In Him – Part 2
Ephesians 1:3-14
March 25, 2018

As you know we have been talking about what it means to be “In Him”.

An essential reality of salvation is that we are no longer “in Adam”
But through baptism (death to self and new life in Christ)
We have been raised “In Christ”.

• So we are no longer clothed in our own works.
• We are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
• We are in Him.

And we started looking at this concept last time.

We saw two realities in this regard.
#1 BEING IN CHRIST IS ESSENTIAL
Matthew 22:1-14

We saw that parable of the wedding feast
• Where after the wedding hall was eventually filled,
• One man had the audacity to try and enter clothed in his own wedding clothes.
• The King kicked that man out where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The point was that
Being clothed in Christ’s righteousness is not optional, it is essential.

As Isaiah said, “all of our righteous deeds are nothing but filthy garments” before God.

If we expect to be welcomed in His presence,
We must be clothed in the perfect and spotless righteous works of Christ.

We also saw:
#2 BEING IN CHRIST IS POSSIBLE
Galatians 3:23-29

Namely we learned how to be “in Christ”.
Paul said (27) “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Very simply put we enter Christ through baptism.
• And as we discussed, this is not a reference to water baptism.
• This is what Peter called “an appeal to God for a good conscience”
• It is when we die to self, by turning our back on all our righteous efforts and attempts at pleasing God through our own works.

We totally trash all that we are and all that we have done
And instead trust in Christ.

In short, we take off our garments and put on Christ’s.
And all who do that, Paul said, “have clothed [themselves] with Christ.”

In short, being in Christ is possible.
And since it is essential, that’s good news.

Tonight we want to examine the third point in this regard.
#3 BEING IN CHRIST IS BENEFICIAL
Ephesians 1:3-14

In this, we merely want to examine (albeit briefly)
Some of the benefits of being “In Him”

And no place does that better than the book of Ephesians.

Now I will say that this first chapter of Ephesians is one of the most difficult to deal with grammatically.
• Your Bible may have periods and sentences and paragraphs, but the original Greek text does not.
• Chapter 1 in the Greek is in fact 1 long sentence.
• And I understand that. Paul’s excitement outruns his grammar here.

When writing papers in college, I’d have Carrie read them before I turned them in and often times she would tell me, “You can’t just put a comma in there and keep going. Sometimes you have to use a period.”

Well, had a I known that the apostle Paul did the same thing,
I would have told her to mind her own business.

What it reveals to us though is that Paul is excited.
• He is writing a mile a minute.
• His mind and His heart is full with a glorious theme that he can’t wait to get out on paper.

He can’t wait to expound to the Ephesians about the glorious realities
Of what they have “In Him”.

Because of that, this book has often been referred to as
“The Christian’s Bank Statement”

Paul is revealing what is yours when you are “In Him”.

Now, before we dive into these verses,
I actually want to begin a little later in the chapter.
LOOK DOWN TO VERSES 18-23

I want to go here first because these verses simply express to us
How badly Paul wants the Ephesians (and you) to grasp these truths.

(18-23) “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

You notice here that Paul reveals his prayer request.
He is appealing to God on their behalf.

Namely that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened”
• Today we view the heart as the seat of emotion, but not in Bible times.
• In Bible times the heart was the seat of reason and the gut was the seat of emotion.

Paul is praying that the Ephesians may have
An intellectual comprehension of these things.
“so that you will know”

He is dealing with the tragedy of a misinformed
Or an under-informed believer.

How tragic to have benefits in Christianity,
But to not even know what they are.

As John MacArthur put it:
“many Christians spend a great deal of time and effort vainly looking for blessings already available to them. They pray for God’s light, although He has already supplied light in abundance through His Word. Their need is to follow the light they already have. They pray for strength, although His Word tells them they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them (Phil. 4:13). They pray for more love, although Paul says that God’s own love is already poured out within their hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). They pray for more grace, although the Lord says the grace He has already given is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9). They pray for peace, although the Lord has given them His own peace, “which surpasses all comprehension” (Phil. 4:7). It is expected that we pray for such blessings if the tone of the prayer is one of seeking the grace to appropriate what is already given, rather than one of pleading for something we think is scarcely available or is reluctantly shared by God.
The Christian’s primary need is for wisdom and obedience to appropriate the abundance of blessings the Lord has already given.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series: Ephesians; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1986] pg. 43)

Later in the chapter he would continue:
“Until we comprehend who we truly are in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to live an obedient and fulfilling life. Only when we know who we really are can we live like who we are. Only when we come to understand how our lives are anchored in eternity can we have the right perspective and motivation for living in time. Only when we come to understand our heavenly citizenship can we live obedient and productive lives as godly citizens on earth.”
(ibid. pg. 46)

This helps us understand why Paul so boldly prays
NOT that God will bless the Ephesians,
But that the Ephesians will have their eyes opened
To know just how blessed they really are.

And Paul even expresses 3 general areas in which he prays that their eyes will be open.
• “what is the hope of His calling”
• “what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance”
• “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe”

What you should also quickly recognize is that
Paul spoke of those realities as being primarily “His”.

They are “His calling”
They are “His inheritance”
They are “His power”

And that is important because they are only available
To those who are “In Him”

But we look at those 3 things.

HIS CALLING – summed up by HOPE

Hope is certainly a noun there and not a verb.
It is the full realization and subsequent rest
Of understanding who you are in Christ.

There is no call for the believer to live a hopeless life.
• We are anchored in Christ and He is anchored inside the veil.
• God has called Him pleasing and Christ has called us to Himself.

Our hope rests on the fact that
The One who holds us is already acceptable to God.

As the hymn says:
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

Paul’s prayer is that we would have an understanding of that hope.

He prayed that we would grasp
HIS INHERITANCE – summed up by RICHES

This is Christ’s reward for righteous living.
• It is the reward God would bestow on Him for the way He lived His life.

And Paul wants you to grasp that reward
Because when we’re in Him, we are treated the same way.

Remember imputation teaches that He was treated as though He lived our life and we are now treated as though we lived His.

The bride shares in the blessings of the groom.

Paul also wanted us to grasp
HIS POWER – summed up by GREATNESS

In fact, with this one Paul goes ahead
And DESCRIBES what kind of power he is talking about.

(19b-21) “These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

If you want to know what kind of power we are talking about,
• Paul says it’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead
• And then seated Him above every other throne and every other name for all eternity.

It is very simply the power of CHRIST’S EXALTATION

In fact, Paul says:
(22-23) “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

We are talking about tremendous POWER.
We are talking about tremendous AUTHORITY.

And then Paul said that after putting all things under Him,
God “gave Him…to the church”

When we are “in Him” we share in that authority.
We share in that power.

And Paul just there says,
I PRAY THAT YOU WILL GRASP WHAT IS YOURS IN CHRIST.
I PRAY YOU WILL GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF THIS.

You are in Christ, and this is what you enjoy as a result.

And I really just want you first of all to see that prayer
So that you will understand Paul’s heart in this chapter.

He reveals that prayer after outlining the benefits of being in him,
But he wants you to get those benefits so bad, that after listing some of them he then says, “And I’m praying that God will allow you to grasp what I’m talking about.”

• These are huge concepts.
• These are important concepts.
• These are such lofty ideas that Paul didn’t even speak of them without begging God to grant you understanding of just how amazing they are.

Well, that being said, now LET’S GO BACK TO THE TOP
And talk about these benefits of being in him.

Start with verses 1-3
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Now I really want you to zero in on what Paul said there
Because it is absolutely remarkable.

In verse 3 Paul says that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”

• Notice the tense, “has blessed”
• Notice the object, “us”
• Notice the degree “every spiritual blessing”
• Notice the means “in Christ”

Paul just read to you your spiritual bank statement.
He just told you, “As I look at your ledger, I have to tell you, you are rich!”
It’s yours in Christ.

And honestly, that is an incomprehensible statement.
Who can fathom such things?

Even to the Corinthians Paul wrote:
1 Corinthians 2:9 “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

You just can’t grasp it all.

Now you understand why Paul is praying
That God would help you see just what all is yours in Christ.

However, to at least in part, help you understand
The magnitude of this statement
PAUL EMBARKS ON A COMPARISON.

Notice the first words of verse 4, “just as”

That is an indicator of an upcoming analogy.

Paul is going to talk about
Some of the blessings you already know about in Christ
That maybe they will help you fathom this one that is incomprehensible.

Paul just said God has blessed you with every spiritual blessing.
You ask, “Like what?”

And Paul says, “Like this…”

And then he lists 6 just in this first chapter.

Here is an indicator of some of the benefits
That you already enjoy as one who is “In Him”.

1) ELECTION (4)
“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

Now we are aware of the doctrine of election.
It is the understanding that God chose us apart from any worth or merit that we possessed.
• He didn’t choose us because we were more righteous
• He didn’t choose us because we were more able
• He didn’t choose us because we were more fun

He chose us because He wanted to.
And everyone who understands the gracious reality of God’s election
Is ALREADY OVERCOME WITH GRATITUDE.

Well Paul here lets you in on a little secret.

Your election was actually “in Him”
“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”

God chose us in Him, as opposed to choosing us outside of Him.

Our election is a sovereign decree of God to unite us in Christ.
• He didn’t choose us to go to heaven
• He didn’t choose us to be forgiven
• He didn’t choose us to be blessed
• He chose us to be in Christ.

We were that selected bride, selected for a purpose.
We were a gift to the Son.

We were chosen “that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

• This was the goal.
• This was the objective.
• To make us “holy”; to make us “blameless”; to allow us to stand before God in absolute perfection.

But as you know, this can’t happen by our own efforts.
We will never be holy or blameless in our own garments.
So we were chosen first and foremost to be “in Him”

There is no election outside of Him.
There is no being chosen apart from Christ.
But those who are in Him are the elect.

Jesus said:
John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Now that is obviously a good benefit.
• As those who are in Christ, we enjoy the sovereign election of God.
• We enjoy being a people for God’s own possession.
• We enjoy being those upon whom God’s favor rests.

One of the benefits is election.
2) ADOPTION (5-6)
“In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

You have there that amazing reality known as adoption.
• That God took an unwanted orphan and made us His child.’

• This of course was done “through Jesus Christ to Himself” since it was Jesus who satisfied God’s wrath and paid our ransom.

And this was all done “according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

Which is to say the only reason God did this is because He is kind,
Not because we are worthy,
And the result should be that we praise His amazing grace.

But what you need to see is that last statement regarding God’s grace.
“which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

People often refer to salvation as
• God loved us so much that He would rather go to hell than go to heaven without us.
• You are so special and important and loved by God that He just couldn’t stand the thought of not saving you.
• You are worthy, you are important, you are loved.

STOP!
No, Christ is “the Beloved”
• Christ is the One the Father couldn’t live without.
• Christ is the One who is the recipient of every good thing and all the Father’s good pleasure.

We get to partake in that love and grace and kindness and favor
Because we are “in Him”.

We can’t receive favor as God’s enemy.
We can’t receive blessing as God’s enemy.

So God chose to before the foundation of the world
To bring us into Christ so that in the One whom He loved
He would be able to show us that grace and kindness.

But the benefit of God’s adoption is only because we are in Christ.
He freely takes us in because we are clothed in His Son.

Election, Adoption
3) REDEMPTION (7-8)
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”

And this one we understand as well.
When we are united with Christ “we have redemption through His blood”

That is because on the cross He was treated as though He lived our life.
• He satisfied God’s wrath on our sin.
• He fulfilled God’s expectation for righteous living.
• He gave God everything God wanted and when we are “In Him” we then enjoy that benefit.

Paul spells out that benefit as “the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”

And again you see how these all stack together.
• In Christ, we were chosen
• And because we were in Him we were loved and adopted
• And because we were in Him we were redeemed and purchased

It’s all because the Father loves the Son.
It’s all because the Father loves Christ.
We receive those blessings because we are in Him.

Election, Adoption, Redemption
4) REVELATION (9-10)
“In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

First we recognize the plan of God.
We recognize the purpose of God.

That is to bring about “an administration suitable to the fullness of the times.”
• This is a reference to the Millennial reign of Christ.
• When the Jesus Administration reigns supreme on the earth.

It will be a time of “the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

Which is to say that it will be the time when every knee will bow
And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

It is absolutely God’s plan for Christ to reign supreme
And all things be in subjection to Him.

The FIRST BENEFIT we receive here is that as those who are in Christ,
God “made known to us the mystery of His will”

God has shown us that.
You have been shown by God the future plan,
Which the rest of the world does not know.

TURN TO: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:6-16

The world doesn’t grasp or know that Christ is Lord of all.
If they did, they wouldn’t have crucified Him.
The world doesn’t know where this world is headed.

Those truths are spiritually appraised,
But we know them because God has chosen to reveal them to us in Christ.

Remember what Jesus told Peter?
Matthew 16:15-17 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

Peter named Jesus as God’s Christ, the future King of the world.
And Jesus said, “There’s no way you could have known that if God hadn’t shown it to you.”

This is another benefit of being in Christ.
We have revelation of the truth of what is coming.
• We know things about the end.
• We know things about the future reign.
• We have a hope made clear to us from God.

And really, that’s not the only benefit here.

We read it a moment ago, but look back down at verse 22-23.
“And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Did you catch there what the church is called?
“His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

We know that Christ is the One who “fills all in all”,
Which is to say the One who stands above everything and rules all.

But the church is called “the fullness of Him”.
That word there is PLEROMA which means “complement”.

It refers to “something that completes”
The church there is called that which completes Christ.

Some remember the famous movie love line from a movie a few years back in which the man looked at the woman and said, “You complete me”

It was his way of saying, “I’m not going forward without you, and without you none of this matters.”

That is what Christ says to the church.

“In Him” we don’t just get insight into His reign, we participate in it.
• He won’t do it without us.
• We are a part of Him.

It is our benefit to know He will reign and then to reign with Him.

Election, Adoption, Redemption, Revelation
5) INHERITANCE (11-12)
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

We are speaking here of Christ’s inheritance,
And because we are “In Him” it is also our inheritance.

Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

God has made Christ the heir of the world,
And we share in His benefits when we are in Him.

Election, Adoption, Redemption, Revelation, Inheritance
6) SECURITY (13-14)
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

This is of special comfort to us since we know that once we are in Him
WE CAN NEVER BE REMOVED FROM HIM.

Once we are in Him, we are “sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit”

Paul says that this Holy Spirit is the deposit
Guaranteeing the reality of our inheritance.
He is the first installment of the total redemption which we will enjoy.

His presence in our lives makes our being in Christ a permanent thing.
• A sacred promise.
• A solemn oath.
• God will never allow us to be severed.
• Once you’re in, you’re in.

NOW, I KNOW WE HIT THOSE QUICKLY,
And that’s ok because I don’t think those were things that are necessarily new to you. I think you probably understood those already.

What you have there are 6 pretty amazing benefits that we receive just because we are in Christ.
• Election,
• Adoption
• Redemption
• Revelation
• Inheritance
• Security.

But if you’ll remember those benefits weren’t the main point.
Those were just the benefits Paul listed here
As a way to help you understand his first statement.

Remember those where the “just as” benefits
Given to help you understand what he said first.

What he said first was that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

Blessings like election and adoption and redemption and so on.
But those aren’t all, not by a long shot.

Those are just 6.
Paul said we have “every spiritual blessing” not just those 6.

Now you understand why he prayed that God
Would open our eyes to all that is ours in Christ.

The idea here is that the benefits of being in Christ
Are beyond comprehension.

There are certainly more than just these.
In fact, in chapter 2 Paul will list 2 more.

EXALTATION
Ephesians 2:5-7 “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Or
FELLOWSHIP/RECONCILIATION
Ephesians 2:11-13 “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

And even that isn’t all.
The point is just that the benefits are beyond number of being in Christ.

And all of these benefits are only ours “in Him”
That is why we hold so dearly to SOLUS CHRISTUS

We have in Christ what we can have no where else.
These are the things that Christ has done for us.

And really the only thing we can do with that is fall to our knees
In worship and gratitude of the privilege of being in Christ.

We did nothing, He did it all.
And being in Him is the greatest benefit of our existence.
In Him we have it all.
We need nothing else.
It is all ours because it is all His.
In Christ Alone.

Discipleship According to Jesus – Part 1
Luke 6:17-23
March 25, 2018

We’ve been following Jesus throughout Luke’s gospel and thus far we have seen Jesus really put through the ringer.

Everything Luke’s gospel has been about scrutinizing who He was,
And what He said, and if He was real.
And He has passed every test with flying colors.

But throughout the rest of chapter 6, the tables are going to turn.
• The crowd no longer has the luxury of sitting back and examining Jesus.
• Starting here Jesus is about to start examining the crowd.

And we know this about Jesus.

John said:
John 1:9 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”

The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

Jesus exposes men.
Jesus knows what is in men in general
And He knows what is in men personally.

He in fact knows your heart even better than you do.

Jeremiah said:
Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

• Jeremiah revealed there that you don’t even know your own heart.
• Your heart will lie to you, it will deceive you.
• But the Lord does know the heart.

This is why David prayed:
Psalms 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

This was also the cry of the Psalmist in Psalms 19.
After recounting that the word of the Lord was perfect in every way, he then said:
Psalms 19:11-12 “Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.”

The Psalmist was aware that we all have “hidden faults”.
They are not hidden from God, they are hidden from us.
They are things about our own hearts that we don’t even know about
Until the Lord exposes them.

This is what James had in mind
When he wrote about God’s word being a mirror.
James 1:22-25 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

When you wake up in the morning
You don’t know what you look like until you look in the mirror.
That it is also true regarding the word of God.

I tell you that because Jesus is about to hold up the mirror.
• He is about to expose men.
• He is about to function fully in His role as the light in the midst of the darkness
which enlightens every man.

And how you respond to that mirror…
How you respond to that light…
IS VERY IMPORTANT AND REVEALING

John 3:19-21 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

• Those who love God love the light.
• Those who don’t typically hate it.

We must be those who respond favorably.
We must be those like the man in Jesus’ closing illustration
Who built his house on the rock, and not like the man who built on sand.

Both of those men heard. They both looked in the mirror,
BUT ONLY ONE ACTED UPON WHAT HE SAW THERE.

So let me just tell you from the outset,
It’s important that you are willing to see what Christ shows you,
And it’s important that you do what He says as a result.

We are about to get Luke’s version of The Sermon on the Mount.
Now it all begins with Jesus hysteria raging full-force.

LET’S LOOK AT THE SETTING:
(READ: Luke 6:17-19)

I don’t want to dwell long here,
Because I really think the point here is mostly to set the scene.

• Jesus has just chosen 12 of His disciples to become His apostles.
• We saw that selection last time.
• And now, after choosing them Jesus has come to a level place (down from the
mountain where He prayed all night)
• And is approaching “a large crowd of His disciples.”

These are more of His followers.
These are more of His servants.
These are more of His students.

They weren’t the ones who were picked as apostles,
But that doesn’t indicate that their devotion to Jesus was any less real.

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus weren’t apostles either,
But we know they were devoted to Christ.

The disciples are part of the crowd.

But this crowd is also diverse.

We also have, in addition to His disciples, “a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,”

• Now this crowd is large and had come from a great distance,
• But they are not yet described as His disciples.
• These are people who are coming to dip their toes in the water and see what
this Jesus is all about.
• Primarily they are coming “to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases”

And look, I don’t judge them too harshly,
If you had a disease or someone you love had a disease
YOU WOULD HAVE MADE THE TRIP TOO.

And what is more,
It is apparent that their journey is paying off for “those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.”

Jesus was obliging them.
• He was putting on quite a healing clinic.
• Apparently on this day all you had to do was get near and touch Jesus and whatever our ailment, it was gone.

Can you imagine that scene?
Can you imagine how the crowds must have been
Flocking to Jesus for their healing?

And again,
• There is no indication here of any diseases being too great or too far-gone, or too debilitating.
• There is no indication of any diseases only being partially healed or even gradually healed.
• There is no indication of anyone who went there that was turned away.

What is happening here is absolutely phenomenal
And certainly it is a testimony once again to exactly who Jesus is.

Jesus Himself said it:
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

There should be no doubt to anyone at this point
That Jesus is in fact the Son of God.

THAT IS THE SCENE.

And then after all of them were healed.
• Luke said Jesus was “healing them all”
• After they had all been afforded the opportunity to touch Jesus and they all
saw their infirmities reversed.
• Now it came time for the sermon.

I would think at this point everyone in the crowd
Should be more than interested in everything He has to say.

To this crowd He preaches Luke’s version of The Sermon on the Mount.

Now, I stress that this is Luke’s version because
I don’t want you to just skip through it as though you have a handle on it
Because you’ve studied Matthew’s version so much.

I think it is a mistake to assume that Matthew and Luke are making the same point just because they are referencing the same incident.
It is clear to me that they are not.

Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount was clearly all about righteousness.
• Matthew listened to Jesus on that day and heard Him shatter any and all attempts that any person had to trust in their own righteousness.
• Matthew heard Jesus expose
• faulty attitudes,
• faulty standards,
• faulty interpretations of the Law,
• faulty religious practices,
• faulty desires,
• faulty judgments,
• faulty commitments,
• And faulty obedience.

And certainly Luke picks up on some of that as well.

But from Luke’s perspective we notice an obvious difference.
Luke clearly picks up on the diversity in Jesus’ sermon.

Luke hears Jesus addressing the crowd
He realizes not everyone in the crowd is in the same spiritual condition
And therefore Luke hears Jesus address them differently.

• Some in that crowd are COMMITTED SERVANTS
• Some in that crowd are COMFORTABLE SINNERS
• Some in that crowd are CURIOUS SEEKERS

And Luke hears Jesus address them all.
And Luke hears Jesus expose them all.

Now listen, I’m a firm believer that Scripture has only 1 meaning.
• That means that Jesus sermon had only 1 meaning (and it’s clear they are both referring to the same sermon)
• But it’s also true that a passage of Scripture or the sermon of Jesus can have thousands of applications depending on the listener.

So while the meaning of the sermon is the same,
Luke and Matthew clearly take from it two different applications.

We’re going to look at it through the lens of the different people Luke hears Jesus address.
#1 THE COMMITTED
Luke 6:20-23

If you are familiar with Matthew’s gospel you recognize those as
A partial list of what is called The Beatitudes.

Luke does not include “Blessed are the meek” or “Blessed are the merciful” or “Blessed are the peacemakers” or “Blessed are the pure in heart”

Another notable difference
Is that where Matthew records them in general, Luke records them in a personal sense.

• For example, Matthew writes “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
• Luke writes, “Blessed are you who are poor”

Matthew is picking up on the theology,
Luke is picking up on the confrontation.

Another notable difference
Is that where Matthew records these statements in a spiritual sense, Luke records them in a social sense.

For example:
• Matthew writes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
• Luke simply writes “Blessed are you who are poor”

• Matthew writes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”
• Luke simply writes, “Blessed are you who hunger now”

According to Matthew
• Jesus was speaking of the attitude and spiritual condition of the heart.
• That it is those who are broken and humble and who hate their sin and who
hunger for righteousness worse than anything who will be saved.

And Matthew was certainly correct.
After all, as we said, the sermon can have only 1 meaning.

That is precisely what Jesus said, and it is precisely what Jesus meant.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL JESUS MEANT.
Luke picked up on the social side of it as well.

It just so happened that
• Those who were “poor in spirit” also happened to be the actual poor.
• Those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” also happened to be the actual hungry.

WHY?
Because in this crowd are those who were so humble and so broken and who hungered and thirsted for righteousness so much that they actually left their lives to follow Jesus and find it.

Certainly they were poor in spirit,
Had they not been they would have continued in their former manner of life.
Certainly they mourned over their sin,
Had they not, they wouldn’t have left it.
Certainly they were meek and submissive,
If they weren’t they wouldn’t be following Jesus.
Certainly they hungered and thirsted for righteousness,
If they didn’t they wouldn’t be following Jesus.

It’s just that in leaving their former manner of life, and their sinful past
They have now (almost ironically) also become the actual poor and hungry.

What becomes clear to us then is that Jesus looked at these poor and hungry who had left everything to follow Him
And He obviously made a spiritual analogy out of them.

You aren’t just poor, you were poor in spirit, that’s why you came.
You aren’t just hungry, you hungered for righteousness, that’s why you came.

Matthew picked up on the spiritual side of the sermon.
Luke picked up on the social side.

So here we have the same sermon, but a different application.
• Luke ISN’T talking about the attitude required for salvation (that was
Matthew’s sermon).
• Luke IS talking about the lifestyle of those who received salvation.

Because of their devotion to Christ, they left everything.
• They left their fishing nets
• They left their father and mother
• They left their farms
• They left their tax booths

And those who are following Jesus are in fact poor.

And that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Later in Luke’s gospel:
Luke 9:57-58 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

How many times does Jesus have to say it?
• You can’t love Me and the world…
• You can’t follow Me and the world…

Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

And listen, Luke is going to talk about this A LOT in his gospel.
• Only Luke mentions the Rich man in Hades.
• Only Luke mentions the man who tore down his barns to build bigger ones.
• Only Luke reveals that the Pharisees were lovers of money.
• Only Luke shares the story of Zaccheus and how he left his wealth.

It’s clear that Luke picks up on the call of Jesus
And primarily that a call to follow Him is a call to forsake this world

Here Luke listens as Jesus addresses THOSE WHO HAVE DONE THAT.
(20) “And turning His gaze toward His disciples”

He IS NOT speaking about the whole crowd here,
Just those who have in fact left everything to follow Him.

AND THE MESSAGE IS VERY ENCOURAGING!
Speaking to the committed:
JESUS CONFIRMS THEIR FAITH

Listen to what He says.
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.”

Surely you picked up on the key word, “Blessed”
It is MAKARIOS in the Greek.
It means HAPPY

And that alone immediately raises some eyebrows.
Wait a minute…
• Happy are the poor?
• Happy are the hungry?
• Happy are the weeping?
• Happy are the hated and ostracized and insulted and scorned?

THAT’S JUST DUMB!
That doesn’t seem to make any sense at all.

And that’s true, IF you think according to the pattern of this world.

• You ask any unredeemed person in the world if they are happier when they are rich or poor and they will say rich every time.
• You ask any unredeemed person in the world if they are happier when they are hungry or full and they will say full every time.
• And so on…

What is more,
• Even this crowd of disciples might have said the same thing.
• Even you, even me, might say the same thing.

You’re happier with a full belly than an empty one.
You’re happier with riches than poverty.

THAT’S WHY JESUS GOES FARTHER HERE.
He doesn’t just tell His disciples that they are blessed,
He tells them WHY they are blessed.

• Because even though they are poor in this world, by reason of their decision to follow Jesus theirs “is the kingdom of heaven.”

• Even though they are hungry now, because of their decision to follow Jesus they “shall be satisfied”

• Even though they weep now, because of their decision to follow Jesus they “shall laugh.”

• Even though they are hated and ostracized and insulted and scorned now, because of their decision to follow Jesus. It is actually that decision that will causes them to have a “reward [that] is great in heaven.”

THE WORLD looks at their poverty which came on them for following Jesus and says they made a stupid decision.

JESUS says they actually made the best decision and for that reason they are blessed and they should be happy.

It’s no different than when Peter and the rest of the 12
Watched the rich young ruler walk away with all his money.

Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

That’s the same thing Jesus just said here.
• You may have lost your earthly farm, but you gained “the kingdom of God”
• You may have lost the food in your pantry, but you gained full satisfaction.
• You may have lost temporary pleasures, but once you see what you gain, you’re going to belly laugh.
• You may have lost your reputation, but once you see how God will compensate you for it, you will “leap for joy”.

Jesus is encouraging their faith.
He is confirming their decision to follow Him.
He is filling in the blanks of eternity.

And might I also point out that it is this understanding
That has FUELED THE HOPE OF ALL BELIEVERS through all time.

Consider the apostle Paul:
Philippians 1:21-23 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;”

Consider Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as they sojourned in Canaan.
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

Consider Moses as he left the house of Pharaoh
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

Consider countless others who endured poverty and scorn
Hebrews 11:35-38 “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

Those were all people who fully believed
That losing this life for the next was totally worth it.

Is that not what Jesus asked?
Matthew 16:25-27 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Jesus simply said, “Do the math!”
• Sure you lost the things of this life.
• Sure you are poor and hungry and you weep over the loss and over the scorn
you are receiving for following Me.
• But do you realize how much more you are gaining?

It is that great revelation of Asaph in the famous 73rd Psalm.

Many of you know it, but for those who don’t:
TURN TO: PSALMS 73

You see Asaph recounting a time when he just couldn’t see the blessing of what Jesus was talking about here.

• All he saw was that the wicked were rich and the faithful were poor, and it didn’t seem worth it. (Read 1-9)

• And Asaph says, I had even decided my decision to follow God was the wrong decision and was pure vanity. (Read 10-14)

But just before Asaph fell into full blown apostasy,
God preached this same sermon you and I are reading to Asaph.

• He actually showed Asaph, not only the blessings of obedience, but just how bad of a condition those who are drinking up the world are in. (Read 15-20)

God showed Asaph what Jesus will tell us next time.
That those who have chosen riches over Christ
Will reach a day when they’ll wish they hadn’t.

• And Asaph changes his tune (Read 21-24)

And then Asaph, recounting the blessing of all that God has promised
Gives one of the most beautiful statements of faith in all the Bible.

Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”

Asaph learned what Jesus is teaching here.
• It’s what Abraham knew
• It’s what Moses knew
• It’s what Paul knew

That following Christ may indeed
Result in poverty, hunger, weeping and scorn,
But hang on because it will be so worth it!

The same CAN’T BE SAID for that next group Jesus will address.

We’ll go ahead and read it this morning and look further into it next time.
(24-26) “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

They may think their decision to keep the world was the right one,
But that’s only because they can’t see the whole picture.

If they only knew what was waiting for them,
They’d burn their money in the streets.

But for those who have chosen to forsake it all and follow Christ,
Jesus simply encourages them in their decision.

WELL, THERE’S THE FIRST GLANCE IN THE MIRROR.

First we have to ask, have I forsaken everything to follow Christ?

Listen, don’t misread what Luke is saying.
• He is not saying that poverty is an automatic ticket to heaven.
• He is not saying that if you are poor then you’re in.

He is talking to those who are poor because they are following Jesus.
And following Jesus led them away from their homes and their farms
And their relationships and their jobs.

• I don’t know what kind of fishing business Peter and Andrew had, but I’m pretty
sure it’s not doing too good right now.

• I don’t know how successful Matthew as at tax collecting, but I can tell you how
successful he is now.

They left it all that they may gain Christ.

Our first question is: HAVE I?

AND LISTEN, the very nature of the call of Christ all but guarantees it will cost you something.

• It may cost some more than others, but it costs everyone something.
• If it hasn’t cost you anything to follow Jesus, you’re deceiving yourself if you think you’re following.

Listen to Jesus:
Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

It always costs something to follow.
• A relationship…
• A job…
• A reputation…
• A sinful pleasure…

First we have to ask, am I following Jesus?

But for those who can look in the mirror and say,
“Yes” I am following, THEN LOOK DEEP INTO THAT MIRROR.

Look into that glass lit dimly.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Even though weeping lasts through the night, joy comes in the morning.

If following Jesus has led you down paths of poverty,
• Rejoice you’re inheriting the kingdom of God.

If following Jesus has led you down paths of hunger,
• Rejoice! You’re going to be fully satisfied.

If following Jesus has led you into nights of weeping,
• Rejoice! You’re going to belly laugh.

If following Jesus has led you into worldly scorn and hatred,
• Then leap for joy!

Not only is your reward great, but you are in good company,
“For in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.”

The struggles of this life are temporary, and they will be worth it!

That is Jesus message to the committed.

In Him – Part 1
Matthew 22:1-14; Galatians 3:23-29
March 18, 2018

As you know we’ve been talking recently about SOLUS CHRISTUS,
Which is the belief that salvation is IN CHRIST ALONE.
It is not the study of what Christ does IN us, but what Christ does FOR us.

And even though we haven’t really discussed this aspect yet,
I think it’s important to distinguish.

A heavy emphasis is placed today on the concept of Jesus being “IN US”.
• Common evangelical lingo is to speak of “Asking Jesus into your heart”
• And there is a heavy focus especially in charismatic circles about having Christ in you, namely in reference to His power.

Now certainly Christ “IN US” is a Biblical concept.

Paul referred to it as a mystery now revealed.
Colossians 1:26-27 “that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Jesus spoke of it to the disciples:
John 14:17 “that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

Paul spoke of it:
Romans 8:10 “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”

And again:
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

Certainly it is important then to understand the distinction.

When we speak of Christ IN us,
We are talking about the concept and process of sanctification.

It is the Spirit of Christ who dwells within us
To sanctify us and to make us holy.

That is in fact the primary function of the Holy Spirit who is in us.
He makes us more like Christ.

BUT THAT DEALS WITH SANCTIFICATION, NOT JUSTIFICATION.

SOLUS CHRISTUS is about justification.
And justification DOES NOT occur
With Christ coming in us and making us righteous.
That is sanctification and that will never be completed in this life.

JUSTIFICATION IS NOT ABOUT CHRIST GETTING INTO US.
JUSTIFICATION IS ABOUT US GETTING INTO CHRIST.

WHY?
Because the only way we can be justified in the sight of God is if we are hidden in Christ.

Ever sing “Rock of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee”?
That’s what we’re talking about.

The evangelistic strategy that tells people to “Ask Jesus into their heart”
Is a bad strategy built on faulty doctrine.

Our goal as evangelists
• Is to convince people of their danger before God as a result of their sin
• Then show them that there is but one hiding place and that is “in Christ”

I think that’s an important distinction that we have yet to make .

We are talking about not what Christ does IN us,
But what Christ does FOR us.

And again we mention that
Jesus Christ did not come to make me righteous,
He came to be my righteousness.

This, as we have said, is the heart of SOLUS CHRISTUS

We have also discussed in this
• That Christ is the ONLY Savior available,
• And that His IMPUTATION is certainly viable since His work is similar to that of Adam’s only more powerful.

That has been the discussion thus far of SOLUS CHRISTUS

Tonight we want to move forward and talk a little bit about
This absolutely essential understanding of what it means to be “In Him”

There are several passages to look at,
And when we get finished with one, we’ll move on to the next.

But I first want to start with this passage in Matthew 22.
And our first point is this:
#1 BEING IN CHRIST IS ESSENTIAL
Matthew 22:1-14

You already recognize this as the parable of the wedding feast.

From the standpoint of Matthew’s gospel I can simply tell you that
This parable is the 3rd in the group that Matthew records
In order to emphasize the importance of submission to Christ.

At this point Jesus had entered the temple and
He has not only cleared the temple, but He is preaching with fierce zeal.

This prompted the religious leaders to ask:
Matthew 21:23 “When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

Jesus gives three parables to answer the question.
• The first is the man who had two sons who were told to work in the
vineyard. One said he would and then didn’t, one said he wouldn’t and
then did.
• The next parable was of the vineyard in which Jesus revealed the wicked
tenants who had rented the vineyard and defied the authority of the
vineyard owner and who deserved punishment as a result.

So in regard to the authority of Christ Jesus reveals 3 parables.
1) The Disrespected Father
2) The Disrespected Land Owner
3) The Disrespected King (here)

That’s just some background.
Obviously Jesus is addressing the unsubmissive
And unacceptable attitude of Israel to refuse to submit to Him.

Also revealed is the fact that
They remain disrespectful based on a bad miscalculation.

They think they are fine the way they are,
And they don’t fear the retribution of the Father,
Or the Land Owner, or the King.
If they did fear them, then they’d be much more compliant.

But let’s revisit this parable quickly tonight,
As it makes a very important point
About the importance of being clothed in Christ.

3 Quick things about this parable.
1) THE REJECTED INVITATION (1-7)

If you are familiar with the parables of Jesus
Then you know that it is not uncommon for Him
To use stories that are shocking in their nature.

For example:
• A father who would welcome back a degenerate son after enduring so much embarrassment at his hand.
• A Samaritan who would help a man after a priest and a Levite pass him by.

This parable has the same shock factor as those.

Because we have here a story that is unfathomable to think about.
• There is a wedding banquet being thrown by the king on behalf of his son.
• Usually weeks long
• Without a doubt the party of the year
• No one deserved to come, but gracious in receiving and invitation
• No one invited would dare miss this party for fear of retribution
• Obviously God is the King, Christ is the Son, and party is heaven

• At this point the king would have already sent out wedding announcements letting the people know that the party was coming and expecting that the people would make preparations to attend.

And now it is time so he sends out the slaves to tell the people,
IT’S TIME TO COME. (read verses 1-3)

The unthinkable thing is that the people refuse.
(The crowd would have gasped in disbelief – who could be that stupid?)

We don’t have to dwell on why they were “unwilling”,
Other gospel accounts make it clear that
They were preoccupied with the world.

In that is a testimony to what we have said all along.
• It’s not that man does not have “free will” in the sense of freedom to choose.
• Obviously these people made the choice.
• It’s that their “will” is fallen and not free and because they are enslaved to their
passions and lusts they don’t come.

THAT’S THE FIRST SHOCKING THING.

The second shocking thing is that instead of slaying them immediately the king graciously gives them A SECOND CHANCE. (verses 4-6)

No king would have done this,
But there is no doubt that we are dealing with a very gracious king.

He asks again and again they refuse, only this time they actually work to provoke the king by mistreating and killing his messengers.

AT THIS POINT the rejecters get what they deserve and the king annihilates them.
(read verse 7)

It is harsh, but it certainly would have made sense to the crowd.
This is what any just and righteous King should have done.

(What they don’t realize is that these first people being invited were Israel,
And the servants were the apostles)
It is a tragedy

2) THE RECEIVED INVITATION (7-10)

Again we have a point that is a little shocking.
• Since none of the first invited come, the king seemingly lowers his standards and goes out into the slums and pulls in every bum he can find.

• He even tells his slaves to bring in the “evil” and the “good” and the purpose was to fill the wedding hall “with dinner guests”.

The point to be made is that QUANTITY here
Was more important to the king than QUALITY.
He would accept the evil if it resulted in a full hall.

This based on two realities.
1. The wedding is about the glory of the son and it is important to have a massive celebration in His honor.
2. Worthiness wasn’t an issue since the king had plans to clean up every one who attended and make them worthy.

This king was going to provide wedding clothes to all who attended
So that this wedding was beautiful and perfectly honored his son.

3) THE REVOKED INVITATION (11-14)

Here we find our main point regarding how essential it is to be “in Christ.”

So we finally have a full wedding hall, but then look what happened.
“the king came in to look over the dinner guests”

NOW WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?
Because this is for the glory of the Son, and He wants it perfect.

This is actually the judgment.
The king may have graciously allowed whosoever to enter,
But that doesn’t mean he has lowered his standard.

He will let them come, but they must still look the part.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SON!!!

And “when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,”

Earlier we saw some who were unwilling to get ready
And so they were unwilling to come.
Well, here is a man who didn’t get ready,
But who decided to come to the wedding anyway.

And he “was not dressed in wedding clothes”
He hadn’t cleaned up.

(12) “and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.”

The king isn’t asking “how” so much as “why” here.

He’s not curious how this man snuck past his guards,
He’s curious why attending this wedding in filth was acceptable.

How is it that you did this?
Who do you think you are to do this?

And you will notice that the man has no answer.
(In the judgment when God declares your guilt there are no excuses)

(13) “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

The king wasn’t messing around.
• All were welcome, but you were expected to live up to the standard.
• By coming dressed in his rags he was actually an insult to the Son.
• He came, but he didn’t honor the Son.

NOW WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Well, in Scripture garments always speak of character.
Dirty garments = wicked character
Clean garments = righteous character

Zechariah 3:1-5 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.”

There Joshua was being accused and he really was wicked,
But the Lord justified him by changing his garments.

So this man in the wedding has come, but not in righteousness.
• He’s tried to come without righteousness.
• He’s tried to come in his own wedding clothes, not those supplied by the king.

And the king will not stand for it.

In fact, the king is so upset he instantly has the man bound
And cast out of the wedding hall.

You don’t go to the wedding in your own clothes.

But this was a man thought he was good enough,
What a startling reality when he learned otherwise.

The King wanted people to come who honored the Son,
This man dishonored him.

So do all who think they are good enough.

Throughout Scripture those who think they are good enough fail to enter.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

All of their own goodness meant nothing.

That’s what Jesus meant in the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Those who think they are good enough do not please the king.
When you come in your own righteousness you dishonor the Son
And up being bound and cast outside.

That is why Scripture says:
Psalms 96:9 “Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.”

Psalms 29:1-2 “Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in holy array.”

And we obviously aren’t talking about outer clothes here,
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A RIGHTEOUS HEART.

And so we see that because this man did not come in the king’s perfect righteousness, his invitation was actually revoked.

And then Jesus SUMS UP this whole parable with a sobering statement.
(14) “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

And we won’t get back into this as we discussed it
When talking about God’s sovereign election.

We’ll just point out again that
• Everyone was called, but their sinful will caused them to reject the invitation.
• The ones who came where the ones who were chosen,
• Indicating God’s sovereign prerogative, not only to call them, but to change them, and to make them come.

But the point we are making here tonight is regarding
How essential it is that you stand before God “in Him”.

Isaiah makes the pointed revelation
Regarding what our best works look like to God.
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

I don’t care how impressive you think your wardrobe is,
If you try to wear that before God you won’t like the outcome.

Your only hope is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
YOUR ONLY HOPE IS TO BE HIDDEN IN HIM.

It is righteousness which the king supplies.
And rejecting that righteousness in favor of your own clearly brings the wrath of the king.

And let me make again a point we have referenced a few times recently.

TURN TO: PSALMS 1
• You notice the very clear distinction between the CHARACTER of the
righteous and the character of the wicked.
• You also notice the very clear distinction between the FATE of the righteous
and the fate of the wicked.

TURN TO: PSALMS 14
• You see it again about God’s disdain for the wicked but how God dwells with
the righteous.

TURN TO: PSALMS 15
• And there we answer that pivotal question as to who is righteous and who can
stand before God.

And as I’ve told you before I’ll tell you again now.
If you can read any of those Psalms and then look in the mirror
And convince yourself that you are the righteous referred to there
Then you have listened far too much to your momma and your grandma.

Would you really say that:
• You have never walked in the counsel of the wicked?
• You have always delighted in God’s Law day and night?
• You have never defied the authority of God?
• You have always sought after God?
• You have never failed to do good?
• You have always walked with integrity and spoken truth in your heart?
• You have never slandered or done evil or reproached your friend?
• You have always despised a reprobate?
• You have always honored those who fear God?
• You have always kept your word?
• You have never cheated anyone or taken a bribe?

You can say that about yourself?
OF COURSE NOT!

Then you are not the righteous the psalmist is referring to,
YOU ARE THE WICKED.
AND IF YOU TRY TO WEAR THOSE CLOTHES TO THE JUDGMENT, I can tell you what will happen. You’re getting kicked out!

The only one who is the righteous in those Psalms is Christ.
And the only way we get to stay is if we are hidden in Him;
If we are clothed in His righteous deeds.

Being “in Him” is absolutely essential.
That is the first point to make.

Here’s the second point.
#2 BEING IN CHRIST IS POSSIBLE
Galatians 3:23-29

Now again this is a passage that must be understood in some context,
But that we can do it quickly.

You already know that
• Galatians is written as a fiery response of Paul to the Galatians who are considering circumcision as a means of becoming more pleasing to God.

• They have been hoodwinked by the Judaizers into believing that strict obedience to the Law is the only way to please God.

• Paul is battling that throughout the letter.

In chapter 3 he is explaining the purpose of the Law,
And in order to sum up and not to have work through it,
Let me just put it to you like this.

The Law had one main purpose – to drive you to Jesus.
• The Law came to expose sin
• The Law came to expose condemnation
• The Law came to produce a sickening and helpless condition
• So that when the Savior came you would want Him badly.

In a sense, the Law made you thirsty,
So that when Christ offered water you’d take a drink.

Galatians 3:19 “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.”

So that was the Law’s purpose.

From there Paul began to explain how miserable it was to be under the Law before Christ arrived.

And he used 2 analogies to which to compare it.

1) A PRISON WHICH INCARCERATES (22-23)
• All it ever did was enslave us.
• It condemned us and forced us through ritual after ritual and requirement after requirement.
• There was no freedom there, only a prison.

2) A TUTOR TO GUIDE (24-26)
• Just as we said, the Law really had the purpose of driving us to Christ.
• It showed us our need.
• It showed us His glory.

Anyone who truly loves and obeys the Law of God ends up with Jesus.
If they claim to love God’s Law but don’t end up trusting Jesus,
It only shows that they don’t have a clue what God’s Law is about.

But the point is seen.
Don’t use the Law as a means of obtaining God’s favor,
Let the Law drive you to trust in Christ.

AND THEN COMES THE VERSE I WANT YOU TO FOCUS ON.

(27) “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

This is a great verse, and one that deserves some explanation.

We have been talking about how essential it is to be in Christ.
But this verse answers the question, “HOW DOES ONE GET IN CHRIST?”

And the answer “you were baptized into Christ”

Now you can already hear them can’t you?
Ah ha! See I told you that water baptism was required for a person to be saved.

Now hold on for just a second.
Think for just a moment what this entire chapter has been about.

This whole chapter has been about obtaining the blessing of God
And Paul has said repeatedly that the promise is obtained by faith.

To spend this whole chapter down playing works and promoting faith and then all of a sudden to introduce a work like baptism as a necessary requirement for salvation would obviously blow his whole chapter apart.

We have to ask the question
“WHAT IS THIS BAPTISM PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT?”
Or which baptism is Paul referring to?

Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John actually mentioned 3 different baptisms right there.
• Baptism in water – (which John tells us the purpose of – repentance)
• Baptism in the Holy Spirit
• Baptism in fire

The next verse explains the fire baptism:
Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Obviously in the context of the passage, fire is judgment.

So we have water baptism which equals repentance
And we have fire baptism which equals judgment

The only one left is Holy Spirit baptism.
This must be salvation.

1 Peter 3:21 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”

There Peter also says that baptism saves you
(similar to what Paul is saying here in Galatians)

But Peter also qualifies the statement.
“not the removal of dirt from the flesh” – (i.e. the water)

No, the baptism Peter is talking about is
“an appeal to God for a good conscience”

Why would someone appeal to God for a good conscience?
Because they have been under the prison of the Law remember,
And they are condemned.

And under that condemnation that appeal to God for forgiveness.

So obviously being “baptized into Christ”
Is much more than getting in the water.

Romans 6:3-7 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Now look at that passage for just a second.
Any mention of water at all? No

What was mentioned?
Death – burial – resurrection

To the extent that sin might be done away with in our lives.

What Paul is referring to there is FAR SUPERIOR
To anything you can accomplish by getting in the water.

• Paul is talking about complete death to self
• Paul is talking about complete denial of self
• Paul is talking about that appeal for a good conscience

And this is what it means to be “baptized into Christ”

You don’t get into Christ by getting in the water
You don’t get into Christ by walking an aisle
You don’t get into Christ by praying a prayer

You get into Christ
• When you die to self
• When you trust in His death on your account
• When you are raised by His new life (i.e. the Holy Spirit)

That is baptism of the Holy Spirit and that is how you get in Christ.
And when that happens you are “clothed” with Christ.

In other words, you are covered by Him.
His righteousness is credited to you,
And when God looks on you, He sees Him.

But this passage makes our point.
IT IS POSSIBLE FOR EVEN THE MOST SINFUL OF MEN
TO BE IN CHRIST.

This happens when they deny themselves
• That is they turn their back on their own worth
• They turn their back on their own achievements
• They turn their back on their own goodness
• The acknowledge their pathetic state

And then they run to Christ for the righteousness He provides
• This is done through faith
• It is to believe in the righteousness of Christ
• It is to trust in the atoning work of Christ
• It is to accept by faith that doctrine of imputation

That is what it means to be “baptized into Christ”
And to subsequently “have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

It is the conscious decision to take off your garments
And to decide to stand before God in Christ’s garments.

And not only does that bring justification, but Paul speaks of the OTHER BENEFITS.
(28-29) “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

Which is to say that nothing matters but Christ.
• Come judgment there is no benefit in being Jew or Greek
• There is no benefit in being male or female
• All that matters is Christ and being clothed in Him.

And this is possible when you die to self and are raised in Him.

NEXT TIME we will begin to look at the benefits of being in Christ.
Tonight just understand the importance.

Regarding justification, it’s not about getting Christ in you,
It’s about you getting in Christ.

• He is our ark
• He is our salvation
• He is our hiding place
• He is our refuge
• He is our strong tower
• He is our cleft in the rock
• He saves us from the wrath to come

It is that picture of the Passover,
• When the death angel came about.
• He would kill all who were not safely hidden behind the blood.

Don’t just ask Jesus into your heart.
You have to forsake everything to hide in Him.

AND WHEN YOU SHARE THE GOSPEL
Don’t just encourage people to ask Jesus into their heart.

You must tell people that hiding in Him is their only hope.
And that the only way to hide in Him
Is to totally forsake all that they are and have done.

This is the gospel.

Choosing The Twelve
Luke 6:12-16
March 18, 2018

If you’ve been with us over the last several weeks then you are aware of
The friction that has been building between Jesus and the Pharisees.

They have been challenging Him quite frequently as of late
And each time His wisdom proves to be more than they can handle.

In reality, the last couple of times they have challenged Him, they have actually been made to look foolish.

• Jesus, in effect, compared them to foolish men who would tear a patch
out of a new garment to patch a hole on an old one.
• He compared them to a foolish person who poured old wine into new
wineskins.
• Because they were mourning when they should’ve been celebrating.

• Then He exposed their lack of discernment regarding the Sabbath.
• They couldn’t answer why God allowed David to eat that
consecrated bread.
• They couldn’t recognize the Lord of the Sabbath.
• They had no heart for compassion and the healing of a crippled
man.

Jesus hasn’t just won the debates, He has overwhelmingly won them.
Every time the Pharisees go up against Him, they don’t just look wrong,
They look foolish, and petty, and even wicked.

They walk away with a tremendous amount of egg on their faces.

And of course that explains the statement
Luke makes in verse 11 of this chapter.

Luke 6:11 “But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”

This is the first reference to the hostility
That is building toward Jesus from the religious elite.

That revelation also helps to pave the way
For the section we are about to enter.

The remainder of chapter 6 can be categorized as
The selection and training of the twelve.

And in light of the growing hostility toward Him, it certainly makes sense.
• Jesus has known from the beginning what is coming.
• He knows of the hatred towards Him.
• He knows that a little over a year He will be crucified.

His plan is to select 12 men
To carry His message to the world after His departure.

• He is going to dwell with them.
• He is going to teach them.
• He is going to be a living example for them.
• He is going to prepare them for their ministries.

And that is what Luke introduces here.

Let’s break this text down into three points.
#1 THE PRAYER
Luke 6:12

Here again we find that priority of Jesus, to always seek His Father’s will.
There is no doubt to anyone who watched His life exactly who He was serving.
Jesus did what pleased the Father.

And this submissive attitude is never seen anywhere more clearly than in His prayer life.
• Was there ever a man who might have had the ability to handle a situation on
His own?
• Was there ever a man who might have had the power to take on a problem on
His own?
• Was there ever a man who was so spiritual that He might be able to discern a
dilemma without help from above?

If there ever was a man like that, it most certainly would have been Jesus,
And yet we find Him as committed to prayer as any we have ever seen.

It is a testimony to His humility and to His submission.
For honestly prayerlessness only reveals arrogance and defiance in us.
We don’t find this attitude in Christ.

HERE WE FIND HIM PRAYING AGAIN.
And this time “He spent the whole night in prayer to God.”

Trying to guess the content of His prayer is futile and pointless,
But because of the context surrounding this verse we might very well understand that it had a great deal to do with the selection of His disciples.

One thing is certain, Jesus was not concerned about
Picking the people who would seem to be the most effective.
Jesus’ one concern was in picking the people
Whom the Father had chosen.

And make no mistake the Father had His selection.

We remember Jesus’ prayer in John 17
John 17:6-8 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”

And that is who Jesus is after.

Today, far too many times in the church, people are selected either by their worldly successes or the worldly compatibility.
• We think bankers make the best treasurers
• We think managers make the best deacons
• We think movie stars make the best evangelists
• We think talented people make the best singers
• We think the best speakers make the best preachers

When in reality none of those things are God’s criteria.

God does not pick the most obvious man.
God picks the man whom He desires to use.

From His perspective they are all useless.

Don’t we remember:
Romans 3:12 “ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

We like to pick whom we think is the most qualified,
God doesn’t see that any of us are.
But in spite of our weakness,
He picks those whom He may use for His glory.

And Jesus is here on this day simply seeking to find out who that is.
So Jesus spends the night in prayer to find them.

Incidentally the disciples certainly learned from His example,
• For after Judas betrayed the Lord and killed himself,
• We find the church given the task of replacing him.

Acts 1:21-26 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us — beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us — one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”

They learned that from the Lord.
Don’t pick the obvious candidate, pick the one whom God has chosen.

It really is that simple.

And so we see Jesus in prayer.
#2 THE PLAN
Luke 6:13

Here we begin to find out what these men would be selected for.

“He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles;”

The first reference to “His disciples” would have been a large group of people.
• This was the group that was following Him everywhere, listening to Him preach and partaking in His miracles.
• No doubt it was this large group that was eating in the field on the Sabbath that drew the scorn of the Pharisees.

But of this group, God had a plan to choose 12.
Twelve men who would become “apostles”

An apostle is most simply revealed as “a messenger, or an ambassador, or a representative”
But they were also a messenger “with full authority”

It would be seen most similarly today as one with Power Of Attorney.

These men weren’t just being called to be eye-witnesses,
Though they most certainly were.
These men were being called to be the official spokesmen
As the authoritative voice regarding
The person and work and message of Jesus.

• Jesus would be crucified in less than 2 years and would soon after that ascend into heaven.

• And one can only imagine the discrepancies and distortions that would follow after He would be gone.

• To fix that and to preserve the exact message regarding who He was and what He taught Jesus would appoint these “apostles”.

• They would be the officially certified messengers of His gospel.
• They would be the final authority to end all debate regarding who Jesus was.
• They would be the final authority regarding what Jesus taught.

And to validate their message
Jesus would even entrust these men with the power to work miracles
To validate their office of apostleship and to authenticate their message.

And from the standpoint of the church,
And the church’s establishment, and the church’s doctrine,
THE PRESENCE OF THE APOSTLES IS HUGE!

Ephesians 2:20 “[The church has] been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”

We know them as the ones who received divine revelation.
Ephesians 3:4-5 “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;”

The apostles were those who were given divine revelation
To make known to us the very word of God.

Which explains passages like:
Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

These men were God’s voice to the church.

And to validate that message and their office, they were given the ability to work miracles which were called the signs of apostleship.
2 Corinthians 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”

Romans 15:18-19 “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

Hebrews 2:3-4 “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

In this light it is also understood why we DO NOT HOLD that
The miraculous gifts are still present today.

DON’T GET ME WRONG, that does not mean that God does not supernaturally work in our world, obviously He does.
• God heals
• God delivers
• God provides
• God protects
• And God still does those things in supernatural fashion

But the presence of men who have the ability to perform miraculous healings at will or to work other types of miracles at will is no longer.

That was unique to the apostles whom Jesus appointed
And it was unique in order to validate their authority to speak the truth
About Jesus and the gospel message.

That truth is now handed down to us in the New Testament
We no longer need men with miraculous ability to validate their message.

We stand on the apostle’s authority.
We stand on the authority of the New Testament they left behind.

For a better understanding of this authority, you can look to John 20.
John 20:21-23 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

• This DOES NOT indicate that the apostles could forgive or condemn people at
their choosing.
• What it indicated is men who had the authority to declare rather or not a
person was forgiven, or had been forgiven.

Peter did this with Simon the Magician
Acts 8:20-23 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

They could make authoritative judgments
Regarding a person’s spiritual condition.

Incidentally, we now also declare people forgiven or still in sin,
But not based upon our own judgments.

We stand on the apostle’s authority here as well.
• When a person believes in Jesus Christ we tell them on the authority of the New Testament, they are forgiven.
• When a person rejects Jesus Christ we tell them on the authority of the New Testament that they face judgment.

But the apostles would have this authority first.

So I think you can see that this is NO SMALL RESPONSIBILITY
That these men would be given.

Jesus is about to entrust men
• With more power than any normal man should
• With His reputation
• And with His message.

You’d certainly want to get this selection right.

And those whom He will select will not only receive great responsibility, but ALSO GREAT HONOR.

These 12 will have their names engraved on the foundation stones of heaven.
Revelation 21:14 “And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

These 12 will be the new leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Luke 22:29-30 “and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

These 12 will be called “the holy apostles” and will be examples of holy living to the church.
1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

This is a monumental task and an important selection.

And one could only imagine
Where Jesus might look to find these extraordinary men.

Also important to note is the SOVEREIGN PRINCIPLE seen in this verse.

“He called His disciples”
“[He] chose twelve of them”
“He also named as apostles”

We are reminded of the statement Jesus will later make in the upper room:
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

And again
John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

• There were no apostle tryouts held here on this day.
• There was no application process to fill out.
• There were no references submitted.

In short, Jesus was not picking the way we might pick.
He wasn’t looking for “the best of the best of the best”
There was no earthly criteria that distinguished them.

This was all a matter of the sovereign prerogative of God.
God was picking these men as best suited Him.

Well, that’s what makes the next 3 verses so amazing.
#3 THE PICK
Luke 6:14-16

We spend all that time talking about
What a sacred and important job it was to be an apostle.

And FRANKLY it then leaves us a little stunned when we see the list of men that were actually selected.
• No great athletes
• No famous celebrities
• No successful businessmen
• No powerful politicians
• No decorated soldiers
• No charismatic religious leaders
• No priests

Instead He selects a handful of Galileans, a few fisherman,
A recovering tax collector, a closet terrorist,
And a hypocritical traitor.

I don’t think there was another person in the world
Who would have settled on that list.

These are the men whom Jesus will entrust with full authority and power
To set the world straight regarding who He is and what He taught.

And I just don’t think you can overlook the fact that
NONE OF THESE MEN SEEM QUALIFIED IN THE LEAST.

What I want to do is just point out some of the familiar and obvious facts about these men to further illustrate my point.

I would say at this point, however, that there has already been a much better job of this done by John MacArthur in his sermon series “The Master’s Men”, where he will give you a full character sketch of each of these men.
https://www.gty.org/library/topical-series-library/79/the-masters-men

But, for our sake this morning, let me simply bring to your mind some of the massive faults that we are already aware of regarding this list.

I think the first place to start would be with the OBVIOUS PERSONALITY FLAWS of these men.

CONSIDER “PETER”
• He’s been called “the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth.”
• My dad used to say that “Peter was always broadcasting when he should have been tuning in.”

I think we all remember that infamous day
When Jesus announced His upcoming death in Jerusalem.

Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

That’s about as severe as it gets.
• Peter actually had the audacity to try and talk Jesus out of the cross, for which Jesus actually called him Satan.

I’m no expert in apostle selection,
But I’d think you’d want to stay away from those that Satan uses.

Or who could forget the famous scene with Peter in the upper room?
Matthew 26:33 “But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”

Famous last words right!
“Lord I don’t know about all these other cowards in this room, but I’ll tell You one thing, nothing can make me fall away.”

He should have added, “unless a servant girl tells everyone I’m Your follower and then I’m out of here.”

We all remember that monumental failure of Peter.

Peter was impulsive, loud, overconfident,
And as such prone to failure and blunder.

• Do we have to talk about him trying to walk on water only to sink?
• Do we have to talk about him trying to take the guy’s head off in the garden?

Peter was going to talk too much, listen too little, make rash decisions,
And make his mistakes full speed ahead.

But the Lord picked him.
• In fact the Lord picked him as the leader.
• Matthew’s gospel calls him “the first”. Not first chronologically chosen (he wasn’t) but first in the scope of leadership.

Of the twelve, every time you see them listed, Peter is always listed first.
The Lord made this guy the leader.

CONSIDER “JAMES AND JOHN”
Affectionately referred to as “the sons of thunder”

• Yes it is true that John will become known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”
• And it is true that John will have a great deal to write about concerning love of the brethren in his epistles.

But could I just point out that
Neither James nor John started out that way.

Who can forget the day they saw someone else baptizing?
Mark 9:38-39 “John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.”

Who can forget the day the Samaritans wouldn’t let them lodge?
Luke 9:51-56 “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.”

Hot headed – Quick Tempered
• You’d like to think that the men you’ll entrust the gospel to would at least understand that the goal is to save men not kill them.

CONSIDER “THOMAS”
Often referred to as “doubting Thomas” but that’s really not accurate.

He should be referred to as Thomas the pessimist.
Thomas never thought anything was going to work.
He was always convinced it was going to go badly.

John 11:14-16 “So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

There is optimism isn’t it?

John 14:3-5 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. “And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

And even after Jesus rises:
John 20:24-25 “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

I’m not sure that’s the type of “negative energy”
You’d want to bring into the group of 12.

Of course we could talk about “PHILIP”
Philip was a Greek name indicating he was probably a Hellenistic Jew

Philip was the analytical one of the group.
• He was the beaver,
• Always planning,
• Always calculating but very rarely seeing through eyes of faith.

When Jesus tells the disciples to feed the 5,000

Philip responds:
John 6:7 “Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”

Philip had already done the math, and he knew it couldn’t be done.

When Jesus in the upper room speaks of His departure, it is Philip who needs some tangible evidence.
John 14:8-9 “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Philip was strong on calculations but slow on faith or discernment.

We already know that “MATTHEW” was a tax collector.

Even if his reputation wasn’t already shot, can you really trust a man who so recently had such an affinity for the world?

Or how about “SIMON WHO WAS CALLED THE ZEALOT”?

The Zealots were a group of Jewish terrorists
Whose goal was to overthrow Rome.
They would carry short daggers under their coats
In order to stab a Centurion in a crowd undetected.

• Is that really the kind of guy you’re going to entrust the message of salvation with?

• Do you really want to give supernatural power to a guy like Simon?

And that’s not even to mention the villain of the group “JUDAS ISCARIOT, WHO BECAME A TRAITOR.”

And that’s just a few of the personality deficiencies in that group.

But even when we consider THEIR COLLECTIVE WORK.
• How many times did Jesus reference their lack of faith?
• We hear it continually, “Oh ye of little faith”

During the storm:
Matthew 8:25-26 “And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”

When Peter sank:
Matthew 14:31 “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 16:8 “But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?”

How many times did He reference their lack of understanding?
Matthew 15:17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?”

Matthew 16:11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

How many times did He reference their lack of power?
Matthew 17:15-20 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

Does anyone else remember how many times they got in arguments about which one was the greatest?
Luke 9:46 “An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.”

Or how about these two?
Matthew 20:20-21 “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

And as if all of that was not enough,
We all know what these great men are going to do
When the going gets tough.

They’re all going to flee! (And Jesus knew it)

Mark 14:50 “And they all left Him and fled.”

This just isn’t a group I think we’d start with.

BUT THIS IS WHO THE LORD PICKS
WHY?

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;”

The Lord picks these types of people
Because through these types He can easier glorify Himself.

Furthermore it bears testimony once again to the fact that
Jesus is the Savior of the beggar, the guilty, and the blind.

He doesn’t just save them and discard them.
He saves them and uses them.

And I can’t speak for you, but I can tell you that
• It gives me great comfort to know that the Lord uses overconfident loud-mouthed impulsive cowards like Peter.

• It gives me hope to know the Lord uses judgmental, harsh, intolerant and competitive men like James and John.

• It encourages me that the Lord uses pessimistic, skeptical, and cynical men like Thomas.

• It encourages me that the Lord uses analytical, slow to believe, sight based, and slow discerning men like Philip.

• It encourages me that men with a past like that of a tax collector or terrorist can still be used in the Lord’s service.

BECAUSE I CAN IDENTIFY WITH A LOT OF THOSE FAILURES.
And if you can’t identify with them, come talk to me after the service
And I’ll tell you which ones you identify with!

WHAT WE LEARN HERE IS THAT
When Luke speaks of Jesus as the Savior or Redeemer of men,
That salvation reaches beyond simply rescuing them from hell.

JESUS DOESN’T JUST SAVE THEIR LIFE,
HE SALVAGES THEIR LIFE, HE REDEEMS THEIR LIFE.

They are a glorious picture of His full salvation.
The simple application is to understand that He can do the same for you,
Even if you think yourself unusable.

The next time you think the Lord can’t use you just ask yourself
If you would have thought the disciples were usable?

032 To Save A Life or To Destroy It?
Luke 6:1-11
March 11, 2018

We have been walking through the gospel of Luke
As Luke the exact truth regarding the person and work of Jesus.

And if all we had about Jesus was the last few weeks of information we would just label Jesus as
THE ONE WHOM THE PHARISEES HATED.

Jesus went throughout the region of Galilee and CAUSED QUITE A STIR as He would preach and then validate that preaching with miracles.
• We heard outrageous claims
• We saw demons cast out
• We saw fevers removed
• We saw fish caught in record numbers
• We saw a leper cleansed

And those events certainly caused Jesus’ popularity to sky-rocket.

It was this popularity that caused
The religious leaders of the day to come and check Him out.

This evaluation occurred one day in Galilee at a house that was crammed full of people
When 4 men lowered their paralyzed friend down through the roof to see Jesus.

What Jesus did on that day threw down the gauntlet
And the fight has been on ever since.
Jesus declared that paralyzed man forgiven.

The immediate thought that traveled through that Pharisaic room was “This fellow blasphemes!”

They knew that only God had the authority to forgive sins,
And therefore they saw this Jesus as the worse of blasphemers.

However, Jesus proved His authority by instantly healing that paralytic.

Now what should have happened is that everyone should have rejoiced!
• Those Pharisees should have fallen on their knees in worship and immediately gone home and told all their disciples about this man named Jesus.

But that is not what happened.
Instead of rejoicing over Jesus, the Pharisees went on the war-path.
They hated Him.

WHY?
BECAUSE THEY WERE STEEPED IN LEGALISM.

Legalism is the doctrine that believes man is justified before God by means of their religious works.

You please God and earn His favor through your actions.

GRANTED legalists are all over the place regarding what those specific actions that God will accept are, but still at the end of the day, they all believe it is something.
• Some focus on your level of goodness
• Some focus on your level of suffering
• Some focus on your level of ministry involvement
• Some focus on your level of worldly withdrawal
• But they all agree that God’s favor must be earned and it is earned through human works.

The other thing all legalists agree on is that they unanimously hate grace.

Legalists hate the declaration that God will freely give His favor
To those who have done nothing to earn it.

AND THIS HAS BEEN TRUE SINCE THE BEGINNING.

Does anyone remember the brothers Cain and Abel?
• Cain sought to earn God’s favor by bringing a hard earned offering from the
ground.
• Abel simply sought God’s favor through faith.

God accepted Abel’s offering of faith (grace)
God rejected Cain’s offering of works

What was the result? Cain killed Abel.

Does anyone remember the brothers Ishmael and Isaac?
• Ishmael was the product of man’s works (Abraham and Haggar)
• Isaac was the product of grace (Abraham and Sarah)

Paul expounds on the tension between those boys.
Galatians 4:29-31 “But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? “CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.” So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.”

• Paul references the fact that Ishmael began to make fun of Isaac.
• When Sarah caught wind of this she demanded that Abraham send Hagar and
Isaac away.
• At first Abraham was unwilling, but God corrected him and told him to listen to
Sarah.
There was no place for legalism in the lineage of God’s people.

But there again the legalist persecuted the man of grace.

Does anyone remember the brothers Esau and Jacob?
• Esau was the skilled brother who had earned his father’s favor.
• Jacob was the momma’s boy who did nothing to earn his father’s favor.

However God had pronounced from the womb that
The blessing and the birthright would belong to Jacob.
It was given by grace, not works.

• And yet not only do we find Esau conspire with his father to try and steal from
Jacob what God had already promised him,
• We also find Esau threatening to kill Jacob for receiving it and forcing Jacob to
flee the land.

Again, the legalist persecuted the man of grace.

I think you get the picture of the tension that has existed.

WELL THAT TENSION IS ON FULL DISPLAY IN THE GOSPELS
AS THE LEGALISTS ARE IN ATTACK MODE AGAINST JESUS.

The Pharisees are attacking Jesus
Because He is seeking to freely give what they insisted must be earned.
• They weren’t upset that Jesus forgave the paralytic.
• They were upset that Jesus forgave the paralytic without making him earn it.

And Jesus knew that.
SO after healing the paralytic
• Jesus walked out of that house and did the absolutely unthinkable…
• He forgave and called a tax collector named Matthew.
• And if that was not enough Jesus then attended a banquet thrown in His honor in Matthew’s house where many other tax collectors and sinners attended.

This decision earned Jesus the derogatory title of “Friend of Sinners”.
And it made Jesus public enemy number 1 of the Pharisees.

Following that banquet
The Pharisees set out to prove to the world that Jesus was not from God, but was nothing more than a worldly licentious and irreligious man.

• They approached Him wanting to know what kind of a Rabbi would teach His
disciples to eat and drink with sinners as opposed to fasting and praying
with the Pharisees.

And Jesus humiliated them.
He pointed out that the fasting of the Pharisees is absolutely pointless,
In fact, when you think about it, it is downright dumb.

Who mourns when the Savior is present and sinners are being saved?
That is not a time for mourning, that is a time for celebrating.

BUT, AS YOU CAN SEE, THE BATTLE LINE IS CLEARLY DRAWN.
The Pharisees are out to discredit this “so-called” Savior
Who would set men free from their legalistic bonds
And freely give the salvation that they’ve been selling for years.

And this morning that battle surfaces yet again.
And all in regard to the SABBATH.

3 things
#1 A LEGALISTIC ATTACK
Luke 6:1-2

“He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.”

Now, first of all, what the disciples were doing was TOTALLY LEGAL.
Deuteronomy 23:25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.”

This was a part of those LAWS OF COMPASSION which God so clearly set forth.
It runs up there with the command to not harvest your field a second time,
But to leave what you missed for the poor.

This was a command like that.
• God, in His Law, made provision for compassion.
• If a man entered your field, he was allowed to eat, but not to harvest.
• And since it was God who controlled the growth of your crop and the size of
your harvest, you were to live in faith that God would take care of you.

The disciples were simply eating lunch.

What was the problem?
They were doing it on the Sabbath

By Jesus’ day the Sabbath commands had gotten way out of hand.
• They understood that work was forbidden on the Sabbath.
• The interpretive challenge of the day was to define what “work” was.
• And boy did they run off the charts with it.

John MacArthur outlined a portion of the absurdity.
“For example, traveling more than 3,000 feet from home was forbidden. But if one had placed food at the 3,000 foot point before the Sabbath, that point would then be considered a home, since there was food thee, and allow another 3,000 feet of travel. Similarly, a piece of wood or a rope placed across the end of a narrow street or alley constituted a doorway. That could then be considered the front door of one’s house, and permit the 3,000 feet of travel to begin there.
There were also regulations about carrying items. Something lifted up in a public could only be set down in a private place, and vice versa. And object tossed into the air could be caught with the same hand, but if it was caught with the other hand, it would be a Sabbath violation. If a person had reached out to pick up food when the Sabbath began, the food had to be dropped; to bring the arm back while holding the food would be to carry a burden on the Sabbath. It was forbidden to carry anything heavier than a dried fig (though something weighing half as much could be carried two times). A tailor could not carry his needle, a scribe his pen, or a student his books. Only enough ink to write two letters (of the alphabet) could be carried. A letter could not be sent, not even with a non-Jew. Clothes could not be examined or shaken out before being put on because an insect might be killed in the process which would be work. No fire could be lit or put out. Cold water could be poured into warm water, but not warm into cold. An egg could not be cooked, not even by placing it in hot sand during the summer. Nothing could be sold or bought. Bathing was forbidden, lest water be spilled on the floor and wash it. Moving a chair was not allowed, since it might make a rut in a dirt floor, which was too much like plowing. Women were forbidden to look in a mirror, since if they saw white hair, they might be tempted to pull it out.
Other forbidden things included sowing, plowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, grinding, kneading, baking, shearing, killing, or skinning a deer, salting its meat, or preparing its skin.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Luke 6-10, Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 2011] pg. 4)

And that isn’t even the tip of the iceberg.
It was out of control.

And yet, that is where the disciples of Jesus were being condemned.
They were “harvesting” on the Sabbath.

Clearly, according to Mosaic Law they were not
Since what they were doing in their neighbors field was declared legal and harvesting in their neighbors field was not.

All the disciples were guilty of was breaking their legalistic traditions.
The Pharisees were nit-picking.
They are looking for any way to condemn Jesus.

(2) “But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Notice that the Pharisees had already
• Observed the action,
• Tried the action,
• And condemned the action.

They didn’t ask, “Do you think what you are doing is work?”
They already decided that it was.

They didn’t ask, “Did you realize that you are working?”
They already decided that it was an act of defiance.

Their question asks why Jesus and His disciples
Are so willing to adamantly break the commands of God.

It’s a loaded question filled with assumption.

They aren’t just trying to label Him a Sabbath violator,
They are seeking to label Him as an enemy of God.

#2 A SILENCING RESPONSE
Luke 6:3-5

Well, they asked, so Jesus answered.
And Jesus really gives two answers.
Matthew’s gospel records 2 more, but Luke just focuses on these two.

The picture is that Jesus stacks up the reasons
Why what His disciples are doing is legal.

The first answer comes almost in the form of a riddle.

(3-4) “And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

The incident referred to a time when David had fled from Saul.
1 Samuel 21:1-6 “Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone and no one with you?” David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ “Now therefore, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” David answered the priest and said to him, ” Surely women have been kept from us as previously when I set out and the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence which was removed from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place when it was taken away.”

According to Mosaic Law, that bread for the priest alone.
• But David asked for it
• The priest gave it to him
• And David ate it
• Not only that, but David gave it to the men with him.

Now, certainly we understand the concept of implied consent.
• We can certainly make the assumption that God was ok with that because He
did not confront David for it.
• What is more, we know that it must have been allowed, or else Jesus would
not have referenced it here.

But defending David is NOT the main point of Jesus.

Rather JESUS IS YET AGAIN EXPOSING
The ignorance and inconsistency of these legalistic Pharisees.

We first see that by the way Jesus FRAMES THE QUESTION.
“Have you not even read..?”

These men accused Him of condoning “what is not lawful”

And the first thing Jesus does is reveal that
Perhaps their knowledge of the Law is incomplete.

Were they not aware of the story of David?
Certainly they were, Jesus is just making a point.

And then Jesus referenced the story where David clearly did something “which is not lawful”.

But after mentioning the story
Jesus DOESN’T EXPLAIN why what David did was ok.

Now many have mentioned, and certainly I agree, that
The reason David was innocent was because the Law did not negate deeds of necessity.

• Had that priest had any other bread, he most certainly would have given it, but
the consecrated bread was all he had.
• His option was to either feed them the bread, or let them starve.
• At that point the heart of God became obvious to the priest and he fed the
men.

BUT JESUS NEVER MADE THAT EXPLANATION.
He’s not trying to correct their theology,
He’s trying to expose their inconsistency.

So He poses a riddle of sorts.
• The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking God’s Law.
• Jesus responded by in effect asking them if they thought David also broke God’s Law.

Can you see the Pharisees staring at each other without a good answer?

If these Pharisees insist upon condemning Jesus
• Then they also have to condemn David,
• The priest who gave him the bread,
• And God who did nothing about it.

But if these Pharisees acquit David then they also have to acquit Jesus
Because David and Jesus both acted for the same reason…
Basic human necessity.

The only real difference is that David actually did violate the Law,
And Jesus actually did not.

So the Pharisees are caught in a dilemma.
• Do they condemn David or do they acquit Jesus?

But before they even come to a consensus on how to answer,
Jesus gives them another answer.

(5) “And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Now that is another one of those mind-blowing statements.
• That is right up there with His claims in Nazareth to be God’s anointed come to
usher in God’s kingdom.
• That is right up there with His claim to be able to forgive sin.

Jesus claims to sit in authority over the Sabbath.

Let me ask you a question.
If God decides to work on the Sabbath, is He guilty of breaking His Law?
• Of course not
• He is God and He can do whatever He wants.

Incidentally, that was the point Jesus made on another Sabbath discrepancy:

When Jesus healed the man at the Bethesda pool it was also on a Sabbath.
John 5:16-17 “For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

There they accused Jesus of working on the Sabbath (He wasn’t, but that was the accusation). Jesus replied by saying, “Why not, My Father is working, and I’m just doing what My Father is doing.”

The statement here is even more direct.
Jesus declares Himself “Lord of the Sabbath”
It is a direct claim to deity.
It is a direct claim to be the chief authority.

And the statement here is:
• Even if I was working
• Even if I allowed My disciples to work
• Even then it would be ok because I am the author of that Law and I do not sit under its jurisdiction.

The Sabbath doesn’t define My actions, I define the Sabbath laws.

And incidentally, this is where OUR DOCTRINE on Sabbath worship rests.

Listen to what Paul said about it:
Romans 14:1-9 “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”

Our Sabbath commitment is not about commitment to a day,
It is about commitment to a person.

We don’t worship the Sabbath, we worship the “Lord of the Sabbath”.

That is where the Pharisees missed it.
• They worshiped the Sabbath and all of their traditions,
• But they had no regard for the “Lord of the Sabbath”.

Jesus just told them that.

AND THE PHARISEES CAN NO MORE DISPROVE THAT
Than they can disprove His authority to forgive,
For His power bears witness to His claims.

So they set out to expose Jesus as being LAWLESS,
All that happened is that Jesus exposed them for being CLUELESS.

#3 A HUMILIATING DEMONSTRATION
Luke 6:6-11

Luke says, “On another Sabbath” which indicates that this is not just a normal flow of events.

Rather, Luke is making a point about how the Pharisees attacked Jesus in regard to Sabbath Law and how He defeated them every time.

“On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching;”
(That was His purpose right?)

“and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.”

Healing on the Sabbath was not forbidden by Mosaic Law,
• Only by the traditions of the Pharisees,
• But their traditions had become so engrained they were treated like Law.

And here again the Pharisees are just looking for their opportunity.

And the stage is set because their actually happens to be a crippled man in the congregation.
• A man “whose right hand was withered” sat there, and the Pharisees were curious.

Matthew records that it was actually the Pharisees who pointed out this man to Jesus wanting His take on whether or not it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath.

(8) But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward.”

This is such a bold move by Jesus.

If you use Matthew and Mark to piece together the entire scene
• It was the Pharisees who asked first about healing on the Sabbath.
• And to answer their question Jesus responds by calling the crippled man up in front of everyone,
• And then Jesus turns the situation around on them.

(9) “And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

They asked if healing was allowed
So Jesus stood the man in front of them and basically asked them
To look this man in the eye and tell him it wasn’t.

I’ve often had conversations with people in regard to benevolence.
One thing I know about benevolence is that everyone knows exactly how to do benevolence until the needy person is standing right in front of you.

I’ve had people tell me, “We don’t need to help like that, or we don’t need to help so and so”
My response is, “That’s fine, so the next time they ask, I’m going to need you to come tell them that.”

THE POINT IS, rules are easy if you’re able to remove the human element.
But when you are forced to look people in the eye
The black and white nature of rules becomes much more difficult.

Well that’s what Jesus does here.
• He forces these Pharisees to look this man in the eye,
• To see his pain,
• To anticipate how badly he wanted healing.

And Jesus said, “I ASK YOU, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

And verse 10 says, “After looking around at them all…”

Man what a scene!
• Jesus makes eye contact with every one of those Pharisees,
• Just waiting to see if any one of them would have either the heart to want this man healed
• Or the audacity to say otherwise.

Mark’s gospel says:
Mark 3:5 “After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart…”

Luke doesn’t mention the anger, but I do think it’s implied.
What these men were doing was worse than trying to trap Jesus,
They are demonstrating a heartless attitude toward the afflicted.

And by the way: THEY ANSWERED THE QUESTION
By their silence their answer was “Don’t heal him”
• They are demonstrating the same cold enslavement that they have preached
for years. They have absolutely no concern for people, only for their own
legalistic traditions.

NO COMPASSION

Jesus “said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.”

Now please pay close attention to what actually happened here.

First, the response of the Pharisees.
“But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”

• There they are again mourning when they ought to be celebrating.
• They were about as far away from the heart of God as a person could get.
• These Pharisees were content to destroy life for the sake of their legalistic doctrine.

BUT WHY ARE THEY SO ANGRY?
If you say it’s because Jesus broke the Law by working, then tell me what did He do that they would have considered work?

• Did He operate on the man? No
• Did He help the man do some sort of physical therapy? No
• Did He even touch the man? No

All He did was talk.
He told the man to stretch out his hand, and the man’s hand was healed.

Even if healing was work
There was no possible way they could have condemned Jesus
For working here with as little physical effort as He exerted.

THESE MEN CANNOT BE MAD ABOUT THE SABBATH BEING BROKEN.
THE ONLY THING THEY CAN BE MADE ABOUT
IS A MAN BEING HEALED BY GOD.

Their true colors are showing.
• They didn’t love people.
• They didn’t love God’s Law.
• They didn’t love God.

They used God and His Law as a means of putting others down
And elevating themselves.

AND THIS WAS NEVER THE INTENT.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 56

• In Isaiah 56-58 you have a section where God is explaining to Israel exactly
what is wrong with their religion and why He finds it so detestable.

• It actually begins in chapter 56 with God explaining how beneficial it is to
keep His Law accurately.

READ ISAIAH 56:1-8

• God says if you do what is right and keep from profaning My Sabbaths then I
will bless you.
• And it doesn’t matter who you are, even a eunuch or a foreigner, I will bless
you if you keep My Sabbaths.

Now that sounds exactly like the argument the Pharisees might have made to Jesus doesn’t it?

Except they were totally missing the point
Of what it meant to keep God’s Sabbath.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 58
READ: ISAIAH 58:1-1-5

• They just couldn’t figure out why they were jumping through all of those hoops
and God wasn’t pleased.
• God says it is because you are only interested in fulfilling your desire, not
Mine.

Well what is God’s desire?
READ: ISAIAH 58:6-7

God wants compassion not oppression.

And that is what Jesus said.
“Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

Jesus wasn’t in violation of the Law here, the Pharisees were,
It’s just that they had convinced everyone that they were right.
But God had NEVER been pleased with them.

We could go back to Isaiah 1.
Isaiah 1:11-15 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

Well then what does God want?
Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

The religion God wanted was the religion that walked in truth and compassion, not condemnation and oppression.

THAT IS WHAT JESUS CAME TO EXPOSE

And the clear point from Jesus here is that
SALVATION REIGNS OVER CONDEMNATION.
Or as James put it, “mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Now certainly WE’RE NOT trying to make Jesus out as a sin-tolerating liberal, He most certainly was not. He always preached repentance.

However, He took much more delight
In seeing a sinner repent than He did in seeing a sinner condemned.

It is far better “to save a life [than] to destroy it”

Cain, Ishmael, Esau, the Pharisees – they all destroyed life
Jesus came to save it

It is not confusing where the church must dwell on this.