JOHN GOES PUBLIC WITH THE GOSPEL: "PRODUCE FRUITS CONSISTENT WITH REPENTANCE" (LUKE 3:7-14)2/13/2017 We Christians should be the most loving and respectful people that non-Christians ever meet. However, we must not confuse being loving and respectful with helping people avoid the discomfort of conviction under the clear and urgent call of God to repent from sin against Him. When John the Baptist went before the Lord, He preached with urgency. As we look more into his preaching, we see urgency in the call to the Lord and urgency in response to the call.
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John the Baptist understood the appointed time for him to be silent in obscurity and to speak openly. On God's timetable, the time came for him to go public with the Gospel, and at this time, we are going to study John's public, prophetic ministry in Luke 3:1-20. As we begin with Luke 3:1-6, looking at John's prompting, preaching, and prophecy, we must consider what John's handling of the Gospel means for our handling of the Gospel, as we go before the Lord into the lives of those that do not know Him.
How lined up with Jesus are we really? Joseph and Mary had a moment when they got out of step with Jesus, as He was in step with His Heavenly Father. That moment was anxious and awkward for them as they had to re-evaluate what they really understood about Jesus, and how the truth about Him was to affect how they interacted with Him and what they expected from Him in living with Him. This is a good opportunity for us to do the same.
What was Jesus like as a child? While God has not given us all the details of the things Jesus did in His early childhood, He has given us certain details He wants us to know about Jesus' development as a child, which we look at in this message, along with and in relation to Joseph's and Mary's devotion. The message concludes with consideration of what this truth means for us as members of a new human race, as well as for our parenting.
OUR LORD'S EARLY DAYS ON EARTH: AN OLD WOMAN'S WALK WITH GOD & WITNESS FOR JESUS (LUKE 2:36-38)12/19/2016 Luke introduces us to an old woman we could live just fine without knowing. But I believe that knowing her will enrich us if we will yield to the Holy Spirit's intention for including her in Luke's account of our Lord's early days on earth. She has a small part in the story line, but her small part has rich depth.
There are moments that permanently mark our lives - moments that stand as mountain peaks after all other moments sink and disappear into the ocean of lost memories - moments that are monuments of God's goodness to us - moments that define our lives. Luke introduces us to a man who had a moment that defined his life - a moment with Jesus. We are stepping into this moment to look at what Luke emphasizes about this man's moment with the Child Jesus: Simeon being led by the Spirit to this Child, Simeon seeing salvation in this Child, and Simeon speaking on the destiny of this child.
Luke shows us that, from His earliest days on earth, our Lord's life was aligned with the law of the Lord. Luke emphasizes this in what Joseph and Mary did with Him in their obedience to the law of the Lord. As we look over this, we are going to consider what that means for our salvation and sanctification. I have framed this message with their follow-through in their faith and their follow-through in their faithfulness.
As we follow along with Luke, we are still with the shepherds in a field outside Bethlehem, but we are going with them into Bethlehem, after an angel has brought them good tidings of great joy for all people - good tidings of a newborn Savior - good tidings that prompted the praise of a multitude of angels. What the shepherds heard from the angels stirred them up. So, now, we move on to look at the determined, prompt visit by the shepherds, the driven proclamation by the shepherds, the deep pondering by Mary, and the delighted praise by the shepherds.
In the last message, we looked at the circumstances leading up to and of our Lord’s birth. We now look at that great encounter between the shepherds and the angels, on that great night of our Lord’s birth. Luke takes us from a stable to a field, to hear an angel’s announcement of His birth, and to hear a multitude of angels praise God for His birth. What a great night the shepherds were in for. As we step into that night with them, we are going to look at the angel’s good tidings of great joy and the heavenly host praising God.
How would you expect the Son of God - the Son of the Most High - to come into the world? How would you predict God would lay out the path from His Son’s conception to His birth? It is highly unlikely that anyone would predict what we see about that from Luke, regarding our Lord’s human and humble beginning of life on Earth. And, of course, we must wonder what implications there might be for our lives on Earth, in living for Him. We will look at implications for our attitudes and our evangelism.
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Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:31–32 NASB |