Amazing Jesus
Apologies for the inconsistent audio - the preacher was moving around/away from the microphone at times
Introduction
- When you were last truly amazed by something
- Personal example
- What makes us say wow?
- There are many wow moments in Scripture
- What things would I want to see?
- Examples
- The things that cause greatest amazement in the gospels - not Jesus’ actions but what He said and taught
- Examples
- The word amazed means to be stunned by his teaching
- We can become overly familiar to these - they can lose their impact
- We will look at two examples today
- This morning: Luke 6:46-49
- Concludes a passage of teaching (the Sermon on the Mount)
- Three stunning/shocking truths
Shock 1: It is not enough to call Jesus Lord (v46-47)
- Jesus can be called King - but you may not be following Him
- Example of census - 46% of the population call themselves Christian
- Saying I am a Christian - is not enough
- Calling Jesus Lord, Master and King is not enough
- Three things to do: come, hear and do
- Personal example
- This is not a one-off event but Jesus must continuously be Lord of our life
- Jesus is either Lord of everything or He is Lord of nothing
Shock 2: Following Jesus is hard (v47-48)
- Example of Sandcastle
- Example of Castle
- The castle is still standing because it was built on the rock
- It is hard
- It took effort
- It had deep foundations
- Jesus says that following Him will be hard
- He has a counter cultural message
- Consider 6:27-36
- 13 commands - none of which are easy
- Following Jesus is costly and radical
- Not to hold a grudge
- Not to retaliate
- Giving to those who will not give back
- You have love and pray for your enemies
- We need to go to the people who are not like us
- Why then would you bother?
Shock 3: Storms are coming (v48-49)
- They will reveal your foundations
- Jesus does not reveal the construction of the houses - they could have been the same
- The difference is the foundation
- Storms
- The difficult things that come in a cursed and fallen world - example from Job (1:21)
- There is a coming Day of Judgment
- Jesus will reply to some that “He never knew them”
- They did not come to, listen to and do what Jesus had commanded
- Where is your foundation?
- Jesus promises that if we build on His word, we will stand for an eternity
- In this age and the age to come