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  • They Understood None of These Things

    They Understood None of These Things
    2024/10/24
    And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:31-34) Jesus prophetically spoke of the future He would face in fulfilling His mission as He brought up what the prophets had wrote about Him hundreds of years prior. There are over 300 prophesies about Messiah in Scripture, and 33 prophesies were fulfilled on the day of Jesus’ death alone. Of the few prophesies He mentioned to His disciples in these verses, these were prophesied by king David and Isaiah: I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6)He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3-5)Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. (Psalm 16:10)But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. (Psalm 49:15) Yet we read that when the disciples heard Jesus, they didn’t understand any of it. My initial thought is, “How unfortunate that they didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them”, but it’s really not unfortunate, because it was divine. It was hidden from them, and they were kept from grasping any of it for a purpose. What Jesus told them wasn’t for them in that specific moment, it was meant to be recalled later and recorded for future followers of Jesus, like you and me. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am a naturally curious person, and I like to understand the why in things: Why is the sky blue? Why does hair grow at different rates? Why did my [friend/coworker/family member] react to a situation a certain way? Why did God allow bad things to happen to me? Why hasn’t God healed my health issues? The list of why questions could go on and on, and while some why questions can be answered or found out, some are hidden from our understanding. But does the why actually matter? Do we have to understand everything? Well, no. Because if we’re walking by faith, pressing on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, and simply doing what we’re called to as a servant and follower of Jesus, then the why doesn’t actually matter. What matters is that God knows all the answers to those questions, and because if we love God and are called according to His purpose, He is working all things for our spiritual good; even to the point of using evil for good. If our sights get stuck on the why, then we miss the best part of the circumstance – that we’re not alone, forsaken, nor abandoned because God is with us, continuing to author each one of our stories in which He will one day bring to completion. We may not always understand what God is saying to us at every moment He speaks or what He allows to happen in our life, but if we continue to press into Him, if those things do come into clarity the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance the things He has said to us, just as Jesus promised when He said, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:25-27) I encourage you to set your sights above life’s circumstances and firmly fixed on Jesus, not getting hung up if you don’t initially understand what God is speaking or what is happening in your life but continuing to follow Him as you trust His plan for your life. Life is definitely hard; but God is good, and so are His plans for you, so let not your heart be troubled!
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    15 分
  • What Must I Do To Inherit ...

    What Must I Do To Inherit ...
    2024/10/17
    And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” (Luke 18:18-30) First off, we have to take note of something really awesome…Jesus accepted the title of Good Teacher. We know from what Paul wrote to the Romans that no one is righteous nor does good, and Jesus clearly stated that, No one is good except God alone. Jesus didn’t rebuke Him though, just clarified the truth about who He is. While also fully human, Jesus is God. The Commandments Jesus listed 5 of the 10 commandments. But what do we notice about which commandments He listed? The ones He listed are commandments that people tend to feel justified in themselves based on outward observation of them – not murdering, committing adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and honoring parents. But as we know from Jesus’ teaching on the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, simply lusting after someone in your heart is committing adultery and being angry with someone is likened to murder. This ruler claimed to have kept all those 5 commandments Jesus had listed from his youth which showed that he had already skipped right over the heart check. The Lack A couple short sentences later, Jesus made the heart issue glaringly obvious to the ruler: “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” The young man had come to the conclusion that he had somehow arrived and was like the male version of Mary Poppins – practically perfect in every way – but Jesus wasn’t concerned with how the man acted outwardly since youth, He was concerned with this man’s heart and what he was lacking. Telling the man to sell everything and give it to the poor wasn’t Jesus being an activist or hating on rich people; it was pointing out commandments that the man hadn’t been following because he had made his riches and material things his god and they were idols to him. The whole law was summed up in two commandments to love God and love others. To obey Jesus’ command would have been a hurdle that once the man was over, he could have moved past worshipping material things and onto truly worshipping God as he went and followed Jesus, leaving everything else behind and counting it all as loss in pursuit of God. Our Heart Check We don’t know what ever happened to this man because the last thing we read about him is that he went away sad because he was very rich. All we know was that in that moment of time, he heard from Jesus directly and because his wealth had such a stronghold on him, he grieved over that being the path to inherit eternal life instead of being grieved with the godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Let me ask you this: Does money or riches have a hold in your life? Does the thought of giving up anything in your life make you sad? This is a good heart check moment, and these are really good questions to regularly check in on and take some time to self-reflect on where our hearts are currently. If we’re not willing to give up quite literally anything and everything in following God, then we have a heart issue to deal with. I’ll leave you with the words of Jesus here because it’s encouraging to both one who is doing well on this heart issue as well as to the one who is struggling with it. If you’re doing well in this area – be encouraged by the Lord’s pleasure and promise. If you’re struggling in this area – be encouraged and stirred to a change of heart with the promise the Lord has given to those who are willing to give up everything for His sake: And [Jesus] said to them “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of...
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    8 分
  • Receive the Kingdom of God Like a Child

    Receive the Kingdom of God Like a Child
    2024/10/10

    Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17)

    The first thing we see in this section is that people were bringing their infants to Jesus. This was a tradition of the time, in which people would bring their babies to be blessed by an esteemed Rabbi. Jesus wasn’t claiming the title of Rabbi and certainly wasn’t following the manner of many Rabbi of that day, yet His authority in teaching and love for the people caused them to highly esteem Him. It is amazing that people were bringing their children to Jesus at such a young age, and what a beautiful example to parents to also bring their children to Jesus starting at a young age.

    Two Rebukes

    There are two rebukes here, but only one we should heed.

    The first rebuke was done by the disciples directed at the parents bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples seemed to get too focused on the overall work of ministry that they were blinded to the specific purpose of it – the people. They ended up rebuking the very people whom Jesus wanted to minister to.

    How often we might get so busy with aspects in ministry that WE deem the most important that we miss ministering to the people whom JESUS wants to reach; and even possibly miss out on blessings God desires to bestow.

    The second rebuke was done by Jesus directed at the disciples. Notice though that Jesus didn’t start yelling a rebuke at them; He called them to Himself and gently rebuked them and taught them. What a beautiful learning moment there. Right in the midst of the crowd of people bringing their children, Jesus sees the disciples doing the wrong thing and He ushers them over to correct them in the moment. But here’s the thing…what if the disciples wouldn’t have been listening for Jesus’ voice? They would have missed that rebuke and continued doing the wrong thing. We must be listening throughout our day for the voice of God guiding and directing us or we very well might negatively impact the lives of other people and misrepresent the heart of God.

    Do Not Hinder Them

    Jesus made it very clear that he wanted the children to come to Him and didn’t want anyone hindering them. This rings true of all His children, big and small.

    We should never be hindering anyone from coming to Jesus in any way. Yes, there may be instances such as church events in which we have made a plan of how things will run, but if those plans ever hinder people from coming to Jesus, they’re not only ineffective plans but they’re actively going against what Jesus has said here. Not only should we never block anyone from Jesus, but we should also actively be helping provide a way.

    Like A Child

    Jesus ended with saying, Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. This is a very important truth here!

    When we think about children, they are so quick to receive from Jesus and they don’t try to bolster themselves as worthy of it (like we saw of the Pharisee in the parable from last week) and kids don’t try to act like they don’t need God’s blessing. Children simply come to Him and receive what He gives, and that is the example Jesus is telling us to follow.

    I like the way C. Marvin Pate put it when he said, “Not only did Jesus welcome these little human beings as members of the kingdom of God; He also extolled them as model citizens of the same, because of their capacity to trust and love.”

    As we seek to enable a way for others to come to Jesus, let’s also be mindful of our own approach to ensure we’re receiving the kingdom of God like a child ourselves.
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    7 分
  • Walk Humbly With Your God

    Walk Humbly With Your God
    2024/10/03
    He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14) Jesus ends the parable with this lesson – everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. However, we can’t overlook whom He was telling this to – some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt. What Not to Do In this example of the Pharisee, it’s not hard to see the pride he exudes, and most people would say it’s off putting. We all know someone who thinks too highly of themselves, and in their pride and self-righteousness they treat others badly. The thing is, we’re all susceptible to treating others poorly because of our pride, even if it’s less blatant than this example of the Pharisee. As human beings still stuck with a sin nature, we’re all prone to selfishness, self-righteousness, and pride. We should approach life with this remembrance so that we don’t become blinded by it. It shouldn’t take committing super obvious sins to humbly come before God and acknowledge that we’re sinners. Even after we have accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation, we should regularly be repenting of our sin and seeking the merciful forgiveness of our incredibly loving and kind God; both coming humbly before Him and leaving humbled by His mercy yet exalted by His grace. The heart of the matter is that those who are prideful trust in themselves for righteousness, and it will keep them from coming humbly and honestly before God. This is an issue for non-believers as well as for the followers of Jesus alike. Justification comes through faith in Jesus for salvation, which takes humility to repent and receive forgiveness and salvation. But also, for the follower of Jesus, remember what James said… But [God] gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6-10) The Focus of Prayer There was a vast difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee focused his prayer on himself and what he considered to be good things, listing off all that he has done or not done as proof of what he believed about himself and thanked God for it. Except, God had nothing to do with the Pharisee’s self-righteousness, and as James 4 mentioned, God was opposed to him in his pride. But the tax collector focused his prayer on God, trusting Him to be merciful as he plead for His mercy. How we direct our prayers can itself be a heart check: Do you make your prayers about yourself, or do you focus your prayers on God?Is it more about bolstering yourself or pushing your will onto God, or about being humbled before God and aligning your heart with His will?Do you put others down when you include them in your prayers? These are hard questions, and they might even cause a defensiveness in us, but they are important ones to ask ourselves because they can help us as we seek to humble ourselves before God and be more like Jesus…if we’re honest before God and with ourselves. And this truly is an issue of trust, just as the audience Jesus was addressing. Those who trust in themselves aren’t just dealing with an issue of pride, but also an issue of trusting God. By trusting in themselves, they’re in essence stating they don’t fully trust God. The tax collector knew that he didn’t deserve what he was asking God for as he acknowledged being a sinner, yet he trusted that God was merciful like He says He is as he prayed for mercy. He entrusted his entire life to a merciful God instead of trying to prove that he was somehow worthy in and of himself, like the Pharisee did. So, what’s our takeaway, our application from this? I’ll leave you with what the prophet Micah told the people after the indictment of the Lord: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year...
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    9 分
  • Will He Find Faith?

    Will He Find Faith?
    2024/09/26
    And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8) In this parable, it’s actually really cool that we’re told the purpose up front – to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Jesus isn’t in the business of tearing us down and making us weary. In this life, weariness tends to find its place because sin and the effects of sin tear us down again and again, but the same God who has overcome the world (John 16:33) and said, “Come to me…and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) is the same God who is giving us this parable to encourage us to always pray and not lose heart. In a nutshell, we read that God is a righteous judge and if an unrighteous judge will grant justice by being bothered, how much more will our righteous judge give justice because of hearing His children’s cry day and night? God is not bothered or annoyed by our constant prayers and cries to Him, He is our Father who loves us. Just as a parent who hears their child crying doesn’t simply feed them or change their diaper because they’re annoying them, but because they love their child and want to tend to them. And yet underlying the encouragement to always pray and not lose heart is the foundation of faith. Will He Find Faith? This section ends with a question – Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth? Jesus on numerous occasions mentioned people’s faith such as when He said: “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25a)“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31b)“If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:6)_“Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (Matthew 8:10) And we’re told in Hebrews that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen and that without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:1,6) It takes faith to continue to ask in prayer even after seemingly getting refused a response. Right before asking if the Son of Man will find faith, Jesus said God would give justice to those who cry to Him day and night speedily. It doesn’t always feel speedily on our timeline. Of course, in light of eternity, it’s but a split second; but it takes faith to believe God will do what He says and to continue to trust and to continue to cry out to Him continually until we see it come to fruition. Our Faith Our faith, that confidence and assurance that we have in God and His promises, is of great value. That’s why we go through trials, because it tests the genuineness of our faith and refines us through it. And Peter told us that our genuine faith is more precious to God than gold - In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7) It’s no wonder then why Jesus admonishes us to always pray and not lose heart – those are practical ways to keep our faith as we walk through the hardships of life. Jesus is coming back soon and we want Him to find us, as His servants, faithful upon His return. If you’ve been praying and crying out to the Lord and seemingly nothing is happening – Don’t lose heart; keep the faith and persevere in praying always. I’ll leave you with these verses from Hebrews: Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:35-39)
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    8 分
  • One Will Be Taken and the Other Left

    One Will Be Taken and the Other Left
    2024/09/19
    I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” (Luke 17:34-37) Jesus had already spoken of His second coming as Messiah in which He told us not to follow the world when they say, “Look, there!” or “Look, here!” But there’s yet another event that will happen before that Day of the Lord and that’s what is often referred to as the rapture. The Word Rapture Interestingly enough, the word “rapture” never appears in the Bible, but similarly to how the word “trinity” doesn’t appear in the Bible either, the written context is in the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, it says, “For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” It’s that phrase “caught up” that describes the event of the rapture. The Greek word, harpazo, means to snatch or take away; and in the Latin translation, the verb rapturo is where we, as English speakers, got the word “rapture”. Paul mentioned in the letter to the Thessalonians that what he was telling them was a word from the Lord. Jesus, here in the Luke account, already shared about the event of the rapture briefly, and Paul was simply expounding on it as he was directed to by the Lord. The heart behind it is the same with Jesus as with Paul – so that we wouldn’t be ignorant about it, just as Paul had mentioned a couple verses earlier in that chapter, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers…” (1 Thessalonians 4:13a) One Taken, The Other Left Now, by the meaning of the word for “caught up” is a snatching, it’s obvious that the event of the rapture will be a super quick one; but Jesus gave us even more insight and details with His examples. Jesus said that in that night, one would be taken out of the bed and the other left. Yet at the same time, two women will be grinding and one taken and the other left. Women would not be grinding their wheat, olives, etc. in the night, because that is a daytime job. So, it is implied that the example of the women is working during the day and the example of the couple in bed is at night. With these specific examples that Jesus gave us, it gives us specific insight to the fact that the rapture is going to be a worldwide event that takes place quickly. Where, Lord? Now, nothing like the rapture has ever happened before, and the disciples heard what Jesus said and wanted more information about it. That is totally understandable, wanting to understand an event that to our human minds seems impossible. It’s such a large-scale event, to happen worldwide, and a super quick one at that – it seems logical that His disciples wanted to have as good a grasp on it as they could. But Jesus didn’t tell answer them exactly the way they were probably wanting, He instead used a poetic, almost proverb type response when He said, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” Jesus wasn’t trying to give them a non-answer, but He did often speak in parables and such and this is similar in that regard. Jesus is basically saying that when the time comes when judgement is ripe, that is where judgement will happen, and we’ll see the signs. David Guzik, a pastor and Bible commentator, said it well - “We may say this with some confidence: The Bible describes certain political, economic, spiritual, social, and military characteristics regarding what the world will be like before His return. It is fair to say that the conditions exist today, and the stage is set.” We live in the end times. We see the signs. Jesus is coming soon! How To Respond Just in looking at these few verses, there doesn’t appear to be a clear way that we’re supposed to respond to this…so we need to look back and forward a little for our application. The last verse before this, Jesus prefaced His words here with, “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” And as we move next week into Luke 18, the first verse says, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Jesus bookended these verses on the rapture with a clear message – Love God even over your own life, pray without ceasing, and don’t lose heart. This life is hard, and the enemy is using the world in his efforts...
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    10 分
  • Remember Lot's Wife

    Remember Lot's Wife
    2024/09/12

    On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. (Luke 17:31-33)

    As we move forward to these verses, remember that the context Jesus was talking about is the end times, and He had told us the days would come when we desire to see Him come back and that false Messiahs would rise up but that we shouldn’t go out or follow them. With that in mind, Jesus is admonishing us to not cling to the things of this world, but to cling tightly to Him alone.

    Goods in the House

    Jesus is about to mention the rapture (which we’ll dig into next week), and He’s prefacing it with a heart check.

    We should not be concerning ourselves with the goods in the house and be focused on them as if we could even bring them with us in the end. Sure, we have houses, we have goods and things that we use to survive and maintain life while we’re here on earth, but those things are of no value to us in the end and will ultimately be left behind.

    Our heart shouldn’t be concerned with what will be left behind in our house, but instead remembering and looking forward to where our home truly is in heaven.

    Lot’s Wife

    It’s interesting that Jesus references an event all the way back in Genesis when talking about the end times, and that one little three worded sentence, Remember Lot’s wife, is a strong warning for us.

    That word for “remember” means to be mindful of, to hold in your memory, to rehearse – and used in this context, it basically means to regularly be mindful of in order to learn a lesson from it.

    In the account of Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed, we read about Lot and his family being saved by angels right before it was destroyed. And the angels warned them not to look back or stop when they said “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” (Genesis 19:17)

    Now this warning of not looking back or stopping was both a practical and spiritual one for them, because they needed to quickly get out and away so they didn’t get physically swept away in the destruction; but to look back and stop would also be a heart issue of longing for those days lived in those cities of sin. And yet, despite the warnings, we read that “Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:26)

    Lot’s wife wanted to preserve and longed for the life she had lived in that sinful city, despite being told not to, that the judgment of it was being preserved into a pillar of salt. Lot’s wife stopped and looked back at what she was told to turn away from and it destroyed her. But it wouldn’t have just happen all of a sudden, she was likely lingering in her mind and heart, longing to look and turn back, and what she set her mind on is what she did.

    To Preserve or Lose

    In light of all this – not loving things more than God and the fact that what Lot’s wife set her mind on is what she did – it brings to mind what Paul said in Colossians 3:2-4, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” If we are earthly minded, we are going to be more about the things of this world than the things above it. But if we are setting our minds on the things that are above, then we have Jesus as our focus and we truly have, regardless of what we lose in this world. And we have that as a guarantee because Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

    This all comes down to our identity – are we of the world or in Christ? There is a stark contrast between one who is in love with the world and tries to preserve their identity in it, versus one who is in love with Jesus and is willing to lose their life to maintain their identity in Him and keep it.

    Christ is everything! Therefore, may we heed the warning and remember Lot’s wife; always being willing to lose anything, to gain everything in Christ.
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    8 分
  • Do Not Go Out or Follow Them

    Do Not Go Out or Follow Them
    2024/09/05
    And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:22-30) In the days of Jesus, the hope of the Messiah’s coming was strong. However, last week we saw that the teachers of the day were setting the expectation of Messiah based on misinterpretation of Scripture and their own desires for a political leader to rise up and free them from the rule of Rome. We know that Jesus truly is Messiah and He did come and fulfill hundreds of prophecies concerning the long-awaited Messiah. But the Jewish people largely did not accept Him as Messiah. However, this passage doesn’t only concern His first coming as the suffering servant that He is, but also refers to His second coming as well. That is important to note because it doesn’t only relate to the Jewish people, but to everyone. Charles Feinberg, a Jewish man born in 1909 and who came to faith in Christ at the age of 21 and began teaching at Biola University in 1948, said that since Jesus’ time, there have been 64 different individuals who have claimed to be the Messiah. And considering Charles died in 1995, there are likely way more than that by now. David M. Levy, the former director of International Ministries for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, noted that, “Modern Judaism (Reform) has reinterpreted the messianic hope. Instead of a “personal Messiah”, [they believe] there will come a messianic age which is brought about through the humanist progression of world leaders negotiating for peace.” Isn’t that interesting, especially in light of the days to come that read about in Revelation. Jesus warned his disciples then and warns us now because He knew other false Messiah’s would rise up, and He knew the tendency of the people to recreate and interpret Scripture to fit their own idea of how things should go. How gracious of Jesus to give us this warning and help us be mindful to keep our eyes on Him and Him alone! As It Was in the Days of Noah We have an account of the days of Noah and Sodom, which Jesus references here, preserved in the pages of our Bible. If we look back at what the days were like back then, we see this: These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (Genesis 6:9-12) The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. (Genesis 20:1-7) In our current days, is it really any different than those days? In fact, I’d say we’re probably worse. The very things that God has spoken against are the very things our culture tends to elevate as good. Paul warned about this in his day as well when he wrote to Timothy saying, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather ...
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