Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Well, it's lovely to see you all and it is a bit scary being up here, but not as scary as I thought. It's nice to look out at people and go, oh, I kind of know everyone, so it's lovely to see you all.
[00:00:14] So today we'd be carrying on just from what Graham was preaching last week, but before we open our Bibles, I think it'll be good if we can pray.
[00:00:24] Lord Jesus, we thank you for this time. We thank you for this Sunday, thank you that we can come here and celebrate you and worship you. We thank you for the time that we get to open your word and learn about you and dig deep and sort of pick apart and really understand what you are telling us this morning. We thank you that we can come here freely. Thank you that we can come here without being persecuted and we pray for those who are as well, in your heavenly name, Amen.
[00:00:50] So if you'd like to open your Bibles, turn your phones on, whatever you've got, if it's helpful to you. We'll be reading from Luke chapter four and it will be from verses 14 to 30. So if I just read it through, it's quite a short passage, so don't worry, it won't take ages.
[00:01:07] Yeah, if you'd like to follow on, that'd be great. I've got the NIV version, so don't get confused. Right. Jesus rejected at Nazareth. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. And news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue. As was his custom. He stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. Isn't this Joseph's son? They asked. Jesus said to them, surely you will quote this proverb to me. Physician, heal yourself and you Will tell me, do here in your home town what we have heard that you did in Capernaum. Truly, I tell you, he continued, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath, in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed. Only Naaman the Syrian. All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out the town and took him to the brow of the hill on which the cliff. No, hold on, guys. The brow of the hill on which the town was built on in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
[00:03:11] Now, to give a bit of backstory for those who don't know where this passage sort of lies in Jesus lifetime. Just before this, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. And he was in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. And that is where not Jesus, that's where Satan tried to tempt him with all sorts of different bits and bobs. If you want to go ahead and read that. But it's just the bit above that of the bit we'll be going into today. But just after that, we can see that he returned to Galilee and then later into Nazareth.
[00:03:40] I think a really important part that would be good to start on is verses 18 and 19. And that's the scripture that Jesus reads when he's in the synagogue. So if I read that, and we'll go from there. So the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Now, this is a very powerful message. This is the first time Jesus has gone out and said, this is who I am. He's given the people there the true identity of Jesus. So just think about it. Jesus is here and he saying this. If I put a bit of a different accent on the word. So he goes, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me. This is Jesus saying, the Father has anointed him. This is big things to be saying in front of the people who are waiting for this Messiah to come. They've been waiting for years for this person, this Messiah to come.
[00:04:46] So he. He comes before the people and basically goes, yes, I am the Messiah. Yes, I'm the person you've been waiting for. And not to get people confused, he says, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing, so there's no wiggle room. He really, truly has said, I am the Messiah.
[00:05:04] They don't like that.
[00:05:07] They go, no, you can't be the person. They've been waiting such a long time. And when the person comes, they flip on their heads and go, surely it can't be you. And what is their first response with that? It's isn't this Joseph's son? They are changing his identity.
[00:05:26] We know that Joseph actually has no biological relationship with Jesus, which just makes it even funnier. But do you see what I mean? So we have Jesus in the middle. We have God up here, and God is feeding Jesus. This amazing identity of saying, the spirit of the Lord is on you is on Jesus. And he's saying that he has anointed Jesus. The Father has chosen Jesus to be the Messiah, to be the chosen.
[00:05:57] On the other side, Jesus has humans going, but you're only Joseph's son. You're only human. How can it be you? They're putting him in this little box. Our brains can't understand, like the amazing part of Jesus, Jesus is 100% man, which these people understood. They understood that this guy, his mother is Mary, dad kind of is Joseph. So he's a human. He's just like you and me. They got that bit. But the part they didn't understand, or maybe even didn't want to understand, is that he is 100% God. At the same time, I don't understand that. I'm a human too. The only way I can understand that is by saying, jesus, you've given me the gift of faith. And through that I can understand. I'm just going to let it go and say, if you say it, it's true.
[00:06:50] These people didn't want to. They confined him. They pinned him down to be nothing but a human. Not that humans don't have power. We do, but we're not God. They try to go, you're Joseph's son, but he's not. He's the Messiah. He's the person that these people had been waiting for. And they didn't like that. They didn't want that.
[00:07:10] But Jesus was so rooted in the identity that Christ the Father had given him. Jesus knew that. Actually, no, what these people are going to say don't affect me. Because he was rooted. He knew his identity. And what was his identity? He was the Messiah. He was God's chosen son. So if we just skip to the end and sort of verse 29, when they say they got up, drove him out of the town and took him to the brow of the hill which the town was built on in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. These people drove him out a synagogue to go and kill him. But he was so rooted in Christ, he was walking so closely with his Father that he knew, this isn't my time.
[00:07:58] It's like you guys coming up here and saying, no. Jesus awfully going, no, I'm going to walk through. I know this is what Jesus has got to say. That is how short he was of his identity in Christ.
[00:08:13] Now, it would have gone a little bit differently if Jesus wasn't so rooted and so sure with his identity. If he had heard the crowd gone, oh, maybe I am just Joseph's son, it wouldn't have looked the same.
[00:08:30] We need a strong foundation. Jesus had a strong foundation in his Father. Now we have very different switches. It says in verse 22, all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. That sounds pretty good.
[00:08:50] That sounds encouraging. That sounds like they're going, yeah, Jesus, you're doing great. Sounds amazing. So we have this really positive side. And on the other hand, this isn't like weeks later. This is maybe like half an hour later. They're throwing Mum off a cliff. It's very different. There's no stability. The foundation is so rocky. How can you put your trust in what humans are telling you, what the world is telling you? We can't do that. If the world is telling us one thing about our identity, how can we trust it if 20, 20 minutes later, it's a complete switch?
[00:09:21] If Jesus had trusted these people, it would have gone wrong.
[00:09:26] So who are we trusting? What is our identity?
[00:09:31] So now we have us in the middle. I've got Tilly in the middle. I've got Jesus, God the Father up here. And he's giving me an identity. He's giving me an amazing identity. And because I'm a Christian, because I've got the Spirit, the Holy Spirit living inside of me, I have this amazing identity. And I got really excited about this. So if you look around you, maybe on your seats, maybe you're sat on one, you've got a little printed piece of paper.
[00:10:00] Maybe not quite one for everyone, but I think it would be really encouraging for us to sort of just have it written down to see. Who does the Father say I am? What is my identity in him? And listen, these are amazing. This is the identity he's given me. He's given you. If the Spirit is living in you, this is who the Bible says you are. I am God's child. I have been justified. I belong to God. Come on, shout them out to me. These are amazing things. This is what you and me are. Come on, shout out your favorite one on the list.
[00:10:35] Yes. Be strong, Heidi.
[00:10:38] I am forgiven. Yes. Yes.
[00:10:42] Yes. I belong to God. Yes. I'm dead to sin. I am a new creation.
[00:10:48] Aren't they amazing? Aren't they amazing? I'm just tilly up here. We're just humans here. But God is giving us this amazing identity. This identity that we're just going, how can this be me? I'm a broken person. I'm full of sin. I'm not standing up because I'm perfect. Trust me, I'm not. I'm so full of sin. But this is the identity. Christ is the identity the Father is giving us. He wants us to be in his family. Oh, my goodness. The creator of heaven and earth wants me to be his daughter.
[00:11:17] That's crazy. And he wants every single one of us here to be part of his family.
[00:11:23] How crazy.
[00:11:26] So we still have us in the middle. We have God up here, and he's feeding us this amazing identity. These amazing things. On the other hand, we have humans, we have social media.
[00:11:39] We have our families, we have our friends. We have the world. What is the world feeding us?
[00:11:46] You're just a girl. You're weak. You can't do this. You're inexperienced. Hey, maybe these are true. They are true. I am a girl. I'm happy. I am. I don't want to be a boy. I'm happy to be a girl. And I am an experience. There's plenty more in this room. Plenty more people that have lived longer than me. They have more experience. I am weak. I can't be doing that with loads of things. I am weak, but that shouldn't drag me down. That is the identity that the world is giving me. I am going to take the identity that the Father has given me.
[00:12:22] If you are in the middle, will you go with, you're good, but you know you will fail because you're just a human. Or are you going to go with what the Father is Telling you, with this list, I am a holy temple, I am secure, I'm the light of the world. I am safe. It says here, you can check it in the Bible. It's not my making up, making us feel all nice and fuzzy. This is what the Bible is giving us as an identity.
[00:12:49] But how do we get that in our lives? I said I have this identity. I have Christ living in me. I have the Holy Spirit in me. I have the privilege. I have the gift of that. But everyone can have that.
[00:13:01] Everyone in this room, everyone in the world can have that. We all had the same opportunity. God didn't favor one over someone else. He loves us all the same.
[00:13:11] How do we get this gift?
[00:13:15] By accepting it. You don't have to do anything in return. If you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is the son of God, if he is the Messiah, he died for your sins. He rose again three days later.
[00:13:28] And you accept that in your heart. And you know that is the truth. You surrender your life to Christ. It's a free gift. All you have to do is say yes. And this identity, this could be you. You take off the burns, you take off the coat that the world is giving you. Take it off. It's not you anymore. Once you've accepted Christ, you are this amazing identity that Christ has given you. You don't need that one.
[00:13:51] Even if you are this amazing identity on earth, as a human, you could be successful, you could be rich, you could be happy, you could have a great family.
[00:14:01] But are you fulfilled? Do you really have what you need? Or do you feel like there's something still inside of you, you need something else? The world can give you a good identity, but it's still not your true identity.
[00:14:19] And it's simple. We just need to accept Christ in our lives.
[00:14:22] There's no magic potion thing. You just pray that prayer in your heart and you have, you have it. It's a free gift. We need to accept it. It's given freely to you. It's me going, lawson, have some cash. Lawson goes, nah, not sure it's free, Take it. But it's way more than cash. It's an eternal life with Christ.
[00:14:44] Eternally.
[00:14:46] We care a lot about this life. I care a lot about this life. I like to do my hair. I like to buy new jumpers. This is my little identity I've created for myself. But the Father has given me so much more. Not only here, maybe I'll be here for like 80, 90 years. There's an eternity waiting. A whole eternity waiting and we can't take the identity we've made here for ourselves there. It's pointless there. Even if you're rich, even if you have a great identity here, means nothing. Means nothing when you're dead. You need to have this identity. This is you. If you accept Christ and it says in John 14:6, I am the way. Come on, you know this. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Who's me? Jesus.
[00:15:40] There's you here, there's the world. You have God. Jesus is like a little. Think of him as a little bridge you just climb up. He's done it for you. He's given you this new identity. We've messed up in life. I've messed up in life and I'm only 21. And there's plenty more messing up to do. Just leave it. It's not you.
[00:15:58] Just leave it. God has given you this amazing identity right here. But we have to know where we stand.
[00:16:06] You have to know you have a need for this new identity. You can't go, oh, yeah, I'll have the riches and I'll have the fame and I'll also have this identity. You can't have two. You take one off, you're either pleasing the world and having that identity. You're pleasing God. You have the identity he has given you. Now, in the Bible, if it wasn't clear enough that God is trying to give us this identity and we need it, he's given us two very clear examples of two people that knew they had a need.
[00:16:40] Now, it's encouraging to know that Jesus was 100% human, so he knew our physical needs.
[00:16:45] So we have the widow woman in Zarephath. She had a physical need. So for those who don't know, it says the skies were shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine. She was a widow who had almost close to no food. But the spirit of the Lord sent a larger prophet to her. And she used the rest of her food up to make him some bread or something they had back there anyways.
[00:17:13] But the Lord sent Elijah to this woman because he knew her heart. She knew only God could help her now. She had got to rock bottom and she knew she had a need. She had a need for Christ in her life. And what happened to her? Elijah went, had his food and she got blessed. She was able to carry on her life. She had this new identity. She was no longer just surviving, she was thriving.
[00:17:43] That's what God wants for us, a new Identity to just thrive in. So that's our number one, Jesus taking care of our physical needs. He sent Elijah to this lady and long story, she then got loads of, like, flour and loads of oil and she was able to sell it and then get her life up and going again.
[00:18:03] That was enough. Bible gives us another guide to kind of look at and study about again, another physical need. It doesn't have to be sort of like, ah, I'm so spiritually down, which is a true thing. I'm not putting that down. You can be spiritually low. You can be in a spiritual attack. But he also cares about our physical needs. So number one, woman being hungry. Number two, this guy was poorly. He had leprosy. He wasn't the only one that had leprosy there. We're told that there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed. Only Naaman the Syrian. Why was Naaman special to the rest of them? God loves us all the same.
[00:18:45] Why did Jesus just go to Naaman?
[00:18:48] Naaman knew he had a need.
[00:18:51] He knew only God could help him. He had a need.
[00:18:57] We have a need. We can't go with our big ideas. We can't go with our big identities. You have to humble yourself. We have to go with humility and say, I need you. I can't do this. I need you. We're not meant to carry out this life by ourselves.
[00:19:14] If you were here a couple months ago, Esther was preaching and she brought Jo up and someone else and was talking about the spirit man. And how when we're born, we're also born with, like, our spiritual side of us. It's like it's dead. It's inactivated. It needs a little switch. When you give your life to Christ, it's activated. You have another part of you have the spirit man living inside of you.
[00:19:40] That is what we want.
[00:19:43] That is our need. We need that part of our life that isn't activated to be switched.
[00:19:49] And how do we do that? I've said it. We need to bang on to this. Just give your life to Christ.
[00:19:55] Just close your eyes and go, yes. You don't have to do anything back. He took the ultimate sacrifice.
[00:20:03] He is our salvation. We just have to say yes and get this new identity.
[00:20:09] Isn't that amazing? It's a free gift we can just say yes to. We have this new identity in Christ.
[00:20:18] What if we were so sure in our identity, if we were so sure that we are these things on the list do you think we'd be able to walk through a crowd that is trying to kill us?
[00:20:29] Can we walk so closely with the spirit to go. This is not what the Lord has got for me.
[00:20:35] Move away to leave those burdens down. You don't need to carry them.
[00:20:40] God has got it for you. Jesus died on the cross for exactly that. For him to carry it for you. He's given you a new identity. It's a gift. You just accept it. Say yes to Jesus.
[00:20:54] It's simple.
[00:20:56] So, honestly, I don't have much more than that to say.
[00:21:01] I think it's quite clear.
[00:21:05] You have the world and it's giving us an identity. Maybe you like it.
[00:21:10] It's not for you. It's not what God the Father had for you.
[00:21:17] God the Father wants to give you an identity which is so much better.
[00:21:22] So much better. Take this with you. Keep it in your purse. Take a photo of it when you're feeling down. Just remind yourself, this is who I am, that is my worth.
[00:21:35] And you'll be able to walk through crowds that want to kill you. Won't affect you because you are so close with Jesus.
[00:21:44] Isn't that amazing?
[00:21:46] I think it's amazing.
[00:21:50] I'm just going to pray that now, honestly, I don't want to mess up and waffle on with empty words. But, yeah, Jesus, I pray that the words that we've heard this morning. May my waffle just go with the wind. Jesus, may your word stick with us. May that just sort of almost sit heavy in our hearts.
[00:22:10] May we really understand the gift that you gave us. The new identity. You've washed us white. You've taken our sin.
[00:22:18] We pray that we accept it. We pray that we understand what you did for us. We pray that we take this new identity, leave the old one behind.
[00:22:28] In your heavenly name, Jesus. Amen.
[00:22:32] Amen.
