Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes. Jesus was preaching about enjoying a blessed god-like abundant full life living like God paralleled with a bad woe life full of grief living like the devil. So, here, to me, is his theme and point: IF YOU ARE A REAL DISCIPLE THIS IS THE LIFE YOU LIVE. It’s a life living like God. This sermon instructs you not only how to live a god-like life, but how to know with certainty if you are a real follower/disciple of Jesus Christ.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE CHAPTER 6
by Delbert Young
Living Like God (Luke 6:17-16-26)
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Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Scriptures: Luke 6:17-18, Luke 6:19, Luke 6:20-26, Luke 18:25, Luke 14:26, Luke 6:41, Matthew 5:29-30, Proverbs 25:16, Proverbs 27:7, Psalms 82:6, John 10:34-36, John 10:10, Luke 6:46Matthew 26:48-49, Matthew 27:3-5, Acts 1:18, Acts 1:25
Luke 6:17-18 He went down with THEM and stood on a level place. A LARGE CROWD OF HIS DISCIPLES was there AND a great number of PEOPLE from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured
Jesus is about to preach what is called “The Sermon on the Plain.” He’s been up all night praying. How do you feel after being up all night? After selecting and designating the twelve apostles, Jesus went down with them. There are three groups in this gathering: (1) them (the twelve); (2) a large crowd of his disciples; and (3) a great number of people. We know who the twelve are –“them.” The people are those who came specifically to see and receive what they could. Let’s call them “nomads” for clarity. They’re checking out Jesus. The disciples –mathetes {math-ay-tes’} a learner, pupil, disciple – are those who truly want to learn and change and follow.
In every church and spiritual gathering we find the same three groups. By your own truthful positioning, into which group do you best fit? Some come only to get what they can from God – go to heaven, avoid hell, be healed? Once they get it or not, they come no longer, they are nomads. Others are disciples – learners, and pupils. Do you want to change your life? A few are called and designated by Jesus to do something special. Into which of those groups would you place yourself? A reason I ask and point this out is in this sermon Jesus teaches how to know if you are a real disciple, or deceived.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Crowds continued to grow and grow coming to hear the increasingly famous Jesus.
(We’ll look at a map.)
Jesus, at this time, was in Galilee close to Capernaum in open areas to avoid grid-locking towns with people coming from miles away – from all over Judea and Jerusalem (about 80-120 miles). Even gentiles came from Tyre (approx 40 miles), and Sidon (approx 50 miles) (today’s Lebanon).1 All traveled on foot or animal taking days. They camped under the stars and it wasn’t always 70-degree perfect weather. There was rain, heat, cold, etc. That’s intense when we think about it. They went through hardships living outside. There were no women’s rooms or men’s rooms. There were no McDonalds or Subways. No nurseries were provided. Still, they came. Would you do that? Yes, you would, and yes you do.
Luke 6:19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him AND HEALING THEM ALL.
Jesus was “the” personality of the day. Everyone wanted to meet Jesus, see Jesus, hear Jesus, and touch Jesus. The Bible says he healed them all. Power (dunamis) was coming from him.
Why are you at church today? Why do you get up Sunday mornings, bathe, dress, load the automobile (a chore for some with small children), drive (some of you 20-30 miles one way and some even more) sometimes in the rain or cold, get here, sing some praise, listen to me talk for 40-50 minutes, give money, and then drive back to your homes? And, you do it every week. Why? When you think about that, isn’t that pretty intense and phenomenal? You are far hungrier for God than you realize? Some of us are true disciples wanting to change.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
You not only want Jesus to touch you and you him. You want to hear his words and change. Power comes from him today. Making all this even more phenomenal and intense is we can multiply that by every church and it’s not from only “Judah, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon.” It’s from every city around the planet people come – billions of us, but how many are real disciples?
Luke 6:20-26 Looking at his DISCIPLES, he said: “BLESSED are you who are POOR, for yours is the kingdom of God. BLESSED are you who HUNGER NOW, for you will be satisfied, BLESSED are you who WEEP NOW, for you will laugh, BLESSED are you when men HATE YOU, when they EXCLUDE YOU and INSULT YOU and REJECT YOUR NAME as evil, because of the Son of Man, “REJOICE in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
“But WOE to you who are RICH, for you have already received your comfort. WOE to you who are WELL FED now, for you will go hungry, WOE to you who LAUGH NOW, for you will mourn and weep, WOE to you when all men SPEAK WELL OF YOU, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
If I read that correctly, Jesus wants me poor. Jesus wants me hungry. Jesus wants me to weep, and Jesus wants people to hate, exclude, insult, reject, and say I’m evil, right? Actually, Jesus wants me blessed. “Well, I’ll tell you, Delbert, being poor, sad, hated, excluded, insulted, and rejected, doesn’t sound like blessings. In fact, it’s 180 degrees from what I call blessed.” You’re exactly correct. The kingdom of God turns the values of the world upside down.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Many theologians say this is the same sermon Matthew recorded and we call The Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5-7). I don’t think so. Obviously those “theologians” are not preachers. It’s funny how they attempt to spin this into being the same sermon. Jesus was an itinerant preacher. He would speak in this city one day and on that mountainside the next. All over Galilee, he went. He would repeat the same principles in his sermons with perhaps a different emphasis. Of course, there are similarities between the two sermons. It’s the same foundation teaching.
The Sermon on the Mount and this sermon are at entirely different chronological locations in the ministry of Jesus. Here Jesus came off a mount to a plain, but no matter if it’s the same or not, we are here and we will study it. If I successfully articulate it and we do it, we will increase our blessings.
First, Jesus used many different teaching styles.
He used parables. We know a parable is a word picture story, probably not true, told to teach a life lesson and truth. He will use parables in this sermon. He will also use hyperboles and parallelism. Let me refresh us about a hyperbole since many of us have been out of school for some time. A hyperbole (hy-pur-ba-lee) is an intentional obvious exaggeration to create emphasis or effect. It’s used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression to help the hearer remember, but not meant to be taken literally. We all use hyperboles.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Examples of hyperboles are: “That bag weighed a ton.” “I’m freezing to death.” “I’m burning up.” How about “I’m so full I’m going to burst”? “It took forever to get there.” Hyperboles make the point the bag was very heavy, but it didn’t actually weigh a ton; I’m cold, but I’m not actually freezing; I’m hot, but I’m not actually burning up; I’ve eaten way too much, but I’m not actually going to burst; or it took a long time to arrive, but it didn’t take forever. We obviously exaggerate to make a point and evoke strong feelings.
Jesus frequently used hyperboles when teaching. Here are a few.
Luke 18:25 Indeed, 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.”
You’ve heard preachers say there was a gate called “Camel Gate” in Jerusalem. No there wasn’t. That’s a preacher creating his own interpretation. Jesus used hyperbole to make the point it’s impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle and even more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom.
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.
We all know Jesus doesn’t want us to hate our own families or ourselves. In fact we are to love people even as ourselves. It’s a hyperbole. His point is you are really not a disciple if anyone, including yourself, comes before him.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Luke 6:41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
We’ll look at this one later in his sermon. It’s a hyperbole – an exaggeration.
Matthew 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
If you take everything Jesus said literally, you need to cut off your right hand and pluck out your right eye. Jesus obviously exaggerated to create emphasis, effect, and strong feelings in a way we will remember.
Jesus used hyperboles – poor, hunger, weep, hate – to create interest and get our attention. I must admit it got my attention. You have to ask, “What in the world is he talking about? I thought God gave us the power to get wealth (Deu 8:18). The Bible is too confusing for me to understand.” I know Jesus is using hyperboles. If not then how poor is poor enough to be blessed? How hungry is hungry enough to receive my reward? How much weeping is enough? Also how hated, excluded, insulted, and rejected is enough for God to bless me? It’s a hyperbole.
How about parallelism? To say Jesus didn’t think logically is an understatement. Jesus came at everything from a different slant and perspective than most. In fact, he’s about 180 degrees different. That’s what a parallelism is. Jesus is “far-sighted.” I don’t mean he needed glasses so he could read. I mean he knows the thing we consider a blessing today will actually bring woe farther down the road of life.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Frequently the thing we applaud as a blessing is actually a 180-degree opposite woe.
Instead of it bringing us into the kingdom of God, it takes us away from the kingdom of God into the kingdom of darkness and could take us to hell. Instead of causing us to hunger, seek, depend upon, and draw close to God it actually lessens our need and love for God which always brings woe.
In this section of the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus gives four “blessed are you” followed by four parallels “woe to you.”
6:20 Blessed are you who are poor… 6:24 But woe to you who are rich…
6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now… 6:25 Woe to you who are well fed now…
6:21 Blessed are you who weep now… 6:25 Woe to you who laugh now…
6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you… 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you…
Note every blessing has a parallel corresponding woe. Jesus wants us to see every blessing in life when paralleled can bring woe. For example, honey. Honey is so good. I like honey.
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Proverbs 25:16 If you find honey, EAT JUST ENOUGH — too much of it, and you will vomit.
The Book of Proverbs is full of parallelisms. Is Proverbs really teaching us about honey? No. Honey symbolizes a sweet blessing in the scriptures, but too much honey will make you to vomit. Even honey has a corresponding parallel woe. When we overeat the sweet blessing of prosperity, overdo the honey of eating well, the honey of taking life too lightly, and overeat the honey of acceptance of people, the blessing parallels over to a woe. We lose our hunger for God. In fact, people get sick of God.
Proverbs 27:7 He who is full LOATHES honey, but to the HUNGRY even what is bitter tastes sweet.
When we get full of whatever our honey is, we stop being hungry for God. In fact we loathe going to church, loathe worshipping, loathe giving, praying, studying, etc. We stop hungering for the things of God. We become self-reliant, and we don’t need God… until a bitter time comes.
Let’s take a look at the words blessed and woe. Blessed is makarios {mak-ar’-ee-os} meaning blessed, happy, happier; used to express the happy and untroubled life of the gods. Woe is ouai {oo-ah’-ee} meaning an exclamation of grief. I want to put this in a special thought. A BLESSED LIFE IS THE LIFE GOD HAS AND ENJOYS. A WOE LIFE IS THE LIFE EVERYONE ELSE ENDURES. Jesus is teaching us the very best life we can possibly enjoy. We could be living like gods! Is that blasphemy, or scriptural?
Psalms 82:6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
John 10:34-36 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came — and the Scripture cannot be broken — what about the one whom the Father set apart…
The blessed life is a god-like life. It is how Jesus lived, right? Jesus gave the following parallel.
(KJV) John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it MORE ABUNDANTLY.
(NLT) John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. MY PURPOSE IS TO GIVE LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS.
We can be living according to the thief in woe, or we can be living like Jesus the God-man blessed. Have you ever thought you could be living like God? That’s a blessed life wouldn’t you say? A woe life doesn’t need describing – oo-ah’-ee!
In our passage today and in the remainder of this sermon, Jesus is preaching about enjoying a blessed god-like abundant full life living like God paralleled with a bad woe life full of grief living like the devil. So, here, to me, is his theme and point: IF YOU ARE A REAL DISCIPLE THIS IS THE LIFE YOU LIVE. The sermon began with,
Luke 6:20 Looking at his DISCIPLES, he said: “BLESSED ARE YOU WHO…
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
This sermon instructs you not only how to live a god-like life, but how to know with certainty if you are a real follower/disciple of Jesus Christ. Are you real or only deceiving your own self living like and for the devil his way? The things Jesus will say are not suggestions. They are how you live if real. If we are real, we will love our enemies, not retaliate when done wrong, give generously, and do to others as we would have them do to us. If I’m real, I will not judge or condemn others, and f I’m real, you will know by the obvious life fruits I produce.
Also if I’m real, you will know I’ve dug deep to lay a foundation in my life. The way you will know is I’m still standing after experiencing life’s torrential storms. If I’m real, I will not simply call him, “Lord, Lord…” I will do what Jesus said. If I am real, I will live a god-like abundant full life the way Jesus said to live it. Toward the end of the sermon Jesus will say,
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Is that possible? It better not only be possible but we better look at ourselves asking, “Am I real, or am I playing a religious game?”
Living like God. So, today I ask, in which of the three groups of people are you really in? (1) Them – called to do something special, then you have to live this life. (2) Those that came to get and leave? Or, (3) are you a disciple wanting to learn, change, and follow Jesus being blessed by living like God?
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Living Like God Luke 6:17-16-26 audio video notes
Other Related Sermons:
You want Me to Love Agape Who part 2 video audio notes Luke 6:27-36
Revelation Chapter 10, Mighty Angel, the Little Book Sweet and Bitter – video audio notes
The Stone Cometh Preface – sermon notes Revelation
Light A Candle NEW YEAR – sermon notes
You want Me to Love Who pt 1 Luke 6: 27-28 audio video notes
Also see:
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