Luke 13.1-9

Unless You Repent

Luke 13:1-9

Luke tells us in verse 1 that there were some in the crowd who began reporting a current news event.  If we look at what they say it probably is a result of Jesus’ challenge in chapter 12.

Lk 12:54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens.

Lk 12:55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.

Lk 12:56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Someone in the crowd wanted Jesus to see that they understood the signs of the times.  We do understand, Jesus.  We understand that bad things happen to bad people.  When we heard of the slaughter of those Jews in the Temple we did put two and two together and realize that they must have been terrible sinners. 

As with many people today who want to try and figure out the signs of the times, they brought up a current news event as a means of discerning what God is doing. It’s like some folks today, who read about an event in the Middle East for example and immediately want to draw a line between that event and a prophecy in the Book of Revelation as if they are God and can predict things that our Lord did not know while on earth.

The crowd here in our text today is bringing up a tragic event and concluding that God gets even with extremely bad sinners.  This is almost exactly what we heard ten years ago with 911.  Everyone had an opinion as to why the towers fell.  Some said it was God’s judgment on America.

It doesn’t matter whether we’re speaking about 911 or the tsunami of 2004 or more recently the tidal wave that hit Japan; the questions are basically the same.  Who is responsible and why did these things happen? Continue Reading

Luke 12.49-59 Click for Audio

The Jesus of Scripture

Luke 12:49-59

Jesus spoke to us last week about the motivation for one to seek the Kingdom of God was to be watchful for His (the Master) return.  Vigilance in the face of eschatological crisis was the point.  Future judgment or reward will show itself as a servant of Christ proves his or her salvation by obedience to the Master especially in the realm of serving those in the church.  Our consistent behavior shows who we love and trust.

Prior to that, Jesus’ point was to seek the Kingdom and not earthly needs because our lives are more than food and clothing.  Seeking the Kingdom is the focus of a healthy Christian.  A Christian will seek the Kingdom because the Kingdom of God is where he longs to lay up treasure.  Along the way, God meets our physical needs.

Prior to that Jesus warned us against the fear of man.  We are not to fear man but we are to fear God.  We are not afraid of man because our allegiance is to God and we trust Him with our lives and even our death.

Now He takes us a step further in His teaching.  To seek righteousness, to be a faithful servant, and to fear God will result in division between people.  Standing up for truth in this world of pluralistic subjectivism and one will not be very popular.  Every idea, it seems, is as good as any other idea except the idea that there is only one right idea.

Earlier in Chapter 12, Jesus teaches His disciples that they will be persecuted by the authorities and that they will be given the words to say when they need them, here, the division is within family units. Continue Reading

The Master’s Return

Luke 12:35-48

Last week we looked at various causes of fear and worry.  We saw clearly from the Bible that fear is the result of seeking wrong things.  Rather than seeking the necessities of life we are to be seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  As we seek the Kingdom God sustains our life because, as Jesus says, our lives are more than food and clothing.

Seeking the Kingdom is something that must be started and maintained.  There is urgency to our search.  We must seek it and seek it immediately.

In our text before us today, Jesus teaches another motivation for seeking the Kingdom is His second coming.

The Second Coming is a vital doctrine for the Church and one we must understand.

Acts 1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

1 Thes 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Ti 2:13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Rv 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Rv 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.

Our Lord gives us another motivation to be busy seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.   A second motivation is when our Lord returns, He will find us working, watching and ready for Him.

Please hear God’s Word… Continue Reading

 Luke 12-22-34 click for audio

Our Giving Father

Luke 12:22-34

* When we are afraid or worry we are not living our lives by faith.

In this entire section of Chapter 12 Jesus teaches us about fear and anxiety.

God’s children must not fear man-

Lk 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.

God’s children must fear God-

Lk 12:5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

God’s children have nothing to fear because God cares for us.

Lk 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

He gives His children the Holy Spirit.

Lk 12:11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,

Lk 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Armed with this knowledge a believer should never fear anything.  We are commanded not to fear; we’re given the provisions that should drive fear away and yet Jesus compassionately knows we still, at times, are afraid.

He continues His discourse on fear and anxiety.  I pray that as we work through this section we will learn many things about God and about fear.

Last week we saw a man who was anxious about his possessions, and barns.  We learned that possessions whisper lies to our souls.  They tell us that life depends on an abundance of possessions.  They lie and whisper that possessions bring security.  Finally they lie and somehow we believe we can take them with us when we die.  Last week, we also saw a man who had many possessions laid up and stored away but he was not rich toward God.  He was so worried about how he could keep all his stuff that his stuff became a burden and fear and anxiety sat in as he thought about the size of his barns.

This man’s treasure, however, wasn’t his possessions.  His possessions were a means to his treasure.  His real treasure was eating, drinking and partying.

Money is simply currency to purchase what you treasure.  I’ve often heard that you can look through someone’s checkbook and very quickly discover where their heart is because it’s what they spend their money on.

His knowledge of God was deficient.  He didn’t really even acknowledge God in this life but cared only for his life here and now.

Based on these truths, Jesus continues to teach His disciples and us about fear and anxiety.  Continue Reading

Luke 12.13-21 Audio

Lies Possessions Whisper to Our Souls

Luke 12:13-21

**The key to being a faithful follower of Christ is to guard against self-indulgence and pursue self-denial

Jesus is still speaking to this very large crowd, some 10,000 plus people.  This crowd is mixed.  Some are on the fence when it comes to Jesus.  They are interested in the show but are still trying to figure Him out.  Then there are those who are there for the right reasons, they hang on every word of Christ and glean great wealth for their souls.  Still yet, there are those who believe the lies of the Pharisees that Jesus is coming from Satan.

Lk 11:15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,”

They believe this because they have been seduced by the Pharisee’s false religion.  They have bought in to the idea that whatever the Pharisees teach is true.

I think we can figure out how the Pharisees could manipulate the crowd into thinking Jesus was from Satan… Continue Reading

Luke 12.1-12

Hypocrisy and the Fear of Man

Luke 12:1-12

Introduction

Last week we were a part of a very awkward dinner.  Jesus and the Pharisees went head to head.  Our Lord declared six woes upon the religious leaders of the day because they were more concerned with hypocritical traditions of men that they were with the commands of God.  In essence they cared more about what they looked like to others than what they looked like to God.

Hours later, Jesus is out in the street teaching the multitude and the topic is still the same.  Lets listen to Jesus Words to His disciples and to us.

This is God’s Word: Continue Reading

Luke 11.37-54 click here for audio

The Marks of Hypocrisy

Luke 11:37-54

The portion of God’s Word set before us today is a very important section.  We’ll see Jesus’ condemnation of the religious system that the Pharisees and the Scribes had built in His day.

As we look to the condemnation of the religious leaders, let’s be very careful that we don’t write off these verses because we think that they don’t apply to us.  We all have a root of Phariseeism living within us.  We must kill it and guard against allowing it to guide us.   If we allow hypocrisy and legalism to dominate us we will miss the Gospel and miss holiness.

They were associated with God but He was not the center of their life.  For them, God was simply one part among many things they worshipped.  Jesus shows us the other things and then pronounces Divine judgment upon them.  Jesus comes down extremely hard on these religious leaders and even declares six woes upon them collectively.

Now Jesus begins the woes. A woe is a cry for God’s just judgment in light of an action that deserves a divine response (see 6:24-26).[1]

As I read this text, please let’s place ourselves in the room and understand Jesus is speaking to us as well.  He points out our sinfulness as well as theirs.  Understand the difference is we are not condemned with them but if we listen to Jesus’ condemning words, we are given grace.  Our responsibility is to use the searchlight of Scripture and shine it into the dark reaches of our souls to see if there is any trace of Phariseeism within us. Continue Reading

The Son of God Sign

Luke 11:29-36

In order to understand this text that’s before us today we need to go back and witness together, Jesus casting out an evil spirit from the man.

Lk 11:14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.

Lk 11:15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,”

Lk 11:16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.

The crowd kept demanding a sign from Jesus to authenticate His claims that He was sent from God and in fact, the Son of God.

Their demand was really two-fold.  They wanted Jesus to give them a sign to prove that His power to cast out evil spirits came from God and not from Satan.  Can you see how evil this is?  They had concluded wrongly that all the miracles Jesus had done…Feeding the 5000, walking on water, healing the sick, the deaf, the mute, the lame, and the dead, all happened through the power of Satan, not through the power of God.  This is probably the pinnacle of evil and sin.  They saw the Son of God perform a miracle and they gave Satan credit. Continue Reading

Luke 11-23-28 click here for audio

The Blessing of Conversion

Luke 11:23-28

There are various ways people try to show that they are above reproach.  Jesus shows us in our text today that there is only one possible way to be in a right standing before God.  He says that to hear and to obey His Words are the mark of one who is blessed by God.

Here in our text, Jesus shows us three categories of people.  Two of these lead someone to Hell and judgment.  Only one places a person in right standing before God.  Jesus speaks of the impossibility of neutrality, the curse of moralism, and the blessedness of conversion.

Lk 11:23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Lk 11:24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

Lk 11:25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.

Lk 11:26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

Lk 11:27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”

Lk 11:28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

1. The Lie of Neutrality Continue Reading

Luke 11.5-13 click for audio

Lord, Teach Us to Pray (part 2)

Last week, our Lord taught us the principles of prayer content.  Our prayers should consist of praying to our heavenly Father for His decreed end…His name being vindicated and His Kingdom consummating on earth.  Jesus went on to explain that we should also ask God; depending on Him for our every need from the bread we eat to the sins that need to be forgiven.  Jesus shows us we are to pray for the things that God promises to accomplish.  When we pray correctly, we pray for God to accomplish His will.

This week our Lord shows us what our approach should be to prayer.  In other words, Jesus shows us a proper prayer attitude.  Last week the key word was dependence this week it is persistence. 

After giving us the model prayer, Jesus tells a parable to illustrate how to pray.  Notice in this parable words like impudence, ask, seek, knock…all these are words of persistence.  We are to keep asking, seeking, and knocking until our godly requests are answered.

The big problem with our praying is that we are often praying very selfish trivial prayers.  Rather, we should be praying God ordained big prayers.

Let’s look together at how Jesus so masterfully teaches us to pray.

This is God’s Word…

Lk 11:5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

Lk 11:6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

Lk 11:7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?

Lk 11:8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

Lk 11:9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Lk 11:10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Lk 11:11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;

Lk 11:12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

Lk 11:13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Lord, grant us perseverance in prayer as we trust You as Father. Continue Reading