Salvation Is for the Destitute

we're doing a series I'm not sure how long it'll go but we're looking at conversations with Jesus during his life in Ministry and one of the ones that is most fascinating and definitive is found in Luke 4 so you can open your Bible if you will to Luke chapter 4 and we're going to be looking at starting at verse 16 in just a few moments number of years ago I was asked the question actually by a rabbi who asked me if people know the facts about Jesus Christ why don't they acknowledge Him as Savior what what causes people to resist that and just recently I had a similar conversation with someone who said when people know the truth why is it that they don't receive Christ as their savior really that comes down to one great reality and this passage will reveal that to us some people would say people need more information and and that's true you have to have the revelation of God you have to have the truth you have to have the biblical gospel others would say people need more proof they they need some kind of defense for the veracity of the claims of the Gospel others would say well what people really need is to know that God loves them and if we just keep telling them over and over and over and over that God loves them that's going to kind of win them over on the sheer basis of the force of his love or we can approach people and say look your life will be a whole lot better if you come to Christ you'll be happier you'll be fulfilled you'll have purpose you'll be satisfied and while there's an element of Truth in those things they're not really the issue and because we don't necessarily understand the foundational issue in gospel Ministry we really don't know how to do evangelism the biblical way so we're gonna we're gonna go into this story of Jesus and he's going to lay it out for us so that we know what the foundation of all evangelism really is and that's going to be clear to you I trust in a few minutes so we come to Luke chapter 4 and Jesus is in Nazareth his hometown he had lived there until he was 30 years old and began his ministry so Nazareth is the town that he was familiar with relatives friends neighbors everybody there knew him knew him well it was a very small place everybody knew who this Carpenter's son was but this day that we find in Luke 4 shakes up their understanding of Christ to such a degree that they actually make a concerted mob effort to kill him to throw him off a cliff and if you ask the question how could it get to that you're asking the right question how is it that his friends and neighbors people who knew him best over 30 years they didn't know that he was God or the Messiah but they certainly were exposed to the Perfection of his nature and character how is it that in one day they can try to throw him off a cliff well you're going to find out look at verse 16. he's in Galilee now this is part of his Galilean Ministry this is where he begins his year and a half ministry in Galilee having returned there and he's operating verse 14 says in the power of the spirit news about him is spreading all through the surrounding District he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all so things looked initially very good so he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and this is the most familiar place to him and uh as was his custom he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath now that would be a routine thing he would have done that since his childhood and Faithfully every Sabbath he would have gone to the synagogue with his family synagogues were essentially a house of instruction they're very much like a church it's not a temple it's not a place this place where sacrifices are made it's just a gathering place for the explanation of scripture instruction from the Old Testament and the way they basically ordered that was they had a a set prescribed pattern of reading the Old Testament and in fact in a typical synagogue service there would be seven readers who would read a portion of the Old Testament and make some comment and following those seven there would be a final one who sort of gave the major address and the final one was called a math tear and his responsibility usually was to do an exposition from the set reading of the prophets the Old Testament prophets and that is what is happening as we open the door to the synagogue in Nazareth on this occasion he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read this is the first time that we know of that Jesus actually took an official position in the synagogue as a reader which meant he would read the prescribed passage and he would give an exposition of that Passage and since he is given the text of Isaiah verse 17 says the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him this is very likely that final message after the seven had gone on with their discussion of the Old Testament this is the culminating message from the prophets and particularly from the book of Isaiah in actuality the text for this particular Sabbath was Isaiah 61 1 and 2 Isaiah 61 1-2 and that is a Messianic text that is a Messianic text so Jesus is handed the scroll and stood that stood up to read it and reads the prescribed Passage and this is what it said verse 18. the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set free those who are oppressed to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord now this is a Messianic text in fact you can see it's in the first person even in the book of Isaiah so the Messiah himself is speaking of his own Ministry to come and he says it will be in a Ministry with the anointing of the spirit of the Lord and then Jesus in verse 20 close the book gave it back to the attendant sat down in the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him and he began to say to them today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing this is beyond shocking he is saying I am the Messiah we know that he was under the power and Ministry of the Holy Spirit we we see that earlier in his ministry we see it in his baptism we see it when the spirit of God comes upon Him empowering him for a Ministry like chapter 4 verse 1 Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led around by the spirit in the wilderness down in verse 14 again the power of the spirit is operating through him Jesus is simply declaring what has already been demonstrated he is the Fulfillment of Isaiah 61 1-2 this again is Messianic and since the Messiah has come and since he has come with the good news you notice that the gospel in verse 18 this then is the favorable year of the Lord this is the year when the Lord deposits his great favor on the world the age of Salvation has come the Savior has come the spiritual Jubilee has arrived a long-awaited kingdom is here this is beyond comprehension for the people of Nazareth who know this man who have known him his whole life and know him only to be the man that he was fully human truly human and now this same man so familiar to them in this small village stands up and declares that he is the Messiah the Fulfillment of Isaiah's great prophecy and that he has arrived with the good news and he is the one who is declaring now that he is present the favorable year of the Lord has begun the age of Salvation is now launched I am the Messiah and this is the day of salvation is his message I mean it's a Beyond stunning thing for him to say they they have no reason to believe that he's the Messiah none he didn't do miracles in the first 30 years of his ministry he had done them recently nearby in Capernaum and the surrounding era area and he had done a wonderful Miracle at a wedding in Cana and there was a lot of reporting about the Miracles that he did down in the south around Jerusalem but it's still a huge leap for them to look at this very familiar young man and to all of a sudden believe that he's not who they thought he's always been but rather he is God's anointed king and Messiah and part of the problem for them was that he had such humble beginnings they didn't come from Jerusalem he wasn't from a famous family he wasn't well known he wasn't a rabbi he wasn't described he wasn't a Pharisee or leading scholar he wasn't part of the religious establishment and so it just seems beyond belief that he's referring to himself and says this prophecy has been fulfilled today in your hearing now the eyes it says in verse 20 of the whole synagogue were fixed on him because they wanted to hear what he said he stood up to read sat down to speak and he gave them an exposition of Isaiah 61 1-2 and no doubt comments on Chapter 58 verse 6 which is the favorable year of the Lord you don't have the message there we just have the text that he used from the Old Testament but this this text was just the beginning and it says he began to say to them verse 21 today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing because he probably had much more to say beyond that but I'm not sure they could have gotten past that nonetheless when he gave the sermon it's interesting verse 22 gives you their initial response and all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious Words which were falling from his lips that's not surprising that's not shocking no man ever spoke like this man was a comment made about him it's not shocking that he was the greatest speaker they had ever heard he was more cogent than any other speaker more accurate than any other speaker more clearer than any other speaker more passionate than any other teacher that he was literally riveting them to the subject that he was addressing of the arrival of the Messiah and the gospel what they were hearing from his lips they'd never heard from anyone and then verse 22 it says and they were saying is this not Joseph's son is this not Joseph's son how can we make the move from somebody we know so well who is Joseph's son local Carpenter son who himself was a carpenter and a builder how do we move from that to this is the messiah how do we do that now I want you to go back to verse 18 and understand the message the good news comes to a certain group of people he in ordered me to preach the good news or the gospel to the poor sent me to Proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set free those who are oppressed I have to tell you that Passage and they knew it well from Isaiah was both an announcement and an indictment he was bringing good news not to the spiritual Elite not to the people who thought they were righteous not to the people who thought they knew God not to the people who were the rulers and leaders of the synagogue but rather the spirit of the Lord is upon him to preach the gospel to the poor the Prisoners the Blind and the oppressed now all of those people would be those that were cursed by God in in their system of suffering so the Messiah arrives and quoting from Isaiah 61 declares that he has brought good news but it's not good news for the self-righteous it's not good for the spiritual Elite it's not good news for those who think they've earned their standing with God it's good news to the poor prisoners blind and oppressed and here you meet the foundational reality that you must understand in all evangelism before you start talking about God loving people and that's that's certainly true before you get caught up in talking about evidence of the truth of scripture before you get into the technical realities of forgiveness and justification and all of that there is there is a first point that has to be established before the good news can be brought to any person and it is this are you among the poor prisoners blind and oppressed that's where it all has to begin that's why no amount of God loves you God loves you Jesus loves you he loves you Just the Way You Are well that is true to some degree not totally true that's not where evangelism begins it begins with what's wrong with you and this is how we have to view the unsaved not as wonderful people who need just to be loved or to be told that God loves them or to be given more evidence or to hear apologetic defenses of the truth all evangelism begins with the recognition that the only people for whom this is going to be good news are the destitute people the poor prisoners blind and oppressed and those are spiritual pictures of The Human Condition this is how you have to view the unconverted people in the world let's look at those four just briefly the spirit of the Lord is upon him so this is the work of the spirit through him he's preaching the Good News but he's preaching first of all to the poor not the materially poor the spiritually poor the spiritually poor the word here is tokas in the Greek and it basically means to shrink cower or cringe like a beggar in other words this is utter and complete destitution he has good news for the people who are spiritually bankrupt spiritually destitute reduced to begging in shame in the shadows spiritually speaking it's not the normal word for poor that's another word that means someone who has a little this is one who has nothing this is the level of being a beggar this is the kind of poverty that our Lord spoke about in The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 3 blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God if you want to enter the kingdom of God you start with a recognition of your utter bankruptcy spiritually nothing to be proud of nothing to be confident in nothing to offer God no achievements he's looking rather for the humble and broken people Isaiah 66 and in Psalm 51 says he's looking for the broken and contrite heart all evangelism begins with this point the good news is only good news if you understand the bad reality of the condition of The Sinner sinner is helpless under the law of God has nothing with which to commend himself to God spiritual poverty secondly Sinners are described as captives prisoners literally prisoners of War in Exile waiting execution he sent me to Proclaim release a faces can mean forgiveness forgiveness to the captives and set the captives free Messiah comes to those who know they are spiritually destitute to those who know they are prisoners to sin and Satan and death and Hell and he brings the good news of forgiveness and deliverance Liberation and freedom Jesus is the spiritual Liberator as the hymn writer said he breaks the power of canceled sin he sets the prisoner free so the poor and the prisoners those who understand their bankruptcy and the dire conditions from which they cannot extract themselves spiritually are the ones for whom this is good news and the third illustration of the unconverted a recovery of sight to the blind this is another way to describe unconverted people they are blind Sinners all of us are naturally blind Ephesians 4 18. we are darkened in our understanding that's natural blindness we are satanically blinded second Corinthians 4 the God of this world has blinded our minds lest the light of the Gospel should shine to us we are personally blinded Romans 1 because we fail to live up to the light and we literally compound our Blindness by our rejection and we are even judicially blinded as you see in Isaiah 6 and in John 12 and Romans 11 that God has blinded their eyes so they cannot see so it's a four-dimensional blindness naturally blinded judicially blinded satanically blinded personally blinded and that's why it says in first John that unbelievers walk in darkness and John 3 says they hate the light so the Messiah has come to those who know they are spiritually blind Jesus came and said I am the light of the world whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life second Corinthians 4 6 says God has literally shed his light on us through the glory that is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ first Peter 2 9 you are a people a people of God whom he has called out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light so again when you're talking about how you begin the gospel you start with whether a person understands the condition they're in poor imprisoned and blind and that's not all the fourth one is to set free those who are oppressed this uh sometimes is translated downtrodden those who are under the massive weight and burden of their blindness and their sinfulness and their bondage that's why Jesus said in Matthew 11 we looked at it a few weeks ago coming to me all you who are weary and what heavy laden you're carrying around an oppressive burden poor prisoners blind and oppressed by sin and guilt and they have no power to deliver themselves from this complete condition so Messiah comes to bring riches spiritual riches to the poor forgiveness to the Sinners light to those who are blind and Liberation to the oppressed that's why Messiah came and that is why it's the favorable year of the Lord so the message that our Lord is giving is salvation that's why he stops halfway through Isaiah 61 2 he doesn't give the last half of that verse because the last half of Isaiah 61 2 says the day of Vengeance of our God that's future this is not the day of Vengeance this is the day of salvation what an amazing amazing really incomprehensible mourning that Sabbath was in Nazareth not only because he had declared himself to be the Messiah to people who knew him very well but because he had essentially said everything you are counting on before God is absolutely useless you are not spiritually rich you're not spiritually free you are not spiritually sighted you are not spiritually delivered you are poor prisoners blind and oppressed this is very offensive to them because the the they Bank everything in their life and Eternity on their self-righteousness this this is a diagnosis that they can't accept but initially their response is they were speaking well of him verse 22. and wondering if the gracious words falling from his lips and they were saying is this not Joseph's son and he said to them no doubt you will quote this proverb to me physician heal yourself in other words if if you're really who you say you are prove it prove it whatever we heard was done at Capernaum do here in your hometown as well Capernaum is 20 miles away and Jesus did massive miracles in Capernaum so they're saying you don't expect us to believe that you this familiar son of a carpenter are the Messiah fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy you're you're just The Carpenter's son so if you want us to believe you you're going to have to repeat the Miracles you're gonna have to do them here for us they could not gain say the fact that his teaching was impeccable that his articulation of the truth was unparalleled that he had a holy and pure passion for that truth Flawless reasoning accurate interpretation linguistic dexterity and Clarity they couldn't argue with whatever it was that he said in the sermon but the fact that he claimed to be Messiah is beyond the possibility of their understanding so if you want us to believe it do some miracles well he had already done miracles and even in nearby Canaan turning Water to Wine everybody knew nobody denied his miracles but they're assuming that the problem they have in accepting him is him not them he's got to make more evidence visible it's not their fault that they don't believe in him and to some degree Jesus understands that in verse 24 he concedes he said to them truly I say to you no Prophet is welcome in his hometown it's really hard to see your hometown person as somebody very significant that's kind of an axiom that's just a truism if you know somebody in a familiar way and that person is not at all special it's hard for you to imagine that they're the noblest person who ever walked the Earth the Messiah of God so Jesus concedes that it's it's hard to see somebody familiar to you in a different way but Jesus knows what's going on they want proof proof isn't the issue they have to recognize their spiritual condition is poor prisoners blind and oppressed how's he going to get that across to them she's going to tell them two familiar accounts from the Old Testament one a story of Elijah and the second a story of Elisha and they make the main point look at verse 25. here's how he gets to his point but I say to you in truth there were many widows in Israel in the Days of Elijah when the sky was shut up for three years and six months when a Great Famine came over all the land and yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath in the land of sidon to a woman who was a widow this this is powerful and they're very familiar with that story Days of Elijah 850 BC the days of Ahab and Jezebel the worst rulers in Israel and at that time there were many widows many widows and they were needy widows why because there was according to verse 25 a Great Famine coming over the whole land the famine was produced because there was no rain for three years and six months there were lots of destitute widows in Israel but God didn't do anything for them look at verse 26. yet Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath in the land of sidon to a woman who was a widow this is a distasteful story for them God doesn't send a prophet to any hungry Widow in Israel during the time of judgment why because Israel was under judgment for idolatry with Baal Baal worship so Israel is under judgment and what does God do he sends the prophet not only to a gentile but to a gentile woman who's a widow this is crushing to Jewish Pride sidon Gentile territory Zarephath a Phoenician City the home of the Godless father of Jezebel whose name was eth Baal because of his attachment to Baal means Baal is alive he was a wicked man who had murdered his predecessor and was a priest of false gods the famine affected the Gentile area as well as the area of Israel and God sends his prophet to deliver a widow but this Widow is not a Jewish Widow this Widow is a gentile woman who would be the lowest of the low and there's a reason for telling that story go back to First Kings chapter 17 we'll just look at it very briefly fascinating story First Kings 17. so Elijah the word of the Lord comes to him and it says in verse 8 of First Kings 17. the word of the Lord came to him saying rise go to Zarephath just as Luke says which belongs to sidon and stay there for behold I have commanded a widow there to provide for you this is a gentile area he goes to Zarephath he finds a widow Gathering sticks he calls to her and says give me a little water in a jar that I may drink this is kind of a rude approach don't you think this is a widow in a famine picking up sticks and he's asking her for water and it gets even worse as she was going to get it she she responded in kindness he called her and said oh by the way while you're at it bring me a piece of bread in your hand but she said as the Lord your God lives I have no bread only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar and behold I am Gathering a few sticks so I may go in and prepare for me and my son that we may eat it and die obviously she knew about the God of Israel as your God the Lord lives she says I all I have is enough for one more meal with my son and Elijah said to her do not fear go do as you have said make me a little bread cake from it first bring it out to me afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son for thus says the Lord God of Israel the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the Earth what an amazing promise you put your trust in me you do what I tell you to do and you'll never lack flower or oil again so she went and did according to the word of Elijah she and he and her household ate for many days the bowl of flour is not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah this is the point if you want proof you have to give everything to the Lord that's the point this is a widow who had only enough for one meal and she had to divide that up and give a portion to the prophet based upon a promise the prophet said do this and you'll never lack that's a picture of what the Messiah is offering I'm offering you everything you will ever need I'm offering you salvation in its fullest sense the question is are you willing to trust me you won't see the miracle until you make the sacrifice did you get that you won't see the miracle until you make the sacrifice and then if you make the sacrifice put your trust in me God will bless you and did he ever verse 17 says her son became sick so severely sick that he died and she said to Elijah what do I have to do with you o man of God you have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death he said to her give me your son and he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living laid him on his own bed he called to the Lord and said oh Lord my God have you also brought Calamity to the Widow with whom I am staying by causing her son to die then he stretched himself upon the child three times called to the Lord and said O Lord my God I pray you let this child's life return to him the Lord heard the voice of Elijah the life of the child returned to him and he revived took the child down verse 23 gave him to the mother and said your son is alive and the woman said now I know that you're a man of God and the word of the Lord is in your mouth is truth the proof only came when she made the sacrifice rather than looking for the miracle reach out for the Salvation that the Messiah offers and the Miracles will follow fear wondering whether Jesus can save whether Jesus is the savior entrust your life to him the proof will be immediate and clear she has nothing this is desperation this is a poor prisoner blind and oppressed she's got nothing but a handful of oil and a handful of flour to mix together into some dough to bake a last meal and then die but what she got to lose if she gives some to the prophet maybe she dies half hour sooner or a few hours sooner but you're still going to die surely doesn't have a choice she has no way to preserve her life or her son's life the only thing that made sense was to trust the word of the Lord through the prophet this is the spiritual condition of people For Whom The Gospel is good news and God blessed her faith and he always does you'll never know the truth about the gospel until you know the savior of the Gospel and the Lord wasn't through he had another story to tell an equally disturbing one from their standpoint verse 27 and there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet and none of them was cleansed many widows in Israel none of them received help from a prophet many lepers in Israel the shredded disease none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian there's an hour in the time of Elisha about 50 years later 60 years later and this is a gentile this is an enemy this is a warrior this is a soldier this is a commander who attacked Israel this is a commander who killed the Jewish people who took them captive Second Kings 5 tells his Unforgettable story Naaman captain of the Army great man highly respected Valiant Warrior but he was a leper outcasts and there was a little girl from the land of Israel who was serving naaman's wife and she said to her mistress I wish that my master were with the prophet who's in Samaria then he would cure him of his leprosy she she believed the prophet could heal her Pagan Masters leprosy well he's gonna he's gonna make sure that that happens if it can in verse 5 of chapter 5 he takes off for Israel and for the king he's got 10 talents of silver six thousand shekels of gold 10 changes of clothing what's he gonna do who's going to buy his healing it doesn't work that way the King was frightened by this offer thought he was setting him up for some kind of disastrous attack make the long story short Naaman gets to the prophet Elisha verse 9. came with his horse as a chariots stood at the doorway of the House of Elisha Elisha sent a messenger in him saying he didn't even go out he just sent a servant out this very important man co-wash in the Jordan seven times somebody titled that sermon one time seven ducks in a dirty River that's that's what he was asked go wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh will be restored to you and you'll be clean he didn't even go out to meet him Naaman was Furious went away thought he'll come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord as God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper he he needed a whole lot more Fanfare than the messenger telling him to go dunk himself seven times in the muddy Jordan that was humiliating what's wrong with the abana and the far apar the rivers of Damascus couldn't I wash in them so we turn in what are we in a rage he was not yet willing to understand his bankruptcy destitution and hopelessness he had to Humble himself while his servants came to him in verse 13 and said if the prophet had asked you to do some great thing you would have done it how much more than when he says wash and be clean so he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan according to the word of the man of God and his flesh was restored like the Flesh of a little child and he was clean in verse 15 he said there's no God in all the Earth only the god of Israel Sinners have to be humbled they have to be brought low at first Naaman was not willing to Humble himself but he later realized better to be humble and live than be proud and dead again salvation is for the destitute who have nowhere to turn and they can't buy it it comes as a gift it comes as a gift so Jesus ended that Exposition with those two Old Testament accounts notice how the people responded verse 28. all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things he had just destroyed their Works righteousness system their system of you earn your way to God's favor he had just devastated that they were Furious so they went from being impressed in verse 22 to being angry in verse 28 and they got up from their seating in the synagogue drove him out of the city led him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built in order to throw him down the cliff they were so offended at the idea that God Saves poor prisoners blind and oppressed that God ignored Israelite widows and Israelite lepers and saved a destitute sidonian woman and a Syrian Warriors Gentiles both they hated that that's why Jesus said he did not come to save The Righteous because this is what the righteous do with the gospel it makes them angry verse 30 very simply says he passing through their midst he went his way he disappeared before they could throw him off the cliff the Lord has always saved the people who are most desperate the reason people don't come to Christ is because they refuse to see themselves in their true sinful condition fine to talk about the love of Christ fine to talk about apologetics find to give them more information on Theology of the Gospel the big issue is are they willing to be humiliated to be shamed to be humbled and do they have enough Faith to give that Faith to the Lord and let him prove himself put your trust in Christ you want to find out if Christianity is true cry out to the Lord to save you you'll find out really fast

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 108,578

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: Zh5wSmonvZU

Length: 48min 27sec (2907 seconds)

Published: Tue May 30 2023