Freeing Your "Redeemed Self"
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Learning how to rejoice in the Lord regardless of our circumstances.
Text: Luke 6:22-23
Date: 02/27/2022, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 53
Description:
After describing three blessed attributes that help define the Kingdom-dweller, Jesus offers a fourth blessing that reveals the fallen world's reaction to them. Of all the Beatitudes, this is the most paradoxical, because few people would consider it a blessing to be hated! After determining the meaning of words like "hate" and "rejoice", we will analyze the way Jesus uses them. Borrowing a repeated question from John Bunyan's 17th century classic, "The Pilgrim's Progress", we will search for the source of true Christian joy. We will discover that to be firmly aware of "where we have come from" and "where we are going" is one of the secrets to joy. But beyond this, we will discover that the kind of joy Jesus speaks of is another gift of God and is actually resident in all born-again believers. Ultimately we will attempt to discover why we as Christians are not more joyful, but particularly how we can experience the joy of Christ even in the midst of trouble and persecution. We will discover the answer to the riddle when we learn to find and free our "redeemed selves"!
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I. Introduction
A. The Pilgrim's Progress.
1. Questions for every pilgrim.
2. How we know what we know.
B. Looking ahead and looking behind.
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 6:22-23.
A. Context
B. Rejoicing in the midst of persecution.
1. The reaction of the world to righteousness, vs. 22.
a. The meaning of "hate".
i. Defining "hate", Luke 21:17, Prov. 6:16, Luke 14:26, Matt. 5:10.
ii. The nature of "hate", John 15:18-19, 17:14.
b. The ways people "hate".
i. They exclude you.
• Exclusion from the synagogues, John 9:22,34, 12:42.
• Exclusion from society.
ii. They revile you, Mark 15:32, Matt. 11:20.
• The wicked revile the righteous, Mark 15:32.
• The righteous reproach the wicked, Matt. 11:20.
iii. They spurn your name as evil, Matt. 5:11, 12:24, Acts 17:6.
c. The reason for the hate, John 7:7, 15:20,21,25.
2. The eschatological joy of righteousness, vs. 23.
a. Rejoicing in the "here and now".
i. A joy that begins now, Luke 6:21.
ii. The paradox of the command to "rejoice".
• Rejoicing regardless of circumstances.
• An emphatic command to rejoice.
• An ecstatic joy, Luke 1:41.
iii. A God-given gift.
iv. Solving the puzzle, Matt. 5:14-16.
b. Rejoicing in the "not yet".
i. The treasure in heaven, Matt. 6:19-21, 1Cor. 2:9.
ii. Reason for joy now.
c. A glorious heritage, Heb. 12:1,2, Eph. 2:20, Rev. 21:12,14.
III. Application
A. Basic principles.
B. Finding and freeing our redeemed "self".
1. Rejoicing in trials is "not natural".
2. A renewed perspective.
a. The fallacy of seeking joy in emotions.
b. The fallacy of seeking joy in any earthly source.
c. Standing on what you know, Luke 6:23.
i. Looking behind, Eph. 2:1-5.
ii. Looking ahead, Jer. 29:11, Rev. 7:9,10, 19:7-8, 21:4, John 14:1-3, Phi. 4:4.
IV. Conclusion
