All right, if you have your Bibles, turn with me this morning to the book of Luke. Luke chapter number four. Luke chapter number four is sure good to be here with you all. Good to see each one out this morning. Before we get into the reading of God's word, if you would bow with me, let us go to the Lord in prayer. Dear God, I come to you This morning, Lord, and I just thank you for this opportunity. Lord, I thank you for your word and what it means. God, I just ask that you will be with us here this morning. God, I ask for your leadership, your guidance, your direction as we study your word. Lord, I ask that you would give me liberty to preach, help me to say the things that you would have me to say. Nothing more, nothing less. Lord, that we may just stand in awe of You this morning, that we may worship You, that we may understand just how much that I need You. Lord, I just ask that You will lead us. I ask that You will help us to learn to trust You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Luke chapter number 4, we're going to begin in verse number 14 this morning. But we're looking at the early parts of Jesus' ministry. The early parts of Jesus' ministry. Jesus has just endured the temptation of Satan, which Satan tempts Him in different ways and tries to get Him to deny Himself and get Him to do things that He was not supposed to do. But Jesus endures that temptation. And what we're looking at here in verse number 14 is Jesus going back to His homeland. He's going back to Nazareth, the place where He was raised. And we're going to look at a few things here, and hopefully at the end draw ourselves a conclusion, and then we will go home. So let's focus this morning on what the Word of God has to say to us. Verse 14 says this, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And there went out a fame of Him throughout all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. So we see in verse 14 and 15 the context here. Jesus comes into Galilee, and Galilee was an area. Jerusalem was broken up into different areas. We would probably call them something like counties, something like that. But Jesus comes here to Galilee, and He begins to teach in the synagogues, and He begins to expound upon the Word, and people heard about Him. Because He was a great teacher, right? He wrote it. So, of course, He could teach it really well. And they begin to come, and they begin to hear, and they hear of this Jesus, and it says they come from round about, and the region, it says His fame spread throughout all of the region. So everybody had heard about Jesus, everybody was hearing about Him and His teaching, and they'll begin to hear about His miracles later on, and they're hearing about Him, and everybody comes to hear. But now, He goes to Nazareth. And Nazareth, like I said, is the place where Jesus was raised. It wasn't where He was born. We know He was born in Bethlehem. But they go to Nazareth, and that's where He was raised. It's where He grew up. Because Jesus did not start His earthly ministry until He was in His thirties. So you think about that. Jesus grew up a long time there in Nazareth. The people knew Him. And it says He went to the synagogue as His custom was. So this was not Jesus' first time in the synagogue here in Nazareth. Jesus has been several times. He's been there over and over. And it says like His custom was He opened the book and He began to read on the Sabbath day. This was not the first time that Jesus had done this. It had happened several times before, but we come here to verse number 17 and we read what Jesus read. It says, and there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. So he begins to open this book, which would have been a scroll, and he begins to find this place, and this is what he reads here in verse 18. It says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Now the word gospel is the good news. He says, I've been appointed to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and that word bruised means oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Now I want you to notice as Jesus was reading this, we see what the people were doing here in verse number 20. It says, And he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. I want you to think about these verses that we just read. Jesus goes to the synagogue here in Nazareth. It's not His first time. He's done it several times. He's done it over and over again. But He comes here and He begins to read. or he calls for the book of Isaiah, they bring him the book of Isaiah, he unrolls it, and he begins to read these verses. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And I'm anointed to come and to preach the good news, to recover the sight to the blind. Those that are broken will be healed. Those that are oppressed will be set free. Behold the acceptable year of the Lord. And it says everyone in this synagogue, everyone in the synagogue was a place where you would come on the Sabbath day and you would read or you would hear the scripture being read, whatever Old Testament book they brought out. And all these people are sitting around and we see there in verse 20 that they all are looking at Him. You know, sometimes it's easy to get distracted, isn't it? It's easy to look around, it's easy to see other things going on, but I want you to understand that Jesus held the attention of the people. When He spoke, He spoke with a certain authority. And when He spoke these words, it says, everybody in the synagogue had their eyes fastened on Him, even when He shut the book and He sat down. They're all looking at Him, and now we look at what? Jesus says to them in verse number 21. And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is this not, is not this Joseph's son? So I want you to think about this, everything that just happened, and when Jesus puts the scroll back up and He sits down, everyone's still looking at Him to see what He's going to say. And He says, these verses that I just read about this guy that is coming, that is going to heal the blind, and is going to set free those that are oppressed, and that He is going to deliver all of them, and behold, the acceptable day of the Lord is here. He says, this is all. Speaking of me, this is all about me and what I've come to do. And behold, now the hour is this is the time in which it happens. Now we look back at this story. We look back at the ministry of Jesus. We look back at the cross and we thank him for what he came and did, don't we? Or we should. We look back at everything that He did. We look at Him stepping down out of heaven, being born in the same place where the lambs were born, not by coincidence, but by divine providence. He was born there because that was the place where the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world would be born. And we look back and we thank Him that He set us free because we were oppressed, we were in sin and bondage. And when He came and He died on that cross and He gave His life as a substitutionary death for us, we can be forgiven if we'll only believe. That is an awesome thing that we look at. And Jesus looks at these people and He says, the good news, the gospel, it's here. I'm here. And they look round about and it says they begin to wonder. They all begin to look at each other and they say, is this not Joseph's son? And you'll read, if you'll go to Matthew's account and Mark's account, they not only say, is this Joseph's son, but they also say, is this not James's brother? Is this not their brother? Is this not, we know his sisters, we know his brothers, we know them. This Messiah that we've been hearing about for all this time, is this their brother? Joseph's son? That can't be right. Joseph's a carpenter. The Messiah was to be a king. And look at what Jesus says here in verse 23. And He said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he says this in verse 24, and he said, Verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. He says, here's what you all are going to say when I leave, and you hear the miracles, and you hear all the things that I do, you're going to say, well, physician, why don't you come and do that in your own country? But Jesus says a prophet is not accepted in his own country. He's going to give two examples. And I really want us this morning to focus on these two examples because they are important for you and I to understand. These two examples, and then we're going to hear the conclusion, and then I hope I can give us a little bit of application here this morning. Verse 25 says this. But I tell you of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, which was Elisha, when the heaven was shut up three years, or Elijah, sorry, and the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and when great famine was throughout all of the land. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto a separata in a city of Sidon unto a woman that was a widow. Notice the next one here in verse 27. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. Now notice their response here in verse 28. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath." Now, wrath means a rage. So what caused them to be filled with such a rage? Let's understand the context. Let's understand these two stories, okay? He says, first, in the time of Elijah, there was a great famine. Three years, it didn't rain. You imagine that. We're getting some rain right now. We've got some rain this week. And a lot of people were getting nervous about the rain, right? We needed this rain. But can you imagine it not raining for three years? For three years, there was no rain, there was a drought, there was a famine. And Jesus says, was there not many hungry people during that time? Was there not many widows in Israel? That's why he says, in Israel. And what was Israel? Israel were God's people. They were God's chosen people. They were the ones that he had set apart. This is Israel, this is his people. Was there not many widows that were hungry in Israel? But what did God do? He sent Elijah not to widows in Israel, but he sent him out of Israel to a woman, a widow woman that was not from Israel, but was from Zidian. And he sends him there. And that is where we see the miracle where Jesus or where God provides enough meal for them to eat every day. And they never went hungry. during that famine. All because that widow woman trusted God and His Word. Elijah come to her and he said to her, feed me. And she said, I don't have enough to feed you. I only have enough to make me and my son our last meal and we're gonna die. Elijah says, you feed me first and God will provide. Now what kind of faith did it take that woman to do that? She did it. And because of that, God provided. The next story, you see the story of Naaman. And we looked at this story a few weeks ago. But Naaman come all the way to Israel because he heard there was a prophet in Israel who could cure him of his leprosy. And we look at leprosy was an incurable disease as well. It was a disease that would cause death. So you have both of these, this widow woman and this leper who were both going to die because of their condition. One, God comes to her. This one, the man comes to him. I want you to see the two differences. But either way, they come to the source. The Naaman comes and he comes to Elisha because he hears in Israel there's a prophet that can heal him. He does something totally absurd. He dips himself seven times in the dirty river of Jordan, when even though it went against his own critical thinking, because in the place where he was from, there was a lot better rivers than that. But he still did it. And he was cleansed. But Jesus draws the contrast here. These two were healed. Neither one of them were from Israel. But in Israel were plenty of widows and plenty of lepers. But God went out. Why did He go out and help them? Well, they were filled with rage when they heard this. Verse number 29 says this, And they rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him out to the burrow of the hill, whereon their city was built. And they might cast him down headlong, but he passed through the midst of them and went his way. They were so angry with Jesus and the things that he said, they were so filled with rage that they were going to toss him off of a cliff. But Jesus knew it wasn't his time. So, he slips out. Now, I want you to notice a verse from the book of Matthew. If you will, turn in the book of Matthew to chapter 13, verse 58. We're almost done, I promise. Matthew chapter 13, verse 58. This is Matthew's account of this story, and I love the verse he uses here, or the phraseology he uses here in verse 58. We'll actually begin in verse 57. It says, And they were all offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there. Why? Because of their unbelief. He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Why did he not do mighty works? because of their unbelief. Now, if you turn to the book of Mark, I won't make you turn there, but you can write it down if you're taking notes, but in Mark 6, verse 5, it says that Jesus could not do any mighty works there because of their unbelief. I think this is important, and we're going to draw our conclusion, okay? And then we can go home. Now, I don't know About that there in Mark, everything that is inspired by God's Word is true, what it says, that He could not heal. Now, I think God can do whatever He wants to do, right? But God chooses He will not do any mighty works through us, or on us, or for us, because of our unbelief. Why did, and we draw the conclusion here this morning, why did that woman or why did all of those widows in Israel not get saved from that famine? They starved. It's a sad thing, they starved. What about all the lepers in Israel that died lepers? They were in Israel, the place where God dwelt when He would come into the Holy of Holies there in the temple, and He would meet with His people, the place where they would go and they would make their sacrifices, the place that was called the City of God. Why did they not experience the healing of God? There was many widows, there was many lepers, but the ones that were healed were the ones that come from without, because they believed. Now you think about this story this morning, you look at what Jesus says to His people, and He was not able, or He did not, any mighty works there, or not many, because of their unbelief. There's many widows that starved, there's many lepers that died because of their unbelief. Now you may say, preacher, I believe in God and I hope that is true. I don't know the heart of anyone here this morning, but I hope that you know the Lord as your personal Lord and Savior. I hope that you have put your trust in what He did on the cross and accepted the free gift of salvation. I hope that you have done that. And I think that that is vital, right? We have nothing without that. But also in our Christian walk, we need to believe Him. I think a lot of times we experience pain, we experience, and don't get me wrong, we're going to experience heartache, we're going to experience all of those things. It rains on the just and the unjust. It doesn't matter where your walk is with God. Loved ones will die. People that you care about will die. Friends will mock you. Things will happen. But the reason we experience a lot of things in our life is because we don't trust God enough. You may say, I believe God for salvation, but what about a daily faith? All of those people in Israel were not able to experience the providence of God and God work in their life and God heal their families and God work in their families and God work in their lives because of their unbelief. Many there in Nazareth, the very place And get this, guys. Get this and we'll go home. The very place where Jesus grew up, the Son of God who came down to give His life and grew up for 30 years, they're in that place. They were too used to Him to appreciate Him. They were too used to Him to appreciate Him. They had experienced Him. I mean, you would think if you grew up with a kid that did not sin, that did not do anything wrong, you would notice. But that was just Joseph's son. That was just James' brother. You grew up with him. You knew him. It was normal. And because of that, when he said he was the prophet, and he said he was the son of God, and he said what power he had, they said, is that not Joseph's son? I think it is very capable, and I think it happens a lot in our lives that we get so used to God. You've been saved for 20 years. You've been saved for 10 years. You've been saved for a long time. I don't know. You remember what it felt like that day when you knew that you were going to die and go to hell and you put your trust in Jesus and you remember that feeling that you got when you accepted Him as Savior and you felt the redemptive power and His grace. I remember that day and I remember how excited I was on that day, but I also remember Today, how comfortable I've got to Him. How used to Him we are. It's the same way with the two examples that Jesus gave. All of those people there in Israel, all of the widows, all of the lepers were used to it. So used to it that they didn't step out and they didn't put their trust and they didn't seek God's help. And because of that, they died starving and they died lepers when the power to heal was there in Israel, but they didn't come for it. I don't know anyone's heart. I don't know anyone's life here this morning. But I know the power of God is able to work in your life. I know that if your marriage is falling apart, that the power to heal your marriage is in God's hands. I don't know if you're addicted to something, if you've got a sin that so easily besets you and you've got a sin that you just commit all the time, the power of God to deliver you from that is present. Whatever it is, the power of God is present. If it's to deliver you from hell, the power of God is present. Don't get used to it. I'm afraid today in our time, too many of us Christians have gotten used to God. He's been around. We've heard about His sacrifice on the cross. We've heard about how much that He loved us, that He died for us. And we hear about it so much that we forget what it was. that Jesus would hang there on a cross and would endure the pain that He didn't have to, that they did place a crown of thorns on His head and beat Him with a rod and they mocked Him and ripped the skin off of His body with a cat of nine tails. How can we get used to that? Too many times we get used to it. We got crosses that are supposed to remind us of what He did on the cross. We get complacent. We get used to His power. And let me be honest with you this morning. This whole process with this message started with me studying for our Wednesday night study. If you were here Wednesday night, you know what we talked about in the book of Ephesians. We just started the first chapter. This is my little advertisement for Wednesday night. It's good if you want to come. We're studying through the book of Ephesians and we read that first part and it says, All spiritual blessings in heavenly places have been given to us. Do you know that? When Jesus gave that great commission, He said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth and I'm giving it to you. All of that power and all of that opportunity and all of that has been given to us to carry it out and to live for Him. And I think back to that church there in Ephesus, and they were living as beggars, all because they didn't understand the wealth that they had in Jesus. You and I. Listen to me. The transforming power of God, for salvation, but not only for salvation, but to transform your life to what you ought to be. to conform you into the image of Christ, to make you more like Him, to give you peace that passes all understanding, to give you joy unspeakable and full of glory, is present and able to work in your life, if you'll let Him. Want us to understand that this morning. It is able, and guess this, God wants to do it. He wants to work in your heart. He wants to work in your life. He wants to deliver you from the things that Satan has bound you with, and the chains that Satan has put on your heart, and on your life, and on your marriage, and on your home life. He wants to break those chains. That's the business that he's in. That's what we read in those first verses. That's what he wants to do. That's what he's come to do. That's what he's still here to do. But maybe here this morning you've gotten used to it. Heard the story time after time. You've gotten comfortable to it. You've gotten used to it. Would you step out this morning, reach out your hands, say, God, I don't want to get used to you. I don't want to get used to what you did on that cross. I want to understand and I want to acknowledge and I want to care about how much you love me and that you paid it all. And all to you I owe. Will you reach out this morning or will you stay in that space of complacency? That place of coming in, hearing a message, understanding how much God loves you, and walking out the same way you come in. Or do you want to live with a heart that's different? A heart that's on fire to serve God, or with a desire to live for Him, or are you okay with the way you're at? That's a question only you can answer. Let's all stand this morning. As Brother Ryan comes forward, we'll have a song of invitation. If I could have every head bowed, every eye closed. Dear God, I come to You this morning, Lord, and I thank You for Your Word. God, I thank you for how much you love us. God, and I'm sorry for all the ways in which I've gotten used to you. Lord, help me never to get complacent. Lord, help us as a church not to just be okay with where we're at, to be okay with the chains, that Satan puts on us, but to strive to be more like you. To strive to have a heart that honors you. To strive to have a marriage that magnifies and honors you. Strive to raise children that honor you. Strive to live a life that honors you. God, I thank you for your power. I thank you for your ability that you bestow upon us and that you give us to carry out the work. God, help us not to get so used to and so comfortable with it that we forget just how powerful it is. Lord, I don't know anyone's heart here this morning, but you do, God. And I just ask for your word and your message to convict their hearts this morning and help them to be receptive and to respond. Be with us in this invitation time. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.