Now, Luke chapter 4, coming back
to this portion of Scripture, verse 22 down through verse 32. Luke chapter 4, verse 22 through
verse 22 through 32. I'm entitling the message from
this passage of Scripture, the carpenter is the Christ. The carpenter is the Christ. Look what it says there in the
end. of verse 22, and they said, is not this Joseph's son? Now Joseph was the one in Nazareth,
probably not the only carpenter, but he was a carpenter in Nazareth. The Lord Jesus Christ grew up
and learned the trade of being a carpenter. The carpenter is
the Christ. The One who is the Son of Man,
God Almighty manifest in the flesh is also God the Son. Truly and really man and truly
and really God in one blessed person. Now, Luke chapter 4,
look at verse 20. When he closed the book, closed
the reading of the book of Isaiah, from Isaiah 61. Now remember
when those early parchments were written, there was no chapter
and verse. That's been added to help us.
So he rolled open that book and he found a place where it was
written there, as we know it today, Isaiah 61. He closed the
book, gave it to the minister, and he sat down. And the eyes
of all them in the synagogue were fastened and fixed on him. And he began to say unto them, This Scripture is fulfilled in
your ear." Now these Jews, they weren't ignorant of the Word
of God. They knew that portion of Scripture was concerning the
coming of the Messiah, and how the Messiah, the Christ of God,
would be blessed. And the Lord Jesus said to these
Jews, I am the Messiah. This day, this Scripture is fulfilled
in your presence. Verse 22, At first all bare him
witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of
his mouth, but they said, This is just Joseph's son. This is just the carpenter. That is, they refused to believe
the truth of God. The Lord Jesus Christ just declared
under this multitude in this synagogue that He is the Christ,
that He is the fulfillment of the Scripture, that He is the
one that all the prophets wrote about and spoke about, and they
said, Well, he's just a man. How can he be the Christ? He's
just a carpenter's kid. Is not this Joseph's son now
an enlightened mind and a taught mind, one who was taught of God? You remember all those who have
heard and learned of the Father? They come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
An enlightened mind and a taught mind would have said this. What
would they have said? Thank God the Messiah is here.
The Christ has come to accomplish our salvation. Hallelujah! Praise unto God! But you see
the finite darkness of the carnal mind. You're a carpenter. You can't be the Christ. But
my friend, He is. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is. He is the Christ of God. If you hold your place here,
and turn to Mark chapter 6. We have a little bit more information
that's given to us here upon this occasion in Mark chapter
6 verse 1. And he went out from
thence, and came into his own country, and his disciples followed
him. And when the Sabbath day was
come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him
were astonished, saying from whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which
he giveth unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought
by his hands? They could not believe that this
one who had wrought mighty miracles is among them. And they said,
Is not this the carpenter? Is not this the son of Mary?
The brother of James, now Mary had other children and most of
the commentators that I read after, they think that Joseph
had already died at this point, but they said this is Mary's
son and Mary had other children, James and Joseph and Judah and
Simon and are not his sisters with us? And they were offended
at him. How can you be the Messiah? How
can you say such a thing? But when the Lord, verse 4, Mark
6, the Lord said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in
his own country, and among his own kinfolk, and his own house. And he could there do no mighty
work, save that he laid hands upon a few folks, and healed
them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. He knew their
heart. He knew the wickedness of their
heart. And he went round about villages teaching. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the only physician. Now look back to Luke chapter
4 verse 23. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
physician that we need. Those who are well don't need
a doctor. Those who are sick need a doctor.
Verse 23 of Luke 4, He said unto them, You will surely say unto
me this proverb or this parable, Physician, heal yourself. And whatsoever we have heard
done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that no prophet is accepted
in his own country." Now two things I want to point out in
verse 23 and verse 24. The first one is this, this word
physician. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
very physician that we need. He is the only one that can preach
the gospel to poor sinners. He is the only one that can heal
the brokenhearted. He is the only one that can give
deliverance to the captive. He is the only one that can give
sight to the blind. He is the only physician that
can set at liberty those who are bruised. This is the physician
that we need. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, hold
your place there and find back over here in the book of Matthew
this time. Turn to Matthew chapter 9. I
quoted a portion of this just a moment ago. In Matthew chapter
9 verse 10, And it came to pass that Jesus said, Meet in the
house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down
with him and his disciples, And when the Pharisees saw it, they
said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? And when the Lord Jesus heard
that, he said, They that behold need not a physician, but those
who are sick. Go ye and learn what that meaneth.
I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I'm not come to call the
righteous, but sinners, sick people unto repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
very physician that we need to heal our soul. Secondly, I would
have you look at this word in verse 24. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the prophet that we need. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
prophet's sin of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
prophet that we need to hear. What is his message? He said,
I am the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man comes unto
the Father but by and through me. The Lord Jesus Christ is
that prophet that God said that he would raise up now. Look at verse 25, verse 26, and
verse 27. "'Barely, barely, I say unto
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.'" Now look at
verse 25, "'But I tell you the truth, I tell you the truth.'"
Now, could He do anything else? Could He do anything less? The
Lord Jesus Christ, He is truth. And everything he speaks is absolute
truth. It's impossible for God to do
what? It's impossible for God to lie.
But I tell you the truth. Many widows, there were many
widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heavens were
shut up three years and six months, no rain. And there was a great
famine in the land. And then to none of them was
Elijah sent except to a Gentile woman, a widow living in the
city of Sarepta. And the Lord had mercy upon that
woman. Verse 27, there were many lepers
in Israel in the time of Eliseus or Elisha, the prophet, and none
of them was cleansed except a Syrian named Naaman, who was a general
in the Syrian army. He was a leper. I tell you the
truth. And the Lord Jesus Christ constantly,
always tells us the truth. And you know why that's so important?
The Lord said, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall
set you free. I want to know the truth, and
I want you to know the truth. The truth of who God is, and
the truth of how God saves sinners. The Lord said, I'll raise him
up a prophet from among the brethren, and he will tell you the truth. Now, when they heard this, verse
28, Luke 4, and all day in the synagogue when they heard these
things, they were filled with, it doesn't say they were filled
with joy, they were filled with anger and wrath. Why did this
message of salvation by the grace of God fill this people, this
whole assembly of the Jews in the synagogue with such anger?
They were so angry and filled with wrath, they were ready to
kill the hometown boy in his hometown. They were ready to
kill Mary's son, the carpenter. Why were they so angry? Why were
they so mad? Well, the Lord goes back to the
scriptures again from 1 Kings and 2 Kings and reminds them
of a biblical story they had all read before and were very
familiar with about the ministry of Elijah, the prophet of God,
and the ministry of his counterpart, Elisha. after Elijah is taken
away. Elijah in the day of famine was
taken care of by a widow woman that was a Gentile dog. She was a Gentile, sinful woman,
and God sent Elijah unto this woman, and God, by His miraculous
power, remember, the barrel of meal and the crews of oil emptied
not for one full year. She had just a handful of meal,
had just a little bit of oil. But God sent Elijah down to her
house, and out of that barrel of meal was supplied, it just
kept every time she'd dip out a cup, God would put another
cup in there. Every time she poured out a cup
of oil, God would put another cup in there. And that went on
for a year. Hadn't rained for three and a half years. And God
had mercy upon her, her family, and God's prophet Elijah. And
he passed by all the other widows in Israel, he passed them by,
and he sovereignly sent Elijah to one woman, and God sovereignly
blessed that Gentile woman, and passed all the other widows by.
Why did he do that? Because it pleased him to do
so. The second thing he says here, likewise, Elisha, by the
purpose of God, passed by all the other lepers in Israel, and
let them perish in their disease of leprosy, that God had mercy
on a Gentile dog, his name was Naaman. He was a captain in the
army of the enemy, the army of Syria, and he was struck with
leprosy, and God by a little maid told him of a man down in
Israel, Elisha, who could heal by the power of God your disease. This is found in 2 Kings chapter
5. And when Naaman came to Elisha,
you remember the story how Elisha's servant told him to go dip in
Jordan seven times? And that he would be cleansed?
And he did, and he was. But the point of the message
is that God passed by all the other lepers and had mercy on
a Gentile dog. You see, sovereign grace, sovereign
mercy. They understood, at least in
their head, what he was saying. How God will show mercy upon
whom he will. And what was their response? In the synagogue, in the assembly
of the Jews, when they heard these things, they weren't happy
campers. They were angry with God. They were filled with anger,
wrath, and malice toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Now think
about this. They quickly stopped their synagogue
meeting. Here's this whole assembly of
the Jews, and they said, this meeting's over. And they drug
him out of the building, out of the city, to the edge of the
hill, and they're going to cast him off the hill, not only to
end his ministry, but to end his life. Now that's pretty vicious,
isn't it? That's pretty mean, isn't it?
That's awful, isn't it? They quickly stopped their Sabbath
day worship, and in doing so, they disregarded their own law
to observe the Sabbath day and to keep it holy. And they did
what the law of God said they were not to do on the Sabbath
day. They left quickly their religion and their self-righteousness,
and they formed a lynch mob to execute the Lord Jesus Christ. And according to the law of Moses,
they were not supposed to execute or stone anyone on the Sabbath
day. They disregarded the law, didn't
they? They thought they were honoring the law, didn't they?
They just threw it aside. because they were so filled with
anger toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what was the cause of this
rage? What was the cause of this anger? Well we know what the
scriptures teach in Romans 8 verse 7, the carnal mind is enmity
against God. Romans 8 verse 7. We also read
about in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, that the carnal mind receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, because there are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. Here we learn something about our own wicked heart. Here we learn something about
the depravity of our own wicked heart. How bitterly human nature
dislikes the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God.
Of all the doctrines of the Bible, none are so offensive to the
human heart, to the natural mind, than the doctrine of God's absolute
sovereignty. Now, if you're not offended with
this message, it's only because you're a believer. If you're
offended by what I'm going to say here in a minute, if you're
offended, it's because you're not a believer. If you're not
offended, you know this is the only hope a sinner has, God's
sovereign mercy. Unbelievers to some extent can
tolerate and endure the doctrine of sovereignty in God's creation, They talk about creation, and
the Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign creator of all things.
All things that were made, He made them. He spoke them into
existence. And to some extent, unbelievers
can endure the truth of the sovereignty of God in creation. All things
are created by Him and for Him, and they consist for Him, and
He holds them together by His own hand. Colossians chapter
1 verse 14 through verse 19. To some extent unbelievers can
tolerate the doctrine of God's sovereignty in creation. And
secondly, unbelievers can tolerate and endure to some extent the
doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty in what we call the providence
of God. The providence of God is a perfect
will of God in accomplishing all things by His eternal purpose,
bringing to pass in time what He purposed from all eternity.
To some extent, unbelievers can endure that Preaching of the
providence of God, the sovereign providence of God, and I mean
by that, of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Those things that come to pass
in time are only those things that God had decreed from the
beginning. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed, I will do it. Now, let's get
down to where the rubber meets the road. But when we talk about
the Lord showing mercy to sinners according to His own will, you
remember James chapter 1, of His own will, beget he us with
the word of truth. Not of him that willeth, Romans
9, not of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. When
we talk about the Lord showing mercy to whom he will, saving
only those whom the Lord Jesus Christ chose in that eternal
covenant of grace, chose unto salvation, that is where the
unbeliever begins to be filled with wrath and becomes willing
to show his ignorance and rebellion and blindness of his own heart. It is manifested. That's exactly
what's going on here in this synagogue meeting in Nazareth. When the Lord clearly stated
the sovereignty of God in salvation, they got angry. All the prophets
and all the apostles and the Lord Jesus Christ himself clearly
and boldly with no apology declared the absolute sovereignty of God
not only in creation, Not only in providence, but most certainly
and especially in salvation. He prayed in John 17, Father,
you've given me power over all flesh, that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given to me. All that the Father
giveth to me, they shall come to me, and those that come to
me I will in no wise cast out. Now we read from Romans chapter
9 just a moment ago, And that quote comes from Exodus chapter
33 where Moses asked the Lord, Lord, show me your glory. And
here's what we read. I'll just read it to you. You
don't need to turn and read it. And he said, this is God speaking
to Moses, when Moses asked him, Lord, show me your glory. And
the Lord said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee.
I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy. That's sovereign mercy. That's
God showing mercy to whom he Well, now, let's look at a couple
of scriptures. If you'll find Psalm 65, Psalm
65, thy people shall be willing in the day of God's power. We
quoted that from Psalm 110 this morning. Look at Psalm 65 for
just a moment. I'm making the point here, all
the prophets and all the apostles, they all bear witness to the
sovereignty of God in salvation. In Psalm 65, look at verse 4,
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach
unto thee. that He made well in thy courts,
we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
thee." Let's turn and read that scripture I've quoted a couple
of times today that is found in Psalm 110. Well, we're right
here in the book of Psalms. Psalm 110 verse 3, "...thy people
shall be willing in the day of His power, in the beauty of holiness
from the womb of the morning, thou hast to do of thy youth."
You see, no man stirs up himself to seek the Lord, to seek mercy
in the Lord Jesus Christ. No man stirs himself up. God
must sovereignly intervene in our heart, our mind, our will,
and turn us, and change us, and stop us, or we'll go right on
in our madness. Now, let's look at a couple of
other Scriptures where the Lord Jesus Christ, not only here in
Luke 4, but turn back to the book of Matthew, and let's find
Matthew chapter 11, and let's see how the Lord Jesus Christ
always taught salvation by the sovereign revelation of God unto
His people. In Matthew chapter 11, look at
verse 25. Matthew 11 verse 25 at that time Jesus answered and
said I thank the old father Lord of heaven and earth Because I
was hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes Even so father for so it seemed good in thy
sight Read on look at verse 27. All things are delivered unto
me and my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father,
neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and He to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him." Whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. See,
He's teaching again, sovereign mercy and sovereign grace. Now
find Matthew chapter 15, and here's another incident that
is before us in pages of Holy Scripture, Matthew 15, about
the woman who had the sick daughter. Matthew 15, 21, Then Jesus went
thence, and departed in the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a
woman of Canaan came out of the same coast, and cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David! My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil. And he answered her, Not
a word. He just ignored her. Now He heard
what she said. And His disciples came and besought
Him saying, Send her away. Now she's after us. She cries
after us. And He answered and said, I'm
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped Him saying, Lord, She heard the sovereignty
of God declared, and she was not offended. Rather, she came
and worshipped Him as Lord, saying, Lord, help me. Read on, look
at verse 26, Matthew 15. He answered and said, It's not
meat, it's not right, fit to take the children's bread and
to cast it to the dogs. And she said, Truth. That's truth. Lord. Yet the dogs eat the crumbs
which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and
said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee
even as I will. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Truth, Lord, I am your dog. Have
mercy upon me. One more scripture on this. Turn
to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. The Lord said unto Simon Peter,
But whom say ye that I am? Matthew 16, 15. And Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven." Sovereign revelation. Sovereign
mercy, God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." Now
I could read you many other scriptures from the epistles of Paul, John,
and James, but what we read will be sufficient for us. Now you
might be thinking, if this is so offensive to the flesh, so
offended to the unbeliever, maybe we just should be silent on these
things. Let's not offend anybody. Maybe we just should be silent
on these matters of God electing love, of God electing grace,
of God having mercy on whom He will. Does it really make any
difference? Absolutely so. We must declare
the truth of God's salvation, because the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the gospel of God's sovereign mercy, showing
mercy to whom He will. Now listen to this scripture,
Isaiah 52. I think I read this last week,
but we'll read it again. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publish peace,
that bring good tidings of good, that publish salvation, that
saith, Thy God reigns. Thy God reigneth. Isaiah 52,
7. Thy God reigneth. And He does. Our Lord said, all power is given
unto me in heaven and earth. that I should show mercy to whom
I will. He does according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the habitants of this earth,
that none can stay His hand or say unto Him, Lord God Almighty,
what doest thou? As David said, Our God is in
the heaven, and He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. Now look back at Luke chapter
4 again. They rose up, verse 29, thrust
him out of the city, led him to the brower edge of the hill,
to the cliff whereon the city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. Look at verse 30. What's going
to happen? You know, he could have called for a legion of angels.
I just read over in 2 Kings chapter 17 or 18 where the armies of
Syria came against Hezekiah And God dispatched one angel that
killed 185,000 Syrian soldiers. The Lord could have called for
12 legions of angels or even one angel just to snuff these
guys out, to put them in the dust. But look what it says. But he passing through the midst
of them went on his way. These folks were angry. I mean,
they physically had hold of his body. How did he simply pass
right through them and they could not hinder his purpose? How was that done? His sovereign
power over all things, over all creatures, over the hearts and
minds of men. How He exactly accomplished this
is not said. But I think of another occasion,
maybe it's like when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.
You remember He came and He said, Whom do you seek? And they said,
Jesus of Nazareth. You remember what He said? I
am. You remember what happened? They
hit the ground. They fell backward. And the Lord
willingly surrendered to them, willingly laid down His life
for them. Maybe that happened here. Maybe
He just put them on their back and they were stunned and they
could not move. You see the absolute sovereignty
of God displayed right there, don't you? And that teaches us
that God, in saving sinners, has absolute power. Aren't you
glad? If He's not almighty to save,
this sinner has no hope. Now, look at verse 31 and 32
in closing. And He came down to Capernaum,
a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And
they were astonished at His doctrine, for His Word was with power. The Lord Jesus Christ went right
about his business, preaching the gospel. Remember? Look at
verse 43 and Luke 4. And he said unto them, I must
preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for there
am Therefore am I sent." The Lord, not being discouraged,
went about doing his business of preaching the gospel, not
being ashamed. Someone said this, I read, one
of the commentators said that he never returned again to his
home city in Nazareth. We never read in the scripture,
and think about this, We never read of the Lord Jesus
Christ coming back to Nazareth. He turned His back on them and
walked away and left them to perish in their sin justly. He was not moved by the horrible
treatment he received, but he went on patiently preaching the
gospel of the kingdom. He came down to Capernaum, a
city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath day. He went right
about his preaching, right about his business, healing broken
hearts, giving deliverance to the captives, giving sight to
the blind, and granting liberty to those who were bruised. Let
us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap.
Let us not be discouraged when men criticize us for the gospel
or complain about that we preach the Lord Jesus Christ too high
or give him too much honor and glory. The Apostle Paul was run
out of almost every town he preached in, but he went right on preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God will bless his truth. He will bless his word. Look
at verse 32, And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word
was with power. How come his word was with power?
Because his word was the word of God. And God Almighty has
all power. He says, So shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return in me void,
it shall accomplish that which I believe, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereunto I sent it. We make much of the Word
of God, the written Word of God. Now in closing, I want to ask
you a personal question. What think ye of the sovereign
Christ of God? What do you think of the Lordship
of the Lord Jesus Christ? What think ye of Christ? What
is your response to the sovereign grace of God in the Lord Jesus
Christ? What do you think about that?
Well, let's turn and read some scripture here. Find 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. I'm almost through. Just be patient
a moment here. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. What is your response to the
sovereign grace of God in Christ? You know what I say? Thank God.
Thank God. He's not the Almighty Savior.
I have no hope because I'm so sinful. 1 Corinthians 1, verse
17. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of word, lest the
cross of Christ be made of none effect. For the preaching of
the cross to them that are perishing, Christ crucified, the preaching
of the cross to those who are perishing, the preaching of Christ
crucified to those who are perishing is foolishness, but unto us which
are saved, The power of God. The power of God. For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I'll bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom.
Verse 23, But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling
block, unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and Christ
the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, the weakness of God is stronger than men,
The foolishness of God is wiser than men, the weakness of God
is stronger than men. Now watch verse 26. For you see
your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh
are called, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Look
at verse 27. God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
And the base things of the world which are despised hath God chosen."
Now who does the choosing? Huh? Our Lord said, you didn't
choose me, I've chosen you. And the things which are not
to bring to naught the things are that no flesh should glory
in His presence. But of Him are you in Christ. How did you get
in Christ? But of Him are you in Christ.
Who is the Lord Jesus? The Sovereign Christ. Who God
has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
that according as it is written, he that would glory, let him
glory in the Lord Jesus Christ." You see, election is not the
sinner's enemy, it's his best friend. Had he not chosen a people
unto salvation, none would be saved. Had the Lord Jesus Christ
not affectionately died for them, none would be justified by His
blood. You see, it's the only hope this
sinner has. Is that He loved me? That He
chose me? That He died for me? That He
redeemed me with His blood? That He called me by His grace?
Yes! Thank God! He has all power to
save whom He will. Have mercy upon whom he will
for his own glory and his own purpose.