirit of God without measure. John 3, 34 says, for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him that is Christ. In other
words, he has an abundance of the Spirit, an overabundance.
It's not measured out in small measures. And verse 15, in that
power of the Spirit overflowing on this ordinary looking man,
he goes into the synagogues and he teaches. And in his teaching,
he's glorified of all. We know from later on in the
chapter, he must have been performing miracles. Why did he perform
miracles? To show off that he was able
to do tricks? Not in the slightest. not in the slightest. These were
miracles of attestation. These were miracles confirming
he was who he said he was. These were miracles showing that
here amongst them was God doing those things that only God can
do. He's glorified of all. Isaiah again said, when he comes,
then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the
deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as an heart, as a deer. These were the things that would
accompany Messiah's ministry. And they'd seen them, that this
one that spoke such gracious words gave proof of it with the
miracles that he did, that he was from God. and his fame spread
around all the area. He taught in all their synagogues.
Imagine, this was then when there were no communications. You know,
for a message to get from Capernaum to Nazareth, somebody actually
had to walk and tell them. Just imagine if it was today,
where we've got such instant messaging, where we've got such
instant, you know, something happens on the other side of
the world, and in no time flat, everybody's looking on their
smartphone or their tablet at the video that was taken. in
the wisdom of God Christ came when the fullness of the time
was come when the fullness, not now it wouldn't have been appropriate
now but then he came perfect in the purposes of God and he
came in verse 16 to the place where he'd been brought up to
Nazareth he was born in Bethlehem in Judea but he was brought up
the majority of his life in Nazareth in Galilee he came back home
And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day. Synagogue worship on the Sabbath
day was the practice of that society. And he, our Savior,
God in human flesh, as a man, gave an example to us. On that
day, the Sabbath day, as his custom was, he went into the
synagogue. He showed, just like he did when
he was, he wasn't baptized to wash away his sins, he wasn't
baptized to declare his, he was God, he was the Savior, he was
baptized to fulfill all righteousness as a man, to demonstrate what
God had ordained. And he went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day. to tell us, to show us, his people,
that the public worship of God is important. It's not something
that we should treat lightly. It's something that we should
treat very seriously. That whenever we possibly can,
we assemble with others to worship God together. We assemble where
the true Gospel is proclaimed. I'm not telling anybody to go
to a church where the Gospel, as it is in Scripture, is despised
and done violence to. But if it's possible to meet
with others who truly love the Lord Jesus Christ, and honor
Him, the Christ of the Bible, the Christ of sovereign grace,
the Christ of particular redemption, the Christ of God's sovereign
choice in salvation, then worship with them and testify to his
gospel. It's a public declaration. Whether
people take any notice of us as they walk by here on a Sunday
morning, this is a public declaration. Here are some people who think
this is important. who make it a priority. I know
there are difficult circumstances today. We've got brethren ourselves
who are on their own. There is no physical fellowship
that they can go to. But by means of the Internet,
they can make use of the fact that we gather together. It isn't
a substitute for physical assembly. If you can get to somewhere where
the Gospel is faithfully preached, you shouldn't use the Internet
as a substitute. But we should determine This
is just a little aside lesson. We should determine, you know
like Joshua did. Joshua 24 verse 15, when he said,
choose you this day to those people whom you will serve. And
he said, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Be there. Gather together. Make it your
number one priority. If your Lord and Master did it,
as was his custom, shouldn't we be determined to do it? And
then what he did. He read. He went into the synagogue
and stood up for to read. And he read. And what did he
read? He found the place in the book of Isaiah. That's the Greek
translation of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah. And he read, verses 18
and 19, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He read that passage, probably
more than is quoted here. He read from Isaiah chapter 61.
Just turn back there now. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 61. Let's read what he probably read.
And maybe more than this, but certainly these first three verses. He read this, the spirit of the
Lord God is upon me. It's a very close quotation and
the only difference is because In the Old Testament, we're translating
from the Hebrew, and in the New Testament, it's the translation
of the Greek, New Testament, hence the difference in the names.
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath 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 and the day of vengeance of our
God. to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified." That is what he read. He read because As he quoted
to Satan in the first part of chapter 4 of Luke, man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God. He stood up and he read it. He
read the scriptures in that public meeting. This is why we read
the scriptures in this public meeting. He read it initially
without comment because there it is in the word. He just read
it. Earlier on when we had our study, Cliff read John's gospel
chapter one, just to read it so that it says to us. I know
I occasionally will say, oh, what that means is, and that's
only very rarely just to clarify something that you might find
obscure or confusing. But generally speaking, when
we read the scriptures, we read just the words just exactly as
they are, reading it without comment. But then what he did
was he preached a sermon. on these words. We know that
because if you read verses 21 and 22 of Luke chapter 4, it
talks about those that were there being amazed at the gracious
words he spoke. That wasn't just the scriptures
that he read, that was his exposition of it, that was what he preached
about it. And he said, this day is this scripture, this prophecy
fulfilled in your sight because he said, I am the one upon whom
is the spirit of the Lord God. I am the one who has been anointed,
commissioned to preach good tidings unto the meek, to preach, to
declare, to proclaim, to announce. This is God's way. God doesn't
debate. God doesn't debate. Modern world,
modern religion, take notice, God doesn't debate. God declares
his truth. to preach the gospel. It's by
the foolishness of preaching, by the foolishness of the message
of substitutionary atonement preached, it pleases God to save
those who believe. And who are those? They're sinners,
to save sinners. Why? Because as Paul says, this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Christ, the physician, the great
physician, didn't come to heal those who were convinced that
they were in no need of healing, who had no need of salvation.
And he came to preach good tidings. Good tidings is the gospel. Isaiah 61 verse 1, good tidings,
the gospel. He says in Luke chapter 4, it's
the gospel that he came to preach. He came to proclaim good tidings,
good news. Who to? To the meek. Or in Luke
chapter 4, the poor. Not poor in material possessions. but poor in spirit, as he says
in the Sermon on the Mount, the meek, those that have got nothing
of which to brag or to boast. He has sent me to bind up the
broken-hearted, to heal the broken-hearted. Why are they broken-hearted?
Because they're convicted of sin before the just judgment
of God. Have you ever known that conviction
of sin before the just judgment of God? Have you ever known that
sense that if I die today in my sins as I am, God would be
perfectly just and right to condemn me to hell, for I am a sinner
before his law and his justice, and he being God who is holy
and pure and of so much greater purity than I can ever contemplate
he must condemn me he must banish me from his presence he says
he came to proclaim liberty to the captives to set the captives
free free from what? free from the bondage of sin
and the merciless law for the law is merciless the law is strictly
just there's no mercy in law the law is strictly just and
to release release the prisoners from bondage, the opening of
the prison to them that are bound. And where are they bound? Under
sin's condemning dominion, under the law. And verse 2 of Isaiah
61, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. What was the
acceptable year of the Lord in the Jewish economy? It was the
jubilee, the fiftieth year, the seven sevens. You know, every
seven years there was a jubilee of sorts, but there was a rest
for the land. And then seven sevens, there
was a fiftieth year. And what was so good about the
fiftieth year was that all the slaves were set free. And all
the debts, the mortgages, were cancelled. They were all cancelled.
It was the year of jubilee. We use it when our queen passes
50 years and 60 years, you know, the golden jubilee and the diamond
jubilee. The jubilee is the year of rejoicing
because the prisoners are set free. The lands are restored
to their original owners. The mortgages are cancelled.
The debts, the slaves are freed. It's the year of jubilee. This
is what he came to proclaim, and it's gospel jubilee. It's gospel liberty. It's gospel
liberty from the bondage of sin, from the condemnation of the
law of God. It's freedom from slavery and
debt to sin. And it gives comfort and consolation
to those who are mourning over sin. To those who are laboring
and are heavy laden. You notice those that Jesus said,
come unto me. He didn't invite everybody. He
invited those who are laboring and heavy laden to come unto
him. And verse three, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
he might be glorified. This is what Christ said, He
came, He was fulfilling this prophecy to come and do. In what
respect did He give joy for mourning? The beauty of ashes, give them
beauty for ashes. In place of ashes, which are
not very pretty, to give them beauty. In the place of mourning,
weeping, sadness, to give them joy. To give them the garment
of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. What's this about?
2nd Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21. He who knew no sin, our Savior,
was made sin for us. Why? That we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. Where there's sin that would
condemn, where there's sin that would condemn, He gives in its
place the righteousness of God in Christ. That's what this is
about, beauty for ashes. Is that not what God does for
us in the gospel of Christ? He made Him who knew no sin to
be made sin for us. He took upon us the ashes of
our sin, the mourning of our sin, the heaviness of our sin.
And in place He gives joy and gladness, the oil of gladness
in His righteousness that He has accomplished on the cross
of Calvary. He's declared divine justice
satisfied on the grounds of his sin bearing and his debt paying.
And Jesus was saying to them in that synagogue in Nazareth,
this day, now, you are seeing the salvation of God accomplished. You are seeing what God is doing
that sinners might be made right with him. He's preaching glorious
liberty, but it's glorious liberty only for repentant sinners. only
for repentant sinners. Who's going to be the recipient
of this salvation, of this righteousness that Christ has come to accomplish? It's only repentant sinners.
You remember the account, the parable as it was, of the Pharisee
and the publican going to pray at the temple. And the Pharisee
stood there and said, I thank thee God that I'm not like other
men, for I tithe and I fast and I do all of these things, and
oh how pleased I am with myself that you've not made me like
one of those. I am one of this very, very pure sect of Pharisees
in Israel, and I know that I am so right with you. And the publican,
the tax collector, the Roman stooge civil servant, he stood
there and he beat his breast in anguish because he knew about
eternity. God had revealed it to him. And
his prayer was this, God be merciful to me, the sinner. He couldn't
pray anything else. No, the gospel isn't for the
proud, for the arrogant, for the presumptuous, it's for the
meek. for the broken, for the guilty,
for the ashamed, for repentant sinners. Repentance is a gift
that God gives. Salvation is accomplished for
some. Look at the whole of mankind.
Salvation is not accomplished for all. When preachers stand
up and say, this is what God says, God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life. I don't know where they get it
from, but they do not get it from the word of God, for he doesn't
say that. What God says is that God is
angry with the wicked every day. He says it is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God. but he has accomplished
salvation for some a multitude that no man can number in his
grace in his sovereign grace he has accomplished salvation
for some for he chose some out of all humanity in Christ before
the foundation of the world and when Christ came they were in
him and if you believe you were in him and when he went to the
cross he bore your sins in his own body on the tree If you're
one of those for whom Christ bore their sins in his own body
on the cross, I tell you this is true. Before you die, you
will know it. You will know it. You will believe
it. You will feel the burden of your sin. You will be brought
to feel the bliss of that burden of sin taken away in Christ,
in what he's done, in his dying, in his living, in his dying,
in his rising again. this is what he preached. These
were the gracious words that they heard. All bore witness,
verse 22 of Luke 4, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded
out of his mouth. All of them wondered at this
and they said, isn't this Joseph's son? Look at their reaction.
Wow, that was impressive preaching. Wow, we had to sit up and take
notice of that. Hey, the carpenter's son can
preach. This is what the people were
saying, you know, he's gone away but he's come back home. The
carpenter's son can preach. Where did he get that from? We
know him. He's just Joseph's lad, isn't
he? Their hearts were cold. Their
hearts were filled with selfish desires. Look at verse 23, Jesus
said to them, knowing their hearts, he said, You'll surely say unto
me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Basically what that
is meaning is, look, you've been around doing things, look at
home now and do some healing here. Do something, you've been
around doing impressive things and your fame's gone, do something
impressive here. Whatsoever we have heard done
in Capernaum, Do also here in your country. Some of the miracles
that you've heard have been done in Capernaum. Why don't you do
them here? All they wanted was a sign. All
they wanted was a miracle. All they wanted was some benefit
for their community. You know how precious people
get about their community. Don't mind about other communities,
but this community, we must have this community looked after.
And Jesus said elsewhere, Luke 11, 29, This is an evil generation. They seek a sign, and there shall
no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as
Jonah was assigned to the Ninevites, who he went to preach against
at the command of God, so also shall the Son of Man be to this
generation. Jonah didn't go doing miracles
in Nineveh. Jonah didn't go raising the dead
and healing the sick. Jonah went proclaiming the justice
of God. And those people repented in
sackcloth and ashes. No. No sign will be given them.
No. These people were not poor, broken-hearted,
sin-bound, blind captives yearning for the light of the liberty
of God. These were proud, arrogant people. These were people who,
although they were impressed with the words that they'd heard
Jesus speak, they had no respect for him. He was just Joseph's
lad. They knew him. Where did he get this preaching
from? No, the good news of the gospel isn't for them. Didn't
we read what Jesus read? The spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel. Who to? The poor. He sent me to heal
what? The broken-hearted. He sent me
to preach deliverance to the captives, not those who think
they're free. The recovering of sight to the
blind, those who know they're blind. To set at liberty them
that are bruised. No, the gospel, the good news,
the good tidings, it wasn't for these in the synagogue at Nazareth.
Christ didn't say, come unto me all you that are arrogant
and self-satisfied with your own goodness and I'll give you
rest. He said, come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
laden with that burden of sin, with that brokenheartedness,
with that consciousness of the justice of God. He invited only
those who were burdened, who were crushed under a guilty load
of sin, and to those he promised rest for their souls. You see,
you cannot pick up and put down salvation at will. They felt
that it was theirs as of right. They didn't see that it is of
God who shows mercy. You're at the mercy of God's
sovereign grace. And look what he did. They very
rapidly turned from those who were wondering at the gracious
words which proceeded out of his mouth into those that were
determined to throw him off the cliff at the edge of Nazareth
and kill him, because they were so infuriated by what he said. And what was it he said? You
see, they thought they were entitled to God's blessing. They were
Jews. They were the people of God,
weren't they? They thought that they were entitled
to God's blessing. But Jesus reminded them of the
truth of the way God works in sovereign grace. And he says
this, you remember the days of Elijah? There was a drought,
three and a half years, there was no rain, and there was a
tremendous drought. And of all the people in that
economy of those days, there was no welfare state, there were
no social services, the widows were the ones who were particularly
vulnerable, for they had no one to care for them, they had no
one to keep them. The widows, the famine was great. And he says, in the days of Elijah,
God didn't send him to the multitudes of widows in Israel, but in sovereign
grace, sent him to a foreigner. What? Sent him to a foreigner? Yes, that's what Jesus said to
them. In the days of Elijah, God sent Elijah, the prophet,
to feed and sustain, miraculously, a foreign widow. you're not entitled
to it is what he's saying you are not entitled to it and then
he said and what about in the days of Elisha who followed Elijah
there were plenty of lepers in Israel no shortage of lepers
in Israel not a bit but where was Elisha sent or where did
the blessing of Elijah's ministry fall as far as leprosy was concerned
on Naaman, the enemy soldier, the Syrian. And again, they were
infuriated, they were enraged, they sought to kill him. And
why did they seek to kill him? because they'd heard the truth
of God. The trouble with this generation and those who purport
to preach the truth of the gospel of grace is they don't hear this.
Flesh always hates the true gospel. Oh no, it's the way you put it.
No, you can put it nicely so that you don't offend. That's
not the gospel. The gospel offends. Paul said, Paul said, if I preach
not the cross, why am I still persecuted? Flesh always hates
sovereign grace and particular redemption. Flesh always hates
the fact that the salvation of sinners from their sins is down
to his particular redemption. The redemption of a particular
people. How do you think about that?
Would you have sought to kill him? What must I do? Just in closing. What must I
do? Think about what these people
were like. What must I do if I know that I'm a sinner before
the Lord of God? The Philippian jailer cried out,
what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
was the answer that Paul gave. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You and your family, anybody, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. This is what we say. What must
I do to be saved? If you know you need salvation,
if you know that you're a sinner, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Plead mercy like that publican. God be merciful to me, the sinner. Look to Christ alone. He says,
look unto me, this is in Isaiah 45, look unto me all ye ends
of the earth and be ye saved for I am God and there is none
other. He goes on to say that he is a just God because he cannot
simply excuse sin. But bless God, not only is He
just, but He's the Savior of His people. Repent of your sins. Believe on Him. When Jonah went
and preached at Nineveh, that great city whose evil went up
to God and God told Jonah go and preach to them go and tell
them that I'm going to judge them unless they repent and they
repented in sackcloth and ashes they meant it they were cut to
the heart they were in bondage they were brokenhearted over
their sin they showed it by the way they reacted to the preaching
of Jonah and they were repenting before the judgment of God, and
they said, Jonah chapter 3 verse 9, the people of Nineveh said,
who knows? Who knows? God may be gracious
to us. He may withhold His judgment. God may be gracious to us. It
isn't our right to demand of God that He do anything. But
God may be gracious. Who knows? It's not for us to
decide. It's not of him that wills, says
Paul in Romans 9, verse 16. It's not of him that wills, nor
of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy. God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Amen.