Grace Community Church

The Kingdom of God

Luke 13:18-21

All through Jesus’ ministry He has experienced opposition.  Whether it is Satan and the demonic realm or the religious leaders or even at times, His own followers His ministry has been opposed.  Luke, probably more than any other Gospel writer, seeks to show us that very thing.  Luke also shows, more than any other Gospel writer, that Jesus’ ministry is one of preaching the Kingdom of God and healing.

If we were one of His followers, back then, we would have heard this same message many times, some 18-19 times in the Gospel of Luke already.

What’s troubling to the disciples is that yeah, they’ve seen Jesus heal and do miracles, such as the woman last week, but they’ve not seen anything that might resemble a kingdom.  They believe Jesus and they believe His credentials and yet if He is the Messiah why then all this opposition and why doesn’t He begin His rule and set up His kingdom?  What was confusing to them was rather than the religious leaders of His day signing on, they’re signing out.  Rather than lining up to follow Jesus, they were lining up to destroy Him.  It doesn’t seem at times that Jesus is helping matters all that much either.  Like we saw last week, He called the synagogue ruler a hypocrite.  Not a great way to get the religious leaders on your side.  The disciples do believe but things are not adding up very well.  They were not seeing the visible manifestation of a Kingdom.

They have also read the prophecies like Isaiah 9…

Is 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. 

Lk 1:33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

There seems to be some discrepancies.  The problem was not with Jesus; the problem was the disciple’s understanding of what God’s Kingdom is all about and what it looks like.

Because of their confusion Jesus addresses the Kingdom of God. Continue Reading

Luke 13.6-17

Glorifying or Grumbling, Two States of the Human Heart

Luke 13:10-17

TT- A believer hungers for the Word of God and then lives their life in submission to it.

At first reading this section in Luke’s account seems a little out of place.  He’s just shown us Jesus’ words regarding the vital need for everyone to repent.  Jesus has given us God’s will for us when He very clearly said, unless you repent you all will likewise perish.  Then, He tells us a parable showing the fig tree that should be producing fruit but is not.  Israel had been given such privileges and yet the people would not repent and would not bear fruit.  However, Jesus in His mercy is depicted as the vinedresser and gives Israel one last opportunity to repent.  Rather than turning from sin and turning to Christ and embracing Him as the One sent from God, they refuse.  History tells us that this generation of Israelites perished.

Luke shows us in this text today the difference between one who has repented and is producing fruit and one who remains hard-hearted and in his sin.

I’d like to reread the parable from last week because it is the connection between these two accounts. Continue Reading

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