Lesson 38
Where Is It All Leading?
Luke 12:49-59
Where it is all leading is a good question to ask ourselves. There was a point in time when my whole life lay ahead. I had no idea how it would all turn out and many ways still do not. As I look back there was a pivotal point that changed my perspective. It is what I like to call a turning point. It is those moments when I sensed a new direction in my spiritual walk with God. Until many years later I could not have given it a name. I just knew it had occurred.
For some reason I was led to make a study of the turning points in the lives of those in the Bible. I discovered as I searched God’s word, that even though there was one major event in the lives of each of them, there were many crossroads that determined the path they would travel. What happened to them still has an effect on me down to this day. As was true for them the choices I make still lead me in one direction or another. They also impact the lives of those who mean a great deal to me. I have to be careful to understand that what I do may also cause someone I do not know well to either be drawn to Christ or to turn away from Him. My words or deeds might be the catalyst to bring a person to his or her own turning point.
The future of the church is determined by its own turning points. Each time a new Teaching Elder comes or leadership changes the church is confronted with what kind of body it will become. There are some things that are more difficult to change, even with a shift in those who are providing direction to the church. At some point a culture developed that takes a long time to be altered. It would take a generation or two to make it happen.
One of the greatest dangers for a congregation is to ignore the opportunities that God presents to us. Recently we have seen an influx of new families who are attending. How they view what we are providing for the whole family in the way of ministries will determine their commitment to the church meeting where we are located. Without realizing their decisions are a turning point for them and for the church as well. New people should open our eyes to see if what we have been doing is still effective in making disciples who make disciples.
Luke 12:49-50
Even before Jesus’ earthly began in earnest John the Baptist spoke of fire. He stated that Jesus would “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11. The events that were going to occur in the coming days could only be described as fire. When an object is set ablaze it brings about a number of results. (See Matthew 3:10, 12) It may provide warmth, purify objects or completely destroy anything in its path. Anything it touches will be completely altered.
Jesus used that metaphor in His discourse with His disciples. Through the suffering on the cross and the events to follow, He was going to turn all of previous history on its head. No longer would the Jews depend on the Law. He was about to usher in a new age, the age of grace. The world and men’s lives would be forever changed by what He was about to accomplish by His death on the cross and resurrection.
Just as important is the idea expressed in Matthew that with His death the Holy Spiritual come on the scene to radically affect mankind from the day of Pentecost forward. In Acts 2:3 is the picture of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit appearing as tongues of fire and resting on all of the people in the upper room.
Jesus was anxious for this event to occur. He knew however that for the fire to come that would change men He had to go through the crucifixion which He described as baptism. The church today celebrates baptism to signify that man has died and has been become new in Christ. Because of His death and man’s new relationship the Holy Spirit now indwells and empowers him to live a Christ like life.
- What are some of the attributes of fire?
- What does it accomplish?
- What did Jesus mean by using the idea of fire to describe what was to occur? (A radical alteration was about occur to the way man would have a relationship with God. No longer would it be according to the law but grace. Look back at the passages mentioned in Matthew.)
- What did Jesus mean by speaking of His own baptism which He was about to undergo? (He would have to pass through death to live again.)
- What actions have you taken to show that your life has been changed?
Some of the commentators alluded to fact that Jesus was also speaking of the final judgment against sin that would occur out in the future. The final act of judgment will be the casting of the devil into the lake of fire to be punished forever. One fact is clear that the whole world will be altered from its present state. Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven. It is to be the new home of believers.
Luke 12: 51-53
The new reality that was to come would forever alter relationships between people. For over fourteen hundred years the Jews lived by the Law of Moses. Even though they may not have followed it they all believed that it was the guide for life and their relationship with the Father. Jesus was about to change all of that. Now man would have to choose between the following the Law or Jesus. That choice would break down the peace they all had experience. There would now be division even in families as some held on to their Jewish beliefs while others believed that Jesus was now the way to salvation through His death on the cross.
- What did Jesus mean that He came to bring division rather than peace?
- In what ways was the peace the Jews practiced false? (Everyone followed the Law.)
- In your life has your decision to become a follower of Christ affected your relationships with others?
- When have you experience outright hostility?
- Why is opposition or apathy among family members the hardest to endure?
Luke 12:54-56
Jesus turned from the disciples to the crowds to level His next criticism of the way men viewed Him. Once again He used an example that each of them would have understood. Depending on the direction from which the weather was coming the people could describe the type of day it would be. Rain came from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea. If the wind was coming from the dry desert area to the south of Judea the people would know they could expect a hot day. Today forecasters speak of high and low pressure systems etc. to indicate what kind of weather is to be expected.
The people were called hypocrites. They had chosen to ignore all of the signs that pointed to Jesus as the coming Messiah. For fourteen hundred years the prophets had provided the prophecies that pointed to Jesus which they chose to ignore. There are over three hundred prophecies in the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah. All they would needed to do was to look at them to realize that the man before them had already filled many of them. They pretended to keep the Scriptures and missed the One about whom the entire Old Testament had been written.
- Why did Jesus use nature to describe the spiritual condition of the people? (They could discern the physical but miss what God was doing?
- In what ways do we act the same as did the Jews?
- Why did Jesus once again call them hypocrites? (They acted spiritual but missed all of the signs of the truly Spiritual One?
- What evidence is presented to us that we dare not miss?
- What does it make us if we decide to ignore the evidence of God’s grace given to us? (Hypocrites because we say we believe but do not act like Christ’s followers.)
- How does this passage give us a picture of those who have been gifted by God but refuse to recognize or use those gifts?
- How can we be in church all of our lives and miss the One about whom the whole Bible speaks to man?
Luke 12:57-59
These verses may be viewed from two different perspectives. Jesus could have been speaking to the Jews and also those who would form the early church.
The nation of Israel had been given ample time to turn from their wicked ways. Because they refused to recognize Jesus as the coming Messiah they would continually face judgment for their rebellion. From the time of Christ until their dispersion they were instrumental in much of the early persecution of the church. They did everything in their power to disassociate themselves from Christianity. They did so to protect themselves from getting into trouble with the Romans. In 70 AD the Romans came and destroyed the city and sent many of the Jews into exile. Sixty years later they began following false messiahs. At that point it was too late to repent from their corporate sin. God used the Romans once again to bring about His judgment on the rebellious nation. Their actions led to a complete exile from their homeland. It would be over nineteen hundred years before they were allowed to return to their homeland. The Jews are to face one more time of extreme persecution because of their infidelity. In the book of Revelation John tells of the three and one half years in which the anti-christ will do all he can to eliminate the Jewish nation and those who will finally become followers of Christ.
- Why have the Jews faced times of judgment throughout the ages?
- What was the example of their greatest disobedience?
- Who is the ultimate judge of those who rebel against Jesus?
- What are you to do to make sure that you are not cast into the prison about which Jesus spoke?
Paul wrote about the way that followers of Christ are to handle conflict. See 1 Corinthians 6:1-7. The believer is repent of his sins before facing the Judge at the end of times. Those who believe have already passed from the death sentence each man deserves to into life eternal. As Jesus spoke earlier, he no longer fears the one who rules the world but lives in awe and reverence of the One who determines where he will spend eternity.
- Why did Paul admonish Christians to handle their own conflicts? (We belong to the arbiter of all problems in the body.)
- Where is the prison from which the rebellious cannot escape?
- How do we make sure that we do not find ourselves there? (Repent of our sins and believe in the giver of a release from bondage.)
- Who is man to fear?
- Why is this kind of fear healthy?
- What are some examples of the ways you have made amends before arriving at the Day of Judgment?
- Take a look at your own life to see what event was your turning point.
- Determine what impact it had on your life.
- Jesus has called you to radical devotion to Him.
- Do not fail in being fully devoted to Him.
- Live in such a way that you will never face the judgment of God.
- If you live or work in an environment among non-believers maintain a heart of peace.
The church must understand its place in the world around it. Jesus called His followers to be radically different than those who have chosen to live according to the world’s standards. We must realize to do so are going to put us odds with many of them. This opposition may even come from those in one’s own families. Only by serving Christ with all our heart can we impact how others view us. If we live like the world we will be judged accordingly. If we will live in accordance to the standard set before us by Jesus the world may try to marginalize. God however does not judge those who are obedient to Him. The way we follow His Son is by understanding what His word says to us about the kind of life we are to live.
I do not think that we want to face God because of our disobedience. Let us not be like the nation of Israel which from its beginning continually turn its back of God and suffered exile and persecution. They were to be God’s witness to the world. We as the church are to succeed where the Israelites failed. Let us continue to be the witness and complete the work Jesus has given to us. It is not an easy road because we live in a world where it is more difficult to share the gospel. Our efforts should not depend on what others say who want to thwart God’s work. We are to be faithful to the end.