Luke 12:13-34

In the news this week was the mistrial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children. 

The article read;

Clancy has not denied that she had killed her children but her not guilty plea was predicated on a lack of criminal responsibility because, as her defense team said, she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, which included auditory hallucinations that commanded her to harm her children, and undiagnosed bipolar disorder. We had a very similar case in New Zealand where the mother made the same not guilty plea (Lauren Anne Dickason) but she was found guilty.

I would say based on comparison to biblical accounts of similar encounters that that these auditory hallucinations were actually demonic spirits commanding her to kill her children.

We had a very similar case in New Zealand where the mother made the same not guilty plea (Lauren Anne Dickason) but she was found guilty.

“I’m representing a woman who is a fantastic, wonderful individual,” her defence lawyer said. “This woman is so brave, so awesome. She sat there through seven weeks of the trial, where nobody had anything bad to say about her except the two prosecutors.”

The truth often hurts, it shatters delusions.

Reddington also thanked the jury, “minus one” – referring to the holdout juror who he says he “hope[s] they can sleep at night”.

You heard that right. The holdout juror was the only one who thought she was GUILTY. What an upside-down world we are living in. Perhaps it should not surprise us when we live in a society that murders babies and calls it healthcare.

Remember what Jesus said;

Luke 11:34

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

Our society is at the point where it can no longer see that not only abortion is murder but that murder is murder. We have developed bad eyes. It’s a sign of end times delusion. These women were victims of spiritual warfare but they are still responsible for their crimes. It demonstrates the need for spiritual warfare when medication is not working. Call in the Christian Marines ! 

The Good News is that Jesus died for all our sins including murder, but we have to receive Jesus. As we learned last week, the only unpardonable sin or blasphemy of the Holy Spirit means to reject Jesus, the only hope of salvation. Someone who worries that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit has not.

Following last week's message, I did some further research on the meaning of the word blasphemy because I felt it necessary to understand the seriousness of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in more detail. Paul described himself before his conversion;

1 Timothy 1:13

although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

The word “blasphemy” is the Greek word blasphemia — and it does not primarily refer to speaking irreverently about divine matters. It has a broader meaning that refers to any type of debasing, derogatory, nasty, shameful, ugly speech or behavior that is intended to humiliate someone else. Paul used the word “blasphemer” to describe his own past words and actions when he purposefully mistreated and humiliated believers for whom he had no tolerance.

In addition to rejecting Christ’s gift of salvation for themselves, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit means calling Christ evil, intentionally mocking and denying the Holy Spirit with the intention of putting others off of receiving Christ. It is such an utter rejection of God that the sin brings about God’s judgement.

Paul was a blasphemer but obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief. There are those who have crossed that line into blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, who understand the Gospel, but utterly reject it and seek to prevent others from believing it as well. How sad is that?

We also noted last week that very often when the Lord is speaking to us, Satan (who is the ultimate blasphemer and the first to utterly reject the Lord) will try and distract us though all manner of devices - through people, through troubling thoughts, anything to keep us from listening and doing what the Lord is teaching us.

In last week's passage, we heard Jesus warning his disciples to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees - their hypocrisy and their doctrine. As he was doing this, suddenly someone from the crowd spoke up with a distracting question;

Luke 12:13-15

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Distractions come just as the Holy Spirit is getting through to people and appear extremely important at the time. It’s the same method scammers use to try to rush you into making rash decisions. So be on guard !

How would Jesus deal with this distraction from a man about his inheritance. We know justice is an important issue that God is concerned about. Would Jesus ignore the man and carry on teaching his disciples?

No, rather he answered the question and used it as a springboard to continue teaching but with a parable.

To the crowds Jesus often spoke in parables and when the disciples asked why, he gave the reason;

Matthew 13:11-15

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’

The parables Jesus told were a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah that God would purposely tell them things that they would not understand and turn to him and be healed. That does sound harsh at first hearing so we need to understand why God would do that.

Stories are normally a good way of teaching and usually we love to be taught this way. The tales we heard as children had moral meanings and we learned life lessons from them. But what can you do if people won’t listen to even the most basic instructions like to repent and believe the Gospel. It is exhausting to teach people if they won’t listen, though you repeat it over and over and over again.

The parables had the dual purpose of teaching those whose hearts were open but confusing those who were hard-hearted and had rejected God as a judgment on their hard-heartedness.

Was the parable he was about to share one with a hidden meaning? Judge for yourself.

Luke 12:16-21

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This particular parable is in fact very clear, there are no hidden meanings. The warning was given that it is foolish to think we have our security in ourselves and in our riches. The world teaches us to invest our money so that we will have a comfortable retirement but it is a false security. We do not know that we will have our health when we get old or even that we will live that long. We are wise to invest in eternal things. Sadly many people will reject this advice because they want their best life now.

But you know what, if a person loves the World too much instead of loving God, then even though they hear the parable, it won’t make sense to them to invest in something they can’t see, touch, taste, smell or feel. They think that this life is all there is and fail to understand the reality of eternity and to lay up treasure in Heaven. Isaiah’s prophecy is true but if we open up just a little, Jesus’s word also comes true - to whoever has, more will be given, so open your hearts!

It would seem to me that even though Jesus was answering the man’s distracting question, he had the dual purpose of teaching the disciples to get their priorities right. Those who keep their ears open are always learning even somebody else’s lessons.

Then he resumed his speaking to his disciples.

Luke 12:22-27

Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

My cat doesn’t worry about anything. He knows all the sunny spots in the house and garden, he is warm and dry at night and his breakfast and dinner are served up without having to work for it. Why aren’t we like that, are our worries truly justified? Jesus certainly understood the things we worry about. Our hair or lack of it, our height, what we’re going to eat, where we’re going to live, will we survive a cost of living crisis. And here we all are today, having lived a good number of years. In New Zealand especially we live in comfort. God has really looked after us. So why do we worry, it’s a bit strange of us isn’t it?

Luke 12:28-31

If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

He’s speaking to us believers, and he’s calling us out for the smallness of our faith. Shouldn’t we trust him.  

Why should we be like the people of the world when we know our Heavenly Father is looking after us. Rather than worry, Jesus teaches us to make the Kingdom of God our priority. We will then find that all the things we used to worry about fade into insignificance and all our needs will be provided for. That promise gives a lot of peace.

Luke 12:32-34

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So what should we prioritise today to seek first the Kingdom of God? I’ll leave you to think about that because it could be so many things. Your devotional time, a Church task, a sick family member or friend, a colleague who needs to hear the Gospel, a donation to someone in need, it could be so many things. But when we give up our time and money for the Kingdom of God, we are storing up treasure in Heaven. We may not be prosperous down here but we’ll never regret that in eternity. Amen.

Let’s Pray.

Luke 12:1-12

Our travels for this year look to be over. We survived the European heatwave and enjoyed two memorable weddings in London and in Brussels. I’m still processing it all but I do want to thank the Lord for just giving us such a rich experience and blessing even if I can’t put it in words.

If you remember the last couple of messages;

Jesus healed a mute and the people who witnessed had one of 3 reactions;

1. 1. The multitudes marvelled but 2 other groups had negative reactions;

These 2 groups were saying one of 2 things;

1.  Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebub (that is the Devil)
2. Those who wanted another sign from heaven

Jesus spoke to these 2 groups strongly warning them that their judgement of what was happening was very wrong, that no further miracles were needed other than his resurrection and condemning them for their hypocrisy and for actively preventing others from hearing and believing Jesus’s message.

As I prepared this week’s message, I realised how important it is to notice who Jesus was addressing when he spoke. The beauty of Scripture is that it can speak to us directly, yet we do have to remember who Jesus was directly speaking to otherwise we may misapply it out of context.

So, who did Jesus speak to in his day?

1. His Father

2. His family or connected family

3. His disciples

4. The crowds who followed him

5. The Pharisees and other leaders

6. The government

7. Foreigners

Are there any other specific groups you can think of?

Which group would you put yourself in today?

Luke 12:1-3

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Yes, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, that’s you and me!

Jesus warned his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees which here he called their hypocrisy. In Matthew 16:12, he called their leaven their doctrine. They made themselves out to be more important than they were. They were puffed up with ego but they didn’t live up to their words, they were hypocrites.

We need to stay humble. Jesus knows our thoughts but thankfully no one else can read our minds ! Not yet anyway but one day it will all be laid bare. What we’ve spoken about in secret, what we’ve said behind others backs, what our motives were for what we did.

Knowing this we should live as authentically as we can. The worst thing is to be one person in public and another in private. People should know we are Christians; it shouldn’t be a surprise to them. But if they do know, then they shouldn’t be shocked by our private lives. That is one thing that really compromises the Gospel - hypocritical Christians.

Luke 12:4-7

“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

There is an apparent contradiction here. On the one hand Jesus says to fear God who can cast us into Hell, on the other not to fear because we are very valuable to Him.

But notice what Jesus says before that. He says don’t be afraid of those who can kill the body. When given the choice between man and God, don’t be afraid of man. Fear the Lord instead. It’s helpful to realise too that our soul is worth more than our body because our soul is eternal, but our body is only temporary.

In essence, Jesus is saying, don’t be afraid of man, or value anything material too highly. But do let our trust in the Lord outweigh our fear because God knows all the little details of our lives and we are very valuable to Him. He is worthy of our trust!

Luke 12:8-10

“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

Imagine how hard these words would have hit Peter after he denied the Lord three times. Do we think we are stronger than Peter? But Jesus goes on to say that anyone who spoke a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Remember how the Lord showed grace to Peter after his denial. Jesus knew Peter’s heart, that he was truly sorry and would change. But more than that, it is the Lord who is faithful in spite of our failings. And he has promised that we cannot be snatched from his hand.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

However, there is a far more serious point about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which will not be forgiven. This has troubled many Christians and so we should dig a bit deeper.

Blasphemy on it’s own is the act of speaking or acting with contempt, disrespect, or a lack of reverence toward God, a deity, or things considered sacred and holy. It includes insulting religious figures, misusing holy names, or defying divine authority. Blasphemy is treating sacred beliefs, scriptures, or holy figures with intentional malice or mockery. 

Most secular nations have abolished blasphemy laws to protect freedom of speech. Christopher Hitchens book « God is not Great » is an example of blasphemy. But is it blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

The Cause:  It is the continuous, willful refusal to accept the Holy Spirit's guidance towards the Truth.

The Result:  A heart so hardened against God that the person never wants to ask for pardon. The person becomes blind to the Truth even so far as calling good evil by attributing the miracles of the Holy Spirit to the devil.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not just profanity. Profanity involves ordinary rude or coarse language, whereas blasphemy specifically targets the divine or sacred.

It is not grieving the Holy Spirit. That happens when the way we live causes the Holy Spirit to be sad. As a parent, you may relate to this with your children, especially your teenage children. You might see friends who are a bad influence start to lead your child astray. So you do your best as a parent to prevent that from happening but finally it is the child who makes their choice thinking they know better. Of course as a parent you have the life experience so you know the inevitable bad outcome. Choices made that are destructive to our wellbeing, to others that inevitably require us to be disciplined.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is called the unpardonable sin.

It is frightening to think that a person has reached this state of hard heart, where they don’t even think to ask for God’s forgiveness, where they are beyond help. This is why the Pharisees were in such danger where they were calling the miracles of the Holy Spirit a work of the Devil and were teaching others to reject Jesus, our only hope of salvation. When thought of this way, it is why Jesus warned them so strongly. 

If a person is worried that he has committed the unpardonable sin, it is a sign they haven’t. 

When I listen to the way Christopher Hitchens or Stephen Fry speak against God, I’m really scared for them. Their hearts are hard to such a degree that they completely lost the desire or ability to repent and receive forgiveness and worse than that, they are teaching others to reject God like them. I’m not their judge, only God is but a person needs to be warned when they are in danger, and that’s what Jesus was doing to the Pharisees.

John warned;

1 John 5:16

If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.

Perhaps the fact that people are still moved to pray for the likes of Stephen Fry is a sign that The Holy Spirit is still wrestling with them, so let’s not give up on anyone while they still have breath in their lungs! Are you worried that you have committed the unpardonable sin? The Holy Spirit is still wrestling with you. Today is the Day of Salvation. You don’t know if you have another day. Come to the Lord today and receive his forgiveness, He’s waiting for you ! Jesus died on the Cross for all our sins but if we reject this, we cannot be saved. Jesus said that he is the only way to the Father, there is no hope in any other religion. 

Acts 4:12

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

This statement is a great offence to all other claims of finding God and a way into Heaven. When Dolly Parton died this week, I saw a cartoon of a number of other music stars who have also died greeting her as she arrived in Heaven. Maybe one of them had made a confession of faith in Jesus, but no others had. I’m not the Judge but if someone rejects Jesus all their life they are not going to be in Heaven for ultimately, they’ve committed the unpardonable sin. If we preach the true Gospel, we will cause offence and the time could soon come in New Zealand where a Christian will be arrested and put on trial for saying this.

Luke 12:11-12

“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Holy Spirit is always teaching us, I’m sure you can relate to this when you’re doing your devotionals. When I’m preparing a message, I always receive something new to me, and usually while I’m speaking as well, Scriptures come to mind that help enhance or change the emphasis of a point to make it clearer. But I look forward to the day when standing before the authorities, that the Holy Spirit will do that on steroids as he did for Stephen. 

Acts 6:9-10

Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

Let’s remember then to daily fill our lamps and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. 

But don’t be surprised when the Spirit is speaking that all manner of distractions come into our mind, through people or events. Remember we are in a spiritual war. 

Just as Jesus was making this important teaching about the Holy Spirit to his disciples, a distraction did indeed come.

Luke 12:13

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”…

Notice how this interrupted and distracted the disciples from the important teaching Jesus was giving them. I’m sure you will have experienced this when witnessing to someone.

Stay tuned, we’ll move on to that next week.

Luke 11:33-54

Bonjour, hope you’re having a good week. We’re in the middle of a 3rd or 4th heatwave. Summer will be over soon so hopefully the Winter in NZ as well ! For me it’s too hot because it’s quite limiting what you can do. 28° is about where it starts to get less enjoyable for me, at the moment it’s 35° and it got up to 41° a few weeks back. The biggest risk though is fire; they really need some rain. It could be very heavy when it comes so next big thing could be flooding, or power and food shortages, take your pick, prayers appreciated!

Last week we looked at the negative reaction of people when they have witnessed a great miracle – sometimes people can be exasperating, or should I say often! We need to remember a few things – 

1. We’re not fighting flesh and blood - The battle is a heavenly one and we need discernment to recognize what spirits are driving the suggestions that are presented to our world today.

2. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit - The importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit which protects us from the evil one and Jesus said it’s as easy as asking and receiving - Luke 11:13 - If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”)

3. Signs are a witness to repent and believe - Not to be obsessed with signs but to get on with what Christ called us to do.

4. The Resurrection is the greatest sign

Let’s move on to today’s passage which immediately follows the miracle and see how Jesus takes aim at the biggest stumbling blocks – the religious leaders and other smart people like the lawyers. I think it carries a warning for all of us.

Luke 11:33-36

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

Jesus made the interesting statement that the light within can be darkness and that happens when our eye is bad. For the last 100 years we have had television and movies and of course recently we have the internet. Smartphones have been a tremendous resource, but there’s also been a lot of profiteering without consideration for the effect on the young. And just like all things invented by man, they have all be used for evil as well as good. Governments in Australia and the UK have woken up to the effect of social media on the young and they have banned it below a certain age which is a step back in the right direction. It has been too easy for young eyes to see truly evil things unfiltered; it poisons the mind. 

But a bad eye can mean something else. A bad eye looks at the world with envy, judgment, or greed, failing to see truth, beauty, or God's goodness. A bad eye could also then mean looking at the world skeptically or cynically. Let’s face it, as we get older, we do witness corruption, injustice, crime and our expectations of humanity tend to get lower. But it can get to the point where all we expect is the worst from people all the time. At this point, our eye has become bad.

When we are unable to see the good that is happening right in front of our eyes, we end up with a distorted view of the world. That seems to be more in context with the passage we are reading when if you remember last week, people were attributing the miracles of Jesus to Satan. Sadly, we learn to look at the world cynically as we get older through comedy, through stories, through life experience. But a child looks at things innocently and in innocence sees a beautiful world. 

You can see the light or darkness in a person’s eyes. But as Christians, we are lamp stands for the true light. People do notice us. So, it’s important that our light shines bright, especially in this darkness. They expect more of us than themselves! Is there hope for an older person like me?

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Yes, our minds can be renewed by reading scripture and by asking the Holy Spirit to create a clean heart within. It is up to us to keep our minds clean by being careful about what we watch or listen to and by catching ourselves when we fall into cynicism.

More than ever today, the Christian needs to look after their eyes, the way they look at the world!

Luke 11:37-42

And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

For us, it is normal to wash our hands before eating because we know now about germs. In that day it was done for ceremonial purposes, in other words just for show. But Jesus didn’t do anything just for show. At this time, he chose not to wash his hands, I suspect to bring out a teaching point. Spiritually, he was already clean. The Pharisees were all for keeping their rituals and traditions but had forgotten about the most important things of justice and the love of God. In many ways it’s so easy for us to fall into the same trap and get distracted by our different theological points of view and forget about love and justice and our main task of proclaiming the Gospel. Satan without a doubt loves a divided Church, as it renders it ineffective in reaching the people who Jesus died for.

You’ve heard it said hate the sin, love the sinner. One way we can do that today is to ask questions of people, to challenge their logic in the way that Charlie Kirk did, rather than pronounce judgment on people we’ve never met. We’ll still get accused of hatred and bigotry but thinking people may appreciate it.

Luke 11:43-44

Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them. ”

And sorry to say that the main reason for the way they were was their big egos. They loved the power, they loved their status, they loved worldly success, they loved being right. Is this all starting to sound a bit too familiar? Have we lost our compassion for a dying World, what are we doing about that?

Luke 11:45-48

Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.” And He said, “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. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.

They were able to see clearly the faults in others but were blind to the poverty of their own spiritual condition. There is none so blind as those who will not see.

Jeremiah 5:21

‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not:

This is a fair criticism that is thrown at religious people. We are prone to judging others without actually doing anything to help another’s circumstance that lead to their bad choices. But it doesn’t take much to expose one’s hypocrisy.

Luke 11:49-52

Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

We all tend to think we are good people; that’s part of our human condition. When someone turns the spotlight on us, it’s easy to get defensive. Sometimes I’m scrolling through my newsreel, and a Christian one comes up and I immediately scroll to the next one. Then I think to myself, why did I react like that, what’s wrong with me. Sometimes our own reactions do surprise us when we realise we’re not the good person we thought we were. The Pharisees and lawyers thought they were good people, but it wasn’t long before they were conspiring to kill the Son of God.

Jesus made the criticism that they had taken away the key of knowledge. It is one thing to know the law, it is another thing to understand the principles of justice, love and mercy behind it. The God that people saw through them was cold, judgmental and distant, one that they wanted nothing to do with. 

And perhaps even worse is they actively tried to stop people from following the Lord in criticising Jesus and his message. The real question for us today is, do we do that? Do we hinder others from believing the Gospel by our words or deeds? Let’s take a sober look at ourselves and repent of we need to. Lord, I’m sorry for anything I’ve said or done that has hindered another from believing the Gospel.

Luke 11:53-54

And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

It’s not an easy thing to have your life exposed in the light, there are plenty of faults we would prefer to keep hidden.

But if we catch ourselves reacting to a rebuke in the way the religious teachers and lawyers did, it’s time to realise we are the problem.

Keith Green sang a song called “Stained Glass”. Just like churches with stained glass windows, we’re here to let the colourful light in a darkened room and people should notice and appreciate the difference and ultimately see Jesus.

Luke 11:14-32

This week Brian Tamaki put out a tweet 

« Tonight we unleash the strike force from heaven... If your organisation or name is on Heaven’s Hitlist…you should repent or have the fear of God on you. »

He went on to name names, everyone in Government, the Police, the Judicial system, the media, all other religions, atheists and church leaders working against Destiny church.

He has forgotten one important thing that we have been studying this year in spiritual warfare - we are not fighting against flesh and blood. It’s pretty easy in this generation that we live in to get confused over who the enemy is because we see a world increasing in hostility towards God, embracing a future which excludes God altogether. Man is once more trying to build that tower that reaches to the heavens, what do you think is going to happen?

What Brian expressed rather badly I would say will happen when Jesus comes again and judges the nations. We think this is very soon now but until then we have to do the job of winning people into his Kingdom, of taking the approach that Jesus took which is difficult - to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick and to combat against the true enemy and that isn’t people who are blind to the truth and need to be shown the light. 

What we see is society reaching breaking point, the inevitable outcome of democracy without our true King Jesus.

Democracy for most people means the right to live their life how they choose. Freedom of choice is the catchphrase in everything – in daily living, life and death. The outcome is what we have today – everyone living to their own standards, not prepared to even consider the other point of view. History repeats. In the Old Testament, you can read the same thing in the Book of Judges and you’ll also see what the outcome of that was;

Judges 21:25

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Let’s go to our passage today from Luke 11:14-32 which follows on from Jesus’s teaching on prayer, so key in spiritual warfare that we looked at a few weeks ago.

Luke 11:14-16

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.

Notice that there were 2 groups of people that were saying things that showed that they were resisting the good thing that was happening right before their eyes;

1. Those saying Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebub (that is the Devil!)
2. Those who wanted another sign from heaven

These were the 2 groups that Jesus addressed in the passage that follows.

Firstly those who said Jesus was casting out demons by Satan;

Luke 11:17-23

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

That Jesus was casting out demons by God’s power and not Satan’s power should have been obvious. People were being completely healed. Right before their eyes, a mute could now speak. But rather than marvel and worship God, some were saying it was Satan, in other words, Satan deceiving men with counterfeit healings. Strangely the same type of accusations are being made today against the charismatic movement. But are the accusations correct? There is definitely a need to stand back and consider carefully what is going on.

Take for example, do you remember revival breaking out in Ashbury University in in the US on February 8, 2023, following a routine Wednesday morning chapel service. There were 16 continuous days of uninterrupted prayer, worship, and testimony and an estimated 50,000 visitors travelled from across the United States and internationally to the small campus. Rather than celebrate that a revival was happening, there were church leaders that came out and criticised the claim of revival effectively pouring cold water on the fire. Better to keep quiet than speak out against a work of the Holy Spirit.

It is a warning against sectarianism that Brian Tamaki would do well to heed. There are church leaders in all the denominations doing the work that Jesus has called them to do that may be different to the emphasis of his denomination. This is not about disregarding doctrine for the sake of unity, that is what the ecumenical movement does. We need to discuss doctrinal errors and arrive to the place the Spirit leads which is into all truth. It is sad that the Church is split today and reached the point where one church is condemning to judgment other churches. We are a house divided and it is little wonder that we are ineffective sending out contradictory messages.

Satan’s house is not divided. It may seem a curiosity that the LBGTQ community has been very outspoken in its support of Palestine when we know that gay people would be executed under a strict Islamic regime. I believe their unity is because the spirits of Islam and LBGTQ are actually on the same side. The spirits of Islam and LGBTQ are hostile to Christ and to all mankind ultimately and have the goal of taking both camps to Hell. Remember, we are not fighting against flesh and blood, against Muslim and Gay people who Jesus died for.

Surely, we can at least understand where someone is coming from even if we completely disagree when we remember who we are truly fighting against. It changes the approach altogether.

Luke 11:24-26

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

Do you remember not long ago we talked about the time Jesus healed the man with a legion of demons inside him. It came right after the Jesus had calmed the storm on Galilee and ended with the disciples saying; « who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him. »

At that point the disciples still did not understand that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, it was the demoniac who was the first person recorded as recognising Jesus for who he is and what did he do?

Mark 5:6-7

When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”

Even in the worst of conditions, a person is still able to respond to God. He was full of demons but the man worshipped Jesus. No one is unreachable for Christ, that’s what we always need to remember. One day everyone will bow down to Jesus, no matter their spiritual condition. New Zealand as a country once embraced Jesus, but if you throw out Jesus who is stronger than any evil principality and power, then you have a nation that can’t protect itself against even more wicked spirits that come in as well as the original one that comes back in.

That is the state of our nation today. We need Jesus to come and save us.

Could a demon return to a Christian after being cast out? I have always thought “no” because the Holy Spirit is living inside them. That is what most denominations teach. But does that contradict what Jesus taught in today’s passage. Let’s dig a bit deeper. Firstly, remember;

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The enemy is on the look out for anyone even weak believers. That is why Peter taught to us to be sober, to be vigilant and to resist him. He certainly had the experience of dealing with demons as did Paul. Paul taught us to put on the armour of God and to pray in the Spirit, that is the key. Having the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Then we are safe.

In our passage today, Jesus is specifically warning believers that simply cleaning up one's life or stopping bad habits is not enough. Moral reformation without Christ is empty space. If a person empties themselves of sin ("sweeps the house") but fails to actively fill that spiritual void with the presence of God and the Holy Spirit, they remain vulnerable to a worse spiritual collapse. A cleansed life must be occupied and guarded by active faith, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit. You cannot remain neutral in the spiritual realm; failing to surrender to Christ leaves room for old habits and influences to return with greater force.

Luke 11:27-28

And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

This woman, in contrast to the critics, and seemingly in his defence, recognised that what Jesus was saying and doing was of God and she bravely cries out her support in the face of the opposition from the religious teachers and other critics. This was not an easy thing to do in such a patriarchal society against so-called educated men of high standing. It was extremely brave. Jesus's response was so humble. He said that anyone who heard the Word of God and did it was just as blessed as Him. You don’t have to be a superstar for Jesus. Faithfully doing what he says, whether in the face of opposition or without recognition is blessed. Those are the ones who are in the family of God, the ones who gather with him and do not scatter. Bless the Lord !

Luke 11:29-32

And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

The signs are given so that we will believe. I bet all of us here today could testify that we have witnessed or experienced a healing at some point in our life. But miracles don’t guarantee that people will truly believe. The crowd had seen Jesus heal the mute, but they still wanted a sign! 

Just ONE miracle should be enough to bring a person to repentance and into a relationship with Jesus. To understand that Jesus really did rise from the dead, is the greatest sign of all and if you believe that, you are truly blessed.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray for miracles, because everyone at some point needs a miracle. What I’m saying is, don’t keep chasing miracles, thinking that unless someone sees a miracle, they won’t believe. He has already performed the greatest miracle of all by rising from the dead. Wanting another miracle can become just an excuse for not doing what Jesus has asked us to do. Just get on with proclaiming the resurrection, you’ll see other miracles alright.

John affirmed that we have enough to believe when he said.

John 21:24-25 

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Let’s pray. 

Lord, you know us only too well. It is too easy for us to put off what you are asking us to do because of unbelief or wanting another sign. Help us all to embrace the work you are doing in the world today and please fill each one of us with the Holy Spirit so that we may be protected from the Evil One. Amen.

Luke 11:1-13

We recently finished our first study on Spiritual Warfare from Ephesians 6, teaching that we need to be armed and ready for battle every day as Christians. We also realised that all the weapons are quite loving, humble and kind towards humanity but are hostile to our true enemy who is the opposite of all of them.

Quite a while ago now we did a 2 part study on 2 secret weapons that the Christian has available to them. Fasting and Prayer. Both of these weapons rely humbly on God, in fact Jesus specifically instructed us to keep them from others.

Matthew 6:5-6

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

What could be less threatening to people than prayer offered to God in a secret place? Did you hear about the woman who was arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in the UK? The hostility towards her did not come from a human source let me tell you.

Similarly, with fasting, Jesus said;

Matthew 6:16-18

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Jesus specifically instructed us not to let people know when we are fasting, once again it in no way threatens people, however it provokes hostility from the enemy. Big things happen in the spiritual realm when we fast - it is one of the ways God approves for connecting the physical and spiritual realms. This week we are going to look at the secret weapon of prayer. If there’s one area of the Christian life I’ve personally struggled to be disciplined in, it’s prayer. And yet prayer is of the utmost importance. Isn't it interesting that Jesus emphasised the secret to prayer is secrecy? We think that prayer effectiveness is proportional to the number of people present but Jesus says the only people that need to be present at a prayer meeting are you and God. We are not seeking the attention of people, only God. God is the one who moves mountains. Fasting and Prayer combined are an explosive combination and we are living in a time where we need to push back the darkness like never before. This is not Mortal Kombat, this is the real thing! This is the time to get serious and engage with the real enemy. The way Jesus prayed was something that impacted the disciples. They could see that Jesus’s prayers were powerful and probably like you and me felt lacking in their own prayers. How much we could change the world, if we could pray like Jesus.

Luke 11:1-4

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say: 

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 

Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us day by day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. 

And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”

The recent experience being tempted by the Devil was fresh in Jesus's mind and you can hear that in the prayer. Remember the 3 temptations Jesus faced and his responses to each one;

1. To turn stones to bread ("Give us this day our daily bread") 
2. To throw himself from the temple so the angels would save him ("Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil") 
3. To receive all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship the Devil ("Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven") 

No wonder then, having experienced the most difficult life and death struggle himself, Jesus taught his disciples to pray "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil".

In essence the Lord’s Prayer is one for Spiritual Warfare. 

When Jesus began his ministry, the fight really began. In the same way, while we are sitting comfortably, the Devil will gently rock our chairs. But once we determine to take the Gospel to the World, we experience the same opposition that Jesus faced. Soon after Jesus started his ministry, John the Baptist was arrested and put in prison. What a great discouragement it would have been to Jesus. Don't be surprised at an immediate attack! So Jesus with strength and courage, takes up the work of John and goes out proclaiming John’s message “Turn from sin and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”. And at the same time he begins healing every kind of sickness including demonic possession. This isn’t Jesus just being nice. He is rolling back the Darkness, chasing the Devil out of town. Taking the land back for God. We can't do that without engaging in Spiritual Warfare. We need to fast and pray.

This Spiritual Warfare continued all the way to the Cross at Calvary. 

As with fasting, prayer needs to be from the heart to be effective. If we don't feel it emotionally then it will most likely be less effective. You know that family member or friend who is living their life apart from God and it's breaking your heart? You are afraid for them, you have cried many times for them. Keep letting Jesus know about those ones in prayer, it's not for nothing they are on your heart. Don't give up on them! The Lord once clearly told me to share the Gospel with my colleague who was leaving that day to return overseas and who I thought I would never see again. Maybe I'll never see the final result but the Lord has promised that his Word does not return void.

Everything Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer is a foundation, a guide for effective prayer. Jesus wasn't giving a magic formula nor giving the details of what to pray in every situation faced. Instead he sets the foundation blocks like the good builder he is.

Let’s look at the Lord’s Prayer line by line. 

The first part of the prayer is about our relationship with God and who He is. Quite often we start off our prayers with what we want forgetting that the most important thing to God is our relationship with Him.

Let’s Pray Together;

Our Father - he's our Dad, he loves us. He's a good Father. He wants us to grow up and be successful in life, in our relationships, in our character. To do our best. to avoid foolishness and evil. He wants us to be wise, strong, beautiful and popular for all the right reasons. He wants us to fulfill our potential, to be healthy, blessed, fulfilled in our dreams but to do more than we could ever dream of. To have a good reputation. To leave behind goodness and a legacy to be proud of. To be courageous and stand up for what's right. To be faithful and true. To be hardworking, to have a strong foundation for the storms of life. To be filled with joy and to always have love. But if we're not on track for all of that we can expect some "correction" from Dad. Because he loves us!

in Heaven - He's the Rock, a strong and mighty tower. A safe refuge. Heaven, that place where there is only peace and beauty and goodness and no evil. He is not susceptible to the troubles of the World, he can see everything clearly and he knows what we are facing, what we should do and where we should go. He is ruling over everything, every evil principality and power and every situation we are in. And he has untold number of angels at his command to protect us and guide us. A NZ citizen can appeal to the Privy Council if they face an injustice but we are heavenly citizens and we can appeal to the highest Authority there is but more than that, we are the kids of the King!

Hallowed be your Name - Let the mention of your name bring a hush. The demons are afraid of the name of Jesus. May everyone shut their mouths and stand in awe of you. When people look at us, let them be reminded who we represent. Don't let people use your name like a curse word, let them realise who you are.

Your Kingdom come - Your Kingdom come whether we are ready or not. May your power be demonstrated to the World so that nobody can deny you. When your Kingdom comes, people are going to tremble and fall to their knees and on their faces but let it be so! Let the earth shake. Do your healing and miracles so that the people will discover you are real. 

Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven - Down here people follow all kinds of different rules and philosophies. Some follow a strict religion. Some just live by the "golden rule". Some people do whatever they like as long it doesn't hurt anyone else. Some do what they whatever want and don't care for how it affects everyone else! Some "Just Do It". Some are just looking after No.1. And down here there is one big mess! No-one has it all together, we're all a bit screwed up. But you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You made us and you know what's best for us. If only we could do what you want and not what we want. Then we would have Heaven and not Hell on Earth.

Then after getting our priorities in prayer straight we can move on to what we need!

Give us day by day our Daily Bread - The Lord's Prayer is for the morning, asking provision for the day ahead. It is looking forward not backwards. This verse has a direct connection to the first temptation Jesus faced in the desert. We trust that God will provide even in the leanest of times because he is Jehovah Jireh. There is also more to life than our physical needs. We don't live by bread alone but by obedience to God's Word, doing his will on Earth as it is in Heaven. Doing God’s will satisfies us.

And forgive us our sins - Only the person who is owed the debt can forgive us. Jesus knew the day we were saved, it wouldn't be the last time we sinned so it's in his prayer! So many debts! Now God is our Father so we're not talking about things particularly. God doesn't give us something for a favour. He gives out of love. But there is a kind of debt in love. A feeling that you need to repay love with love. Because if we just take, take, take the giver can begin to feel they are being taken for granted. Those are the debts we have to God our Father and we can never repay them. Do we realise how much we owe Jesus for what he gave to us? That is our greatest debt.

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us - The people who owe us something! Those debts we find a bit easier to remember don't we! We gave them something and they never gave it back. Or we did something for them and they never even thanked us for it. They took us for granted. Or they hurt us. Now we're holding a grudge and we don't like them and are angry with them. We need to forgive them that debt. We need to let it go. We can, if we remember that God has forgiven us a much greater debt!

The year of Jubilee was the year all debts were forgiven. It came once every 50 years! We’re not too old to forgive what happened long ago. And with Jubilee came a promise of a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy.

Isaiah 61:7

Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

In one of his parables, Jesus tells the story of the dishonest accountant who knew he was about to lose his job. So he goes around tearing up the contracts between his employer and his customers, writing down the debts in order to win some friends for when he is unemployed. Cancelling someone's debt can be the smart thing to do!

And do not lead us into temptation - As we saw last week, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan. But Jesus encourages us to pray not to be tempted. Knowing our frailty, that is a very good thing for us to pray! Is there any weakness we have, any place we should avoid so we don't get tempted to do evil? When we are engaged in Spiritual Warfare, one of Satan's key weapons is temptation. Jesus is encouraging us to pray against Satan's weapon, to neutralise it. We need to anticipate when he is going to use it before we are in the heat of a battle!

But deliver us from the Evil One - Not just on a personal level, but our Nation, our World. We are unable to escape on our own from the grip of the Evil One. If we are trapped in our sin, the Lord is able to deliver us, Jesus paid the price for every sin to set us free. If we are in an evil situation through no fault of our own as were the Israelites in slavery in Egypt we can cry out as they did to the Lord to deliver us. He sent Moses and delivered them with many miracles and he can do the same for us through Jesus. We can be delivered from any evil principality and power if we will cry out in prayer!

The Lord’s Prayer is not a one-time sinners prayer that saves us. It is something that can be prayed every day. Speak out the Lord's Prayer and what each line means to you at this moment in your life.

The final words Jesus speaks on prayer are ones of encouragement. Firstly, to persevere.

Luke 11:5-8

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 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. “

It was often said at my old workplace that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Not the one who deserved it the most, who was first in the queue, who was the most loyal customer, but the one who made the most noise. It’s funny to think of us being like that with God, if we cry a bit, go around with a pout on our face, repeatedly asking like an annoying kid that God would listen to us. But the ones who got Jesus’s attention were often the ones who made the most noise. Think of blind Bartimaeus shouting out « Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! » so much noise did he make that people in the crowd told him to be quiet. Modern life has taught us to give up too easily. Companies count on us not bothering with the hoops we have to jump through, they make money out of their processes being a pain. They prefer people to give up and go away. God is not really like that, but what Jesus is saying is that he does respond to perseverance. 



Jesus taught what God is really like in the following verses.

Luke 11:9-13

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. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

These verses are about perseverance as well. Asking, seeking, knocking involve perseverance but Jesus gives us an insight. God is our Father, he wants to give us good things. A lot of people have trouble believing that God is really for us. And others are seeking the gift and not the giver, they just want material things. But we see here that above all, the gift God wants to give us is the Holy Spirit. And if we think of the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, what else is there worth having?

Amen.

Luke 10:25-42

Good morning from another hot day in London.

Last Saturday 4th July, we were at Sean and Hannah’s wedding at Westminster Chapel and what an amazing surreal day it was. The chapel is very near to Westminster Abbey used for Royal weddings. The wedding had a strong Christian message of building their marriage on Jesus, that was a great memory of the day and especially to see those from Papatoetoe and PCC Youth who had come halfway around the World. For me personally, it was like life going full circle, joining the dots.

The reception was at Westminster school right next to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament in fact. The dinner and speeches were held in the school hall and all around the walls were the names of very famous past students going back hundreds of years like Charles Wesley and Christopher Wren. But amongst all the famous names on the wall, what caught my attention were 2 murals of Ancient Greece and I looked at them and saw how sophisticated that civilization was with its colosseums and temples, baths and impressive buildings. At the British Museum not too far away you can see amazing artefacts from all the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome and what is striking is that they are all gone, not quite to dust but far from what they were. I reflected on Jesus’s words of the 2 houses, one built on sand, the other on rock and on the scripture which says; unless the Lord builds the house, the builders work is in vain, and I wondered the fate of today’s society with its brilliant ideas and inventions but all done without any reference to God and the Eternal. Man is searching for the eternal but it remains elusive.

But the Bible says that it is God who has put eternity in our hearts, we are made for something much greater.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Elon Musk and others are seeking to become transhumanist, so that mankind will be part flesh and blood, part machine and ultimately live forever. The goal is to get rid of aging, disease, and natural human limits. Supporters believe people can evolve into a "posthuman" species with near-godlike abilities. This will prove to be a great deception and will crumble to dust just like all the other civilisations. That path is completely hostile to God, it is simply man trying to save himself again through science instead of religion.

With eternity in mind, let’s turn to today’s passage from Luke 10:25-42.

Luke 10:25-29

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? ” So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

This lawyer had a sense of something more. He knew the law and he was trying to live it. He was what people call a good person. But it wasn’t satisfying him, there was something missing that he hadn’t found yet, he knew he didn’t possess eternal life. You can see that in man made religions such as Islam and Freemasonry. The people do good works, they pray, they follow their code carefully yet they cannot have assurance of eternal life because it is based on what they do and you can never do enough. 

What Jesus said to the lawyer exposed something else, a dark truth that we don’t want to admit. How we see ourselves may not be the truth about who we really are. What the Lord thinks about us is what ultimately matters. Even though the lawyer did good things, what was truly in his heart? What was he like when no one was watching? Did he truly love God and have mercy and compassion for his neighbours or was his religion really just about what he would get out of it?

Luke 10:30-35

Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’

Is there anyone here today who would have done what the Samaritan did for his enemy? Walking around the streets of the big cities like London or even Auckland, you might not ever come upon someone who has been beaten up and robbed but you will see plenty of homeless. It is very confronting, and it is easy to do what the priest and the Levite did and walk on by. Now and then I might do something to help but it’s not much, certainly not in comparison to the Samaritan who at great expense and inconvenience genuinely and in an extraordinary way helped the man. Last year, a man in Sydney helped my nephew in a very similar way and I’m very thankful for his act of extraordinary kindness but such acts are extremely rare in my experience. This story convicts me when I hold my life up to the Samaritan’s standard and that is what Jesus is really saying reading between the lines. Is there anyone who loves their neighbour like that, let alone an enemy, let alone God who isn’t even mentioned in this story about human compassion.

Jesus asked the lawyer one of those questions to which there’s only one reply;

Luke 10:36-37

So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

God’s law is written on our hearts. Even if we strictly follow the law, it’s what’s in the heart that counts. That is the point of the Sermon on the Mount. External appearances don’t matter to God. Jesus will say to many in that day he never knew them. He will say it to people who were doing the works of God but in reality this was not done from a heart of mercy and compassion for others. It had nothing to do with relationship, it was to gain something for themselves. 

The lawyer was right to say the whole of the law is to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and to love our neighbour as ourself, to treat others as we would want to be treated but he wasn’t able to live up to it.

The story of the Good Samaritan ends left the lawyer with something to think about but not only him, each one of us. The next part of the passage speaks a bit more about this and really is directed at believers if we still think we’re off the hook.

Luke 10:38-42

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary and Martha are important characters in the New Testament and John gives us a bit more information in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus.

John 11:1-2 says

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

Mary and Martha were from Bethany which is not far from Jerusalem. Mary is not likely to be Mary Magdalene because Mary Magdalene, the one who had seven evil spirits cast out of her by Jesus was from Magdala on Galilee.

That’s just by the way. The importance of this passage is about getting our priorities right, making sure we maintain relationship with Jesus and with others above else.

It is so easy as Christians to get caught up in doing things for the Lord and forget the most important thing which is to find the time to listen to Jesus. It is because we often fail to recognise the most important thing in any moment. We make our plans, they are good plans and we work hard towards them but if anything else comes up, it may feel like a distraction and we can easily carry on without considering whether to reprioritise. That is what the priest and the Levite did. They had their priorities for the day and an injured Samaritan was not one of them so they walked on by. I can relate to this, maybe you can too. But when Jesus turned up at Mary and Martha’s house, Mary recognised that the housework was not the most important thing. She was able to change priorities because she was able to recognise that the guest in the house was the new focus for the day. 

That doesn’t mean dropping everything the moment something else turns up. But it does mean being able to judge the most important thing and being prepared to sacrifice your own plans for the day.

What was more important in the story of the Good Samaritan; the religious duties for the day or a badly injured man.

What was more important in the story of Mary and Martha; The housework or the esteemed guest who they loved who had arrived.

Psalm 127:1

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

Lord it is so easy to have fixed plans and hard to change but we want you to be our priority and to correctly judge the most important thing and do whatever that thing is. Our plans, even the civilisation we live in today will sink in the sand but we want to build our lives on you, the Rock. Amen.

Luke 9 v 57-62

Bonjour. thanks for your prayers last week, we “happened to” meet a man who was able to advise us concerning our residency status. It’s been all go since we arrived. This week I went to an annual meeting of the apartment owners, a new president was elected, they seem nice and we discussed upcoming maintenance needed amongst other topics. But the main thing which I’m sure if you have watched the news this week you will have heard of, are the record temperatures we are currently experiencing in France. Here in Vannes, we can confirm it was just as hot as you can see from this screenshot from my phone earlier in the week. I found myself singing the theme tune to « It ain’t ‘alf hot mum » and visions of the sergeant Windsor Davies coming to mind. Most French don’t have air-conditioning, it’s kind of looked down on, so everyone suffers together. You can at least escape the high temperatures at the shops and at the local beach which is a 20 min ride on the bus. But for those shops that don’t have air-conditioning, it’s not a surprise to find the shop closed for the day. The mayor of the town who we really like, announced that the schools were closing and a ban on alcohol at public events to help the rescue services. All these kind of things, which are every day issues really are of course more of a challenge in a foreign language country and I found myself thinking this is all too hard, it would be much easier just having our life in New Zealand. So this week’s reading was an encouragement to me and hopefully to you as well.

Luke 9:57-62 

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Here in France where our apartment is so basic and in the process of renovation, and being a stranger in a foreign country, I do miss my home in New Zealand and or is easy to look back. But then I remembered that God’s call doesn’t change, and sometimes we just have to persevere on the journey he has put us on. As I thought about this and the passage from Luke today, I was reminded of Ruth. And when I went for my devotion the following morning, the page was opened at Ruth chapter one, I even asked Mhairi if she’d been reading Ruth but she said no. so that acted as an indication to pursue the story. Naomi and her husband and family were living in Bethlehem and when a famine came they made a decision to move to Moab to start life anew. Things went wrong fairly quickly when the husband died, but life carried on, the two sons got married to local Moab girls and they just fit in with a new way of life and things were normal for 10 years. But then real tragedy hit the family when the 2 sons also died leaving just Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws Ruth and Orpah, though no children are mentioned even after the 10 years. Without any men to earn a living, it was extremely difficult economically and a decision had to be made. Naomi decided to return home to Bethlehem where the Lord was moving and providing bread for his people. Naomi told her two daughter-in-laws to go back to their Moabite families even though it was heartbreaking say goodbye after a life of 10 years together as family. Orpah finally made the decision it was best to go home but that’s when Ruth made her famous statement…

Ruth 1:16

But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.

Ruth’s decision was not made based on economics or convenience. It was solely based on wanting to maintain her relationship with Naomi and no doubt all the Jewish beliefs and customs she had gotten used to. Ruth was prepared to go through any personal hardship necessary to maintain her relationship with Naomi even if it meant leaving her home in Moab.Maybe you can just relate to what it’s like to not have a home. A home is usually thought of as a physical address but not everyone has their own home or even a place to live. Where would you call home, the place where you most love to be? Because you can have a physical address and still not feel at home. I have never been without a place to live but I have been in places in my life when I have not always felt at home. A home is where your family are. Our true home is with God, he wants to welcome you into his house, but sadly many people reject that for the comfort and convenience the World offers. It is just a temporary illusion, a mirage in the desert ! I want my home to be wherever Jesus is. I want to forsake the comfort and convenience of this World if that is necessary to be where Jesus is, just as Ruth did to be with Naomi. That’s what Jesus’s call is all about and reflected in that old hymn 

All to Jesus I surrender,

Humbly at His feet I bow,

Worldly pleasures all forsaken;

Take me, Jesus, take me now. 

Jesus is where our real home is, not any place here on Earth.

John 14:2-6

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus is the only way to a home in Heaven, there is no other way. Of all the messages Jesus gave, this is and the need for him to pay for our sins are the ones the World rejects. The World does not have much of a problem with much else Jesus said or did.

Let’s read today’s passage again a bit more slowly;

Luke 9:57-62 

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 

A few people looking on, see the appeal of Christ but finally don’t accept the lack of earthly comforts that may come with following Christ closely. Following Jesus does not bring with it the guarantee of financial success that prosperity preachers would have you believe.

Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 

Following Jesus can also mean at times forsaking societal norms and protocol. If Jesus has called you to some task, that is your priority. Bear in mind that Jesus knows what’s going on in your life and he already knows the predicament you may face when a situation contradicts something he has asked you to do. We should be discerning on this point because for example, God also asks us to honour our parents, it’s just if the situation is an excuse for not doing what God has asked us to do. It’s a question of priorities.

And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Sometimes when Jesus calls someone, they think to themselves, there’s plenty of time, I’ll just do this or that first. But you don’t know if you have time, you may not. This may be the only opportunity you have in your life.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Sometime in your life did you hear a call from God to leave your home and security and follow him? It may have been at Church or it may have been in some tough moment in your life. Is the Lord calling you TODAY?

Luke 9 v 37-56

Bonjour from Vannes in Brittany, France. We arrived last Friday, travel went well with Malaysian Airlines, luggage arrived, the flat was in good order, the internet and mobiles worked, and the Summer is here! It should be a bit more comfortable than last year now that we have a proper kitchen and completed a lot of maintenance since last time, including replacing the hot water cylinder. Our body clocks are still adjusting to the new time zone so please excuse the brief sermon this week. You might think that’s a good thing anyway! Now that we have finished our 101 series on Spiritual Warfare, let’s return to Luke with eyes open to the extent of spiritual warfare going on and how Jesus dealt with each situation.

Luke 9:37-42

Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

Jesus' response seems to be directed at the disciples suggesting it was a lack of faith on their part that prevented them from casting out the demon, he even called them perverse! According to Matthew's account of this same incident (Matthew 17:14-21), the disciples later asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demon and he told them that for that type of demon, they needed preparatory prayer and fasting to drive it out. As we learned in our 101 series, do not engage in spiritual warfare if you are unprepared! Jesus makes mention of an extra weapon to the armour of God found in Ephesians 6. Fasting is required in some cases because some demons are powerful. I remember when we were young going on a mission trip to Fiji with Every Home Crusade. One of the Fijian guys told us the importance of fasting to him before going out evangelizing. Jesus has authority over all, so he was able to cast out the unclean spirit, but we know from his time battling Satan in the desert that he was accustomed to fasting and I’m sure that’s why he mentioned it.

Luke 9:43-45

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

Having watched him take control of such a difficult situation and overcome a powerful demon, and at another time a Legion of demons all at once, the disciples did not understand when Jesus told them he was about to be betrayed into the hands of men. Surely if he can defeat demons that easily, he wouldn’t have any problem with mere mortals? But they were too afraid to ask him that question, he had already called them faithless and perverse. No doubt they had other questions they wanted to ask him but didn’t want to display their ignorance so they left the question unanswered. However, sometimes we have to humble ourselves and this was a question about their understanding of the Messiah and what he would do, and I don’t think we should ever be afraid to ask the Lord such a question as that. It’s not wrong to ask the Lord a question! But sometimes he’s going to give us an answer that humbles us. At other times though, we just have to put our doubts aside and simply trust him.

Luke 9:46-48

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”

The Kingdom of God is upside down compared to this world. Here on Earth, people contest for higher status, a better house, a better job, sadly even a better partner, one with better looks, more money, a higher social status. When we think of the GOAT’s in sport, we think of the ones who won the most championships, scored the most goals and so on. That’s how the disciples were thinking when they argued about who was the greatest. Their argument may even have had a spiritual twist to it. Who had won the most souls, who had cast out the most demons, who would get the most rewards in Heaven. But Jesus told them that the least would be the greatest, the one most like a little child. A child doesn’t naturally worry about performance or status but just loves people for who they are, loves and trusts their Mum and Dad and goes where the family goes. Those early days of our innocence should hold the best of memories for everyone, woe to anyone who ruins that for a child. How we treat the least is a test of our true character. We can learn something important from anyone, but we should pay special attention to the ones the World considers the least because they don’t contribute economically, the kids, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the ones with low paying jobs, the elderly in rest homes all fall into this category. They are often the least in our society, but they are not overlooked by the Lord. Jesus affirmed in the Sermon on the Mount that the least are the ones who are blessed.

Matthew 5:3-10

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 9:49-50

Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

We can spend a lot of time criticising other Christians, can’t we? We tend to think we’re right about everything, I’m guilty of that as much as anyone. We are supposed to keep an eye out for false teachers, false doctrine, that’s important. But we must be careful that doesn’t cross over into sectarianism, where we believe only our group is right as the disciples were doing here. That’s a mark of a cult. If someone is doing the work of God, and here it was casting out demons, let’s remember they are on our side, and think twice before opening our mouths to criticize. I’m looking at myself in the mirror here!

Luke 9:51-56

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. ” And they went to another village.

James and John were next level, weren’t they? They wanted revengeful judgment on those who rejected the Gospel. Unfortunately, the church today is seen to be a little like James and John in harshly judging others. But Jesus told them to move on, his purpose is to save people not destroy them. God alone will judge people in the end, and he gives them Grace to repent in the meantime because he is not willing that anyone should perish. God is long suffering and merciful and so do we need to be and aren’t we relieved about that when all is said and done?

Let’s pray.

Father, help us as we do battle for you to remember you are a God of mercy as well as justice. Help us to be like children in how we present your message to others.

Help us to recognise the real enemy and to be prepared whenever we have to face him.

Amen.