The Ambassador Group

Luke-- Jesus, Our Savior and Friend

00. An Introduction to the Book of Luke

01. Luke: The Coming of Jesus

02. Luke: Baptism and the Temptations

03. Luke: Who Is Jesus Christ?

04. Luke: The Call to Discipleship

05. Luke: Christ as Lord of the Sabbath

06. Luke: Women in the Ministry of Jesus

07. Luke: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Prayer

08. Luke: The Mission of Jesus

09. Luke: Jesus, the Master Teacher

10. Luke: Following Jesus in Everyday Life

11. Luke: The Kingdom of God

12. Luke: Jesus in Jerusalem

13. Luke: Crucified and Risen

Edited for audio by The Ambassador Group.

And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

Luke chapter 4, verse 32, New King James Version.

When Christ came to the earth, humanity seemed to be fast reaching its lowest point.

The very foundations of society were undermined.

Disgusted with fable and falsehood, seeking to drown thought, men turned to infidelity and materialism.

Leaving eternity out of their reckoning, they lived for the present.

As they ceased to recognize the Divine, they ceased to regard the human.

Truth, honor, integrity, confidence, compassion were departing from the earth.

Relentless greed and absorbing ambition gave birth to universal distrust.

The idea of duty, of the obligation of strength to weakness, of human dignity and human rights, was cast aside as a dream or a fable.

The common people were regarded as beasts of burden or as the tools and the stepping stones for ambition.

Wealth and power, ease and self-indulgence were sought as the highest good.

Physical degeneracy, mental stupor, spiritual death characterized the age." The book is entitled Education.

That quotation is from pages 74 and 75, and the author is Ellen G.

Against such a background, we can better understand why Jesus taught the things that he did.

As a physician and a scholar, Luke was acquainted with the role of authority.

He was familiar with the authority of philosophy in Greek scholarship and education.

He knew the authority of the Roman law in civil matters and government function.

As Paul's traveling companion, he knew the ecclesiastic authority that the Apostle commanded with the churches he founded.

In other words, Luke understood that authority is at the core of a person's position, an institution's role, a state's function, and a teacher's relationship to his or her followers.

Having rubbed shoulders with all kinds of authority at all levels of power, Luke shared with his readers that there was something matchless about Jesus and His authority.

Born in a carpenter's home, brought up for 30 years in the little Galilean town of Nazareth, known for nothing great by worldly standards, Jesus confronted everyone with His teaching and ministry.

Roman rulers, Jewish scholars, rabbis, ordinary people, secular and religious powers.

Luke 4, verse 22, New King James Version, says that Jesus' fellow townspeople marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.

Luke chapter 7, verses 11 through 17, also revealed Jesus' authority.

And it came to pass, the day after, that he went into a city called Nain, and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.

Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

And much people of the city was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

And he came and touched the beer, and they that bear him stood still.

And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, arise." And he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother.

And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying, that a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath visited his people.

And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about.

He once brought hope to a widow in Nain by raising her dead son to life.

The entire town went into a shiver of fear and exclaimed, God has visited his people.

The authority of Jesus over life and death electrified not just Nain, but Judea and all the surrounding region.

The question is, what kind of authority did Jesus use and demonstrate?

Let's find the answer in 5 references in the book of Luke.

Now it came to pass on a certain day that he went into a ship with his disciples.

And he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake.

But as they sailed, he fell asleep, and there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we perish.

Then he arose, and rebuked the wind, and the raging of the water, And they ceased, and there was a calm.

And he said unto them, Where is your faith?

And they being afraid, wondered, saying to 1 another, What manner of man is this?

For he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him." Luke chapter 4 verses 31-37.

And Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days.

And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power.

And in the synagogue there was a man which had an spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone!

What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and heard him not.

And they were all amazed, and spake within themselves, saying, What a word is this!

For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

Luke chapter 5 verses 24-26 But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, he said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go to thy own house.' And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day.

Luke 7, 49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

And Luke chapter 12, verse 8, Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God." Luke took time to record, not only for his friend Theophilus, but also for generations to come that Jesus, through his ministry, had established the uniqueness of his authority.

As God in the flesh, he indeed had authority as no 1 else ever did.

Lots of people do things in the name of God, which would then, of course, give their actions a lot of authority.

Christ's Greatest Sermon The Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7, is often hailed in literature as the essence of Christianity.

Luke provides selections of the sermon in Luke 6, verses 20-49, and elsewhere.

Because Luke placed the sermon immediately after the official choosing of the disciples, some scholars have called it the ordination charge to the 12.

As presented in Luke chapter 6 verses 20 through 49, Jesus' sermon begins with 4 blessings followed by 4 woes and then Jesus outlines other essential characteristics of the Christian way.

Let's study Jesus' words in many of these verses in Luke chapter 6, you will hear the Amplified Bible.

Ask yourself how closely your life embraces these 7 principles.

Principle 1, the Christian blessedness, Verses 20 through 22.

And solemnly lifting up his eyes on his disciples, he said, Blessed, happy, with life joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition.

And to be envied are you, poor and lowly and afflicted, destitute of wealth, influence, position and honor.

Blessed, happy, with life, joy, and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition, and to be envied are you who hunger and seek with eager desire now for you shall be filled and completely satisfied blessed happy with life joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation apart from your outward condition, and to be envied are you who weep and sob now, for you shall laugh, blessed, happy, with life, joy, and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation apart from your outward condition, and to be envied are you when people despise, hate you, and when they exclude and excommunicate you as disreputable, and revile and denounce you and defame and cast you out and spurn your name as evil wicked on account of the Son of Man.

How can poverty, hunger, Weeping and being hated lead to blessedness.

The Christian's Reason for Rejoicing in the Midst of Rejection.

Blessed, happy with life joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition, and to be envied are you when people despise, hate you, and when they exclude and excommunicate you as disreputable, and revile and denounce you, and defame and cast out and spurn your name as evil, wicked, on account of the Son of Man, Rejoice, and be glad at such a time, and exult, and leap for joy.

For behold, your reward is rich, and great, and strong, and intense, and abundant in heaven.

For even so their forefathers treated the prophets.

But woe to, alas for you who are rich, abounding in material resources!

For you already are receiving your consolation, the solace and sense of strengthening, and cheer that come from prosperity, and have taken and enjoyed your comfort in full, having nothing left to be awarded you.

Woe to, alas for you who are full now, completely filled, luxuriously gorged and satiated!

Series

Luke-- Jesus, Our Savior and Friend

09. Luke: Jesus, the Master Teacher

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

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A Sure Foundation

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The Law of God in the Great Controversy

41m

Being True to Our Trust

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

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Daniel 12 and the 1335 with Q&A

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Be Ye Transformed

45m

MTYC 2010 Morning Devotional

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57m

Sound Doctrine