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Luke chapter 4, beginning at
verse 16, the word of God. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 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. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears. And all bear him witness and
wonder that the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's
son? 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 said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in
his own country. But I tell you of a truth. Many
widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias
sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was
a widow. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elishua, the prophet Elisha, and none of them were
cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. But he passing through the midst
of them went his way. Here ends the reading for the
scripture lesson this morning, and I'd like to call your attention
specifically to verse 21. And he began to say unto them,
and then these words, this day is the scripture fulfilled in
your ears. Let us pray. Holy and merciful Lord God and
Father of thine only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom
thou didst send, whom thou didst not spare, and in whom thou hast
provided a redemption so full and so rich and so free that
it behooves us to humble ourselves in silence before thee and to
be given ears to hear thy word and to have life by thy word
through thy spirit. O let thy spirit be our constant
aid at all our ways. our ears may be directed to keep
thy word, so to be obeyed that from all unbelief we might ever
be protected. We shall not be ashamed then,
nor afraid when thy word we have ere respected for Jesus' sake. In His name, Amen. Esteemed and beloved brothers
and sisters, this morning I've entitled my little conversation
or my meditation, The Sun, S-U-N. He also was the S-O-N, but the
sun in the Nazareth pulpit. You know, the Lord has something
in store for all of you here at PRTS, whether in the MA or
the MDiv or THM program, and someday soon you will commence your task. Perhaps at times you dream about
it, you wonder about it, and long for it. But you will commence
it, the Lord willing, perhaps in a classroom, or in a pulpit,
or in a pastorate, or knocking on doors on a mission field somewhere. But you will inaugurate the charge
given to you by the Lord. The words of our text this morning
are likely Summary, if not the first sentence of the sermon
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the first sentence of his sermon,
and the first sentence of a sermon can be very decisive, can, as
it were, really sink in Well, it did sink in, in a measure,
in Nazareth. But what happened there was a
very momentous service in the synagogue. Jesus, the preacher,
and his sermon, the first sermon was, this day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears. I'd like to call attention to
six points. You'll hear them as we will go
along, flowing from this first sentence of his sermon. First
of all, the eagerness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Think of it that the Lord Jesus
was not born in Nazareth, but he was brought up in Nazareth. The residents of Nazareth knew
him as the carpenter of Nazareth, together with his father Joseph
and the son of Mary. in that small village. Everyone
knew everybody else and Jesus knew them as well. Strange rumors
had reached Nazareth about this carpenter, Jesus. He had spoken in various synagogues
in Galilee And there were rumors of what he had said and rumors
of miracles he had performed. There were rumors buzzing around
him in Galilee, in Nazareth. Now
it was Sabbath and Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath
in Nazareth this time. It was his custom, but this time
it was very conspicuous because he had been away for quite a
while from Nazareth. The synagogue service began. Thanksgivings and blessings were
spoken before and after the Shema here, O Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is one. and thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength. Next, there was psalm singing
and prayer with the response of amen by the congregation. Next, the reading of a passage
from the Pentateuch, and then a passage from the prophets. Next, the sermon, a word of exhortation. There wasn't just one minister
there who did all the services. This time Christ stood up. And
the ruler of the synagogue called on Jesus to deliver the sermon. The scroll of Isaiah was handed
to him, and he unrolled it to Isaiah chapter 61, beginning
at verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel 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, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. Here he stopped. He did not read
the next line, which was, we would say, still part of the
verse. He left out the words, and the
day of vengeance of our God. After this, he rolled up the
scroll and gave it back to the minister and sat down to speak. In all this, he did not depart
from the customary practice procedure. It was customary for a speaker
to sit down when asked to give an address. But then the unexpected happened. Let's try to visualize it, if
possible. The atmosphere in this likely
crowded synagogue was surcharged with curiosity. Everyone in the
audience wondered what their townsmen, about whom they had
heard so many rumors, was going to say now. as to explaining
the scriptures and applying the scriptures. He had just read. He had sat down. All their eyes
were fixed on him. And then he spoke that first
sentence of this, his first sermon. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. Whatever else he spoke, Luke does not tell us, only the
first sentence at this point, but it tells us so much, does
not. First of all, about the eagerness
of the Lord Jesus. This day, today, how Christ loved
the scriptures, every word. It had come straight from God,
from his mouth, and it was so precious to Christ. Notice that
Christ did not go into details about the context, the background. because these words were so relevant,
so applicable, so perfect. So there were no practical setups
or relevant goings-on, not to say that there is never a place. for those ever, but notice the
eagerness with which Christ presented the gospel as relevant to these
people, to the masses, to the hearers, and to you and me today. If you think back to the ministry
of Christ, reading it from the gospels, has it never struck
you that his whole ministry was a ministry in which he got to
the point very quickly. When he was 12 years old in the
temple, wished he not that I must be
about my father's business. He knew the value of time and
the needs of people. He knew how to say something
and to cut through all the extraneous, get to the point. Here it was
this day, is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. No long drawn,
lengthy sentences, hard to understand, liable to put people off to sleep,
oratory calculated to impress. No, Christ was eager to connect
truth with his hearers. Let us learn from this eagerness
of Jesus Christ to reach people, to connect with them. to see
truth, reach them, not by way of long detours. Or I just heard
it driving to the seminary, Tony Evans, and I caught him and he
says, well, I should get to my sermon. This has been a long
introduction. Well, he says, gonna be short
sermon. Not that as such, you see. But get to the point. Reach people. Connect with people. Think of Paul writing an epistle,
I'm ready to preach the gospel in Rome also. And Paul did. He was ready, he did it. Remember
him writing to Timothy, be instant in season, out of season. Don't
let the trumpet have an uncertain, an unsteady sound. Or think of
the prophet Isaiah, from which Christ is quoting here, but then
not this chapter, but back in chapter 40, where the prophet
said, lift up thy voice with strength. Say unto the cities
of Judah, behold your God. Thy God reigneth. You know, if
your and my eagerness in preaching dwindles, let's regain it by
looking to this Savior, Jesus Christ, who said, this day is
this scripture fulfilled in your ears. So that's, first of all,
his eagerness. And then secondly, the grace
of the Savior. Just think of that the Lord Jesus
was preaching for the first time. What did he do? He opened his
mouth to proclaim the gospel. Remember Psalm 42, verse 2 says,
grace is poured into thy lips. Indeed, here grace is pouring
forth from his lips, precious grace. Why? Because the time to favor Zion
has come, as Psalm 102 puts it. It's not for the rich that Christ
has come. Not for the righteous, but for
the poor. The gospel is for those who have
nothing. The Greek word is ptohos, the
word really for being so poor that the only way you can go
is beg. That's the basic sense here.
You'll find it also used in the scripture speaking about the
poor in spirit, same word. He's so poor. that he can only
live of what's given him. And that's what's meant here.
Jesus seeks those poor who are beggars. As mentioned, Jesus
had left that one clause from Isaiah chapter 61, the words,
and to preach or proclaim the day of vengeance of our God. Jesus knew that God had not sent
him now to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. Indeed, the second coming of
Christ will be different. But now here in Nazareth, it
was not Judgment Day, but Jubilee Day. In the gospel ministry,
you and I need to be possessed by this grace of God. so as to, in our ministry, to
have a heart for the brokenhearted, for the blind, the bruised, the
captives, the poor. Indeed, we need to seek them. And there are many others in
the grip of some form of alcohol or other addiction or anger,
or many in the grip of money You know, we can have the name
of Christians and yet be so bound by sin and Satan that we cannot
rescue ourselves. We can have good eyesight and
yet be blind. We can walk on the wrong way
that ends in ruin and not be aware of it. And such there are,
young and old people, with their eyes open, walking on a pathway
of which the Bible says it will lead in utter darkness and destruction. And we meet them in our ministry,
don't we, those who feel so depressed and so dejected, at the point
of despair, What are they? They are the poor. Open the Scriptures that they
may become beggars for the compassion of Christ. Well, Jesus passes
by the rich. the righteous who can save themselves
but in grace he seeks beggars who cry for help he's come to
seek and to save the lost and at this point that saving is
especially that spiritual salvation not in first instance the removal
of physical and social needs Above all, it is the salvation
of soul from sin, from Satan, unto God, unto the path of life. Comfort in sorrow. But notice,
and that's the end of the second point, the superabounding grace
of Christ. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. And then thirdly, hear the authority
of the Savior. Hundreds of years before this
day, Isaiah had prophesied the coming of the Messiah and bringing
the messianic day that would dawn with his coming. Isaiah had spoken of the joy
that that day would bring But whatever joy Isaiah may have
had in prophesying his coming in that day, Christ had all the
greater joy in presenting himself as the one who is the Messiah. It's like the Old Testament priest,
you might say, happily blowing the ram's horn at the dawn of
the first year of Jubilee. So Christ here in the synagogue
is sitting down and He is blowing the trumpet of the Word. This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He has the Spirit
who has anointed Him to do this very work. And he is saying,
this day has come. I am the Messiah, for the Spirit
of God is resting on me. You see Christ having more authority
than those priests blowing the trumpets of the year of jubilee. Now the shadows are done with. The year of jubilee has dawned. What has happened then? The acceptable
year of the Lord has come. And this authority is still what
we need when we are sent out as ambassadors of the gospel
to proclaim that God in Christ has provided a redemption for
sinners. That's the authority that we
are in need of very much. and that we need to crave to
be given that authority in our ministry, so that it will be
a spirit-anointed, a spirit-blessed ministry, bringing out, leading
to conversions and a life of holiness. So that thirdly, the
authority of the Savior, but then fourthly, the gladness of
the Savior. Can you imagine the gladness
there must have been in the heart of Jesus at this moment when
he announced the fulfillment of this scripture? Remember that
in John's gospel, we hear the Lord Jesus say, on the night
of his betrayal, my joy no man taketh from me. And certainly,
this was part of it. What greater joy can there be
than announcing the fulfillment of Scripture, the gospel of free
grace for sinners? Jesus had this in his heart already
from eternity past. And now he could speak it from
the seat there as it were behind the pulpit in the synagogue in
Nazareth to lost sons and daughters of Adam. What a joy it must have
given him. Just as it needs to be and it
may be in the heart of anyone in the ministry of the Lord,
constrained by what? By the joy of the Lord, by the
love of Christ to preach the gospel to the poor, to preach
liberty to the captives and the opening of the eyes to the blind. Who is he sitting here in the
synagogue of Nazareth? He's the king of Psalm 72. He shall judge the poor of the
people. He shall save the children of
the needy. You see this here in the Scriptures? The Messiah has come. The acceptable
year of jubilee has come. Here is salvation, deliverance. Consolation, He has come to raise
up and to give them life. There is salvation for beggars. Now, does this gladness, brothers
and sisters, possess your heart? You will need it in the ministry. So that when you minister, you
are sent by Him to preach his word that he came to fulfill
and did fulfill. And there is salvation. There is everything in him, in
his word. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. Share it with others. And then
fifthly, notice the glory of Christ. I say notice, I should
say hear the glory of Christ. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. Christ was sent by God, anointed
by the Holy Spirit to perform his messianic work there among
them and today among us. and wherever else in the ministry
in this world. Christ here is presenting himself
as the fulfillment of God's written word. It had all been waiting
for and pointing to him and his coming. And he says, it's fulfilled
in me. All God's persons, all God's
promises, all God's words come together in me. And for any of
us to say this of ourselves would be the height of pride and arrogance. But this is Christ. And when
Christ sends you and me into ministry of his word. than it
is to be a ministry in which we exalt Christ, the glory of
Christ. We do not preach ourselves, hopefully,
but Jesus Christ and him crucified. What we need in our ministry
is that Christ himself comes through his word and spirit and
show his glory as he says here, I'm here. And when that doesn't
happen, then we miss the sum of righteousness. And when he's
not there, then our ministry may be in a nice black suit and
the proper shirt and tie, but then it's form, but no power. But when he's there, his scripture
is fulfilled, and then your hearts are filled. When the word of
God that was made flesh comes through his ambassadors today,
through the words of the Scriptures, then those words are fulfilled
because He is the glory, the radiance of the Scriptures. And notice how this glory comes
in such an unassuming form who was sitting there in that seat,
Christ, fairer than the sons of men. But that was not obvious
to the people in the synagogue there because they only looked
with physical eyes and they heard only with outer ears. And thus
they were offended because this glory did not suit their preconceived
notions and their plans. but to the ears of faith. It's glory to hear Christ say,
today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. It's a glory that
is greater than that of the sun in its noonday shining. Because for Christ, for him to
say, this day is the scripture fulfilled, this scripture in
your ears, is not arrogance or pride. It would be a lie for
Christ not to say it, because he cannot deny himself. And neither is it a problem for
Christ to say it today through the preaching of his ambassadors. Where is Christ now? In heaven at the right hand of
his Father. at the right hand of the majesty
on high. His glory there is greater than
in the synagogue in Nazareth, and greater than the sun shining
at the noonday hour. And he comes through his word
in every land, in every nation, by his word. And you and I in
the ministry What did Christ say? Let your light, which is
his light, so shine among men that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father, which is in heaven. So that fifthly,
but then finally. hear the call of the Savior. Because this statement, this
day, is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. This statement
is a call, an implicit call, to believe on Him and His word. And notice that the Lord Jesus
says, today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. Isn't that remarkable? Why did
he not say before your eyes? But that's not what he said.
Why not? Well, it's fulfillment of scripture. that has come and that has come
and that's fulfilled in Christ and that is preached and that's
why he says is fulfilled in your ears not before your eyes pay
attention to the words of Isaiah 61 where there is an emphasis on
preaching three times in that little part that Jesus read there. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor,
to preach deliverance to the captives, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. Now, one day, Christ will come
with the clouds. Then this scripture will be fulfilled
before our eyes if we are still here. And it will be seen indeed. But here he says, to your ears. How remarkable. And therefore
if anyone here is poor, and needs help, redemption, hear the gospel
of Jesus Christ. This is a most remarkable thing,
brothers and sisters. It means that faith is the important
thing for all of us because only faith hears. God's salvation
is presented in the form of a word of prophecy fulfilled here. So it's brought in words and
it can be received only by faith. And those words are not vain
or empty, but come with power. in those who receive those words. Remember Paul's words to the
church in Rome, that the gospel is the power of God to everyone
that believe, to the Jew first, but also to the Greek. and it
comforts, it sets free, it raises up a person, it draws a person
away from sinful ways, and it directs our feet on the way of
peace. And when the fulfilled words
of Christ are heard and believed, there the power of God is at
work, and there the joy of the gospel is born. It's the beginning. At the end, there shall be the
perfect redemption, also of the body. And then there is something
to be seen indeed. Your eyes shall behold Him in
His glory. And then to be with Him. Well,
here is Jesus' first sermon, brothers and sisters. Remember,
He preached it. That was it. Oh, sometimes He healed also
the sick. Sometimes He multiplied bread
and fish. Sometimes during his ministry,
others who were sick remained sick. Others who were blind remained
blind. Others who were hungry remained
hungry. And today too, the Lord comes
to us and he gives us a cross to bear. the fulfillment of his
word is in our ears. And in part, it's a provisional
part, you might say, before our eyes. But what is given as a
provisional part, indeed, is a sign of the gospel, but the
word brings full salvation, which is experienced in faith. The deed of Christ, as he showed,
was provisional, I repeat, but that was not the redemption.
It was a sign only of the redemption. But this is how Christ worked,
this is how Christ is working still today. Is it sufficient
for you? He calls you to believe his word
and he gives you this for preaching. Have you sometimes thought, wouldn't
it be nice if we preachers would also be able to raise the sick
and give sight to the blind? Would you like that? What is easier, to preach or
to heal or to give sight? Think about it. I've noticed in the ministry,
especially in a pastoral situation, that sometimes one word is enough. I remember a situation of a profound
theologian who was on his deathbed and he had lost everything. And
he was in such poverty, spiritually speaking. And he expressed that
it was like a sermon on his poverty. And then I said to him, would
you like me to read? And I took his little Bible.
And he says, you pick. I have nothing. And I opened
his Bible. And the first page is when he's
blank, but was packed full with Bible verses. And I read the
first verse. And he said, that's what I need. And he was given it back in fullness
to his ears, but he felt it in his heart. And remember that that word has
been fulfilled and is being fulfilled in Christ Jesus. One day there will be seeing
Jesus to those that believe or others will see him too as he
is and will be cast out. But today is the gospel day.
This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. That's how Christ
brought the gospel. That's how you must bring the
gospel with eagerness, with grace, with authority, with gladness,
with glory, with the call of the gospel. Amen. Let us pray. O blessed Lord, how we ourselves
need to have our ears opened. Grant that that be the privilege
during our years of study here. But grant that we may have open
ears as we go out to preach thy word. and to recognize that it
is the power of thine for everyone that believes. Oh, grant us that
faith. Grant that we may grow in that
faith, and that even when we sense we have nothing but the
ear of faith, that in that hearing thou dost give all, and shalt
also fulfill it, but here to live by faith, not by sight. But that day is coming. O do
thou come, Maranatha, come quickly, and grant each of us here to
be anointed by thy Holy Spirit, and in ministry to be such bearers
of the gospel, to preach it after thee, Lord Jesus, and then to
recognize thou must increase and we decrease for thy name's
sake. In Jesus,
The Son in the Nazareth Pulpit
Series PRTS Chapel Series
| Sermon ID | 318161013200 |
| Duration | 42:03 |
| Date | |
| Category | Chapel Service |
| Bible Text | Luke 4:16-30 |
| Language | English |
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