As His Custom Was is a sermon teaching us that just like Jesus did, we are to make it a priority to gather in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day.

Key verses:
Luke 4:16-21

I ask you to take your Bible now and turn to the Gospel of Luke chapter four, Luke chapter four. We’ll begin reading at verse 16. I mentioned this morning the story in Luke eight, about the woman who touched the Lord Jesus in the crowd and the raising of Jairus’s daughter, a very favorite story of mine, one of them, and another one is this account here in Luke chapter four. This passage has I won’t go into all, but it has a very special meaning for me; it’s not going to be our subject tonight. But we’re going to take a look at it, and I want to focus on one phrase. So, let’s read together:

Luke 4:16: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

Luke 4:17: “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias [or Isaiah]. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,”

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

Luke 4:19: “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Luke 4:20: “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.”

Luke 4:21: “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

Now, I want to go back to verse 16. It says:

Luke 4:16: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

Notice that phrase “as his custom was.” This is what the Lord Jesus did as His custom every week, every Sabbath day, He went to the synagogue.

Going to Church

In all the many years since I came to know the Lord Jesus as my Savior in August 1969, I have loved going to church. I did, and I know some people when they hear me say, “Well, of course you do. You’re the preacher.” I loved going to church before I was the preacher. I did.

I was saved on a Sunday night. After that, somebody said, “Are you coming to Bible study on Tuesday night?” I had never been to a Bible study in my life, but I knew one thing. If these folks were doing it, I wanted to be there. I said, “Yeah, I’ll be at Bible study Tuesday night.” Tuesday night, they said, “Are you coming to the prayer meeting tomorrow night?” I did not know what a prayer meeting was. I didn’t know what you did at a prayer meeting. I said, “I’ll be there Wednesday night.” They said, “Are you coming to visitation tomorrow night (Thursday night)?” I said, “I don’t know what visitation is, but I’ll be there.” I went out. Understand, I was just saved Sunday night. Thursday night, I’m out on visitation. A fella named Mark Williams and myself, neither one of us knew anything like this was going to happen at that time, but many years later, he and I were ordained together. We had no idea that was going to happen.

But I remember, I’ll never forget, the first door we knocked on, and we were going door to door. We went up and knocked on the door and a man opened the door. He says (yelling), “What do you want? Thought I paid you last week.” It scared me to death, and I didn’t know what to say. I’ll never forget that. Did we ever get the Gospel to him? I don’t remember. I just remember how he scared me. But that was Thursday night. People said, “You coming to the youth group Saturday night?” I said, “I’ll be there. Saturday night, “You coming to church Sunday?” I said, “I’ll be there.” I’ve been doing that ever since. I love going to church.

I love being with God’s people, and when we are traveling, if we’re going to be gone on Sunday or Wednesday, I try to find a place to go to church, if I can I plan it ahead of time. Sometimes, the situation doesn’t allow that, but I’m always happy to be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.

The Lord’s People

Now, who are the Lord’s people? Well, Peter told us about that in 1 Peter 2:9 and 10. He said:

1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

Now, listen to that, “called out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Now, folks, the word “church” means a group of people, we usually say a company of people, who have been called out of something to something. We have been we’ve been called out of darkness into His marvelous light, and that’s the church. Peter went on, he said:

1 Peter 2:10: “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

“Which in time past were not a people.” – “What do you mean we’re not a people, we weren’t human beings?” Of course, we were human beings, but a people here means a people as in a national group, such as the nation of Israel. We might talk about the people of Israel. The Bible, when talking about the people of Israel, often refers to them as “the people.” Do you know the Chinese folks do the same thing? when Chinese folks are talking about their people group, they don’t say the Chinese people, they say Huaren, it means the people. You see, they consider themselves to be one people.

That’s what Peter was saying here, “Which in time past were not a people, but are now,” – listen, “the people of God.” Isn’t that beautiful, “which had not obtained mercy,” – we had not, “but now have obtained mercy.” Again, 1 Peter 2:9-10. The Lord’s house. We talk about being with the Lord’s people in the Lord’s house. The Lord’s house. Paul told us about the house of God in 1 Timothy 3:15. He says:

1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,” – don’t miss the next phrase, “in the house of God, which is the church,” – the church, “of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 3:15. Now, when Paul says that the house of God is the church, again, and we said many times, we say it again, not the building but the people.

Steve and I were talking about their church that doesn’t have a building. They’re meeting in a gymnasium, but they still have a church, and that’s so important, we understand the church is not the building, it’s the people.

The Lord’s Day

Matthew 28:1 talks about the Lord’s day, and listen carefully, there’s a difference between the Sabbath and the Lord’s day. There’s a marked difference between the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day, and the New Testament never confuses the two. There’s no confusion, there’s no contradiction. The Sabbath is one day. The Lord’s day is another day. Listen carefully:

Matthew 28:1: “In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.”

Why did they come to see the sepulcher? They were going to anoint the body of Jesus with spices and prepare for embalming, but there was nobody there. The Lord was risen.

Mark 16:2: “And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.”

It is not the Sabbath. It is the first day of the week.

Luke 24:1: “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.”

Luke 24:2: “And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.”

Luke 24:3: “And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.”

John 20:1: “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”

Now, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. It was given by God to remember our Creator and our creation. We need to recognize the Creator. You know, down through history, people did; they recognized the Creator. Now, to be fair, not everyone. I’ll back up on that just a little bit. There was a day when everybody on this planet knew about God. I don’t say there was a day when everybody knew God, but there was a day when everybody on the planet knew about God.

So, when was that? Well, in the early days. In the days shortly after the creation, the days of Adam and Eve and their children, that everybody knew about God. Again, I’m not saying they were all saved, not saying they all knew the Lord, but they knew about Him. And then again, after Noah’s flood, everybody on the planet knew about God.

I mentioned something about the Chinese folks. I’ll tell you something about that. There was a point in history, and we’re talking many centuries ago, not in the last 100 or 200 years or anything like that, but centuries ago, there was a time when the people, the Huaren of China, were monotheists. They worshiped one God. They called the god Shang Ti, it means the Heavenly Emperor. If you study how they worship Shang Ti, the Heavenly Emperor, you’re going to find it is very much like the way the people of Israel worship Jehovah God. Now, why would that be? Well, maybe because they knew about the one true God.

Now, I’m going to tell you there was a time when everybody knew about the one true God. As people grew and separated and became rebellious, they got away from God. They got away from God. They forgot God. They created their own Gods. Many of them make themselves gods. People do that today. People make themselves gods. I don’t mean make gods for themselves, I mean they declare that they themselves are god. And then there are those who worship idols, and we were having a discussion about that even this morning in Sunday School.

But the seventh day is the Sabbath Day to remember God’s creation. The Lord’s day is the first day of the week, and we meet on the first day of the week because we are not celebrating the creation. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating the creation, but we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Can I share something with you? Without the resurrection, the creation doesn’t mean a great deal. “How can you say that the whole universe was created, and it doesn’t mean much?” No. If Christ isn’t risen from the dead, then we don’t have the Gospel. We are, as Paul said, of all men most miserable, and we are lost and on our way to Hell. It doesn’t help much to celebrate the creation if there’s no resurrection.

“So, pastor, are you saying the resurrection is more important than creation?” That’s exactly what I’m saying. That’s exactly what I’m saying. “Well, without the creation, you wouldn’t have the resurrection.” True, but without the resurrection, creation is lost. After His resurrection, the day of rest was still recognized, but the day of worship is the celebration, the Lord’s day of the celebration of the resurrection. You find that consistently through the rest of the New Testament.

Paul says when you bring your offering bring it on the first day of the week. Why did he say that? Because that’s when the church met. “That’s your only proof?” Absolutely not. I could give you many more, but that’s not our whole purpose tonight. When John writes the Book of Revelation, in chapter one, he says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” – that’s where we get that term: the Lord’s day. “Well, don’t you think he meant the Sabbath?”

Well, let’s think about that logically for just a moment. Stay with me here. John was Spanish, is that right? Do you think so? No, maybe he was Irish. Do you think John was Irish? No. John was what? Jewish. He was as Jewish as a man could possibly be Jewish. John grew up in where? Israel. John grew up in the Jewish religion. John knew everything about the Sabbath. He had kept the Sabbath all his life. He knew about the Sabbath.

In Revelation chapter one, when he was writing, if he meant the Sabbath he would have said the Sabbath day. He didn’t say the Sabbath day. He said the Lord’s day. There’s a difference, and again, it is the celebration of the resurrection. But we learn in verse 16, here we learn that He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. Notice it doesn’t say where He was born. Some people today want to say, “Well, Jesus was born in Nazareth.” And why do they want to say that? Well, they want to deny the birth in Bethlehem. They want to deny anything they can about Jesus to prove that He’s not God himself come in the flesh.

By the way, I mentioned John writing 1 John, you know John says this: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come to the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come to the flesh is not of God? Therefore, John says, try the spirits what sort they are. What’s the key? Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh, yes or no? I asked that question last summer to somebody. They said, “No.” What does that tell me? That is not of God. So, it was Jesus’ custom; it was His regular practice to go to the house of worship on the day of worship, and that would have been the Sabbath day.

Synagogue vs. Church

Some people say, “Well, we need to still keep the Sabbath?” Jesus also always kept the Sabbath. He always went in the synagogue. Well, of course, He did. Where else would He have gone? He didn’t go to church. There wasn’t any church when Jesus was here on Earth. Jesus gave us the church.

People come up with silly inconsequential arguments like that. Well, Jesus always went to the synagogue. Thank God, He did. He set an example for us. He went to the synagogue. Today, right now, we’re gathered in church. Now, there are certainly similarities between the synagogue and the church, but they are not the same thing.

Actually, if you look up the definition of the word “synagogue” and the definition of the word “church,” they’re two different things. The synagogue, by definition, is a congregation. “Well, don’t we have a congregation at church?” We do. The synagogue, by definition, is a congregation. The church, by definition, is a people called out of darkness into the light and assembled together, not the same thing. Two different definitions are similar in many ways, but not the same thing.

I mentioned this morning in the message that the synagogue at Capernaum, the old synagogue there from Bible times, is about the size of this room, similar in many ways but not the same. What is the church, ecclesia in the Greek? A group or people, company of people called away from the world, called unto Jesus Christ, called out of darkness into light, as Peter told us.

And I read this to you a moment ago, 1 Peter 2:9-10. I’m not going to go through the whole, but listen to the list of what he said the people of the church are, “A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; who should show forth the praises of him who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God.”

So, the church is comprised of people, but not just any people. The church is comprised of people who have been called by God.

John 3:15: “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Listen carefully:

Revelation 22:17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Who says come? The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the bride is the church. And they say what? They say, “Come.” What are they doing? They’re calling you. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come. And let him that heareth say, Come,” – the Spirit and the bride are saying come. You hear, you come. “And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come.” Jesus said:

Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

One of the sweetest promises in the first message that Jesus gave, the Sermon on the Mount. “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Who then can be saved? Whosoever will come and take of the water of life, those who will hear His call, those who will believe in Him, those who will trust in Him, are forgiven and cleansed and made part of the family of God, therefore, part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Purpose of the Church

Now, what is the purpose of the church? Why did He call us out and why do we assemble together? Well, the Lord gives us that. You see, we as Christians are supposed to be growing to be like Jesus, that’s our calling in life, to be like Jesus. Look, if you will at verse 17:

Luke 4:17: “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,”

Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

By the way, if you want to check it out, this is Isaiah chapter 61. “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” – we’re supposed to be like Jesus, we’re supposed to do what Jesus did.

So, what’s number one? Preach the gospel to the poor. “He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,” – what’s the number two mission? To heal the brokenhearted, to help those who are brokenhearted.

Let’s go on, “to preach deliverance to the captives,” – to teach those who are bound in sin, perhaps bound by addiction, but bound in sin and lost in sin. To preach deliverance to them: you can be free. You shall know the truth. Jesus said, “And the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

“And recovering of sight to the blind,” – Jesus, did He bring recovering of sight to the blind? He certainly did, but what about the spiritually blind? The Bible talks about those whom Satan has blinded to the truth. They’re spiritually blind. Probably the best-loved hymn in all of Christianity is Amazing Grace. I think that’s a fair statement and what does it say? “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”

I just had a thought. Jeff and Jeff’s wife gave me a T-shirt, and it says on the T-shirt, “I am the wretch the song refers to.” I wear that shirt, and I’ve had people read it and say what song? What an opportunity, i get to tell them about amazing grace. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was [what?] blind, but now I see.”

“And recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” – those who are wounded, to set them at liberty. And verse 19:

Luke 4:19: “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

What does that mean? The return of the Lord. That’s the purpose of the church. We are supposed to do what Jesus did.

Now, Ephesians 4:4-15, you need to turn there. We’re going to go quickly. It gives us an answer to it, also Ephesians 4:4-6:

Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;”

Ephesians 4:5: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism,”

That should answer all the questions people have. What about different denominations? There’s one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Ephesians 4:6: “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Skipping down to verse 11 of Ephesians 4:

Ephesians 4:11: “And he [the Lord] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;”

For what?

Ephesians 4:12: “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”

“For the perfecting of the saints,” – to help us to grow spiritually, to be like Christ, “for the work of the ministry, for the edifying,” – the building up, “of the body of Christ:”

Ephesians 4:13: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”

Listen, “under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” We are supposed to grow up to be like Him. We are born again. We are spiritual babies. Peter calls us that, but we’re to grow up to be like Jesus. So, the goal of the church then is for people to come to know Jesus and then to grow to be as much like Him as they possibly can be.

Make His Custom, Our Custom

Now, look again at our text and look at verse 20:

Luke 4:20: “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.”

You can imagine that.

Luke 4:21: “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

You know what He’s saying? I’m the one Isaiah was talking about. I’m the one. But it was Jesus’ custom, His normal practice, was to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And it was His normal practice when He went to the synagogue to read the scriptures. They would always have someone read the scriptures. And they would when Jesus was there, they would give Him the scroll.

We, then, as those who are trying to be like Him, should make it our custom. It should be our normal practice to go to the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day. And we should follow His example, as his custom was to stand up and read. Those of us who try to be like Him or trying to grow to be like Him should make it our custom, our practice, to read the scriptures. Folks, if you’re going to grow spiritually, you’ve got to read the Bible. You have to. You need to know what it says. You need to let God speak to you. God speaks through His Word and He will speak to your heart through His Word if you’ll let Him.

A regular part of the service of the synagogue was reading the scriptures. It still is to this day. It should be a regular part of our Sunday services and of our daily lives. He read from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah has been called the little Bible. Why? Well, there’s 66 books in the Bible, 66 chapters in Isaiah, and it follows pretty much the same pattern of subject matter as the Bible itself. So, many people called Isaiah the little Bible.

He found in the place in the scroll where these words were written. He read a prophecy concerning himself, and then, Jesus, the Christ, taught, is taught, and revealed in both the Old and the New Testaments. In verse 18, again, He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” If we are to be like Jesus, we need to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Again, in verse 18, He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” to preach the Gospel.

Preach the Gospel

Romans 1:16 Paul says:

Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Who can be saved? Everyone who believes. “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first.” Why the Jew first? Well, the Gospel was given “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Well, if I’m not Jewish or Greek, I can’t be saved.” It doesn’t mean that. Greek there is representative of all the Gentile people to preach the Gospel to the poor. People around us need the Gospel. “You mean people who don’t have money need the Gospel?” Yes, they do. People who do have money, people who have lots of money, need the Gospel. All people need the Gospel.

But Jesus, again, in the Sermon the Mount said blessed are the poor in spirit, they shall see God. Those who see themselves as impoverished spiritually. They know they have nothing that they can bring to buy their salvation.

in the song Rock of Ages, one line says, “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.” He said “He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted.” Brokenhearted people are all around us. They need Jesus to heal their broken heart. “To preach deliverance to the captives.”

Romans 6:16: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

Romans 6:17: “But God be thanked, that ye were [past tense] the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”

Romans 6:18: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

“Recovering of sight to the blind,” – The Lord gave physical sight to many who are blind, but the Lord gives spiritual sight to the spiritually blind. I made reference to this a moment ago, but let me read it to you:

2 Corinthians 4:3: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:”

2 Corinthians 4:4: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

“To set at liberty them that are bruised,” – those who are wounded physically, those who are persecuted, those who are wounded spiritually. Proverbs 18:14 and 19 says:

Proverbs 18:14: “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?”

Some people are wounded spiritually. Again, it says:

Proverbs 18:19: “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

“To preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” – we’re supposed to preach the coming of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. So, the purpose of the church, then, is to preach the Gospel.

I had a little discussion with somebody just a week or so ago and they said 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 is not the Gospel, John 3:16 is the Gospel. I said there’s no contradiction between the two. I don’t know why you would even draw that issue. It’s a non-issue.

1 Corinthians 15:1: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;”

“Brethren I declare unto you the gospel,” – that evidently, this must be the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:2: “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

1 Corinthians 15:3: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”

1 Corinthians 15:4: “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

That, my friends, is the Gospel. We need to tell the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the wounded that there is a Savior who loves them, who can and will care for them, help them, and save them. We need to tell this lost world that the Savior has come and that He’s coming again. We need to help people, God’s people, to grow, to know the Lord Jesus, grow to be like the Lord Jesus, grow to serve the Lord Jesus, and grow to bring others to the Lord Jesus. And as His custom was, to be in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s day.

~~~~~~~

Let’s pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you that we can gather together as you would have gathered together, as you would have us to gather together. Lord, let us make it a priority in our life as your custom was to gather in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s day.

Now, Father, we come near the end of our service here. We’ll sing a hymn of invitation. If there’s a spiritual need in anybody’s life who is here, we pray that they would respond. Some may need to just come and pray. Some may want to come and make a fresh commitment to you.

If there’s anyone here not saved, they need to come and be saved. Lord, work in our hearts by your Spirit now. And Father, I pray for those who may be listening electronically. First of all, again, for those who may not be saved that they would open their heart, trust Jesus, and be saved. For those who are saved that they would come and make that fresh commitment again to you. Father, bless and move this invitation time. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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