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.