Luke's Gospel

If you would like to turn to Luke chapter 18. And after we've read God's words, Philip is gonna come up, and he's going to introduce himself to us, and tell us a bit about his visit and his ministry in Zambia. So there'll be a chance for us to get know him if we haven't already before he preaches to us. So luke 18 verse 31. Jesus took the 12 aside and told them, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the son of man will be filled.

He will be handed over to the gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, and spit on him, they will flog him and kill him. On the third day, he will rise again. The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they didn't know what he was talking about.

As Jesus approached Gerico, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He called out Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet.

But he shouted all the more. Son of David have mercy on me. Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you? Lord, I want to see, he replied.

Jesus said to him, receive your sight. Your faith has healed you. Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praise God. Good evening, folks.

Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to say a few things. And it has been great to be with you today. We really enjoyed this morning, and although I would have liked to have listened to Pete, We were given an extra special treat by answering many questions of the young people. That was absolutely fabulous. I've never seen a bunch of youngsters who had so many questions that were very pertinent, and things like, you know, have you ever doubted that you are a Christian?

Yeah, we've, I'm sure most of us have had that kind of experience. So it was good talking about that. And how do you know when you have been called, and if you have been called, I had to deal with that, you ever feel disappointed with your ministry, that you are a failure, Yeah. And it's been it was really fabulous this morning, and we really thoroughly enjoyed our time with young people. Well done to Rory who did a great job leading that show.

And So, I'm supposed to tell those of you who've not actually seen me before, I asked before, who we are. Well, my name is Philip, Valerie is my wife's name over there, and we were commended from this church to the Mission Field in 19 72. So we've been on the Mission Field for 48 years. And it's a fantastic thing to be able to come back to this place and I find myself here talking to you and to see such a huge group of people who are involved in ministry in this city. And we just thank you all of you.

And for the elders and the older folks, my great auntie Anne here, who helped to join together this church with Cornerstone and make this place such a vibrant message of the gospel to the people of this town. God bless you all, and we will certainly cover you with our prayers. I will be, we will be eventually leaving again these shores on the 31st of March, going back to Zambia to retake up the work we were doing there. We were forced to stay away for, since April of last year, when they discovered that I had a tumor. And so they cut that out and gave us all the various poisons required to to heal it.

It killed half of me, even the good bits. So I have written out my sermon in full just in case I forget anything, because that's part of chemo brain. And I'm going to be blaming chemotherapy for the next 10 years for any issues regarding memory. What have I left out? Anything I've left out?

Does everybody know who I am? Yeah. Okay. Okay. That's enough of me.

Well, looking at this passage. 2 observations I'd like to make, We'll deal with 1 straight away and then 1 a little bit later on. First of all, Luke, in his gospel, in chapter 1 and verse 3, says this, I, myself, Luke, have carefully investigated everything from the beginning and it seemed good to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus. You'll find that the other gospels will put their accounts in different orders to suit their themes, and that's fine when you understand what theme they are trying to put forward and convey. But Luke says, I have set things down in order in a consecutive manner.

So where the other gospels are concerned, I like to When we're talking about the gospel, I like to put them all side by side in a in a comparison, a parallel, a harmony, and see what the others are going to add to the story. So I've done that again with this 1, and we'll see where it takes us. But as to the order of events, I follow Luke's Gospel because he says, I set out and I investigated and I've put it in order so that you will know how things transpired from 1 day to the next in the life of Jesus. So here we began, as we read, to see the prediction he gives of his death. We have this is third time and is the most detailed declaration of his death and resurrection that he gives to his disciples.

The other 2 times are found in Luke chapter 9, first of all in verses 22 and then later on, different incident in verse 44. But he tells them that This time, this is the time. That's it. There's no more forewarnings. This is it.

This will be the time of fulfillment. And Jesus took the 12 aside and told them, we're going up to Jerusalem and everything that's written by the prophets and about the son of man will be fulfilled. The time for fulfillment of the prophets' prophecies had come. The upcoming Passover, which they would keep in Jerusalem was where the fulfillment would take place. In the parallel passage of Mark chapter 10 verse 32, It tells us that they were on their way to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way.

Jesus had set his face as a flint to go to Jerusalem. That's a prophecy that came that comes in Isaiah chapter 50, so he leads them. They were still on the eastern side of the Jordan river, outside the jurisdiction of the Sanhedron, and the disciples were astonished and dismayed, and others in the crowd who were following became very fearful indeed. This is what Mark 10 tells us They were fearful of crossing the Jordan river, knowing that very well the sanhedrin was still determined to get hold of Jesus and put him to death. But in Luke 18 31, Jesus is adamant.

He says we are going to Jerusalem. Everything that is written by the prophets about the son of man will be fulfilled. Mark 10 tells us in greater detail what those things are to be. The son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests. And the teachers of the law.

These people, these priests who were supposed to be the watchmen supposed to be looking out for the coming of Messiah, who had all the indications that 1 of these days, very soon he would be coming. The son of man is handed over to these very people, who should have recognized him as Messiah, and the other terrible thing was the 1 who handed the mover handed him over to the chief priests was none other than his familiar friend, Judas Escariot. And those Jews those scribes and pharisees, teachers of the law, will condemn him to death condemn Messiah to death, but that's what they did. But of course, they couldn't actually carry out the sentence because they were under the Romans. So they would then hand him over to the gentiles to do their work.

And the gentiles will mock him, and they will spit on him, they will flog him, and they will kill him. And he did that. And he said that. He knew absolutely that that was going to happen. Would you and I have gone forward into a situation like that?

If we had that foreknowledge, no, of course, we wouldn't. And that's why the law never gives you an eye, foreknowledge. But he had the foreknowledge, we are going to Jerusalem, and this is what's gonna happen. Luca 18 verse 34 makes it very plain that once again, they don't understand what he's talking about. The disciples did not understand any of this, its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

I forgot to mention, of course, the last point above was that 3 days later, he would rise again from the dead. The fact is, apart from what Jesus himself had done in raising the dead, no 1 else in recent times, had been raised from the dead. So the very fact that he rose from the dead and was seen in the city by many, many people ought to have been an indication as to who he was. But still, the same chief priests and pharisees rejected him completely and refused to believe him to be Messiah. Now, why were the disciples so baffled by this again and again.

Why did they never seem to come to understand what was going to happen? It's hard to understand why they were so dull, in this matter. But most probably, their minds were so filled with the thoughts of a political Messiah, which what everybody else was thinking, would come to rescue them from the yoke of Rome and set up a kingdom immediately. That they refuse to entertain any other possibilities. You know, how often we also – there is a danger of us finding ourselves believing what we want to believe.

And resist the truth if it does not fit into our preconceived notions. We need to always be very careful to set what we believe set it upon scripture. And looking at bible commentaries is wonderful, excellent stuff. But always look at it as an argument for or an argument against some particular truth. And before the lord, in our own hearts and minds, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit come to a realization of the truth.

Now sometimes we can't always do that. Because it's still pretty baffling. So we just hold it in limbo until the time comes and we can understand it properly. Now the second point I wanted to make is that I believe in every single word of scripture, even if I don't understand it, I believe it. Because if that were not so, then I would always be asking myself, is this really true Can I really believe this?

Well, which part is true, and which part is not true? Which is fable? Is it a folk story? I would never be able to say that your word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path. So if you feel the need to question something, and that's not a problem, by all means, question something, If something seems to be unbelievable, it's too fantastic to be true, if you might think like that, start researching from the premise that it is true, that it is absolutely true, that the problem is not with the scripture that I don't understand, it's because I don't understand the scripture.

And therefore, research it. And you will almost always Find the answer somewhere nearby, or cross reference to something else that gives you the answer. Always remember that all scripture is in fired. God breathed. If it comes from God's breath.

If God breathed it out, it has to be true. The problem is I may not understand what he's trying to tell me, and so keep researching. But it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, to Timothy 3 16. If I don't understand something, it's not that the Scripture is wrong. The answer is there somewhere.

Which I must diligently search for. For example, the story of the blind man. Appears in all 3 synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And some critics have pointed out discrepancies between these 3 accounts. Both Matthew 20 and Mark 10 says that Jesus and His decide We're leaving jericho.

But Luke 18 says Jesus was approaching jericho. Uh-huh. Now, how can this miracle take place whilst leaving Jerico and approaching Jerichoico at the same time? Utter nonsense, the Bible are pack of lies, contradicts itself and therefore is not worth listening to. But these critics are only showing their ignorance.

They have no historical knowledge of the geography of the land in the first century AD. Because at that time, there were 2 Gericos. Yes, 2 Gericos. Amazingly, I found it backed up by these wretched people, national geographic. They are not normally very pro Christian, and they are not very pro bible.

But on chapter 40 on page 49 of this magazine, the Atlas of bible, they show the 2 Jiricos, just about 5 kilometers apart. You see, there was an ancient Jirico that had been built, of course. And under the leadership of Joshua, the walls came tumbling down, it was flattened. But then later on, it was rebuilt by a man by the name of Heel, and this was in the days of King Ahab, 1 king's 16 34. So that was the old city of Jerichoo rebuilt again, even though it was not supposed to have been And then, there was a new testament, jericho that was built by King Herrod on the northern side closer to Jerusalem.

The new city was mostly occupied by gentiles, whilst the Jews remained in the older city. So, this event takes place as Jesus is leaving the ancient city of Gerico and approaching the new town of Gerico. And if you know the geography of that day, it's easy to harmonize these accounts. You just need to look for it. You just need to research it.

And you will find the truth. Another discrepancy is that people see in the fact is the fact that Matthew 20 mentions 2 blind men. Whereas Luke and Mark only mention 1 blind man, but Mark tells us his name. His name is Bartomeus, the son of Timaeus. However, There is no need to see a problem here.

Bartomeus is obviously the prominent 1. The 1 that hollers and shouts the loudest, and Jesus healed both men. But the 2 2 of the gospel writers want to concentrate just on the prominent 1, Bartomeus. It's not unusual for 1 writer to give us a fuller story than the others, whilst the others only tell us the main points or about the main character. Anyway, after finding out from the crowd that this was Jesus of Nazareth, passing through.

Bartemaeus began shouting and hollering Jesus son of David, have mercy on us. And he refuses to keep quiet. And the crowd tell him to shut up but he continues to cry out to Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us. Now, he has called Jesus by 1 of his messianic names. This was a messianic name, son of David.

Not any old Joe Blows ever called son of David. He had to be the Messiah. And so Bartimaeus, must have known that Isaiah 35 and verse 5, says when Messiah comes, he would heal the blind. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped? How ironic it was, that whilst the nation of Israel was completely blind to the presence of Messiah in their midst, 2 blind Jewish beggars had true spiritual insight for they recognized Jesus for who he was, Messiah.

So finally, Jesus stopped and he says, call him. So they called the blind man. Tear up, get on your feet, he's calling you. And so, he did, Mark 10 and verse 50 continues to say, this is an important little detail. Throwing his cloak aside.

We don't get that from the Luke rendering. Throwing his cloak aside, he jumps to his feet and comes to where Jesus is. Now, for a blind man to do that, Shortly, that's an act of faith. I mean, that blanket of his must have been a precious piece of his clothing, And he casts that cloak aside, leaving it where it was, and he goes to see Jesus. By faith, he must have reckoned to himself what I'm going to get healed.

This is my 1 and only chance, and here it's come at last. I'm going to be healed of my blindness, and I will be able to go back and find my cloak with 2 eyes. Not even sure what color it is, but I'll find it somehow. He had faith that he was about to be healed, and he knew he would be able to find it later. So in Luke eighteen:forty 1, Jesus asked him specifically what you want me to do for you, Come on.

Why did you ask that question? You know very well what he wants. But that's the point isn't He wants the Lord wants Buddy Mayers, and he wants you and me to actually say, to speak out, to own to acknowledge my need. Bartamaeus needed to spell out his need. Lord, I want to see.

Above all things I just want to see. And I know. He didn't actually say that according to Scripture, but he must have known in his heart. You can do it. And of course, does Jesus does indeed respond, because he clearly states his personal need.

Lord, I want to see, and there's a lovely phrase added by Matthew, not in the other 2 gospels, Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. He says to them, in Luke 18, receive your sight, your faith has healed you. And immediately, they received their sight and followed Jesus. Prazing God, when all people saw it, They also praised God. So you've got these 2 guys who begin a new worship team.

They praise the Lord with all their heart and mind. Can you imagine? Almost the first time you've ever seen, you suddenly begin to see. You find your cloak, and you start praising the Lord with all your heart and all your mind, and it becomes infectious. And everybody else starts praising and worshiping God as well.

Having stated their personal need They show their faith, and on the basis of their faith, he heals them. Now, the thing is, there might just be somebody here who has a very special need. And it's important that you own that need and that you tell it to the lord. Perhaps it might be you have never actually ever dealt with your sin situation. You have to come to the point where you accept that you are a sinner.

I am a sinner, lord. I know I desperately need to have my sins forgiven, and so that I can be set free, and I know I am a sinner. Please forgive me. And then expecting him to Forgive you your sins to be able to do the thing that you have expressed is where faith kicks in. And you believe that he can sort it out, and on the basis of that faith, he will do so.

Of course, if you're gonna ask for a brand new Mercedes benz, because I do need you know Lord, I need a Mercedes Benz. He might say, well, you only need a mini, actually. You might not say you need anything like that at all. But bring it to the Lord before him and show your faith and on the basis of your faith, he can heal you of that particular problem. Because John Newton exclave trading sea captain who turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, who once wrote amazing grace, also writes this hymn.

He says, you are coming to a king. Large petitions with you bring. For his grace and power are such, none can ever ask too much. And, it's not on the strength of yours, the amount of faith but just the fact that you have faith. However, big the need might be, you can come to him.

Large petitions with you bring for his grace and power are such that none can ever ask too much. Bartamaeus and his friend had been brought to the absolute lowest because of their blindness. They were desperately in need. They were just beggars. They couldn't work.

They couldn't do anything to help themselves. They couldn't do anything but cry out to Jesus when they hear that he's passing by. He, they knew he was Messiah. What an opportunity and so they take and they cry out to him. It's true to say that when you and I get to the end of ourselves, get to the end of our tethers.

That is when we grow spiritually more than at any other time. When things are going well, when there's prosperity around. And I'm not being challenged in any particular situation. How easy it is for me to rest on my laurels and just go along poodling along in a slow way following the Lord, but doing nothing special. Not really growing in Him because, well, I've learned many lessons, and it's great to be in the family of God, and I'm a Christian, and he's going to look after me, and so on and so forth.

But sometimes the Lord need to bring you and I down to the very lowest point before we learn some particular thing. And of course, as you know, I'm sure you know very well, I can speak from personal experience. Because during those times of chemotherapy, there were times when I was absolutely at the bottom of my life, I I I couldn't do a thing I couldn't sing. I couldn't even read. And I but I could cry out.

And I used to just lie there. In bed, and I would cry out to the lord to help me in this situation. And that verse came. Jesus himself drew near to those 2 walking on the MIS Road. And they were puzzled because he had died, and he was supposed to have been the victorious 1 who would deal with these wretched Romans.

But now he's dead, and we don't know where he is. And so this 1 comes, he draws near and he walks alongside them. You know, that was the most precious verse to me at that particular time. Because I knew that he was walking with me or I was in his hands and in his care. There's a wonderful scripture from Isaiah 53 that he bore our afflictions.

He bore our sins, of course, and he bore our diseases. To Calvary, and that scripture came to mind as well. And there on the cross of Calvary, yes, he paid for my sins. Indeed, he did by his death. But at the same time, was carrying with him my sufferings at that particular time.

And I could say, it's okay, because Jesus has already been there. Jesus has already experienced this himself. I was able to take great encouragement from that fact. It says, in Matthew 5, blessed are the poor in spirit. And the primary meaning of that verse is not about financial poverty.

It's about poverty in spirit. It's having a right view of ourselves through God's eyes. How does God see me? When we come to him realizing that we are spiritually poverty stricken, it's then that he's able to incorporate us into the kingdom of heaven. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven, when you know that you can't do a single thing to help yourself.

And you cry out to him for help. Poverty of spirit. Then he will take my confession of my sins. He will take the fact that I recognize that I am absolutely nothing. I'm at bottom of the barrel, and he will incorporate me into his family.

What precious grace? Bless are those who mourn, is not referring to those who've lost a loved 1. Not primarily. But rather to those who have real sorrow for the sins that they have committed, it comes as a result of seeing yourself in the eyes of God. Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away, says Jesus.

And that brings absolute comfort. Bless are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Mornings for sin means that sin then gets dealt with, and we are comforted because we are forgiven. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten. You know, it's terribly sad.

That a celebrity like Caroline fleck. Should say, social media, I don't know what to do I don't know who to turn to, and then takes her own life. What has gone wrong in this world? The world has turned its back on God. God is not needed anymore, so they think.

We can do things ourselves. We just need to become a little bit more self sufficient. And every advert on the TV tries to persuade people to buy this item or that item, because we're worth it. It plays on our vanity. They try to boost our self confidence by saying, we are worth it.

Having self confidence towards other people is 1 thing, but if we look at ourselves in God's eyes, as God sees us, He sees that we are nothing. Because there is no righteousness that can be of any God, all of it. Any good, all of it is as filthy eggs. This realization is the meaning of mourning because of our spiritual poverty. Yet the lord in all his gracious mercy and kindness tells us It is by grace that you have been saved.

We've been shown mercy and grace Mercy by not giving us what we did deserve. Death because of sin. Instead, we receive grace for things we don't deserve. We receive grace that we didn't deserve because God is a God of grace. For it is by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it's the gift of God, not by works, so that no 1 can boast.

I can do nothing to earn myself any favors or credits with God, nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's a question of just reaching out and grabbing hold of his offer of free salvation and being incorporated into his family. You know, I've often wondered, I still sin, I still do things, I still think thoughts, which I know I shouldn't think. And I keep worrying.

You know, I'm supposed to be a righteous person now. God's righteousness is supposed to be seen in me, but still I do these things. You know, Romans chapter 7, things I want to do, I don't do. And the things I absolutely don't want to do, those are the very things I do do. And the thing is that when you and I realize that we have been baptized into the body of Christ, when we have join the family of God because he has taken us, and we are now in Christ, is with Christ in Christ.

That's what Paul talks about in the book of Phes and so much. And as a result, when God looks down and looks at me, what does he see? He sees the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us from all sins. Paul binds Paul builds On these thoughts, in verse 7, Ephesians chapter 2, words, upon words to to emphasize the immensity of God's transforming grace. First of all, he tells us his kindness about his kindness toward us.

Then he talks about his grace in his kindness toward us. Then, it's the riches of his grace in his kindness toward us, then exceeding riches of his grace. In His kindness toward us. Heaven will be our school, and God will be our teacher. We will be the students.

His grace is going to be the subject, and the length of the school term will be eternity. Trust of the Lord will help you and I to grow evermore in grace. And listen to those indeed. We've been many things have been brought to us before us tonight. To remember in our prayers, those who are suffering, those who are needlessly suffering because they have a wrong attitude towards God.

The fact that there is a sanctity to life from the point of conception to birth and onwards. And we've been told to pray about that. May the Lord help you and me to be strong in these areas, to stand up for what is right and help us to make a change and be an influence to the society around us. As Barta Maison, his friend, began to worship and praise God, causing the whole crowd to begin to praise and worship God. May you and I be active in his men, in his service, praising God, Living a life that is righteous.

Living a life that is righteous in God's way, not my own righteousness. But the righteousness of God so that they could see that you and I are truly different. And may the Lord help us each 1 to make a difference in the circles in which we live and serve for Jesus' sake on it.