Our Foundation is Jesus
Notes
Transcript
A couple of weeks ago, we left off with Jesus naming His disciples. If you remember, I said it reminding me of a pick up basketball game where you would pick teams, except Jesus picked 12 to be on His team. There were still more that followed Him, but He chose 12 to be in His inner circle and then He had an even smaller circle that He spent even more time. When only three disciples are mentioned that is usually Peter, James, and John. So, in verse 12, Jesus gets alone to pray on a mountain peak. He then picks His disciples. Then we pick up as He begins to preach. Easy way to remember this - Prays, Picks, then Preaches.
So, go to Luke 6 and let’s begin reading at verse 17.
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,
18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured,
19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
So, as we are reading this passage, what does it sound like to you? The Beatitudes. If you remember this past summer, Bill, David and myself taught a series together on the Beatitudes. Also, last year, when we did a series on the book of Matthew, we talked about the sermon on the mount. My question to you this morning is, do you think this is the same sermon as the Sermon on the Mount?
I use to think it was. But, after studying this message, I think it may be the same message spoken at two different locations.
I have many sermons that I have preached at many different times. There will be times that I may include different illustrations so my messages will sound different but it is the same message. I tend to believe that this was the same sermon but spoken at a different location than the one in Matthew.
Look at what Matthew 5:1 says
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
Now look at Luke 6:17 again.
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon,
Do you notice that there is difference here. In Matthew, Jesus is going up on a mountainside. And in Luke, Jesus is going down on a level place. These could very well be the same sermon, but I tend to think they were preached at two different times. Also, in this message Jesus includes 4 blessings and 4 woes. Look at verse 20.
20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
The word Blessed in the Greek is Makarios. It means happy, fortunate, blissful, inward contentedness. These words are given from Jesus. Also, look at what words follow the word blessed. Blessed are the poor. Blessed are those who hunger. Blessed are those who weep. Blessed are those when people hate you, exclude you, insult you, and reject your name.
These are not words that we think of when we are happy. It doesn’t make any sense does it?
The disciples weren’t a rich group of people by any means, they were poor. These words are being spoken to them by Jesus.
During this time, the temple was the center of everything they did. Many of the jobs that people had were temple related. When these people became close to Christ, they began losing their jobs. They were being persecuted for following Christ. And as the time goes on it only gets worse. However, Jesus assures them that it is okay because their reward is coming. A reward that is awaiting all of us who believe in heaven.
Then, Jesus follows the blessings with woes. Our blessings don’t come from things of this earth. Our blessings come from above. We need to learn to depend on Jesus.
Jesus continues His sermon in verse 27.
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
One of the most important weapons that Jesus unveils to His disciples that day is love. Love is your most effective weapon of evangelizing the world. However, Jesus is not speaking of love in the human emotion type. What Jesus is referring to here is the supernatural love. And only believers can know this type of love and display it. This type of love is impossible without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Think of it this way, a murderer is someone that kills with no remorse for what they are doing. That same person that kills with no remorse may love their children. This is an emotional type of love. It requires only a physical life. A supernatural love requires divine life. It is largely a matter of the will whereas the other is a matter of the emotions. Anyone can love his friends, but it takes a supernatural power to love one’s enemies. And that is the love that Jesus is talking about. It means to do good to those who hate you, to bless those who curse you, to pray for those who are nasty to you, and ever and always to turn the other cheek. A love like this is unbeatable.
Jesus is about giving up oneself. Outside Christianity, this concept is not taught.
Socrates told us to “know yourself.” Freud told us to “be thyself.” But it was Jesus that tells us to “give thyself.” And Jesus continues this message.
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Jesus is teaching us about generosity. When we love, generosity follows. And when we learn to be generous we have learned to love those who aren’t even our friends. Loving our enemies is an act of generosity.
When we give our tithes, we don’t give expecting something in return. We give to be generous with what God has given us. When we love our enemies, we are loving them with a heart that is generous because has taught us to be generous.
Jesus follows this up with an example of what generous means. He gives them a concept that all of them would understand. Look at verse 37.
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
If you have attended here for any length of time, you know that I have mentioned this passage before. Many pastors when they talk about money they like to mention verse 38. However, you can’t mention verse 38 without mentioning verse 37, they both go together.
Look at the end of verse 38. It says, “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”
This was a farming term used. In every field there were two groups or types of people gleaning from the fields. There were workers that were gleaning in the middle of the field and there were poor people that were gleaning in the corners of the field. God said leave the corners of your fields for the poor.
Imagine with me how they filled their baskets. If you were a worker you probably didn’t fill your baskets very full because the fuller it was the heavier it would be. A worker probably just put a little in their basket and then went over and dumped it in the cart and continued working.
If you were a poor person you put as much in the basket as you could because that was how you would feed your family. So they would get a good measure, as full as they could fill it, then they would press it down so they could put more in, then they would shake it so that all the space would fill up and they would top it off some more so that it was running over.
What Jesus is saying here is when you give your going to get more back. How many of you have ever seen an apple seed? It’s small isn’t it. When you plant that apple seed, you don’t just get an apple seed back. You get an apple tree that produces many more apples. You get back so much more than you actually give.
This is exactly where so many people go wrong regarding this passage of scripture. Once you understand the wonderful truth of it, there is a tremendous temptation to make it your motivation for giving.
Many preachers and bible teachers fall into this trap and they encourage others to do the same. The “give and it shall be given to you” principle is to be our reward, not our motivation. That is why Jesus preceded this promise with verse 37, “judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
What you give you will get back. If you judge someone you will get judged back good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. If you condemn someone you will get condemned back good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. But also, if you forgive someone you will be forgiven good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.
They preach Luke 6:38 you give to get, but it should be preached you give so you can give. We give to build the kingdom, not to get. It’s a heart issue.
Jesus is teaching His disciples to have a heart of generosity. They understood this concept. They understood about the fields. It is so important that we grasp this that when we give, we are to give out of love for Jesus with a generous heart.
Jesus continues this lesson in verse 39.
39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
What is your heart full of? Is your heart one that is generous? Do you have only good intentions for other people? Whatever is in your heart will come out of your mouth.
I like what Jesus says in verse 46.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.
48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Jesus asked them, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
The term Lord denotes power. Lord was a term that they would give to a boss. Jesus was speaking to anyone that would call Him Lord but they would not submit to Him as Lord.
When we don’t submit to Him as Lord our foundation is shaky. In order for us to thrive the way that we need to thrive as people that God is calling to a newer level, we need to make sure that our foundation is built on the rock of Jesus.
Because when a storm comes, and trust me a storm will come, you will be able to withstand everything that the enemy tries to throw at you.
I want to close out this message today with the first couple of stories from chapter 7. Look at verse one.
1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.
2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.
3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.
4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this,
5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”
6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.
7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.
8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”
10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
I told you this a few weeks ago but Jesus’ headquarters were in Capernaum. This is where He is headed back to. Capernaum is a place where Jesus did more miracles than anywhere else.
As Jesus is coming back to town a Centurion sends some elders to jesus and asks Jesus to come and heal this Centurion’s servant.
A Roman Centurion is a Roman Military Officer. A Centurion would control about 100 men. A Centurion was only under Caesar. His pay was probably about 17 times more than the men he led. So He was up there. Also, if you ever read about a Centurion, like we are here, you will notice that every reference in the New Testament is positive. So, the Centurions were well respected.
The people that go to Jesus for the Centurion say something that is interesting. Look at verse 4.
4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this,
These elders of the Jews had a wrong view between man and God. They thought that they earned the favor of God, but the Bible teaches Grace of God, which is undeserved favor.
But look at verse 6.
6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.
His friends are saying he is worthy and he is saying I am not worthy. The centurion understood authority. When he tells someone to do something they do it. Verse 9 says that Jesus is amazed at the centurion. The centurion felt unworthy because he perceived Jesus’ authority.
Roman authority was completely autocratic. Caesar had total control and he would give his centurions the commands to send out. When a centurion gave a command it carried all the authority of the Emperor. To disobey the command of the centurion was to disobey the authority of Caesar. Jesus Christ was under God’s authority. He also wielded God’s authority.
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.
12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.
13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”
17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Luke is the only one that tells this story that I just read to you. You have this large crowd that is with Jesus and they are all happy and celebrating what Jesus has done and they meet this other crowd that is sad. It is a funeral procession. This woman that has lost her husband and now she has lost her son so, there is no protection for her. Jesus has compassion on her. Our version says, “His heart went out to her.” The Greek word here is splanchnizomai (splanch-ni-zo-mai). It means to have compassion. This same compassion is used two other times in parables that Jesus tells, one in the prodigal son when then father has compassion for his returning son and the other is in the story of the Good Samaritan when he had compassion for the man that was beaten.
I find it interesting that in this story we have two sons, two only begotten sons. We have a dead son and the living son of God. The living son tells the dead son to come alive. Jesus is the giver of life. He gave this son life again. Jesus can breathe life into any situation that seems hopeless to you. He is the life giver.
So, why does Luke include this story and no one else does? He includes this story because of the conversation that will come after this story. Look at verse 18.
18 John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them,
19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ ”
21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.
22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
23 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
John the Baptist is sitting in a prison because of Herod Antipas. He has heard Jesus preach the message that he has come to open prison doors and set the captives free and John is waiting to see this come to pass. And He just wants to know. Are you the one? John fully hoped to be set free. However, Jesus leaves John with an encouraging word to John to not abandon the faith.
And I believe that is what Jesus would say to you today. No matter what you are going through, don’t abandon your faith.