back to index2017-09-03 Fear God
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Well, as we take a look at our passage, again Luke chapter 13, verses 1 through 9. 00:00:18.720 |
Let me read the passage for us as we begin today's look into the Word. 00:00:30.640 |
Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose 00:00:35.680 |
blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 00:00:39.280 |
And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than 00:00:43.880 |
all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 00:00:46.640 |
I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 00:00:52.480 |
Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were 00:00:57.880 |
worse culprits than all the men who lived in Jerusalem? 00:01:01.240 |
I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." 00:01:07.800 |
A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit 00:01:14.720 |
And he said to the vineyard keeper, "Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit 00:01:26.240 |
And he answered and said to him, "Let it alone, sir, for this year too until I dig around 00:01:31.840 |
And if it bears fruit next year, fine, but if it does not, cut it down." 00:01:37.680 |
Our God, we thank you for your precious Word. 00:01:41.040 |
Lord, we thank you for your grace in teaching us and guiding our hearts. 00:01:46.200 |
We want to ask, Lord, that your Spirit would continue to sanctify every thought, every 00:01:51.680 |
desire, everything in terms of our attitude and even our emotions. 00:01:55.480 |
I pray, Father God, that all of it would really be in conformity to your truth and your reality. 00:02:01.120 |
We also take time to pray for Pastor Peter, praying, God, that as he travels, as he connects 00:02:07.160 |
with other pastors, Lord, that you give him grace and guidance and sustain to strength. 00:02:13.240 |
We also, Father Lord, take a moment to pray for the various things that are happening 00:02:17.520 |
both in our own country and across the world. 00:02:20.480 |
Father, there are so many, in this season, so many things that have occurred, cause for 00:02:30.000 |
We pray, Father God, that for those many who are involved, that your grace would be felt, 00:02:34.400 |
Lord, and that, God, your presence would all the more be known. 00:02:41.960 |
I want to start this morning by gathering our thoughts to what is happening out in Houston, 00:02:50.280 |
You guys, I'm sure, have been following the news. 00:02:53.160 |
You guys, I'm sure, have been talking with your coworkers and friends about the extent 00:03:01.360 |
And very much statistically, this is going to be one of the greatest tragedies that's 00:03:07.600 |
happened in more recent history, in terms of US history. 00:03:12.340 |
With there being over 30,000 individuals who are displaced, so not only people who incurred 00:03:17.680 |
damage to their home have lost precious values, et cetera, but people who have been displaced 00:03:26.200 |
People are trying to estimate the cost of all that flood water coming in, and they're 00:03:31.480 |
estimating that it's going to be well over $190 billion. 00:03:36.280 |
And just the extent of what's going on, I've been following carefully because a close friend 00:03:40.120 |
of mine who I went to seminary with, he planted a church in Houston. 00:03:46.160 |
So when the news broke out, I saw on his feed people texting each other, him trying to reach 00:03:52.840 |
out to certain friends, not being able to communicate the worry from a pastor's heart. 00:03:58.040 |
And then I see on his feed, he says, "I'm going to go buy a boat." 00:04:01.200 |
Unfortunately, they're all sold out because people are just buying boats to try to save 00:04:06.760 |
Finally, he gets a boat, and he's out on the waters every day now. 00:04:10.080 |
He's been on the waters every day trying to save both his congregation members and his 00:04:16.160 |
So this has been quite just a tragedy, for lack of better words, in a lot of the things 00:04:24.720 |
And as we take a moment to think about these things, perhaps for you and for a lot of people 00:04:30.960 |
who perhaps have friends, connections with it, there's a mixture of emotions. 00:04:35.640 |
There can be mixtures of emotions of just disbelief, "I can't believe all that stuff 00:04:41.440 |
It can be the mixture of emotion of just sadness and sorrow for the people who have incurred 00:04:47.520 |
Or there could be confusion, like, "Why in the world do these kind of things happen? 00:04:55.960 |
Things that, again, hard for us to fathom maybe, but why do these things happen? 00:05:02.200 |
And in combination with all that, not only is there the flooding that's happening in 00:05:08.520 |
the States, things that are happening in Myanmar, things that are happening still in Syria. 00:05:13.440 |
You think about all these things, things that are happening in North Korea, and all around 00:05:17.400 |
there are incredible crises, incredible things that cause us worry, anxiety, fear, sense 00:05:24.740 |
of even frustration, anger, you know, anger at what's happening in the world. 00:05:33.840 |
With the mix of sentiments that we have, how do we navigate that? 00:05:38.600 |
Well, the passage that I read in Luke chapter 13, it's an interesting passage because Jesus 00:05:45.240 |
is giving a series of teaching, all in one gigantic sermon, so to speak, okay? 00:05:56.800 |
When you look at the passage, you don't have to turn there, but in chapter 12, you can 00:06:02.000 |
see if you have the red-letter Bible with Jesus' words, it's like all red, right? 00:06:06.600 |
So what you notice is this is a long, long sermon that Jesus is teaching, and at the 00:06:11.000 |
beginning of chapter 12, verse 1, it says that there was such a crowd, right, that people 00:06:19.160 |
So just imagine in an era where you have not a lot of, you know, I guess acoustics like 00:06:25.880 |
this where I have an amplified voice, and Jesus is teaching, and the people are so gathered, 00:06:32.480 |
I mean, he's a man who has known to heal, feed, you know, everything, right? 00:06:40.980 |
So there has been an incredible crowd that has gathered around him, estimated maybe this 00:06:45.640 |
is, you know, upwards of 10,000 people, because that's not far off from the different crowds 00:06:52.680 |
So in that kind of scenario, Jesus is teaching, and he says these interesting words to a scenario 00:06:59.160 |
when some people have reported to him a great, great tragedy. 00:07:03.960 |
And so in light of the tragedy, we're going to learn some perspectives. 00:07:13.280 |
In the midst of tragedies, we are challenged to change our expectation, okay? 00:07:19.900 |
In the midst of tragedies, we are challenged to change our expectations. 00:07:24.760 |
What I'm saying here is when you look at the story of what Jesus receives as a report, 00:07:29.120 |
take a look at verse 1 again, that on the same occasion, so again, same day as Jesus 00:07:33.240 |
is teaching, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate 00:07:43.000 |
Now that little story, like these Galilean whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices, 00:07:51.280 |
Well, you can already tell by the reference of blood and mixing with the sacrifices that 00:07:56.440 |
Pilate has killed these Galileans within the context of worship. 00:08:03.080 |
So I want you to get kind of a picture of what's going on is in recent days, because 00:08:09.280 |
in order for people to have been killed with sacrifices, there's a season when the Jewish 00:08:17.920 |
There's only one season when your average Jew, not a high priest, not a specific line 00:08:24.720 |
of the Levites, a priest goes in to give a sacrifice, but rather a regular individual 00:08:29.360 |
can go and give sacrifices, and that's the time of Passover. 00:08:33.080 |
So what's interesting is in a very precious, in a very highly esteemed day of atonement, 00:08:40.440 |
you know, the greatest day of the year, so to speak, for the Jewish people, you have 00:08:44.800 |
individuals giving sacrifice and Pilate, who has a hatred for the Jews, Pilate, who has 00:08:51.160 |
a history of shedding blood because he is a military man, much like many political figures 00:08:56.520 |
who have taken the route of being in the military, rising up through the ranks, and then entering 00:09:05.240 |
He knows how to control people in the way that he knows how is to shed their blood, 00:09:11.360 |
So what you're seeing is a moment in which here is an individual that clearly has a reputation, 00:09:17.520 |
the Jews already despise him and he despises them, he actually goes and has the audacity 00:09:27.920 |
To enter into sanctuary in the highest pinnacle point of the Jewish custom and slaughter individuals 00:09:34.400 |
so that their blood will be mixed with the blood of their sacrifice. 00:09:43.340 |
Because then you can imagine the expectation of the people as they tell Jesus. 00:09:48.280 |
Jesus is perceived and presumed to be the one who would give them political victory, 00:09:56.840 |
To give them deliverance from that oppression. 00:10:00.640 |
He's already proven to be a leader in that he's amassed thousands of people to come and 00:10:05.400 |
listen to him and so eagerly were the people wanting to make him their king. 00:10:11.000 |
And so they come with expectations telling him, "Look what's happened." 00:10:16.200 |
And so almost, you know, implicit within the story as they say, "Look what's happened," 00:10:24.960 |
Perhaps they're expecting Jesus to be outraged. 00:10:28.120 |
Perhaps they're expecting the crowd as they hear this, because remember, this is all happening 00:10:31.680 |
as they're given this report and Jesus is giving his response. 00:10:36.080 |
This is all happening in the context of the masses listening to him. 00:10:40.000 |
So perhaps these individuals were probably wanting to rally, just like in modern day 00:10:44.480 |
right now, there's all these rallies of people championing their cause, whether it be right 00:10:51.480 |
Right now we have a massive, just this political environment where people are saying, "We 00:10:55.280 |
have to champion this cause and we have to champion that cause," right? 00:11:01.880 |
Well, rather than Jesus giving this, you know, passion felt conviction deep, like, "How dare 00:11:11.760 |
they," you know, perhaps that's what they expected, right? 00:11:15.920 |
Jesus to just throw down some things, like, "How dare they," you know, "We need to gather 00:11:24.280 |
I'll go straight to the, you know, to the emperor," whatever it may be they might have 00:11:31.440 |
Rather the story goes, rather than Jesus having perhaps this sympathy for those in Galilee 00:11:38.200 |
who have lost their lives, rather than giving this heart-wrenching, passionate speech, how 00:11:42.680 |
we will not stand for injustice, how the Jewish people particularly have experienced oppression 00:11:50.280 |
I mean, the Jewish people particularly have experienced all kinds of oppression all through 00:11:57.840 |
So contrary to expectation, Jesus rather gives them this pointed turnaround of the finger 00:12:05.480 |
and says, "You might be pointing at the Roman government, but I'm pointing at you." 00:12:10.080 |
So this is why I say we have to, we have to challenge our preconceived expectations because 00:12:19.600 |
many times, again, perhaps, again, this is not maybe for all of us experiencing this, 00:12:25.560 |
but there are times when we see injustice, there are times when we see certain kinds 00:12:29.200 |
of pains and tragedies that people go through, and it actually offends us. 00:12:36.720 |
You hear something on the news of what's going on, and it actually, even though we're not 00:12:41.440 |
necessarily in it or recipients of it, just the fact that it's happening and occurring 00:12:50.600 |
And that's why you see, whether it be on social media, whether you see individuals who are 00:12:55.520 |
political figures or celebrities or whatever it may be, events happen and all of a sudden 00:13:06.120 |
Well, a lot of times the reason why they come out enraged in that way is because when certain 00:13:10.440 |
events happen, it offends and transgresses their standard. 00:13:17.760 |
When certain things happen, and I'm not just obviously talking about natural disasters, 00:13:21.880 |
I'm talking about other major events in life, crisis, tragedies, you know, in these events 00:13:32.760 |
By which way, by which criteria am I evaluating and judging this scenario? 00:13:39.120 |
And am I having an initial response because it's offended my standard, or am I having 00:13:43.800 |
an initial response because it's offending God's standard? 00:13:47.400 |
That is a very important question to ask, right? 00:13:51.200 |
Is it offending my standard or is it offending God's standard? 00:13:54.360 |
And the reason why I go this is because sometimes for us, when we start asking the important 00:13:59.320 |
questions or even the tough questions and sometimes even the more existential questions, 00:14:08.720 |
We go down that line and sometimes we have the danger of not just simply asking that 00:14:13.360 |
question in curiosity, we have the danger of asking that question in complaint to God, 00:14:26.320 |
Because immediately then we recognize, once we have that tone and attitude towards God, 00:14:31.280 |
we are no longer operating underneath His standard. 00:14:35.120 |
We're asking God, why have you transgressed mine? 00:14:40.340 |
And so by way of application, again, we have to make sure that we challenge how we are 00:14:44.360 |
evaluating and perceiving the events that are happening. 00:14:48.160 |
Are we assessing and judging them based upon what we expect? 00:14:54.920 |
Are we judging them based upon God's standard? 00:14:57.100 |
And there is now a question, what do we expect? 00:15:02.520 |
Are natural disasters, political unrest, pain, suffering, are these things anomalies to you? 00:15:12.640 |
Are these things strange, out of the norm occurrences that have no explanation, almost 00:15:17.760 |
stuff that's like completely, you know, from out of this world? 00:15:22.600 |
Do you perceive that perhaps your expectation is what we are granted in this life is to 00:15:28.360 |
have a long life and the greatest tragedy would be to cut that short? 00:15:36.840 |
Because then we have to ask, what was your expectation for life on this earth? 00:15:41.480 |
Well, this leads me to my point two, in light of various tragedies, we need to fear what 00:15:52.600 |
In light of various tragedies, we should learn to fear what really should be feared, okay? 00:16:01.720 |
Well, in front of these masses, in front of the various people, what Jesus is presented 00:16:11.600 |
You would even deem that like this heinous, almost terroristic kind of, you know, a crime 00:16:18.200 |
I mean, who goes into the sacred place of God, who goes into the sanctuary of worship 00:16:29.280 |
That's only stuff that we can only see in maybe movies of those individuals who are 00:16:33.400 |
the most vile, wicked terrorists of our generation, right? 00:16:39.240 |
Well, in light of that, again, I point to the fact that Jesus says this. 00:16:45.040 |
Go to verse two, Luke chapter 13 verse two, "And Jesus said to them, 'Do you suppose that 00:16:50.720 |
these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered 00:16:56.520 |
I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'" 00:17:06.840 |
When I read that passage, I'm not, again, I'm not trying to show you something that 00:17:13.560 |
is like novel, brand new, and something that we've never heard of, but something that perhaps 00:17:19.600 |
challenges our perception of what is the greatest tragedy in our lives. 00:17:26.120 |
Because according to Jesus' words, the greatest tragedy is not that a crime took place. 00:17:35.360 |
He's not being cowardice and saying, "Oh, well, what can we do against the mighty Romans?" 00:17:44.240 |
He is seeing things in the reality of Christian faith, of how God in truth has told us what 00:17:51.920 |
That heaven exists, hell exists, and the greatest tragedy is not simply that a select few were 00:18:02.600 |
Many are dying and on their path to eternal destruction. 00:18:10.380 |
What's worse than being inflicted by some heinous, wicked individual? 00:18:19.480 |
Jesus has a perspective that is quite far different than the theology, superstition, 00:18:32.280 |
He looks at them and says, "Do you suppose that you are less of sinners? 00:18:39.200 |
Do you suppose that they were greater sinners?" 00:18:43.520 |
Within that, Jesus calls out their expectation. 00:18:46.400 |
See, you operate under the age-old wisdom that if you do well, you'll have a long, 00:18:55.760 |
And you operate under the age-old wisdom that if you're suffering, then perhaps you have 00:19:05.840 |
Perhaps somehow you were doing something wrong, right? 00:19:08.000 |
I mean, wasn't that the age-old wisdom that all of Job's friends operated under? 00:19:15.400 |
Job experiences an incredible amount of suffering. 00:19:19.200 |
Like literally everything he has is being ripped away from him, his children, his family, 00:19:25.840 |
his wealth, his health, because Satan desired to affect him and pain him in every facet 00:19:33.440 |
So he took away all of his wealth, his reputation, and then he lastly struck his own body, right? 00:19:39.760 |
Now at that point, remember Job said, "I don't know what's going on. 00:19:45.120 |
I have a case against God because I have no idea what's going on." 00:19:48.520 |
And his friends came and said, "Well, we know that stuff just doesn't happen for no reason. 00:19:59.800 |
They were operating underneath that kind of theology and that kind of typical logic that 00:20:04.960 |
good people receive good and bad people receive bad. 00:20:22.440 |
I put in some coins here, put in some coins there, do good works there, and ba-dam, I've 00:20:31.720 |
But rather, Jesus is talking about pointing to the greater spiritual reality. 00:20:38.720 |
The greater spiritual reality is that every single individual will perish. 00:20:44.640 |
The greater spiritual reality is that each and every single one of us has a very small 00:20:52.000 |
The greater spiritual reality is that we are all destined heading for death, and after 00:20:59.460 |
And so in Christ's perspective, He is looking at something greater and beyond what the people 00:21:06.680 |
You know, earlier I mentioned that this is one really long sermon that Jesus is giving 00:21:11.960 |
in one context in front of a massive load of people, right? 00:21:15.360 |
Well, if you actually now turn back to chapter 12 at the beginning of this, okay? 00:21:29.680 |
Starting from verse 1, I'm going to read this passage to us, and it just says, "Under these 00:21:33.000 |
circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together, they were stepping 00:21:39.520 |
He began saying to His disciples, 'First of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, 00:21:46.800 |
But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be 00:21:51.560 |
According to whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what 00:21:54.840 |
you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. 00:21:59.360 |
I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that 00:22:10.360 |
Fear the one who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell. 00:22:23.120 |
What was our expectation and what are we fearing most of all in this life? 00:22:31.240 |
Are we fearing, "Oh, like the worst life possible would be to be oppressed by some individual 00:22:36.320 |
and I'd have to work some, you know, menial job under some horrible boss." 00:22:44.160 |
Well, later on, that same chapter, verse 49, Jesus says, "Shattering expectation, I have 00:22:52.000 |
come to cast fire upon this earth and how I wish it were already kindled. 00:22:58.720 |
But I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is accomplished. 00:23:03.000 |
Do you suppose I came to grant peace on earth? 00:23:09.960 |
From now on, five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two 00:23:15.680 |
They will be divided father against son and son against father, mother against daughter 00:23:21.400 |
and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law 00:23:28.120 |
So we think about this whole concept here, the first two points. 00:23:34.120 |
One, challenging our expectation, but two, realizing that the typical stuff that we fear 00:23:41.440 |
is only a fear that exists in the context of our expectation. 00:23:45.800 |
But the reality that Christ is presenting to us shatters those expectations and also 00:23:53.000 |
The things that we should fear are not threats to our well-being and health. 00:23:57.800 |
The thing that we should fear is the threat to our soul. 00:24:02.040 |
The thing that we should fear is eternal judgment and damnation from God. 00:24:06.440 |
And so whether it is, yes, by way of just kind of quickly thinking about this, whether 00:24:12.720 |
it is the natural disaster of Hurricane Harvey, whether it is the oppression that people experience 00:24:19.160 |
because of corrupt regimes, corrupt governments, whether it is simply suffering that people 00:24:25.720 |
experience because daily living, those things, yes, you should care about. 00:24:30.800 |
I am not saying diminish those things, don't care for it and just sit on your butt. 00:24:35.880 |
I am all the more challenged by my friend, his name is Brian, by my friend Brian who 00:24:40.360 |
bought a boat to go save his congregation members and his friends. 00:24:44.520 |
I'm all the more encouraged by the people who researched are there opportunities for 00:24:48.560 |
me to go actually volunteer, took time off work and went. 00:24:52.040 |
I'm all the more encouraged by people who are giving their finances for these causes 00:24:58.840 |
If God has laid it on your heart to see the sufferings of the people who are weak in need, 00:25:08.320 |
But the reality is that is not our greatest cause because that is not the greatest need, 00:25:17.960 |
I almost, when I was preparing this sermon, I was fearful of saying that because in a 00:25:22.320 |
moment like this when so many people are suffering, in occasion like this when people are suffering 00:25:28.320 |
in a fashion by which I have never experienced, I was fearful of saying it because someone 00:25:35.040 |
could look at me and say, "How dare you say that? 00:25:40.800 |
I have no idea what they're going through right now. 00:25:43.720 |
But the fact of the matter is Scripture teaches us and Jesus teaches us, yes, people have 00:25:49.240 |
Yes, there are orphans, there are widows, there are people who are suffering, there 00:25:53.080 |
And yes, we as Christians have a great responsibility to them, right? 00:26:09.360 |
The greatest fear is that people would die without hope and that for all eternity, not 00:26:14.200 |
for their breath on life, but for all eternity, they would experience hell apart, separated 00:26:28.680 |
By base minimum, we should be giving people who are in need physical supply, help, and 00:26:40.880 |
We should be grieved if we see people who are dying without grace, dying without the 00:26:53.660 |
Base minimum is to help people who are suffering. 00:26:57.680 |
Our greatest ambition, sharing the gospel with those who are lost. 00:27:02.840 |
The problem though, as we think about this, is perhaps our paradigm of what is the deliverance 00:27:11.540 |
What is the thirst that we need to have quenched? 00:27:15.680 |
We presume it's the stuff of the world, but we need to be challenged. 00:27:20.380 |
No, the greatest need isn't water for thirst. 00:27:22.980 |
It is the words of life to those who are eternally condemned. 00:27:26.220 |
The greatest need is the gospel to deliver them from eternal fire to eternal life. 00:27:31.500 |
That is the greatest need and therefore our greatest cause. 00:27:37.020 |
What's more, further thinking about this, please go back to chapter 13, verse 6. 00:27:42.460 |
Jesus, in emphasizing the point, okay, emphasizing the teaching, he goes on to give a parable, 00:27:53.980 |
So verse 6 says, "And he began telling this parable. 00:27:57.340 |
A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit 00:28:05.180 |
And he said to the vineyard keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit 00:28:16.660 |
And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too until I dig around 00:28:22.300 |
it, put in fertilizer and if it bears fruit next year, fine, but if it does not, cut it 00:28:32.540 |
Well the point I want to make is this, point three. 00:28:35.020 |
The first point was we need to challenge our expectations. 00:28:38.500 |
Second point, we need to fear what actually needs to be feared. 00:28:42.180 |
Third point, we have to realize, okay, in light of the tragedies, we're all living on 00:28:52.940 |
This is a perspective changer, you know, especially for those of us who naively presume, naively 00:29:01.180 |
presume we just have the rest of our lives to live, we have so much to look forward to. 00:29:05.900 |
There's just, you know, I'm looking at my life right now, sometimes I get kind of amazed 00:29:09.860 |
thinking like, you know, there are days when I feel a little older, I'm getting a lot more 00:29:13.420 |
gray hair and stuff, and I start thinking, 'Oh, I feel old,' especially recently I went 00:29:17.980 |
to a youth group retreat and I just felt even more old because I was, we were in Big Bear, 00:29:21.820 |
I was like breathing hard, and everything just kind of told me, my body just told me, 00:29:29.740 |
Given that the vast majority of Americans live till they're like 80, I've got like 50 00:29:34.420 |
more years to live, which is crazy to think about, right? 00:29:42.140 |
With your eyes, when you're looking at people, how long they're living, you might be thinking, 00:29:45.740 |
'There's just many years to live, I've got like 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, you know, years to 00:29:57.380 |
It was Jesus' regular teaching, 'You do not know when your life will be required of you.' 00:30:03.820 |
All of you who are building your barns, building bigger barns, putting more stuff in your barn, 00:30:08.380 |
and then needing bigger barns, you do not know when your life is expected of you. 00:30:13.860 |
It is a gross presumption for the regular American to just presume, 'I've got so many 00:30:22.580 |
And tragedies where thousands of people are dying, when thousands of people are being 00:30:26.740 |
displaced, again, the number of people who have died out in Myanmar and Syria is just 00:30:35.780 |
These kind of tragedies remind us we are living on borrowed time. 00:30:42.580 |
And it is a misconception, false worldview for us to presume we just have the world to 00:30:51.300 |
In this parable, we have the landowner, and the whole land belongs to him. 00:31:00.260 |
And the fact of the matter is he is looking at these plants who are just taking up real 00:31:10.300 |
The point of the parable is that the vineyard keeper has asked the Lord, right? 00:31:18.780 |
The master of the field, 'Give it just a little bit more. 00:31:26.820 |
And then he says, 'But afterwards, cut it down if you will. 00:31:32.620 |
Essentially the point of it is you are living on borrowed time. 00:31:38.380 |
Whether it is the year or whatever it may be, the time that God has set, judgment will 00:31:45.180 |
And so that's why if you remember the last sermon that I preached two weeks ago, I made 00:31:49.900 |
much of 2 Peter chapter 3, that this is exactly what the apostles are teaching us. 00:31:55.620 |
This is exactly the message we should be receiving in our generation. 00:31:59.420 |
This is not just a parable for Jesus' generation 2,000 years ago. 00:32:02.940 |
This is even more relevant to us now, 2,000 years later. 00:32:08.500 |
It's more relevant to us now, 2,000 years later, than even when Jesus spoke it to his 00:32:16.020 |
But what's more, just the passage for you in 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 8 and 9, Apostle 00:32:22.380 |
Peter taught us, 'But do not let this one fact escape your notice, that with the Lord, 00:32:28.220 |
one day is like a thousand years, a thousand years like one day. 00:32:31.660 |
The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but he is patient towards 00:32:38.260 |
you, not wishing for any to perish, but to come to repentance.' 00:32:48.260 |
We might count it slow because our linear timeline is like, that, that, that, that, 00:32:53.580 |
He says, 'No, this short time is a time of patience to you.' 00:32:59.620 |
And that's why if you go back to Luke chapter 12, please turn to this verse with me. 00:33:04.580 |
Luke chapter 12, in the context of all these sermons, taking a look at verse 54, okay, 00:33:09.820 |
we read earlier verse 49, but taking a look at verse 54, he says this, 'And he was also 00:33:16.900 |
saying to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'A 00:33:24.860 |
And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, 'It will be a hot day,' and it turns 00:33:32.500 |
You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not 00:33:43.260 |
Why are you so dull to not know judgment is coming? 00:33:47.460 |
When there's rumors of war, natural disasters, why do you not think that disaster is coming? 00:33:58.620 |
I am not going to be one of those guys who are like, you know, January 2018, "Jesus 00:34:13.100 |
But clearly, the generations have become more wicked. 00:34:17.060 |
The value of life has become, you know, diminished. 00:34:21.660 |
Apostle Paul said, "In the last days, there's going to be greedy individuals, lovers of 00:34:26.260 |
evil, haters of good, and you're going to hear," and Jesus taught, "You're going 00:34:34.940 |
I feel, maybe it's not going to be in my lifetime, but I feel like, my goodness, I 00:34:40.700 |
better be sober because it can come any day, right? 00:34:49.060 |
Along with our presumption that we have so much time to live, we presume we have both 00:34:58.860 |
We see in our generation amongst the spiritual climate of Christianity that there is perhaps 00:35:03.420 |
a spiritual lethargy, maybe just a lack of passion. 00:35:09.920 |
Perhaps there is an incredible amount of flippant behavior in the church. 00:35:13.780 |
Perhaps there's an incredible amount of casual, familiar approach to their life as 00:35:18.900 |
And what that tells me is there is a presumption. 00:35:21.340 |
Not only do I have plenty of time to get it straight, I am okay the way I am. 00:35:27.660 |
That is an incredible, gross presumption, is it not? 00:35:35.220 |
The people come saying, "Oh my goodness, there is this crime," and Jesus points the 00:35:46.220 |
Are you any safer of the judgment that those criminals deserve? 00:35:58.220 |
Rain will come down, yes, but you know what he's referring to is the rain of God's 00:36:01.700 |
wrath and we've been studying in the book of Revelations and it's been causing me 00:36:10.620 |
When God comes in His authority and in His glory, it is going to be a scary thing. 00:36:16.100 |
We're going to, people are going to tremble like none other, but it is a gross presumption. 00:36:25.180 |
And Jesus asks the very point in question, "Do you presume that you are less of a 00:36:34.900 |
And so going back into it, he actually points to another tragedy. 00:36:39.300 |
Over in verse 4, it says, "Or do you presume that those 18 on whom the tower and Siloam 00:36:45.220 |
Now, supposedly what happened was people were walking by the tower of Siloam. 00:36:48.740 |
It just so happened maybe it was one of these like leaning tower of Pisa things and everyone's 00:36:54.340 |
It just so happened it fell on 18 individuals and they died. 00:36:59.100 |
Perhaps if you're operating under, again, the wisdom of the world, they're thinking, 00:37:02.220 |
"Well, I walked by and I didn't fall, it didn't fall on me, but they walked by, probably 00:37:11.700 |
Do you presume that those 18 on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them were worse 00:37:16.620 |
culprits than all the men who lived in Jerusalem? 00:37:21.580 |
I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." 00:37:25.100 |
There is a gross presumption in our generation where everyone thinks they're godly. 00:37:33.220 |
But I want you to remember that was exactly the time of Jesus. 00:37:38.440 |
Everybody held to a certain ritualistic standard. 00:37:42.620 |
You remember how many people welcomed in Jesus as the Lord and asked Him to save them and 00:37:52.140 |
Every individual in Jerusalem washed their hands and thought they were clean. 00:37:56.420 |
He's not talking to wretched sinners who are like killing people. 00:38:00.060 |
He's talking to wretched sinners who just believe in a false religion. 00:38:05.300 |
They're just incredibly religious, incredibly blinded to the fact that they're dirty in 00:38:11.620 |
They just know, but I'm clean on the outside. 00:38:16.460 |
So with that being said, again, by way of application for us, yes, not every tragedy, 00:38:25.700 |
not every crisis is because like, "Oh, there must be some gross sin in me." 00:38:30.500 |
But still, every opportunity or every tragedy is an opportunity for us to assess our heart. 00:38:41.300 |
Clearly these things are regular patterns of life in a world decayed by sin where people 00:38:57.860 |
There's a passage that rocked me when I was studying the Old Testament. 00:39:00.900 |
It says, "The man who acts presumptuously by not listening and heeding the priest who 00:39:05.580 |
stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to judge, that man shall die. 00:39:13.300 |
Then all the people will hear and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again." 00:39:21.260 |
I believe there is this sentiment, especially in a generation. 00:39:29.480 |
In the midst of great tragedy, in the midst of turmoil and crisis, you have amassed a 00:39:37.820 |
So imagine with me that there is a convention, there is a conference talking about how we 00:39:42.940 |
should respond to these tragedies, what we should do about these gross crimes against 00:39:48.900 |
humanity that is happening in our day and time. 00:39:51.480 |
And you have 20,000 people and you've been asked to come speak a word to them of encouragement. 00:40:02.260 |
In our generation, most likely how the peace and love of God is going to comfort their 00:40:07.000 |
hearts, how the love of God pervades and transcends it all. 00:40:14.640 |
Well in this time, Jesus actually in the midst of 20,000, 10,000 people, a huge, huge crowd, 00:40:23.520 |
his exhortation and encouragement to them is, "Please in the moment of tragedy, do not 00:40:35.640 |
Don't think, 'Of course God will deliver me.' 00:40:43.040 |
Even though, I mean I feel like this is the mantra of our day, "Even though I keep failing, 00:40:47.880 |
even though I keep sinning, even though I keep dishonoring God, disobeying, it's fine. 00:40:59.080 |
Let that not be the mantra of our day, but rather, this is going to be the last point, 00:41:04.760 |
rather, in every scenario, learn to fear God. 00:41:13.320 |
What am I saying with this, that we should learn to fear God? 00:41:16.960 |
The parable, the passage before, all of it points to this one idea. 00:41:22.880 |
In these moments of great tragedy, you might fear loss, pain, oppression. 00:41:28.240 |
You might fear lots of things, and I'm going to be honest with you, I am a worrywart, and 00:41:33.520 |
that's why I take forever to make decisions, because I have to calculate what's going to 00:41:38.200 |
be the cost of this decision, what's going to be the negative of that decision. 00:41:43.560 |
You guys are very quick to calculate every kind of risk. 00:41:47.200 |
You're like experts at risk management, and so you take a long time to decide things, 00:41:50.960 |
because you have to make sure you examine it from every angle. 00:41:57.480 |
It's like, "But if I do this, but if I do that, and I play that game, it's like, huh, 00:42:04.400 |
Well, in that scenario, you could sit there until the day is done, analyzing all the risks. 00:42:12.360 |
You can sit there looking at, "Oh, but what are we going to do about the Romans? 00:42:16.440 |
What are we going to do about that president, this president, those terrorists, and this 00:42:20.800 |
Yes, again, those are things that God has given us wisdom and eyes to see, but in the 00:42:29.560 |
You need to fear God, because that's what He says implicitly. 00:42:35.920 |
Going back to that passage in chapter 12, verse 1 through 5, I'm just going to read 00:42:41.320 |
He says that there were these people all gathered, and He said, "Began saying to His disciples, 00:42:45.280 |
first of all, 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, the pervasive, sinful attitude 00:42:50.760 |
of the Pharisees, whose worldview is corrupting you.'" 00:42:57.440 |
They're fake and phony, but there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, hidden 00:43:04.320 |
You need to fear God, because He knows everything. 00:43:06.840 |
He's going to expose every vile and wicked individual, whether it's by word, by thought, 00:43:17.200 |
You need to fear the One who will expose you. 00:43:22.880 |
And then He goes on, "Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in 00:43:26.160 |
light, and whatever you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the 00:43:30.680 |
I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body." 00:43:36.160 |
After that, they have no more that they can do. 00:43:38.280 |
"But I will warn you, I will warn you of this, of whom to fear. 00:43:43.720 |
Fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. 00:43:53.480 |
"I tell you now, yes, I do, the One you must fear who will expose you, who knows all 00:43:59.120 |
things, who is so much more powerful than that Roman soldier, so much more powerful 00:44:04.320 |
than that Roman elite, so much more powerful than the crisis at hand, so much more powerful 00:44:10.320 |
than the tragedy that you feel like you cannot control. 00:44:16.720 |
Fear Him who has ultimate power and authority over both our lives here and our souls into 00:44:33.360 |
You know, sometimes I come in and we strategize about how to do ministry. 00:44:37.400 |
We start thinking and strategizing about, you know, what's the most efficient, effective 00:44:47.320 |
Sometimes when you think too much about strategy, plan, efficiency, product, what happens is 00:44:56.400 |
Like our conversation doesn't involve God much at all, right? 00:45:02.440 |
And I think there, even in that, there is a misconception. 00:45:06.360 |
Even in that, there is a worldview that's off. 00:45:09.520 |
So I want to challenge you and conclude with this, okay? 00:45:14.600 |
In your worldview, we challenge, today we talked about in light of tragedies, it does 00:45:26.200 |
And in the midst of that, number one, let's make sure that we are challenging our own 00:45:31.180 |
expectation and worldview, what we believe to be right, normal, and acceptable. 00:45:36.600 |
Number two, let's make sure that we actually have the fear of what should really be feared, 00:45:43.400 |
a correct assessment of what is a genuine tragedy. 00:45:58.820 |
We talked about the third point, that we have to recognize that we all live on borrowed 00:46:04.400 |
time, that there should be a sense of urgency. 00:46:07.400 |
In the midst of tragedies, there should be a sense of understanding that we all have 00:46:10.960 |
a very small allotted time to live, and it is our wrong perception that we have so much 00:46:18.160 |
But lastly, that we need to learn to fear God in every circumstance, that in the midst 00:46:25.120 |
of all of this, if we're not looking to the majesty of God, if we're not looking 00:46:30.240 |
reverentially at the supremacy of His sovereignty, if we're not looking in fearfulness of what 00:46:37.200 |
He could do, if we're not looking in hope at what He can provide, if we're not looking 00:46:42.640 |
with anticipation of how He will come, then we're actually missing the point of every 00:46:48.720 |
opportunity that we have, every moment of learning that we have. 00:46:53.520 |
And so I want to challenge you with that last thing, that as Jesus commands us, perhaps, 00:47:00.640 |
perhaps we might have a presumption that we're less sinners, and the only ones deserving 00:47:05.600 |
of hell is the Hitlers, the Stalins, and the, you know, the dictators of this world, but 00:47:11.640 |
rather we must make sure that we are actually looking to Him with every, every ounce of 00:47:18.160 |
anticipation and trust, not presuming like the rest of the world, but rather trusting