Going Public: Four Responses to Jesus' Ministry

Because when Christ goes public, you'll learn that number one, there is no middle of the road. There's no not responding. So when the gospel hits people, when the presence of Christ invades people's private space, so to speak, they respond. And because that's what the power of Christ's presence and the power of God's word does, it either comforts you or conflicts you. [00:31:42] (24 seconds)  #NoNeutralGround

And Luke writing to his audience of converted people, he's not writing an evangelical gospel as much as he's writing kind of a transformational gospel for people for the most part, not exclusively, but for the most part have been saved, but now they're confused. And remember his intent in writing this was to make sure that Theophilus and everybody else who would hear it could live with a level of certainty based upon fulfillment. [00:32:21] (27 seconds)  #TransformationalGospel

coupled together in one well, we've made it a chapter, but one chapter. And the four scenes are showing us four different responses, if you will, to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the person of Christ, the presence of Christ. And part of it is to ask us, how have you responded? Part of it is to give you comfort when you see people in the world not responding the way that you did. And I think the other part of it is to make sure we're not shocked when we see the people we thought would didn't and the people you never thought would did. [00:34:27] (35 seconds)  #WhichResponseAreYou

The beginning of the public life of Jesus Christ, the transformative private to public life was but the catalyst of that was baptism. We obviously know that it wasn't the catalyst of salvation. How do we know that? Because he didn't need to be saved. He's already saved. But what we can see is that everything publicly changed when he came out of the water. And that's that's what we believe biblically happens when you come out of the water. Like the beginning of a transformative public life for Christ starts with baptism. And once you do that, I promise you this, the world around you is going to respond to that. [00:36:07] (42 seconds)  #PublicLifeBeginsAtBaptism

what Luke would say, do you remember what you had to say? Remember that day you said he's the son of God? Live with that conviction. Don't be shocked that the earth is still saying he's the son of Joseph. Listen, they can't get over the virgin birth. They still haven't gotten their head around the possibility that Mary was actually conceived a child through the presence and the overcoming and overwhelming of the Holy Spirit. They're like, come on, Mary. [00:41:12] (27 seconds)  #LiveWithConviction

Most people don't argue with seeing him in a cradle. But when you put him on a cross, that becomes the issue. Were you able to get to the son of God who died for the sins of the world? That's it. And that certainty is what carries us through a world that is going to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ one way or another. So his identity, I love this, was declared and defined by heaven regardless of their responses on earth. [00:42:00] (29 seconds)  #IdentityDeclaredByHeaven

And note this, he did not become the son of God, which some people believe that he worked his way into that position. That what makes the crucifixion so profound is what was said after his baptism. Not all the miracles, not all those other evidentiary expressions that he is the son of God. What validates the crucifixion is what was said at his baptism, because he already was that. [00:42:29] (29 seconds)  #BaptismValidatedIdentity

Now, we already saw his identity was declared by God. So we know from the Garden of Eden, what does the devil always start with? Doubt, not outright denial. You are not the son of God. He doesn't say that. He comes back with if. If you are the son of God. So we got hell already agreeing to the fact that he might just be that. [00:44:52] (25 seconds)  #EvilStartsWithDoubt

but he already knows that Jesus Christ is gonna be given all the kingdoms of the earth. And his response is to ask Jesus to take a shortcut because the father's going to do that. All the kingdoms and everything will be under his feet, but he's gotta go through the cross first. The devil's already acknowledging that this is true because he's saying, I'll give it to you. But the problem is he knew he had to pay for it. [00:47:37] (31 seconds)  #CrossBeforeCrown

But they saw him grow up in wisdom, stature, and favor of man, Luke two fifty two. Christ declares it. What is their problem? They're too familiar. They're too close. Their proximity around him has caused them an inability to see beyond Nazareth. [00:59:56] (20 seconds)  #TooCloseToSee

And many times, think about it, there's a lot of people. I don't know the number and I hope none of you are here today, but I've heard people say, I I've been a Christian since I was born. No, you hadn't been. You were born a sinner, condemned to death. The only way you you're saved is if you confess, but, no, man, I've been in church every time the doors were open. We were in there, man. I've gone to church my whole life. You could still be going to hell. And I go, what are you talking about? It's because your proximity your whole life has lessened your capacity to understand the totality of his identity. [01:00:16] (34 seconds)  #ProximityIsNotSalvation

He said, oh, it's Jesus. Oh, I love Jesus. Yeah. Which Jesus do you love? Do you love the one that was crying on a cross or do you love the one who has fire in his eyes in the book of Revelation? Do you love the one who came with a word to heal or the one who's gonna come with a sword to destroy? Do you love the one who has the keys to death and Hades? You love that one who's gonna unlock that at the end? And all those who haven't accepted him, he is going to send them straight to hell for all eternity? Is that the one you know? [01:00:50] (33 seconds)  #WhichJesusDoYouLove

then you still have to confess Jesus Christ as lord because the devil agrees with you up to that point. As we saw in the temptation, he's got a lot of truth to declare. But every single solitary person's response is their responsibility. And please don't be deluded into thinking you've been delivered because you spent your whole life close to the message. [01:03:04] (34 seconds)  #ConfessJesusAsLord

And it is always the first most important thing is accepting who he is. They got up angered, and they drove him out of town and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff. The home folk wanted to kill him. The devil just wanted to challenge him. And see, it's imperative. Like, is far more important that Jesus died for you than you kill him. It's far more important that you see him on a cross than throw him off a cliff. [01:04:51] (44 seconds)  #SeeHimOnTheCross

They were amazed at his teaching because his words had authority. See the difference? Now you got a group of very unfamiliar people who probably have never heard his name till this moment. He shows up and goes public, and it isn't, oh, what gracious words. They were amazed at something very important, the authority. And one of the things that will keep people away from Christ more than anything is they don't wanna surrender to the authority of God's word. They wanna pick and choose what parts they're going to surrender to, that they're going to adhere to. They don't want authority over them. But these people heard authority because they were amazed at the teaching because his words had something. Doesn't say clarity. It says authority. And it is imperative that we understand that that is today's greatest challenge. [01:07:29] (65 seconds)  #AuthorityOfHisWord

you're either gonna be saved by this sword or destroyed by the next. Because you need to read Revelation and see what he kills everybody with. A sword. And the bible very clearly says, this is the sword of God. The word of God is his sword. And this is intended to heal. The next one is intended to destroy. [01:12:17] (24 seconds)  #TheWordIsASword

The first one to acknowledge the full authority of Christ right there in the synagogue. This is like, this is the church I wanna be. I wanna be a church where people possessed by the deep by the devil himself feel welcome to come in here. This is a great synagogue. The one in Nazareth, mm-mm. They they just didn't want people that didn't look like them, talk like them, think like them, act like them, believe like them, vote like them. [01:13:39] (24 seconds)  #ChurchForTheBroken