3-legged stool series - Word
The Message…the priority of Jesus
Intro
Luke 4:31-35 (MSG) " He was teaching the people on the Sabbath. They were surprised and impressed—his teaching was so forthright, so confident, so authoritative, not the quibbling and quoting they were used to. In the meeting place that day there was a man demonically disturbed. He screamed, “Ho! What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to. You’re the Holy One of God and you’ve come to destroy us!” Jesus said “Shut up and Get out of him!” The demonic spirit threw the man down in front of them all and left. The demon didn’t hurt him."
Luke 4:40-44 (MSG) "… One by one he placed his hands on them and healed them. Demons left in droves, screaming, “Son of God! You’re the Son of God!” But he shut them up, refusing to let them speak because they knew too much, knew him to be the Messiah. He left the next day for open country. But the crowds went looking and, when they found him, clung to him so he couldn’t go on. He told them, “Don’t you realize that there are yet other villages where I have to tell the Message of God’s kingdom, that this is the work God sent me to do?” Meanwhile he continued preaching in the meeting places of Galilee. "
Luke 4 – The demons calling out His Name and Who He was. He silenced them. Why?
As he tried to leave (at end of chapter) He said that more needed to hear the Message. Healings and deliverances should always accompany the Message, but special emphasis is placed on the Spoken Word, which becomes the written Word.
That is why He silenced them. Because look what happened….
Leper came to Him to be healed and Jesus healed him and said… Mark 1:44-45 (NKJV) "and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone… However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city…."
So what is so important about this Message? This Word?
Why?
Why would the Chinese Christians who are already persecuted for their faith risk all to possess and read a Bible? Why would they now further risk themselves and families by taking Bibles printed in Arabic languages and marching them to the Arab world, where again they risk death. What is so valuable about the Bible?
Facts:
Bible – library of 66 books…written over 1500 yrs.
40 diff authors
Kings, servants, doctors, philosophers, fisherman, military leaders, IRS agent
Written from deserts, dungeons, hillsides, battlefields, islands, palaces, and prison cells
Herbrew, Aramaic, Greek
Covers hundreds of controversial subjects and speaks to them in perfect unity.
Illus. War on Iraq
Every year best selling book of all time. 30 - 60 million copies every year
1200+ languages
French philosopher and skeptic Baltare died in 1778 “Within 100 years the Bible will be a forgotten book.” When he died house put up for auction. Sold, then years later it became the int’l headquarters for the French Bible Society.
Matthew 24:35 (NLT) "Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever."
To Fight with:
Ephesians 6 The Bible refers to itself, the Scriptures as the Sword of the Spirit, the only offensive part of the armor of God.
Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
2-edged…it cuts both ways.
Word is powerful…sharper than any sword. It will cut you! And it slices through the enemy’s lies like a freakin’ machete!
The Word that says “No weapon formed against me shall prosper!” “Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world”
To Stand on:
It is the Word of God, what we call the Bible, that we stand on! It is signs and wonders that confirm and point to the truth of the Word.
Life is tough…and confusing, AND we have an enemy called the Father of Lies. Without the Word we would be tossed around like a boat on the rapids!
Colossians 3:16 (NLT) "Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other…"
To encourage and strengthen:
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT) "They may trip seven times, but each time they will rise again. But one calamity is enough to lay the wicked low."
2 Corinthians 12:9 (The Message) "and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness."
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Without the Word:
Obvious – Jesus a historical figure with mythology surrounding him.
We wouldn’t know that we could be free.
John 8:36 (NKJV) "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
We wouldn’t know that we could be physically healed
“by His stripes we have been healed…”
We wouldn’t know that we are loved
John 3:16 (The Message) "“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life."
We wouldn’t know that as Christians we are never alone. We would live by feelings which easily betray us.
“I will never leave you nor forsake you”
What was His message? Salvation, freedom, wholeness…Hope!
Pick one chapter in the NT and read it twice. Then write down the answers to these questions: why? How? Where? When? What?