Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Theme: The Red Letters of the Bible are ablaze with the light of Jesus' passion, love, and determination to willingly come to our world and give up His life so that all can know life in Him.

Series Theme: The Red Letters of the Bible are ablaze with the light of Jesus' passion, love, and determination to willingly come to our world and give up His life so that all can know life in Him.

Introduction

Introduction

According to my calculations, ancient Judah had more than 20 kings during her history, including David and Solomon.

Many of the kings were corrupt and led the people into idol worship and immorality.

But there were a few that were faithful to the Lord and led the people according to His principles.

Hezekiah was one of those kings — from about 715 B.C to 685 B.C (approximately).

At one point during Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria entered Judah and besieged her fortified cities with the intention of conquering Judah.

This story can be found in .

The main thing that stands out to me is the faith of King Hezekiah.

When he heard about the massive and powerful enemy’s intention to destroy Judah, he prepared the people and the city — and trusted the Lord.

One thing he did was to have his people stop up access to the springs outside the city.

Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?

(v.

4)

Then Hezekiah directed that all the broken sections of the wall be repaired and that all the towers be heightened.

He made sure that all the supporting terraces of the city were fortified.

And an abundance of weapons were manufactured.

He was a man of faith and Godly wisdom — so he did everything he could do, with the Lord’s help, to prepare his people for whatever Sennacherib threw their way.

I love what Hezekiah said to His people after they had completed all the preparations

“And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said!”

The King James version puts it this way:

The people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah

That reminds me of what attorneys say sometimes: I REST MY CASE!

Or, THE DEFENSE RESTS!

They say this when they are confident that they have presented enough evidence to support their case

In general it means that you are confident in the truth you have presented.

The people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah.

In other words…they were encouraged and gained great confidence in his words.

“Above us, the silence of the stars; beneath us, the silence of the graves: between them, the voice of Jesus, and in this we rest.”

Above us, the silence of the stars; beneath us, the silence of the graves: between them, the voice of Jesus,and in this we rest — Ian McPherson

If the people of Judah, so long ago, confidently rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah, we can much more confidently rest upon the words of Jesus Christ!

There is a problem, however.

Sometimes people respond to Jesus’ words with a deaf ear.

How should we respond to who Jesus is and what He says?

Big Idea: Your response to the powerful, life-giving words of Jesus reveals the condition of your heart.

Luke 4:

Prayer

Transitional: Before we can begin to believe and follow Jesus words…

Rest assured in the identity of Jesus (Luke 4:18ff)

Exposition:

In , we find Jesus back in His hometown, Nazareth

He had been very busy since they last saw Him

His baptism — empowering of the Holy Spirit

40 days in the wilderness being tempted

Chose some of His disciples

Went into the towns and villages of Galilee — preaching a powerful message of repentance

News about his message and miracles had spread far and wide — people back home had heard all about it

“Will he come to the synagogue on Sabbath?

Will he perform miracles here?

Do you really believe all that stuff?

We know his parents and brothers and sisters”

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus

They had no idea of the true identity of Jesus — they were ignorant — even though they knew the stories of His amazing birth and how His parents escaped to Egypt with Him to spare His life.

Jesus is who He says He is!!!

We could spend time looking at the historical records — they definitely prove that Jesus truly existed and that He stirred up a lot of people — and that He was crucified (shroud of Turin) — and that His body disappeared — and that a bunch of people claimed to see the risen Lord — and that His followers stayed true to Him…even if it meant martyrdom.

Who would give their life for a hoax?

Let’s look at what Jesus said about Himself...

Empowered by the Holy Spirit

Luke 4:

I can just imagine that day, as Jesus entered the synagogue — when people caught sight of Him — everyone became silent

Because He has anointed Jesus

He had obviously read the scripture here before — and we can be sure that His reputation as a great preacher had preceded Him

It was customary for people to read from several parts of the O.T. on the Sabbath

It was customary for people stand when they read

He unrolled it and found the place — He knew what they needed to hear that day

Luke 4:18

Is 61:

They would have recognized the passage from Isaiah where Jesus was reading — it was one of many prophetic passages pointing to the coming Messiah (Isa 61:1-2)

They would have recognized the passage from Isaiah where Jesus was reading — it was one of many prophetic passages pointing to the coming Messiah

They didn’t see, yet, what Jesus was doing — that the words He spoke were actually His own words…the words of Messiah.

Transition…maybe they would be convinced when he came right out with it

The scripture is fulfilled in Jesus

It is important to note that after he read the passage, He sat down and began to speak

This was the customary position when someone began to preach/teach

The scripture is fulfilled in Jesus

Luke 4:20

He went on to make sure they understood what He was saying --- they didn’t look upon Him as a great teacher or Messiah — He was one of their own --

So when He said “A prophet is not welcome in His own town” they began to see it

Then He reminded them that the prophet Elijah, during the famine in Israel, ministered to a Gentile widow…when there were many needy widows in Israel

He reminded them that the prophet Elisha, though there were many lepers in Israel, and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman, a Syrian king.

Luke 4:28

Application

How do you respond to the words of Jesus?

You may not respond as angrily as the people of Nazareth, but do you, by your actions, reject His words?

Check your heart today---are you so confident in Jesus’ words that you are willing to lay down your life for Him

His words are life…He is the Living word…His words bring conviction, repentance, and freedom for those that accept and believe them

Transitional: Are you confident in the identity of Jesus today?

LIsten to His voice…you can be

Rest assured in the words of Jesus

Some respond to Jesus’ words by believing

He Calls people to repentance

He began His public ministry throughout Galilee bringing a message of repentance

Many of the people were religious people, but they were blind to the truth and their hearts were darkened by sin and pride

He still calls people to repentance

He Preaches good news to the poor

He has sent me to preach good news to the poor

Who are the poor?

Not materially poor — but those that are spiritually bankrupt — lost — confused — searching — like sheep without a shepherd — easily led astray