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00:00:01
Sails (Luke 4:22-30)
7 Plays19 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 13 October 2024
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
Recommended
Transcript
Gratitude and Humor
00:00:07
Speaker
Good morning. It's nice to see you this morning. Almost wasn't sure which microphone to go to. We got several choices up here. But it is so good to be back. Thank you so much for allowing me to have a little vacation break to go and check on my mom. Thank you for your prayers for her. She was doing better than I anticipated, so that was good. So I was really glad to spend time with her and with my brother and his family. But anyway, thank you so much for that.
00:00:36
Speaker
I appreciate that you give the staff days of vacation. you know Someone one time called a preacher at the door and they said, I hear you went on vacation. He said, yeah, I did. And the lady said, well, the devil doesn't take a vacation. He said, yes, ma'am, I know. If I don't take one, I'll be just like him. So anyway. You should probably be glad that I don't that i do take a vacation, lest you might
Journey through Luke
00:01:01
Speaker
see what happens. But anyway, today we're going to be continuing our journey through Luke. We're in Luke 4. You've been tracking with us. I appreciated so much Josh's message last Sunday. We were traveling down the interstate.
00:01:16
Speaker
And Abby and I were listening in. I'm so glad that we have technology now so that we can do that. But what a blessing his message was. But I want to talk about sales, the sales of
Life's Challenges as Sailing Metaphors
00:01:30
Speaker
our lives. you know In some ways, you could almost think of your life as a sailboat. You can't control all the winds that are going to blow across your ship. But what you can control, you can control the sails.
00:01:45
Speaker
And when I read Luke 4, Josh stopped at verse 21, so when I began in verse 22, I began to see all of these different kinds of winds that seemed to blow across the Lord Jesus Christ, across his life, across his course that the Father had charted for him.
00:02:05
Speaker
What about you? What are the winds like? Are you in a headwind? Is the wind behind you? The wind coming in from this side and kind of pushing you off course a little bit? I believe we're going to see a great example in Luke 4 verses 22 through 30 of how we can adjust our sails.
00:02:24
Speaker
You know, someone has said that life is like sailing. You choose your destination. You hoist up your sail. You make adjustments while the journey is underway. And you let God supply the wind. I agree with that. I do think there's a lot to be said there. And we can't avoid going out into life, right? I think it was Albert Einstein that said one time, you know, a ship is always safe at shore in the harbor.
00:02:53
Speaker
But that's not what it's built for. See, our lives are built to be out there in the ocean, the ocean of all that God has for us to experience. He's going to use it all to help us grow in Christ. Those of us who know Him, those of you who still don't know Christ personally, He'll be using circumstances to push you in the direction of trusting Him.
00:03:17
Speaker
You know, Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, 8, that the wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. In many ways, the Holy Spirit could be compared to a wind.
00:03:35
Speaker
that blows. We've been praying for God's wind to blow across this morning's service and across tonight's concert. Pray for that. Pray for the the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit to really move across hearts. But you know, Jesus took at least six boat rides Paul traveled 10,000 miles delivering the gospel. I cannot imagine how many times he was on a ship traveling across the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and so forth. I know in 2 Corinthians 11, 25, the apostle Paul said three times he was shipwrecked.
00:04:09
Speaker
Maybe right now that's where you are. Maybe you've had an accident, a shipwreck in your experience of trying to follow the Lord. Some wind has blown into your life and it's blown you completely off course. Well, I just want to remind you again that you can't change the wind, but you can adjust your sails to reach your destination.
00:04:32
Speaker
You know, I found a chart online. I was trying to learn as much as I could. I've never been sailing, so I don't know how to sail, but I think that I'm trying to grow in terms of how to follow Christ. And I couldn't help but see some corollaries, some things that were the same about, you know, adjusting the sails and so forth.
00:04:52
Speaker
I think that one of our life skills is going to be that we're going to have to learn how to adjust our sails so that regardless of what kind of wind blows, we don't let it get us off track. That we know where the Father wants us to be, and so we stay faithful to that.
00:05:09
Speaker
You can see on this chart, they're called the points of sail. They cover about 270 degrees of various options, but you can have the wind coming head on at you. That's called being in the irons. You can have the wind behind you. That's called running, or maybe where it's sort of a little bit off to the side that's close hauled, or it could be reaching where the wind is actually crossing the boat.
00:05:33
Speaker
And so you've got to know, how can I adjust the sails so this thing doesn't tip me over, so that I don't suffer a shipwreck? How can I adjust my sails so that I can follow Christ and continue to be in line with His purposes for my life?
Jesus's Teachings in Nazareth
00:05:47
Speaker
We're going to see four types of winds today as we look at Luke 4, verse 22, down through verse 30. Would you stand in honor and in reverence of God's eternal, inerrant Word. It's amazing. Every time I open God's Word, I never know how He's going to connect with me, what the Holy Spirit is going to say.
00:06:09
Speaker
Because God's word is living and active. It's sharp. It can even go down today to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow. So I just really am looking forward to what God will say to us through this passage. Let's read it together. Here, beginning in verse 22, you can follow on your copy of God's word, or you can look on the screen. And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.
00:06:38
Speaker
And they said, is not this Joseph's son? And he said to them, doubtless you'll quote to me this proverb, physician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. And he said, truly I said to you, no profit is acceptable in his hometown.
00:07:00
Speaker
But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of the Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land. And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephat in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha. None of them was cleansed, but only nameless The Syrian, when they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away." Let's pray.
00:07:55
Speaker
Lord, thank you so much for your word. I pray that you would speak to every heart. Some are looking for guidance. Others may need correction. They may need rebuke today. Some, Lord, may need comfort. They may need encouragement, affirmation. I pray that whatever they're going through, that you would meet us at the point of each of our needs. It's amazing how one passage could meet all of us at various points in our lives.
00:08:20
Speaker
So Lord, you know the winds. You know the sailboat that you've given each of us to travel in. And so Lord, guide us. Guide us along our voyage. Help us learn how to adjust the sails so that we don't get off track. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Well, let's identify the winds that we too may encounter and learn from Jesus how to adjust our sails so that we stay on course.
00:08:48
Speaker
The first wind that I noticed is in verse 22. Did it stand out to you? I would call this one navigating the winds of popularity. Were you popular when you were in school, when you were in junior high, when you were in high school, when you were in college? Are you popular in the workplace? Everybody knows you. Or are you popular in the neighborhood? Or what about in our community? know Some are popular and some are not.
00:09:13
Speaker
But look at what it says here in verse 22, and all spoke well of him. It's talking about Jesus. Everybody's speaking well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. Now, once again, we need to establish where was he. So would you look with me at Luke four, verse 16. We didn't read that verse. This will tell you where he is. And he came to Nazareth.
00:09:41
Speaker
where he had been brought up.
Peer Pressure and Faithfulness
00:09:44
Speaker
And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read." So Jesus goes back to his hometown. He says this is where he grew up. Where had he been? Well, if you go to the verses just previous to verse 16, verse 14 and 15, you'll find out that he was going to Galilee.
00:10:05
Speaker
He was kind of like an on an itinerant mission speaking in various places. And so there he is and now he comes back home. It says twice in our text his hometown. This is his hometown. That word is used hometown.
00:10:21
Speaker
i love I love Columbus. I consider it now my hometown. I just got back from my hometown that I grew up in, and I feel more at home now but because I've been here 17 years than I do even in my hometown back where I grew up. But in our text, there are two verbs that are both in the imperfect tense in verse 22, and they both both refer to something that is repeated, something that was happening over and over again, not just once.
00:10:49
Speaker
What was it that was happening over and over again? Well, it says, all kept on speaking well of him, just happening over and over again. The other thing it says is, everybody was just continuing to be marveled at the gracious words. They love his words. They're saying, man, that guy, when he speaks, it's just like it means so much to me, at his gracious words that were coming from his mouth.
00:11:16
Speaker
So when I looked at this, I thought, okay, there's two things I could take from this. One thing is whenever the winds of popularity are blowing, people could be affirming your goodness. He's a great guy. She's a great gal. You know, they're just so good. There's a lot of good things I see in their life, but affirming his goodness in their words, everybody couldn't say enough good things.
00:11:40
Speaker
about Jesus when you're in verse 22. Of course we saw the winds are going to change, right? But I want you to see that's what can happen. So maybe at one time in your life, man, you're popular and all you got to say is one thing that's not right and you'll be canceled. Suddenly the winds turn against you. You'll see that happen to Jesus in this passage. But I want you to notice we got to know how to adjust our sails so that we don't say, I want people to keep saying good things about me. I don't want them to stop. And so maybe you would be tempted to compromise on truth, compromise on scripture, compromise on the mission that the father has for you.
00:12:22
Speaker
So maybe you'd say, Lord, help me, help me so that when the winds of popularity are blowing and everybody's behind me and saying, yeah, yeah, he's the man. Yeah, she's the girl. You can't believe all that God is doing there. They're affirming his goodness in their words, but also notice they were admiring The graciousness, the graciousness of His words. Man, they're just saying, you know, it's like His words are so edifying and uplifting and they bless me and all of these things. You know, in Luke 2 46, maybe you remember, we've been going through Luke since we got to Luke 1 1 and we've been traveling right through there.
00:13:04
Speaker
But in Luke 2 46, Jesus, when he was just 12 years old, went into the temple. And here's what it says in Luke 2 46. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Isn't that something? Have you ever been amazed at your 12 year old? Some of the things they say or maybe say, yeah, I have been amazed. It's not all good, you know. But anyway, they were really amazed at his understanding and his answers. But then, whenever Jesus became a man, later the religious leaders, they said, you know what? We're going to have to to do something here. We're going to shut this guy down. So they sent the temple guards to go and arrest him. But they come back without Jesus.
00:13:46
Speaker
And so John tells us in John 7 45 that the temple guards were upset and they said, I thought we told you to go and arrest Jesus. And here's what the guard said. No one ever spoke.
00:14:00
Speaker
like this man, nobody, nobody ever spoke like him. There's something unusual about it when Jesus speaks and they recognize it. They could see it on the faces of the crowd. And so what did those religious leaders say? They said, to him don't you guys know anything? The common people don't know the law, they don't know the word. And so they were kind of making fun of the whole situation. But let me just say one thing before we move to the next wind.
00:14:27
Speaker
And that is this, Jesus didn't live for popularity among the crowd. You know what he lived for? He lived for the priority of the Father. That's what he lived for. So I encourage you, don't live for the popularity of the crowd because you may be disappointed someday whenever they change and the winds change and no longer are you popular. You know, that happened in John 2, 13 through 25. If you were to go to John 2, you would find that, you know, Jesus was saying, hey, a lot of people are believing in me because of the miracles.
00:15:03
Speaker
But it says he did not entrust himself to them because why? He said, I know their hearts. He said, I know their hearts. They say they believe, but the least little thing changes and they won't be believing anymore. So all I'm saying is just know how to adjust your sales in your life whenever the winds of popularity blow. But let's go to the second kind of wind. There's another kind of wind that we can see in verses 22, 23, 24,
00:15:32
Speaker
I know this one's blown across your life. Navigating the winds of peer pressure. Where is he? Remember, he's in his hometown. These are the ones that he grew up with. And so just think about all of these people that knew him.
00:15:47
Speaker
You know, I bet you anything that some of them, they probably used to play games in the street together. Some of them probably live next door to Jesus and his parents. You know, some of them had probably taught him and the synagogue. Some came into the carpenter shop. I don't know all the different possible connections that he may have had, but what I want you to see is these were his peers. These were his peers and they're going to begin to think, hold it just a second.
00:16:17
Speaker
He just said, he's the Messiah that was prophesied in Isaiah 61. That's what Josh was talking about last time. That's why Jesus, when he read Isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2, and he sits down and he says, today, this has been fulfilled in your midst. The people were like,
00:16:36
Speaker
ah i Look, we really like you, Jesus. We saw you grow up. You turn it out to be a fine man. But that right there is about the Messiah. So the next thing you hear them saying among themselves, perhaps in whispered tones, is not this. Wait a minute. Is not this Joseph's son? So you can begin to see something's happening. And so what they're having, they're having some objections to the ordinary.
00:17:05
Speaker
And they're saying, wait a minute, we know you, we know you. What about you? When you trusted Christ, did everybody immediately give you a pass? Did everybody immediately give you a fist bump, a high five, a hug? Did everybody say, I'm so glad that you're following Christ? Or was there anybody, was anyone in your life that said, you know what, we'll see how long this lasts. He, she, they say they're a Christian, but let's just wait and see if this really lasts.
00:17:35
Speaker
Sometimes people have objections to the ordinary because they've been around us. And so it's unusual for you to have something that's from God, have a word for them, like the gospel, the gospel message. Maybe you've been so intimidated, sure, because you're thinking, they're going to say, who are you? Man, you're not perfect. We saw you growing up. We saw your life was all over the road.
00:17:59
Speaker
But I noticed that when you go into the next verses, it's like Jesus read them like a book. And I'm not trying to intimidate you this morning at all. But I just want you to know that this morning, Jesus is reading you, and he's you reading me like a book. You see, nobody's saying it, but Jesus said, this is what you're saying within your heart. This is what you're thinking within your mind. Let's see what he what he sort of discloses to the people. And he said to them,
00:18:29
Speaker
Doubtless, you'll quote to me this proverb, fish physician, hear yourself. What we've heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. And he said, truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. Can you hear what's going on? It's like the omniscient, omniscient means all knowing, the omniscient son of God looks at these people and he tells them exactly what they're thinking.
00:18:58
Speaker
That'd be so scary for him to just totally disclose and open you up. There's nothing that is hidden that is not laid bare is what the Bible says about itself, about scripture. So can you imagine the Word of God, the Son of God coming on this earth and he can read exactly what his peers are thinking. And so suddenly omniscience is trumping the opposition because he knows what they're thinking about.
00:19:28
Speaker
The proverb that Jesus quoted was actually a common saying back then, like we have sayings. You know, it was common among Jews, it was common among Greeks. Sometimes those writers would write about it. But what he says that they were thinking was this. They're commanding him. Do a miracle right here, buddy. If you're so great, if you've done miracles over in Capernaum, do one in your hometown. We want to see it. If you're the Messiah, we want you to prove it.
00:19:57
Speaker
You know, I don't know if you've ever tried anything like trying to give Jesus commands. It doesn't work out real well. It's better to let him command you rather than you command him. I mean, it doesn't work out that great. I like what John MacArthur wrote about this and about verses 22 to 24. He said the question was not lack of evidence. You see, the people are saying, all we need is a little more proof.
00:20:26
Speaker
That's not the question. The question was not lack of evidence, MacArthur says, but hardness of heart. There were never enough miracles to satisfy. They continually demanded more signs as a condition of their unbelief. All you gotta do to check out John MacArthur is go to Matthew 12, 38 through 42, and you'll know it's exactly right.
00:20:52
Speaker
As a matter of fact, our Lord being as merciful, as gracious, as patient as he is, he decides, I'm gonna go back to Nazareth after this experience.
Faith and Miracles
00:21:03
Speaker
So he goes back to his hometown. Some scholars say maybe a year and a half later, he goes back to Nazareth. And you can read about it in Matthew 13, verses 53 to 58. No change whatsoever.
00:21:16
Speaker
It's like still the people were asking for more evidence and more proof and more miracles. What is the Lord going to do for you? What is the Lord going to do for me? In order for me to know that I can trust Him, that I can trust Him. We sang it earlier, "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er.
00:21:38
Speaker
Is that been your experience? It's been mine, and yet sometimes I find my own heart saying, Lord, we really need this. We really need this. All that we need he's already done. He laid down his life on the cross for me and for you.
00:21:56
Speaker
You know, Mark also records the peer pressure in the community of Nazareth. And that peer pressure, if Jesus would have said, you know what, I want to blend in with my hometown. I don't want to get these guys against me. In order for him to blend in, he would have had to give an end to unbelief because they weren't believing. He would have had to question his own call, his own role as the Messiah.
00:22:19
Speaker
And so it says in Mark six, verses one through six, down toward the end, it says, you know, he marveled because of their unbelief. It's like you would think all that they had seen, you know, he had lived a perfect life. He never sinned. And yet you would think that they would say, wow, we can trust whatever he says because I remember the way he lived. So you know what Jesus did when the peer pressure was there?
00:22:47
Speaker
Here's what he did. He just stayed focused. He stayed focused on his faithfulness to the mission. He didn't focus on the obedience of other people, on the resistance of other people. What about you? Is that what you're gonna do this week? If everybody disagrees with you and your family, if everybody disagrees with you at school, if everybody disagrees with you in the country, will you just say, you know what? I'm just gonna stay focused on the mission that the Lord's given me.
00:23:14
Speaker
I'm just going to follow Jesus. Well, let's move to the next one. I believe that a third thing we can see in verses 25 through 27, so 25, 26, and 27, I believe there's another kind of wind that's blowing.
00:23:28
Speaker
You know, he starts speaking of hometown prophets, right? In verse 24, of hometown prophets not being accepted. And then he thinks, you know what? I got a couple of case studies from the Old Testament I'll give to you. And so there's all the Jewish people and they're having trouble with him saying he was the Messiah. They're not accepting this. They're not believing this. And so Jesus said, I got a couple of case studies for you. How about Elijah and how about Elisha?
00:23:56
Speaker
Both of these two prophets were not exactly well accepted among many Jewish circles back then, especially Kings and so forth. So Jesus pulls these two case studies from two Old Testament prophets to demonstrate something, don't miss what it's demonstrated, to demonstrate that miracles follow faith. You don't tell God, do me a miracle and then I'll believe you.
00:24:25
Speaker
No, you say, I'll believe you. if you never do Just like the guys that were thrown in the fiery furnace, the guys that were thrown in the fiery furnace in Daniel's day, they said, you know what, King? You can put us in the fiery furnace because we didn't bow down to the idol. But here's the deal. Our God's able to deliver us. But even if he doesn't deliver us, we're not bowing down.
00:24:47
Speaker
because we know him to be that true. And so when the king looks in the fiery furnace, he said, didn't we put three guys in there? And the guys are saying, yeah. And he said, there's four guys in there walking around. The Lord was with them in the fire. He'll be with you in the fire. But here's the thing.
00:25:07
Speaker
Are you ready to navigate the winds of prejudice? You know, prejudice is ah is a terrible thing when it happens. Sometimes I think people say it happens and it's not happening. Other times I think it is happening and people deny it's happening.
00:25:24
Speaker
But whenever Jesus gave this these two case studies, he hit a nerve. And the nerve was they didn't like the Gentiles. They only liked the Jews. And so sometimes our prejudice can be about a cultural thing. It can be about a racial thing. It can be about a financial thing. It can be about anything. But here's the thing.
00:25:48
Speaker
Case study number one, Elijah, was about a widow, not a widow of Israel, because it says there were plenty of widows in Israel at the time of Elijah, but he wasn't sent to any of them. He was sent to Sidon, to Zarephath, to a widow who lived there.
00:26:08
Speaker
And I've got people who are like, oh my goodness. Because if you know your Jewish history, you'll know that Elijah was having to stare down King Ahab. And King Ahab was married to a wicked queen named Jezebel. And the wicked queen Jezebel, guess where she was from? You've got it, silent. And so they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, Elijah, don't be going up in there. Don't be ministering to her. Wait a minute.
00:26:35
Speaker
And so this drought comes, forces him and God says, go up there Elijah, I want you to share with her. I'm gonna provide for you through her. So he goes up there and she's about to die. She's got one son, she's got a handful of flour, she's got a little bit of oil in the jar. And and Elijah says, I need you to bake me some bread. And the lady says, look dude,
00:27:00
Speaker
I don't only have a handful of flour, I only have a little bit of oil, I'm about to feed it, and then me and my son are gonna die, because there's nothing else left in the house. We're completely out. And he said, trust God. Trust God, put God first, make me a cake first, and then you eat. What were the the people in Nazareth saying? The people in Nazareth were the opposite. They were saying, show us a cake, and then we'll put our faith in you.
00:27:29
Speaker
you You show us that you really are who you are and then we'll believe that you're the Messiah. But see, this lady said, okay, I'll do it. I'm going to trust God. And so she trusted God and God provided bread from that little handful of flour and that little bit of oil in that jar. It says it never ran out as long as that drought lasted. God took care of them. God provided for them.
00:27:55
Speaker
Case study number two was Elisha. You know, it's amazing how Elijah, with a J there, Elijah is mentioned seven times in
Lessons from Elijah and Elisha
00:28:05
Speaker
Luke. I think Luke kind of liked Elijah. He's kind of, I like him, you know. But you know what? ah Elisha, I don't think he got much press time in the Bible, at least in the New Testament. Elisha is only mentioned one time in the New Testament. And thank you, Jesus, that, you know, Jesus brings them up. But Elisha,
00:28:24
Speaker
He told this guy that was a commander of the Syrians, which were enemies, he told him, hey, if you want to be cured of that leprosy, you need to go over there and you need to dip down your your body into the Jordan River seven times. And the guy's like, you got to be kidding. You see, his Jewish lady that was working for him, she said to him,
00:28:47
Speaker
you need to go see Elisha because God's hand is mightily on him. And whatever he tells you to do, you need to do it. So he goes over there and he says, you need to dip seven times in the Jordan River. And the guy says, we got way better rivers up there in Syria than you got down here in Israel. And he said, this is ridiculous. But finally,
00:29:07
Speaker
He decided, you know what, I better obey him. I better do what he said. He did it and he was cleansed of his leprosy. And so the point of both of those stories was, you know, don't get lost in the illustrations. The main point is God's willingness to bless anyone in any place, regardless of nationality, if they're just humbled themselves, if they'll humble themselves, if they'll put their trust in him, if they'll obey him, they'll surrender to him, anybody, anywhere.
00:29:39
Speaker
I want to go to the final wins, and that would be the wins of passion. They may blow across your life sometime. You know, there's different kinds of passion. Wouldn't you agree? You know, there's lust, there's pride, there's hatred, there's fear. There's all kind of different ones. ah I notice in verse 28, there's a certain kind of passion. We're not talking now about something on the outside.
00:30:04
Speaker
We're talking about a wind that suddenly becomes like tempetuous. It's like this gust of wind swells up within us. It's an internal wind. And suddenly it can just blow you right off track. And notice what it was for them. When Jesus got through talking about all these Gentiles, the people were so angry. Here's what it says. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled.
00:30:31
Speaker
with wrath. They were filled with rage. They were filled with anger. Has that ever happened? Have you ever been completely out of control? It's like you completely lose it. And this happened, I've told you before, of being transparent, you know, I'm not perfect. But I took my mom one time to Japan. I was a missionary there.
00:30:52
Speaker
and a taxi driver was laying on the horn behind me. And we were right at the hotel that's sort of near where the Emperor's Palace is. I want to show my mom the Emperor's Palace. The guy's leaning on the horn, you know, just beep, beep, beep. And there's guys all in front of me. I can't do a thing. It's like I'm thinking, what is his problem?
00:31:10
Speaker
So when he pulls up over there, I used my best Japanese, I rolled my window down. I noticed his window was down. He's waiting on his customer and I said, hey, what's your problem? I'm not the one wanting to die while I'm non-desk. You know, and he's like, his eyes got really big. And I said, stop it.
00:31:26
Speaker
You know, like that. yeah I mean, I was just completely out of control. And when we were left, I felt so much better. And my mom said, Victor Lewis, Morrison, you're a missionary. We have sent you over there to tell them about God's love and look at what you've done. And man, I mean, the rest of the day I drove like this, you know, I was the most patient missionary in the land that day. But but all I'm saying is what can fill your heart? You know, Luke wrote Acts as well. He used that a couple of more times. Maybe it's not wrath, maybe it's jealousy. Acts chapter five five verse 17 and Acts chapter 13 verse 45 says that there was a group filled with jealousy. Has jealousy ever caused you to do something you shouldn't do? Well, Acts 19 verse 29 talks about another group who was filled with confusion.
00:32:19
Speaker
It's like they were completely filled with confusion. Wow. That is happening all around us. you know There are several who yielded control to anger, is what it says in this verse. And so when they yielded their hearts, their minds, their emotions, when they yielded to that passion of anger, you know what happened? They got out of control. They got out of the out of the lane where they should have been. And here's what it says they did. I'm just gonna read you the verbs. They rose up. They drove him out. They brought him to the brow of the hill.
00:32:55
Speaker
that they could throw him down the cliff. Can you believe that? This is the most loving, kind, gentle person they would ever know, but he's also the most truthful person.
00:33:08
Speaker
Don't forget that. Love and truth are not enemies in God's economy. God speaks the the truth and he speaks it in love, but they're both there, both components. And so I just thought, man, we need to stay filled with the Spirit. That's what Ephesians 5, 18 says. Because if we're filled with the Spirit, Galatians 5, 22 and 23 says that the fruit of the Spirit is patience.
Fruits of the Spirit: Patience and Self-Control
00:33:36
Speaker
and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Think about that for a moment. Patience, gentleness, self-control, just those three fruits, those three. What could Jesus unlimited son of God. What could he have done when they're about ready to push him over the cliff? He could he could have said, okay, folks, you know he could have thrown all of them over the cliff because his back is to the cliff. The crowd is coming. They're ready to push him over the cliff. What could he have done? He could have said, may the Lord strike every one of you with blindness right now. And they had all been like, what in the world? you know I mean, he could have done anything. But do you know what he had? He had self-control.
00:34:22
Speaker
he he It's amazing he had patience, especially considering it. So here's what I wanted to end with. Jesus knew it was not yet his time for his death. He knew that it was not the right place for his death. He knew that it was not the right way that he was supposed to die. For him, there's a big difference in the cliff of Nazareth.
00:34:42
Speaker
in the hill of Calvary, because on the hill of Calvary, he was coming to lay down his life for people like those people in Nassau, for people like the people of Columbus. Pray, church family, pray for the younger generations of Columbus tonight as Josh shares the gospel message as this band hope ascending One of the things that stood out on their website was they're a biblical praise and worship band, but pray for them as they share truth through their scriptures. Pray that this place would be packed tonight. We're ready. We're ready for about 50 or so to respond to Christ and put their faith in Him. But even though they may come tonight, I want to close with this.
00:35:27
Speaker
Luke later, we'll see this later, but in Luke 23, he describes two men, two thieves, two criminals on each side of Jesus when he was crucified. One criminal, he didn't adjust his sails. Man, he was so filled with bitterness. You know what he looks over and says to Jesus? He says, if you really are the Christ, then why don't you save yourself and us?
00:35:55
Speaker
Man, it's like, is that what's coming out of it? He didn't adjust his sails. He's just so upset. But then the other guy, he was humble. He had faith. He had trust. And so here's what he says to Jesus. He says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
00:36:15
Speaker
And Jesus liked that. And Jesus said, man, that dude is adjusting his sails to this terrible wind that is on this hill of this day. And he said, you know what? Today you'll be with me in paradise. You know, some people, some people in this community may wake up tomorrow if they don't put their faith and trust in Christ. They would wake up tomorrow in hell.
00:36:39
Speaker
But they can wake up tomorrow if they die in heaven. We don't know. We don't know what could happen. Some of you heard about a 26 year old young man in our community.
00:36:51
Speaker
who was gunned down out in the yard by a drive-by shooter. I mean, we don't know. like There was ah another young student, high school student, greatly loved in this community. And some bacterial you know disease gets in his body, and now he's gone. And I'm just trying to say to you, I'm trying to say to the people, it can all change in one day.
00:37:17
Speaker
You can all change in one profession of faith. You can all change with one person. You see, as humans, we're sharing this same broken planet with other people. You and I, we are just mortals. We cannot control all the winds that will blow against our ship. But we can adjust our sails so that when there are winds of popularity, when there are winds of peer pressure,
00:37:46
Speaker
When there are winds of prejudice, when there are winds of passion, those winds do not blow us off the course that God has charted for us. Wouldn't give a time of invitation. It may be you just need to to concentrate on the Lord as we sing more than sing it. Maybe usually you sing the invitation.
00:38:06
Speaker
But maybe as we're in this one, you're saying, no, Lord, you said something to me. I need to do business with you. That's what this time could be about as well. You don't have to come forward to the front. But if you need to trust Christ, we'd be glad to talk with you. We'd be glad to help you to trust Christ, to get your sales moving toward Him.
00:38:26
Speaker
He went to the cross as our substitute. He died in our place. He was placed in a tomb. Three days later, the father raised him from the dead. Many people saw him after he was resurrected. He ascended back to the father, and he said, I'm coming back, and we don't know when. But you'll be ready if you put your faith and trust in him. You have to turn from sin and say, I'm going to follow Jesus now. Would you do it?
00:38:54
Speaker
Let's stand together, let me leave us in a prayer, and then we'll extend the invitation. Lord, thank you so much for this time to look into your word. I know that you've spoken because we've looked in your word. I know that you've spoken because your Holy Spirit is real. And so, Lord, the the thing is, are we going to set ourselves in the direction that you're speaking? Or will we resist? Will we not set the sails? Are we going to continue to follow the group? Are we going to continue to follow popularity?
00:39:22
Speaker
Are we gonna continue to follow some prejudice? Are we gonna continue to follow something that happened a long time ago? And that passion, that anger, that bitterness, that depression, that worry, that fear, it's still there. And until we set ourselves, we're gonna be in the same spot. Lord, please, please set us free this day. Let us go with the wind of your spirit into the arms of Jesus. It's in his name we pray, amen.
00:39:55
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.