Clean Transcript

Preaching That Will Get You Killed

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• All right, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to the book of Luke chapter 4. I'm going to tell you, in fact, I recognize the fact that today is normally recognized as Mother's Day, although I'm not going to be preaching a Mother's Day sermon. One of my favorite stories that I read a long time ago was about a little boy. He was in school and the teacher was teaching math, and so she asked Johnny, she said, "Johnny, there's you and your sister, mother and dad, and your mother has a pie and she cuts the pie into eight pieces. Now Johnny, how many pieces are you going to get?" And the little boy answered, "Three." The teacher looked at him, said, "Johnny, you don't know your math." He said, "Yes, ma'am, I do know my math, but you just don't know my mother, because she would get two pieces and then she would say she only wanted one just so I could have three."

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• So that's the way mothers are. That's for sure. And I'm thankful. So let's look in our Bibles to the book of Luke, chapter four. And let's begin reading with verse 15.

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• Now, listen to the title of the message. Here it is: "Preaching That Will Get You Killed." So Luke chapter 4 verse 15: "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. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath 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. And he closed the book, and he 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."

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• "And all bare him witness, and wondered at 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."

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• "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 Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian."

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• "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."

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• Now the title of the message is, I pointed out, "Preaching That Will Get You Killed." We hardly ever consider what you and I would call the dangers of preaching. In fact, most professing Christians and most preachers would give a very hearty laugh at even the thought of preaching being a dangerous occupation. However, it was certainly dangerous for a number of preachers in the Word of God as well as for our Lord.

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• Now before we look at Luke chapter 4, let me just show you what I'm talking about. You look back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 18 and I want you to look at verse 18 at how they were plotting and conniving against Jeremiah the prophet. You remember that Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet, for he wept constantly for his people. But in Jeremiah chapter 18 in verse 18, here is what the people said: "Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah. We're going to plan and we're going to scheme however we can to stop him." Now watch this. They said, "For the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet." Although Jeremiah said that's what was going to happen. Now look what they said: "Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words." In other words, we will lie about him. We will slander him. We will gossip.

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• We'll say things that are absolutely false. But one thing we're not going to do is we're not going to listen to any of his words.

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• Now, if you will turn right over to Jeremiah chapter 26, look, if you would please, at verse 11. So Jeremiah is preaching that God is going to destroy Judah and Jerusalem. So in verse 11: "Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you."

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• "As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears."

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• Now if you would turn right over to Jeremiah chapter 38. So they wanted to kill him because of his preaching. So when you look in Jeremiah chapter 38, look, first of all, if you would please, at verse 4. Jeremiah 38 verse 4: The people once again tried to have him put to death. But verse 4: "Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt." And so Jeremiah was telling, if you want to live, just surrender to the king of Assyria.

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• But they said, "Oh, he deserves to die. He's weakening the hands of the people."

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• Now the same chapter, if you would skip down to verse 15. Now Jeremiah is speaking to Zedekiah the king. Now look at this. "Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?" He said, "If I tell you what's going to happen, you're going to kill me. And if I tell you what's going to happen, you're not going to listen to me." Notice, if you would please, verse 16: "So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life." And the interesting thing is, when these men who wanted Jeremiah to die came to the king, after the king had promised that he would not put him to death,

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• you know what Zedekiah said? "Who am I to resist you folks? You're the ones in control and not me." Ah. Of course, they did not get to put him to death, but I'm just simply pointing out the fact. Yeah, and you have to remember, I think it's in Jeremiah 26 that Uriah the prophet, who was preaching and teaching the very same truths that Jeremiah was preaching, they sought to

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• kill him and he fled to Egypt. And in Egypt King Zedekiah sent Elnathan and several other men to bring him back. And they captured him and brought him back and then the king slew him with a sword himself. So we know that Jeremiah was threatened with death. We know that Uriah was put to death. Did you know that Isaiah was also put to death? If you look in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11, you see, tradition says, and I understand tradition, but tradition says that Isaiah was sawn asunder. Now, I cannot prove that Isaiah was sawn asunder, but I can prove that a lot of people were sawn asunder. So if you look, if you would, at Hebrews chapter 11, beginning there with verse 32, he says, "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,

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• obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword:

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• they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented." So the tradition is that they put Isaiah in a tree trunk, a hollow tree trunk, and then sawed the tree trunk apart with Isaiah in it. So that is how they did the sawing of the people in two back in those days.

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• Now, I want you to look, if you would, please, back in your Bibles, just for a moment, to Luke chapter 4. Just hang on there.

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• Now the truth is this, and if you have not subscribed to Keith Graves' Christian Warrior Training, I would ask you to do that. Keith Graves is a retired 30-year cop, 20 of those years was with SWAT. He also has taught interrogation techniques. He's retired. His main ministry is now teaching Christians church security teams. He gives you every week, it's free, everything that's happening in this country among the preachers and the churches and also out of the country. You would be absolutely astounded to read what is happening.

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• In fact, he put one video out just recently where one man walked into the church while the preacher was preaching, pointed a pistol at him, and pressed the trigger. Thankfully the weapon malfunctioned. The preacher took behind the pulpit and some of the men jumped him and held him down until the cops came. But what many people do not know, and I just read this on Christian Warrior Training—you won't get some of these things on the news—that Pastor William Shoneman, who is 76 years of age, he was a pastor of New River Bible Chapel in Arizona. He'd been there for over 20 years, well respected, well thought of.

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• They found him, Sunday was a week ago, May 4th, murdered in his own home, and then his hands were pinned to the wall, or nailed to the wall somehow, in crucifixion style. This was just last week. You know, when you stop and think, preaching is a dangerous occupation because you can make people so angry with the truth. It is absolutely unbelievable. So even today we have preachers who are being murdered for various reasons. Now in Luke chapter 4, I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but have you ever thought about the preaching and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you ever thought what it must be like to sit under his preaching and teaching? Jesus Christ is presented unto us as meek and mild, as the Lamb of God that taketh away our sins. And the Bible teaches us very clearly that he was patient and kind, and if you did not understand the truth, then he would graciously teach it again. One of my favorite passages is found

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• in Mark 10 and verse 1. And the Bible says, "And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again." So he taught the same people again, and probably he taught them the same truths as well. And moreover, if you still did not understand, the Bible tells you in Mark chapter 4 and verse 34, "But without a parable spake he not unto them: but when they were alone, he

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• expounded all things to his disciples." So if you didn't understand, you could just simply get along with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he would simply expound it over and over. So none could compare to the teaching and preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely none. He was and he is God in the flesh, which means that his teaching was very powerful and instructive. Let me say it like this: There is not a preacher that has lived, is living, or that will ever live that can compare with the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll say this another way: All of the preachers that have lived, are living, and shall live in the future still cannot compare to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells you very plainly in Job chapter 36 and verse 22, "Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?" So there's absolutely no one who can teach like God, and Jesus Christ being God in the flesh, none can teach like him. Now my life—and my wife can attest to this—my life has basically been a life of study.

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• I read and have read for years and years and years. What makes this really so hilarious to me—might not be to you—but when I was in the 11th grade in high school, the only book I carried home was my chemistry book. When I was in the 12th grade, I never carried a book home at all. And when I graduated, I made a promise to myself that I'd never read another book again.

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• Boy, did the Lord pull that one over my eyes for sure. But you know, my life has been kind of a life of study, and Alice used to get angry with me, ticked off anyhow, when we would go somewhere and all I want to do is sit in the motel and read, when she wanted to go out and explore or go shopping or something. But that was my life and it still is my life. But when you stop and think about the Lord Jesus Christ, he didn't have to study. He knew everything and he knew it instantly and he knew it perfectly.

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• And he could teach it as no other individual could teach. Our Lord could explain creation because he is the creator. He could explain providence because he is the provider. He could explain authority because he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He could explain submission and obedience because he came as the Father's servant to do the will of the Father. He could explain love because he is indeed the love of our souls. He could explain sacrifice because he is the sacrifice. He could explain victory because he is the victor. And he could explain power because all power in heaven and earth is given unto him. And he could explain rest, for he is indeed the giver of rest. When our Lord did teach, it was so unique that the people understood and they said in Mark 1 and verse 22, "He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." The Pharisees didn't have authority, for he was God in the flesh. So our Lord spoke the truth. You know, there's a lot of people that really do not want truth.

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• They want what they've been taught all of their life, or they want their traditions, but they really and truly do not want truth. For instance, you know, the Pharisees hated the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know why they hated him? I'll show you. Look in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, they hated Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ did not follow their traditions nor their misinterpretation of God's law. So in Matthew chapter 15, look in verses 1 and 2: "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?

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• for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" Then he gives you an illustration. Skip down, if you would, to verse 7. Then he says, "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

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• But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." And no wonder the Pharisees hated him and despised him. They could not handle his truth. So it was not just the Pharisees, the Sadducees as well. If you would turn right over to Matthew chapter 22, what did he do to upset the Sadducees? Well, he destroyed their heresy and he also destroyed their illogic, their logic that was absolutely worthless. Look at it in Matthew chapter 22 beginning with verse 23: "The same day came to him the Sadducees." You've heard me say this, but of course the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. And someone says that's why they were sad, you see. Well, okay, that's true. So he said, "The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now,

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• this was the levirate law, because back in those days you possessed the property that was divided to you by family. So this was the levirate law. So now watch it. They say, "Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: likewise the second also, and the third unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven?

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• for they all had her." So this is a wonderful ploy that they think they've really outsmarted our Lord. So look, if you would, at what he answered. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." The words: you, you, you want to know where your error is? You don't know the Word of God and you don't know the power of God.

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• He says, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." So now he's not only shut up the Pharisees, he's also shut up the Sadducees because they were ignorant of the word of God and did not know the power of God as well.

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• Now together all of these rulers hated him. So if you look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, you remember how the scripture tells us that the common people heard Jesus Christ gladly. They rejoiced in his teaching. But look what the rulers say. John 11 beginning in verse 47: "Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council." By the way, the chief priests, they were the Sadducees. They had control of the temple. The Pharisees had control of the people. So now they've come together. So watch what happened. "Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we?

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• for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation." And they were more concerned about their place than they were the nation.

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• Now, notice if you would, that's exactly the way it is today. I don't care if you're Republican. I don't care if you're Democrat. I don't care what you are. Once you get in power, once you get a position, you're going to fight to do everything to maintain and control your power, control your position. That's exactly what these people were doing. Now out of all the people that hated Jesus Christ, they hated him freely.

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• Let me show you. Look in John chapter 15 and verse 25. John 15 and verse 25. Let's read this. Our Lord says, "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause." Now the little phrase "without a cause" is actually from the Greek word dorean, and literally, it means "they hated me freely." So what that means is very simple: that there was absolutely nothing in Jesus Christ that would merit or draw forth their hatred. He was the innocent, sinless Son of God. He was the perfect Lamb of God. There was nothing in Jesus Christ that merited their hatred. They hated him without a cause, or literally, they hated him freely. So anytime you see the hatred spewed forth against Jesus Christ, it's because there was no cause; hatred in him they did so deliberately, premeditatedly, and freely. Now I want you to look back at our text in Luke chapter 4. I have not forgotten this text, okay? I want you to look at this and

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• let's begin reading again and just read verses 16 through 20. Look at this: "And he came to Nazareth," and notice this next phrase, "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. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book," look at this now, "he found the place where it was written."

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• So he deliberately turned to a specific passage. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath 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."

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• Now look at this: "And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him." Now our Lord, when he took the scroll, deliberately and premeditatedly opened this passage to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 verses 1 through 2 is where this passage is quoted from. So I want you to look, or just listen as I read it to you: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." So our Lord then quotes in this passage from Isaiah 61 verses 1 through 2. Now, I want you to look primarily at verse 21, after our Lord read this passage.

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• Let me show you what he said: "And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." In other words, what he's saying is, you may not receive this truth in your heart, but you're hearing the truth. This day is this passage fulfilled in your ears. All the scholars in Israel believed that Isaiah 61 referred to the Messiah. So our Lord's claim was nothing less than the declaration of the reality that he was indeed the promised Messiah.

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• The Spirit of the Lord was upon him. He'd been anointed to preach the gospel, and he did all of those things that were prophesied by Isaiah, which demonstrated that he was indeed the Messiah. Now this was an amazing statement. It was an amazing proclamation, and the people of Nazareth were very quick to see the claim then to the Messiahship. So our Lord by making this statement only meant that the true year of Jubilee had really come because he was the Messiah. Now look, if you would, in verse 22: "And all

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• bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" So all bare him witness and wondered at the gracious words, or words of grace, which proceeded out of his mouth. In other words, they were marveling at his exposition and explanation of that passage of Scripture, and they also marveled at the application because he said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Now I want to give you a quick quote.

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• This one is by Matthew Poole. Listen carefully. Here's what he said: "All that heard our Saviour in the synagogue bare him witness of what? Not that he was the Messiah, much less the Son of God, but they praised his discourse in opening the prophecy. They did not believe in him, but they admired the wisdom and piety of his discourse. They admire the effects of the grace of God in him, his gracious words.

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• But see," he says, "the wickedness and wretchedness of carnal hearts in their proneness to take no prejudices, to choke the beginning of any convictions in themselves. They do not admire the power of divine grace that it could so far influence one of so mean an education as they took Christ to have had, but dreaming that the kingdom of God must come with observation, which it does not, and that the coming of Messiah must be in great outward splendor and glory, they stumbled at his parents, even though they were of the house of David, they were of so mean a visible quality."

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• Now I want you to go back, look at verse 22 again: "And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" Now go back, if you would, and look in verse 16: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up." So here is what they are saying: "Why, this is our hometown boy.

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• We've known him all of his life. We know his parents. Is not this Joseph's son? He's the son of a carpenter. We know him." I know. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 13. And I'm going to come back to this passage. So just mark it in your Bibles if you will, but I want you to look in Matthew chapter 13 and let's begin reading there at verse 54. Matthew 13 verse 54: "And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son?

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• is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

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• Now, note if you would, let's go back now to verse 23 in Luke chapter 4. Look at this verse 22: "And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" What? How could this young man have all this wisdom? Well, this young man is a carpenter's son. Why, he doesn't have a university degree. He hasn't been sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. He doesn't know that he's a carpenter's son, for heaven's sake. Look at this. Wow. So our Lord says, now watch it, in response to that, verse 23 and 24: "And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever

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• 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." Now the word "physician" is the point of comparison. He said unto them, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself." You will find this recorded in the Gospels, but Luke, the physician, the author of the book of Luke and of Acts, is the only one that includes this proverb, "Physician, heal thyself," because Luke was a physician.

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• Now, what in the world does this mean, "Physician, heal thyself"? Well, the proverb simply means this: that the physician was expected to take his own medicine, to heal himself. And he also not only would take his own medicine and heal himself, he would also take that medicine to his family, to his friends. In other words, he's going to start his medical career ministering to himself and to his family and to his friends. Now, what was the implication when our Lord said to these people, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself"? Here's what they mean: "You owe us. We helped raise you. You're our hometown boy. That means you should do more for us than for anybody else. We're your family, we are your friends, and we should have greater access to your favors and benefits and miracles than anyone else." So the point here, look at it again in verse 23: "And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever

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• we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country." So they had heard of him doing these mighty works and miracles in Capernaum and elsewhere as well. So the proverb actually revealed the heart of the people of Nazareth. They condemned Jesus Christ because of his mean parentage, his low parentage. I mean, Joseph was a carpenter. "Is not this the carpenter's son? We know his family. We know his brothers. We know his sisters; they're all with us." And now what they want to do is challenge him by saying, "We've heard what you've done in Capernaum. We want you to do that here in this country, in your own country, among your own family and among your own friends." Now Capernaum was not far from Nazareth.

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• It was on the northwest corner of the Sea of Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee. So it was not far from Nazareth. And in all probability some individuals who were in that synagogue, or certainly in Nazareth, had been to Capernaum and maybe had seen some of the miracles that Jesus Christ performed there. Jesus Christ stayed at Capernaum quite frequently. It was there where he cured the centurion's servant of palsy. It was there he cured Simon Peter's wife's mother of a fever. It was there he cured another man sick of the palsy. It was there he cured the woman who had the bloody issue. And it was there he cured the man with a withered hand.

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• And it was there he raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. So he said, "Ye will surely say unto me, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country." So our Lord is telling us a truth that we use in another way. Our adage is not "Physician, heal thyself." Our adage is "Familiarity breeds contempt." Familiarity breeds contempt. The more familiar you are with a person, sometimes the easier it is to hold contempt for that individual. Familiarity breeds contempt.

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• So they ask, "Is not this Joseph's son?" I mean, his father was a carpenter. Where did he get this knowledge? Where did he get this wisdom? Where in the world did he get this power? Who could expect this of Jesus? We've known him all of his life. Wow. So our Lord does something very unique. I want you to look, if you would, at verses 25 through 27. Our Lord reminds them of two Bible stories that they have known all of their lives. Verse 25: He said in verse 24, "No prophet is accepted in his own country." No words.

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• It's just not going to happen. Then he said, "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." She was a Phoenician. "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian." What?

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• Note if you would, here are two Bible stories that everyone knew about. Everyone had heard, and now our Lord uses these. And what he's doing is showing that in this instance God sent two of the most well-known and prominent prophets out of the country. The term "Physician, heal thyself"—start with yourself, your family, and your friends—didn't apply in these instances, because Jesus Christ is saying Elijah was sent to Sidon, and of course Elisha healed Naaman of Syria. Now why did God choose a widow in Sidon to take care of Elijah and for Elijah to take care of? You can read about Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17. Why did God send Naaman the Syrian to Elisha? You can read about that in 2 Kings chapter 5. So God sent Elijah and Elisha to foreigners, not to their own people. Why did God do that? And the answer would be to put a disgrace upon Israel. There's a good reason for that. Go back in your Bibles one more time to Matthew 13. I told you we'd come back to it. Look at Matthew chapter 13 again in verse 54 and let's read through verse 58 again. And I just want to emphasize one thing. Look at this: Matthew 13 verse 54: "And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch

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• that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him." What? God speaking through a carpenter's son? God speaking through somebody that we've known all of our lives? God speaking through someone that we helped raise? This is bewildering.

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• This is an impossibility. Now I want to show you something. I'm going to make the applications. I want you to go back to Luke chapter 4. I want you to look at this. I told you that our Lord spoke the truth. Our Lord, watch this, told them about Elijah and Elisha. They caught the implication. So look, if you would, in verse 28: "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,

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• 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." Wow. How did that sermon work out? It went quickly from marvel to murder, from wonder to wrath and wickedness, and from admiration to anger. And what was so upsetting about our Lord's preaching? Why were they ready now to take someone that they had raised, someone that they had known all of his life, and murder him?

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• How do we understand this? How do we apply this? Well, let me make the applications. I want to try to tie this together for you. Here is the first truth that they understood from our Lord's preaching and teaching: They understood that God was absolutely sovereign. God took Elijah and sent him to Sidon, to the city of Zarephath, to a widow woman there, a Phoenician. And the only

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• leper healed during the time of Elisha was Naaman. So, since God is sovereign, here's what we're being taught: God does not give the same aid to one as he does another. God does not even give the same grace to one as he does another. God does not even give the same knowledge to one as he does another. God is not bound by anything. God does as he pleases.

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• I thought about this so many times. When I was a teenager, I could not wait to get away from my home. Not that I had any problems, I did not. I love my father. I love my mother. My father told me to work. I'm so thankful for that. But I was chafing at the bit to get away, not that I had any problem at home, I did not. But the reason I wanted to get away was so that I could do what I wanted to do. And then Alice nailed me and I got married. And you know what? I found out I did not ever have time to do what I wanted to do because I had to do what I had to do. No. Only God can do as he pleases. No one else. No one else. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 115 verse 3? "But our God is in

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• the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." And then of course you have to think about this, and not really that, but Matthew chapter 20. You remember there our Lord told about the householder who went out and hired early in the morning some men to work in his vineyard. Came back mid-morning and hired some more. Came back dinner time, hired some more. Came back mid-afternoon, hired some more. Came back finally one hour before quitting time and hired some more. And when it came time to pay them, he began with the last and went back to the first. Hmm. And each man got a penny. And those who had worked all day long started complaining and said, "You have made us bear the heat and the burden of the day, and you've made these last people equal to us." And you know what the Lord of the vineyard said? "Didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

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• Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" Cannot I do with my own what I please? You see, what a lot of people would love to do is to bind God and not let him do as he pleases, even though they like to do as they please. If Steve happened to be a multi-millionaire—and Lorraine tells me he's not—but if Steve happened to be a multi-millionaire and he wanted to give me a million bucks, he could do so. If he wanted to give me five million, he could do so. But is he obligated to give me any? And the answer is no. Not at all. God says, "I can do whatever I want to do." Now here's what I want to sink down into your hearts. I want you to listen to me. This is what angered those people in Nazareth.

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• This is what upset them so. When our Lord used these two illustrations of Elijah and Elisha, here's what he was saying: God does not owe you anything. God does not owe you salvation. God does not owe you life. God does not owe you health. God does not owe you success. God does not owe you a husband or a wife or children or family or friends. God does not owe you anything.

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• God is not our debtor. We are his debtors. Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11 and note, if you would please, verse 33. Romans 11 verse 33, look at this. Here it is. The Apostle Paul says, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." You cannot first give to God. You cannot bring God into obligation to you.

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• So let me say this again: God does not owe you anything. Except justice. And I can assure you, you do not want that. You are in debt to him; he is not in debt to you. So God is free to save one and not another. God is free to bless one and not another. He did not owe the people of Nazareth anything. Are you listening? He does not owe the people of America anything. He doesn't owe Russia anything. He doesn't owe China anything. He doesn't owe anybody anything. Everyone owes him. Here's the second truth: The fault of the lack of miracles and blessings in Nazareth was a result of the people there. They did not believe. They did not limit God; they limited themselves. They were incapable of receiving his blessings.

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• Stop and think about this. He talked about Elijah and Elisha. God sent Elijah to that widow woman in Zarephath in Sidon. Hmm, I wonder why he didn't send him to a widow woman in Israel. Let's see if I remember correctly: Ahab and Jezebel were on the throne at that particular time, and they were too busy—and all the people of Israel were too busy—worshiping Baal and murdering God's prophets and throwing them in prison and having some put in a cave and being fed with bread and water. They weren't interested in Elijah. They weren't interested in his preaching. They weren't interested in his truth. All they wanted was Baal. How many lepers out of Israel sought for healing from Elisha? None. Only Naaman the Syrian. Let me tell you something, folks: When we are too busy worshiping false gods and doing things contrary to the Word of God, God is just as free to disgrace us as he did Israel by sending his word and his prophets to another country. So thus our Lord frankly implies that if the people of Nazareth had received him, believed him, not been offended in him, they might have seen some of the same miracles as did Capernaum.

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• They did not receive any of his blessings because of their contempt of him and their unbelief. The fault was in them and not in Jesus Christ. What the people of Nazareth wanted was this: they wanted to see and believe instead of believing and then seeing. So God did not allow those miracles to be worked there. Here's the third one. Don't you listen to this: the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 10 in verse 34 and 35 said this: "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth

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• I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." So what he's saying is God has no respect to this country or to that country. He sent Elijah to the Sidonians and Elisha healed a Syrian while he neglected the disobedient and ungrateful Israelites. Yes. Jesus Christ is sent to his sheep. If you look in your Bibles very quickly to John chapter 10, John chapter 10, look at what our Lord says, verses 15 and 16. John 10 verses 15 and 16, he said, "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." Wherever his sheep are, that's where he sends truth. Now listen to me very carefully. If you would go ahead and turn, just turn in your Bibles to John 15. We'll look at this in closing just momentarily. John 15, if you will just hold it right

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• there. So let me put it to you very plainly: if you want a small ministry and the hatred and dislike of the people and folks who really would like to kill you, now all you have to do is preach that God doesn't owe you anything. Now they tried to push Jesus Christ over a cliff. They failed. In John chapter 10 and verse 31, they picked up stones to stone him. Of course, they did not succeed because it was ordained by God the Father that he die a sacrificial death on the cross. When you stop and think about this, God is so gracious and so kind and so loving. He's given us life. He's given us health. He's preserved us. He's protected us. He's provided for us. We have all these multitudinous blessings, and we don't even stop to think. We don't even observe one of them.

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• What did Jacob confess in Genesis 32? He said, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant." God does not owe us. We owe him. He is our Creator. We are his creatures. Therefore, we owe him respect and honor. He's our Father. We're his children. We owe him obedience. He's the master. We're the servant. Yes, we owe him obedience and to work as he commands us. And we're sinners, and therefore we owe him repentance. You know, in John chapter 15 in verse 18, we often get concerned about the fact that we cannot influence the world. Seemingly the world hates us. Well, it does. So in John 15 verse 18, our Lord said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.

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• If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." Have you ever stopped to just thank God for all the blessings that he's given you? Realize he doesn't owe you any of them. Scripture tells us God left himself not without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. So I have to confess, Lord, you have been so gracious, so good, so kind. And I do not deserve the least of thy mercies. And then I've got to remember that God does not owe me. I owe him. Without him, I would have no life. Without him, I would have no breath. Without him, I would have no ability. Without him, I would have absolutely nothing. So we owe him honor and glory and praise and worship. We're indebted to him. He is not indebted to us. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee.

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• We thank you, Father, for all that you've given to us. And we know, Father, that this kind of preaching is not acceptable with most folks. They did not like it when Jesus Christ preached it or when the Apostle Paul preached it. And they won't like it now. But Lord, those who hear and those who believe and those who receive will like it, because they recognize your sovereignty, your graciousness, your kindness, your mercy. And Lord, we recognize our sins. And we can say, Lord, with Jacob, I do not deserve the least of thy mercies. Help us, Lord, to love thee and live for thee and honor thee.

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• In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T23:02:06Z