The Most Neglected Doctrine

In Luke chapter 4:17, we see a very interesting incident occurring. Jesus is speaking in the synagogue in Nazareth. He was handed a Bible to the place where it was to be regularly read – Isaiah 61.  And in Luke 4:18, here is what Jesus read:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, ¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

In other words, Jesus said that I am come to preach the gospel and then He closed the book and He gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. 

Then Jesus said this:  “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21).  In other words, the one whom Prophet Isaiah said would come to preach has come.  He is here.  I am He!  Then the very next verse says this: “And all were speaking well of Him. . .” (v. 22). 

And this point most preachers would love this moment of being liked and well-received. Most would continue to preach favorable messages that don’t offend.  Messages that are safe, well-received and produce the most favorable response. 

But not Jesus. I want you to see what happens.  After receiving a round of applause, Jesus said this to those in the synagogue: ²³ Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ ²⁴ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

²⁵ “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. ²⁷ And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

What is Jesus now saying?

What Jesus is saying to them is this:  God hasn't determined for Me to heal everybody.  God hasn’t determined for Me to even heal you. God will decide what widows get healed and God will decide what leper gets cleaned. It's not up to you. It's up to God. You expect Me to do miracles in your home town what was done in Capernaum. But God doesn't work that way. God picks and chooses what He wants to do and when He wants it done.   God is not part of a committee.

Now here’s their reaction:  “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things” (v. 28). 

Wait a minute.  Weren’t these same people “speaking well of Him” (v. 22)?  Now they are totally upset with Him!

Why? Because the carnal mind cannot tolerate sovereign grace and a God who sovereignly chooses who He heals and saves and who He simply overlooks.  This is offensive to the carnal mind.

The carnal or fleshly mind wants a God they can manipulate or figure out. A God that will do what is expected of Him. But Jesus said, remember what occurred during the days of Elijah and Elisha?  God did things that were unconventional.  You would expect God to bless the many windows who had their husbands die because of the severe famine in the land.  But He didn’t. He chose to only bless one and He by-passed the many.  In the days of Elisha, there were many lepers in Israel. But God chose to only cleanse one – Naaman the Syrian and He by-passed the rest.

You see, God is totally independent and does whatever pleases Him. He does not work on our time table. He does not work according to our theology. He does not go where we think He should go. If you expect God to make you healthy, wealthy and wise, then you are in for a total let down.  The preacher who tells you this is only after your applause and wants you to speak well of him. He is not interested, like Jesus, in giving you the whole truth.

So what did these people do with Jesus? “They got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the bow of the hill on which the city had been built, in order to throw Him off the cliff” (v. 29).

Over in Revelation 19:6, those in heaven shout:  “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!” 

The carnal mind does not want a God who reigns completely and totally in all areas. And as soon as you explain the doctrine of election to people, some will embrace it with a humble attitude of thanksgiving, and others will be repulse by it and become angry and defend man’s ability to choose, select and make his own decision regarding his destiny.

Leave out the doctrine of election and you will be well received. Teach it as the Bible teaches it, and you will face opposition, even from those who received you well at first.  This is why not very many preachers preach all the bible. They would rather preach what they want and enjoy the applause of man.   This is why the doctrine of election is so often times neglected.