Sermon #32 Luke
Sermons
Title: “ON
ANOTHER SABBATH”
Text: Luke
6:6-11
Subject: The Healing of the Man with a Withered Arm
Date: Sunday
Evening —
Tape# V-89a
Introduction:
Why did the Lord Jesus do so many of his miraculous
works, works of healing on the sabbath day? Why did he so often go out of his
way to say and do things which he knew would be most offensive to the
Pharisees? How does the Son of God meet rebel sinners? What was the nature and
purpose of the sabbath? Who is Jesus Christ? Was he just a man, as many
blasphemously assert; or is he both God and man in one glorious, inseparable
person? Does it really matter what we think about who Christ is? What is involved
in the Lord’s call? How does God call sinners to life and faith in Christ? What
affect does the gospel of Christ and the power of his grace have upon men?
These are all questions which are clearly and
decisively answered by the Holy Spirit in Luke 6:6-11. Here, Luke gives us a
very brief, but very instructive, narrative of the healing of a man with a
withered arm on the sabbath day.
Proposition: Like all of our Lord’s miracles, this miraculous healing is a
picture of the saving operations of his grace, in and upon chosen sinners. The
miracle was performed specifically to give us an instructive picture of God’s
salvation.
Read the narrative with me. Then, I will draw your
attention to four things in it.
(Luke
6:6-11) "And it came to pass also
on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there
was a man whose right hand was withered. (7) And the scribes and
Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they
might find an accusation against him. (8) But he knew their thoughts,
and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in
the midst. And he arose and stood forth. (9) Then said Jesus unto them,
I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do
evil? to save life, or to destroy it? (10) And looking round about upon
them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his
hand was restored whole as the other. (11) And they were filled with
madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus."
I.
The first thing
we see in this passage is A DELIBERATE
CONFRONTATION (vv. 6,7, and 9).
(Luke
6:6-7) "And it came to pass also on
another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a
man whose right hand was withered. (7) And the scribes and Pharisees
watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an
accusation against him."
(Luke 6:9)
"Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful
on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?"
The preaching
of the gospel
is always confrontational. God’s servants are sent to his enemies and sent to
confront them, not to coddle them, pamper them, and bargain with them, but as
the ambassadors of God himself, to confront them with the claims of the
sovereign Lord. There is no such thing as faith in Christ apart from surrender
to Christ as Lord (Lk.
(Luke 14:25-33)
“And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto
them, (26) If any man come to me, and hate not his father,
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
life also, he cannot be my disciple. (27)
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my
disciple. (28) For which of you,
intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost,
whether he have sufficient to finish it? (29) Lest haply, after he hath laid
the foundation, and is not able to finish it,
all that behold it begin to mock
him, (30) Saying, This man began to
build, and was not able to finish. (31) Or what king, going to make war against
another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with
ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? (32) Or else, while the other is yet a
great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. (33) So likewise, whosoever
he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
We see this confrontation clearly exemplified by our
Savior in our text. Our Lord Jesus Christ deliberately
confronted the Pharisees, both by his words and his works. He always does. The
Son of God always confronts sinners at their point of rebellion and demands
that they surrender to him as their Lord.
·
The Rich Young Ruler
·
The Samaritan Woman
This is exactly what we see in our text. Here is
just one of many examples of our Lord confronting these self-righteous,
religious hypocrites on the sabbath.
Did you ever notice how often our Savior performed
his miraculous works on the sabbath day? Did you ever wonder why he chose the
sabbath for so many of these displays of his omnipotent mercy.
·
This Man with a Withered Arm
·
The Demoniac in the Synagogue (Mk.
·
The Woman with an 18 year Infirmity (Lk.
·
The Man with the Dropsy (Lk. 14:1-6)
·
The Lame Man (John
These things were not done on the sabbath day
accidentally. Oh, no. They were performed on the sabbath day for the calculated
purpose of our Lord. I am sure that purpose involved more than I can state in this message. But it certainly involved
these four things.
A. Our Lord picked sabbath assert his claim of dominion over all things as Lord, even of the
sabbath
(Lk. 6:5).
(Luke
6:5) "And he said unto them, That
the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath."
It was Christ himself who kept the first sabbath. It
was Christ himself who gave the law of the sabbath. As a man he became subject
to the law in all things. Yet, he is Lord of the law. As such, because he is
God as well as man, he cannot be put under the yoke and bondage of the law. The
law does not rule the King. The King rules the law. And Christ is the King.
B. The Lord Jesus chose the
sabbath to perform his work of mercy upon this poor, needy soul, in order to
expose and condemn the hypocrisy and mean-spirited traditions of religious
legalists.
As it was in our Lord’s day, so it is in ours. There
is no point at which religious legalists are more hypocritical, more bound by
the religious customs and traditions of men, and more mean-spirited than in
their efforts to impose and enforce sabbath laws upon men.
1. The Pharisees could not
answer our Lord’s question about whether it was right to do good on the sabbath
because they would not answer it, lest they expose themselves.
Their intention was to accuse the Master. If he
refused to heal this man, they wanted to accuse him either of weakness and
inability to heal him, or of cruelty for not healing him. Any answer they might
give would have exposed them.
2. These religious hypocrites
would have preferred the man be left with impotent arm, rather than see him
healed.
In other words, they were more interested in
maintaining the rigors of the law (their interpretation of the law), than the
needs of men. And they excused their meanness in the name of honoring God!
C. Our Lord Jesus chose to
perform this miracle of mercy on the sabbath to show us plainly what the true
nature and purpose of the sabbath was.
The sabbath day, like all other ordinances of the
legal, Mosaic age was designed and instituted to portray the gospel of Christ.
1. It was never intended to be
a day of mere religious bondage, but a day portraying the rest of faith in
Christ.
2. The sabbath was designed to
show sinners how God does men good, eternal good, who deserve evil.
3. The sabbath was ordained to
show us how God has purposed from eternity to save life, by the obedience of
Christ. — It was a picture of Christ's finished work and of our resting in him,
ceasing from our works by faith in
D. The Son of God chose the
sabbath to perform this miracle to display the fact that he had come to fulfill
and forever put an end to the law of the sabbath.
(Luke 6:9) “Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask
you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to
save life, or to destroy it?”
(Colossians 2:16-17) “Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of
the sabbath days: Which are a shadow
of things to come; but the body is of
Christ.”
(Romans 10:1-4) “Brethren, my heart’s desire and
prayer to God for
II.
Now, look at verse 8. The second thing we
see in this narrative is the display of A DIVINE CHARACTERISTIC.
(Luke
6:8) "But he knew their thoughts,
and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in
the midst. And he arose and stood forth."
For now, let’s just focus on this one statement. —
“He knew their thoughts.” Here is another of those
many, many almost casual, nonchalant references given in the New Testament by
which the Holy Spirit declares the fact of our Savior’s eternal Godhead. This
man is a man; but he is more than a man. This man is the omniscient,
all-knowing God (Heb.
(Hebrews 4:13) “Neither is there any creature that
is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
A.
He who is our Savior is and
must be God in human flesh.
It cannot be stated too
emphatically or too often that Christ is, indeed, “over all God blessed forever.” Every attempt of
men to compromise his absolute, eternal deity is both a denial of the gospel
and blasphemy. Those who tell us that Christ is not God, absolutely God,
omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, immutable, eternal, just, and holy, are
not Christians, but pagans masquerading as Christians. Only one who is himself
God knows sees, and hears the thoughts of men.
1. Our Lord knew why the
Pharisees were present.
2. He knew why the man with the
withered arm was present.
3. And he knows why you and I
are here. He knows why we have come here.
B.
Nothing is more humbling
and, at the same time, comforting and encouraging to believing hearts than our
Savior’s divine omniscience.
To the religious hypocrite, this is a terrifying
thing. To the believer, it is delightful.
1. Let us be humbled by the
fact that our dear Savior knows us inside out. — Nothing is hidden from him.
2.
Yet, we ought to rejoice in this, too, — Our Savior knows what we
really are.—”Thou knowest that I love
thee!”
3. Our blessed Redeemer’s name
is Jehovah-jireh — “The Lord will see.’ — “The Lord will provide.” —
“The Lord will
be seen.”
III.
The third thing we see in
this passage is A DECISIVE CALL (vv. 8,10).
(Luke 6:8) “But he knew their thoughts, and said to
the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And
he arose and stood forth.”
(Luke 6:10) “And looking round about upon them all,
he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was
restored whole as the other.”
Unlike the pretended miracles of papists and
pentecostals, our Lord’s miraculous works were performed in broad daylight,
performed upon people everyone present knew were impotent, and performed in the
most public manner possible. He was not a pretend healer. He is the Healer. But
the message of our text is not about the healing of a man’s withered hand. The
healing of this man’s withered hand was a miracle performed by our Lord to
portray the far greater miracle of grace he performs upon chosen sinners, when
he saves us by his omnipotent grace! The healing of this man is a most
instructive picture of the almighty, effectual, call and irresistible grace of
God by which we are brought from death to life in Christ. Look at it...
A.
“He said to the man with the
withered hand” — Here is a
particular, personal call. — “He calleth his own sheep by
name.”
B.
This was also a discriminating, distinguishing call.
We have no idea how many others were present
or with what needs they had come. But our text tells us plainly that on this
occasion the Master called none but
this man alone. How we ought to thank God for his special, discriminating grace (Ps. 65:4; Matt.
(Psa
65:4) "Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy
courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of
thy holy temple."
(Mat
(1 Cor 4:7)
"For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast
thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost
thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"
“Tis not that I did choose
Thee,
For Lord that could not be.
This heart would still
refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me.”
C.
Be sure you see this, too. — The Lord Jesus called this man to do what he had
absolutely no ability to do.
The Master issued an
impossible command. He said to the man with a dried up, withered, paralyzed arm, “Stretch forth thy hand.” If he could
stretch forth his hand, he would not have been there.
I stress this point because men often tell us, “If
the sinner has no ability to repent and believe the gospel, he cannot be called
to do so.” Such attempts to deny the gospel of Christ simply will not hold
water. The Lord Jesus commanded this man to stretch forth his withered hand.
Read on. — “And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” How can this be? Find out
the answer and you will find out how spiritually dead sinners arise from the
dead and flee to Christ.
This man did not stretch forth his hand by the mere
exercise of his will. He did not just decide to stretch forth his hand. He did
not just muster the power from within himself to stretch forth his hand. But he
did stretch forth his hand. How? The answer is found in Luke 18:26-27.
(Luke 18:26-27) “And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? (27) And he said, The things which are
impossible with men are possible with God.”
A. In preaching the gospel
spiritually dead sinners are called to arise from the dead, to stretch forth
their withered bands and laid hold of Christ faith.
B. Any sinner who obeys the gospel, sinner who believes
on Christ, sinner who rises from his spiritual grave and comes to Christ is
immediately made whole and has eternal life.
C. But there is a problem ― no sinner can
do it. ― REMEMBER, THE SINNER IS DEAD!
·
No one can come.
·
Anyone may come.
·
All who do come have been called.
D. However, when the Lord God almighty, by the
life-giving power of his omnipotent, irresistible grace calls the dead sinner,
the sinner called rises from death to stretches forth his withered hand, lays
hold of Christ, and is made whole.
You see, when all a man hears is the voice of a
preacher, he remains dead. There is no power in the preachers voice. But when
God speaks by the gospel, that is another story. When God speaks, there is
power, life-giving, resurrection power in the call that God issues (John
(John 5:25) “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God:
and they that hear shall live.”
(1 Thessalonians 1:4-5)
“Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not
unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.”
(Revelation 20:6) “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
E. Still, there is more. — This
man not made whole until he stretched forth his hand.
When the Lord’s command came, this poor man,
believing Christ stretched forth his hand. He did not raise questions. He did
not quibble about whether or not he could do it, whether or not the Lord had
ordained it, or whether or not he would be made whole by doing it. He simply
stretched forth his hand.
Has the Lord spoken to you? Is there now in you a
voice speaking, saying, “Come unto me?” If
so, Come. Stretch forth your hand, and be made whole.
• Without
Conditions
• Without
Preparations
• Without
Qualifications
• Come to
Christ!
“Come, ye sinners, poor and
needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and
sore.
Jesus ready stands to save
you,
Full of pity, joined with
power.
Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall.
If you tarry till you’re
better,
You will never come at all.
Let not conscience make you
linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream.
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.
This He gives you, this He
gives you,
‘Tis the Spirit’s rising
beam.
This He gives you, this He
gives you,
Come, 0 sinner, come to Him!
I will arise and go to
Jesus,
He will embrace me in His
arms.
In the arms of my dear
Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand
charms!”
(2 Corinthians 2:14-17) “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to
triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in
every place. (15) For we are unto God
a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: (16) To the one we are the savour of death unto death: and to the other the savour
of life unto life. And who is sufficient
for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as
of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”
IV.
Now, look at verse 11. Here we see A DIVIDED CROWD.
(Luke 6:11) “And they were filled with madness; and
communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.”
The gospel of Christ and the wonders of his grace
always divide people. Our Lord said, “I
came not to send peace, but a sword.” And whenever the gospel is preached,
whenever God does his work of grace, a division is made because of Christ. The
gospel separates men, families, churches, and communities. It divides light
from darkness. It separates the wheat from the chaff. It divides sheep from
goats. It is a savor of life unto life to some, and a savor of death unto death
to others (2 Cor. 2:14-17).
(2
Cor 2:14-17) "Now thanks be unto
God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the
savour of his knowledge by us in every place. (15) For we are unto God a
sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
(16) To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other
the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
(17) For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of
sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."
·
The Pharisees were enraged.
·
The man with the withered hand was made whole.
·
The disciples were edified, instructed, and encouraged.
Application: What is your response to
Christ and his gospel? “Doth this offend
you?” Will you, or will you not come to Christ?