Luke 13:31-35

It’s been another interesting week. We are now here in this building Tuesday-Thursday and sometimes Friday, meeting the other ministries staff and observing all the comings and goings. The chairs arrived on Tuesday, the exact number we were planning for - 80. It was as if Jesus is saying, that’s the number he wants at PCC. So we all have work to do in that regard, inviting the people in our networks along. On Thursday, Rob sang at Leith McCracken’s funeral. It was a nice touch to have a PCC representative taking part as the McCraken’s were a big part of PCC before they moved to Cambridge around 2005-ish it was said. On Friday, we purchased a new domain for the church, papatoetoecommunitychurch.org and next week, we will be starting work on upgrading the website. Things are happening fast, but we know that as in the Parable of the Fig Tree, we have to take the opportunity in front of us right now or it will be gone.

So we all must work hard right now to reap the harvest because now is the time and we can’t count on another opportunity. 

Well, when the Church wakes up, you can guess who also is roused into action. Yes, you should prepare for opposition when the Lord is moving. I saw that first hand working for Family First when the government took us to the Supreme Court to deregister us, hoping we would be forced to shut down. But the Lord is never defeated and our work continues unbridled by the rules of the Charities Commission.

When you're doing the Lord’s work and you start hitting the mark spiritually, you can expect to encounter hostility for nothing more than speaking the truth. As PCC grows, we will also see opposition, so don’t be surprised by that. When governments step in to suppress the Gospel as they did with Family First, it means you’ve really stirred up a hornets nest. That brings an urgency that can actually make a ministry more effective but we need to pray. Jesus said 

Matthew 9:37-38

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

He also warned that there would be opposition and to make the most of the time while it was available;

John 11:8-9

The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

Let’s turn to today’s passage from Luke 13:31-35. Now remember, Jesus was moving through the towns and villages proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, many people were being healed and were coming to hear him speak. He told the crowd to enter Heaven through the Narrow Gate, and people were understanding what he was saying and lives were being changed for the glory of God. But someone was not happy about that was he, I’m sure you can guess who...

Luke 13:31-33

On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.” And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

In truth, it wasn’t Herod who wanted Jesus out of Jerusalem, it was the Pharisees, the religious establishment. Jesus labels Herod a "fox," a term denoting a crafty, cunning, and destructive yet ultimately powerless figure compared to divine sovereignty. At the opening of his ministry, Jesus had proclaimed; 

Isaiah 61:1-4

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.

When Jesus announced he would proclaim liberty to the captives, he was announcing the start of spiritual war. His purpose was to cast out demons and bring liberation to the people. Like Nehemiah, he would rebuild the walls and gates of the city in the spiritual sense. He would fight principalities and powers and save flesh and blood.

Jesus prophesied he was going to die in this fight just like the prophets of old. He knew he would die on that cruel Cross but that was not going to stop him from completing his mission to go through all the villages and cities and preach the good news of the kingdom.

Leonard Ravenhill was a British evangelist. He became renowned for challenging modern evangelicalism to return to the standards of the New Testament Church. Look up some of his most famous quotes, they are very memorable. His meetings during WWII drew crowds and inspired many to enter ministry. Moving to the U.S. in 1950, he held tent revivals and mentored leaders like Keith Green.

Ravenhill said that a true prophet will often not last much more than six months because of the danger, rejection, and radical nature of their ministry. He observed that John the Baptist spent roughly 20 years in the wilderness preparing, but only actively preached for about six months before being martyred. He warned that if you are going to be a prophet, "you'll have to preach repentance, and before you start, dedicate your head to heaven, because you won't last much more than six months, maybe." Keith Green wrote his song "Pledge my Head to Heaven" in 1980 (Bob Dylan played the mouth organ), 2 years later he died in a plane crash.

Christ was a prophet, and the Old Testament prophets were given freedom of speech in the King's court but often their message from God was one of rebuke. The role of the prophet came with great danger, many of them, like Isaiah were executed. Jesus knew his own ministry would be brief so he was not going to slow down but press on at speed. A prophet must be highly focused because his time is short. 

False prophets give messages that are pleasing to the crowds. They are not in danger, the Devil is only too happy for those guys to be heard. Jesus said we will know them by their fruit. True prophets don't tend to live the lifestyles of the rich and famous because their messages aren't popular.

True prophets have to be careful in their messages even to the Church that they don't fall into the trap of pleasing man rather than God. An honesty is required, sometimes it can be brutal to tell the truth even to the Church.

But the role of the prophet in the church and community is never more needed than now in our generation. You just need to know the job comes with an expiry date.

Luke 13:34-35

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Why did Jerusalem, the capital city where the government sat reject the Lord? Jerusalem became the capital of Israel about 1000 BC under King David. The city was built on a ridge (Mount Zion) surrounded by deep valleys, making it exceptionally good for defending against foreign invaders.

However, Following Solomon's death, the nation split into two. The northern ten tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel (establishing capitals elsewhere, like Samaria), while the southern tribes became the Kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem remained the capital of Judah until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

How did the House of David come to ruin? The rot started in Solomons reign because he married foreign wives and began worshipping foreign gods. Once you open the door to other gods, you have a huge problem in your nation because of the spiritual conflict at the highest level.

The scripture says;

1 Corinthians 10:19-22

What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

This great country of New Zealand is now immersed in a spiritual war. It is so sad to witness our Prime Minister bowing down to foreign idols. What does that mean for New Zealand? What does it mean for Papatoetoe?

It means we must engage in spiritual warfare to win back our city and our country to the Lord. We need to fast and pray for Papatoetoe because it is not the Papatoetoe that we inherited that was home to many churches where no other false religions could get a look in. We still have the churches but now we have the idols too. Our country has the same spiritual problem that Israel had and they rejected the Lord when he came to them.

Watch out when you are a prophet in a place that has rejected the Lord. Jesus wanted to save Jerusalem and "gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings" but they rejected him and therefore Jerusalem was abandoned by God and Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, the people were scattered all over the world. But that time of abandonment is coming to an end. 

Jesus said

Matthew 24:32-34

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

Israel became a nation again in 1948, that was a great miracle of God. Now with great travail in the World, we see the birth pains of Jesus coming soon. Even here in little old Papatoetoe, we see the the little shoots about to come out from our little fig tree. But we don't want to reject the Lord like Israel did. We want to welcome him with joy when He comes and so we must prepare for that time in earnest now. 

When Israel turns to Christ it will be a great prophetic sign that Jesus is at the gate.

Zechariah 12:8-10

In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Israel will realised they killed their Messiah, the one chance they had for peace. History would have been so different if Israel had accepted the Lord.  Yes they will mourn but soon they will say ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’. Israel will return to the Lord and when that happens, the World will also be blessed. Let's be ready even here in Papatoetoe. Amen.