Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
5, 2015
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words
Video=75wpm
Luke was a doctor and a travelling companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was in prison.
In writing his book, Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel
of Mark, as well as extensive eyewitness accounts.
Jesus’ ministry has begun, and the people have been amazed not just at the
things He’s been teaching, but the things He’s been doing.
Last week we read that after spending the entire night in prayer on the
mountain, Jesus choose twelve to be His “apostles”.
6:17-19 Healing the multitudes
:17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of
His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and
from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of
their diseases,
:18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were
healed.
:19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from
Him and healed them all.
:17 down … level place
level place – pedinos
–level, plain
Jesus had been up on a mountain praying.
It was while He was on the mountain that He called His disciples
together and chose twelve to be His apostles.
Now they come down the mountain onto a plain.
:17 a crowd of His disciples and
a great multitude
crowd – ochlos
– a crowd
multitude – plethos
– a multitude
great – polus
– many, much, large
:17 (the people came from) Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon
Video: Judea to Sidon map
Jesus is teaching in the area of the Galilee, the northern part of Israel.
Judea is the southern area of Israel.
Jerusalem is the religious capital of Israel.
Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities to the north of Galilee in modern
Lebanon.
:17 to hear Him and be healed
be healed – iaomai
– to cure, heal; to make whole
diseases – nosos
– disease, sickness
People were coming for two reasons.
They wanted to hear Him teach.
They came to be healed.
:18 tormented … healed
tormented – ochleo
– (from ochlos, “multitude”) to
excite a mob against one; to trouble, molest; be in confusion, in an uproar;
molested, troubled
healed – therapeuo
– to serve, do service; to heal, cure, restore to health
Some of the healing involved the
casting out of demonic spirits.
:19 touch … power … healed
touch – haptomai – to
fasten one’s self to, adhere to, cling to; to touch
It’s the word that Luke used to
describe Jesus healing a leper:
(Luke 5:13 NKJV) Then He put out His
hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the
leprosy left him.
The woman with the bleeding problem touched Jesus:
(Matthew 9:20 NKJV)
And
suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and
touched the hem of His garment.
When Peter, James, and John were
terrified by hearing God say, “This is My beloved Son” …
(Matthew 17:7 NKJV) But Jesus
came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”
power – dunamis – strength,
power, ability
When the bleeding woman “touched” Jesus’ garment, Mark records,
(Mark 5:30 NKJV) And Jesus,
immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in
the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
healed – iaomai
– to cure, heal; to make whole
:19 and healed them all
Lesson
Jesus heals today
Some people have taken this phrase to teach that Jesus heals everyone, all
the time.
Jesus healed all the people who touched Him at that time, but I don’t think
that is the case all the time.
If everyone was healed every time, then how come believers die?
How come God chose not to heal Paul when he asked three times?
(2
Corinthians 12:8–9 NKJV) —8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord
three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
There may be times that God chooses to let us go through
illness.
But Jesus does heal today.
The Bible says,
(Hebrews
13:8 NKJV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
It is important that we ask.
(James
5:13–16 NKJV) —13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful?
Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the
church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord. 15 And the
prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he
has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much.
You can pray. You
can ask for the elders to anoint you with oil.
You can have hands laid on you.
You can pray for each other. And
yes you can go to the doctor.
The rest is up to God.
6:20-26 Good News/Bad News
Verses 20-49 is going to sound very familiar. You are going to think we’re looking at the “Sermon
on the Mount” (Mat. 5-7).
Except Jesus isn’t on a mountain.
He’s just come down from the mountain.
I think that this is a different time and a different place. With
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus hadn’t yet chosen His disciples (that happened
in Matt. 10:1).
I think what this shows us is that Jesus probably said many of the same
things at different times, sometimes with slight variation, in all the various
places He went to.
The first section is similar to the “Beatitudes”. In Luke’s account there are four positives
and four corresponding negatives.
(Luke 6:20–26 NKJV)
—20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are
you poor, For yours is
the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you
shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you
shall laugh. 22 Blessed are
you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son
of Man’s sake. 23
Rejoice
in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like
manner their fathers did to the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. 25 Woe to you
who are full, For you
shall hunger. Woe to you
who laugh now, For you
shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did
their fathers to the false prophets.
Because the four negatives are the exact opposite of the four positives,
we’re going to take them a little out of order and pair them up and examine
them together.
:20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are
you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
:24 “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.
:20 Blessed are you poor
:20 blessed – makarios –
blessed, happy
This is the “good news”.
:24 woe – ouai (“oi”) – alas,
woe; an exclamation of grief
This is the “bad news”
Even though Matthew records Jesus saying in the Sermon on the Mount,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit”, Luke records Jesus saying in the “Sermon on
the Plain” “Blessed are you poor”. And
when you look at the corresponding “Woe to you who are rich”, Jesus seems to
clearly be talking about money, not spiritual poverty.
Lesson
Wealth
In America, some seem to think that the goal in life is to become rich.
And yet money can create a large problem for people finding God.
Jesus said,
(Luke
18:25 NKJV) For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Paul wrote to address the issue of the false teachers who were teaching
people that if they became close to God, they would become wealthy. Paul wrote,
(1 Timothy 6:6–10
NKJV) —6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
It is a good thing to become closer to God, as long as you
find contentment in what you already have been given to God.
7 For we
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out.
Your IRA and 401K cannot be able to be transferred into
heaven.
8 And having
food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
As long as he had something to eat and something to wear,
Paul was good.
9 But those
who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many
foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love
of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed
from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows.
People who live their whole lives aimed at making more
money are going to leave this life with nothing.
This isn’t only a problem for people who have large bank
accounts. Those of us with small bank
accounts can fall into the same trap when we live for money.
Illustration
If Danny Simpson had known more about guns, he might not
have needed to rob the bank. But in 1990, in Ottawa, Canada, this 24-year-old
went to jail, and his gun went to a museum. He was arrested for robbing a bank
of $6,000 and then sent to jail for six years. He had used a .45 caliber Colt
semi-automatic, which turned out to be an antique made by the Ross Rifle
Company, Quebec City, in 1918.
The pistol was worth up to $100,000—much more than Danny
Simpson had stolen. If he had just known what he carried in his hand, he
wouldn't have robbed the bank.
Arnell Motz,
pastor of International Evangelical Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;
source: The Province (of
Vancouver, British Columbia) (9-19-90)
Sometimes the thing we need is something we already have.
If you don’t have a lot of money in this world, the truth is that money isn’t
all there is to life. Our rewards are
somewhere else…
:20 For yours is the kingdom of God
Lesson
Our Kingdom
Through this entire section, keep this thought in mind.
Jesus is contrasting what life is like here on planet earth with what life
is like in heaven.
It’s also the contrast between what life is like without
knowing Jesus with what life is like now knowing Jesus.
When you open your heart to Jesus, the kingdom of God is
“within” you. There’s a heavenly seed in
your heart.
You may never have much money while on this planet, but
you can have greater riches inside your heart.
In heaven, we will be living where the streets are paved
with gold.
On this 4th of July weekend, I’d like to talk about kingdoms.
When Jesus stood trial before Pilate…
(John
18:36 NKJV) Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom
were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered
to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
We need to be careful that we don’t look to the United States of America as
our “kingdom”.
It seems that our country continues to slip further and
further from God’s standard of morality.
You don’t have to be angry at the U.S.
This is not where we expect our reward.
Paul wrote that our citizenship is in heaven. (Phil. 3:20)
(Philippians
3:20 NKJV) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait
for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Don’t misunderstand me, with all its faults, we are still truly blessed to
be living in the United States of America.
Video: I’m Putting Up The Flag
Pray that Christians have a greater effect on our society,
and that we learn to truly be salt and light.
Just don’t expect America to fulfill what your heart
needs.
:24 consolation – paraklesis
– a calling near, summons, (esp. for help); exhortation, admonition,
encouragement; consolation, comfort, solace; that which affords comfort or
refreshment
:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled.
:25 Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger.
:21 hunger – peinao
– to hunger; to suffer want; to be needy
:21 you shall be filled – chortazo
– to feed with herbs, grass, hay, to fill, satisfy with food, to fatten; to
fill or satisfy men; to fulfil or satisfy the desire of any one
:25 who are full – empiplemi
– to fill up, fill full; to take one’s fill of, glut one’s desire for,
satisfy, satiate
:25 hunger – peinao
– to hunger; to suffer want; to be needy
:21 Blessed are you who hunger now
Lesson
Hunger
Think again of contrasting this world with the kingdom of God.
There are times in this world when we are painfully aware that this world
does NOT satisfy.
Some of us have found out the hard way that cramming the wrong things into
the emptiness of our lives leaves us empty.
If the things of this world make you feel “full”, you will find a day when
you will still be hungry.
A few weeks ago on Thursday night we talked about the principle that
sometimes you find truth in the most unexpected places.
Everything about this commercial is about man being
satisfied with the wrong things. But at
the end of every commercial he says one wise thing, “Stay thirsty my friends”.
We need to “stay thirsty”, or “stay hungry”.
Not for the things of this world, but for the things of
God.
If we stay thirsty for the things of God, we will find
real fulfillment.
The church of Laodicea thought they were “full”. Jesus told them,
(Revelation 3:17
NKJV) Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked—
This is what happens when a person if “full” of the things
of this world.
In contrast,
(John 6:35 NKJV) And Jesus
said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger,
and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Let Him be what satisfies your hunger.
:21 Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.
:25 Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.
:21 weep – klaio
– to mourn, weep, lament
:21 laugh – gelao
– to laugh
:25 mourn – pentheo
– to mourn
:25 weep – klaio
– to mourn, weep, lament
:21 Blessed are you who weep now
Lesson
Joy
Where do you find your joy?
Do you find your joy in the things of this world?
There are lots of things in this life that can give us happiness.
Not all of them are wrong.
But the ultimate joy ought to be from Jesus, from being connected to His
kingdom.
I don’t think that means we have to wait until Jesus comes back or we die
and go to heaven.
I think we can experience godly joy now, when we open ourselves to God’s
presence.
David wrote,
(Psalm
16:11 NKJV) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness
of joy; At Your
right hand are pleasures forevermore.
For me one of the times I experience this is during
worship.
Sometimes joy doesn’t come immediately.
Jesus said that if you weep “now”, in this life, at this moment, you shall
laugh later.
Sometimes joy takes time.
David wrote,
(Psalm
30:5 NKJV) For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is
for life; Weeping may
endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And
revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.
:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is
great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to
the false prophets.
:22 hate – miseo
– to hate, pursue with hatred, detest
:22 exclude – aphorizo
– to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate; in a bad
sense: to exclude as disreputable
:22 revile – oneidizo
– to reproach, upbraid, revile
:22 cast out – ekballo
– to cast out, drive out, to send out
:23 rejoice – chairo
– to rejoice, be glad; to rejoice exceedingly
:23 leap for joy – skirtao
– to leap
:23 reward – misthos
– dues paid for work; used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and
endeavors
:22 Blessed are you when men hate you
Note that this “hate” towards us is not because we are jerks or mean
people, it’s because of Jesus.
Lesson
Approval
I think that there is a sense that we’re all looking for approval.
We want to be recognized.
We want to be known.
We want to be appreciated.
The problem comes when we are looking to the wrong people for approval.
If we are looking for people to speak well of us, we might fall into the
trap of not standing up for what the truth is.
Jesus wants us looking for God’s approval.
We live in a time when the world looks at Bible believing Christians with
disapproval more and more.
The world has swallowed the lie that because the Bible condemns the sin of homosexuality,
that all Christians must hate homosexuals.
The Bible does teach that homosexuality is wrong, but it is just one of
many things that are wrong.
Paul wrote,
(1
Corinthians 6:9–11 NKJV) —9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves,
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God. 11
And
such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Is it wrong to commit adultery? Is it wrong to be a thief? Is it wrong to blackmail people?
These are all things that separate us from God and can
result in a person not inheriting the kingdom of God, just like homosexuality.
The church is made up of sinners who have been saved from
their sin. Every single person who will
go to heaven was a sinner saved by God’s grace.
Did Jesus love sinners?
Of course He did. Should we love
sinners? Of course we should.
Jesus loved us sinners so much He died on the cross to pay
for our sins.
Jesus loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to
leave us as we are.
Part of coming to Christ involves repentance, being
willing to admit you are a sinner and choosing to turn away from your sin.
Should you find yourself facing persecution for following after Jesus
Christ, know that you’re in good company
Last week we talked about how the apostles all died martyrs’ deaths except
for John.
They weren’t the last to do so (from Fox’s
Book of Martyrs)
Timothy was rebuking the people of Ephesus for their pagan feasts
when he was beaten to death by clubs.
Paul – was put to
death by the sword at the command of Caesar Nero.
Mark (author of
gospel of Mark) – was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria while they
worshipped their god Serapis.
Luke – was hanged
on an olive tree, by the idolatrous priests of Greece.
Whose approval counts most to
you? The people of this world, or Jesus?
The opinion we want to covet most is the opinion that God has about us.
If it is enough that Jesus is for us, then it can be okay
if others reject us.
Are you a sinner today who needs to be washed and forgiven? Are you longing for Jesus to turn around and
accept you?