Jesus Christ's public ministry began with a powerful sermon in his hometown synagogue, as recorded in Luke 4. He read from Isaiah 61, proclaiming himself as the one anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and set the captives free, intentionally stopping mid-sentence to signify the beginning of a new era of grace. Despite the initial wonder of the crowd, their familiarity with him as Joseph's son led to rejection and an attempt to throw him from a cliff, demonstrating the truth of his statement that a prophet is not accepted in his own country. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that Jesus' powerful words and actions marked the start of his mission to offer salvation and that this day of grace is an accepted time for repentance and belief, contrasting it with a future day of vengeance.
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What a joy it is to be together, and particularly to look to the Blessed Lord Jesus for his blessing as we open the precious word. By the help and the grace of the Lord, I would like to bring before your hearts as well as mine own the greatest preacher that ever made a message and gave a message upon this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I wonder if you've ever noted the first recorded preaching message that the Gospel of Luke, in chapter four, has recorded when our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus, gave a message in his own hometown, the town of Nazareth.
In Luke's Gospel, chapter four, you have the record on it. And may I lovingly and earnestly say, there is no question of doubt, we shall read words that were spoken and preached by the greatest of all preachers that ever trod upon the earth. There's no one like our Savior, the blessed person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the words of the Holy Spirit. as Luke recorded him in Luke chapter four, beginning to read, if I may, in verse fourteen. Tis after his baptism of John in the river Jordan.
Tis following the great temptation that Satan gave him for forty days and forty nights. And following that great anointing, as you may read in chapter three of this same gospel, where thus in the river Jordan he presented himself in prayer as he was baptized to the ministry that began before him. And may I lovingly and earnestly say, we have no record of his life between the age of twelve and the age of thirty when he began the public ministry of his service.
Everything about that life between has never been recorded for our revelation, with the exception that we do rejoice that when he was baptized, a voice from heaven commended him. Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased, and the Spirit of God descended upon him in the form of a dove. My beloved, that was his introduction to his public ministry. And may I point out very earnestly, he prayed about it.
And there's no doubt, as we read, as he prayed on that occasion, the heaven was open and the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove and lighted upon him. And the voice of the Father said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I will see. May I humbly say, but very faithfully, no one ever had a commendation like that, not even the greatest of the apostles. Neither could they. But I want to emphasize the character and the person of that one.
who thus was so commended. Following it, he paid a few visits into Galilee before he reached his hometown. But now we read in chapter four, beginning in verse fourteen, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And may I point out very emphatically and emphasize this, his preaching was in the power of the Holy Spirit. I say it very humbly but very emphatically. The great need is spirit-filled teaching and spirit-filled preaching.
And he returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee and there went out a flame of him throughout all the region roundabout. And he taught in their synagogues being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth. where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, note it was a habit with him before the beginning of his ministry, the public ministry. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for a read.
Then was delivered unto him the book or the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, they found the place where it was written. And he reads. You may read Isaiah chapter sixty-one, verses one and two, part of verse two. That was all that he read. And this is what he read. He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised or crushed. and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And right then he closed the book. He closed the book and the reading where you and I would never do. For if you go back to Isaiah chapter sixty-one and read the opening words, you'll find a stop where you and I would have been rebuked by a teacher at school.
If we ever stopped the reading at a place, there was a comma. It was not the end of a sentence. He stopped in the middle of a sentence, and he closed the book. And he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were passing on him. And he began to say unto them, and notice interpretation. This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all dare him witness and wondered at the gracious, they marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? they should have admitted him as being the Messiah. But they gave him the wrong character. He was not the son of Joseph. You know your Bible. Joseph had nothing to do with his birth. He was virgin born by Mary his mother. But they said, is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Position, heal thyself, whatsoever thou hast we have heard done in Capernaum, do also hear in thy country.
And he answered, he said, Verily I say unto you, And note, how significant. from the greatest of all preachers. This statement, verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. Though he had come to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, he knew very well he was not being accepted by his own people in Nazareth. He goes on to prove it.
from the history of their own people in the past. But I tell you of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout the whole land. But unto none of them was Elijah's son. Same unto Serepter, a city of Sidon. To a gentle, a Gentile woman, there was a wood widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the days of Elisha. The prophet and none of them were cleansed, saving.
Who was it? Nehemiah and the Syrian, another Gentile. And all day in the synagogue, they looked at their reaction. When they heard these things were filled with wrath. and rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath day. And they were astonished.
and his doctrine for his word was with power. My beloved, we have read the occasion when our beloved Lord Jesus, the great Son of God who came to us and took upon him our humanity to become the Savior of the world, began his public ministry. and the occasion when he came into his own home city as we have read please note it again I want to go back to verse sixteen he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up may I repeat again the years from the age of twelve to thirty are not recorded as to their history what happened to him and what he did except that we know one thing.
He was the son of a carpenter. And he was recognized by his people as being a carpenter. But as his custom was, when he came into the synagogue on this occasion, he stood up. What for? To read? My beloved, may I emphasize that in the Jewish synagogues of old, and probably today too, where they may be faithful to the Word of God as they see it, the reading of the Scriptures was very important.
I think of the words of Paul when he wrote to Timothy, as you may read in First Timothy chapter four at the end. He exhorted Timothy, give attendance to reading. My beloved, may I say again, the reading of the Word of God is very important, as well as its ministry by the Holy Spirit in the gatherings of the saints. And it was the practice in that day when any Israelite desired to read the Word of God as it was written back then, he could stand up and the minister of the synagogue would give him a scroll of Scripture.
And may I remind you, when the Lord Jesus got the scroll of Isaiah, it was not like you and I have in our Bible, divided into chapters and by verses for the convenience of us reading them. But it was also written continuously without any stopping virtually. in the Hebrew language, but he found the place where it was written. My beloved, one thing we do rejoice, he knew his Bible. Even from youth, the word of God was the food of his soul in Nazareth.
As a boy of twelve, when they found him in the temple. After losing him for one day, Joseph and Mary were astonished. He was with the old men of the temple, the scribes, the teachers, the rabbis, listening and speaking of the Word of God. The example of the Lord Jesus In knowing the Word of God, may I say emphatically, the greatest book that he followed was the Word of God. And the greatest thing that you and I can devote our hearts and minds to is the reading and the taking in of the Word of God into our minds and hearts.
No wonder Jeremiah said long ago, Thy words were found, and I did eat them. My beloved, and you know as well as I do, it's not the eating of the stomach, it's the eating of the soul. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and they were to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. That blessed Savior only had three books, if I may put it that way. The word of God important. Second, the creation of God. My beloved, let me say this. Did you ever stop the thing?
Even as a boy and as a young man, he knew who he was, though he didn't tell anybody, until God publicly anointed him. But he had the book of creation. He enjoyed creation. He was the creator. And then he had another book that he read perfectly. That you and I cannot. The book of humanity. Do you ever notice the words in John chapter two? That John records the sight.
He knew what was in. man. My beloved, let me say this. The blessed Lord Jesus had a perfect knowledge of the human life and the human people that he met. So he kept it to himself. But here we have him doing what he enjoyed the most. As he often did it in the youth of his days. When going into the synagogue, it was his privilege and the privilege of every Jew to ask for the scriptures that he might read from them.
And he stood up to read. And after reading, know what happened. Then he began reading again what was written in verse eighteen and nineteen. And these are the words. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to do what? Note everything that He mentioned, to preach the gospel to the poor, the glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken heart and may I pause for a moment, please.
I'm sure you may have, and if you have never done it, you'll never get tired of doing it, if you will. Read of the life of the Lord Jesus, Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. Read of the days of his public ministry, and all that he was reading here, he fulfilled. He carried it out, telling the good tidings of the gospel to the poor. And then further, healing the broken heart and my beloved let me say again there's no broken heart but what it can be healed by the blessed Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God well as we were singing that lovely old hymn he lifted me from sinking sands he lifted me from shades of night to plains of light oh praise his name he lifted me.
My beloved, he was the greatest preacher the devil was on the earth. So many broken hearts he must have healed. Think of the broken heart and widows. The widow would name, for instance, coming out of the city gate to carry her boy, her son, her only son. The support of her, his mother, carry him to the funeral, to the cemetery. And as they came out of the city, carrying his body, the Lord Jesus stopped them. And what did he do? He raised that young man from the dead and gave him over to his mother.
My beloved, that's only one occasion. I recommend to you the greatest person in the universe to heal a broken heart. the Lord Jesus. And furthermore, to preach deliverance to the captives. And let me emphasize the one sight who many things could be said. Many were under the captivity of sin's power. And there are today. We may be living in the land that we call the land of the brave and of the free.
But may I be remind you, there are many dear people in our country that are captive under the power of sin and Satan. My beloved, what a joy to realize we have a Savior who can save men and women from the power of indwelling sin. And forgive them their trespasses. And with what joy to realize, he does that. He's the greatest deliverer in the world has ever known. I remember years ago in my early days in business, when in the days of the Great Depression, when it first began, one of the leading citizens in the city where I lived, a noted lawyer of that town and city.
We were talking together of the conditions. that prevailed in those depressing days. And remember him making the statement, we need a Moses to deliver us out of the wilderness through the wilderness. Well, beloved, let me tell you that someone better than a Moses in the Lord Jesus, to deliver the captives. And note the things that follow, the recovering of sight to the blind, Oh, my beloved, you know as well as I do. So, for instance, the blind man of John chapter nine, who was blind from his birth?
You think about Emmaus, begging by the wayside, a blind beggar? Who did the greater miracle than Joshua ever did? For if I know my Bible, Joshua caused the Son to stand still for twenty-four hours. in the book of Joshua. But Bartimaeus, fearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, cried out, Thou Son of David, I'm mercy on me. And the great Creator himself stood still. My beloved, I want to emphasize who he is. Please, He's not just Jesus of Nazareth.
He's not just the son of Joseph. He's very gone. Come down to the earth. But how great is the blindness of sin in many hearts and minds today? That needs to be opened. I think of the words that Paul when he wrote. The God of this world has blinded the minds of them that see not, lest the glorious light of the gospel should shine in, and they be converted. I say again, I hope there's no one here of whom it can be said.
Your eyes have never been open to see Christ, who He is, the great Savior of your soul. And may I go on further to read as you have it here? to set at liberty them that are bruised. And that word bruised means crush. As the prophet of all wrote, he will not quench the smoking flesh and the bruised reed. And my beloved, there's no question of doubt. I wonder how many today in this world are crushed. by the opposition of Satan, uneven men, who's the great healer.
But then you have an inclined, at the close of it, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. A new beginning, the age of grace, the period of God's grace, when his salvation is offered free to all men. No wonder Paul wrote in St. Corinthians chapter six and verse two. This is the day of salvation. This is the day is the accepted. Now is the accepted time.
And what the Lord Jesus closes the message here. And the reading is with the fast. The day of salvation had now come to the world. Remember the Herald Song of the Angels over the plains of Bethlehem? Unto you is born, what? A Savior! Who is Christ the Lord? As they worship that babe over the manger at the time of his birth. My beloved, let me say this. I want to emphasize it particularly. You and I thank God are living in the day of God's grace. Have you never read so often the word grace in your New Testament?
And particularly you find it, well let me quote the words of John chapter one in verse fourteen, where John speaks of it, of the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world. The word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. And we behold his glory. The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. What does grace mean? It means undeserved favor. Do I need to emphasize that fact?
There is not one man, woman, boy or girl in the whole world who deserves to be saved. As Paul well wrote in Ephesians chapter two, verse eight and nine, for we are saved by grace, through faith, and that none of your sons, it is the gift of God. None of us, lest any man should go. My beloved, let me emphasize where the Lord Jesus stopped. He didn't go any further. He had come to introduce a period of grace whereby God can and will save every poor guilty lost, well deserving sinner.
If he or she will only trust and receive the Savior, My beloved is the most important factor that no man, woman, boy and girl can ever be saved without the person of the Lord Jesus Christ himself becoming their Savior. This is the day of grace. And thank God when He gave to His disciples following His death, His burial, His resurrection. He commanded them, go into all the world and preach the gospel. And may I say, my beloved, with no hesitation, the greatest message in the world today is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, did Paul write him properly? I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God. unto salvation, unto everyone that believes us, whether to the Jew, first or whether to the Gentiles. And I say, my beloved, I don't care who these people are in the world, whether Jew or whether Gentiles, whether heathen or not, whoever and whatsoever, they need the gospel. It's the only message of salvation. There's no other message. Well, did Peter declare, as you well know, in chapter four of the book of Acts in verse twelve, as he preached to the people in the temple, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Please me, I say again, now I want to emphasize this fact particularly before going further. The message had been preached for how long? Well, this was the year of nineteen ninety-seven. When our Lord stood up in the city of Nazareth and read these words in the synagogues and made these statements, he was just beginning his public ministry. probably in the year AD thirty-three or something like that. Let me re-emphasize again.
The world has had the privilege of hearing the gospel. Now let me repeat very carefully and explain very carefully. It is not impossible, no matter who they are and where they are, today to hear the gospel. One of the most amazing facts in our age, in your age, at your time and my time, is this. By the way of radio, by the way of television, by the way of the air, as well as distribution of literature, but particularly the message can be heralded all over the world.
We have more radio stations today preaching the gospel than ever before. And the message going out. And thank God, which to God there were more of them, every faithful servant of the Lord who is preaching will declare the gospel. The way for men and women to be saved. Now why did the Lord Jesus thus emphasize the reading of this particular portion? I wanted to notice as we begin to read in verse twenty, and I want to read it carefully.
He closed the book and gave it to the minister again and he sat down. It was accustomed then when they spoke and commented on the reading. They sat down when they were teaching. And the Lord Jesus, close, well, let me repeat again, I want to emphasize this one. The unusual place at which he stopped reading. A karma. If you read in chapter sixty-one of Isaiah and the opening of verse two, you'll find at the end of that verse two, after saying the accessible year of the Lord and he closed the book, he omitted a very serious portion.
And the day of vengeance of our God It was not the day of vengeance when he came to the earth. It was the day of love, the day of grace, the day of salvation. But may I repeat, someday he's going to open the book again and finish the reading. Go with me to Second Thessalonians for a moment. Chapter one. I want to read to you the day of vengeance that's coming.
I don't know how near it is. Look, nearly two thousand years have gone by since he first preached this message. We're reading in verse seven of Second Thessalonians chapter one. The words of the apostles to comfort the saints who were in trouble. To you who are troubled rest with us. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. My beloved, you know your Bible well enough, I'm sure. When the gospel was preached by Paul and his companions and the servants of God of the early church, they never failed to tell that it's coming back again.
You read through the New Testament, and I can say on the ground of proving it, three hundred and eighteen times in your whole New Testament, the second coming of Christ, that to the earth is mentioned. No, even greater. Go back to the Old Testament, if you will. The prophets also wrote of the second coming of Christ in power, in glory, in greatness. Now read here. Here's the Apostle Paul singing the comfort of troubled saints. To you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed.
And no, where's he coming from? Heaven. With his mighty aim. Look, he didn't come that way the first time. He came as a babe of Bethlehem. The next time he's coming to be the judge. But let's read on. Inflaming fire. And note the words. Taking vengeance. On them that know not God. And that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. My beloved love. Today is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.
But the moment's coming there will be no salvation. It'll be too late. It'll be a day of vengeance. Paul went preaching in chapter seventeen of the book of Acts, verses thirty and thirty-one, to the Athenians, stated, God commandeth all men in every place to repent. And may I say lovingly and faithfully, God is commanding every person in the world today to repent of their sins. And Paul went on to say in Acts chapter seventeen, For he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, and assuring us of it by raising him from the dead.
And who's the man? Who's the judge? The one who was preaching in Nazareth. Well, did we sing a chorus years ago? He did not come to judge the world. He did not come to blame. He did not come alone to see. He also came to save. And when we call him Savior, we call him by his name. So let me be faithful. He may come today, tomorrow. How soon I don't know, as the judge. Let's not forget his own words in John five. The Father judges no man. for that committed all judgment unto the Son.
And may I say again, if you do not meet him as your Savior, you'll be sure to meet him as your judge. The day of vengeance has come. Let me ask you, how much longer can God put up with the world as it is? I think of the words of the psalmist when we read in Psalm chapter two, the words of the Father to the Son. Ask of me and I will give thee the nation for thine inheritance. Thou shalt rule them with a run of iron and destroy them as a father's vessel.
Dear love, let me say this. Look, the day of vengeance on the whole world is very near. Look, No wonder the Lord Jesus gave us warning. But let me finish the reading here in Thessalonians. And I want to read again in verse eight. In flaming, fire-taking vengeance on whom? Then they know not God. Aren't you glad I hope you know him? I'm glad I know him. And not only that, on them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus. What's the gospel? When the Lord Jesus was upon the earth, some came to him and said, Master, what shall we do to do the works of God?
And he told them to obey, to obey his word. Have you obeyed the gospel? What's the gospel say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Let me quote Romans one, sixteen again. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God under salvation. To everyone what? That believer. Have you believed? Make sure you have. And note, if I may, in verse nine, the word saying, Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power?
My beloved again, may I say again, I am happy, delighted to present unto the world a Savior. But I am also as faithful as I should be to remind the world and everyone in this audience, if they're not saved, that they're day of vengeance. How kind of the Lord. Let's finish our reading in Luke four quickly. And see the result. Unfortunate result. And in verse twenty-one, in verse twenty, he closed the book.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, Know what he said. This day is this Christian full-feeling, nor is he. Hallelujah. He came to full-fill the word of God to be a savior. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. What was their reaction? Note in verse twenty-two. Though they bear him witness and wandered and marveled at the gracious words, I don't know what he said. He must have said, I wish I could have heard that, Vernon, that proceeded out of his mouth.
But it's... Well, this is Joseph's son. Oh, boy, wait a minute. They should have said, he must be the Savior. And then he knew their heart. He knew his audience what they were like. Yes, he said. And you probably would say to me, physician, heal myself. What you've done in Capernaum and elsewhere, do it here. Then he makes the statement, a prophet is not without honor saved in his own country. And truth from the Old Testament scripture that according to the history of God's earthly people in the past, they did not listen to the words of the prophet.
And the strange thing, did you notice the end of the reading? Let me go back down to the end, please. Verse twenty nine. They rose up and they thrust him out of the city. They led him unto the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down there long. But he passing through the midst of them went his way. But I want you to notice something in verse thirty-two. They were astonished at his doctrine that, for his word, was with power. My beloved, let me say again, Oh, the greatest