Luke's Gospel

We're gonna turn to God's word now. And if you can grab your bibles and, turn to Luke's world, versus 49 to 59 less on page 1 0 4 6 in the church of Bibles. I have come to bring fire on the earth and how I wish you were already kindled But I have a baptism to undergo. And what constraint I am under until it is completed? Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?

No. I tell you, but division. From now on, there will be 5 in 1 family divided against each other, 3 against 2 and 2 against 3. They will be divided father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

He said to the crowd, when you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately, you say it's going to rain, and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say it's going to be hot, and it is. HIPicryps, you know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it then that you don't don't know how to interpret this present time? Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?

As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way. Your adversary may drag you up to the judge and the judge turn you over to the officer and then the officer throw you in prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last morning. Good to be with you this evening. Welcome to you if you are a member here.

If you are joining us for the first time you are welcome as well. It's good to have some new students amongst us sitting in the cafe as they normally do, even if they're here for the first time, they just default to cafe, for some reason. But it's great to have you and, a very warm, warm welcome to you. My name is Tom Sweitman. I'm the assistant pastor and student worker here at the church.

And, we have been working our way through this incredible chapter of Luke chapter 12, and we have come to the last portion of it this evening. So, as we begin, let's bow our heads and ask for god's help together. The Psalmists says your word, lord, is eternal. It stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations.

You established the earth and it endures. Your laws endure to this day. Father, we thank you that we come to you and we can acknowledge that you are the eternal god. And father, we know that this world changes so quickly. Things come and go.

Things look glorious 1 day and are gone the next, that even our own thoughts and emotions are so changeable. We are so insecure in many ways. We change our emotions and our thoughts and our feelings so very often. And yet we thank you that in this world of uncertainty, 2 things are sure, your word and your faithfulness endure forever. And we thank you that we come to this word, which has endured.

And we pray that you would speak to us that you would be kind and faithful to us. And that each 1 of us might hear a word from you, our heavenly father. And pray that as we leave, we would be, more committed to following you and to loving you. And we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Religion causes war.

That's, 1 of the many cliches that we hear at Fresh's Fair every year. I'm sure you've heard it as well. And, there is some truth in it, isn't it? No, no 1 would deny that over the ages, there have been some major conflicts in the name of religion. But normally, that is not what people mean when they say religion causes war.

What they're really saying is that if we didn't have religion, there wouldn't be war, which is a different thing as if the absence of religion would suddenly cure the human heart. There would be no more lust for power, no more greed, no more cruelty. If we could just get rid of religion, then it would solve the problem of the human heart and we would all live in peace together. That was certainly John Lennon, argument, wasn't it, in his famous song? Imagine there's no countries.

It's not hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. Imagine But, of course, in reality, we don't we don't actually have to imagine because leaders of the past have done more than imagine They have experimented with that idea. Let's get rid of religion.

Let's adopt an atheistic world view and run a in a nation in an atheistic way, and then it will produce what will it produce? All the people living in peace or some of the most horrendous acts of cruelty ever known to man. Millions and millions and millions have died in the name of atheism. So you take religion out of the picture, and it actually does nothing to cure the sinfulness of the human heart. So when people say religion causes war, if they mean it in that sense, it's a pretty rubbish argument.

But there is another sentence in which it is absolutely true. Verse 51, Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No. I tell you, but division. Now let's be clear on what Jesus is actually saying here.

He is not commanding violence. Unlike many other religions and philosophies, the message of Christ must not and will not progress by the sword. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world. When 1 of his disciples tried to progress the faith with the sword, he said, put it away. We are called to proclaim peace, peace with god, peace with 1 another through the pit prints of peace, Jesus Christ.

Luke has been at great pains to show us that in his gospel. When the angels came to the Shepard, he tells us verse on the screen, that suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising god and saying, glory to god in the highest and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests. Just before he sent the 72 out in Luke chapter 10, Jesus said this. Go, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals and do not greet anyone on the road when you enter a house first say peace.

To this house. And then that famous scene in Luke 24, when Jesus appears in his resurrection glory, And while they were still talking, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. Anybody who takes up the sword in the name of Jesus has nothing to do with Jesus. From first to last, he is the prince of peace. But here's the thing.

The message of peace The message of peace with god through Jesus Christ, that message of shalom to borrow the Hebrew word that we are called to preach divides the people of the world. It does not preach conflict and opposition. It preaches peace but it produces conflict and opposition. It is in a sense a declaration of war on the world. Even in the places where we would expect most unity, the family, There is going to be division.

And those are those are Jesus's words. This is not Luke's take on things. This is not my take on things. This is what our lord says about his coming. Verse 51, do you think that I came to bring peace on earth?

No. I tell you, but division. In chapter 12, Jesus has become progressively less comfortable, hasn't he? Everybody wants the Jesus of Luke too, the prince of peace. But how about the Jesus that is being gradually revealed to us in Luke 12, cutting up his enemies when he returns?

Beating his unfaithful servants, fire upon the earth, a baptism of suffering, division, judgment, opposition. These are the things that the lord Jesus is wanting to talk about. And as I say, it's a lot less comfortable But as we're going to see in the bible, it is just as important that we hear this Jesus. Last week, there was 1 big point. Jesus Christ is coming again.

And tonight, we are dealing with the subject of, so what happens as we wait. What are we to expect as disciples of the lord Jesus as we live on tiptoes ushering back the return of our master? What are we to expect? What life gonna be like for us. Well, the first point is this, and I've borrowed the heading from the NIV.

We are to expect not peace. But division, not peace, but division. Verse 49 to 51. I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed.

Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No. I tell you, but division. So we start with these 2 incredible longings, fire, and how I wish it were already kindled. Baptism, and what constraint I am under until it is completed, these longings of the lord Jesus, speaking in very emotive language.

And when it comes to the baptism, Jesus is referring to his own suffering. He used that metaphor a number of times to describe the agony of the cross. That is what life was gonna be like for him as he was nailed to a tree outside Jerusalem. He would in a sense be plunged under the waters of our sin. He would be immersed in the darkness of our rebellion.

He would go down into the water, cut off, and god forsaken before rising up out of the waters in resurrection glory. And as you can see, the closer he got to that baptism, the more it dominated him. The thought of the cross and his sufferings were all consuming. The thought and the shadow of the cross was was governing his life. This was his hour.

This was the reason that he had come, not for judgment. But for the salvation of sinners. And yet, he says the preaching of that baptism The preaching of the cross would be fire on the earth. In other words, as the world hears about the of the Christ, judgment day begins. As the gospel is preached, judgment day comes forward, and it starts.

Luke 3 17. Here's John the Baptist describing the Ministry of Christ. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. It sounds a lot like judgment day, doesn't it?

And in 1 sense, it is, but no, this is actually a description of Jesus' ministry, not his second coming. His gospel was going to be like a winnowing fork. Apparently, that is the instrument that you would use. In order to separate the wheat from the chaff. So you would have a pile of harvested grain on the threshing floor.

You would get your sharpest and best winnowing fork you would go up when the nice breeze was blowing, you would put the fork into the pile, throw it up into the air, and you would trust the wind to take away the chaff the stuff that you didn't want, and the weight of the good grain would bring it back down to the ground. It was an instrument for separation. And so is the message of Jesus Christ. It is designed for separation As they heard about his suffering and his baptism, either they would turn in faith and be saved, or they would turn away and be cursed. Either they would be weighty and fall down to the ground in repentance.

Or they would be blown away in the fire of his judgment. And as you can see in verse 49, There is a sense in which Jesus longed that that judgment upon the world would be completed. Verse 49, o how I wish it were already kindled. In other words, he longs that this whole business would be complete. That his suffering would be finished.

That the people of god would be gathered in, but also that his enemies would be cast out and that a final judgment would come. He longed for his work, both of salvation and judgment to be completed. And so you see, that is how we can interpret what seems like a contradiction. The type we would find in John 12 and John 9. That is how both of these verses can be true on the screen.

If anyone hears my word but does not keep them, I do not judge that person for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. Jesus said for judgment, I have come into this world. So that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. So he did not come to judge the world in that final sense, but the message of the cross would be fire on the earth. To all who heard it and believed, salvation, but to those who would not come, separation from god and judgment.

In other words, the world was going to divide around the message of the cross. The world would separate at the preaching of the baptism. And as we know, That is still the case, isn't it? That is still the case today. Most people can unite a rounder version of Jesus.

Most people can. If you're willing to compromise on his character, most people can unite around some version of Jesus. But when it comes to this Jesus, fire on the earth, baptized on the cross. The 1 who would suffer and die to open 1 door to a lost world, just 1 door, and the 1 who would come in judgment When it comes to him, the world will not unite around him. The world divides.

And because that is true, we should expect opposition. Even in the place where we would expect most unity, the family, We should expect opposition because the world divides, that is what we ought to expect. Have a look with me at verse 52 going into verse 53. From now on, there will be 5 in 1 family divided against each other. 3 against a 2 and 2 against 3.

They will be divided, father against son and son against father. Mother against daughter and daughter against mother. Mother in law, against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. And for Jesus, that wasn't just a theory, was it? Before his crucifixion, even his own brothers would not believe.

They thought that Jesus was out of his mind That's why he said the prophet has no honor in his hometown and among his home people. He was rejected and disbelieved even in his own home there was separation. And of course, many here from experience will know what that is like. There used to be a family in the church you've moved on now. And, I was talking to the father 1 day, and they had 2 young boys, And, he was telling me a story about a family Sunday lunch that they were having together, and they'd invited grandma and granddad Brown and the whole family were were eating together.

And, before they began their meal, they said thanks. And the way they did it in this particular home was that each person would go around table and say a word of thanks to god for the day and for the food. And, when it came to the grandad, who wasn't a believer, they he just quiet and didn't refuse to say anything. And, after the prayer time was finished, 1 of the boys, the younger boy turned to his granddad and said, granddad, why don't you give thanks to god for your food? And he stood up in that moment, dropped slam down his fork and knife, and he stormed out of the room.

And you just think it's amazing, isn't it? A grandson and a grand dad divided over Christ? In some families, there might be general apathy towards Christian things, but in other families, even the men of the name of Jesus reveals that a deep divide exists between you. And it's sad, isn't it? Often you've shared so much of life together, same home, same holidays, same schools.

So many christmases and birthdays shared together. In in some ways, there is so much in common. But at the core of who you are, there is the most significant difference. And it is to do with Jesus and his cross. And because that is not the sort of difference that you can just agree not to talk about, like Brexit, you know, where you might say, look, our views are so different here.

It's probably wise we don't bring this up again because this issue really matters Because it is a message that they need, because Jesus is coming again 1 day in judgment, because his salvation is such good news. He cannot be ignored. I'm not saying we'd have to preach it at every occasion, but there will be a settled unease. Because that divide really, really matters. And you long for them to know Jesus Christ.

And the thing is sometimes gloriously, they do come to know Jesus. I mean, I'm sure she won't mind me telling you, but the other week I was down in, south end for Hanadiers, baptism, Hanadiers, 1 of the members of the church here, and it was a great joy to see her being back ties before her home congregation, followed by both her mum and her brother who had all so come to know the lord Jesus in the past year. There had been 3 sound, true conversions in that family. They toppled like dominoes. To the lord Jesus.

And, it was wonderful to behold the glorious work of god, uniting that family together in Jesus. But it doesn't always happen. And the plain teaching of this passage is that the message of Christ and specifically I think his baptism is fire on the earth. The message which brings peace will bring opposition. Into the family.

That is no accident. It is not a mistake. It is not an unwanted unforeseen byproduct. In a very real sense, Jesus came not for peace, but for division. And so therefore, as we wait for him until he returns, it shouldn't surprise us if we taste something of that.

So that's the first point. What are we to expect as we wait for Jesus, not peace, but division. But after that word to the disciples, Jesus turns back to the crowds with a similar lesson. And again, I think the NIV summarizes it quite well. Interpreting the times.

There is a sense in which this whole passage is about interpreting the times. Jesus wants the disciples and the crowd to understand the times they live in to know what to expect to know who he is and to prepare for what's coming. And to help the crowds do that, he has 2 illustrations lined up for them And if you're British, the first 1 is a cracker. We just get it, don't we? Verse 54, He said to the crowd, when you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say it's going to rain.

And it does. And when the south wind blows, you say it's gonna be hot, and it is. Hippocrats You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Now, as I say, when it comes to reading the weather, the British are very sophisticated.

We we've got access to the technology. We've got forecasting software. We've got the apps on our phone. We know that there is billions of pounds invested in satellites and modeling technology. In order to provide us with up to the minute forecasts, but the British don't really need it because they can read their weather.

They know what's happening. When it's muggy, they say, cool. We need a good storm, don't we? We need a good storm. When we see the clouds in their many different shades of gray, we know exactly what coming, we can predict it.

In fact, we're so used to rain. We can even comment on sorts of rain. You know, whether it's a drizzle or a mist or a light rain. We know whether it's a shower or whether it's in for the day. We've got these forecasting skills, haven't we?

That are just built into us by virtue of our experience in this random weather country. We've learned to be pretty good forecasters. Or forget the weather. You think about how we can read ourselves. The technology that we have that allows us to see into a womb and to witness an unborn baby heart beating.

That is incredible technology. The kind of scanners which can produce these 3 d models of the brain that are so sophisticated they can match every blood vessel and enable surgeons to plan their operations down to the millimeter. It's amazing. All this technology that we have. We can read the environment, we can read ourselves, and yet we remain so very blind.

For all of our forecasting technology, we cannot read the spiritual climate. And for all of our medical technology, we cannot diagnose the basic problem of the human condition. And that was the situation here. These crowds could make incredible weather predictions, but they could not recognize the times of the Messiah. They were very able to prepare for a storm, but they couldn't prepare for the storm of god's judgment.

That was coming upon the world. They did not know they were living in crisis times that the winnowing fork was in the hand that the Christ had come, that they needed to repent and trust in his baptism. They didn't see it. They weren't reading the signs. And that's important because according to Jesus, the problem is not ignorance.

What is the problem? The problem is hypocrisy. These crowds were not in the dark. They had seen the signs, but they refused to repent. Ignorance wasn't their problem.

Hippocracy was their problem. I remember talking to 1 evangelist about university missions, and, apparently, when he was speaking to atheists, 1 of the lines he would sometimes use, not regularly, because it is quite hostile, but 1 of the lines he would sometimes use is, it's not that you don't believe in god You just don't like the 1 you know that's there. It's not that you don't believe in him. You just don't like the 1 you know that's there. In other words, ignorance is not your problem.

Denile is your problem. Refusing to follow the evidence is your problem. And Jesus says the same of this crowd. They're not reading the signs. Not because they can't.

Not because they haven't seen enough. But because they won't. 1 Bible commentator says on the screen, just as clouds from the western sea mean rain, and wind from the southeast southern desert means heat. The advent of the carpenter of Nazareth is the most significant happening in all human history. But the majority of men who can see meanings and connections and relationships in most of the phenomena in the world around them and all the more so as their civilization becomes more sophisticated and rationalistic, are ranked hippocrits when they look at Jesus Christ and pretend that they can make nothing of the remarkable facts of his life death and resurrection.

Now let's remember that at 1 time, that was that was us, wasn't it? We were those rank Hippocrats who thought nothing of Jesus, and if it wasn't for his grace, we'd still be there. But the point is well made, isn't it? If this crowd and if our country were as discerning about spiritual things as we are about the weather, we would be a lot better off, wouldn't we? So ironic that at the moment, and we've said this before perhaps there is so much interest in saving the planet.

You know, people are looking at the climate and the future of the planet, and they're saying, we are going to become extinct very soon. If we carry on the way we are, we are going to become extinct. We need to prepare as we read the weather, we must prepare. But for all of that, who is reading the spiritual climate? And who is preparing for the Christ, who is coming in judgment.

And for Christians, I think there's a more general application here about reading the world that we're in. Reading our times. I don't know how you feel, but it's easy for me at least to despair as we look at the world and we see the secular agenda just marching on, you know, the identity revolution and the sexual revolution, they continue to march forward and gain influence and power in our schools, in universities, and it is worrying. But from another angle, god has told us how to read these times. We have been given over to a depraved mind and that is the fruit of it.

And until the lord returns, that will be true. We have suppressed the knowledge of god and been given over to our sin. These are the times that we are in. And so in 1 sense, let us not be surprised. These are our times.

God tells us how to interpret them. But equally, he tells us that the gospel is still the power of god for the salvation of this world. And so knowing our times is to know, yes, our culture will continue to march away from god. And in 1 sense, we are to expect nothing less. But Christ is still the hope of the nations.

And so we mustn't become cynical. We mustn't become cynical. We can be gospel realists, but we mustn't become cynics. Because actually through Christ and his gospel, there is hope of redemption. So that is how to read the times.

We understand the world we're in and the gospel it needs. So firstly, there's the weather And second very briefly and very similarly is this lawsuit, verse 57 to 59. Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Now, it feels very kind of disconnect at this point, doesn't it? But it's actually it's actually the very same point. Jesus is saying, look, here here's a situation that you might face in this life. And if you did, you would take great measures to sort it out. If you found yourself in this kind of legal battle, you would do whatever you could to stay out of prison before you met the judge.

Wouldn't you? You'd do whatever you could. If you knew you were gonna be thrown into an everlasting prison, you would jolly well try to settle before it was too late. You would read the times. You would see what was coming, and you would take action to avoid a sticky end.

So you see it's quite similar, isn't it? If we knew a storm was coming, we would prepare. And if we were on the way to court about to face a judge, it would be a good idea to try and settle. And Jesus' point is, yes, but how many apply the same wisdom to escape in god's judgment? How many realize that at any moment, They will be in the dock before the almighty judge of heaven and earth Jesus Christ.

And therefore, they need to settle with him. The court before his gavel comes down. The weather and the courtroom are both saying read the times. And do what you can while you can before it's too late. And so if you're here, and you're not a believer in the lord Jesus.

Prap perhaps you're in the crowd. You belong in this crowd, so to speak, just sitting in tonight. Well, Jesus is talking to you through the word of god this evening. Perhaps you're here, and you would consider yourself to be a very scientific person a very rationalistic person. You can read the world.

Or maybe you think of yourself as a philosopher 1 who understands the human condition and what the real problem is. But do you read your own spiritual times properly? Christ, the judge is coming, and it is time to repent before it's too late. It is time to repent and turn to him. This 1 who was baptized on the cross for you.

This 1 who knew your every sin, and yet was willing to come and go to the cross and to hang there and to be forsaken and baptized into our darkness so that we could come up in his resurrection glory. He came for that purpose to save so that if we will repent and believe, we can be guaranteed that when we do meet him 1 day, we won't have to hear that gavel come down and that condemnation upon us, but he will greet us as a warm and loving savior. Now is the time. Read the time. Read the times.

If a storm was coming, you would prepare. If you were gonna go to court, you were gonna lose and be thrown in jail, you would do what you could to settle while you could. But will you settle with the son of man before it's too late? That would be a wise way to interpret our times. And I reckon at the end of this chapter, when we have thought a lot about the return of Jesus, the Savior, and the Judge.

It seems good to give you an opportunity to do that if you are not a Christian. And so what I've got on the screen is is a is a brief prayer. And this prayer just gives you some words. It's the kind of prayer that someone might pray if they wanted to turn from their sins and trust in Jesus before it was too late. It's not a magical formula.

Doesn't sort of mean you're gonna be suddenly zapped from heaven. But it gives you words to express confession and repentance and to receive the new life that the lord Jesus offers. I'll put this prayer on the screen and I'll read it quietly, and then give a moment of quiet for all of us to reflect in whatever way seems appropriate. Dear Lord, I know that I'm not worthy to be accepted by you. I don't deserve your gift of eternal life.

I'm guilty of rebelling against you and ignoring you. I need forgiveness. Thank you for sending your son to undergo a baptism. To suffer and die for me so that I may be forgiven. Thank you that he rose from the dead to give me new life.

Please forgive me and change me. Help me to live with Jesus as my lord as I wait for him to return in his name. Oh, man.