Missions Trip To Bolivia Sermon#1- Why Do You Call Me Lord And Do Not Do What I Say
This week the youth in this church got to take a look at Jeremiah 1:1-10. We saw that the LORD called Jeremiah and touched his mouth and gave him the words that he was to speak. Then the LORD told Jeremiah, “I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Jeremiah was given a powerful ministry that would reveal God’s truth and accomplish a lot, however, Jeremiah’s ministry was just a glimpse of the powerful ministry that the LORD Jesus Christ would one day have.
Jeremiah was the LORD’s prophet; Jesus is the LORD Himself.
Jeremiah was given the Word of the LORD to speak; Jesus is the Word made flesh.
Jeremiah’s ministry would be characterized by plucking up, breaking down, destroying, overthrowing, building and planting; Jesus’ ministry would be far greater than Jeremiah’s!
When God called Jeremiah to this ministry Jeremiah protested because he did not feel like he was qualified. Jeremiah knew that the LORD would have to send His promised Servant to do an even greater ministry. The LORD has done this by sending His Son and anointing Him with His Spirit to proclaim Good News and to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. Jesus, the Son of God, is greater in every way than all of the prophets who had been sent before. {This includes John the Baptist who Jesus said was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets in Matthew 11:11.}
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry He was baptized by John the Baptist and then He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested. We read in Luke 4:14-15, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus described His ministry by saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Three times in these two verses we are told that Jesus came proclaiming the Good News. Verse 18 begins with two proclamations. Verse 19 ends with Jesus proclaiming something. In between we see that Jesus was anointed with great power as He…
set at liberty the captives
gave spiritual sight to the blind (Psalm 40:12)
set at liberty those who are oppressed
and as He proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
Because of these things news about Jesus began to spread throughout the whole countryside. We read in Luke 4:15, “And Jesus taught in the synagogues, being glorified by all.” Let me make two observations about this verse.
First, notice where Jesus began to teach and to preach.
It was in the synagogues. Throughout Jesus’ ministry He taught in all sorts of places. He taught from a boat, from a dinner table, from a mountainside, in the Temple, He taught in homes, in towns and villages, and in every other place imaginable.
But everything began when Jesus began teaching in the synagogues where God’s people gather together to hear the Word of the LORD. Matthew 4:17 tells us what the message was that Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Secondly, notice that all the people ‘glorified’ Him. What does this mean? The word ‘glorified’ means, ‘to praise, to exalt, to magnify, to honor’. This sounds like the appropriate response to Jesus and His teaching, however, this does not mean that the people were placing their faith in Him as their Savior. Matthew says that Jesus’ ‘fame’ began to spread. This means that Jesus was very popular and well liked. Think of the most popular people you know and throw Jesus in with that group.
This is why in John’s gospel we read these words, “...many people believed in Jesus when they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” (2:23-25)
We should ask ourselves,
What will Jesus do so that they will glorify Him as savior and LORD?
What will He do so that the people will believe upon Him so that their sins are forgiven?
What will Jesus do to overcome the evil unbelieving heart that He knows is in every person?
Paul says in Romans 1:16 that the “Gospel is the power of God unto salvation”, and Jesus demonstrates that He believes this. Jesus went throughout all of Israel preaching and teaching the Good News.
I am always encouraged that the people flocked to hear Jesus and the message that He proclaimed.
In Luke 5:1 we read, “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret…”.
In Luke 5:15, “But now even more heard the report about Jesus that went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their infirmities.”
In Luke 6 we read, “And Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases.” (17-18)
As Jesus continued to preach the crowds grew larger. Some of them began to be called His disciples which means that they were following Him and identifying themselves with Him. They were beginning to understand that Jesus is the King of this Heavenly Kingdom and they are beginning to call Jesus ‘Lord’ and ‘Master’.
Observation: Because of Jesus’ teaching this group seems to be progressing from...
speaking well of Jesus,
from seeing Jesus as a popular figure,
from seeing Him as a famous figure,
to seeing Him as the Promised Messiah (Master and LORD).
Those who have truly made Jesus LORD will follow Him even when He is not famous and when His message is not popular!
(!!!!) When Jesus began His ministry these people were watching and listening to Him, however, we also see in all of this that Jesus is watching and listening to all of those who claimed to be His disciples.
{It is one thing to think that we are observing Jesus and drawing our conclusions about Him. There is something comfortable to think that this is how it works. However, it is important for us to realize that we are being watched by Jesus. He is observing us, our hearts and our actions. Jesus is not passive. He is willing to address our sin and faithlessness.}
In John 2:23-25 we saw that Jesus did not entrust Himself to those who believed upon Him because of what He saw in their hearts. Now Jesus addresses His disciples external actions. As Jesus watches these disciples He sees that there is a problem with the profession that they are making. Therefore Jesus preaches to them another sermon in Luke 6:20-49. During this sermon Jesus speaks to them about what it means to be a true disciple. He teaches them…
That this life will not always be easy but their reward in heaven will be great (20-23).
Jesus warns those who love this world and refuse to come to Him (24-26).
Jesus contrasts the love that His disciples are to have and the love of the world (27-36).
Jesus talks about the forgiveness, humility, and sincerity that characterizes His disciples (37-42).
Jesus speaks of the heart that His disciples must have to produce good fruit (43-45).
After speaking about these things Jesus addresses the problem that He has seen in those who are confessing Him as their LORD. They call Him LORD but their hearts are far from Him.
Jesus looks at them and wonders where is their love, forgiveness, humility, sincerity and the fruit of goodness. He looks at how they are treating each other and wonders where is the evidence that they have faith and their hearts are being changed by grace? Therefore, He says to them all, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
Jesus does not go to each person individually and say this. No, He preaches a sermon to everyone and then says this near the end. Did everyone have this problem? I think it is safe to say that in some way we all struggle with this. We all need to hear the Word of God preached to us and to have the Scriptures teach, reproof, correct and train us (2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”).
At the end of this sermon Jesus describes the practical consequences of not obeying His words. Jesus says, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” Jesus then says, “But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
We have seen Jesus do a lot in the opening five chapters of Luke but it is not until Luke 6 that we get to hear one of His sermons. It is in Luke 6 that we get a sample of what He normally taught the people town in every house, town, village, and city.
Jesus intended these words to accomplish what He wanted them to do in the hearts of His disciples. They were to respond with repentance and faith. He wanted to see them move from seeing Him as a famous and as a popular celebrity to entrusting their lives to Him as LORD.
If Jesus preached this message many times then wouldn’t it be fair to conclude that Jesus often called the people to repent and believe by often saying in some form, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” These rebukes were part of Jesus’ ministry to bring the people from speaking well of Jesus, to seeing Him as a celebrity, to calling Him LORD, to displaying real repentance and faith. Illustration of a parent: What parent has not had to patiently teach their children the same lessons over and over again? You do this for their good and for their benefit and the LORD does this to His children.
As pastors we often find ourselves preparing sermons and studying the scriptures while we hear the Holy Spirit ask us, “Why do you call Jesus ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what Jesus says to you?”
When all of us have our personal devotions the Word of God teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains us in righteousness so we can be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We come to the scriptures and they exhort us to respond in repentance and faith.
Our congregations should not tire of our pastors coming to stand before them and letting the Word confront our sin and unbelief. It is a blessing to have a pastor who speaks the truth in love.
Some would not like this to be said every week.
Some would choose not to listen.
Some would say that these words are for someone else to hear and respond too.
Some, however, would hear the Word of God and respond in faith and repentance. Therefore, they receive grace and grow in their walk with Christ and bear much fruit.
No one preached clearer, more powerful, and harder messages than Jesus did. He did this before those who…
liked Him and His messages
and before those who disliked His message (repent and believe), His ministry (a New Covenant of Grace), and His disciples (Jesus came for the sinners, the tax collectors, the unworthy, the sick).
My friends, if we do not come to the Scriptures often to have our minds transformed we will be so confused about Jesus. After Jesus had been teaching these messages for so long there were still so many who disbelieved and professed other things that were not true about Jesus. We see this in Luke 9:18-20 when Jesus asks the 12 disciples, “Who do the crowds says that I am?” Then they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then Jesus asked His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” They replied correctly, “The Christ of God.”
If we listen to this world we may not have the right, scriptural, and biblical view of Jesus. We can have a high view of who He might be but if it is not the biblical view we would be wrong. These 12 disciples stayed close to Jesus and listened and watched Him. They allowed His words to train, correct, rebuke and teach them and their lives withstood the greatest storms in this life.
May I ask you a question? What relationship do you have with the LORD Jesus Christ?
Do you glorify Him (speak well and honor Him but not as LORD)
Is Jesus just some respectable religious teacher- one among others?
Is Jesus just some famous man who ought to be considered?
Or is Jesus your Master and LORD and you obey Him?
Can you say with the Twelve that Jesus is “The Christ of God”?
Do you have a real genuine faith that causes Jesus to entrust Himself to you?
No matter where you find yourself at today Jesus has modeled the way for us to draw closer to Him in faith. The Gospel is the power of God! Listen to His Word and draw close to Him through repentance and faith.