Luke 13:6-9

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6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” ~ Luke 13:6-9

We come to the last paragraph in a long sermon that the Lord Jesus gave in the months toward the end of His ministry. In v.6 we read, "Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any." 

In that day, fig trees were very common and very valuable. Fig trees grew to a height of twenty-five feet and sometimes their width was as much as twenty feet.

In this parable, this man had a fig tree in his vineyard. It had been there quite a while. And, he came looking for fruit on it and didn't find any. This fig tree was expected to produce fruit because it was planted in vineyard soil. That was the best place it could have been planted. 

According to Leviticus 19:23–25, fruit from newly planted trees was not eaten the first three years, and the fourth year the crops belonged to the Lord. A farmer would not get any figs for himself until the fifth year, but this man had now been waiting for seven years! No wonder he wanted to cut down the fruitless tree!

In v.7 we read, "So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" Since the tree had been provided all that it needed to produce fruit, when it did not, the owner wanted to cut it down.

In v.8 we read, "Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it." Understood here is the many opportunities we all have to place our faith in the Lord Jesus. God pursued me for almost eighteen years. It was on the heels of my dad dying, when I was a month away from being eighteen, that I cried out for His presence in my life. And, since my mother died when I was five years old, I was desperate for some help from somewhere. I've often wondered where I would be had I not cried out to Him that October day in 1981.

And then in v.9 we read, "If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down." The word “fine” is in italics which means it is not in the original Greek text. The word "fine" is like a shrug of the shoulders. The literal translation of "If it bears fruit next year, fine! " is “in the coming time.” I don't know how long that time would be. It's open-ended. 

In the Greek, this first “if” in v.9 is a third-class conditional sentence, which is best translated, "If, and it probably won't happen." The structure of this verse explains why there's no fruitfulness because it's an unlikely reality that the tree will bear fruit, and so it leaves us with nothing but a sort of shrug of the shoulders. The people who had heard the message of the Lord Jesus and had seen His miracles should have believed but they didn't.

The primary application of our text is for anyone who has heard the truth for so long and had to date rejected it. The hope of them believing was getting dim, but the heart of God is always willing to respond to any plea of help. And yet, these Jews had some time before His death and departure. They would get more opportunities to believe.

This tree reminds us of God’s special goodness to Israel. God waited three years during the Lord’s earthly ministry, but the nation, at large, did not produce fruit. He then waited about forty years more before He allowed the Roman armies to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, and during those years, the church gave to the nation a powerful witness of the gospel message. Finally, the tree was cut down.

In the end, according to Romans 11, the ax cut them down. Those who bear no spiritual fruit through a relationship with God by means of Jesus Christ will be cut down and they will suffer torment forever. 

The judgment is near. The sand of the hourglass is running out fast. The events of our day are lining up with the days God refers to in His word as the end days. You, my friend, need to come while you have the time, while you have the opportunity.

God is gracious and long suffering toward people and does more than enough to encourage us to repent from our way of making it and believing, and thus, bear fruit. God has every right to cut us down, but in His mercy, He has spared us. Yet we must not presume upon the kindness and patience of the Lord, for the day of judgment will come.

It is significant that the parable was left “open-ended,” so that the listeners had to supply the conclusion. Did the tree bear fruit? Did the special care accomplish anything? Was the tree spared or cut down? We have no way to know the answers to these questions, but we can answer as far as our own lives are concerned! Again, the question is not “What happened to the tree?” but “What will happen to me?”

God is seeking fruit, the evidence of His presence in our lives. He will accept no substitutes, and the time to repent is now. The next time you hear about a tragedy that claims many lives, ask yourself, “Am I just taking up space, or am I bearing fruit to God’s glory?”

The only way for you and me to bear fruit is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He actually produces the fruit. And, the Bible instructs us that if we will believe in the Lord Jesus and receive His free gift of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit will make our spirit alive to Him. I trust you have done this, my friend. 

Luke 13:1-5

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1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” ~ Luke 13:1-5

Our text today begins with, "Now there were some present at that time." This is the third interruption in this long discourse the Lord Jesus is giving here. He was interrupted in Luke 12:13 by a man who had a question. He was interrupted in Luke 12:41 by Peter who had another question. And here in Luke 13:1, He is interrupted a third time by some people who have a question. 

In today's text, the man's question came with a story. In v.1 we read, “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” These Jews were asking the Lord Jesus if there was a connection between the way these worshippers from Galilee died and their sin. Now, remember, the Lord Jesus had closed out Luke 12 by talking about the fact that a person who is going to go to court, who is guilty of something, better settle with his accuser before he gets to the judge or the judge is going to expose his guilt, put in prison until he pays every last penny that is owed. Translation? We better settle our case with God before we get to the judgment because when we are before God at the judgment, it will be too late. We will be turned over to eternal punishment. 

So judgment is the theme in the context. And that peaks the interest of these people. Now, this incident of “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices” had just happened. Pilate had sent his soldiers to find the Galileans and he has them slaughtered while they are offering sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem. And, it is very likely this tragedy happened during the Passover. 

Furthermore, Pilate would have been in Jerusalem at the Passover because that's when the city was bulging with all the pilgrims and possible trouble. The Galileans were notoriously rebellious, so apparently there were some Galileans who had done something of a rebellious nature against Rome and they were tracked down in Jerusalem. They were tracked down by Pilate's men, found at the temple offering sacrifices and then they killed them.

And so in v.2 we read, "Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?'" The Lord Jesus calls their conventional theology into question here. They thought the reason this happened to these people was because they were the greatest sinners in Galilee. Their theology said, "bad things only happen to bad people." Granted, there are built-in judgments to sinful behavior. If I became an alcoholic, there is a built-in judgment. It's called cirrhosis of the liver. But, we are not talking about individual issues here. We're talking about group calamity.

In v.3 we read, "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." Essentially, we live in a fallen world and God has not chosen to prevent bad things from happening to good people. This is not to say that He is the cause of the calamity, He just doesn't prevent it every time. There are times He does prevent things from happening, but not always. And, we conclude that when calamity strikes, it doesn't mean that those victims of the calamity are deserving of the pain or at fault in any way. God does not operate this way.

In v.4, we are presented with another calamity, the tower calamity. The Lord Jesus brings up another recent event at that time. In v.4 we read "Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?" 

The Jews down in Jerusalem tended to think of the Galileans as inferior. The Lord Jesus directs their attention to their city. Those in that tower weren't doing anything wrong. This event happened at Siloam which is a section in the southern part of Jerusalem. And there was a spring in the area outside the wall called Gihon and it had an abundance of water and that water was brought into the city of Jerusalem through a tunnel that Hezekiah built. The water came through the tunnel and filled up the Pool of Siloam. After the water came, a scaffolding fell over and landed on the people watching or walking by, and they were crushed and they died.

These bad things did not happen to these people due to their sin. These things happen in a fallen world. Of course, God has been known to intervene in some cases but not in this one. If all calamity were prevented like this, we would all be prevented from benefiting from the purpose of pain which is to drive us to cry out to God. Calamity is not God's way to single out the especially evil people. Calamity is God's way to deepen our understanding of Him.

In v.3 we read, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish." Then in v.5 we read, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish." The real calamity is not that people die, it is we do not turn to God through the calamity. Just because people live doesn't mean they have escaped judgment. True calamity is that we die and experience the judgment of God because we have not settled our case before we go to court, as we saw back in Luke 12:58.

Pain is a fact of life. Sooner or later pain comes into everyone’s pathway. And when it does how do we deal with it? Do we let it conquer us, or do you stare it down, armed with God's “stubborn joy”? Even in pain God is near. He wants us to grasp the peace that defies pain. He wants to be with us, facing pain with His peace and joy. Only He can show us the path to a defiant peace and joy.

Luke 12:54-59

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54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? 57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” ~ Luke 12:54-59 

Could you imagine living in Israel when the Lord Jesus lived there? I would hope that I would have not rejected Him and His message, especially with all the miracles He performed. The sad part of the story is most of the people rejected both Him and His message. 

In Luke 12:54 we read, "He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does." 

This discourse of the Lord Jesus runs all the way through Luke 13:9. It started in Luke 12:1 where we are informed He was speaking to His disciples and then in v.22, the massive crowd had made up its mind by this time to reject Christ. They were following the lead of the religious leaders, who have spread the word that the Lord Jesus was satanic. 

Even though He ministered in Galilee for over a year, when He goes back to Galilee after His resurrection to meet with believers there, there are only 500 who gather with Him, and in Judea when they meet in the Upper Room, there are only 120. So it was a small group of people when Christ was here that really responded positively. Most rejected Him, and so here in v.54, He directs His words to those who rejected Him and His message.

Up to this point, the Lord Jesus has been inviting the people to believe. Here, He begins condemning those who were rejecting His message of salvation. So, in v.54, He uses a simple illustration to make His point. He was saying, "We look out at the Mediterranean and we see a cloud and we say it's going to rain because we all know how rain works. Water evaporates off the sea. It collects in a cloud. It comes over the land and it drops. With only a minimal amount of evidence, we can conclude it is going to rain."

Then, in v.55 we read, "And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is." In like manner, we note the direction of the wind has changed. We feel a hot wind coming from the south, therefore, we conclude it is going to be hot today. 

In v.56 the Lord Jesus gives the application, which reads, "Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?" This was the Lord Jesus' favorite term to describe those who rejected the truth. He called them hypocrites more than He called them anything else and not only the leaders but the people as well. A hypocrite lies about his identity. To be a hypocrite means to deceive somebody about the truth. Hypocrites are fake and they have a phony righteousness. Their religion is external and their hearts are unchanged.

The religious knew how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but they lacked the ability to see the signs of the times. Minimal evidence was required to determine whether it would rain or whether it would be a hot day. Their hypocrisy was in pretending not to have enough evidence about the identity of the Lord Jesus. They forever said to the Lord Jesus, "Show us a sign." And, He was finished with giving them more signs.

We all know how to draw conclusions from evidence, we do it every day. We have been given massive amounts of evidence including the testimony of the angels to Zechariah and Elizabeth the parents of John the Baptist. Then we have the angelic announcement to Mary of the birth of the Lord Jesus and the fact that He was born of a virgin. Then we have the prophesy of Zechariah the priest that the Christ was coming to bring salvation and forgiveness of sins to people through the mercies of God and that He would bring salvation light into this sinful darkness and life to those living in the shadow of death and peace to the alienated and the troubled. 

Then, there is the testimony of the angels to the shepherds that the Messiah had been born, and the shepherds then going to give testimony of what they had heard of the Christ child whom they came to see. Then we have the testimony of Simeon and Anna when Jesus came to the temple to be dedicated and they had been convinced that this indeed was the Messiah, the one who had come for the consolation or the comfort of Israel and the salvation of the Gentiles.

And then, John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," and the Father speaks out of heaven, "This is My beloved Son," and the Spirit comes and descends upon Him. And then, the Lord Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness, encounters Satan and conquers him and his temptations, is then filled with the Spirit. Then, He goes out and teaches truth, heals the sick, casts out demons, controls nature, and raises the dead. Evidence? How much more evidence is needed? The evidence is rather large and unmistakable.

This is why the Lord Jesus says in v.58-59, "58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny."

When somebody commits an offense or a crime against somebody and the person offended wants to get it settled, the Lord Jesus is saying, "make it right before he arranges an appearance before the magistrate." The magistrate is the person of power. You'd go and the guy would lay out his case and the magistrate would then remand the thing to the judge and put him to court.

To get to the judge means your guilt is going to have you assigned to jail. And, since the debt cannot be paid, you languish in jail and you die there. The Lord Jesus is saying, "If you've got any sense, you will settle your issues of guilt before you arrive at the judge." 

We had better discern the time or we will arrive at the Great White Throne Judgment. We must settle before we arrive. We do not want to show up in heaven and say, "Well, here I am, God.  I hope the good stuff outweighs the bad." We will never be good enough to pay the penalty of our sin. If we  have settled before we get there, we will not go to the Great White Throne of Judgment, because the Lord Jesus took our penalty while He hung on the cross. Some say, "It is too easy." It is for us, but not for Him. This is why at the Great White Throne Judgment of God, there are only unbelievers.  

God has settled our case by sending the Lord Jesus to the cross to take our punishment. We must trust Him, now. If you don't, you'll get to court and you will pay in full down to the last cent. You do not even have to go there.  Settle your account. Put your trust in Christ right now. 

Luke 12:49-53

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49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” ~ Luke 12:49-53

Fire has long been known to be a symbol of judgment. And, the Lord Jesus brought judgment upon sin when He willingly went to the cross. He had to do this because mankind had been hurled into the vortex of sin that has been spinning us further and further away from God since the Garden of Eden.

Now, in order to understand and appreciate the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must have an accurate understanding of the bad news. When Adam sinned in the Garden, he rebelled against God. And, since all mankind was born into rebellion against God, we are naturally at odds with God. Then, God gave us His Law which we must allow to do its work in us before we find ourselves desperate enough for the good news. 

The good news of the gospel is that the Lord Jesus did not wait until we were loving enough before He loved us. He didn’t even wait till we asked Him to love us before He loved us. He loved us when we were His enemies. The greatest display of love, ever, was when He embraced the Father's plan to go to the cross. This love for us births love in us, which forges love through us to those around us.

In v.49-50 we read, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed."

In Luke 2:14 we see that Luke opened this gospel announcing “peace on earth.” The Lord Jesus brought peace to those who were and are willing to trust Him. Yet, the irony here is this: He is the cause of division, even with those in our own families. 

While hanging on that tree, the Lord Jesus purchased the most important type of peace: peace with God. Without having peace with God, there is no knowing the peace of God. And, the Lord knows His peace is precious to those who are rejected by our families.

In v.51 we read, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." After instructing His disciples, the Lord Jesus turned and gave a final warning to the people around Him. The religious leaders had rejected His offer of peace and the people were in the process of forfeiting it, as well. There is no kingdom of peace until salvation comes to the heart, so, before peace comes, division must do its work.  

The fire consumes those who reject the Lord Jesus and it purifies those who receive Him. The kindling that started the fire that both consumes and purifies was the Lord Jesus, Himself. But, before He judged anyone, the Lord Jesus had Himself to be judged. He was judged by God as He hung on the cross. God literally judged our sin in His body as He was suspended between heaven and earth. The just for the unjust,  was punished for our sin.

At the end of v.49, the Lord Jesus said, "how I wish it were already kindled." That is to say, "I wish it was over." He was anticipating the event that would separate Him from His Father. He was pressed between the suffering and the purpose, between the anticipation of the pain and the plan, between His own will and the Father's will, but He never wavered after He said, "Nevertheless, not My will but yours be done." 

In v.52 we read, "From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three." The Lord Jesus causes division in families. The gospel becomes a serious problem to people who reject it, and those who believe it are outcasts in the eyes of those who reject it.  

In v.53 we read, "They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

It is obvious the Lord Jesus is the great divider. His cross is the great dividing event in all of history. Once we embraced the Lord Jesus, He became to us the Prince of Peace. 

Let me add, we make a serious mistake when we reduce the good news to its results, the change that comes into the lives of those who believe it. The changes the Lord renders in our lives must not be confused with the gospel itself. The gospel is not a means to an end, it is an end in itself. And, if we reject it, we will spend an eternity separated from Him and all that is good.

Luke 12:41-48

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41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” 42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. ~ Luke 12:41-48

Peter, in v.41, asks a very important question. The Lord Jesus answers with a parable. Up to this point the Lord Jesus has been speaking about the believers adventure with Him, and to what degree we experience it with Him. In this parable, He identifies the different outcomes for the faithful and the unfaithful believer.

In v.45 the Lord Jesus says, "But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk."  

The believer in Christ never has and never will earn God's favor through anything we do. In addition, why would we think our lack of faithfulness would cause us to lose our salvation that the Lord Jesus earned for us through His cross? Our goodness did not factor into our justification.

We are either a faithful believer in the Lord Jesus or we are an unfaithful believer in the Lord. And, I might add, we are faithful in one moment and not faithful the next. This has all to do with our sanctification, that process we entered into when we were first saved. To the degree that we experience the Lord Jesus and the adventure He desires to give us today is the degree to which we will be deemed faithful. The faithful are characterized by their deepening personal relationship with the Lord and the unfaithful are characterized by their stunted relationship with the Lord, that is if they have a personal relationship with the Lord in the first place. I should say fellowship because our relationship is based on what the Lord Jesus did on our behalf at the cross. Our fellowship with Him is the outworking of said relationship.

In v.42-44 we read, "The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions."

Everyone has been given the blessing of common grace and to one degree or another, an opportunity to follow the path of truth to the knowledge of God. The faithful are those who have responded to the truth with some measure of regularity. The faithful are those who are ready for the imminent return of Christ.   

The faithful servant has been given resources and has used those resources appropriately. As a result, the faithful servant been given more and more revelation which prepares him for that which the Lord Jesus has in store for him in the future.

To that servant, when the Lord Jesus comes back, will say according to v.43 "It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns." In fact, according to v.44  it's going to be great, because the Lord Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions." Not just part of it, not just pieces out of it, all of it. He will get it all. He will reign with Christ as a joint-heir. He will be raptured with the church and will come back with the Lord when He sets up His millennium kingdom and reign with Him there and even throughout eternity. Needless to say, our faithfulness now will impact our responsibilities in heaven.

In v.45-48 we read, "But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."  

Rather than being faithful, the unfaithful engage in that which is contrary to the Lord's will for his life. He is not convinced the Lord will return soon, so, he engages himself in the life of illusion this world offers. I might add, these who will be assigned to the place with the unbelievers are those who in the first place were not believers.

In v.46 we read, "The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers." The phrase “cut him in to pieces” means “to cut off, to separate him.” Our Lord will separate the faithful believer from the unbeliever. 

In v.47 we read, "The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows." Being beaten is far less than being hacked to pieces. The unfaithful servant is stunted in his heart's ability to see God. His trust is therefore impacted, and he is not one to throw caution to the wind with regard to knowing and doing the will of God. He is not one to take risks and his adventure is less than because of his shallow faith.

According to v.48, the one who didn't even know what his master wanted will be beaten but not as severe as those mentioned before. The principle here is: from everyone who has been given much, much shall be required and to whom  much is entrusted, of him will be ask all the more.  

The Lord Jesus is coming and the faithful servant will be ready.  And when the Master arrives, he's going to be blessed and he's going to be given the kingdom. But the servant who will be found unfaithful will not be in the same position as the faithful believer. There will be a smaller mansion awaiting him in heaven. 

Once a believer starts to think his Master is not coming back, his life begins to deteriorate. Our relationship with others depends on our relationship to the Lord, so if we stop looking to Him, we will stop loving them. The motive for this Christian life and service must be founded in our desire to please the Lord and be found faithful at His return.

I do not think that Luke 12:46 teaches that unfaithful believers lose their salvation, because our going to heaven depends on our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not our good works. God’s judgment will be based on what the servants know of God’s will. This is not to suggest that the more ignorant we are, the easier time we will have at the judgment seat of Christ! We are admonished to know God’s will and to grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ: the more we have from God, the greater will be our accountability before God.

Therefore, engage in His will today. Throw caution to the wind and trust and obey Him today as He leads. The more we relate to Him and respond to His call, the more exciting will be our adventure with Him.

 

Luke 12:33-40

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33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” ~ Luke 12:33-40

Our adventure with God is dependent upon our perceived need of Him and our awareness of His daily work in our lives. Often we miss the adventure because we are afraid to go to where He leads. 

In v.33 we read, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." The Lord Jesus is modulating the attention of the disciple to be focused on Him. When we give our hearts to the things of this world, our ability to see Him with our hearts is diminished.

This is an invitation to kingdom living, but it only appeals to the desperate and the broken. Giving up everything enables us to be singularly focused on Him. And, when we find Him, we discover this life that no moth will destroy.

In v.34 we read, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The Greek word used here for "heart" is kardia which means feeling, thought, desire, will, the core of life. To the degree that we want the Lord will determine how much we recognize His work in our lives. This is not about praying a prayer, it's about abandoning everything, so that we see Him. We are to be sensitized to His daily presence in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It is really about where our heart is. If our heart is captured by the world, we will miss Him.

In v.35-36 we read, "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him." 

The Lord Jesus shifts the emphasis from being worried about the present to being watchful about the future. One of the best ways to conquer hypocrisy, greed, and worry is to look for the Lord’s return. When we are living this way, it is difficult for the things of the world to ensnare us. 

The oil in the lamps was essential to keep the servants lamps burning. In the Scriptures, oil is illustrative of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus is saying, "Walk in the Spirit, daily, and you'll be ready for your Master's return."

Walking in the Spirit means to have a mind set on the Spirit's desire to glorify the Lord Jesus. When our minds are set on the Spirit we look at the events of our lives from God's point of view, not from the world's. Our value system is being changed and His influence begins to touch everything we do. We no longer see that the important thing is to make a lot of money. The important is discovered in seeking to glorify God. 

In v.37-38 we read, "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak."

Jewish weddings were held at night, and a bridegroom’s servants would have to wait for their master to come home with his bride. The new husband would certainly not want to be kept waiting at the door with his bride! But the servants had to be sure they were ready to go to work, with their robes tucked under their girdles so they were free to move.

But the remarkable thing in this story is that the master serves the servants! In Jewish weddings, the bride was treated like a queen and the groom like a king, so, we would not expect the “king” to minister to his staff. The King, the Lord Jesus Christ, will amazingly serve us when He greets us at His return.

To “watch” means to be alert, to be ready, not to be caught by surprise. This is the attitude we must have toward the next coming of Jesus Christ. His coming will be like that of a thief: unannounced and unexpected.

In v.39-40 we read, "But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

No burglar sends a notice ahead of time of his arrival, but if he did he could count on being met by a reception committee. When the robber arrived, the householder would be ready. Since we do not know when our Lord is coming, we must remain ready at all times. And, we must be ready always to influence others to believe in Him and in His return.

Very often, when I am online, I will notice someone and begin to pray that the Lord would send someone into that person's life to share the Gospel with them. I do this in hopes they will come into God's kingdom. Recently, I was praying this prayer for a famous bass player who lives in Los Angeles. As I was praying, the Lord said to me, "How about you be the one I send to him?" I told the Lord, "Okay, but how?" A few days have gone by, and guess what? I am beginning a relationship with that guy as we speak. Who would have thought? Listen! Be ready, my friends, for His coming is soon!

Luke 12:27-32

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27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ~ Luke 12:27-32

When the Lord is ruling our lives, we will, to varying degrees, realize anxiety-free living. I say, "to varying degrees" because it is dependent upon the degree that we trust the Lord. And, may I remind you, this has nothing to do with us going to heaven. This is not justification teaching. This is sanctification teaching. 

The emphasis in today's text comes in three different commands found in v.22,29,32. Stop being anxious. Stop worrying. Stop being afraid. It is possible to rise above all the troubles of this life, to have the kind of peace that surpasses all understanding. It calls for an end to anxiety, worry and fear. Talking about slaying those three and actually doing it are two separate subjects.

Worry is a failure to understand God’s goodness and sovereignty. Living in this world for as long as we have, we have been trained not to think the way God thinks. We have been trained by what the Bible calls "our flesh" which are the sinful desires that are in all of us and are in direct opposition to God's way of thinking.

God didn’t create us just to survive, He created us to thrive. And, the very thing that makes us worry, when turned around, becomes the very thing that makes us thrive. The very thing I am talking about is taking a chance on the God of the Bible. When we get to heaven, we will learn that the very ledge that we thought would have led to our demise was the ledge that led to the divine life. When we live obediently to God's Word, He creates a life full of life for us, a life full of His kind of life.

In v.27 we read, “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” The Lord Jesus turns from the issue of food, in the previous verses, to the issue of clothing here. He says, “Consider how the wild flowers grow.” Note the “wild flowers” do not work to get their clothing. Not even the best dressed man in history, Solomon, wore things like the petal of a flower. The intricate details of the pedals of various flowers, when considered and examined, are staggering.

In v.28 we read, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!” 

In those days, people cooked everything in clay ovens. And the way that they increased the temperature of the clay oven was to go out into the fields, collect dry grass, and throw it into the fire. That grass had a short life, yet, God clothed it. How much more will He clothe us? 

In v.29, we read, “And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.” That which we set our hearts on, defines us. The Lord Jesus is saying, "Be defined by God who loves us." The old hymn writer wrote, "Oh love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee." This is the goal the Lord Jesus is getting at, that we might truly rest in His all-sufficiency.

According to v.30-31, “For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” 

The cure for worry is "seek his kingdom." That is to seek His rule in our lives. We are important to God for we were created in His image. He is our Father through the Lord Jesus' death on the cross. We had been stolen by the fallen one, Satan. But, when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were redeemed back to the Father. For the first time in Luke's gospel, the Lord Jesus speaks of God as our Father who knows us better than we know ourselves and He knows best what we need to be fulfilled. 

According to v.31, instead of worrying about our needs, our trust must be in our loving Father. The more we do this, we give the Father a chance to reveal His heart to us. It will be then that we grow in our trust of our Father. This is what pushes worry into the recesses of our lives.

When we take our focus off our kingdom, our comfort, and put it on His kingdom, this will be the moment we will see His Father heart. When we see His Father heart, His kingdom or rule we will increasingly choose the prominence of His kingdom in our lives.

In v.32 we read, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” It is the Our Father's delight is to provide for us, His children. At this point, life becomes an adventure for us. It becomes exciting, because we will be captured by the prospect of God working in and through our lives. Then we'll be amazed at how God will have used us for the advancement His kingdom in and through our yielded lives.