Having a purpose
Luke the man, the physician • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Gospel according to Luke
Gospel according to Luke
Turn to the gospel of Luke chapter 4. Lift your hand if you need a bible. [In regards to Charlie Kirk I will be commenting later]
Our desire is to teach the entire bible in order to help us understand the whole counsel of God. This is a large library that takes time. But so does a relationship.
My job isn’t to pump us up but to lift you up with the word of God. To teach the whole counsel of God. Why? Because the cross is the center of that counsel. Presently, we are going through the N.T. as it was written historically in chronological order. I realize there are many opinions concerning the order but I had to pick one of them. So far we’ve studied James, Galatians, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Romans and now the gospel of Luke written in the early 60’s A.D.
In our previous study, the synagogue leaders try to throw Jesus off a cliff, so He makes His way to Capernaum, a small fishing village by the beach at Lake Galilee. This is where He will begin to perform miracles and fulfill prophecies regarding the Messiah such as Isaiah 9:1-2 referenced by Matthew 4:15-16
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.”
By the time Jesus began His ministry, Galilee was considered a thoroughly Jewish area, but they were surrounded by heavily populated Gentile remnants left over from the previous centuries such as Syria, Greece and now Rome.
This will explain why there were pig farmers in Gadara. It was known as the “soulless city” on the east side of the Galilee and the pagan religions they brought with them were fertile ground for demonic influence, and possession.
Let’s begin.
Luke 4:31–44
And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.
1] Jesus teaches with Authority. - the Greek word is exousia which means exercising a right to speak with a power that liberates people. This is what Jesus meant when he told the disciples he would give the church the same authority by sending us the Holy Spirit!
And in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What do we have to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked it, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm.
2] The Demons feared Him - so in this region of Galilee, many who sought favor from their gods through mantras, magic or incantations were unknowingly speaking with demons and they were only happy to oblige and inhabit them. Demonic influence always makes promises of success and wealth or “power” but they own you or possess you. So it’s the opposite of liberation, rather it’s domination. And these days the world sees the devil as a joke, a red man with horns and a pitchfork who’s equal to Christ. Nothing could be further from the truth! While the world repels against the gospel yet uses God’s name in vain,
Fallen humanity is entertained and fascinated by evil be it in
horror movies,
scary
books,
certain online interactive games such as D & D, Wasteland and Dark and Darker are role play games
sold to our youth as epic quests and challenging encounters, but what they can do is dumb down evil as a mere game or myth.
Performing séances to contact the dead. But demons are real and very deceptive.
The reason they can claim it’s uncle Joe is because he actually knows all about him!!
But they are scared of Yeshua and they know who he is. Just as James writes:
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
So just believing in one God, does one well but do they shudder in His holiness? The supernatural realm is a dangerous place to go and very risky but its a safe place if the Holy Spirit is leading us to the presence of God.
And amazement came upon them all, and they were talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every place in the surrounding district.
Jesus teaches with Authority or power, demons fear him, tremble and shudder,
3] His fame spreads.
Without promotion, advertisement or posters nailed to olive trees Jesus was simply healing and setting captives free, creating a social media frenzy that had gone viral! No one needed an evangelism course, it just came natural!! And truly that’s the best evangelism when it comes from a person who’s been liberated by Jesus!! Jesus wasn’t looking for attention, but he was “the new kid in town”! Later on, Jesus will have to hide from the public. But today, we see business men, actors, musicians or singers who do the opposite; they want rise to the top, find fame and be applauded. But after that big trade deal, huge movie role, big record deal, bringing fame and untold wealth. The paparazzi starts chasing them around, cameras flashing, no privacy, every word you say is recorded and analyzed by podcasters, legacy news and TV. But as soon as their youth is gone, most of them end up alone in a huge mansion, money drying up and heart-broken. They realize, when all is said and done they chose to sell out their soul. Jesus warned
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Then He stood up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her. And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she stood up and began waiting on them. And while the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him, and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. And demons also were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He was not allowing them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.
Jesus teaches with Authority or power, demons fear him, tremble and shudder, His fame is spreading .
5] Jesus was fulfilling the messianic prophecies!
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy...
Several passages are Isa 35; Isa 61 etc...
In Capernaum, scholars believe Simon Peter and his wife and
mother in-law lived across the street from the synagogue
The Catholic church built a huge church over the ruins but as you can see, it’s a monstrosity!
But it makes sense that Yeshua was willing to walk over and heal his mother in-law who had a fever. Now wait.....if Peter had a wife, that disqualifies him to the first pope!!
When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were eagerly seeking for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
So Jesus taught with power, demons feared him, His fame was spreading but he wasn’t promoting himself, He was fulfilling the messianic prophecies but finally
6] Jesus was sent for a purpose - to proclaim the gospel!
So I don’t think I need to dig deep into what happened to Charlie Kirk, I’m sure we’re all very informed with it. Yes, it’s sad and so unnecessary.
His “prove me wrong” tours were growing as he invited mainly college kids who’ve been brainwashed by these liberal college professors to hate our country and president, support Hamas and illegal immigrants as the victims and on and on it goes! Yet Charlie’s purpose was to go into the Lion’s Den to dialogue with their opposing views showing us it can be done respectfully and truthfully. But just as Jesus faced many debaters who tested Him, He would calmly reason with them which would expose their unbelief and hatred. Jesus was crucified because He was the way, the truth, and the life knowing full well they would threaten to kill Him and eventually succeed. So too, Charlie was getting death threats all the time because as Romans 1:28-31 says “those who do not see fit to acknowledge God, He will give them over to an unfit or debased mind, to do those things which are not proper, filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful....
And I hope we can address the rhetoric of the Legacy news outlets. Tyler Robinson the killer had a nice family life but after a year in college he quit and became a recluse on the computer slowly listening to the Democrats encouraging violence. For months the rhetoric against Charlie was that he was a threat so Tyler is hearing “we need to do something about this evil be it Trump or Charlie” “we’re in a war to save this country, so we have to do whatever is necessary” “we need to fight fire with fire and punch them in the mouth”, as they scream in the microphone that we elected Hitler. They burned Elon’s cars and destroyed property saying “somebody should assassinate him”. It looks like they have been turned over to a debased mind.
So as believers this tragic event should motivate us to figure our purpose. And it’s something you were made to do.
Where do we go from here?
When we read these two verses what do they mean to you?
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Did you know Jesus didn’t want to die this way? No! He sweat so hard that his capillaries burst over the reality of it. Yet He said “Nevertheless, not my will but yours will be done”. He came to fulfill His purpose!
I’m sure the disciples felt the same way when Jesus told them He was going away and they couldn’t go with Him. But He did say He would send the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. And we are enjoying the benefits of that!
I know it’s easy to ask “why God?” Well, Do you think Charlie wanted to die? - No. But His life was taken by an assassin’s bullet. But if he loved God, all things work together for good. Notice it doesn’t say for our good?
Of course he didn’t want to leave his wife and family or stop the work of Turning Point, because he loved to do it
but.....He was ready to meet the LORD because he was serving God’s purpose. And as his wife said “they have no idea what they have done” she will continue Turning Point and we may see a greater work come from all this.
The bottom line is that God is sovereign and we can be sure that Charlie did not suffer long but was ushered into the presence of God. That’s good!
So have we forgotten why we are on this earth? Are we serving God and fulfilling His purpose, volunteering, being engaged with each other, sharing the gospel at that opportune moment? [worship team]
If we are unaware of our purpose as believers, we will wander in life, confused and without direction, going nowhere fast.
Like the Beatles sang “He’s a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody; doesn’t have a point of view, knows not where he’s going to, isn’t he a bit like you and me?.....
Frankly, that should never be us. We should be getting somewhere, doing something, having some kind of direction and purpose to fulfill. May the Lord affirm that purpose or show us what it is.
Let’s take this challenge to the table.
