Luke Part 36: Principles of the Way of the Kingdom

Text: Luke 9:51-62

This passage continues on with Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom. These teachings have been grouped together for our edification; they are not in chronological order. Also, the people described in these incidents remain unnamed and are not important. Each person's path is unique. We are all going the same direction, yet we have different experiences, experiences, and flaws. These principles must be applied to our own lives as they fit.

This passage contains four incidents from which principles may be seen.

First (v. 51-56), we see Jesus and the Samaritans. Jesus was passing through Samaria and sent the apostles ahead to prepare for Him a place to stay. But the people in Samaria would not receive Him, because of their religious bigotry. The Samaritans were a mixed group of people who had cultural and religious differences from the Jews. The had their own center of worship, so they rejected Jesus because He was going on to Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship. The disciples wanted to respond by calling down fire, but Jesus said no -- that was not why He came.

The principle to be gained from this passage is that rejection is to be expected. Jesus was rejected. You will be rejected upon sharing the gospel. It is not due to our failure, a lack of providing the correct information to the hearer. Rather, it is due to a moral failure on the hearer's part. What is our response? Not to be angry and wish them harmed, but to love them and continue on.

Next (v57, 58), we have the example of the willing follower. A man tells Jesus he is ready to follow Him, so Jesus explains that he will have to live an unsettled existence.

The principle? We are traveling through this life. We shouldn't be trying to find a settled, permanent comfortable home here. This life here is a short stop. It will not always be a comfortable existence -- we must be stepping out of our comfort zone.

In verses 59 and 60 we have the example of a man who was called to follow Jesus, but first asked to bury his father. Now, in the culture of the Jews, burying a father was the highest responsibility of the oldest son. This was a very important thing. But Jesus taught the principle that nothing -- even this thing -- was to take precedence over the commands of Christ. This was no minor issue, but still it held no comparison to obeying Christ's commands.

The final example (v61, 62) is of a man who wanted to follow Jesus, but first he needed to say goodbye to his family. This was a man with a mixed love. He was saying, "I love the Lord, but I love my family equally." The point here is that our love for Christ must be supreme. Our eyes must be fixed on Christ. We must serve Christ with singleness of heart and singleness of mind.

Note that Christ does not condemn normal life experiences. These things are used as teaching tools, for us to apply these principles and keep proper perspective in our relationship with our families and our Lord.

Luke, Part 6: Zacharias’ Prophecy

Text: Luke 1:67-79

After Zacharias’ tongue was loosened, he burst forth with praise and prophecy.  We are told he was filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning he was under the Spirit’s control.  He was illuminated by the Spirit; he gained new insights into the Word of God that he was already familiar with.

Two of the aspects of prophecy are present in what Zacharias said: an accurate understanding of the Word, and a view of the future.  The entire prophecy of Zacharias is composed of only two sentences.  The first is a praise to God, and the second is a prophecy of the ministry of Zacharias’ son John.  This post will discuss the first sentence (v. 68-75).

First, we see that Zacharias sees the end outworking of God’s promises to be completely certain at their beginning.  So he says God has “visited us and accomplished redemption for His people.”  The redemption was so certain to him that he declared it complete.

He mentions that God has raised up a “horn of salvation”.  The “horn” refers to power and glory made evident.  So this salvation was becoming visible as Jesus Christ was being revealed.

Then Zacharias describes how the coming of Christ is the fulfillment of all the prophets.  He specifically mentions Abraham, and how this is the fulfillment of the covenant made to Abraham, the covenant that God condescended to confirm to us with an oath.

Zacharias prophesied that the Redeemer would deliver them from their “enemies”.  Who are our enemies that Christ delivers us from?

1. Our sinful nature.  Man’s natural state is sinful.  In this state, you are the center of your life and you are driven to seek what is good for you.
2. The practice of sin.  The more we sin, the more it becomes a habit.  As we get in the habit of pleasing ourselves and we do it more and more, it has an ever-greater grip upon us.
3. The devil and his hosts.  Satan does all he can to hold men under his power.  He works by first bringing a temptation, then if we fall into sinning, and sin willfully, we are inviting him to take more and more power over us.
4. Fear.  Fear is our enemy and is specifically mentioned in this section (v. 74).  All men are gripped by some fear – fear of death, fear of other men, and other fears, some irrational.

Christ has come and delivered us from these enemies.  He has performed the mercy promise.

The ultimate end of what Christ has done is not to merely make us Christians to get us out of hell and continue to live our same lives.  He has created a people to serve Him.  That is the reason He has redeemed us, to serve Him in holiness and righteousness (v. 74, 75).  We are no longer sinful in nature, but we have been made holy to serve God in holiness.  Thus, we can now do what is right before God.

Finally, the prophecy declared that we would serve God without fear.  This must have been astounding to the Jews of that time, who were used to striving under the fear of God, always cognizant of their guilt before the Perfect and Holy One.  But this prophecy declared that we should serve Him, without fear, in His very presence – and that we should do so “all our days”.  What a wonderful promise: dwelling eternally in God’s presence without fear!

Philippians, continued -- Living out a Christian Worldview

Text: Philippians 1:19-30

In this section of Philippians, Paul lays out a Christian worldview. This is not quite like the Christian worldview that we see espoused by so many today -- Paul does not expect that the world at large will, or ever can, conform to God's standard of holiness. Paul's Christian worldview can be summed in four points:

1. Everything will come out for good to those who love Christ. Paul is confident (v. 19) that his imprisonment will be "to his salvation". Now, Paul is already saved. But the salvation he is refering to is that he will continue to bloom and be sustained. Note the role of prayer in this. Prayer is what God uses to sustain the believer.



2. Regardless of what happens, Paul is living for the glorification of Christ. (v20, 21), that Christ would be magnified. This is what brings Paul satisfaction; this is his desire - that Christ would be glorified in him and that the world would see Christ in him.



3. It is crucial for Christians to live this life in hope of seeing the Saviour face-to-face in glory. We hold this world loosely; it is not our home. We are looking forward to what the old saints called the "long home", where we will spend eternity living with the Lord.
   Paul says it is "very much better" to be with Christ; this could be translated, "far, far, far better".



4. Paul, if he is to remain here in this life, is remaining here for the sake of others. (v 22-24) "yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake"

Based on this worldview, Paul offers an admonition: "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." This might be intended to bring to mind the actions of Roman citizens who had been planted into Philippi to bring Rome into that province. These citizens were called to live out their Roman citizenship in Philippi, being examples of Rome to the natives. In such a way, we are to live out our heavenly citizenship here in the world.

Paul doesn't say, "Follow the rules I have laid out in my other epistles", or "obey the Law given to Moses". Rather he says to live "in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ". Paul recognizes that he is speaking to reasonable, regenerate people who have the mind of Christ.

The crucial element of this admonition is the gospel. Your life will either adorn, or help, the gospel or clash with, or oppose it. Are you a new creature in Christ? Act like it! Do you hate sin because it nailed Christ to the cross? Then kill sin in your own life! Live out what you claim to be, what you are.

"With one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" Each of the members of the body is striving in unison to encourage and strengthen the whole.

(v28) Do not be afraid of your adversaries. The fact that they are opposing the gospel is a "sign of destruction" to them - a sure omen that they are under "perdition" - continual, eternal destruction. But for Christians, this adversity is a sure sign of our salvation.

(v29) Our belief and our suffering have been given to us by Christ. Our belief - salvation is all of Christ. Our suffering - what we suffer is from his hand and to further His purposes.