The ABC's of the Christian Life (4): Following Jesus unto Salvation (2)

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Our study of the ABC of the Christian faith led us to address first in this series that we began four weeks ago to consider what it is initially to come to Jesus Christ for salvation.

And we addressed that matter for two Sundays, two Lord's Days.

And then last Sunday we began to direct our study as to what we would do after we have initially come to Christ for salvation.

And that is basically to follow Jesus. And so coming to Jesus begins a life of following Jesus.

The two go hand in hand. This is what Christians do. This is who Christians are.

And so we emphasized last week how we are to be following Jesus even as Jesus leads us out of our sin, out of this fallen world, forward in and towards as well the kingdom that the

Father has promised to all of those who obey His Son, who believe and obey

His Son, who follow His Son. We may see this promise of a kingdom set forth in the

Lord's own words to His apostles found in Luke 22. He said to them toward the end of His earthly ministry,

But you are those who have continued with me in my trials, and I bestow upon you a kingdom just as my

Father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging or ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel.

That is why there were twelve apostles. There were twelve tribes of Israel. And those twelve apostles replaced the unfaithful pastors of the people of God and they became the faithful pastors of Israel.

Now, Jesus promised them a kingdom and certainly we are not apostles. Although I was hearing this week from my friend

Dennis Hustedt there is a big apostolic movement sweeping South Africa among so many churches.

And even some of the ones, I think the pastors that we send our notes to weekly have embraced this error.

We are not apostles. There were twelve apostles. Just as there were twelve tribes of Israel.

And their apostolic ministry came to an end and we have their witness in the scriptures. But we are

Christ's disciples. And the Lord has promised us a kingdom just as He promised

His apostles. And upon our exoneration on the day of judgment when our guilt, the guilt of our sin is completely exonerated by Jesus Christ the

Judge. Our Lord will say to us, come you blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

God has prepared a kingdom and if you are a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ you are going to have a part of that.

You are going to reign within that even to a degree we are now. And so one day that kingdom will be fully realized but even now as we follow

Him we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken according to the writer of the Hebrews.

And so coming to Jesus Christ in faith begins the life of following King Jesus in faith and obedience on to eternal life in an everlasting kingdom.

Now toward the end of our notes last Lord's Day we began to give our attention to a very important passage

Mark chapter 8, 34 -37 which speaks of what it is to follow

Jesus. We addressed it rather superficially due to time constraints and will not rehearse fully today what we set forth in last week's notes but I feel we just can't pass it by without giving some due attention to it because it is so important.

But rather than traveling over ground we've already covered in Mark 8 I want us to look at the parallel passage here in Luke chapter 9 and there are some minor differences we'll try to point those out to you as we work through it.

And so we want to address the meaning of the words here in Luke 9, 23 -27 which is

Luke's parallel account of what Mark delivered for us in Mark 8.

And then after we address the meaning of these verses here specifically in Luke 9 I want us to be able to stand back and see this whole idea of what it is to follow

Jesus in the progression of Luke's story of the Gospel as it unfolds particularly in the first 11 chapters of the

Gospel of Luke. Now, again we're dealing with foundational matters here the

ABCs of the Christian life and I hope what I present up here is nothing new to you.

I hope you're familiar with these matters. Yes, we always desire to be fresh in what is presented but we don't want to be new and novel we don't want to be like those people in Athens always looking for some new thing.

And so I hope as we go over these matters it affirms you and you can say amen to them as we're reinforced in these matters.

And so avoid the danger some are in and they're always looking for something new or novel.

We're looking for something true and tried and it's before us here in Luke 9. And so here we have what it is to follow

Jesus. The Lord Jesus spoke these words He said to them all

If anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost?

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him the son of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his father's and of the holy angels.

But I tell you truly there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.

And so here we have a record of a very important occasion in the ministry of our

Lord Jesus in which he informs his disciples of the nature and cost of discipleship to himself.

In Luke chapter 9 Jesus is about ready to embark on his final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem of course where he was arrested, tried, crucified and rose the third day.

His departure from Galilee on this final journey begins with Luke 51 and 52 which reads,

Now it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received of that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent his messengers before his face.

And the passage we just read where he talks about following me should be understood within this context of Jesus traveling to Jerusalem to die and to rise.

The words of our Lord in verse 23 are words of instruction to his disciples that they must follow the same path in the same manner as he if they desire to share in his glory that is have salvation have eternal life.

Please take note of what he is saying is at stake. The certain prospect of eternal life itself is set forth as the outcome of a life of faith in Christ a faith characterized by denying self daily taking up one's cross and following Jesus.

The outcome of that is eternal life. But on the other hand a failure or refusal to live in this manner will result in a person being lost or ashamed at the second coming at the judgment of God.

And so here our Lord describes the way of life of all true disciples They are to follow him.

We come to Jesus initially in faith for salvation and that coming to him is in order to begin to follow him and this is what it is to follow him.

Eternal life is assured to his disciples those who deny themselves and follow him but eternal life is promised only to them who follow him in the manner that he prescribed for them.

They are ones who deny themselves they take up their cross daily in following him.

What a grand incentive this is of course for people to believe on him and to respond and renew perhaps their commitment to follow him.

Glory, honor and eternal life is held out as their prospect their certain prospect. On the other hand the consequences of failing or refusing to follow him are equally ominous as the promise of life is glorious.

Two ways, two destinies these are certain for every person in this world.

For the one who refuses to follow him he'll forfeit his life. And so clearly the

Lord Jesus is telling telling them all Luke tells us that there is no salvation apart from following him.

Coming to him initiates that life of following him and so as Christians this is what we do.

This is who we are. Let's quickly rehearse what our Lord was instructing these would -be disciples to do.

First, the one who follows Jesus must deny himself. What does it mean to deny oneself?

Well it involves several ideas. First, to deny yourself means that you put your own interests as secondary to doing the will of God.

You deny yourself. You're no longer primary. The will of God is primary.

Your chief concern. One characteristic that is natural to a fallen man is a sinful desire and propensity to live as though he is the center of all things.

This is how a fallen man thinks. The world revolves around him, essentially.

This is the way we all think. This is the fallen man's worldview, essentially.

I am the center of my universe and I see, assess, and value all things in the manner and degree that they have bearing upon me and mine.

What is most important is what I deem to be important and I choose to govern my life accordingly.

And that's how a fallen man lives. One common way this sinful nature will manifest itself is that we believe and do whatever appears to be least difficult for us and most pleasurable for us.

This is the normal way that non -Christians live within the world. Our own well -being is the center of our existence.

We are inherently selfish creatures that order our lives in a way that will bring us most comfort and most happiness as we assess and determine things about us.

Oh yes, we'll do for others as well. People, fallen people, can be altruistic.

But our fallen nature will tend to do so because we perceive some benefit ultimately will be brought to us.

We'll feel better about ourselves. We'll feel like we're a better human being for having done so.

People who are not born of the Spirit do not do things primarily for the glory of God.

They do it ultimately and principally for their own glory, for their own credit, for their own well -being.

But the one who becomes a true Christian, who's become a disciple of Jesus Christ, has shifted his world view.

It's been radically transformed. And so he's come to see a desire that the will of God in Christ Jesus will be done first and foremost in his life.

Jesus Christ has become the center of his universe. No longer he, but Christ is the center of his world view.

Yes, he continues to have his old desires and impulses that intrude upon his thinking and entice his heart in that old direction.

But due to the grace of God and salvation that's been wrought in his soul, he desires and delights foremost in doing the will of God.

And so those impulses trouble him and plague him.

And he wishes they were no longer part of his thinking and his acting. Yes, the one who follows

Jesus is also concerned about his own interests. I think that's part of being a human being.

And this is not wrong in itself. But the difference is that for the disciples his immediate interests are no longer primary, but rather Christ's are.

And so he refuses, if he's thinking rightly and acting rightly, to be self -serving. He realizes he has a responsibility to honor and obey his

Father. And he would even do so at great cost to himself. When the devil tempted

Jesus in the wilderness, it was an enticement for Jesus to be self -serving. The devil encouraged

Jesus to escape his suffering by serving himself, turning those stones into bread to alleviate his hunger. The devil enticed

Jesus to obtain glory for himself in a manner that would involve no pain, no suffering, or rejection.

But our Lord, in effect, said to him, No, I will not take the easy way and compromise obedience or fidelity to the

Father for the sake of comfort, popularity, self -exaltation. I would choose rather to suffer and die than to be unfaithful.

And that's what God puts in the heart of every true Christian. It should be so with us.

We lament it's not always the case, as we wish it were. Oftentimes alternatives are set before us.

One, perhaps, is the way of the Lord, which is the path of righteousness, but it entails difficulty and suffering, the narrow way that leads to life.

The way is difficult, Jesus said. And the other path is a wide road, a popular one, a path to glory as the world counts it, wealth and honor, worldly happiness.

It has fewer obstacles, it would appear. It's the easier, more pleasant way.

But as Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we choose to do the right, to do the good, and the noble over the easy, the pleasurable and the wrong.

This is what it means to deny yourself. Second, to deny yourself means that you do not seek to exalt yourself in the opinion of others.

Rather, you seek to serve them. You might consider

Luke 14, 7 -11. Jesus told a parable to those who were invited when he noted how they chose the best places.

See, they wanted notoriety. When you're invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him and he who invited you, and him come and say to you, give place to this man.

And then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher.

And then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Our Lord was invited to this house for a meal. Others were also invited, and he sees the guests scrambling for the places of honor.

And so he gives some instruction in etiquette, Christian etiquette, as it were. He speaks of what was practiced in that day.

Places were assigned according to the prestige of the individual. If you sought to sit in the place of prominence, you might be humiliated if you are asked to move downward, when your host sees you sitting in a place that belongs to someone who is more prominent than you.

The point is this, if you strive to increase your esteem in the eyes of others, you want to be noticed, you want to be elevated in their estimation, you want to receive honor from them principally.

It will result, ultimately, in you being humiliated before the Lord. The issue, of course, is really not table manners, but rather what the

Lord was stressing as recorded in verse 11. The Lord is the one who determines the honor that will be conferred on people, and so our concern should only be what

He thinks of us. We should not be scrambling about with the motivation of having others exalt us in their estimation.

A person is not really free who is governed by that way of thinking. He is really the slave of everybody about him who shapes his thinking, his actions, his attitudes, his responses.

We should strive to gain the honor that God confers upon His faithful servants, principally and primarily.

And I believe that denying self involves this. A follower of Jesus Christ views the honor that people convey as secondary to receiving the honor that God confers.

We all like to be congratulated and appreciated and valued, and that's a good thing, but that cannot be the driving force of our hearts.

It will be a stumbling block. We seek to please Him so that He will esteem us, rather than seeking to please men so that they esteem us.

The disciple of Christ no longer views social status and earthly honor as something to be sought above all else.

The disciple of Jesus Christ denies himself of these things. They are no longer of primary importance to him.

They might have been one time, but no longer. If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ and you are thinking rightly, you do not seek to exalt yourself, but rather, if you are thinking rightly, you seek to serve others, you seek to be true to the commandment that no one else shall not bear false witness.

We accentuate the positive. We try and build others up in their honor and estimation by others, rather than build ourselves up.

Thirdly, to deny yourself means that you deny yourself the notion that you are the Lord of your own life. That came to an end when you became a

Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ. You recognize your responsibility to obey your

Master, the Lord Jesus. His priorities are embraced.

His directives are followed, even though they may conflict with our own immediate desires or inclinations.

And so, say, our love for money is renounced, because you cannot serve money and the

Lord. One will squeeze out the other, won't it? Your own lusts are denied, for they cannot govern your life, your own sinful desires, and even your human relationships, good relationships, are subordinated and governed by your relationship to the

Lord Jesus Christ. And to deny yourself, being a true Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, carries this idea.

We are to deny ourselves. Now, before we pass from this first phrase, let him deny himself, we might say a word about Luke's specific emphasis here.

This is not intended to convey the idea to keep on denying yourself. It is conveyed by the tense of the verb that is used, as though a repeated action, a continuous action.

Rather, this action describes, really, the entire life of the disciple of Christ. When we initially came to Christ, we denied ourselves, and our entire life is characterized as a life of denial of self.

When the man or woman first becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ, she denied himself or self.

And this is the state in which the Christian lives. This describes who we are, how we think, how we live.

Every true disciple of Jesus Christ has denied himself when he was first converted to Jesus Christ, and his entire life as a disciple of Jesus Christ may be seen as denying self.

Secondly, we read that the one who follows Jesus may take up his cross daily.

Crucifixion, of course, was a common form of execution in the first century for criminals, the lower class.

It was a torturous, extremely painful way to encounter death. Coupled with the physical suffering was the public shame associated with this form of death.

All regarded the person being crucified as having been cursed and forsaken by God.

If God was for this man, he wouldn't allow him to die in this manner, this indignified manner. And to carry your cross on the way to the place of execution would be accompanied by public ridicule.

Now there are some subtle differences between Mark's account in Mark 8 and Luke's account here in Luke 9.

Luke emphasized that this is a daily action on the part of the disciple of Jesus Christ.

Take up your cross daily. Mark's account does not have this emphasis.

Mark sets forth taking up the cross in the same manner that one has denied himself. This is what happened when we became a

Christian. We denied ourself and we took up our cross when we were first converted.

In other words, just as Mark sets forth denying self as having been done a conversion and characterizes the

Christian life thereafter as one of self -denial, Mark gives the same idea to taking up one's cross.

What the Holy Spirit is emphasizing through Mark's gospel is the character of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

He's one who has taken up his cross. What the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in Luke's gospel is that the disciple has taken up his cross daily.

This is what we do. Mark is emphasizing who we are. We've taken up our cross.

And Luke is emphasizing the Holy Spirit through Luke's pen. This is what we do. We take up our cross daily.

It's something that we must do. What then is the Lord saying to you if you desire to live as his disciple?

Well, a few ideas are being conveyed. First, to take up your cross daily as you follow Jesus means that every day you must be willing to endure shame and suffering in your life as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

And living in a fallen world that's hostile to the Christian faith, that will come, won't it? We don't want to be as a secret disciple.

But we want to be faithful disciples. A disciple must not refuse to follow

Jesus. He must follow him regardless of the cost of him. Some cease to follow

Jesus because of the shame that comes with that. And by the way, he's not talking about ultimately the

Lord being ashamed of him as though this is, he'll simply be embarrassed.

But rather being ashamed, Jesus being ashamed of this wand is a rejection of him at the day of judgment.

The Lord Jesus himself has said to have despised the shame of the cross. It was a terrible thing to undergo.

But what's being emphasized here is the willingness to be obedient even if it means enduring shame for doing so.

And then some cease to follow due to the suffering they encounter. We must be willing to endure all suffering in our lives as we follow

Jesus in faith and obedience. Take up our cross daily. Some put limits on this.

Well, I'm only going to suffer so far. God doesn't want me to suffer any further than this. He doesn't want me to be a doormat.

This far and no more. No. We follow the Lord Jesus regardless of the consequences as he enables us.

And secondly, to take up your cross daily is to really regard your former life as having come to an end.

It's over. It's finished. We would regard baptism as an emblem of this.

We're saying our former life is dead. We're dead to it. We're alive to Christ. And many times that has to be renewed in our thinking day after day, doesn't it?

Daily. But again, this emphasis is a daily persevering in this matter.

It's not a one -time decision here in Luke 9, but it's a daily action, if necessary, in order to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

When we wake up in the morning, when you set that quiet time aside and you're praying, you know, affirm,

Lord, as you enabled me, today I'm going to order my life according to your word regardless of the consequences to me.

Give me grace to do so as I begin the day. And then thirdly, the

Lord says a disciple must follow him. Verse 23. Jesus said,

If anyone desires, come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Now, the verb used for follow emphasizes continuous action.

We're continually following him. It's not just a one -time initially starting out, but it speaks about an ongoing journey.

We're following Jesus. We addressed this slightly last week.

I just want to touch on it here because of the time, and we'll move on. But this following Jesus implies that we're only traveling where the

Lord has gone on before us. He's the author and finisher of our faith, the trailblazer, and we're following him and that procession of believers down through history that have been on this pilgrimage to our heavenly

Zion. And he's already been there before us. It implies he's leading us as well.

There's no place we go that he isn't directly before us and carrying us and directing us in the way.

It implies that there's a destination. We're following somewhere, him to arrive somewhere, a destination.

It implies obedience. We are to be immediately obedient to the Lord Jesus if we're following him.

And it means complete obedience as well. All of this is suggested in following him, and I would argue that really the emphasis, the underlying major emphasis of following Jesus is ultimately obeying

Jesus as King, as Lord. Now, having considered

Luke 9 in a little bit of detail, I would like us now to consider our Lord's words within the larger context of Luke's Gospel because I think it gives weight to this assertion.

It's almost like a summary statement, a culmination of everything that Luke has been presenting throughout this early portion of the

Gospel. And I've rehearsed this before, but I think it's enriching to perceive what

God has given for us here through Luke's pen. And so, let's consider

Luke's emphasis on the importance, an essential matter of obedience to Jesus with view to our salvation.

It's not an option. Luke developed this theme of obedience in his Gospel in four stages that I think are pretty clearly discernible.

And these four stages may be described in this way, and we're going to work through these four. First, Luke established that Jesus had authority, and he did so in a number of different ways, and we'll show you the different ways.

And then, secondly, Luke began to emphasize that Jesus has authority, therefore people have a responsibility to hear what he says.

There's implications if he has authority. He's speaking the Word of God. We need to listen to him and embrace what he says, unquestionably.

But thirdly, since Jesus has authority, people not only have a responsibility to hear him, but they have a responsibility to obey him.

And then Luke emphasizes this. And by the way, all of this can be seen up to the onset of Jesus in Luke 9 .51,

set his face to Jerusalem, and began that 90 -mile journey that takes from Luke 9 .51

all the way into Luke 19. The bulk of Luke's gospel has to do with this travel narrative that probably just took a handful of days, a couple weeks at the most.

And then fourthly, lastly, Luke showed that those who refuse to hear him and obey him will encounter the judgment of God upon them, and that's emphasized by Luke also.

And I might have added, you know, and to obey him results, of course, in eternal life being granted freely to his disciples.

So let's work through these. Let me show you what Luke does. Many of these things are quite subtle, but they have a great impact upon the

Holy Spirit, of course, moved Luke to pen it this way. But, you know, humanly speaking, you know, these authors of Scripture were clever men, and they were superintended and guided by the

Holy Spirit. And it's just a wonderful unfolding story that we have.

And so let's consider first how Luke establishes that Jesus had authority. The early chapters of Luke's gospel reveal and reinforce in many different ways to the reader of the gospel, to Theophilus perhaps, that Jesus had authority that God had given to him,

Early in the gospel, Luke recorded the event of Jesus' baptism and the voice of the

Father regarding him. This confers authority. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass,

Jesus also was baptized, and while he prayed, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form upon him, formed like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven which said,

You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased. Now the emphasis here is on the

Father speaking to the Son, whereas in some of the other gospels the emphasis is on John the Baptist hearing this pronouncement, and other where all the people heard the thunder, but didn't understand the voice.

But in Luke's gospel, the emphasis is the Father pronouncing this state of blessedness upon Jesus directly.

And so the reader of Luke's account is shown at the outset of Jesus' ministry, this man has

God's endorsement. He has great authority, and that God the Father has affirmed his favor upon him, and moreover because the blessed

Holy Spirit has come upon him, the person of Jesus is immediately invested with incontestable authority.

And the reader would embrace this, this was Luke's intention, this is what the

Holy Spirit does, is that we are reading attentively and prayerfully his gospel. Well, upon our

Lord's departure from the Jordan River, Jesus, we read, is filled with the Holy Spirit, and then led by the

Spirit. Again, this conveys by Luke, the storyteller, that everything

Jesus is doing is of God, and he's empowered by God, and led by God, he has great authority, and so he's led into the wilderness to be tested of the devil.

And so what we're shown is that whatever occurs, whatever our Lord would say or do, he would do so with God's power and endorsement.

Everything that he does is wholly good and right and true. And because of our

Lord's victory over the devil in the wilderness, we read of our Lord in Luke 4, 14 and 15.

Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit of Galilee. And the news of him went throughout all the surrounding region, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

You see, the authority being conveyed upon Jesus of Nazareth.

He has great authority as he begins to minister there in Galilee. We then read of the synagogue gathering in his hometown of Nazareth.

And on this occasion, when Jesus taught in the synagogue, God established the fact that he had given Jesus authority to teach the people.

And so we read a summary statement. After he left Nazareth, he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching on the

Sabbath. And they were astonished at his teaching. And here's the statement. Again, it's a summary statement.

It's a point of emphasis that's being conveyed. For his word was with authority.

He has authority, and he teaches with authority. Jesus taught regarding the

Scriptures, and his teaching was authoritative because he had authority. And he did so to such a degree that his hearers were astonished with his authority that he had.

But not only did he have authority to teach the people in the synagogues, we read that he had authority over the physical world about him.

And so we read that he had authority over the fish of the sea. His authority was on display.

We won't read that passage in Luke 5. But of course, the disciples were instructed by Jesus. These experienced fishermen.

And they caught a great deal of fish. Clearly, Jesus is shown to have authority over these fish.

We can trace the authority of Jesus through a number of episodes here in the early part of Luke's Gospel. For example, we read of Jesus healing the paralytic men to show that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins.

We later read of the Roman centurion who himself had authority, recognized that Jesus had authority.

Don't come to my house. I'm not worthy. Speak the word. And that's all that's involved.

That's all that's necessary. And so this Gentile army officer recognized the great authority that Jesus possessed.

That Jesus could issue a decree and his servant would be healed even from a distance. Luke shows that Jesus has authority over the

Sabbath day. Jesus himself said, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus even had the authority to raise a dead man to life.

And to restore this dead man, who's alive now, to his mother. And so Luke in many ways demonstrated

Jesus has this unassailable authority which no one could legitimately deny or dismiss.

Which no one or nothing could thwart or resist. He had authority as the

Son of Man, the promised King. Authority that God the Father had conferred upon him. Authority that was manifest through the

Holy Spirit leading him, empowering him, enabling him, and affirming him in all of his words and actions.

Absolute, full authority. Unquestionable. And so Luke establishes this reality, this truth.

But having established that authority, Luke began to emphasize since Jesus has the authority, people therefore have responsibility to hear him.

Every word that he says comes with that authority. We need to hear him.

And Luke emphasized this truth. Because God had sent Jesus Christ and because he had given to him such authority, all people everywhere should give their utmost attention and effort to hear and receive his teaching.

And that becomes an emphasis in Luke's Gospel. God promised great blessing on them that do hear him.

He assured there'd be great calamity for those who fail or refuse to hear him. Because he has the authority to teach, you better hear what he says.

And therefore what's being conveyed is that all people everywhere should be very earnest and very attentive to desire to listen and to learn from him.

This should be foremost in our hearts and minds, to hear and to learn of our

Lord Jesus. And so as we read Luke's account, the unfolding of the story presses upon us that we also should have this unquestioned regard for everything he says.

We should pour over God's word attentively, scrutinizing it closely and seeking to understand it thoroughly.

We ought to hang on every word. And so, for example, when our Lord left

Nazareth and traveled to the shores of Galilee, there, too, the people acknowledge his teaching authority.

But in contrast to the people of Nazareth who sought to kill him, we read of the desire of the people near the

Sea of Galilee to embrace his teaching. And so we read of the crowds in Luke 5 .1. Listen to this.

So it was as a multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God. He has authority.

Let's get to him and hear what he has to say. And what is being suggested by Luke, since all the people here in Galilee gathered and came and pressed to hear

Jesus teach, all people everywhere should have this same attitude and outlook and opinion and desire to hear from Jesus.

If we could somehow convey that desire to the people in the world about us, our world would be transformed, wouldn't it?

Later, a description that Luke provides of the crowd suggests a favorable response to Jesus and that all people should render to him.

Luke 6 .17, we read, He came down with them, stood on a level place with the crowd of his disciples and a great multitude from all

Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon who came to hear him. There's an emphasis on the word of God, the word of the

Lord Jesus. In Luke 9, we read, God the Father commanding

Jesus and his disciples to hear him when he was transfigured. Remember, Moses and Elijah standing there with Jesus.

Peter wanted to build three tabernacles to house them all. A cloud came, overshadowed them.

They were fearful as they entered the cloud and a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him.

He has all authority, hear him. And so Luke is emphasizing that all people should hear

Jesus and embrace what he says. He speaks forth the word of God.

He teaches people. But then thirdly, Luke begins to emphasize that you must not just hear

Jesus because he has authority, but if he's got authority and if what he's teaching is true, then you certainly have a responsibility to heed him.

You hear him, you heed him, you obey him. And this is emphasized by Luke. His words should be obeyed by all people everywhere.

His words should be obeyed by you, by me. The account in Luke 8 illustrates this, for example.

And some of these are subtle ways. Jesus said to his disciples, Let us cross over to the sea to the other side of the lake.

And they launched out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A windstorm came down on the lake.

They were filling with water and were in jeopardy. They came to him, awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we're perishing.

He arose, rebuked the wind, raging of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm.

But he said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid. They marveled, saying to one another, What did they say to one another?

And by the way, here's one of the keys to interpreting narrative portions of Scripture. Look for summary statements.

Look for some statements that are put forth in direct speech, quotations.

Toward the end of an episode, there's an emphasis there. What did they say? Who can this be?

For he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him. Notice what

Luke does here. He personifies the sea and the winds as though they are people.

They're just not, you know, physical things out there, the sea and the wind. The sea and the wind. They hear Jesus, and they obey him.

Look, even the seas and winds obey him. What's being suggested and implied, if seas and winds obey him, people ought to obey him too.

All of this is being reinforced throughout this Gospel. And this is some ways that the

Lord takes the text, takes the Scriptures, and it has in some ways an unrecognizable authority and influence upon us that we might not even be mindful of.

We also may read similarly in Luke's Gospel in the account of the fever of Peter's mother -in -law.

We read that Jesus arose from the synagogue, entered Simon's house, but Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of him concerning her.

He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. We don't talk that way.

You know, you had a fever, and it broke in the night, or it dissipated, and you no longer have that fever.

But here, just as Luke personified the sea and the wind, he personified the fever as though it were a person.

Jesus comes in, rebukes the fever, the fever gets up and leaves. The fever is obedient to Jesus. The seas and winds are obedient to Jesus.

You and I ought to be obedient to Jesus. All this is being suggested and conveyed.

Same idea. We won't read it in detail, but it is there in Luke 8. They went over to Gadara. Why, even the demons obeyed

Jesus. He commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. And what happened? The unclean spirit came out of the man.

Demons cannot but obey him. They begged him that he would not command them to go in the abyss.

Jesus has all authority. And when he speaks, he ought to be obeyed. And even demons obey him.

Winds and sea obey him. Fevers obey him. Everybody ought to obey him. And I find it very interesting, too, that in this context, by the way, the only ones who didn't obey

Jesus were the Jewish religious leaders. And sometimes they are presented right after demons obeyed

Jesus. But the religious leaders wouldn't obey Jesus. What Luke is conveying, when you consider it, is that demons are more responsive to Jesus than these

Jewish Pharisees. It's quite a rebuke. Well, the implication, again, is that all people should obey

Jesus. But then, fourthly, later in Luke's Gospel, an emphasis is given that those who refuse to hear and obey his word will encounter the wrath of God.

God's judgment is upon those who refuse to submit to Jesus as Lord. And there are many places where this is emphasized by Luke.

Luke 11, 27 and 28. As Jesus said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him,

Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breast of which you nurse. Blessed be

Mary. Blessed be Mary. Jesus corrected her.

No. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Hear it and obey it.

Hear it and do it. They are the blessed ones. And so here the

Lord pronounces the one blessed, in other words, right with God, who is hearing and obeying his words.

The favor of God is upon that one who hears and obeys. He has salvation.

To underscore the teaching of our Lord and the essential need not only to hear and obey, we can consider Luke 6, 46 -49 at the end of our

Lord's Sermon on the plain there in Luke 6. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?

See how incongruent that is? It just doesn't work that way. You cannot be a true

Christian, a disciple, if you hear his words and regard him as having all authority, but you don't obey them.

Why do you call me Lord, Lord, do not the things that I say? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, he's like a wise man.

Everyone who hears my words but doesn't do them, he's like a foolish man. You must hear, you must obey.

That's what it is to be a disciple. That's what it is to be a Christian. Clear teaching, the evidence of true disciple and thereby a citizen of the

Kingdom of God is one who hears the words of the King and acts upon them. Jesus is Lord.

And if you don't acknowledge him as such and live as such, you have no place in his Kingdom, regardless of whether or not you claim

Jesus is your Savior. He is the King. He is the

Lord. And so all the passages we've considered throughout this portion of Luke's Gospel really could be culminated, brought into focus in this emphasis that we saw in Luke 9, 23 through 27.

If anyone wants to come after me or come to me, come after me, follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

And again, as he is beginning to set forth his destination to Jerusalem, where he would suffer and die and then be raised.

But he would enter in to his glorious Kingdom when he rose from the dead, ascended, and sat down at the right hand of the

Father. And so let us take these things to heart. Obviously no one can respond in the way that we've described today apart from the grace of God operating in him.

What we've said today is so contrary to the natural way of thinking, the natural desires of a fallen man or woman.

Unless the Lord works in your heart and soul and grace and gives you these desires and impulses, there's nothing attractive here.

It appears to be very unattractive and unappealing. But for the Christian on whom the grace of God has been operative, it resonates with you, doesn't it?

These things are true. And I only wish these things were more real in my experience.

May we be true to ourselves in assessing ourselves whether or not the grace of God's salvation has been operative in our souls.

And if not, ask God to be merciful and gracious. Lord, I don't have these kinds of desires and intentions or actions that characterize being merciful to me.

And come to Jesus as we were talking about these last few weeks. Don't come to him as a renewed person with a renewed commitment.

Come to him as a sinner. And Lord, unless you act and do something in me and for me,

I'm a goner. Save me, Father, for Jesus' sake.

The true Christian, the true disciple, no longer lives for himself. As Paul wrote, for the love of Christ constrains us because we judge thus, if one died for all, then all die, and he died for all, so that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.

And that's what our Lord Jesus himself asserted here in Luke 9. May the

Lord help us. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the authority you gave to our

Lord Jesus. Thank you, our God, for the words that he gave us. Help us, our

Lord, to respond as you enable us by your blessed Holy Spirit. Give us grace, our

God, that we might walk rightly as we follow him. And we pray, our

God, that you would help us also, Lord, to bring others into this glorious pilgrimage of following Jesus unto our heavenly home.

we ask these things, our Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.