Warnings to the Saints - Luke 12:1-12

Warnings to the Saints, Luke 12:1-12

You can listen to the sermon here.

In a sermon from Hebrews 12, Martyn Lloyd-Jones advised us to not go the Bible only for comfort. Go to the Bible expecting God to confront you and argue against false belief and false peace. David wrote as much in Psalm 119:75 I know, LORD, that Your judgments are just and that You have afflicted me fairly. Our passage today is such a place. The focus of this passage is warning the saints against errors; Luke did not make a record here of how to be saved; these warnings are not given to those outside the family of God. The warnings build up the doctrine of the humility of the saints, reminding us in Whom our sufficiency lies. The video hymn was selected to put this fact in front of us: “Why was I made to hear Thy voice, And enter while there's room; When thousands make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come?” The only answer is God’s sovereign choice; we deserve nothing good from Him.

In last week's sermon we learned about the hypocrisy of the false, external religion, which could be summed up as, "Do what I say, not as I do" as shown in Luke 11:46 - And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. That exchange with the religious leaders caused a stir and many people clamored to see more from this prophet we confronted the Jewish leaders, but Jesus wanted to use the lesson to teach His close disciples something deeper.

1. Warning against hypocrisy. Luke 12:1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

As we have been seeing in our walk through Luke’s gospel, there were often large crowds following after Jesus. As we sometimes read about in our news, in large crowds it’s not uncommon for people to knock others down and trample one another. This is the common disregard for fellow man that is displayed in the perceived anonymity of a large mob. Jesus does not address this crowd in this scene – He turned to His close disciples and warned them about the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees was their self-righteousness. Recall the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: one prayed publicly, in superficial terms; the other humbly cried out for mercy, knowing he needed mercy. This problem is ours as well – we tend to think of ourselves too highly and think of sin too lightly. Self-righteous church-folk are modern Pharisees: comfortable in their traditions and not wanting to be confronted with the truth of God's Word.

Perhaps this is why our prayer life is superficial, virtually overwhelmed with physical concerns – about many who are not even part of this fellowship. Do we spend our time and attention praying and asking for prayers about physical to crowd out the nagging suspicion that we need the grace of God today, to be broken over our own sin? When we pray together, how seldom do we pray for, or ask for prayers, about spiritual matters, for the salvation of loved ones? Physical matters are not unimportant, but they are secondary. If our souls be unhealthy, that is far more critical than our physical bodies. “If your eye offend you, For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Stark teaching such as this is meant to show us how the spiritual is more important than the physical.

In Matt 16 we see His close disciples in a boat with Jesus, as He warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees. They thought He was griping about the fact they had not thought to bring any bread on the trip. Those closest to Him while He walked this earth had trouble understanding the danger of the false teaching among them – doctrines they were taught from their youth, things they had taken as truth all their lives. Just as countless Baptists do, having been brought up in “church-life” and “knowing” what is true. How much of what we know is mere tradition, just as it was with the Pharisees? In our passage Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy – claiming to be someone you ain’t and leading others astray with false doctrines. This is a common problem in our day, as we can be deceived and not know it. This is why we are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith; this means to make sure we are resting in the finished work of Christ, not trusting in our works. This is why God gives us to one another in the local fellowship so we can live together to the degree we can know one another well. This is important, as we learn in the next piece of our text.

2. Second Warning against hypocrisy. Verses 2&3 There is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, nothing hidden that won’t be made known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

A hypocrite who is not self-deceived will say one thing in public and another in the quiet darkness he shares with a very few. We all think we can get away with stuff (we don’t call it sin) and there’s no harm or foul if we don’t get caught. Perhaps the most common example of this is seen in how we drive. I can drive 5 MPH over the speed limit and be safe. Most of the time you can travel 10 MPH over the speed limit and not be pulled over. As long as you aren’t stopped for speeding, no problem! Yet we are otherwise very much in favor of laws – against murder, robbery, and such. Yet God has said, 1 Peter 2:13-15 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Ya gotta love Peter’s pen – it is God’s will we silence foolish people by doing good. We don't earn God's approval by obedience, but we have no excuse for disobedience to God or to human authorities, because they are established by God.

Here's another example of hypocrisy. There's a TV show: The Secret Lives of the Super Rich. It shows the outrageously expensive stuff that owns them, trying to make viewers envious. But the news reports show us real world glimpses into some of the debauchery super rich and powerful people engage in. While many witnesses die and these wealthy, powerful people escape the nation's court system, there is a Judge Who sees all and has perfect justice. We might think these people are like the white-washed cups Dexter mentioned last Sunday, full of indescribable wickedness. In fact, those who claim to be reconciled to God and rely on their own efforts to please Him are MORE wicked than reprobates who make no such claims. Such was the standing of the prideful Pharisees. All will be fully revealed on the day Christ Jesus returns to judge the nations; everything done in secret will be made known; every private whisper proclaimed publicly. We need to live as though we believe this.

John 3:19-21 - And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. This is Jesus' commentary on man's natural condition: loving his sin and the darkness that hides it from other men; failing to rightly fear God, from Whom NOTHING is hidden. This is the leaven of the Pharisees from every era - hypocrisy and no fear of God. Such should not be so among us!

3. Warning against fear of man. Verses 4-7 “And I say to you, My friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the One to fear: Fear Him who has authority to throw ⌊people⌋ into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the One to fear! Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. Indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows! 

If we're honest, we all fear something or someone, just as we all worship something or someone. An author wrote, years ago: There is a God Who is and there is a god we want. They are not the same! The God Who is knows all things and, by His hand of providence, controls all things. He throws unrepentant sinners into hell - they don't choose that destination. Fear Him - not as His enemies do, but as the angels do.

Angels get no mercy or forgiveness for sin; this is why they long to look into these things - how the gospel was preached by ancient prophets for the benefit of those who would come much later (1 Peter 1:10-12). A third of the angelic realm was thrown down from heaven because they rebelled against God. No second chance, no forgiveness; only a fearful expectation of fierce judgment and a fury of fire that will consume His enemies. That same warning of judgment is given to men who continually trample the grace of God (Heb 10:26-27), which ought to give each of us reason to examine ourselves – do we truly trust in Christ?

Since God knows of every bird that falls, knows every hair on our heads; how can we live as though He doesn't know every sin we commit in word, thought, or deed? To fear God means we live in recognition of Who He is – almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful, creator, sustainer, and judge. Since we all stumble in many ways, it is double foolish to think we don’t need one another if we are to walk obedient fear of God. He calls us together, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:12-16)

So with men who can make our lives miserable, we must remember the One Who was made miserable for us. We can fear man and what he can do or we can fear God and what He can do. If we fear man, there is no refuge from God; if we fear God, He is our refuge from man.

4. Warning against shrinking back. Verses 8-10 “And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God, but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

This is closely tied to our previous point. One aspect of fearing man is we would be fearful of proclaiming Christ. In our day, so many people have grown up “in church” that they think they are Christian by default. Many know nothing about the Bible, care nothing for things of God or His people – yet claim to love Jesus, despite their gross ignorance of Him. These people are difficult to evangelize because we fear upsetting them. We must bear in mind: it is not our call to convert people or convince people; our calling is to proclaim Him. The word “acknowledge” (used in the ESV) means to confess (as in the KJV and ASB) or profess. It is to be known as His and make His excellencies known, trusting the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do – save wretched sinners.

Jesus Goes out of His way here to establish an important truth: The Christian God, the true God, is triune. The common view in national Israel was that God was one and only one. This is one of the stumbling blocks they had in accepting Jesus as the Son. Also, they had very little understanding of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is pulling back the veil a little to show them God as He is. In these three verses Jesus establishes the personhood of all three members of the trinity. The Son confesses His people to God the Father and declares that, while all manner of sin can be forgiven, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not. Each of the members of the God-head are jealous for one another. The Son proclaimed the Father in His ministry (John 12:49-50 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”). The Father glorified the Son (Matthew 17:5 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”). The Holy Spirit also glorifies the Son (John 16:14 He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. And in our text, Jesus declares that everything spoken against Him can be forgiven, but blasphemy of the Spirit will not. The Holy Spirit’s role is to convict the world of sin and guide and teach the people of God about the Lord Jesus. He does not seek His own glory. So the Son stands up for the Spirit.

What is, then, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Luke 11:14-18: Now He was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon came out, the man who had been mute, spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!” And others, as a test, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

It's not merely speaking against the Holy Spirit that Jesus was warning against; it is ascribing to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit. It may be because the Spirit does not testify about Himself that the Son has made it all the more vital that we know the role of the Holy Spirit and honor and worship Him as God.

We are herein warned to not grow complacent about declaring Christ to the world and to be careful to honor God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.

5. Encouragement to Trust God. Verses 11 & 12 Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said.”

Again, we see a strong connection with the previous verses: do not fear man; fear God. Here we get a word of encouragement, of comfort. Previously we were told to fear God because He has the power to throw people into hell. Here we are told to trust God (do not worry about those people!) because the Spirit of God will give us the message. This was fulfilled for Paul, as he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:16-17 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. When Paul first came under attack, no men came to his aid. Note this – he did not blame them! His trust was in God and it was God Who gave him the gospel message to fully proclaim the glories of Christ so all could hear.

The context here is explicitly Jewish; this word was spoken directly to His fellow Jews. The application is universal, as we see throughout Scripture that the world will hate the saints and we will be persecuted. The point is not the historical context of synagogues and the intricacies of the Jewish theocracy; the point is to not be concerned about man, including what they think of us. The natural man cannot comprehend why we have the priorities we do; the gospel that is their only hope is foolishness in their eyes. We cannot save them, and keeping quiet so they don’t think us fools is something we’ve been warned not to do.

Trust God (all three persons) to be your wisdom in every circumstance in which you are tested. We are not to trust in our own wisdom or skill when preaching or teaching nor when being attacked on main street for believing on Christ Jesus. Confess Christ as Lord, profess Him as the Savior of sinners. Be consistent, in your prayers and in your public speech: Jesus Christ is Lord and King, come to Him all who are weary!

Application. John came out of the wilderness preaching judgment on his fellow Jews, telling these vipers to repent and flee the wrath to come. He warned them not to put stock in their fleshly lineage, as YHWH is able to raise up children of Abraham from rocks. In the Kingdom he announced, neither having Abraham as your father nor having Christians as your parents grants one entrance. The ax was being laid to the root, as every tree not bearing fruit would be cut down and burned.

After a short sermon, the people wondered if John was the Christ. He told them that water baptism was not the point, but baptism with the Holy Spirit by the Christ was. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.

Good news for sinners is not news that comforts them in their sin. The good news from God rebukes the self-righteous man, warns him to flee the wrath of God, and confronts him with the glorious truth of the true Christ.

If you seek to make sinner comfortable, you are aligned with the hypocrites. If you seek to present the glorious Christ, warning people to believe on Him, to repent of their sin, and flee to Him, you are aligned with the humble servants of God. We preach Christ crucified, not a program or a building. Seek to please Him - for He has the keys to eternal life.

Remember David, a man beloved by God. Jumped into horrendous sin with both feet. Was blinded by his own lust. Took what was not his, violated who he took, killed her husband. Yet he was not abandoned by the God who had set His unchanging love upon him. The faithful One sent a man to love David unto the truth. After Nathan confronted David, he wrote Psalm 51, in which we see a contrite man, broken over his sin, pleading with God to have mercy on him, to blot out his sin, wash him, create a clean heart and renew a right spirit in him. He cried out for God to Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

This is the confidence we can have IF we have been born from above by the Spirit of the living God.

That video hymn, written by Isaac Watts around 1700, ends with this prayer to God: “Pity the nations, O our God! Constrain the earth to come; Send Thy victorious Word abroad, And bring the strangers home. We long to see Thy churches full, That all the chosen race May with one voice, and heart, and soul, Sing Thy redeeming grace.” That should be the constant desire of our hearts – may the Lord give His desire to see all of His chosen ones saved and the willingness to declare His gospel to every creature.

The Death that brings Life

For what reason did the Son of God come to live as a man? That is the question.

You can listen to this sermon here.

The Death that Brings Life, Luke 9:18-27

Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as spoil, because He submitted Himself to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

This passage covers a lot of territory, from the identity of Christ, to the reason He had to come, the cost of being a disciple, and the promise of being in the kingdom.

I. The Question; vs 18-21. Jesus often pulled away from crowds for prayer and to teach His disciples. Luke 11:1, 22:39-41, and Matt 26:36 show various scenes and reasons for the Lord teaching His disciples privately. We see in this passage the reason for this privacy, in addition to the question asked and the answers given. Last week we heard how Jesus pulled His disciples away to teach them privately but the crowds saw them and pursued. Today, He takes His disciples away to teach them - and they are alone.

Those closest to Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to comprehend the true nature of Jesus. The crowds thought Him to be just another man - John or Elijah or another prophet. Those of the world cannot rightly see the Lamb of God, so they have endless alternatives that their natural minds can accept. Recall Herod's perspective, upon hearing of the miracles attending the teaching of the twelve - read Mark 6:14-16. Natural man, Paul wrote, suppresses his knowledge of the truth by his unrighteousness (Romans 1:18-19). This is why those who are told or shown the truth about Jesus say that He was a prophet or a good man - anyone but the God-man. And hence Paul also wrote, "No one can say "Jesus is LORD" except by the Holy Spirit." People can say those words, but that no more means they believe in Him than does merely tacking on the name of Jesus on a prayer that has no basis in Scripture gain the ear of God. We pray in His name by praying that which is honorable in His sight. We say "Jesus is LORD" by the Spirit when we believe on Him; our lives will reflect the life of the One who gave Himself for us.

The title, "the Christ of God," highlights the relationship between Jesus and His Father (Matt 16:16). In Luke 2:11 Jesus is declared the Messiah. Peter's confession asserts Jesus to be the Messiah, from the line of David. Contrary to David's kingdom in Palestine, the kingdom of Jesus is not of this world.

Jesus commands them not to tell anyone who He is. This was the reason for the privacy - it was not time for Him to known publically. Just as he told the lepers in Mark 1 not to tell anyone they had been healed. Although those healed often disobeyed and told everyone what Jesus had done, He was sticking to a time table set by His Father that no man could derail. See John 2:1-4, John 7:6, John 7:30.

Jesus did not want people focusing on the miracles He performed, but rather the message He proclaimed and the death He was going to die. The same is true today. God would rather that we be focused on the healing miracle of salvation through Jesus Christ instead of focusing on physical healings and/or miracles. When you see people on TBN or DayStar focusing on "miracles" rather than the glory of God, they are guilty of a false gospel, revealing themselves to be enemies of the cross. Natural man wants health and wealth and fame. When these are promised, in the guise of being what God wants for us, natural man is given what his sinful heart wants and Osteen, Jakes, Hinn, and the like get rich. Yet their flesh fails and they cannot heal themselves of poor eyesight not can they take their ill-gotten gain with them to the grave.

The greatest need of all of Adam's children is to be given new life in the Christ of God and this comes only by the Spirit of God.

II. The Mission; vs 22 (this is THE point of the message). The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. This is the reason the Son of God came to earth in the flesh: to suffer many things, to be rejected by His own people, to be put to death, to be raised up in glory. All who have faith in Him will enjoy the purity and joy of eternal life without temptation or sin.

How did He suffer? He was humiliated in taking on human flesh (Phil 2:6-8). The Creator learned obedience from His human parents (Heb 5:8-9). He was betrayed by Judas (Luke 22:48). He was taken captive (Matthew 26:50). He was deserted by His disciples (Matthew 26:56). He was falsely accused by those in the crowd, His kinsmen of the flesh (Matthew 26:60). He was spat upon and beat up (Matthew 26:67-68). He was falsely accused by whom He had put in positions of authority (Matthew 27:12). He was scourged and crucified (Matthew 27:26). He was mocked by the Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:29-30). He suffered many things.

He was rejected by the elders and chief priests (Read Matthew 26:3-5). He was rejected by own people, who demanded Barabbas be released (Read Matthew 27:21-22).

Jesus was crucified. We reviewed this method of killing prior to Easter. It was the most painful, gruesome form of death every contrived by man. Prior to being nailed to the cross, He was scourged with a whip that had bits of bone and iron balls that were effective at stripping the flesh from the bones. This scourging and the crucifixion were public, in full view of the throngs of people who had come to Jerusalem for the annual Passover. Countless saw Him beaten and lifted up to die. Roman soldiers guarded the tomb in which He was laid. His disciples were discouraged and fled in dismay. The light of the world lay physically dead in the earth. It appeared all hope was lost.

But He had told them on many occasions that He would be put to death AND be raised up on the third day. For this cause the Son of Man came - to give Himself a ransom for many. Without the resurrection, we have no gospel - no hope for fallen man. But Jesus DID rise up and come forth from the tomb in glory! For this cause, He came.

III. The Cost; vs 23-26. The point of these statements is to put to silence those who preach comfort and ease for the Christian; to expose the lie of being aligned with the world while claiming allegiance t Christ; to contrast the lie of the world with the truth of God. Let’s look to see what light our Lord sheds on this, by His example. In John 2, Jesus is at the wedding in Cana and the wine had been consumed. In verse 3, Mary tells Jesus “They have no wine.” We do not know what she was thinking – was Jesus supposed to go and buy some wine or did she know He could create it? His reply provides insight: John 2:4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” As a child, Jesus was subject to His earthly parents, ye when He was twelve years old He let them know there was a higher calling on His life – He must be about His Father’s business. As an adult, at this wedding, Jesus does not refer to Mary with any term of endearment – He simply calls her “woman” (which was NOT a term of disrespect) and asks why is she bothering Him; making clear she does not have parental oversight in this matter. In a later scene, Matthew 12:46-50 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Clearly, in each of these three scenes, the Lord has been showing His earthly family that there is a higher calling – the kingdom of God and those who belong to it are more important than earthly family, no matter how close.

Read James 4:4, Matt 10:34-38. In another place, Jesus told a young man to leave the dead to bury their dead, when he had objected to the call to follow Christ. Nothing in this world can compare to the glory of being united to Christ, reconciled to God.

Brothers and sisters: Service to God and to one another is the highest priority and privilege anyone can have! Read 1 Cor 12:12-27. This body language - we each have gifts given us to serve one another as it pleased God. We belong to one another, bought at a price - belonging to Christ!

Our text reminds us of the higher calling, contrasting the lure of that which cannot satisfy with the sure promise of that which cannot fail to satisfy. The cost of discipleship is high, but only in terms of that which perishes.

IV. The Promise; vs 27. There are quite a few differing opinions as to the meaning of this verse. Some people think this means the second advent has already taken place, because He had to return before those being spoken to died. Full preterists think this and claim Jesus' second advent was in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.  

Spurgeon couldn't accept that view and he concluded Jesus meant Judas would not be cast into eternal punishment before the second advent. That is when the second death will claim those who believe not on the Lord Jesus. Does that single son of perdition align with Jesus' statement, "There are some standing here?" He would have likely said, "There is one standing here." He had no trouble mentioning "one" who betrayed Him - He didn't say "some."

Spurgeon also pointed out the difficulty in the view that Jesus was speaking of His ascension. That glorious event was only 6 days away when Jesus spoke these words. We know every day is a gift from God, but it strains reason to think Jesus was speaking about an event 6 days away when He said, "There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

Considering the last phrase, those people would see the kingdom of God, ought to give a clue. In John 3, while speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus said one must be born from above in order to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). This rules Judas out - no serious student of Scripture thinks he was born by the Spirit into eternal life.

Many commentaries see this statement of Jesus referring to the establishment and growth of the New Covenant body of believers that took place during the lives of the apostles and continues to this day, pointing to the promised return of our Savior.

Matthew Poole summed it up like this: "But the most generally received opinion, and which seems best, is, that the coming of the Son of man here meant is, his resurrection from the dead. His ascension into heaven, and sending the Holy Spirit, after which the kingdom of grace came with a mighty power, subduing all nations to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was declared, (or determined), to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Romans 1:4. And when, after his resurrection from the dead, they asked him, Acts 1:6, whether he would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel, he puts them off, and tells them for an answer, Acts 1:8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And then, Acts 1:9, he in their sight ascended up into heaven. Then did the kingdom of the Son of man come with power, Acts 2:33-36, they knowing assuredly that the Son of man, whom the Jews had crucified, was made both Lord and Christ, as Acts 2:36, and, as Acts 2:34,35, set at God’s right hand, (according to the prophecy of David, Psalm 90:1), until his enemies should be made his footstool."

The kingdom was inaugurated with a display of the power and glory of God when He ascended and when the Spirit ignited the body of Christ and spread the gospel to those who had walked in darkness. The kingdom is now, Christ rules over all powers and dominions - He declared this when He gave the Great Commission: Read Matt 28:18-20. This is the kingdom: Christ in glory, His Spirit equipping and guiding His people to spread His gospel to the ends of the earth.

V. Application

a.) People today are just as curious and apathetic about who Jesus is as were the first century Jews. Some consider Jesus to have been a wise teacher, but not divine. Others think Him the things of mythology. Do you know the answer to the question - who is Jesus? Can you answer those who may ask you? If you are in Christ, you have the Spirit within - the same Spirit that revealed the answer to Peter so long ago. Be sure you know Him - and can tell others: Jesus is the Christ of God.

b.) Knowing the identity of Jesus hinges upon knowing why He came. If sin was not the problem, Jesus would not have had to suffer at the hands of men on our account nor would He have had to drink the cup of wrath to reconcile us to God the Father. And if we do not KNOW, deep down in our soul, that Christ Jesus was raised from the dead, then what hope of eternal life can we have?

c.) There is a cost to follow the Lord Jesus. The world and our flesh will pull at us, men who know not the Christ will ridicule us, those with a false gospel will argue for the works of man for salvation. Are you willing to be known as His in the workplace, in school, with your neighbors? I've known people at work who thought their faith had to be kept a secret. When Jesus said we should not be ashamed of His words, He is basically telling us to be public with our profession and walk. Those who fear man more than God will be ashamed of His words; those who are indwelt by the Spirit will not fear man. J.C. Ryle said, “It costs something to be a true Christian. It will cost us our sins, our self-righteousness, our ease, and our worldliness.” Those who are at ease with their sin need to examine themselves. Peace with sin means no peace with God. Peace with God means no peace with sin.

d.) While the context of our passage makes it clear that Jesus was talking about the first death, physical death, the promise to us has to do with the second death. This is the sure promise of God for those who are in Christ: having been given eternal life we are guaranteed that the second death has no grip on us.

When Jesus died, death for all who are in Him was defeated. John Owen, a man of many words, wrote a 426 page book titled, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. His point was to demonstrate that for all who are in Christ, the second death has no hold. Some men teach that Christ died for everyone, yet the benefit for those who are doomed to damnation is nowhere to be found; they are still dead in sin. The death of Christ gives life to those who were dead. This is what it means to see Jesus as the Christ of God. He had authority to lay down His life and to pick it back up again. And He gives life to that which was dead, reconciling wretched sinners to holy God.

And what wondrous love is this?

Though I raised my clenched fist,

He opened up my hand to received His gift

And what wondrous love is here?

That God Immortal has drawn near,

And shed His blood to close the rift.

If you are His, He has drawn you close and commanded you, as you go, to make disciples, teaching those who believe all He has commanded. If you are not His, while it is yet today, cry out to Him for faith and repentance. Oh how dreadful, when the great fountains of God’s wrath shall be broken up and all His bitter vials poured out! Today is the day - if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart as they did in the days of the wilderness. Jesus saves sinners - turn to Him, look to Him and be saved!

Unworthy and Trusting, Luke 7:1-10

You can listen to this sermon here.

Jas 4:10 — Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹ When He had concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.

Not until He was finished with His sermon (the one we’ve been learning about these past few weeks, describing the kingdom of God and that of the world) did Jesus move on. Everything Jesus did was deliberate; the Lord is not spontaneous or reckless as some have portrayed Him. He came in the fulness of time, as the Father had appointed. And when He was ready, had finished His sermon, He entered Capernaum - the same place where He had healed many people and His fame grew because of it. Luke 4:42 & 43 tell us the crowds were searching for Him. But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.” Having preached throughout Galilee, he came back to Capernaum.

² A centurion’s slave, who was highly valued by him, was sick and about to die. ³ When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, requesting Him to come and save the life of his slave. ⁴ When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.”

The centurion in the Roman army was about what a company commander is in ours. These were men known to be responsible and honorable. This un-named centurion had a household slave who was ill unto death. This was a valuable person and this man who had healed so many in this town a few weeks or months ago was back. He could heal this slave!

This centurion was highly regarded by the local Jewish leaders. When he heard Jesus was in town, he sent the Jewish elders to Him; every translation I looked at uses that word, sent. He issued an order, sent the men and they obeyed. These men were accustomed to giving orders, under the guise of advice, to the Jewish people. This Gentile had built them a synagogue and they went when he sent them. They were familiar with a system of being lords and having the Roman government be lord over them. So they went, and spoke to Jesus on his account.

Note the message they spoke to Jesus about the man who sent them: “He is worthy for You to grant this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue.” This is how the world determines a man's worth - what have you done for me lately? Jews had virtually nothing to do with Gentiles. Their law did require the same treatment for Gentiles who joined with Israel as for the Jews themselves. And while our text tells us this Gentile loved the nation and built them a synagogue, we have nothing telling us he joined with them as a covenant member.

When King Cyrus issued the proclamation to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, he was highly favored by the Jews, but not part of their covenant community. When King Artaxerxes issued the orders that facilitated the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, he was highly favored by the Jews, but not part of their covenant community.

This centurion loved Israel and demonstrated it. In our day, his name would be on building on the campus of a large "church" or on the pew of smaller one, because far too many Christians think the same way these Jewish elders did, honoring men for the kingdom work that God is doing. Our goal should be to be forgotten by all but our family and the Lord and for His name to be exalted by all! The Jewish worldview was based on the idea that wealth and health revealed God's favor. This man had their attention, they felt indebted to him. And to be clear, we are taught that love without evidence thereof is not biblical love, just as faith without works is not saving faith. When love is expressed in tangible ways, we should thank God for what He is doing, thank the person He is working through, but resist the urge to bestow honor on the creature that rightly belongs to the Creator. This was the error of the Jewish elders in our text – they failed to see Jesus for Who he is; and they saw more in the centurion than was there.

But we see that he put more stock in this man Jesus, which the Jewish hated, than he did in the nation of Israel. His slave was ill and he wanted Jesus, not the elders. This is a key point: When life is hard and when life is good, we need Jesus, not our favorite preacher. A faithful preacher will preach Christ and Him crucified, because only Jesus can do poor sinners good. This man wanted Jesus.

Our centurion would benefit by his slave being healed; we have no reason to believe that was his only motive. Slaves in the Roman military would be baggage handlers or camp assistants. During this time, Seneca was beginning to advocate for humane treatment of slaves, believing that well treated slaves would work better than those who were treated badly. Based on what we see in this passage about this centurion, it’s safe to say he was concerned about the welfare of this man who was his slave. And he wanted this man who was well known as a healer to heal him. The elders petitioned Jesus to come, and we see that He did.

⁶ Jesus went with them, and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Him, “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to You.

People who rightly see the Lord and His Christ will see themselves more clearly. John fell down as one dead when the Lord Jesus appeared to him on Patmos in a vision. When Peter saw all the fish in the boat and realized Jesus was Lord over creation, he said, "Depart from me for I am a sinful man." The man who sees Christ clearly will be broken over his own sin. If someone doesn’t see his sin for what it is, if the focus is on the sin of others, he has not seen Christ aright.

Whatever this centurion had heard about Jesus, he understood enough to know He was not a mere man, as he was himself. Receiving someone into your house was an act of grace, accepting responsibility for the care and safety of the guest. Consider when a commoner is accepted to enter the house of the king. The greater condescends to protect and care for the lesser; as David did with Mephibosheth. This Gentile recognized he was the lesser; not the greater. He was not worthy of having of having this man who healed people in his house.

He was not worthy of even going to Him! A person does not approach a king with being bidden. To do so is to invite death. We see this in Esther 4:11 “All the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned—⌊the⌋ death ⌊penalty⌋. Only if the king extends the gold scepter will that person live.” Such was reverence common people had for kings. Such was the reverence this centurion had for the King of kings.

Isaiah was a prophet called by God to proclaim His Word to Israel. He saw the veil pulled back a little, got a glimpse of the thrice holy Creator and Judge of all flesh. And he was undone. Those being called by God will be broken when they fall upon that Rock. He will bind every wound of every sheep He brings into His sheepfold. Let us learn from this Gentile centurion - we are unworthy to have the God-man in our presence. We are not worthy to be in His presence. But at His Word, we come to Him and are healed. Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. The only fitness He requires is that you feel your need of Him. This He gives you! The centurion knew He needed Jesus, and Jesus came.

But say the word, and my servant will be cured. ⁸ For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

In a song of deliverance, the children of Israel sang out the truth of the power of God's word. Psalm 107:19-20 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distress. He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit. Contrary to the nature of gods made by humans, YHWH does not need to touch in order to do. Contrary to those gods which are not Gods, YHWH needs nothing human hands can do. He spoke and everything that is created was created. Say the word, Creator God in human flesh, and my servant will be healed.

This Gentile had more trust in the Messiah from Nazareth than did those who were raised up under and taught the oracles of God. Both the Jews and the centurion had heard the reports of the healing that Jesus performed last time He was in town. The Jewish elders that were friends with the centurion didn't appear to be interested in the Messiah - they wanted to honor their benefactor. But the Gentile had a problem, he wanted something these Jewish elders could not grant him. And his military training served him well in this regard.

Discipline and obedience are keystones of the military, without which it could not function. In our military, lawful orders must be followed; in ancient Rome, ALL orders had to be followed. This centurion knew how to issue and follow orders. He had been taught to trust the chain of command and the system used to get critical messages to where they were needed. With messengers running to and fro, people in the Roman army rarely saw the one giving the orders - they obeyed what was told them without seeing the superior. His entire career was based on orders being given and obeyed, not doubting, only trusting; with the evidence of the signet ring stamped in wax.

We would call this faith. Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The centurion said, "Say the word and my servant will be healed." The substance of things hoped for - not as the world hopes about winning the lottery. Hope in that which cannot fail. Trust is hope put to use. Faith is also the evidence of things not seen. The centurion had heard much evidence, he trusted in this man about whom he had heard much. And he did more than wish for healing; he sought out the Healer and asked Him to say a word.

Hebrews 11:6 (HCSB) Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him. Those whom God calls, come to Him, often without realizing they’ve been called until they see in Scripture that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). Those who seek God have been drawn by Him, believe on Him; and He rewards them - grants them life eternal and provides the Holy Spirit. Man, in his natural state, has not this saving faith and cannot be pleasing to God. The centurion must have had this kind of faith – see how the Savior responded to him!

⁹ Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!”

It’s fascinating to read how Jesus responds to various people who come to Him in faith. We’ll look at two.

To Nathaniel: Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit! (John 1:47) For a man to have no deceit in his mouth, no guile, is to be without hypocrisy, not doubting about the Lord. This is the man described in Psalm 32:1&2 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. This man does not claim to be without sin; but, like Job, he admits he is sinful and casts himself on holy God. In Job 9:20, after being counseled by his friends, Job declared himself to be righteous, yet condemned by his own mouth, blameless yet perverse in God’s sight. The more mature in Christ we are, the more we will be without deceit, without thinking of self too highly.

To Thomas, Jesus said: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Thomas is a type for us: it’s easy to grow dissatisfied with what God has revealed to us and we want more! This is the same discontent Eve suffered. If you believe in Christ, be content with what He has revealed to us! If there be things you or I think are important truths but they are not found in the Scripture, we need to repent! Our faith in Christ will be evidenced by our lives of obedience to what He has told us, even if it goes against what we've been taught from our youth regarding these things.

The centurion saw himself and the Lord rightly and desired nothing more than healing. No sensationalism, no personal glory, no bragging rights. So many in Israel demanded signs. Not this Gentile. He wanted a word from Jesus. Think about that.

¹⁰ When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Herein we see the difference between the divine and the carnal. When Word of Faith heretics claim to have healed people, there’s a distinct lack of supporting evidence. Was the person in the wheelchair really crippled? None of the highly publicized “healings” claimed by these people has been verified. These charades take place in protected venues where no hostiles are allowed. When the Son of Man went through Capernaum healing all sorts of people with all sorts of ailments, countless saw and all who knew the healed people knew this Man had done something no one else could. When Jesus healed, it was public, in full view of those who wanted to kill him. Recall the man blind from birth. No doubt about his condition or identity or healing. Recall the fear of man his parents were under:

John 9:18-23 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

This fear of man works both ways. In this context, the common folk were in fear of the religious leaders and the religious leaders were believing they were worthy of this fear, which they took as adoration. This is why the Jewish elders took no thought about approaching Jesus on behalf of the centurion – they were the noble religious leaders and this man was a commoner, though well thought of by the common folk. They thought too much of themselves and too little of the God-man.

This is the theme throughout Scripture: There are two kingdoms, two peoples. The kingdom of this world will always try to bring God down so man can see himself as lifted up. The kingdom of God will always lift the Lord Jesus as God so man will see himself as lowly. We are not worthy, apart from His redeeming grace, to draw near to God. We are not worthy, apart from the salvation that is Christ alone for Him to come to our house. But those He predestined, He called. And those He called, He justified; and those He justified, He has glorified. He draws us to be close Him and He makes us His house! It’s a far, far better deal than trying to make ourselves righteous and build a house for Him. For He does not dwell in houses built by human hands as if He had need of anything human hands could do for Him.

Application: Not all who call Jesus Lord are His children. Not all who want healing are citizens of God's kingdom. BUT - no one can truly say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Spirit of God; all who are children of God know Christ as Lord. Every citizen of God's kingdom will be healed, when He returns to make all things new.

Do you see Him as the glorified Son of God, seated at the right hand of God the Father? Are you secure in the knowledge that His blood was shed for you and that you are welcome in the beloved?

Self-love is a sign of the perilous times in which we live. 2 Tim 3:1&2 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. The list goes on; the point is clear: those who love self are on a pathway to eternal doom. Rather than love self, we are to see ourselves as unworthy servants and love Him Who loved us first.

The citizen of the kingdom of this world lives focused on serving self - do I look good to others, am I well thought of, do I have enough stuff? The citizen of the kingdom of God is focused on being obedient to God as revealed in His Word, bring glory to God in his body (thoughts, speech, actions). Paul summed it up this way: Romans 6:16&22 (HCSB) Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the end is eternal life!

Each one of us who are of Christ's sheepfold will fall into sin from time-to-time; our lives are marked by spiritual warfare. He has given us to one another to teach, reproof, rebuke, weep together, and rejoice together. Christian fellowship is a vital part of our lives as slaves of righteousness.

This is the call we find Paul and Jude alluding to as they refer to themselves as slaves of Christ. Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. Slaves can be sent. Slaves are not worthy of the king's honor, slaves see their lord rightly. Our nature is to be a slave to our fleshly desires. If you are called by God, if you are in Christ, His call is to be a slave to righteousness.

We are unworthy of His redeeming grace, yet He is the faithful One in Whom we can trust.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,

Bruised and broken by the fall

If you tarry 'til you're better

You will never come at all

Not the righteous, not the righteous

Sinners Jesus came to call

Lo! The Incarnate God, ascended

Pleads the merit of His blood

Venture on Him, venture wholly

Let no other trust intrude

None but Jesus, none but Jesus

Can do helpless sinners good

War on the Home Front, Luke 4:14-30

You Can Listen to This Sermon Here.

Let it be known to the listener: I referred to Jezebel as Bathsheba, my mistake, in this sermon. Enjoy!

War on the Home Front, Luke 4:14-30

Previously, Paul preached about the war against evil that had been declared by Jesus in His baptism and then we learned about the personal confrontation with Satan in the 40 days of testing Jesus endured.

There is a change in today’s passage; we have an abrupt break between verse 13 & 14. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. In verse 13 we see that Satan had broken off the attack and departed until an opportune time. This is a classic tactic in any war - engage the enemy to discover weaknesses and defeat him, if possible. If not, retreat to recoup and seek out a better engagement, based on what you learned in the first one. And Satan must learn as he goes – he is not omniscient. In our text today we will see that Satan has redrawn the battle lines, from the spiritual domain of this age to Jesus’ home front, Nazareth. What Satan may have thought was a more opportune time.

As we consider these events, let us bear in mind the weight of what the Lord Jesus bore. The Creator of all flesh was the object of scorn and wrath by His creatures – including some of those He grew up with. Man of sorrows, obedient to the Father to save His own people, bearing shame and rude scoffing from those He grew up with. For our sake, God made Him who knew no sin to take our sin upon Himself.

Contrary to Satan’s slinking off to regroup, Jesus went back to Galilee refreshed, in the power of the Spirit. This is a mark of the one with whom the Spirit of God dwells – rather than shrinking back from conflict, Jesus knew His defense would be found in being obedient to the Father. People heard about Him, far and wide, and as He taught in the Jewish synagogues, they all glorified Him – they made much of Him. The account in Matthew gives us some insight as the Lord’s activities while Galilee and the reception He received. Matt 4:23-25 (page 1827). Many signs and miracles – attesting to His identity.

It is still as it was when the ancient preacher said that the ear never tires of hearing something new. People flocked after Jesus, just as they had John. Some of these people rushed to hear these new prophets because they desired healing and feeding and others because they believed on the Lord Jesus; this is pattern we see throughout the Scriptures. Those the Spirt has quickened will receive the gospel with joy; those still in their natural condition will reject the message. And the numbers in the crowds, both groups of people, were large enough to intimidate the religious leaders.

Verses 16-22. When Jesus went to His home town of Nazareth, He stood up to read from the Scroll of the Word of God, as He had been doing for some time – it was His regular practice at this point, having begun when He was twelve. But something was different this time. The time was approaching for the kingdom to be declared. The Son of God had been validated by heaven, it was now public knowledge who He claimed to be.

He read from Isaiah 61:1-2, a passage the Jews identified with their being set free from all political tyranny. At first everyone was impressed – Jesus read the scroll with authority that did not come from man! All eyes were on Him as they waited anxiously to hear what He would say about the text He had read. When Jesus said He was the One spoken of in this passage, they were amazed at His gracious words, yet confounded by their fleshly knowledge that He was the son of Joseph. Wasn’t that what Nathanael asked – could anything good come from that town, Nazareth? The Jews knew their deliverer would come from the house of David – Bethlehem – not from the nowhere town of Nazareth.

Verses 23-27. Jesus cites a proverb and refers to the miracles He had performed in Galilee – doubtless keenly aware of what these men were thinking. After commenting about how hard it is to be accepted by one’s home folk (Is this not Joseph’s son?), He brings up two accounts from their history. After Elijah won the famous victory over the prophets of Baal, he found refuge in the care of a widow mother in Sidon. People were starving and only this widow – not even a Jew! – was saved by a miracle. And note: her jar did not stay full until she obeyed Elijah and fed him with the last bit of flour she had. The second example is the well-known story of the Syrian army officer who was cleansed of leprosy. There was no record of the many Jewish lepers of that time being healed; God chose to save this Syrian.

Note an incident that would take place later in the Lord’s life. He and his disciples are traveling between Samaria and Galilee – the same region our text in chapter 4 takes place. Luke 17:12-19 (page 1857). The only leper who gave thanks and praise God for his physical healing was a Samaritan, not a Jew. And he was the only one of the lepers whose soul was healed. Here is the message: being a Jew, a descendent of Abraham according to the flesh, does not provide eternal life, reconciliation with God, entrance into His kingdom.

Verses 28-29. When those in the synagogue in Nazareth heard Jesus read Isaiah 61, they marveled and spoke well of Him. When the man they knew as a youth taught them the fulfillment of that passage, they were filled with wrath. The message in the Scripture citations was not lost on them – their God sometimes favored Gentiles over Jews. They tended to forget that their father Abraham was promised he would be a father to nations, far and beyond the boundaries of national Israel. This was the common reaction of the Jewish people, anger at the message from their Messiah, stiff-necked blindness, and a love for temporal comforts – just as they grumbled about being led out of Egypt to wander in the wilderness. Slavery was better than the constant wondering, not knowing where they were going or when they would get there. Note the contrast with the man they called “father” – God had called Abram to leave his family and go to a country God would show him. No map, no GPS, no direction or duration. And Abram went, as the Lord had told him. We learn that he was led to Canaan, but Abram didn’t stay there. He was a wonderer all his life, looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Abram was a man of faith – he trusted God more than he trusted his own reason. People who demand a sign as evidence give evidence they don’t have faith. They want to see with their eyes of flesh what only spiritual eyes can see. About these Jesus said, The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's preaching, and look--something greater than Jonah is here (Luke 11:32). We see frequent evidence that even those closest to Jesus were prone to fall into this pattern – Thomas said he would not believe Christ had risen from the dead, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25). This is the default for man, trusting in what his natural sight can see, what his human mind can reason out. In Romans 5 we read that natural man is an enemy of God, in Phil 3 those who are devoted to things of the world are enemies of the cross, in James we are told friendship with the world is enmity (hostility) towards God, and in Col 1 we see that natural man is hostile and alienated from God by evil actions.

And when the men from Jesus' home town reacted to His message with anger, seeking to murder Him, verse 30: But passing through them, He went away. Jesus came to earth in the fullness of time; God's time. He would ascend back to the Father in God's time, not according to the whim of men. Verse 30 is a subtle reminder of Who He is. And this message and identity of their Messiah was lost on most of the Jews; even those who knew Him best - according to the flesh.

The Jewish people were, by and large, spiritually dead, ruled by their fleshly desires of temporal comfort and prestige. The Levitical religion they were given to point them to the promised Seed who would take away their sin had been turned into a religion of painting the outside of a tomb white so everyone would think it clean. They mostly had little regard for God, with the leaders taking advantage of the poor and the widows, robbing the priests who took care of those. And to these Jesus would say, You are of your father, the Devil (John 8:44). Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit. (Matt 21:43) That nation, or people, producing fruit are those given by the Father to Jesus, that He would redeem the sheep of national Israel and the sheep beyond those borders, bringing all into His sheepfold. He would pray for us (John 17:24-26): Father, I desire those You have given Me to be with Me where I am. Then they will see My glory, which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father! The world has not known You. However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me. I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them. And to His people, the Lord Jesus provides this guidance through His apostle: though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds (2 Cor 10:3-4). Just as Jesus waged war through obedience to the Father, so we wage war as spiritual people, not as worldly people. Christ has won the victory over sin and death and the devil – we are equipped by the Spirit to stand fast in the grace He gives to us.

This is our security – not our work, not our religion, not our earthly pedigree or station in society. God saves sinners, to the uttermost, through the redemption found in His Son, by grace alone. Unless a man is born from above, Jesus told a leader of the Jewish people, he cannot see – much less enter – the kingdom of God. In the New Covenant, we all know the Lord, we see Him with eyes of faith. We believe what was written even when the best human minds tell us it cannot be. While the world seeks a sign so they make a judgment, the sheep of God hear their Shepherd and believe.

To sum up. Satan had attacked true Israel directly; that was the scene last Sunday. In our passage today, he goes to Jesus’ home town to stir up family and friends in national Israel against the Israel of God. The Jewish leaders didn’t know it but they had grown lax, complacent, as their fathers had before them. They had grown attached to the idea that their physical connection to Abraham was their assurance of being in favor with YHWH. When YHWH shows up in the flesh, reads their Scripture about Himself, tells them it was being fulfilled as they listened to Him, their true colors were revealed.

When Job was suffering, his friends assumed it was because he had sinned and was being punished by God. They thought wealth and health were sure signs of God’s favor; illness and poverty signs of His wrath. Job was of the same mind as Abraham – he trusted God and dared not curse Him, though everything was taken from him. Do you and I see God the way Job’s friends and most Jews did, or do we see God as Job and Abraham did? Do you and I trust wealth, comfort, and the applause of man or do we trust the righteous one who judges justly? If we trust the gifts He gives, we are idolaters; if we demand signs, the men of Nineveh will rise in judgment against us.

The Jews of Jesus’ home town looked like and were treated as men of God. Yet most of them hated God and loved and trusted in their traditions and positions and sought signs. Some of the Jews in Capernaum, as in Berea, trusted the Word Who walked among them and was preached unto them.

For those of us who are in Christ, your background does not define you; your friends and family do not; your identity in Christ does. Rahab was a harlot, but she believed in God and is a sister in Christ. One Samaritan leper gave thanks to God and praised Him and was healed body and soul. Do not allow those who know you from childhood define you, as those who heard Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth judged Him. Do not allow the fear of what people close to you might say to keep you from serving God and His people, bringing joy to the brotherhood of saints and glory to your Father in heaven. If you are in Christ, you have a family that is closer and more dear that your friends and family according to the flesh. Jesus said (Matt 12:46-50) that His family was not defined by the flesh, but those who do the will of the Father in heaven were His “brother and sister and mother.” Do we identify with that family or do we cling to things and people of the flesh?

For each one of us, God forbid we allow our family, traditions, and positions blind us to the truth being taught in our midst. Let us search the Scriptures, not our traditions, to see if these things be so. Faith that saves is faith that believes the Word, obeys the Word, loves the brotherhood, and does not grow weary in doing well. Our Lord promised to defend His people, declaring that hell itself could not tear down the New Jerusalem He is building. Though Satan is defeated, his influence is seen everywhere as people of the world exalt in shameful deeds. Many who call themselves Christian despise His truth and, though many accept them as Christians, their words and their traditions betray them.

When the spiritual war stirs up trouble on the home front, when family and friends turn against you because of your testimony of Christ, look to Him, put no confidence in the flesh. We have a sure refuge, the man of sorrows who bought us at a high price. Trust Him, rest in Him, today. There is no other savior, no other advocate with the Father, no other refuge from the storms of this life or from the judgment that is surely coming upon this world. Do not live to please men. Warn those who love the world to turn and embrace Christ. He surely will save all that the Father gives to Him.