The Plowman

Gospel Preaching [ 36:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (51)

Gospel Preaching: Gospel of Luke #13

This is an exposition of Luke 4:14-29. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 15, 2016.

Intro:

It has become quite an issue in the last few years.  Hotly debated in seminary classrooms, seminars and conferences.  What is the role of Gospel preaching within the church?  Some are arguing that the sermon is an outdated method.  Sermons have no place in today’s worship service – some of you are thinking, “Amen to that!”  We live in a visual age.  With television and the internet being our primary means of communication.  Vivid images and short – “sound bites” is the argument.  Sermons are boring.  “That preacher is like the energizer bunny he just keeps going and going and going.”  I know that the standard fare on Sunday afternoon is roast preacher – I do the same thing!  We’ve all had to endure dull, lifeless preaching.  But the answer is not in throwing out the sermon.  The answer is a return to Gospel preaching.  Preaching that points to Christ.  Preaching that is true to the Word of God.  Preaching that is solidly biblical.  Everyone has his or her idea of a great preacher.  I have my favorites.  You may not care for them at all.  You may like someone that I don’t care for.  But we can all agree that the greatest preacher who ever lived was the Lord Jesus!  He spoke as no other man ever spoke.  He spoke as one having authority.  When He talked people listened.

I want us to look to the Lord Jesus and learn something about Gospel preaching.  Now hold on.  I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “It’s bad enough we have to set through a sermon but a sermon on sermons!  Wrong crowd preacher save that one for a meeting of your preacher buddies.”  We all have something to learn in this area because you preach the Gospel every day.  Every time you speak to a neighbor or coworker about Christ – you’re “preaching Christ.”  Your very lifestyle is preaching Christ.  When others know that you are a believer they are watching you.  Everything you do is declaring something about Christ.  But I will acknowledge it applies specifically to what I’m doing right now.  Yet it is something that we all must consider as more and more churches abandon the sermon for theatre.  What is to be the role of the sermon?  How can we most accurately present the message of Christ and God’s grace?  To help us with that I want us to take a look at Luke 4:14-29.

Text: Luke 4:14-29

Nazareth was filled with excitement.  One of their own has returning.  He left town and obscure carpenter, He is returning a renowned rabbi.  Great crowds are following Him.  Reports of great miracles accompany Him.  Almost a year has passed between Luke 4:13 and Luke 4:14.

Jesus is returning to His hometown following a fairly successful year of ministry.  He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem; He’s already had His conversation with Nicodemus and visited with the woman at the well.  Word is spreading rapidly so folks in the hometown synagogue are excited when He stands up to take the scroll and read from the prophets.  His text was a favorite of the people.  It was a messianic passage describing the work of God’s Anointed One.  After closing the scroll He sits down, indicating this was an “official” message.  The crowd waits with breathless anticipation.  Their initial response is one of wonder and amazement.  But as the message sinks in they become furious.  In fact they get so upset they want to kill Him!

[Read the text]

Thesis: Gospel preaching rather than being focused on results is consumed with the glory of God.

As we explore this great passage we learn three important characteristics about Gospel preaching.  Three timeless truths that relate to us today.

1. Because of this focus on God’s glory, Gospel preaching relies on the power of the Holy Spirit and not press clippings and reputation.  (4:14-15)
2. Gospel preaching plainly, simply sets forth the great truths of God’s grace and the Savior’s provision.  (4:16-21)
3. Gospel preaching pierces the heart.  (4:22-29)

You see Gospel preaching rather than being focused on results is consumed with the glory of God.

That is why it:

• Relies on the power of the Holy Spirit and not press clippings and reputation.
• Plainly, simply sets forth the great truths of God’s grace and the Savior’s provision.
• And pierces the heart of those who hear it.

The Overcoming Life [ 32:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (46)

The Overcoming Life: Gospel of Luke #12

This is an exposition of Luke 4:1-13. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 8, 2016.

Intro:

It is a common syndrome.  The “Monday Morning” quarterback.  The guy, who the day after the game, has all the answer about how they could have won the game.  9 times out of 10 they are experts in stating the obvious.  “You know if they had scored more points that the other team – they would have won the game.”  They seldom offer any real insight into the game or offer anything constructive for the future.  Of course such thinking is not limited to sports.  You have the same thing in politics.  An endless number of analysts from the right, the left, the center, the far right, far left and every oddball group has to put in their two cents worth (Most deserving  some change!).  Now we have “legal” analysts seconded guessing every court decision and jury verdict.  Everyone is an expert and yet according to the experts, no one ever gets it right!

The same can be said in the spiritual realm.  A growing number of “experts” and analyst sharing insights into victorious living.  Offering play by play analysis on how to have victory, claim dominion and live as a child of the king.  You’ll have to excuse me if I do not show the proper enthusiasm for these experts showing us the way to the promise land.  But I’m convinced there is only One who has ever lived or ever will live the victorious Christian life.  Only one who has been “sold out for Jesus” and lived the “surrendered life” and that is the Lord Jesus himself.  He is our model.  Scripture is our guide.  We have our expert and He provides insight worth listening to.

This morning I want us to consider what He taught us concerning the proper response to temptation.  Our text is found in Dr. Luke’s gospel Luke 4 Luke 4:1-13

Text: Luke 4:1-13

Temptation is a universal problem.
If you say you do not struggle with temptation – you probably lie about other things too!
We are all tempted in many ways – from various sources.
By what we see.
By what we hear.
By our thoughts.
From without and from within.

Like Flip Wilson we are quick to claim “The devil made me do it” but few if any of us have ever actually dealt with the devil.

The Lord Jesus on the other hand dealt with him – head to head – straight on.
It was a showdown in the wilderness.
According to our text it was in the desert that this battle took place.

Between the inhabited part of Judea and the Dead Sea was a stretch of wilderness 35 miles by 15 miles.  It was called Jeshimmon which means “The Devastation.”  The hills were like dust heaps; the limestone looked blistered and peeling; the rocks were bare and jagged; it glowed with heat like a vast furnace.  It was in this region that our Lord met the enemy.

Let’s take care of a few preliminary issues before moving on.

Luke, more than any other gospel writer presents the Lord Jesus as our sympathetic
High priest.  The writer of Hebrews says we have a high priest who understands our weakness and our struggles because he has been tempted in all points as we are – yet he is without sin.  This story is central to Luke’s presentation.  Remember a gospel is a selective history with a purpose.

The scripture is clear on this matter.  Our Lord experienced temptation.  On that there is no debate.  From that truth we can debate many interesting things.  Is it that he could have sinned but did not or that he could not sin?  Was sin a legitimate option for Him?  Some, stressing the humanity of the Lord Jesus, argue that it was possible for him to sin.  Others, stressing the deity of the Lord Jesus, argue that as God he could not sin.  Which is it?  I don’t know.  The end result is the same – He did not sin.  Yet somehow, on some level He most certainly did experience real, legitimate, genuine temptation.  Similar to ours?  Yes.  Exactly like ours?  No.

Jesus was the GodMan.  Fully God and fully man.  You cannot consider His humanity apart from His deity or His deity apart from His humanity.  He was unique.  But it was in the same manner – tempted at the same points – through the same means – experiencing the same struggles – yet different.  That doesn’t make it any less real.  You and I cannot experience the “same” temptation.  For it to be the same would require the exact same circumstances as well as our having the same personality, likes, dislikes, desires etc.

The issue as far as I’m concerned is that our Lord faced temptation and rose above it.  The kingdom of darkness sent it’s best man, took its best shot and failed!

In responding to temptation, our Lord establishes a pattern we can follow.

As we explore the text of Luke 4 we find three characteristics of an over-comer and how he faces temptation.

1. An over-comer relies solely on God’s gracious provision.  (4:1-4)
2. An over-comer yields unwaveringly to God’s Sovereign rule.  (4:5-8)
3. An over-comer refuses to presume upon God’s goodness.  (4:9-13)

3 common areas of temptation

1. The temptation to take matters into your own hands.
2. The temptation to compromise to get what you want.
3. The temptation to presume upon God’s grace.

How do you over-come such temptations?
Trust God’s gracious provision no matter what.
Refuse to bow to any other god.
Do not presume upon God’s goodness but trust in His grace.

Lessons from the Family Tree [ 31:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (41)

Lessons from the Family Tree: Gospel of Luke #11

This is an exposition of Luke 3:23-38. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, May 1, 2016.

Intro:

Years ago Dr. Adrian Rogers became the pastor of the historic Bellevue Baptist Church of Memphis Tennessee.  It was a grand old church within the Southern Baptist Convention and had been pastored by R.G. Lee and Ramsey Pollard who were pulpit giants within the convention.  Dr. Rogers came to the church as a 40 year-old man from Florida and some of the grand ladies of the South were concerned about his lineage.  One of the ladies approached Dr. Rogers and ask, “Sir, who are your people?”  Dr. Rogers, knowing what and why she was asking said, “Well Mam, my family goes back to a drunken sailor and a crooked farmer.  The sailor’s name was Noah and the farmer’s name was Adam.”  Family is important.  We need to know who we are and where we come from.  Family histories give us grounding and connect us with the past.  This is why there is such fascination with genealogy and family origins.  Someone in my mother’s family decided to research our history.  They barely got started when they found a whole bunch of the family were hung for stealing horses!  They stopped the search afraid of what they might find.  Genealogy has always been important.  Remembering the family story connected folks with the past and the wisdom of those who had gone before.  So it was with Israel.  The Jews of Jesus day maintained their identity by remembering their fathers all they way back to the 12 original tribes.  This remembrance was first transmitted orally but later was recorded for the generations to come.  Knowing who you were was tied directly to knowing from whence you came – witness the numerous genealogies of the Old Testament.  Luke is about to introduce the public ministry of Jesus and he begins with a genealogy in the ancient style.  Our text this morning is found in Luke the 3 beginning with the 12:23.

Text: Luke 3:23-38

Yes, this is normally one of those “skimming” passages.
When we come to these “son of” or “begat” texts we hit the snooze button or skip over it.
But it is here for a reason.
God the Holy Spirit thought it was something we ought to know.

As we reflect on this text we discover that…

Thesis: Contained within this genealogy is the glory of the Gospel: Jesus the Son of God, the Son of Man, Savior of all who will trust in Him.

There is one technical matter we must take up in connection with this passage.  Luke is giving us the genealogy of Jesus.  Matthew gives us a genealogy as well, Matthew 1:1-17.  Even a casual reading of the two make it plain they are different!  They are not the same.  There are overlaps.  There are some common names but they are different.  In Luke we read that Jesus’ grandfather is Heli.  In Matthew it is Jacob.  Well, everyone has two grandfathers.  Yes, but both are connected to Joseph in the text.  There are other differences.  Matthew goes back to Abraham while Luke goes back to Adam.  In addition there there are nearly 40 names that are different.  Most of them between David and Jesus.  How do we explain this?  Did one or both of the gospel writers make a mistake?  There are various theories.

One theory is that both Matthew and Luke record the family tree of Joseph but they do it in two different ways.  That Matthew gives the legal descendants of David and Luke gives the bloodline.  In effect Matthew and Luke are asking different questions.  Matthew is asking, “Who is the next king of Israel?”  Luke is asking, “Who was this person’s father?”  This is reasonable but not provable.  The other main theory is to say that Matthew gives Joseph’s family line while Luke gives Mary’s family line.  Thus Jesus was descended from David through two different lines, one on each side of the family.  This would mean that Mary and Joseph were distant cousins.  This would be consistent with Jewish culture and tradition.

Then why would Luke refer to Joseph as the son of Heli?  There are 2 possibilities one being that Joseph was adopted by Heli because he had no sons.  The other possibility is that the son of Heli doesn’t refer to Joseph at all but rather skips to Jesus.  This could be supported by the language of the text.  In keeping with custom all the names in the list have the definite article attached except for Joseph.  “The Heli, the Matthat and so on.  Joseph is simply Joseph.  The reference of Joseph is a parenthesis pointing back to the virgin birth.  Thus Luke says, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph.   That Jesus was the son (descendant) of Heli.

All things considered I think it best to say Matthew and Luke give two different genealogies.  Matthew the genealogy through Joseph, his legal father and Luke through Mary his actual mother.  After all his humanity came through his mother.

There are three observations I want to make related to this text.

1. The genealogy of Jesus connects our blessed Lord with our common humanity.
2. The genealogy of Jesus shows He is the fulfillment of God’s promise.
3. The genealogy of Jesus declares Him the Savior of all who will trust in Him.

Conclusion:
…made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  (Hebrews 2:17)

He is connected to our common humanity.
He is the fulfillment of God’s promise.
He is the Savior of all who will trust in Him.

Hallelujah what a Savior!

Biblical Faithfulness: Its Source and Demands [ 47:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (43)

Biblical Faithfulness: Its Source and Demands: Gospel of Luke #10

This is an exposition of Luke 3:15-22. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, April 24, 2016.

Intro:

We were on vacation.  Bouncing along a rugged gravel road toward the boat dock for an afternoon out on the lake.  It was Saturday.  Our kids were small and they asked what every preacher’s kid wants to know when on vacation, “Do we have to go to church tomorrow?”  I said, “No.  We don’t have to – we get to!”  I then asked them a question.  “Who’s the best preacher you’ve ever heard?”  Jessie immediately shouted, “Papa!”  Zac, without a moment’s hesitation said, “Of course we haven’t heard very many.”  We’ve all got our favorite preachers.  There are those we love to listen to.  The ones we can’t seem to get enough of and then there are those we don’t care for.  He was quite a preacher.  People came from great distances to hear him.  They traveled from the city into the wilderness to hear him declare the word of the Lord.  His unorthodox manner, his prophetic dress, his fiery delivery all added to the allure but the great draw was the anointing of God.  After 400 years of silence the voice of the prophet was heard in the Land.  One crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”  He was gaining national fame.  He was the talk of the town and the source of messianic speculation.  Such things could easily turn a man’s head not to mention his heart.  Yet John the Baptizer was a man on a mission.  A man devoted to the task assigned and thus a model for ministry.  Our text this morning is found in the 3rd chapter of Luke’s Gospel.

Text: Luke 3:15-22

Dr. Luke has quickly taken us through the birth narrative.
We’ve been given insight into the birth of the Messiah and his forerunner.
Both the result of the special work of God.
We have witnessed the birth of the Savior and the unusual events surrounding it.
We have heard the testimonies of Simeon and Anna in the temple compound.
We’ve looked at the lone snapshot of our Lord’s childhood.

Last time we witnessed the dramatic rise of John’s ministry rooted in the Word of God, calling for repentance and exalting the Lord Jesus.

This morning we are going to back up and look again at John and then witness the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry.  We begin with Luke 3:15 of Luke 3.

[Read Text]
As we think about the task assigned to us, as the church and as individual believers, there is a goal we must keep ever before us.  Faithfulness.  Faithful to God.  Faithful to Scripture.  Faithful to the assignment.  Faithful to one another.  Faithful to biblical standards.  Faithfulness isn’t easy.  The Old Testament is in large part a record of Israel’s unfaithfulness.  An honest look at our own lives reveal the same failings.  Yet faithfulness is the goal.

Thesis:  As we work our way through Luke’s narrative of John’s ministry and the baptism of the Lord Jesus we discover two demands of biblical faithfulness and its source.

1. Biblical faithfulness demands a Christ-centered, Christ-exalting ministry.  (3:15-17)
2. Biblical faithfulness demands faithfulness no matter what the cost.  (3:18-20)
3. Biblical faithfulness begins with a sold grasp on the person of the Lord Jesus.  (3:21-22)

Conclusion:
Why does this matter?  What is the point?  Why is it in the text?  How does it relate to our faithfulness?  Jesus of Nazareth is the unique, one and only, beloved Son of the living God.  He is an obedient Son who is the joy and delight of His Father.  Here at the beginning there is the acknowledgement that he is to be numbered with transgressors.  He is agreeing to the Father’s plan to redeem sinful, fallen men and women.  How does this connect to our faithfulness?  When you come to trust in the Lord Jesus.  When you repent of your sin and trust in Christ alone.  You are united with Christ.  His righteousness becomes your righteousness.  When the Father looks at you he sees the perfect righteousness of his Son the Lord Jesus.  Thus, you are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter and with you I am well pleased.

Accepted and beloved of the Father because of the Son.
My life of faithfulness is one of gratitude and devotion to the One who so loves me.
This is glorious, life altering truth.
This is Gospel truth.
It demands our lives, our souls, our all.