LUKE 12:49-59 TIME TO BE ZEALOUS2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 12:49-59 Time To Be Zealous

00:00
You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. Well, we have finished up the series that we spent some time on, the Faithful and Wise Steward series, and had a great time together looking at the verses just prior to the verses we're studying today.

00:26
But now we are continuing on our regular schedule of going verse by verse, chapter by chapter through the gospel of Luke. And we're here in Luke chapter 12 and finishing up the chapter this morning. Now as we look at these verses, the thing that really began to jump out at me right away as I was studying this portion was the time references that are found in this passage. And

00:50
In verse 49, Jesus talks about the fire that he wishes was already kindled. It's not yet, but already he wishes it was kindled. And then in verse 50, he talks about this baptism that is going to be accomplished, that he's waiting for that. He's distressed until it is accomplished.

01:11
And then in verse 52, he says the words, And he's talking about things that are going to take place from this point forward. In verse 56, he talks about the importance of discerning the time and knowing what time it is. And then in verse 58,

01:30
He encourages the people to settle matters urgently, to not wait, to not delay, but to take care of it on the way. And all together, as I look at these different time references, it conveys to me, and I'd like to share with you this morning, a sense of urgency that Jesus is communicating. There's a sense of urgency that he is bringing.

01:53
♪

02:02
It's time for you and I to have an urgency, to have a zeal and a passion in our lives for God and for the things of God. And we can see that from these verses we'll be studying this morning. There's four points I'd like to highlight for you as we talk about this time for zeal or the time to be zealous.

02:23
And the first one is found in verse 49 and 50. And the point is to be zealous like Jesus. Be zealous like Jesus. Look at verse 49 with me. It says, I came to send fire on the earth and how I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.

02:52
Jesus here begins this portion explaining that he came to send fire on the earth. And he wishes that fire was kindled already. And so you can understand here that Jesus wants you to have a kindled fire. He wants you to have a kindled fire. Not an iPad, not an Android tablet, but a kindled fire. No, I'm just kidding. Just being silly, sorry. No, he came to send fire on the earth.

03:20
What is he talking about when he says, I came to send fire upon the earth? Of course, we know right away, he's not speaking literally here. He's not saying, you know, here's a lighter because I came to bring fire. Here's a fire that I wanted to start because I wanted to keep you warm. He's not talking about an actual fire. He's using a metaphor. He's speaking symbolically here.

03:42
So then that begs the question, so what does the fire represent then? Well, in this verse gets pretty interesting as you begin to study it because there's lots of variety of opinions as far as what Jesus actually is referring to when he says, I came to send fire on the earth. There's two main thoughts that come up when you look at this. The first one is those who say that fire is referring to judgment.

04:12
And they come to this conclusion because, well, as you look throughout the scriptures, whenever fire is used, apart from talking about the actual thing that is called fire, when it's used symbolically, it's pretty much always used as a reference to some type of judgment. Right?

04:31
Many commentators even go on to say that Jesus is talking about the specific judgment of Rome conquering Jerusalem as they talk about this verse. And so it's possible that Jesus is talking about judgment as he's saying, I came to send fire on the earth because typically that is how the word fire is used throughout the word of God.

04:56
But there's also another main idea or main option for understanding this word fire. And there are those who believe that Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit when he says, I came to send fire on the earth. And for that, we could refer back to Acts chapter 2. There on the day of Pentecost, as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the believers in the upper room, the

05:18
The Holy Spirit is described coming upon the believers as tongues as of fire, or kind of like fire that appeared above them. And you can read about that in Acts chapter 2, right around verse 3. And so looking at that as a reference to fire, perhaps Jesus is talking about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that he came to send, or he came to bring.

05:42
Now as I looked at that and it's, you know, interesting to wrestle with and consider the different options and opinions. When I come to a verse like that where there's various options and ideas about what exactly it means, I often will try to do an all of the above type approach. And in this I think it's appropriate. Kind of all of the above fits well with what Jesus is saying here when he says, I came to send fire on the earth.

06:09
We can look at the verse here that Jesus is saying and pick it apart a little bit to understand this. He says, I came to. He's talking about the purpose of his coming. Now, what did Jesus come to do? Why did he become man to walk this earth? What did he come to accomplish? And as you think about that, think about, he says, on the earth. He came to send fire specifically to the earth or on the earth.

06:37
So what did Jesus come to do that would affect the whole earth? That it's not just Jerusalem that he's talking about, but worldwide this fire is going to have effect. Well then in the next verse he also talks about his baptism and we'll get to that in just a moment. But we will see that baptism is a reference. It's also symbolic. He's talking about his crucifixion.

07:04
And so what did Jesus come to do that would affect the whole earth that would not happen until after his crucifixion? And then also Jesus says, I came to send fire and I wish that it was kindled already. I wish the fire was going already. What did Jesus come to do that would affect the whole earth that would happen after his crucifixion that he could wish it was already happening?

07:33
And through that, I can see that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit fits very well. Remember in John chapter 16, verse 7, Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit and he says, it's to your advantage that I go away because if I go away, then I will send the helper to you. In the same way he's talking about sending fire, he's saying, I'm going to send a helper. When I ascend to the Father, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to you.

08:03
And so this outpouring of the Holy Spirit fits well with this idea of fire. But as I was looking over and considering and praying through this passage, the word that really captured what I had on my heart, what the Lord was speaking to me, was the word zeal. And that's why I'm using the word zeal throughout the title and the points this morning.

08:25
The word zeal captures the idea that Jesus is sharing here. Because what took place as the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit was, it was a zeal, it was a burning, it was a passion for the Lord that was fueled by the empowering of the Holy Spirit. After his crucifixion, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit and disciples...

08:52
are graduated to become apostles as a result of this work of the Holy Spirit. Lives are transformed as a result. They're radically changed for God. And so I would communicate it this way. Jesus came to set people on fire.

09:10
Setting them free and transforming them. And as you look at the rest of the passage, you can see that taking place and you can see the urgency that Jesus is conveying. Now, something that goes along with this zeal, with this transformation, with this change and this passion is, well, you can see judgment happening as well. Judgment goes along with this because, well, the light shines forth and

09:39
And it reveals the sins of darkness. And there is judgment that takes place in the same way that Jesus said the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The presence of the believers, the light that we shine forth as we are zealous like Jesus, brings conviction. It brings judgment. It makes decisions. It requires decisions. It deals with sin. It purges sin.

10:09
It's a cleansing fire. It's a cleansing zeal. And so as Jesus says, I came to send fire on the earth.

10:18
suggest to you jesus is talking about a zeal a passion changing lives through the power of the holy spirit through dealing with sin so judgment and the spirit they're they're included but there's also this passion and this urgency for the things of god that jesus is desiring to stir up and he's looking forward to that time after his death that those things will be stirred up amongst his followers

10:44
Well, he goes on in the next verse to say, I have a baptism to be baptized with. Now again, we're looking at this symbolically. Jesus is not talking about his actual water baptism. That happened a couple years earlier in his ministry. What he's talking about is, well, we understand it to be the crucifixion that he is about to endure.

11:08
It's not the only time that he used the word baptism to describe or refer to his crucifixion. You can also check out Mark chapter 10 verses 35 through 38 later on. It's there where James and John ask Jesus to sit on his right hand and on his left hand when he comes into his kingdom.

11:28
They say, hey Jesus, this is going to be perfect. We got a great idea. We're brothers. Who better to have beside you on your right hand and your left than two brothers when you come in your glory? I think it would be perfect. Jesus just set us right there on your right hand and on your left.

11:43
Now Jesus, of course, corrects them in this and their desire to be the greatest. But in verse 38 of Mark chapter 10, Jesus says, And he's talking about, he's referring to the suffering he's about to endure at the cross.

12:07
The word baptism, it means to immerse. And Jesus is talking about this idea of suffering that he is about to be immersed into, completely consumed with suffering as he receives the penalty and the punishment for your sin and for my sin.

12:24
And so he says, I have this baptism. I want the fire to be kindled. It's not here yet because I have this baptism to go through first. And so he says, how distressed I am till it is accomplished.

12:37
This word distressed means to hold together with constraint, to compress or to press on every side. It's the idea that it's a picture of, you know, like a city that's besieged where the army camps all around the city to apply pressure on all sides together.

12:58
It's this idea that Jesus is using when he says, I'm distressed until it is accomplished. He's saying, I'm held together. I'm constrained to this course until I fulfill my

13:13
the baptism that I have come to accomplish until I endure the cross. Jesus had his eyes set on the finish line and for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. He was immersed in judgment in our place. As we look at these two verses this morning, I see what Jesus is saying and I suggest to you that our call is to be zealous like Jesus.

13:47
He's conveying this desire for this passion, this zeal, this urgency to be within his followers. For this zeal to be stirred up in the same way that he is zealous. Now Jesus is zealous as he's looking forward to this future event. The fire to be kindled. He's looking forward to those changed lives where people are set free. And as he looks forward to this future event, it causes him to be faithful again.

14:16
Now remember the context of these verses that we're studying. We're right on the heels of Jesus has been talking about that faithful and wise steward. Now the faithful steward, remember, was the one who received the instruction of what he was supposed to do. And then when the master returns, he's found doing what he was called to do. Fulfilling his role, fulfilling his task. And then when the master returns,

14:48
Jesus here is showing himself to be a faithful steward. He's constrained to it so that he finishes this call in his life and he endures the cross and is immersed in the suffering that was due to you and I. But then we also saw the unfaithful stewards. Those who were given the task but then they didn't complete it. Either it was a wicked servant or they knew the master's will but they didn't

15:17
obey it. They didn't follow it. And so these unfaithful stewards are not doing what they're supposed to do. And there Jesus says, remember much is given. To whom much is given, much is required. In the same way as Jesus is setting himself as an example, he has his eyes on this future event. He says, but I'm being faithful until that is completed. When I suggest to you that we're to be zealous like Jesus, I'm suggesting that we follow that same path. We do look forward to the future.

15:52
We do look forward to eternity and what God has in store for us there. We do look forward to those promises that he has laid before us. But we need to allow those future promises to constrain us to our calling. What is the task that God has given to you? What is your call, your ministry?

16:17
Be a faithful and wise steward. Have a zeal and urgency and a faithfulness like Jesus. He saw the future event and so he endured the cross. And you know what? Our calling is not very different because Jesus said, if you want to follow me, take up your cross and follow me. Take up your cross. Die to yourself. Be zealous like Jesus.

16:41
Look forward to those future promises and allow that to constrain you, to help you to be faithful to what God has called you to do. Well, as we go on now in verses 51 through 53, we see the second point, and that is to be zealous unto division. The kind of zeal that I'm talking about here, as I say we need to be zealous like Jesus, that kind of zeal comes at a cost.

17:09
The fire that Jesus came to send is a powerful fire. This zeal will bring separation as well as purification and it's going to cause division. Check out what Jesus says in verse 51. He says, Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you not at all but rather division.

17:37
This is an important question that Jesus asks. What do we need to consider? He says, do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? Is that what you suppose? Is that what you think that Jesus came to do? And you might think, well, yeah, of course that's what Jesus came to do. I mean, that's what we say during Christmas time, right? It's all over the place. Peace on earth. We have songs about it. Peace on earth and mercy mild. Of course Jesus came to give peace on earth.

18:13
But look what Jesus says. I didn't come to give peace. I came to send fire. I would ask you to consider this morning. Do you suppose, do you think that Jesus came to give you peace on earth? Is that what your expectation is? Well, yeah, I believe in Jesus. I'm walking with Jesus and I'm expecting to have peace on earth. You know, many people suppose that.

18:46
And because they suppose that, they're shocked and disturbed whenever there's affliction and difficulty and trouble and trial in their life. Because they were figuring, well, hey, I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus. I love God. So I should have peace on earth. You should not expect peace. Not on earth as you walk with Jesus. Oh, peace within? Absolutely, we can expect that. The peace that passes all understanding. It...

19:19
It's promised to us as followers of Christ. We can have peace within. Jesus came to give us peace with God so that now we're justified. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But peace on earth, that is not something that we should expect. Do not suppose that you will not have troubles. The reality is you will likely have more troubles as a believer in Jesus Christ.

19:48
But in the midst of those more troubles, Christ is with you. The Holy Spirit is indwelling you, providing you strength and promising reward for faithfulness in the midst of that. But don't suppose that Jesus came to give peace on earth. He says, not at all, but rather division. Jesus is saying that his fire will bring division. Now you need to make sure that you get this right. This division that Jesus came to bring

20:18
It's not that he's saying you should separate from everybody. Divide yourself. Separate from everybody. Run and hide in the woods. That's not what he's saying. Now some Christians kind of take that mindset. And they make it their goal to not come in contact with unbelievers. We're going to do our best to try to stay separate from the world.

20:41
And so we want things like a Christian business directory so that when I need to hire somebody or do work on my car or have someone work on my house that, you know, I'm in contact with a Christian and a Christian will come or I'll talk with a Christian, I'll deal with another believer. We want things like Christian schools so that our kids can be in contact with other Christians and separate from, not infected by or however you want to put that, but not influenced so much by the world, by unbelievers.

21:12
We want Christian events, Christian days at theme parks. I mean, we can, if we choose to, live inside of a Christian bubble. I'm not saying all of those things are wrong necessarily, but I'm saying that Jesus is not intending that we would divide ourselves from the world and not have contact with people around us that are not following him.

21:39
He's not telling his followers to isolate themselves from everyone else and live in a Christian bubble. Jesus is saying when you're on fire for him, people are going to separate from you. You don't have to divide yourself. You be on fire for Jesus and what's going to happen? People are going to separate from you. That's where the division comes from. Check out verse 52. He says, from now on,

22:07
Five in one house will be divided. Three against two and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father. Mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Jesus says the house is going to be divided. This fire that he came to bring is so powerful.

22:33
It even separates families. It's not surprising that there's separation outside, right? Because there's always groups of people that gather together from different cultures, different tastes, different likes. There's always those kinds of groups. But this fire that Jesus came to bring, he says, this is a powerful fire. And from now on, you need to expect that there's going to be division even within the home.

22:59
That there's going to be division between strong family ties. You know, there's the saying, blood is thicker than water. But Jesus would say, hey, well, blood may be thicker than water, but it's not thicker than fire. That fire overrules, fire overrides and will divide between family, even fathers and sons.

23:22
Now, you and I, in our culture, this might not be such a big deal. But for them and their culture, family, it was a lot stronger unit than it is today in our culture, in our society. And so the division between father and son, this is a serious thing. Division between moms and daughters, that's a serious thing. This is something radical that Jesus is talking about. Division between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, well, that's not so new. That's kind of normal, right? Just kidding. Okay.

23:53
Paul even talks about later in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, division between husbands and wives as a result of believing in Jesus. And he says, hey, unbelieving, or if you as a wife have an unbelieving husband, stay with them as long as they're willing to dwell with you. But if they want to divide, let them go. You're not under bondage. You don't have to stay in that. If they're willing to go, they don't want to stay with you because you believe in Jesus, then just let them go.

24:22
that this fire that comes will divide between family members, fathers, daughters, mothers, sons, husbands, wives. It's going to bring division. And so that's why this morning I say that we need to be zealous unto division. Because Jesus did not come to make everybody, you know, just get along. Don't suppose that he came to bring peace on earth or even peace within the family. No,

24:56
Even amongst family, there's going to be division as a result of Jesus Christ. And if you suppose that Jesus came to bring peace, well, there's going to be occasions where you will not stand for righteousness. Because your main objective is, well, we have to keep the peace and keep everybody together. And that's what's most important. And so you're going to begin to compromise. There's going to be occasions where you will not speak the truth because you know if you speak the truth, there's going to be some

25:30
Opposition to that. There's going to be some division as a result. People are going to be offended. So I'm not going to speak the truth. Or maybe I'm going to water it down a little bit. So that we're not divided. But I suggest to you that we need to be zealous for the Lord. We need to be on fire for Jesus. And if that brings division. If people won't stick around for that. So be it. We need to be standing upon the word of God. Don't be afraid to rock the boat.

26:12
Don't be so fearful that you will not speak the truth or stand up for righteousness. Don't be afraid to take a stand. Now, again, I always want to bring in the balance. There is balance to this.

26:26
On the one hand, we're saying, look, don't isolate yourself from everybody. You're not supposed to hide out in some hole because you have to keep yourself separate. That's not what Jesus is talking about. He's also, on the other side, he's not saying, hey, offend lots of people and drive them away so they'll be divided and you can see this fire within you. No, you're not trying to push people away either. You're trying to reach out to people and bring them close, but not at the expense of

26:52
The word of God. Not at the expense of the fire that Jesus came to send. No, the idea is be on fire for Jesus and let people leave if they can't handle it. Be zealous unto division. Well, as we go on now in verses 54 through 56, we see the point, be zealous to discern the time. We need to have a zeal for understanding what time it is that we are living in. Verse 54, Jesus says...

27:26
Then he also said to the multitudes, whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say a shower is coming and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say there will be hot weather and there is.

27:42
So Jesus is talking to the crowd. He says, look, you guys, you've gotten pretty good at understanding the patterns of the weather. And for them and their society, you know, they didn't have the weather reports that we have today. There was no satellite imagery. There wasn't, you know, those types of things.

28:01
And so they learned on their own to look around and see what was happening and determine, okay, this is the kind of weather that was going to come. Now this was important for them especially because, well, mostly they survived off of their own crops. And so the weather affected their crops. They had to take care of their crops. And depending on what kind of weather it was would determine how they needed to take care of their crops.

28:27
And so they learned to understand the weather patterns to be able to reap the harvest of what they had sown. And so they would look and see a cloud rising out of the west where the Mediterranean Sea was. And as they would see this cloud rising up and coming over towards Israel, they would realize there's some rain coming. The rainy season is upon us. Or they would feel the wind and recognize, well, that's from the south.

28:55
They would realize, well, hot weather is coming. That wind brings the hot weather. In the same way we have, you know, the Santa Ana winds. And when they blow through, you know, the next couple of days, it's going to be a couple degrees hotter because these Santa Ana winds are blowing. In the same way, they would recognize these weather patterns and they'd become very good at realizing what was going to happen so that they could prepare themselves for it. Well, now Jesus rebukes them regarding that in verse 56. He says, hypocrites,

29:25
You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? So here Jesus rebukes them. He calls them hypocrites because they know more about weather than they know about prophecy. This is something interesting to consider. He rebukes them for knowing more about the world around them

29:51
Than what God had declared in his word. Now we don't have time to get into the specifics. Of what Jesus is referring to here. But later on. If you've not studied Daniel chapter 9. Take some time and dig in to Daniel chapter 9. Because there the prophecy is given. Of the exact timing. Of when the Messiah would appear.

30:10
And it's 483 years after a particular event. And as you do the math and you count it out, you see what happens. You realize that's the time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. What we refer to as Palm Sunday. That the Word of God declared ahead of time to the day when the Messiah would appear to Israel.

30:35
But the problem is, Jesus is saying, you guys are hypocrites. You're experts in the world around you. You can see the weather. You can see what's happening and know what's going to happen next on earth. But you're clueless about the time that you're living in. They were not paying attention. Even when the wise men showed up saying, hey, the king has been born. But where is it that he's going to be born? They knew the answer. They said, well, he's going to be born in Bethlehem.

31:04
So the wise men went to Bethlehem and found Jesus. But they weren't paying attention. They didn't go to Bethlehem. They didn't look for the Messiah. They were clueless. They were not discerning the time. Even when Jesus worked incredible miracles before their eyes. He's raising the dead. He's healing people that it's never been heard of healing a person like this before.

31:29
Even as Jesus fulfilled prophecy after prophecy after prophecy, they were not paying attention. They did not discern the time. And from that, you and I can learn the great necessity to discern the time. We need to have a zeal for understanding what time we are living in. I would ask you to consider, do you know more about the things of the earth than the things of the Spirit?

32:05
Do you know more about the things of this life than you do about the things of God? Are you an expert in this life, in this world? If I were to ask you, hey, that movie that you really like, you know that's coming out. What day is that coming out again? How many times do we know? Oh yeah, I know exactly when that's coming out. I know when that's happening.

32:33
Looking forward to Iron Man 3, right? Yeah. Oh, coming out May 2nd. Got the date. Got the time. Or maybe you're like, all right. Yeah. March 2nd came. You know what happened on March 2nd? Breaking Dawn 2 came out on DVD. Isn't that exciting? Wow. So cool. You know that date. You know that time. You know the time that you're going to be getting your raise. You know the time of this and the time of that. You know when baseball season starts or football season or soccer season or

33:01
You know those times, but do you know what time you're living in today, spiritually speaking? Do you know prophetically where you're at and what's going on? I was thinking about how we have the screen. And during the worship time, we put the words of the songs on the screen. Why do we do that? Well, it's helpful, right? So that if you don't know the song very well, you can look at the screen and you can know the words and then you can sing along. That's great. That's not bad, but...

33:34
I was thinking, you know, how many of us, we've been here for a long time. We've been singing these songs for a long time. But if we don't have the words on the screen, we don't know how to sing the songs. Everybody freaks out. How do I sing the songs if I don't have the words on the screen? I don't know the words. But if I was to ask you to sing the song of your favorite TV show, you know all the words to that. How many songs do you know the words to?

34:03
In the world versus the songs that you know the words to in worshiping the Lord. Jesus is rebuking them. You guys are experts in this world, but you're not discerning the time. You're not paying attention to spiritual things. You're missing what's going on. And for you and I, we need to have a zeal for discerning the time, for paying attention to what is going on. Do you know what time it is? Seriously, like what time is it?

34:40
Do you know what time service ends today? A couple weeks ago, I forgot what time service ended. It was during first service. And I was just really confused that day. And it wasn't just for a moment. The whole service, I'm looking at the clock and I'm thinking, man, I have so much time left. And so as a result, I began to, well, let's turn to this passage over here. I was just going to talk about it, but we have time. Let's turn to it. Let's look at it.

35:07
And let me share this illustration over here. Let me elaborate on this a little bit more because I have so much time. Well, I thought service ended at 10.30. But first service ends at 10. And see, because I didn't know what time it was, well, I made decisions that I wouldn't have made had I known. I went places I wouldn't have gone if I had known what time it was. And the same is true in your life. If you're not discerning the time spiritually, you're going to

35:46
Make decisions that you wouldn't make if you knew what time it was. And you're going to go places you wouldn't go if you knew what time it was. What time you think it is will affect your life. It will change how you live. You and I, we need to be students of prophecy. We need to be students of the word of God and recognize what time it is.

36:14
I like the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 13 verse 11. He says, and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. Paul says it's time to wake up. You need to know what time it is. Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And if you know what time it is, if you wake up

36:46
It will affect your decisions. It will affect where you go. It will affect what you pay attention to. What you learn. What you listen to. Because you'll be looking up knowing that your redemption draws near. Well finally for the fourth point we look at verses 57 through 59. And here we see that we need to be zealous for deliverance. Be zealous for deliverance. Verse 57 says, Yes, and why even of yourselves do you not judge what is right?

37:22
Now Jesus is talking to these people. He says, look, you can't discern the time and you don't even discern of yourselves rightly. You can't even discern what is right regarding your own self. You decide to do, well, what you know is not right. Jesus gives an example of this in verse 58. He says, when you go with your adversary to the magistrate,

37:50
Make every effort along the way to settle with him. Lest he drag you to the judge. The judge deliver you to the officer. And the officer throw you into prison. I tell you. You shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last might. Jesus says okay. You don't even judge yourselves rightly. You don't even discern regarding your own self. He says think about it. If you're going with your adversary to court. Right?

38:24
He says, you should make every effort on the way to settle with him. He's kind of challenging them with this example of a legal situation, their approach to legal matters. Now the idea here is Jesus is talking about this is, you know that you're wrong, but you're still insisting that you're right to the point that you're going to court to prove your innocence. And basically Jesus is saying, why are you still insisting that you're right? Why?

38:58
Why are you still trying to get away with this thing that you know you're wrong? You don't judge rightly regarding your own self. You know that you're wrong, but you're trying to get away with it. Jesus says, no, you need to acknowledge that you are wrong and do your best to settle things right now. He's saying, look, it's better to settle it outside of the courts. Because if you go to the court and then it's found out that you really are wrong, you're

39:34
Well, the judgment is going to be severe. You're going to be held there until you pay back the very last mite. Now, the mite for them was a small brass coin. It'd be like saying, you're going to be there until you pay back the very last penny. You have an opportunity to settle on the way. That's going to be better for you than if you go through the procedures and get a settlement from the court and then have to pay back to the very last penny.

40:04
Now from this example that Jesus is sharing, I say we need to be zealous for deliverance. Because I don't think that Jesus is giving us legal advice in this. Although probably that's good practical advice if you are involved in some kind of lawsuit and you're wrong. Make sure that you try to settle outside of court. That's probably going to be better for you. That makes some sense.

40:27
But here once again, Jesus is speaking of spiritual things. We've already seen some symbolism with the fire, with the baptism, with the weather. Now he's talking about this idea of going before the judge. And he's not talking about the legal system. He's saying, you will stand before God one day. He's the judge. And you need to make every effort to settle with him before that day.

40:56
The word settle here that Jesus uses, it means to remove, to release, or to deliver. And that's where I get this word deliverance. Be zealous for deliverance. Be zealous to be delivered or to settle your debt to the Lord. Be zealous to be clear of outstanding things with God. How do you do that? How do you settle with the Lord? Because you will stand before him as the judge.

41:27
Well, of course, we begin that settlement by believing in Jesus. Looking again at his baptism that he referred to, the crucifixion that he would endure, where there on the cross he received the full penalty for all sin of all humanity for all time. And so he was immersed in it. And because he was immersed in it and he received the penalty for sin for all of us,

41:54
Then he can say, believe on me and you'll have everlasting life. Because he received the penalty that we deserved, it's paid in full. And so he can offer to us everlasting life and forgiveness and cleansing. And so we begin to settle with God by believing in Jesus and receiving his offer of forgiveness. But as we begin and then walk with God, we still continue to sin.

42:26
And so there's still a need for us to settle with God. The Apostle John talks about it in 1 John 1, verse 9. He says,

42:43
And so there's a need for us to settle, to confess our sins. Now that's not that you have to go to Pastor George and tell him what you did wrong. No, this is a confession to the Lord, but this confession includes the idea of repentance. It's agreeing with God, you're right God, this is wrong. Turning from that sin to walk in righteousness.

43:07
So it's not, well, I'm sorry, God, I sinned. And then go and do the same thing. I'm sorry, God, I sinned. And then go and do the same thing. It's not the continuing on in sin and just saying you're sorry. No, it's agreeing with God and turning away from sin. And as you turn away from sin, as you agree with God about sin, He's faithful to cleanse you. So your account is settled. So that when you stand before God, you don't have anything outstanding.

43:41
You need to be zealous for deliverance. And the reason why this is such an important point is you and I as believers, we can get way too comfortable with sin. We get very comfortable with sin and it's not a good thing. Where we just kind of allow it in our lives. We just let it continue. We let it go on. And we don't really deal with it. Jesus is saying make every effort to settle. Do the best you can. Do all that you can to be delivered. To be set free.

44:16
The author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 12 says to lay aside every weight and also the sin which so easily ensnares you. Now why do you think he instructs us to lay aside the sin that ensnares us? Well he instructs us to lay aside the sin because we need to be instructed to lay aside the sin. Because a lot of times we don't lay aside the sin. We just allow it to continue. And we explain oh yeah it's not a big deal. It's not a big thing. You know there's grace and thankful for the grace and

44:49
But we shelter it. We allow it to continue. We protect it so that sin continues in our life. And the scriptures are quite clear. That easily ensnares you. That's deadly poison that you're playing with. No, you need to make every effort to settle. To clear your account. Turn from sin. Don't allow it to continue. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 verse 29. He says, look, if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. Now he's not

45:30
saying that literally i always have to point that out because one time i was at saint edwards the the catholic church over there and the priest said we don't believe like our protestant friends believe that jesus wants you to literally gouge out your eye and i was like who teaches that i've never heard that taught before so no we're not talking about don't mutilate yourself that's not what jesus is saying he's saying look take drastic measures to cut off sin to deal with it to get it out of your life

45:59
Don't just allow it. Don't just put up with it. Don't be comfortable with sin. If you know about sin in your life, deal with it. Because you're going to stand before God. And you're going to give account. And it's going to be far better for you if you deal with that now than if you stand before Him on that day and you've got these outstanding issues. It's way better for you. So you need to be zealous for deliverance. To be set free from sin.

46:36
To be set free from those things which bind you. Jesus came to send fire. He came to set you on fire. To bring this change, this transformation. So be zealous like Jesus. Let him do this work in you. Let him bring this fire into your life. That you would have a passion and a zeal in the same way that he did. Understand the cost. That hey, this passion, this zeal,

47:10
It may bring some division, but you need to be zealous unto division. Even if it costs you your family, you need to stand up for righteousness. You need to be faithful to the Lord and be on fire for Jesus Christ. And some people will say, yeah, but if they leave, if they're divided from me, then I'll never be able to reach them. And so we then begin to compromise and water down things and

47:36
make these decisions to try to keep the peace because hopefully one day we'll be able to reach them. But that's not the way to reach people. It's hard for us. Jesus isn't saying, hey, this is going to be great. You know, everybody's going to be divided. You're going to love it. No, no, no. It's a cost. It's hurtful. But you need to stand fast.

48:00
With Jesus. And be on fire for him. And if people leave. Listen. The best thing for you to do. To reach out to them. Is to stand fast. In Jesus. To stand up. For the truth. To declare. The reality. Of who Jesus is. And what he has done. Again. Not driving people away. Offending them. Trying to get rid of people. Not being. You know. A dummy. But in love. In love.

48:32
Speaking the truth. Being zealous. Even if it means that you will leave me. But it's okay. Because Jesus called me to be on fire for him. He came to send fire. It's going to bring division. But we need to discern the time. It's not time to make everybody get along and that's what's most important. Hey, Jesus is going to bring peace on earth. That's his second coming. That's yet to come. That's not what's happening right now. That's not what he came to do for this time.

49:22
You need to understand the time. Discern the time. Recognize where we're at. We spent some time a couple weeks ago looking at some of the signs of the times and we can see the reality. We are living in the last days. Discern the time. Understand what time it is. And that should cause you to make every effort to deliver yourself. To settle accounts. Because you're about to stand before God. You're about to give account.

49:58
As we saw a couple weeks ago, we will receive the reward for what we have done, whether good or bad. There's rewards, there's consequences. So settle accounts now. Have a zeal for that because you'll be far better off if you do it before you stand before God that day.

50:22
We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.