It is very easy to get caught up in the world. Sex, drugs, money, fame, ego, pride, church, politics and power are just a few of the ways the devil is attempting to divert our attention from what really matters. What really matters is our eternal life. When all is said and done, when life comes to an end, only one thing will count, did we humble ourselves and live in obedience to Jesus and His Ten Commandments?
Many people are so caught up in politics and conspiracy theories and don’t see how senseless they are. God has told us He is in charge of the world and we are not to worry about it. All your worry and concern about what is going on in the world won’t change anything. God is still in control. Even if you don’t like the way He is controlling it.
Our job is to do our duties and responsibilities to Jesus and leave the rest up to Him. By trusting Him we show our “trust” in Him. If we are trying to work it all out for Him, we show we have no trust in God to do what He says He will do. The only people going to Heaven are those who trust and obey God.
Luke 13:1 to Luke 13:35
About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple.
Do you get it? They were very concerned about what was happening in their world. Two thousand years later, did it make any difference? No! So why be concerned about what is going on around you? Your job is to bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus. That is all that will make a difference in two thousand years from now.
“Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.
Why don’t we listen to Jesus? Why do we let the world control us? Maybe it’s because we don’t really trust Jesus. Our hearts are in a selfish world that we are trying to control, instead of trusting in Jesus and trusting Him with our lives. Also, bad things happen! We live in a world of sin. Sin destroys. It is just that simple. On the other hand, Jesus has promised to protect those of us who live in obedience to Him. Oh, I guess that is the real problem. We don’t trust Jesus because we are not living in obedience to Him. He can’t protect us if we are living in known sin. The Jews had rejected God and were living in sin. Therefore they did not have the protection of God. Jesus warned them, “you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God”. They didn’t listen. Earlier, Jesus warned them through the crippled man he healed. He told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” But we refuse to listen. We love our sins. Just not the consequences.
And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Over and over and over again Jesus reiterates the concept that we must stop sinning. But we love our sins. We love the world way too much. Oh, only when “something worse” comes upon us do we cry out to God and wonder “Why”. For some reason, we think “they the worst sinners” are the ones God punishes. No! It is the little, tiny sins in our lives that will destroy us. How stupid our churches have made us. When will we leave our churches, go to Jesus and actually repent and turn from our selfish sins and follow Him?
Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed.
Is Jesus coming to you “again and again to see if there” is any fruit? Who have you, personally, brought to Jesus? Brought not to a church, but to Jesus. Who have you shared the truth with that they must stop sinning and become like Jesus: perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping? Are you giving them the example?
Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
Are you “taking up space in the garden” of God? Enjoying the benefits of God, but yielding no fruit? Take care, you are about to be cut down and thrown onto the compost pile.
“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’”
That is called “grace”. It saved the tree for another year. But it didn’t save the tree eternally. You may have grace from God to keep you from being cut down in the next few months or years, but at some point your grace will run out and you will be cut down. Please, get out of your church and stop listening to the fables of the devil and live in obedience to Jesus. Start producing fruit.
One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue,. . .
Notice, He didn’t go to sit as a member. He was in church doing what He commanded all of us to do: teach. When He rose and went to Heaven, He commanded us to teach “them to obey everything that I have commanded you”. Matthew 28:20. That is what He was doing in church. What are you doing in church?
. . . he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
That also is our work. We are to “heal” people by sharing with them the healing power of God’s Word to be perfect, stop sinning and to keep the Ten Commandments to get eternal life. Reading from the Sabbath School Lesson or any denominational or church material is not what Jesus commands of us. Get out of church now and go to Jesus. Open His Word and read from Genesis to Revelation.
But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
And yes, your pastor, Sabbath School leader and others will be indignant with you. But you will be in good company. Do you have the guts Jesus had? Where is your backbone? The backbone of Jesus was so strong, it ended up rubbing up and down on a splintery post for you. Will you stand up straight for Jesus? And yes, there are six days for working. How come most of our churches are only open one day of the week? They must not be working for Jesus.
But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water?
Well of course they did. Why? Because their ox and donkey were profitable for them. The old crippled lady just wasn’t profitable for them.
This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
Those in power set up rules that on the surface may seem humane, but destroy humanity. It is all about power, greed and money. Look how important we are, we can control what you can and can’t do. But the people rejoiced when Jesus taught that they were more important than the man-made rules of the church. Let us put aside the church and clothe ourselves with the works of Jesus.
Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”
How can we mortals, who have never seen or experienced the Kingdom of God, understand it? We can’t. Just as the birds are not able to understand how the tree grows from a tiny mustard seed. However, the birds are able to make nests in its branches. That they understand! Same with us. The Kingdom of God is far beyond our ability to understand it. But if we will let the seed of the Kingdom of God be planted in us, water it, nurture it and protect it, it will grow within us and become a mighty Kingdom we and others can rest in.
He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
A point here is, it starts out small. None of us get the “full” Kingdom of God all at once. Some may get a larger seed than others, but it is still a seed. We must nurture it. That is our job. We must water it. We must make sure the weeds of sin do not destroy it. If we take care of it, it will in time permeate every part of our lives. That is what it must do. If there is any part of your life you don’t want the Kingdom of God to permeate, that part will eventually rot out the rest of the soul.
Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
As Jesus was always pressing on toward His goal, so we must press on towards our goal. And as we press on, we must be teaching as we go.
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He replied, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.
“Work hard”! We have it so easy in America. We have no idea how to “work hard” for Jesus. We want everything easy. Dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, car washes and other labor saving devices. Working hard is a lost virtue. Even farmers can sleep in their cabs while the GPS drives the tractor. Unfortunately, all these labor saving devices, allowed by God to give us time to share the Gospel, has only made us spoiled and soft. Few will make it to Heaven! “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” Philippians 2:12. It is a continuous work.
When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’
When probation closes, there will be those who knew of the times and seasons, who were taught and understood what it meant to be a true Christian, but they did not put their heart and soul into the work, it was just theological. They will stand outside knocking and pleading. They will tell Jesus that they ate and drank the Lord’s Supper in church with Him. That He taught in their homes and on their TV’s and through newsletters they received. But He will tell them to “Get away from Me, all you who do evil”. They have no fruit. Not one person did they teach to stop sinning, be perfect and to keep the Ten Commandments to get their eternal life. They were more interested in what the church thought of them than what Jesus thought of them.
“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out.
We are told that those who knew, but refused to live in obedience, will rush at us and will attempt to kill us, however, they will be powerless to touch us. Many will fall down at our feet, weeping and wailing and asking what they must do to get in, but nothing can be done; the door has been closed and locked.
And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.”
Those who knew, but thought themselves too privileged to share the truth, will find themselves shut out. They will look up and see those they looked down upon standing next to Jesus. Their pastors, church leaders, educators and ministers will be standing beside them waiting for their punishment. Their titles, positions and education will not save them.
At that time some Pharisees said to him, “Get away from here if you want to live! Herod Antipas wants to kill you!”
Yes, there are those who will tell you to “get away from here” since they do not want to feel guilty for their sins. Many have turned off this ministry because they didn’t want to feel guilty. They have rejected the last call from the Spirit of God and will now have to wait for their reward of fire.
Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.
Jesus didn’t try to hide from the authorities. He didn’t find a cabin in an isolated mountain region to hide in. He didn’t try to raise a revolt or rebellion. He continued on in His work for His Father. He did His duty. Are you?
Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I must proceed on my way. For it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem!
We “must proceed on” towards our goal of serving Jesus. Nothing is to keep us from finding sinners and sharing the wonderful news that sin no longer has to bind them and destroy them. What good news!
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned. And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
That was true. Jerusalem never saw Him again until they cried out, “Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” This happened when He entered Jerusalem a few days before His death. He left His church to go where He was wanted.
The world today has done the same thing. “O America, America, churches, the nation that is killing the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” No, America, churches and the world are killing, imprisoning, canceling and demeaning the people of God. What God has called “good”, they are calling “evil”. Terrible things are soon to fall upon this world.