The Time Is Near Part 1 (Luke 12:49-59 August 29, 2010)

Transcription

1 The Time Is Near Part 1 (Luke 12:49-59 August 29, 2010) When you read the gospels there is a word that screams from the pages. And that word is: Urgency! Jesus never allows us to think that we have plenty of time to make a decision about who He is and how we will respond to His claims. He knows our hearts may harden or our lives may end. He calls us to decide this day who we will serve. We are in the Gospel of Luke and over the past few weeks we have seen this urgency. In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus told the parable of the rich fool who built bigger barns but ran out of time. Fool this night your soul is required of you! 1

2 In Luke 12:22-34 Jesus talked about our tendency to lay up treasures on earth when our first priority has to be seeking first His kingdom. That is the work of today. Then in Luke 12:35-48 Jesus describes our life as a vapour that we can waste. Listen to the words of urgency: Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. We have to live knowing the time in which we have available to make a difference for the kingdom is short. Now, in this morning s passage Jesus moves from warning us to asking for a decision. In light of the fact that the time we have to decide who we will follow is short what will you decide? Will you give your life to Jesus of Nazareth God become man crucified to save us. Jesus begins by with this bold declaration: Luke 12:49: Time to choose your side. I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! If you walk out these doors and ask people about Jesus and about Christians you will often hear an analysis that goes like this: Jesus was a good man a man of peace. He commanded His followers to turn the other cheek and love everyone. Jesus was tolerant He accepted prostitutes and Gentiles. 2

3 But the Christians today are bigots and divisive. They hate homosexuals and Muslims. I wish they were more like Jesus. This summary has some elements of truth but it runs counter to the entire tenor of the Bible. Yes Jesus was a good man but He was also an absolute lighting rod. Every place He went He caused division. Wherever He goes they want to argue with Him and kill Him. He splits families and nations by His declaration time to choose sides. A week ago we voted. We chose Labour Greens or Liberal Nationals. We still don t know the result. But truth is it won t make a huge impact. There won t be revolution and bloodshed. It won t be fire. Here, Jesus described His presence as coming to cast fire on the earth. That is a great description because the choice does matter it is heaven or hell life or death. Jesus knew the stakes so He would never allow anyone to put Him into a stereotype that might dull His message. The Jews wanted Him to be a Messiah like David. The Pharisees wanted Him to be a man who taught their brand of righteousness. The people wanted Him to be a prophet like Elijah. The disciples wanted Him to be a leader like the world. Jesus would have none of it! He was the Son of God come to save men by faith in Him as a crucified Messiah. He is the One way of salvation. Ignore Him and die eternally. Nothing else would do. Jesus seems to have gone out of His way to break every stereotype. He sought out lepers and prostitutes and Gentiles. He refused to be a worldly King. He refused to perform miracles on demand. He attacked the religious leaders, He challenged would be disciples, He raised the bar for His own disciples. Jesus was a fire. He demanded men decide whether they accept or reject His words. Live or die. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Herods they understood His Words. They were wrong. They were bound for hell and dragging others with them. Luke 11:52: 3

4 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering. How much clearer can you get. Of course they hated Him. They hated Him so much these natural enemies were actually united by a desire to kill Jesus. The common people argued is He man, Messiah, prophet? A fool or Saviour? Even the disciples were torn over what to do with Jesus. But Jesus was never obtuse, obscure or veiled. He was consistent. He is God He is the One way of salvation He will die and only those who trust Him will escape hell. Believe and live ignore and die. The problem was not communication it was the message. It was so amazing, so unexpected, so unnatural men were torn by what to do with Jesus. He would not allow men to ignore Him He said to ignore me is to reject me and you die. He who is not with Me is against Me! And Jesus says you think it is bad now it will get worse. He wants this fire to be kindled even more! The controversy will finally burn so hot Jesus is killed. Choose sides. It won t be comfortable but it is the path of life. It is not that Jesus loved controversy. No! He wants all men to make a decision do they accept or reject what He is saying. He will accept none of this He was a good man who gives all men second chances stuff. He is Lord or He is the Judge who will condemn you. You chose Him and live you ignore Him and die. That is the fire and we must not shy away from it. Verse 50: I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Jesus was not a neutral figure. He claimed to be God and the one way of salvation. Luke 11:23: Whoever is not with me is against me. He demanded that men choose sides. 4

5 Buddha is not like this. Whether you believe Buddha is a man, a god, or never existed does not affect his message of enlightenment through meditation and knowledge. Buddha claimed to be one path among many. Buddha is not a fire on earth. Jesus never allowed men this option. He said I am the message I am the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through Me. You have to decide I am with Jesus or against Him. There is no neutral ground. If you are not for Him you are against Him. The result was a tidal wave of opposition that finally culminated in His death. In the Gospels, Jesus speaks about these sufferings leading to His death as a baptism. Mark 10:38: Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? There is a war going on Jesus is in the battle and He calls all men to choose which side they are on. War is painful and distressing. And when you choose sides it comes at a cost. Verses 51-53: Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, motherin-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. Every Christmas we get cards. Many of those cards quote Isaiah 9:6 where Jesus is called the Prince of Peace or Luke 2:14 where the angels proclaim: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! These cards propagate the picture of Jesus meek and mild the peacemaker. But these verses refer to what Jesus will do at His second coming. Then He will end war. Then He will end division. Then He will bring peace. But at His first coming today He does not bring peace but division. Why? Because His very coming forces men to choose sides and these sides are opposed. 5

6 The Bible divides all men into two groups. Jesus calls them sheep and goats. Revelation says they are those who worship the Lamb and those who worship the Beast. They are the lost and the saved. They are those heading to heaven and those destined for hell. And the Bible says these two groups are at war because those who do not worship Christ hate those who do. Look with me at John 15: Here Jesus was blunt: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Why did the world hate Jesus? He came to tell men how they might know God and escape judgment and He came to die that we might be saved. He taught, He healed, He loved. He committed no sin. He raised no army. He sought no wealth. He taught men to love God and others. You would think the world would love Jesus. But the world hated Him. His life was one of persecution and ultimately death. So why did the world hate Him? Earlier in John Jesus told us why the world hated Him. In John 7:7 Jesus said: The world hates Me because I testify about it, that its deeds are evil. If Jesus had come as a King to unite Israel in political victory like Mohammed He would have died of natural causes like Mohommed. If Jesus had come as a prophet to point Israel to heaven like Buddha He would have died of natural causes like Buddha. But that is not what Jesus did. He came and said you are sinners and you will die in your sins John 8:21, 24. And they hated Him. John 8:37: You seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. When they thought Jesus had come as a leader they wanted to make Him King. 6

7 When Jesus said no I have come to tell you that you are sinners and in desperate need of a Saviour they set their faces to kill Him. And when we say we too are sinners in fact all men are sinners deserving of hell and there is but one way of escape the world hates us as well. Martin Luther said that: The first duty of the Gospel preacher is to declare God s law and show the nature of sin. And the world responded by persecuting Luther. They sought to kill him and silence Him. Brothers and sisters, nothing has changed today. If I stand up and say the Muslims and Jews and Buddhists are my brothers and sisters. We are all on paths that lead to heaven I will be awarded the Nobel Peace prize. But if I stand up and say Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the life no one who fails to trust entirely in Him can possibly come to God I will be slapped with a law suit for religious vilification. If I declare that Muslims are dead in their sins, Jews are dead in their sins, Buddhists are dead in their sins, faithless so called Christians are dead in their sins then I will be labelled discriminatory, intolerant and a public menace. The world wants desperately to say that all paths lead to heaven. They want to say that even the worst of us might find a way to glory. John 3:19-20: John 15:20: And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. The coming of Jesus divided the world into two. Most of the world ignored the word Jesus spoke and persecuted Him. But some, a few, those the Spirit of God empowered to believe they listened to the truth. It will be the same with us. 7

8 We will head into the world crying Repent of your sins. Turn to Jesus the one way of salvation. And most of the world will take deep objection to our gospel. And they will persecute us. Since Jesus is God, to hate Jesus is to hate God. This is what the gospel does. It exposes the true heart of men and they don t like this. Our world is filled with men and women who think they have a relationship with God that can get them to heaven. They would never think of themselves as in rebellion against God. Ask them and they would claim to be pious, God-fearing and devout. But then we come along saying the truth is that you are sinners and without Jesus there is no way for you to get to heaven. And they become angry at us and at Jesus. They are content to stay on a Christless path. And this rejection shows they are lost in their sins and without excuse. A Muslim would consider himself a pious, God-fearing man. He would reject vehemently that he hates God. But he denies just as vehemently that Jesus is God and the one way to heaven. You cannot reject Jesus without rejecting God. When we share the gospel with him, he rejects us, he rejects what we say about Jesus and thus he rejects the true God. No wonder the world hates us. We unveil their sin. We tell them their cherished beliefs are wrong. We tell them we have the only truth that can save. But this is what the truth does it divides the world. John 15:25: But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: They hated me without a cause. Brothers and sisters we have been left in this world as witnesses. We are to testify that all men are sinners, that Jesus is God and Jesus is the only way for sinners to be reconciled to God. And I tell you now if you are faithful to share this message without watering it down and without backing down the world won t like it. 8

9 No Jew, no Muslim, no Mormon, no atheist will hear our gospel you are a lost sinner in need of a Saviour with dispassion. We tell those who have religion their religion is wrong. We tell those without religion there is a God and you stand condemned. In terms of salvation, we make no apology for being totally intolerant of every other teaching because Jesus is the only way. And the world hates it. They seek to silence us through force, through legal means, through ridicule, through argument. The religious attack us in the name of God. The atheist attacks us in the name of humanity. Being a Christian marks us. We are a constant reminder to the world of the reality of sin, righteousness and judgment. And as we have seen again and again humanly speaking no one will ever listen to our message. If we declare the gospel, we will be attacked. This is hard enough with strangers. Harder still with friends. But the hardest is the sword and division the gospel brings to family. I know full well how many sitting here this morning know exactly what it means to have division, tension, even war in their family. Some grew up atheist and the Lord drew you to Himself. And you went excited, expectant to your parents, your brothers. You told them about Jesus and the way of salvation. And they heard this. You are a sinner. I am better than you. You are judging me. And the sword was drawn. Others grew up in religious homes. Catholic, liberal, nominal. But the grace of God opened your eyes. You went to sisters and cousins to tell them of Jesus. And they heard this. Your religion is not good enough. You are a sinner. I am better than you. You are judging me. And the sword was drawn. I well remember one girl I shared with who grew up in a nominal Catholic home. Her parents never went to church never spoke about God. When she told them she wanted to come to church her father said he would lie down behind her car and she would have to back over him to come to church. 9

10 A doctor I worked with grew up in a strong Catholic home. We talked about the Bible. One day she told me we can never talk again. I asked what happened? Her mother had called in a Jesuit priest who told her that he had the keys to heaven and if she ever spoke to me again she would be locked out of heaven forever. Both counted the cost of the sword in the family and turned from Christ. They chose family over Jesus. But many here counted the cost and trusted Christ and the tensions the sword is there to this day. Jesus says blessed are you. Luke 11:27-28: As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed! But he said, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it! Family tensions over the gospel are inevitable but so, so painful. We have to keep praying, keep sharing, keep trusting. We are not to discredit the gospel nor are we to water it down. We must not compromise it. Heaven and hell are real. We want to see our loved ones in heaven. We keep praying and sharing. But we have chosen our side and we do not compromise. Satan knows that family is a weak spot a way to make us back away from the truth to take the edge off the gospel to make it palatable. Jesus says no. Matthew 10:37: Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. If we love Jesus we will not compromise His truth. If we love our family we will not compromise the one truth that can save them. Time to choose your side. The Lamb or the Beast. Heaven or hell. More than that, it is also: 10

11 Time to open your eyes. Luke 12:54-56: He also said to the crowds, When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, A shower is coming. And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, There will be scorching heat, and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? These Jews would look at the sky see a cloud and knew a shower was coming. They saw a wind and knew heat was coming. But they failed to grasp that the end of the world was upon them. The coming of Jesus meant that judgment was coming. Decision day was looming. Jesus appears teaches as no man taught, performs the miracles of Messiah, fulfils prophecy in minute detail and yet they refused to accept what the signs point to the Son of God the one way of salvation is in their midst and the day of reckoning was near. The last days were upon Israel the focal point of history was before their eyes. Only hypocrites refused to accept the truth. They knew the truth it is just they did not want to accept it. Here is the reality. If men and women did not have fallen minds. If they could look objectively at the facts about Jesus every person on the face of the earth would bow the knee. You read a book like Evidence That Demands a Verdict or The Case For Faith. The evidence of history fulfilled prophecy, the existence of Israel, the spread of the church. 11

12 The evidence of changed lives the work of the Spirit to transform and sustain men and women and the church. The evidence of the progress of the gospel the onward march of the church in the face of intense persecution. The evidence of science creation, the laws of physics, the existence of life, mankind, the glory of the heavens. The evidence of archaeology dig after dig that validates the Bible. The evidence of conscience men know right and wrong. And far and away above all the evidence of Jesus His life, His teaching, His death, His resurrection, His church, His Spirit. To deny the gospel requires a lattice of falsehoods lashed together. Creating an alternate cosmology stories about big bangs and fish becoming men. Creating a way to deny the claims of Jesus Denying the eyewitness accounts of Jesus denying the resurrection. Undermining the veracity of the Scriptures. Finding a way to explain transformed lives as a psychological crutch. The evidence for Jesus is profound but our fallen hearts blind our eyes. We don t want to accept we are sinners. We don t want to cede control of our lives. When the Lord began to open my eyes to the truth many years ago there were many sticking points the existence of God, Jesus as God, creation but for me the big one was control. I wanted to run my life. It was nearly enough for me to be able to deny the mountain of truth before me. Jesus knows this. He calls on all men to open their eyes to the truth. To accept that heaven has come down to earth to lead the way to glory. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to decide. It is: Time to choose your side. Time to open your eyes. 12

13 Before Time Runs Out Look at verses 57-59: And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny. Jesus now gives a parable but a parable with a serious message. He uses a dispute brought before a court to make His point. He says you are guilty if you get to court you will be punished. Reconcile now while you have time. But Jesus is talking about the final judgment. Hebrews 9:27: It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. Every one every man, every woman, every child will die one day and then we will stand before God. And we have a problem. We are in the wrong and the judgment of God will be guilty and the punishment is eternal damnation. And once you die the time to repent the time to do business with God the day when salvation is possible has passed. Men hate this truth. The liberals deny any hell. Many of the cults deny a literal hell. 13

14 Annihilationism, universalism these undermine the Bible. Others say there is a chance to repent after death. Purgatory, a second chance these also undermine the Bible. We want to believe the good person who isn t a Christian has another chance. But there are no good people all have fallen short. The Scriptures are clear once you die you will be judged and every person will be found guilty. The standard is set entrance to heaven is for those who bear no sin or spot. But since the standard is perfection all fall short of the glory of God. This is why Jesus had to come. It is why Jesus had to die. He provides the way of escape. But now is the day of decision. The whole Bible prepares us for the day of decision. Jesus came to die and in His death we receive His perfection and He takes our sin but only if we are men and women of faith. And Jesus says take care of this now while there is time. Back in Genesis 3:15, God promised a Redeemer. As Scripture expands on this promise we find that what we really need is to be redeemed from our sin. The wages of sin is death. Our sin is such an affront to a holy God our eternal lives are forfeit because of our sin. The question that arises is this. What can possibly pay the penalty for sin that is so egregious? There are hints that develop throughout Genesis in particular Genesis 22 the sacrifice of Isaac where God provides a ram in place of Isaac as a sacrifice. There is further development in the accounts like the Passover in Exodus. Then in Leviticus 17:11 we read: For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one s life. God declares that the blood of an animal its death taking its life shedding its blood atones for our sin. 14

15 Any thinking Jew has to ask the question how can this be so? I steal, I lust, I lie then I buy a lamb and sacrifice it and my sins are washed away. We know from the writings of the rabbis they wondered how does this work? I sinned how can an animal s life pay my penalty? But, the men and women of faith simply trusted the word of God. Then, finally the answer came in Jesus Christ. Adam was told that in the day that he ate the forbidden fruit he would die. He ate the fruit he died spiritually, physically, relationally. But God also made Adam a promise. He promised that One would come who would undo the curse, crush Satan, redeem man. In the sacrifices of the Old Testament God was painting a picture. The death of an animal atones for sin. Its life for your life. Finally, after many centuries one day by the Jordan River, John the Baptist pointed and cried Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now the picture becomes clearer. The sacrifice of animals was a picture leading to the Lamb of God Jesus. It is only at the coming of Jesus we find how the plan of God to deal with our sin actually works out. The wages of sin is death. Our sin means our life is forfeit blood must be shed. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. When Jesus arrives all the mystery is resolved. There is one way and only one way for us to escape the wrath. The blood of bulls and goats could not deal with sin they just pointed to the blood that can deal with sin. Only one blood can truly deal with sin. Hebrews 9:28: John 3:16: Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 15

16 There is a way of escape. In the cross, we are united with Jesus. Scripture teaches that when we come to Christ we become one with Jesus forever. We are in Him He is in us. What happens to Him happens to us. In my mind I picture myself being placed inside Jesus covered by Jesus. This means that when the wrath of God falls on Jesus my sin is punished. When Jesus hung on the cross I hung there in Him. As His blood was poured out as His life was given up my sin was paid for. Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. As Jesus was crucified I was there. And as Jesus died and was raised I died to sin and was raised to newness of life. Colossians 2:12: Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. Romans 6:6: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. The result is that Jesus shed His blood to pay for my sins. His life for my life. 1 Peter 2:24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. God s justice is satisfied blood is shed life for life and since we are in Christ His blood pays for our sins. So in the fullness of time Jesus came the Lamb born to take away the sin of the world. He came preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand. He came proclaiming He was the One way of salvation. The one way to settle the account of our sin before we face the judge is to trust in Christ. 16

17 You decide today to follow Christ as Lord or you face Him as Judge armed with the dirty rags of your own life. And we will be handed over and punished forever. Today is the day when men must decide. The time is short. Perhaps some here this morning are not Christians. Jesus calls on you to choose this day whether you accept or reject His claims. Whether you will stand before a Holy God armed with your life your sins your lusts your lies or whether you will stand armed with the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Jesus cries. Trust Him. Join Him. This day follow Jesus and let His blood avail for you. Today is the day of decision. For those in Christ, we must stand firm we must proclaim the truth boldly regardless of the opposition. The gospel is a fire it does divide. Don t shy away from that. We must call on all men everywhere to repent. We must call on men to see the truth and trust the One way of salvation. Read these words of Jesus they are urgent, they are clear. The stakes are high but the rewards are so great. Jesus knew this. Heaven and hell life and death. Choose you this day whom you will serve. 17