Sermon Tone Analysis

Luke 9:51-56

Prayer

Message

From the moment Jesus, Peter, James & John descended from the Mt. of Transfiguration, we see a paradigm shift from Luke writing about the miracles to an emphasis of Jesus discipling, pouring Himself into the apostles to further the mission.

Even before we begin point one of my message this morning, the triune God of the universe is using every moment as a teaching moment with the disciples.

You remember Peter’s comments on top of the Mt. of Transfiguration:

Luke 9:33-35 “33 And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.

34 While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

35 Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!””

Our heavenly Father made Peter aware on that day and used it as a teaching moment for all of us.

Do not live life with a segmented or fragmented focus.

Mark 3:25 “25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”

Luke 16:13 “13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and wealth.””

Do not live life thinking in three’s as sermons go, but live life with rifle accuracy as to the supreme goal of your life.

Ill-Mary & Martha

Luke 10:42 “42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.””

Philippians 3:13-14 “13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Now obviously the Heavenly Father was correcting Peter and making him aware of the godhead and supremacy of Jesus Christ over any other individual, person, place or thing in this universe.

Embedded deeper in the Father’s statement was the fact that Peter, “you must live a life with a singular focus.”

You must keep your eyes affixed on Jesus.

Hebrews 12:12 “12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,”

The Missional Focus of Jesus

Luke 9:51 “51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;”

Jesus prepares us today as he prepared those disciples over 2,000 years ago.

When we have been delivered from death into life because of the sacrificial gift of Jesus giving His life for ours, Jesus is informing them as He informs us that life will be different than the world .

Lets read verse 51:

Luke 9:51 “51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;”

There are three words I want you to underline in your Bibles that teaches volumes around the fact that Jesus’ time here on earth was focused in its entirety toward the mission He came to accomplish.

Top of the order to underline is determined.

Determined-πρόσωπον prosōpon; from 4314 and ὤψ ōps (an eye, face); the face:—ahead*(2), appearance(5), before*(2), coming*(1), face(37), faces(5), openly(1), outwardly*(1), partial*(3), partiality(1), people(1), person(1), persons(1), presence(11), sight(1).

Determined in the Greek means what is your appearance, your statement, what do you present to state what your life is all about.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis:

Genesis 3:8–9 (NASB 95)

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Ill.

Facebook

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Think about if for a moment.

How much can you interpret from pictures on Facebook?

Family dynamics, worth or lack thereof, values, hobbies, profession sometimes, interest and the list goes on.

How many seniors do we all know that can watch TV and interpret 90% plus of what is going on and they can not hear?

What am I saying?

Everything about Jesus pointed to what was priority in His life.

Luke 19:10 “10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.””

Luke 2:49-50 “49 And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

50 But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.”

May I ask you a question?

The Lord asked Adam and Eve “where are you?”

And I would ask you: what are you about?

What does your life stand for?

What is your aim or mission in this world?

If your life will stand for Jesus it will take a singular determination.

The two other words I quickly want to discuss as we think of living a Christ delivered life is that we realize that time is drawing nigh.

Approaching

We must live a Christ delivered life with an urgency.

4845.

συμπληρόω sumplēroō; from 4862 and 4137; to fill up completely, hence to fulfill:—approaching(1), come(1), swamped(1).

Sumpleroo means that you are filling a cup or a vessel or a bucket and it is almost at completion of filling.

The time was at hand for Jesus to go back to the Father and His mission had to have rifle focus to complete the task the Heavenly Father had sent Him to accomplish.

Dearly beloved, so true of us as being His children and living a Christ delivered life.

Our days are as the Scriptures state as a “vapor”

James 4:14 “14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.

You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

Psalms 39:5 “5 “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.

Selah.”

Ascension

Our Christ Delivered Life is a heaven focused life.

Hebrews 11:13 “13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”

A Christ delivered life is heaven centered, heaven directed, and if the desire is truly for that citizenship, our focus is to carry others home with us.

Therein lies the change in us and how we live life differing from the world.

We respond differently because our aim is different than the world.

Jesus, God Incarnate, was a living example to live a life focused on the two greatest commandments-Loving God and loving others.

His aim was to reunite with His Heavenly Father in heaven and to take home everyone He can.

If our life theme is Jesus’ life theme, if our aim is His aim, if our focus is His focus, if our objectives are His objectives, you get what I am saying.

If our aim is for the Lord to use us to seek and save those who are lost, we will respond different in daily living than the world responds.

The Messenger’s Footsteps for Jesus

Luke 9:52 “52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.”

Let’s remember that Jesus saves, we are His solicitors.

The word solicit means “to make petition; to approach with a request or plea, to urge strongly.

What are you passionate about?

What in life cranks your tractor?

Therein lies what you value.

Jesus provided us many examples how His disciples prepare for His presence-back to that word “presence” to come to the forefront.

Jesus asked the disciples to go and get the donkey, to go and prepare the upper room, to go and see what was available to feed the five thousand.

Let me put it another way.

Jesus wants you to be His billboard.

My question is this.

What are you advertising that your life, or better yet, is your life representing His life?

The title of my message is Cross Roads vs. the Christ Delivered Life.

You will be put to the test, I will be put to the test more than we will ever want to admit as to how we will respond to the cross roads of life and living a Christ delivered life.

The moment these disciples had to go ahead and prepare arrangements for Jesus to stay in Samaria they were faced with a cross road.

They were faced with prior prideful, prejudice world thinking.

2 Kings 17:1 “1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned nine years.”

Assyria captures Northern Israel.

From that point, the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom began to intermarry with the people of Assyria and there became great prejudices of the people of Southern Israel over the people of Samaria.

Ill.

Chaplain story in the Montgomery Advertiser

Chaplain unscathed in non-robbery as Samaritan helps with wasp

Everyday Spirituality