LUKE 11-15 WHERE JESUS WALKED PART 32014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 11-15 Where Jesus Walked Part 3

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 2014. We are here this evening in Luke chapter 11. We'll be looking at Luke 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, which are the chapters that we read this week as we go through the Bible in three years.

We're working our way through the Gospel of Luke. We've got about two more weeks left as we continue looking at the life of Christ here in Luke. And then we're going to head into the book of John and get a fresh perspective on the life of Christ as John shares some very unique elements of the life and the ministry of Jesus Christ. So great things to be focusing on. And God just seems to be immersing us right now in the things of, you know, the life of Christ as we study Luke on Sunday mornings.

And then we've been looking at Matthew and Mark, now Luke and then John. And so we're really just zeroing in and paying lots of attention to who Jesus is and what he did, which is always a huge blessing.

Luke wrote his gospel probably around 55 through 60 AD. We know that he finished this book and then worked on the book of Acts and completed that around 63 or so AD. And so we know it happened before that and around that time period. He focused on really the humanity of Jesus. And so in

the Gospel of Luke, you see a lot of emotions being expressed for Jesus. You see his frailty, you know, and the need for prayer and the need for the Holy Spirit. And that's all emphasized by Luke as he kind of highlights that Jesus, although he is God, he also became man and relied upon the Holy Spirit and walked this earth and, you know, experienced life much like you and I experience life.

Now, throughout this book, as we've been studying it together, we've been focusing also on the geography of, you know, the things that are going on. That's going to happen a little bit less this week because in the chapters that we read this week, it's a lot of teaching that Jesus is giving without much explanation about where he's at or things like that. So there's a lot more teaching going on than we were previously looking at.

I'm sorry, I was supposed to have that on the screen a long time ago. So there you go. 55 through 60 AD, he was writing to the Gentiles and focusing on the humanity of Jesus Christ. Here's a quick overview of the geography of Luke. It begins, of course, in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. And then he goes on to say,

And then we move up to Nazareth, where he grew up with Mary and Joseph, and it was their hometown. Then as an adult, he moved into Capernaum, and that became the base of his ministry. And it was from there and all that region that the majority of his teachings and miracles took place.

And then we head down to Jerusalem, which of course is where Jesus would go every year to celebrate the feasts. He was doing some ministry in and around Jerusalem, and ultimately that's where he went for the last time for the Passover feast.

and was crucified right outside the city walls and then resurrected on the third day. And so that's a quick look at the overview. But last week in chapter 9, we saw that Jesus began his journey to Jerusalem. And so from chapter 9 on, we're looking at that final journey to Jerusalem. For the last time, he's headed there to Jerusalem.

He's going to be spending a few days in Jerusalem and then ultimately be crucified. And so here's a quick overview of his last trip to Jerusalem.

In Luke chapters 9 through 17, it records a whole lot of teachings and things that Jesus was doing all around Galilee and Samaria. And it seems like he's kind of bouncing back and forth and back and forth as you look at the different chapters and see where Jesus is at. And so you might remember in chapter 9 that he went to one city of the Samaritans,

But they rejected him. And so James and John wanted to call down fire on them. And so, you know, that's where we start, you know, as he was heading from Galilee into Samaria. But then we also see some other accounts where he's in Galilee and then other accounts where he's in Samaria in these following chapters. And so he's kind of going town to town, town to town, town to town, covering a lot of

territory reaching a lot of people as he makes his way to Jerusalem. But then he doesn't go straight down to Jerusalem. He crosses the Jordan River. In chapter 18, he goes through the region called Perea. And it's also known as Judea beyond the Jordan. And so he does some ministry there. There he ministers to the rich young ruler and does some more teachings and miracles there. And then he crosses back over the Jordan, heads to Jericho.

He does a miracle there and then heads on into Jerusalem and rides into Jerusalem on a donkey there in Luke chapter 19. And so that's, you know, the few chapters. Most of this we'll be covering tonight. And then we'll continue on next week to see this final journey as he goes from Galilee and Samaria and back and forth through those regions down through Perea and then back over to Jerusalem passing through Jericho.

Well, we begin our chapters this evening in chapter 11, and verse 9 is the key verse. Here's what it says. So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. Here in verses 1 through 13, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray.

We often refer to this as the Lord's Prayer. Sometimes, you know, the Bible heading will say that, or sometimes it'll say the model prayer. And either way, what we're looking at is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. And he says, pray in this manner or in this way.

Now, this is not meant to be a prayer that, you know, we quote verbatim and you have to have it memorized and say it just right. Otherwise, it doesn't work. Jesus was giving us a pattern, a model. And so you can look at the different elements of this prayer and learn to pray along those lines and how to approach God and bring your requests to him.

But then as he's teaching about prayer, it's not just that model prayer that he gives us. In verses 5 through 8, he goes on to talk about prayer by giving us an illustration of a friend who comes to the door at midnight asking for some bread.

And so the idea here is this guy, he comes to the door at midnight and he's asking for bread and the guy inside says, hey, it's already late and I'm already in bed and the kid's already in bed and, you know, it's going to be a lot of effort to get up and get you some bread. And so, you know,

go away, you know, we're sleeping. And the guy, the neighbor, you know, keeps on knocking and says, no, no, no, I need some bread, really, I have a guest and I wasn't prepared and so please, can I have some bread? And Jesus through this is teaching about persistence and he's saying, hey, even though, you know, just because he's his neighbor, he won't get up, but if he stands at the door and continues to knock and continues to knock,

Well, then finally the guy inside is going to get up and get him some bread because of his persistence. Not because he's his friend or a relative or neighbor, but because of his persistence, you know, he'll grant the request and give him the bread. And so verse 8, Jesus says, I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. But then notice verse 9.

So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. And so Jesus gives us that illustration of the friend at midnight knocking on the door. And then he takes that into prayer and he says, okay, so here's what I want you to do. Follow that example and ask and seek and knock in your prayers. Now the idea here, and I'm sure you've heard this before, is

When Jesus says ask, when he says seek, when he says knock, these are commands that are given to us in the present tense so they could also be translated this way. I say to you, ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. You see, as Jesus is teaching about the importance of persistence, he's saying, knock.

So keep on asking in your prayer. Keep on seeking in your prayer. Keep on knocking in your prayer. That he wants us to continue to come to God. To continue to bring our petitions and requests before the Lord. Here's what you need to know. Jesus is explaining here, God wants to bless you. He gives the example as a parent says,

knows how to give good things to their children in the same way God knows how to give good things to you. He wants to give good things to you. So ask and keep on asking and seek and keep on seeking and knock and keep on knocking because God wants to give you good things. God wants to meet your needs. God wants to provide for you. And

specifically, Jesus applies this to the Holy Spirit, God wants to empower you and fill you with His Holy Spirit. So ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. Be persistent in your prayer life and allow God in that way to meet your needs, to minister to you, and to fill you with His Holy Spirit.

Well, then in verses 14 through 26, Jesus teaches about demons. There's a group of religious leaders who come on the scene at this point and they say, you know, this guy is casting out demons by Beelzebub. They're saying he's empowered by Satan and that's why he's able to cast out these demons. And Jesus looks at them and he says, you know, that doesn't make a lot of sense. In verse 17, he says, if a house is divided, it's going to fall.

Satan will not be divided against himself in that way and empower someone to cast out demons. And he says in verse 20, but if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Jesus is saying, I'm empowered by God, not by Satan. And that means that the kingdom of God has come upon you, that the king is here. I'm empowered by the Lord to do this.

Then he goes on to talk about, in verses 24 through 26, the idea of demon possession. When somebody is set free, he talks about the unclean spirit departing. But then he says, if the house is swept up nice and clean, and that unclean spirit goes out and can't find a place to rest, he'll come back to

that original person and if it's all nice and clean and prepared he says okay well great I'll go get some of my friends and Jesus says the last condition of that person is worse than the first condition of that person. Now what we learn from what Jesus is saying here is that when someone is delivered from demonic possession that then the house needs to be filled. Right?

That if it's just deliverance that happens, well, then they're vulnerable for, well, much worse things to happen. But instead, we need to fill the house. The person needs to be filled with what? With the Holy Spirit, with the Lord Himself. They need to be born again. So that 1 John 4, verse 4 says,

John tells us, you are of God, little children, and have overcome because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

And so we know and understand the scriptures teach that we as believers in Jesus Christ cannot be demon possessed. But an unbeliever is open and vulnerable to that. And so if an unbeliever is delivered from demonic possession, but they don't follow Jesus, they don't convert and they're not born again, then they're left open to be possessed.

at even, you know, worse things as that spirit comes back and finds it, well, it's nice and swept clean, but there's not the presence of God in their life. And so they're, you know, going to be worse off than at the beginning. Then in verses 27 through 28, Jesus says, blessed are those who keep the word. As Jesus is teaching these things, someone shouts out from the crowd, blessed is the womb that bore you.

And Jesus says, no, instead, blessed is the one who hears these words and keeps them and puts them into practice. Jesus emphasizes it throughout his ministry, the importance of not just hearing the things of God, but doing them, but living them out. And so we need to make sure that we're not just reading these things or hearing these studies. If you want to be blessed, you

Keep the Word of God. Do it. Put it into practice. Find ways to live it out in your life. In verses 29 through 32, he tells us an evil generation seeks a sign. Jesus, of course, is claiming to be the Messiah, and the religious leaders are challenging him in that, and so they're asking for a sign. And Jesus explains here that there are no other signs that are needed.

That the things that he's doing and the things that he's saying are signs enough. That they don't need more signs in order to know that Jesus is the Messiah. So they want more proof and Jesus is saying, you have enough proof. So much so that he says in verse 31, the queen of the south will rise up in judgment against you guys because she had less proof than

There was Solomon there who was less important. She heard about it and she pursued and went to great lengths to go find Solomon and hear for herself his wisdom. And Jesus is saying, a greater than Solomon is here. And you guys are not listening. Instead, you're fighting against the work of God here. You can read about the Queen of the South there in 1 Kings chapter 10.

He likens it also to Nineveh in verse 32, how Nineveh responded to the prophet Jonah, and he says a greater than Jonah is here. And so he is saying to them, you don't need any more signs, you just need to listen. You need to pay attention, and you need to believe that I am who I claim to be. Then in verses 33 through 36, Jesus says, no one hides a lamp. No one lights a lamp and then hides it.

I'm sure you've noticed, you know, the lights for this room are on the ceiling, not on the floor. If they were on the floor, there would be a lot of shadows, right? The chairs and the people would block the light. And so there would be darkness and shadows all over the place. But as you put it up high on the ceiling, then the light spreads and we can have a well-lit room. We don't light lights or lamps and then hide them.

No, we light them to light up the room. We put them in a place that can be seen. In the same way, we are called to be light. And Jesus here basically is saying, listen, God has given you light, not so that you would hide it, but so that you would declare it, that you would shine forth, that you would be visible to the world around you.

And so be the light that is visible. Be the light that people can see. Well, then Jesus pronounces some woes upon the Pharisees and the lawyers in verses 37 through 54.

In verse 39, you see that there was this Pharisee that marveled that Jesus did not wash his hands before sitting down to have dinner. Now, remember that this is not a hygiene issue. It wasn't that Jesus' hands were really dirty. It's that he didn't follow the ceremony, the religious ceremony, that the religious leaders taught and practiced. And so,

And so it wasn't a washing for cleansing. It was a washing for ceremony reasons. And so he's marveling that Jesus didn't do this. And so Jesus goes on to pronounce a couple of woes for these religious leaders. In verse 42, he says, "...woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and rue and all manners of herbs and pass by justice and the love of God."

These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. So he's saying, woe to you. It's a pronouncement of sorrow and judgment for these Pharisees, these religious leaders. Why? Well, because they're very particular about the minute details of the law, but they're missing more important things like love and justice.

And so they're really proud of themselves because they tithe of their herbs. Imagine if you would having, you know, like a cilantro garden. And as you gather your cilantro at the end of the week or season or whatever it is, then you weigh it out.

And you're very careful. Okay, so this is the weight of all the cilantro I got from this plant. And then I take 10% of that. And so you're very careful. Oh, oh, that's only 9.7%. Okay, let me get one more piece. Okay, now that's 10%. You weighed it out. You measured it. You counted it. You know, leaf for leaf, you got, okay, I got 10% of my cilantro. And I'm going to give that to the Lord because I'm really holy. Okay?

But then you hate your neighbor. You plot to kill people. You steal from people. That's what the Pharisees were doing. They were neglecting justice.

They were not loving people. They weren't concerned about the love of God, but they were really proud of themselves because, hey, I tithed all of my cilantro. I mean, you got to understand, I go through great pains to count every leaf and make sure God gets his 10%. And so Jesus is saying, you're focusing on that, but you're missing the big picture.

And so, woe to you. There's judgment for that. That's not something to be proud of. That's something that you will be judged for. Verse 43. He says, Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. So they loved their position. That was what they were excited about. That's what they were passionate about. It was not God that they were concerned with, but their own status and position. Well, the lawyers...

to Jesus and say, hey, when you talk about the Pharisees that way, you know, you offend us too. And we're experts in the law. You shouldn't be offending us that way. And so Jesus says in verse 46, "...woe to you also, lawyers, for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers."

So he speaks to the lawyers. Now these are not lawyers like we think of lawyers today. These were the experts in the law of God. These were the scholars of the day. And so these guys say, hey, you're offending us when you talk to the Pharisees. And Jesus says, oh, you want some too? Okay, woe to you also.

Because you give people big burdens. You come up with all of these interpretations of the law that make it harder for people to come to God.

And you don't help them. And so you're just pushing them away. You're just giving them great burdens and keeping them from God. And then in verse 52, he says, And so Jesus says, look, in your legalism, in all your laws and rule keeping and religious rituals, you're not entering into the kingdom of God.

And you're hindering others from entering in because of your legalistic teachings and practices. And so woe to you. There's judgment for you because you're keeping people from God and you're missing out on God as well. Well, that brings us now to chapter 12. Verse 8 is the key verse. It says, "'Also I say to you, whoever confesses me before men, him, the Son of Man, also will confess before the angels of God.'"

In verses 1 through 12, Jesus tells us to not fear those who kill the body. Don't be afraid about those who can hurt or kill your body, Jesus says. He starts out in verse 1 saying, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And then he explains what that is. He's saying, Beware of hypocrisy. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, were hypocrites.

They pretended to fear God, but they really didn't. They really feared people more than God. They were hypocrites. Warren Wiersbe says, when you fear people, you start to hide things, and this leads to hypocrisy.

We see that all throughout the Gospels, that the religious leaders were afraid of the people. They didn't arrest Jesus when they wanted to, because they feared the people. They didn't deal with John the Baptist the way they wanted to, because they feared the people. They did a lot of things because they feared the people. They were all about the show. They were just about putting on this strong image, this good image, this image that they feared God, but they really did not.

And so Jesus says, watch out for that. Don't be like that. Don't put on a show. Don't pretend to be righteous. Don't pretend to fear God. Be real. Be genuine. Be who you are. And he says in verse 5, I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he is killed has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear him.

So don't fear people because the worst that they could do is take your life. They could harm your body. That's the worst they could do. But your eternity is untouched by people, by men. They can't do anything regarding your eternity. God, however, has the final say about your eternity. And so He's the one you need to fear.

He's the one you need to pay attention to. He's the one that you need to seek to please. And the problem is when we fear man, it's a snare. It traps us because then we're trying to please man because we're afraid of man. And so then we stop being...

pleasing to God. We stop trying to please God because we're trying to please man. And so Jesus goes on in verses 8 through 12. He says, look, you need to confess me before man. Don't fear man. Declare me to man. Don't fear people. Declare me to people. And if you confess me to the people around you, then I'll confess you to my Father in heaven.

But if you deny me before people because you fear people and don't fear God, well then I'll deny you before my Father in heaven. And so he says, you got to get your priorities straight. Who are you trying to please? Make sure that you're pleasing God and not man. Make sure that you fear God and not man. Well then in verses 13 through 21, he says, beware of covetousness. So watch out for hypocrisy.

Make sure that you fear God. And then also watch out for covetousness. Now, this happens because here's Jesus teaching these things. And in verse 13, it tells us that some guy from the crowd says, hey, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. So he kind of interrupts, you know, what's going on there. And he says, hey, I've got this situation. My brother got the inheritance. He's not sharing it with me. Can you make sure that he shares it with me and tell him that's what he needs to do?

And Jesus doesn't really address the situation. Instead, he says, hey, you know what? You better watch out for covetousness because your life does not consist in the abundance of things that you possess. Your life is not about what you have. So don't be caught up and consumed with that. Don't interrupt my teachings to ask me for covetous things. Don't be caught up and consumed with what you possess or what you want to possess.

That's not what life is about, Jesus says. And he gives an illustration here in verses 16 through 21 of a guy who has an abundant crop. So much so that he doesn't have enough room in his barns to store all the crop that he received. And so he decides, you know what I'm going to do is I'm going to tear down these barns. I'm going to build bigger barns that'll hold all my crops. And then...

Well, he says, then I can just eat and drink and be merry and say to myself, hey, just relax and enjoy yourself. You've got it made. And Jesus says, that guy's a fool. Because God says to him, tonight your soul is required of you. And then who's going to get all this stuff that you've accumulated? That's foolish. So he's saying, watch out for covetousness. You're going to get caught up in this life and what you have.

And you're going to miss out because, well, you're so caught up in this life that you haven't prepared for eternity. Jesus says, your life is not about what you possess. Don't let that dictate what you do, how you live. Instead, make sure that you store up for yourselves treasure in heaven and be prepared for eternity and not be consumed with this life. Going along with that, in verses 22 through 34, he teaches us

To not worry. He says, do not worry. In verse 22, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on. Don't worry about your life. Don't worry about what you're going to eat. And don't worry about what you're going to wear. Let's just do a quick survey. Show of hands. Anybody ever worried about any of these things? All of us, right? These are things we worry about. But Jesus says, don't worry about that.

He says, look at the ravens. God feeds them. He feeds the birds of the air. He knows when one of them falls. So if he takes care of them, don't worry about that. He'll take care of you. He'll feed you. He says, look at the grass. Look at the flowers. Look how God clothes them. And so if he clothes them and takes care of them, then you don't have to worry about what you're going to wear. God will provide for you.

Instead of worrying, Jesus gives us a substitute. Verse 31, but seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you. This is the Luke equivalent of Matthew 6, 33, right? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. That's what we need to do. Instead of worrying...

You seek the kingdom of God. Put God first. Pursue the things of God. Pursue His kingdom. And His promise is that He will provide your food. He will provide your clothing. He will provide the things that you need. Well, then in verses 35 through 56, He says, "...Blessed are the servants who are found watching."

Here he goes on to talk about the importance of being ready for the return of Jesus Christ. In verse 35, he says, let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. Your waist girded, be suited up and ready to go.

Have your lamps burning. So don't be taken off guard. Don't be caught off guard. Instead, you be ready at all times for your master's return. Verse 37, he says, Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down and eat and will come and serve them. Jesus here says, look, if you're ready,

For me, when I return, I'm going to serve you. I'm going to bless you. I have great things in store for you if you're watching. Now it's interesting because we've been talking about in Luke chapter 21 for the past two Sundays, the things that Jesus says we should expect in the last days. And we can see that we are living in the last days and that he could return for his church at any moment.

And it was also on Sunday that we read Luke chapter 12 and going through the Bible in three years. And Jesus there is saying, watch, be ready. And then in the message he's saying, be expecting me. Here's what to expect before I come back. He's calling to our minds and reminding us the importance of paying attention.

And being ready for his return. He goes on to liken it to being a faithful and wise steward. That is that we are faithful with what God has given to us. And faithful in what God has called us to. He says that the unfaithful servant...

Well, that's the one who thinks, ah, the master is delaying his coming. There's time later on we can be faithful. But right now we can enjoy ourselves because he's not going to come back right away. And Jesus says that servant is wicked. That servant is going to be judged. And so he's teaching us here the importance of watching and waiting, of discerning the time. He says, look, you guys can discern the weather. You look at the sky. You know what to expect.

But you need to learn to discern the time so that you're paying attention. Because they were missing the Messiah who was right there in front of them. And in the same way, there are those who will be missing the return of Jesus Christ because they're unprepared. They're not watching and they're not ready.

Well, then Jesus gives some practical advice in verses 57 through 59. He says, settle with your adversary. If you can, you know, settle out of court, he says. And don't let it get to court if you can help it because it will be better for you. Well, then chapter 13 now, verse 24 is the key verse. He says, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

In verses 1 through 9, Jesus teaches us that you'll perish unless you repent. This comes about because some people bring up to Jesus this situation with the Galileans.

And we don't know the exact details about this. We don't have other historical accounts. But what it says here is that there were the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And it's possible, you know, there's a couple scenarios that they might be referring to. It's not actually clear what happened. But the exact details of the event are not really important because

because Jesus uses this to teach them kind of a different lesson. So they're bringing this up to say, hey, what do you think about this, Jesus? Or how terrible this was? But Jesus says in verse 2, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things?

And so Jesus is saying, is this what you guys are thinking? Your opinion is that these Galileans were extra sinful and that's why this tragedy happened to them. This was the way that the Jewish people thought as Jesus was addressing them. They expected that, well, when somebody experiences this kind of tragedy, it's an indication that

that they were not very spiritual, that they were not righteous. And so these Galileans had this happen to them, they must have been really bad. Jesus uses another example of those that had a tower fall on them. He says, look, do you think that they were extra sinful and that's why that happened to them? His point is, no, everyone will perish unless they repent. We're all at the same place. We are all desperate sinners.

for a savior. None of us are righteous on our own. None of us are good on our own. And so we cannot, and this is a lesson, listen, this is a lesson that we all need to learn. You cannot measure a person's spirituality by their circumstances. You can't look at their life and say, well, they have money, so they must be really righteous. Or they're poor and

So they probably, you know, have some issues of sin that God wants to deal with. Or you say, wow, that person's poor. They must be really spiritual because they give it all away. Or you say, well, this tragedy happened. They must not be very good Christians because God wouldn't let that happen to His children.

We have these ideas and sometimes we don't communicate them or express them because we know better. But there are these ideas in our hearts many times. And we need to be careful. You cannot evaluate someone's spirituality or relationship with God by their circumstances. And the ultimate example for that is Job. Because Job was righteous. And God said he was righteous. And that's why everything happened to him. Because he was righteous. Right?

And so sometimes those tragedies happen to the righteous. And sometimes they happen to the wicked. So we cannot make determinations about people's spiritual conditions based upon their circumstances. Instead, recognize, hey, we all need a Savior. It's by God's grace that any of us have any kind of life or blessings or good times. It's all by God's grace. It's not because of our righteousness.

Well, then in verses 10 through 17, Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath. Here's a woman who has had an infirmity for 18 years. And Jesus says to her, woman, you are loosed. Can you imagine that? Having some kind of affliction, it says that she was bent over. And so she was hunched over for 18 years and Jesus sets her free.

And then verse 14. I love it. It just cracks me up. It says, But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to the crowd, There are six days on which men ought to work. Therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day. They were...

Very opposed to healing on the Sabbath. They thought, well, this violates our traditions. It didn't violate the Word of God, but they had built their traditions on top of the Word of God, and so he's upset. And so he's scolding the crowd. You guys, stop coming to be healed on the Sabbath. God doesn't want to heal you on the Sabbath. Don't you hate it when God doesn't abide by your rules? He's so upset. Why are you guys coming on the Sabbath to be healed? Jesus heals this woman,

Because it's not a violation of the law. In fact, it's, well, it's what God wants, to set people free and deliver them. But the religious leaders are upset because it doesn't fit with their rules. Jesus goes on in verses 18 and 19 to give the parable of the mustard seed and then the parable of the leaven. In verses 20 and 21, talking about the kingdom of God and how it grows.

Then in verses 22 through 33, he says, strive to enter through the narrow gate. Here's some exhortation for everyone. He says in verse 24, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

And so Jesus here is talking about entering into the kingdom of God. He says, it's a narrow gate. There's few that find it. So you make sure you work hard to find it.

Because many are going to try and they're not going to be able to enter in through that narrow gate. Now understand that Jesus is not saying here you have to work really hard. He's saying you have to trust a lot. He's saying you have to receive the grace of God. That's the narrow gate. It's one way of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. There's lots of other ways that people try but

But they will not enter in because there's one way. It's by faith in Jesus Christ and His work that He accomplished there upon the cross. And so he says, many are going to try to enter in and are going to miss out. In verse 25 he says,

Talking about those who miss out, he says, when once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open for us and he will answer and say to you, I do not know you where you are from. He says, strive to enter through the narrow gate. Make sure you hold fast to that one way because there's many who are going to be there and the door is going to be shut and they're going to say, Lord, open up for us.

And the Lord will say, I don't know you. You didn't strive to enter by the narrow gate. You didn't grasp hold of Jesus Christ. You grasped hold of something else. You tried to enter into eternity by some other means and that's not going to work. There's only one way of salvation. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. So make sure you hold fast to Jesus Christ. Then in verses 34 and 35...

Jesus says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. He laments here. He mourns for Jerusalem. He says in verse 34, how I wanted to gather your children, but you were not willing. I wanted to bless you and gather you and do a work in your midst, but you refused to receive me. You refused to receive the work of God through the Messiah.

Well, here in chapter 13, in verse 22, it says that he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. So, just to remind us, he's continuing to make his way to Jerusalem. It's his final journey. He's going to go into Jerusalem.

spend a few days there, then be crucified, and on the third day be resurrected. And so in the chapters that we've been covering, in these teachings that he's giving, he's still in verses chapters 9 through 17, going through different regions of Galilee and Samaria. He began this journey in Luke chapter 9 verse 51, when it tells us that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And

And then in chapter 17 of Luke, in verse 11, it says, as he was going to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And so this ministry that we're reading about, you know, in the chapters we're looking at tonight and a couple chapters over the next couple days are happening in Samaria and

And Galilee. Now remember Galilee was the area where he grew up in. It was the area where most of his ministry was taking place. And so he's speaking to people that have heard him. Have heard about him. That he's you know possibly ministered to before. But it's kind of his last chance to minister to them. As he heads down to Jerusalem. And so he's speaking to people that have heard him.

And then Samaria, remember, was populated by those who were half Jews. They had different nationalities, you know, on one side, but one of their parents was Jewish. And so...

They were, well that's kind of how it began and it kind of descended from there. But they had some Jewish blood in them, but they were not full Jews. And so they populated the region of Samaria. They were typically hated by the Jewish people, but Jesus here was continuing to minister in that region and to them as well.

All right, chapter 14, now verse 33 is the key verse. Jesus says, so likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. In verses 1 through 6, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath.

This is something that Jesus did a lot, as you know, we've seen it a couple times already. He was working miracles on the Sabbath, which the religious leaders hated. Now this particular one was a setup by the religious leaders, because Jesus was at the home of a Pharisee. So he's at the home of a religious leader on the Sabbath day for a meal, and it says in verse 1 that they were watching Jesus closely.

So you can see, you know, the setup. They're trying to catch him. They're trying to take him down. And in their midst was a man with dropsy. So there's this man with this disease, this condition, and they're watching. Okay, what's he going to do? Is he going to fall for our trap? Is he going to heal this man on the Sabbath? And Jesus in verse 4 does. He heals this man who has this condition.

And he says, look, you guys would help an animal if it fell into a pit. How much more to help this man who is in this condition? And it says in verse 6 that they could not answer him regarding these things. So they thought they had the perfect setup. You know, hey, let's get this guy who has this condition. We'll invite Jesus over. He'll heal on the Sabbath. And then we got him. But Jesus points out the hypocrisy. And so they're unable to catch him.

In verses 7 through 14, Jesus says, whoever exalts himself will be humbled. So here he is at this feast, at this Pharisee's house, and it says in verse 7 that he noted how they chose the best places for themselves. So he's watching everybody find their seat, and he's watching how they're kind of rushing for, oh, that's the best seat, I'm gonna get it first. And they're all rushing and scrambling to get the better seats, the better places. And he's watching how they're rushing

And Jesus rebukes them. He says, look, hey, when you're invited to a feast, pick a lower place. And let the host invite you up if he chooses to, and then you'll have honor among the guests. But don't strive for the best place. In verse 11, he says, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Now, Jesus uses this dinner party and their behavior there to teach an important truth. This is an eternal law.

This cannot be changed. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. And whoever humbles himself will be exalted. This is true even of Jesus. Jesus is exalted to have the name above every name because he first humbled himself and became a man. Became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Paul explains all this in Philippians chapter 2. And because he humbled himself...

Much more than anyone else ever has, He has the name above every name. Because He humbled Himself from glory of eternity being God, He humbled Himself and added humanity to His deity. He humbled Himself far greater than any of us could ever humble ourselves. And so He is exalted far greater than anyone else could ever be exalted. It's the law that cannot be changed. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled forever.

but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. And so make sure that you're not exalting yourself and promoting yourself and publishing or, you know, puffing up yourself, but instead humble yourself. Be humble before the Lord. Humility is not, you know, beating down yourself or talking bad about yourself, but it's an accurate view of who you are. That is, you believe what God says about you.

That you have His perspective on who you are. And so it doesn't mean that you can't have confidence. It doesn't mean that you can't go boldly and do what God's called you to do. It just means you need to do so on the basis of what God says and not on the basis of what you think. And so hold fast to what God says about you and throw out the stuff that you think about yourself. Believe God and not what you think.

Verses 15 through 24, Jesus gives the parable of the great supper. Here it's the idea of a man throwing a feast for a wedding. He invites many guests and then all those guests make excuses and say, I can't come. And so the master sends out his servants and says, well, go get other people then. Go, you know, find random people off the street and bring them in because there's going to be a great feast here for my son's wedding.

And they do that and they come back and then there's still room. And so they say, Master, there's still room. In verse 23, the master said to his servant, go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. And so it's this picture here of this desire to fill the house. The people who were originally invited didn't want to come. So find anybody else who could come and compel them to come.

Now it's a picture here of the Gentiles being saved because the Jews were rejecting the Messiah, Jesus. And so God is saying, alright, go out to anybody else who will hear them. Whoever will hear, whoever will listen, compel them and invite them in to the feast. Invite them in to the kingdom of God. So get everyone in here, whoever will come.

Then in verses 25 through 35, Jesus tells the multitude, count the cost of following me. In verse 25, it tells us that he's speaking to great multitudes. And so he's speaking to a huge crowd here, great multitudes, and he's really kind of thinning the ranks. There's a lot of people following me, Jesus is saying, but you need to count the cost. Don't just follow me without thinking about what it's going to take. You need to understand that

What it's going to require. It's kind of an interesting contrast. Here on the one hand you have the parable of this great supper. You know, get everybody in here. Whoever will come, come. But then also Jesus is saying, but don't mistake that to think...

that everybody who wants to be saved is saved. No, there are requirements. There is a cost to discipleship, a cost to following Jesus. And here's what it is. In verse 26, he says, if you don't hate your father and mother and your family and your own life also, you can't be my disciple. You can't follow me unless you hate them. Now, hate is not the idea of like, you know, the worst thing we think of when we think of hate.

Jesus' point is, you got to put me first and love me more than anybody else, including yourself. And if you don't love me more than anything else, you can't follow me. If you don't put me first, you can't follow me. In verse 27, he says, if you don't bear your cross, then you cannot be my disciple. You have to bear your cross. Now, sometimes people think that, you know, some kind of affliction or difficulty in life is...

the cross, you know, that I have to bear. But Jesus isn't talking about that. The idea of bearing the cross is dying to yourself. It's denying yourself because the cross was the instrument by which you were executed. And so the idea is, I'm going to die to myself. I'm going to put my desires and my wants and my plans and what I think aside, and I'm going to replace that with God's plans and His desires and what He thinks.

I'm going to put him first, his ideas, and let him override what I think. And so he says in verse 28, count the cost. He gives the example of a tower. Who builds a tower without first sitting down to think, okay, do I have enough money to build this tower?

Can you imagine? And if you've been around Corona for a while, I'm sure you remember the gas station down the street. Now it's an Arco. But for years, it was like a half-constructed, half-completed gas station. It used to be a shell, and then they tried to build a different gas station, and it just sat destroyed and open for years. Now, I don't know exactly what happened, but it always reminded me to count the cost.

Because I can picture, you know, trying to start a project, you get like halfway through, and you're like, oh, I ran out of money, I can't do anything else. And so here's this half-completed project. And Jesus is saying, don't let that happen to you regarding following me. Don't get started in following me and then realize, oh, I didn't know it was going to be this hard. I didn't know it was going to require so much. So never mind, I can't follow Jesus no more.

No, no. Count the cost. Pay attention to what you're getting yourself into. Make a commitment to Jesus, but know what you're getting into. It's going to require that you put Jesus first. It's going to require that you put him before your family, before yourself, before your wants and desires and wishes. Count the cost. He gives the example of war. What king goes to battle without first thinking, okay, I've got 10,000 soldiers. They've got 20,000 soldiers. Can I win this battle?

No, the king strategizes and figures out, okay, here's what I have, here's what they have. Is there a way for me to win this war? In the same way, he says, count the cost. Think about, be strategic. Can I do this? Can I be faithful to the Lord? Can I be a follower of Jesus Christ? In verse 33, he says, so likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. And so Jesus, speaking to the multitude, says...

You guys all say you want to follow me, but here's some criteria. Here's what it's going to take. So count the cost and then make the decision if you're going to follow me. Our final chapter this evening, chapter 15, verse 10 is the key verse. He says, likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. This whole chapter is

is about this idea of God rejoicing over the lost being found. And so you have the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. Now this happens because in verse 1 it tells us that the tax collectors and sinners draw near to Jesus.

I always think this is interesting because Jesus just gives this really kind of serious call, like count the cost, pay attention. It's going to be costly to follow me. And then what happens? The sinners and the tax collectors draw near to Jesus. So they hear the strictness here, the cost involved, and it doesn't cause them to run away, but they draw near to Jesus. And so these are those who follow.

They're really interested in following Jesus. They've counted the cost. But the Pharisees didn't like this. It says in verse 2 that they complained and said, Oh, this man receives sinners. He's spending time with these sinful people. Because they considered themselves to be so righteous even though they were not. And so Jesus goes on to give these parables to explain, Listen, God rejoices when the lost, the sinners are found.

So with the lost sheep, you know, hey, a shepherd has 99 sheep and one is lost. Yeah, he secures the 99 in the pen and then he goes and he finds that one. And when he comes back, he rejoices. He tells all his family, hey guys, I found the sheep that was lost.

It's a cause for rejoicing. And he says in verse 7, Likewise, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the 99 just persons who need no repentance. Heaven is paying attention. And when a sinner repents, when someone who is lost turns to Jesus and is found, heaven rejoices. There's great rejoicing in heaven as one sinner repents.

The parable of the lost coin is about a woman who has 10 coins, but she loses one. She cleans the whole house. She searches until she finds it. And then when she finds it, she tells all her neighbors and says, hey guys, come rejoice with me. I found that one coin that was lost. And Jesus again says in verse 10, likewise, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. God is excited when sinners come to him.

The religious try to keep sinners away and God's saying, no, come. That causes rejoicing in heaven. That's what I came for. That's what Jesus came for. Then you have the parable of the lost son, the prodigal son. He takes his inheritance. He runs off. He spends it. He ends up with nothing. He comes home thinking, well, if I could just be a servant at dad's house, that's better off than feeding the pigs where I'm at.

So he goes home and the father embraces him, throws a party in celebration. The older brother hears about it. Now this represents the religious leaders and the older brother is unhappy. He's upset. Why is he throwing this party? He wasted all dad's money. Why are they throwing this party? He's unhappy. And the religious leaders were this way. They were unhappy that the sinners were coming to God. They were coming to Jesus. They were upset about it. In verse 32 says,

This is the father in this parable talking to the older son. He says, it was right that we should make Mary and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found. It's right to rejoice. It's a good reminder for us of how important it is to God for people to come to repentance. It's more important to God than it is to us. You know, we pray for our loved ones and our family members and we want to see them turn and be right with the Lord.

It's more important to God than it is to us for them to be found. Sometimes we get caught up in religion, like the religious leaders, and think, well, what is that person doing here? Why are they talking to that person? Why are they going to that neighborhood? Why are they doing that? And we start getting upset with people. But God is interested, and He wants, He invites sinners to come to Him. He invites the rebellious to return. He invites the lost to be found.

God's paying attention. Notice in these parables, he notices one person out of a hundred. The sheep, you know, one is missing, the 99 are there. He notices when one is missing. He notices. Whether it's one out of two, one out of ten, one out of a hundred. Whether it's like a sheep, they wander off unintentionally. Or like a coin, they just kind of fall through the cracks. Or like a rebellious son and they wander on purpose intentionally.

God rejoices when they're found, when they return. And so we need to rejoice as well. And we need to welcome people back to the kingdom of God. And even on top of that, we need to be part of that work in reaching them and finding them and inviting them back because God desires for the lost to be found. Amen? Lord, we do pray that you would help us. You did not light us

that light in our lives. You did not set us as a city on a hill to be hidden, but Lord, that we might be your witnesses, that we might declare your name, your truth, and your love to the world around us. And so, Lord, I pray that you would empower us with your Holy Spirit and that you would allow us to be part of your work in reaching lost people and bringing them into right relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord.

to be faithful stewards of what you've called us to. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 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.