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[0:00] Good evening. Welcome back. It feels like I need to take a couple of rolls of chairs out. Move to the back. All right. We're trying to get back into the groove of teaching and of going through this course. So we're on page 41, not 41, 16 in your books, 41 in mine.

[0:34] So that's where we want to start today. The Roman numeral 8. Let's again invite the Lord to lead us in prayer. Father, we're grateful again you're allowing us to gather. Thank you for your presence and thank you for the riches of your word.

[1:09] Thank you for your walk here on earth that taught us so much and not only by words but by example. And as we continue to go through this, Lord, that you would continue to speak to our hearts in these matters that we too could be your disciples. In Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:37] Okay. Okay. So we'd ended up in John chapter 10.

[1:51] John chapter 10. And his withdrawal from Judea in A there.

[2:08] I kind of think we might have read that. I'm not sure. But we'll reread it regardless because it gives the context for what's coming.

[2:21] So John 10. And three verses there, 40 to 42. Okay. And he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed.

[2:45] And then many came to him and said, John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this man were true. And many believed in him there.

[2:57] So the last lesson we had before this last week was where Jesus confronted the Jews and said, you do not understand because you're not my sheep.

[3:13] And he said, my sheep hear my voice. My sheep follow me. And I give them eternal life.

[3:26] And no one can snatch or take a sheep out of my hands. They're mine. And so he made those statements, and they lifted up stones.

[3:42] And he said, I and my father are one. And so they tried to, actually they wanted to kill him right there. And so with that, we have the verses following.

[3:57] He can no longer minister there in Judea, Jerusalem. And so now he's gone to where John was baptizing. And again, this map is very, very small, but this yellow is Judea, the province.

[4:16] Jerusalem is there. The green is the province of Perea. And Herod the king was governing both greens, Galilee, the province of Galilee, and Perea.

[4:29] And so not the Herod that lived when Jesus was born, but one of his sons was the king over.

[4:42] And so now Jesus leaves, and he goes beyond the Jordan, and that's Gadara's there. That's where John was baptizing and ministering, preaching.

[4:55] So Jesus now, the next phase of his ministry is a bit away from Jerusalem. But as tonight ends, we're going to be back in Jerusalem already and with the resurrection of Lazarus.

[5:09] And so we had the feast of dedication, remember, back, that Jesus attended, and then after that, he had to leave.

[5:20] And that was in December, just before our Christmas time, and at Passover, in April, he's going to die. So we're that close.

[5:32] Okay? So that gives the context for what we're going to go through today in the time period. All right.

[5:44] So let's continue going to the next one, B. So we're back into Luke, and we'll be in Luke for most of tonight.

[5:55] So Luke 13. And so this whole section now, the last three, four months here, we've called it the preparation of the disciples by the Messiah.

[6:20] And so he is preparing them, and he'll introduce his death and so on as we go. So Luke 13, and 22 to 35.

[6:39] I'll start with you today. Does anyone need a book? Does not have a book to follow? I have two books left.

[6:53] It's just if you want to take notes, or come and get it. Whoever wants one. Okay, so Luke 13, 22.

[7:11] And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to him, Lord, are there few who are saved?

[7:22] And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us.

[7:40] And he will answer and say to you, I do not know you, where you are from. Then you will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know you, where you are from.

[7:54] Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and yourselves thrust out.

[8:08] They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed, there are last who will be first and there are first who will be last.

[8:20] On that very day, some Pharisees came saying to him, Get out and depart from here, for Herodos wants to kill you. And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will be perfected.

[8:38] Nevertheless, I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.

[8:53] How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate, and assuredly I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

[9:12] Okay, thank you. Okay, so he is, he is, it says, making his way through villages and towns, teaching and preaching, and one comes to him and asks, will there only be few that are saved?

[9:33] Asking outright. And, and maybe, maybe it's in light of the rejection that he is just experiencing, well, not only in Galilee, but more recently in Judea.

[9:45] so, so this disciple, not, not one of the twelve, but one of the crowd following, will there only be few? And, I think from a Jewish context, he is asking, how many are going to enter the kingdom age?

[10:08] That's his, I think that's the core question. How many are going to enter that thousand year reign when, when you are king? And, as of this time, they did not, still not see the age, the church age in between.

[10:27] So, they thought it was going to be right there. And, so he's asking, how many, or will there only be few? And, Jesus answers, strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

[10:46] So, what does the narrow gate represent? So, we have the narrow gate and the wide gate in Matthew, chapter 7. And, we had looked at that last spring.

[10:59] But, what does the narrow gate represent? to follow Jesus.

[11:12] He is the gate to eternal life. And, it's a narrow gate. Right? And, that's why the world calls Christians narrow-minded when we say there is only one way to Christ or one way to God.

[11:29] It's through Christ. because Jesus can legitimately say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

[11:42] And, we can say that without being narrow-minded because it's God's way. It's God's mind. And, and so, that's, that's the question that Jesus says.

[11:54] There is only one way. So, he doesn't answer him directly by saying there's going to be 17,349 people entering the kingdom. That's what the question was, right?

[12:07] How many? But, he says, rather, enter by the narrow way. Believe in me. I have, he has just finished teaching them, I give eternal life.

[12:22] And, and so, on the heels of that, he's saying, believe in me. That's the only way. And, so, even today, we have, we don't have numbers, right?

[12:35] We don't know how many believers there are in the world. And, it's not important to us. But, one at a time, we want to bring to Christ so that they can believe and enter by that narrow way.

[12:50] So, what does the broad way represent? Hell? That's, that's maybe the result of the broad way.

[13:01] Yeah. Satan's way, the world's way. And, in the context here, the broad way would be the Pharisee's way, in the Jewish context.

[13:12] But, today, for us, the broad way is anything not Christ is the broad way, right? Okay, then Jesus continues with saying that, I say to you, many will seek to enter and will not be able to.

[13:33] He gives the analogy of a house that's been secured for night, and perhaps their culture is a little bit different. Gates might be shut, and doors locked, and you're kind of off limits right now.

[13:49] And, well, maybe our house is like that too at night. But, he gives that picture that once the master of the house has shut the door, and if you knock and say, Lord, Lord, open, and he will answer, I do not know you, where you are from.

[14:10] And so, like, like someone that's retired for the night, and he doesn't want to rise to open the door, Jesus, when he shuts that door, that's it.

[14:28] And, again, it reminds me of the ark when that door was shut, how many people knocked. And so, here, here he's saying, when the door is shut, and people will come and want to get in, and they'll say, Lord, Lord, remember us?

[14:49] And he said, I do not know you. And further description is, and they will begin to say, well, we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.

[15:01] So, it's clearly a Jewish context, right? You were there, we were in the crowd, we heard you, we ate and drank with you, and we heard your teaching, and Jesus says, I do not know you.

[15:17] I tell you, I do not know where you are from, depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, or of evil, for they did not enter the narrow way by putting their faith in Jesus Christ.

[15:37] Okay, and then, the follow-through, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you, and interesting, when you see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

[15:56] All their forefathers will be in the kingdom, and the Pharisees' big claim is, we are of our father Abraham, we're descendants, the kingdom belongs to us, we're blood relatives, and when you see them in the kingdom, and you're thrust out, or you're outside, you can't get in, he says, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, over anguish, and not only that, they will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God, and I think that's a reference now to the Gentile nations, they will also enter in, and you will be thrust out because you did not believe.

[16:50] And so, yeah, very direct, bold teaching by Jesus, just, this is the way it is. Indeed, there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.

[17:03] And so, in their culture, it was very important to be first, to be seen, to be recognized, and that does not mean that you'll be recognized in the kingdom, or that you'll even get in, because it's by faith.

[17:20] Any thoughts or questions? Have things changed any today? Not really, right?

[17:38] man. Yeah. Basically.

[17:59] Yeah. and my way is is basically a Satan influenced way or a selfish way Satan has his way as well and God kicked him out right he said you're not worthy of heaven anymore okay and then on that very verse 31 the very same day the Pharisees come to him and say get out of here or depart from here for Herod wants to kill you so remember he's in Perea and that's Herod's jurisdiction and they kind of warn him get out of here Herod's going to arrest you and kill you and Jesus says go tell that fox behold I cast out demons and perform curses today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected what's that perform cures what did I say curses thank you cures yeah nevertheless I must journey today tomorrow and the day following for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem and so

[19:19] Jesus is basically saying that when the timing is right I will die in Jerusalem but Herod that fox can't do anything interesting that you call him a fox right sly yeah Jesus wasn't a chicken so foxes have no power over men and so yeah basically his journey was set before him in the father's will and and and today Jesus is is casting out demons and curing and and but it's also reference to his death burial and resurrection in its format okay and then and then Jesus makes the statement in the last two verses oh Jerusalem

[20:19] Jerusalem the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings but you were not willing how many of us have seen a a a a a a mother hen with the chicks under her wings most of us very protective right and it's it's that it's that picture that's portrayed here that that Jesus would just like to gather his own under under his wings under the safety that he represents salvation but you were not willing it's like the little chicks are just scattering and they're not coming to their mom and that's that's the the picture we have here there may have been an ulterior motive by the Pharisees when they said get out of here

[21:30] Herod wants to kill you it it may be that they think if we can get Jesus back to Jerusalem then then he's in the Sanhedrin's jurisdiction and which Pilate had given lots of power and and there maybe we can kill him and the text doesn't say that but there could be a motive there by the Pharisees very likely in saying that okay and then verse 35 ends see your house is left to you desolate and assuredly I say to you you shall not see me until the time comes when you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord and that's clearly a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem which then happened in 70 AD 40 years later or 37 years later under also under the Roman

[22:32] Emperor Titus and Jesus foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem because of the rejection because they refused to come under his wings so that's that's the teaching there in that chapter 13 then we move on to chapter 14 and 1 to 24 let's continue reading some of these are longer passages just read as much as you want and pass it on now what happened as he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisee to eat bread on the Sabbath that they watched him closely and behold there was a certain man before him who had dropsy and Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and

[23:34] Pharisees saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath but they kept silent and he took him and healed him and let him go then he answered them saying which of you having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day and they could not answer him regarding these things so he told a parable to those who were invited when he noted how they chose the best places saying to them when you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast do not sit down in the best places least one more honorable than you be invited by him and he who invited you and him come and say to you give place to this man and then he being with shame begin and and and and you begin with shame to take the lowest place but when you are invited go and sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you friend go up higher then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you for whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted also said to him who invited him when you give a dinner or a supper do not ask your friends your brothers your relatives nor rich neighbors lest they also invite you back and you be repaid but when you give a feast invite the poor the maimed the lame the blind and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things he said to him blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of

[25:39] God then he said to him a certain man gave a great supper and invited many and he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited come for all things are now ready but they all with one see it I ask you to have me excused and another said I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them I ask you to have me excused still another said I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come so that servant came and reported these things to his master then the master of the house being angry said to his servant go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the cities and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind and the servant said master it is done as you commanded and still there is room then the master said to the servant go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled for

[26:46] I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper okay thank you okay Jesus is in the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath and they watched him closely so Jesus is showing no boundaries next once he's in the tax collectors home eating and then he's in a Pharisee's house and then he's in every part of culture he does not show boundaries and distinctions but everybody gets to hear the truth and so as he's in this Pharisee's house there's actually four little sub lessons in this and the first one is the healing on the Sabbath and there was a certain man before him who had dropsy which is

[27:52] I think a swelling of the skin disease I think there's a somewhere laid with water build up under the skin and it's soft tissue I'm not sure what the disease would be called today but that's what it was so but there they watch him closely and they want to see what he's going to do and so Jesus asked them is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath so notice Jesus when he teaches he uses questions and he looks at them and they're all watching I can just picture some stony faces what's he going to do what can we accuse him of and he puts the question to him is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath what does the law say because the law did not forbid to do good on the

[28:55] Sabbath it didn't and and so they kept silent and so Jesus heals them and lets them go and then he answers the crowd or the Pharisees which of you having a donkey or an ox that has fallen to a pit will not immediately pull them out on the Sabbath and they could not answer him regarding these things so he kind of puts them to shame they have nothing to say because the law did not forbid doing good on the Sabbath it forbid it working for money and many other things but not doing good acts of mercy so that's the way it starts off here in that home and then verse 7 transitions where Jesus then tells a parable to those that were invited so very clearly as he's in this

[29:58] Pharisee's home there's invited guests I don't know if it was a very big home or not but there's lots of guests there because Jesus notices that how they chose the best places to sit so it sounds like there's more than three or five or seven people there's a lot of people here and as he's invited to this feast and so we have a lesson on humility and that they had a class system that they all coveted or desired to have the best places to sit so we don't have that problem in church because this would be full then but that that really marked their society that was to be seen high up in society meant that

[31:03] I got the best sitting places when I was invited to feasts and so on and maybe you know at a wedding lots of our weddings today they have a head table and then the families and the parents and the families sit next or closest right that might be the picture but these Jews were always striving to have the best seats and Jesus notices and he addresses that and he tells them that when you when you're invited go sit at the lowest place and then when the owner or the guy who invited you offers or invites you to come up further then you're honored but if you go up on your own and he pulls you back then you're disgraced and he says it makes sense don't out of your own will want to be at the front or at the top and but what what is

[32:15] Jesus teaching here what's the lesson that he is trying to bring out a spiritual lesson whom will Jesus honor those that humble themselves just like these guests that he's talking about right yeah as we humble ourselves before Jesus he well he already honors us today but in his kingdom he will lift us up and we will be glorified and honored and so that is future and yet those who lift themselves up today will not find that narrow gate and they will be dishonored when that door closes so

[33:16] I think there's a deeper lesson here that he is teaching that they should be practicing here on earth already not to lift themselves up but to humble okay so he has that in there and then verses 12 through 14 there's a lesson on hospitality and when you give a dinner or supper do not ask your friends your brothers your relatives or rich neighbors lest they invite you back and be repaid when you give a feast invite the poor the maimed the lame the blind and then you will be blessed because they cannot repay you now what's what's wrong with inviting your rich friends for lunch because it's fun to go back to their place isn't it what's he teaching here by the by the way

[34:27] Jesus is not addressing friendship here and and couples getting together unless it gets out of hand that's all you do but when we reach out with hospitality to be blessed by the Lord we are to reach out to those who cannot reach back and and so to help to reach out to a stranger or someone that's new here or someone who won't immediately invite you back and that you be repaid but rather it has to do with our motives and so when we invite those that we know in four weeks they're going to invite me back then I'm not out of my comfort zone and I'm just doing it for my own personal well-being but when we're interested in the

[35:28] Lord's kingdom and helping those then we are to reach out to those outside of those boundaries that's what he is saying here and then we will be blessed and so sometimes I think depending on the motives of our hearts is it possible some of our works will burn up like the wood the hay and the straw just question you know that's so I'm not discouraging that we stop getting together at all in fact it's healthy but we are to have a program where we invest in those that are outside of that circle and it's for the Lord's work yeah how many of us have been invited or shown hospitality by a stranger or someone we didn't know well and what was the result friendship encouragement usually right it's encouraging and we're blessed and so that's that's the purpose right okay so a little tweak in there couple verses then the main kind of the main story he now tells here about maybe summing all of this up and now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things he said to him blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God so one of the guests makes a statement blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God in the kingdom age yet to come and then

[37:26] Jesus tells another parable and a story and a certain man giving a great supper invites many and he sends his servants out at supper time to go to the invited guests and tell them supper is ready come on over and one by one they all make an excuse one has bought a piece of ground another one a yoke of oxen and one is just married and so on and so it goes we don't have time to come to the feast and and then Jesus and the story responds as the servant comes back and reports to his master the master is angry and says to his servant go into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind now this is a story about the coming kingdom the invitation went out in the context here to the

[38:43] Jewish people they're all invited to God's kingdom and when Jesus the master is there one after another are rejecting him from leadership and many down and so this story is against the Jewish people saying you are rejecting the kingdom you finding excuses why not to enter and then the master says go into the lanes and so on and invite all the poor and the lame and those are the people in society who respond by faith those are the ones that come to the feast and then he follows with another verse after the servant says master it's done and there's more room yet and the master says go into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come that my house may be filled and

[39:53] I think that's a reference to the Gentiles further out invite them and so the moral of this story is not about the invitation from Christ that doesn't get you in it's our acceptance of that invitation our acting upon it that gets us into the kingdom everyone is invited to come do we believe that Jesus died for everyone everyone has an invitation but when we find excuses I don't want to surrender my heart today maybe tomorrow I'm just married I need to spend time with my wife instead or whatever it is right we we all find excuses so this is a teaching about accepting

[41:04] Christ or coming to him as our Lord and Savior okay so very again in a parable form very bold to the Jewish people you guys are rejecting you're not going to be there you're not going to be in the kingdom okay and so the the statement was blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God and then this parable follows and yes that is true blessed is he who is going to eat but only those that accept the invitation and act upon it okay so even today if you're invited to a wedding does it do you any good if you don't go right you won't experience it the feast right so it's the same kind of analogy we have to act upon it so this is a faith lesson here all right so it's actually a bit of eschatology end time prophecy in some of

[42:16] Jesus stories now as he's nearing his death and so he is preparing the disciples as well of what's coming all right the next lesson here from verse 25 to 35 there went great great great multitudes and he said to him and his own life also he cannot be my disciple and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you intending to build a tower sit us not down first and count of the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it thus happily after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it began to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what king going to make war against another king sit not down first and consult whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand or else while the other is yet a great way off he send an ambassador and desire conditions of peace so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsake if not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple salt is good but if the salt have lost his savor wherewith shall it be seasoned it is neither fit for the land or yet for the downhill but men cast it out he that hath ears to hear let him hear okay thank you so the cost of discipleship instruction concerning discipleship again great multitudes were with him and then he in verse 26 introduces if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother wife and children brothers and sisters yes in my own life also he cannot be my disciple are we to hate our families what is he saying here he comes first why the strong language hate see in the

[44:45] Hebrew language words like love and hate have not only emotional meanings but also represent the will of the mind decisions and so when in the Old Testament and in the New God says Esau have I hated but Jacob have I loved did God hate Esau does God hate anyone he hates our sin right but does he hate anyone desiring to go to hell because he doesn't that's not the heart of God right so but so it represents more the will of the mind and so we are instead of like emotionally hating our parents we are to have them like was said in their proper place second they're underneath our relationship with

[46:04] God so that's that's what he's teaching here so if anyone comes to me and does not put me first in his mind above all his family and even his wife or husband cannot be my disciple why not okay the jealous God yeah so if we say we're a disciple that means he is our master but if my wife is higher than Jesus in my life then she is my master right or whoever and so we cannot follow him if someone or something is higher than him in our lives that's what he's saying and so he teaches here about discipleship whoever whoever does bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple the what was the what was the cross in

[47:28] Jesus' life well he had a physical cross but what did the cross represent when Jesus took up his cross what did he pray in the garden not my will but thine and our cross when he says take up your cross is not my will but yours and it's not a heavy burden of of workload that we have to drag on our backs and carrying our cross and oh we got a tough life living for God and so on no it's my will surrender to his because he helps carry our burdens it's a wrong approach to think of it that way so we're not dragging a cross we're bearing it by dying to self and being submitted so

[48:38] Jesus' cross was just like ours as he was in agony about taking the sin of the world upon him as he was in agony about that he had to pray not my will but yours and so that's what he is teaching his disciples that that is what's going to come and how many of us have experienced rejection when we turn to Christ from family friends anyone not okay so some of the younger believers praise the Lord but but you will but you will as you as you can broaden your relationships and and also your places of influence in the world and work sites and so on you will experience it no sense okay so your hand comes down okay yeah

[49:55] I was just going to say I think your dad is sheltering you too much yeah so so then the the stories or the analogies if you intend to build a tower well we don't build towers but they they had a tower in their vineyards a watch tower and probably a water pump up there and stuff or a water tank and so on that was all about so if you build a tower who doesn't first sit down and what's it going to cost lest you start to build and you realize I only have half enough money and you look like a fool right or like a king the other analogy a king when he goes out to war against a neighboring country first sits down and says can I with my with my 10,000 troops meet him who has 30,000 you count the cost it's a physical analogies a spiritual outcome that we are to realize that if I accept

[51:10] Christ it's going to cost me friendships it's going to bring persecution we're to count the cost we're to realize life is going to change and I remember when I became a believer it was with some it was very abrupt some friendships were done right there and so are we willing and if not then we're not worthy of him he's teaching on discipleship any thoughts there okay where does the salt come in the last verses there salt loses its flavor it's it's no good for anything but to be thrown out to the dunghill it comes from verse 33 so likewise whoever of you does not forsake all that he can that he has cannot be my disciple and then salt is good but if the salt has lost its flavor how shall it be seasoned it is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill but men throw it out if you claim to be a believer but are unwilling to forsake all you're like salt that's lost its flavor you're no good for nothing to Christ it's not real it's pretense that's pretty harsh any thoughts with that

[53:38] I think sometimes we fail in this area when we teach people about Christ that we don't make it clear to them to forsake sin and to follow Christ there's a cost and the evangelical world is guilty overall in a big way in that there's huge movements and there have been to accept Christ and life will be a bed of roses which is very very false there's joy in life as we have Christ but the battle starts when you turn to Christ and so that's that's a prosperity type of gospel turn to

[54:44] Christ and things will be good and there's no count the cost message in there so we need to be when when when while young people or older people when we come to Christ we need to realize to think it through yeah what's it going to be like following Christ and sometimes we sang that song on Sunday morning I've decided to follow Jesus and if we know the story behind that song right there's counting the cost as one by one they were shot and they continued to sing and that's yeah so that's Jesus is very serious about this all right continuing to chapter 15 we have some longer portions today two more so let's read one to 32 here very familiar passage with the lost sheep and the lost coin and the lost son right let's read through it and then we'll just kind of skim over it then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear and the

[56:20] Pharisees and scribes complained saying this man receives sinners and eats with them so he spoke this parable to them saying what man of you having hundred sheep if he loses one one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which one which is lost until he finds it and then when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he comes home he calls together his friends and neighbors saying to them rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who just persons who need who need no repentance or what woman having ten silver coins she loses one coin does not light the lamp sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it and when she has found it she calls her friends and neighbors together saying rejoice with me for

[57:41] I have found the peace which I have lost likewise I say to you there is joy and presence of the angels of God over this one sinner who repents and he said a certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father father give me the portion of goods that fall to me and he divided unto them his living and not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with righteous living and when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in a citizen of that country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine and he would fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat and no man gave unto him and when he came to himself he said how many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare and

[58:54] I perish with hunger I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son make me as one of thy hired servants and he arose and came to his father but when he was yet a great way off his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him and the son said to him father I have sinned against heaven and your side and I am no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his servants bring out the best rope and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fatted calf here and kill it and let us eat and be merry for this he was lost and is found and they began to be merry now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing so he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant and he said to him your brother has come and because he has received him safe and sound your father has killed the fatted calf but he was angry and would not go in therefore his father came out and pleaded with him so he answered and said to his father lo these many years

[60:26] I have been serving you I never transgressed your commandment at any time and yet you never give me a young goat that I may make merry with my friends but as soon as this son of yours came who has devoured your livelihood with harlots you killed a fatted calf for him and he said to him son you're always with me and all that I have is yours it was right that we should make merry and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found okay thank you it's a longer portion and we have the three stories within but it begins with the tax collectors and the sinners drawing near to Jesus and the Pharisees and the scribes complaining this man

[61:26] Jesus receives sinners and he eats with them and they had in their culture this concept that that the sinners and so they differentiate the sinners were those that you know living outright in sin and tax collectors were considered there the harlots that kind of people and there's no hope for them God looks down on them and when they die they just go into punishment and so Jesus spending time with them in the Pharisees eyes was wrong there's no hope for them don't waste your time with them and so these three short stories are to combat or to change their thinking about the sinners in their midst and so they're grumbling and he starts with the first story the the hunted sheep and one of them is lost and he leaves the 99 until he finds it and he carries it home on his shoulders it it reflects that the this story this one is the emphasis is on the lost sheep and that not on the 99 that are righteous but on the one that's lost is where the emphasis is and that

[63:09] God puts attention to the lost not on the ones that are safe in the fold and so the emphasis is on the lost sheep and when that sheep is found there's rejoicing and so it pictures God pursuing individuals and when a sinner is found that repents the joy is so great that he puts together a party he wants to share the joy with others that's the illustration so do we picture our father in heaven that way when a sinner repents or does God have a long face up there and kind of sternly yep another one or does he actually rejoice is it wrong for us to think that way that's what it says here right that's what the story points to and we know that there's joy in the presence of the angels right and where are the angels with

[64:40] God so there's joy there and God doesn't keep it to himself of God I've got to share this with others and so that's the first story here so the Pharisees theology is wrong God doesn't hate the sinner he pursues him and rejoices when he surrenders and it's just the opposite of what they have been teaching and believing okay the seconds the second story the lost coin emphasis more on the search efforts than on the actual lost sheep now it's a lost coin and this lady it's a poor lady and she turns her house upside down looking for that lost coin and

[65:42] I did a little bit of reading up into it and it was part of her dowry they would sometimes have a necklace with ten coins as part of their wedding gift and she lost one of them and in terms of money it sounds like it wasn't a huge amount but to this lady in poverty it was a lot so it meant a lot to her so it's a physical story that we can understand but she turned that house upside down looking for it was so precious to her and maybe had more value just than the money itself than it was part of her dowry but it illustrates the efforts God pursuing the lost and when she found it she too calls her friends and neighbors come and rejoice with me I have found the peace which I lost likewise

[66:44] I say to you there's joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents so this is directly teaching to to correct the Pharisees way of thinking and their wrong way of thinking okay any thoughts there just like just like the coins were worthy to this woman every soul is of huge value to God right every single individual soul and another analogy that I picked out just as the coins all had an image of the Roman emperor every soul has the image of God and it's valuable and we should never forget that whether we're ministering to a drunk or a prostitute or just somebody who's hard-hearted whatever it doesn't matter

[68:07] God loves them as a sinner and wants them to repent to enter by the narrow way they're made in his image and so we should never give up but keep on working okay so that's the second one the third one it's the lengthy one and it's the we often call it the prodigal son the lost son and the emphasis on this third one is on the father searching the searching father and and so we have maybe a little bit more packed into this one so the story is of two sons and so the context is Jewish so two sons and the younger son decides I no longer want to live under the authority of my dad

[69:08] I want to go out on my own and spread my wings father give me my half of the inheritance even though it's premature and I want to go my own way in life no longer under your rules or your way of life and so the father gives him his half or third whatever it is and he goes and starts to live it up and squanders it living out among the Gentiles and when a time of hunger comes of famine and we all know the story when he's finding himself eating pig slop then he remembers his father's house and he says you know I had a good back then I'm going to go back not as a son but as a servant and I'll see if my father would take me in as a servant because then

[70:17] I would have everything I needed compared to now so he makes up his mind and he goes back and when he's still a long way off who is looking for him his father and we get the picture that every day the father is looking down the road to see if his son would come back today and it's the love of the father looking for the lost and so a few more thoughts out of this this whole story pictures God and the sons are Israel the father would be picturing God and he has he has put them under the law he has given them his teachings his law his way of life if you obey this you will have a blessed life and and so they were to submit to the authority of God but

[71:35] Israel refused and went wayward and followed other gods and their own ways so ultimately this has a deeper meaning so Israel Israel was therefore rejected and expelled from their land and they served Gentile nations it pictures the younger son who no longer was satisfied to live under this authority I'm going to go my own way and he ended up in a pig pen and so did Israel in in in Babylon and so the father's attitude to those who have departed from him that is the son coming back and it's revealed there the father watching for his return and and the father does not take him back as a slave as the son had had made up his mind and confessed

[72:48] I'm no longer worthy see that's humility brokenness I'm no longer worthy to be called your son can I work for you and what does the father do he takes him in he gives him the best robe and and that best robe signifies that his inheritance has been restored to him he gives him a ring that's a sign of authority you can do business under my name you're fully authorized to do business for me he's restored as a son and and then the sandals also sonship because all the servants and slaves went barefoot and to have shoes on your feet was to be in sonship and so when we repent and come to the father he takes us in as sons not as slaves and he gives us the full inheritance when there is repentance the father is ready to forgive and to make to restore us fully so this is this is not talking about a believer going astray and repenting but it's become a sinner before he before he's a believer recognizing

[74:29] I need the Lord okay so that's that's there now we have the other the other aspect here the older son he's upset he never left home to live among the Gentiles he's always worked on the farm and now this younger brother of mine who squandered it with all those bad people and here my father is making Mary and he's mad what does this older son represent I can see that the gears are turning legalism absolutely you know what that older son has never come into sonship he's still a slave to the law to legalism he's never been set free he cannot he does not have it within him to rejoice over this lost sinner who repented because he can't look past himself so he represents the

[76:04] Pharisees in Jesus' day who are refusing to repent and when Jesus reaches out to the sinners and they come to him they can't see it they don't have it within them to rejoice and so in fact it upsets them and they're complaining Jesus eats with the sinners so he's this story is told directly against them revealing the heart of God and of course the applications are for us today as well and so very very profound that the way Jesus teaches right and so they must have caught it all the way it doesn't say that they picked up stones here but in their hearts they probably did and so he ends says so it was right that we should make

[77:07] Mary and rejoice for your brother was lost and now he is found okay so context is very important in understanding his teachings correctly okay let's try to do one more another lengthy one and then that will probably be our time so Luke 16 again it's the whole chapter he also said to his disciples therefore was a certain rich man who had a steward an accusation who was brought to him and this man was wasting his goods so he called him and said to him what is this I hear about you give an account for your stewardship for you can no longer be a steward then the steward said within himself what shall

[78:14] I do for my master is taking the stewardship away from me I cannot dig I am ashamed to beg I have resolved what to do that when I am put out of the stewardship they may receive me into their houses so he called every one of his masters debaters to him and said to the you owe my master then he said a hundred measures of oil so he said to him take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty then he said to another how much do you owe so he said a hundred measures of wheat and he said to him take your bill and write eighty so the masters command commanded the unjust steward because he had dealt surely from for the sons of this world are more shrewd in this generation than the sons of light and

[79:16] I say to you make friends for yourself by the unrighteous mammon where that when you fail they may receive you into everlasting home he who is faithful in what is least faithful also in much is in much and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to your trust the true riches and if you have not been faithful in what is another man's who will give you what is your own no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate one and love the other or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other you cannot serve God and mammon now the Pharisees who were lovers of money also heard these things and they dearied him and he said to them you are those who justify yourself before men but

[80:21] God knows your hearts for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God the law and the prophets were until John since that time the kingdom of God has been preached and everyone is pressing into it and it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one title of the law to fail whoever whoever whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day but there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores who was laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table moreover the dogs came and licked his sores so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and being in torments in

[81:36] Hades he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom then he cried and said father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame but Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and you are tormented and besides all this between us and you there is a great gull fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can those from there pass to us then he said I beg you therefore father that you would send him to my father's house for I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment Abraham said to him they have

[82:38] Moses and the prophets let them hear them and he said no father Abraham but if one goes to them from the dead they will repent but he said to him if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rises from the dead okay thank you a long story so this is concerning wealth instruction concerning wealth and we've had some of this before but it's the teaching that when God is pleased with you he will bless you financially and so it's good to be wealthy regardless of how your life looks like but if you have money that's a good sign God is pleased with you and that was kind of the society the teaching especially from the leadership down and so he begins with this first illustration of this unjust steward and so the rich man who had a steward and an accusation was brought forth so this steward this guy that he put foreman who put in charge of his affairs was found to be unfaithful unjust he wasn't dealing well and he was going to be brought in and held to account okay you're going to give account for your actions and bottom line is you're going to get fired and so before he can get fired this unjust steward is in the story is commended by

[84:28] Jesus because he's smart and he goes to all his masters debtors and cuts their bills and a half of what they owe the master and so can you imagine if you owed a hundred thousand bucks and this foreman said well hey let's change that to fifty thousand would this foreman be your friend and so he went right and he made friends and Jesus commends him not for his unrighteousness but for his shrewdness that he took the time to provide a way that when he was put out of his work that he would have all these friends who would take him in and he commends him for his shrewdness not for being a cheat and that part right and so then he compares it to us that we are to make friends as well with unrighteous mammon and

[85:36] I say to you make friends in verse nine by unrighteous mammon that when you fail they may receive you into an everlasting home if we ever come in a time of need what do we fall back on what are we known for if we have been hospitable if we have been generous if we have been working in God's kingdom we will have friends everywhere they will take care of us that's what he is saying and we should be known for such that doesn't matter where we go maybe that would be a time for us to receive but he goes on and says that with the resources that

[86:41] God gives us the unrighteous mammon money or physical possessions we are to be faithful in handling it right for God among his people reaching out to others and he says if we are not faithful with unrighteous mammon how can God trust us with spiritual riches that's the challenge that he puts to them so if you're not faithful in the physical issues if you're cheating and lying and corrupt how would God trust you with his word he wouldn't so he's teaching them that that the Pharisees your love of money has warped you you're not trustworthy in the word of

[87:42] God and they weren't they were teaching it wrongly so he's he's he's correcting that with this story and again Jesus uses lots of stories parables okay verse 13 kind of sums up that section no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and mammon and now the Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they derided him they ridiculed they made fun of Jesus or they despised his teaching on this what he just taught and then Jesus continues and he says you are those who justify yourselves before men but

[88:50] God knows your hearts for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God and isn't that true today we need to be so careful that we don't get caught up what's highly esteemed by men but rather what does God think how does he see it right so that's that's there and then he says the law and the prophets were until John and since that time the kingdom of God has been preached and everyone is pressing into it it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall and so I think what he is teaching here is that John brought about change he marked change from the old to the new preaching of repentance preaching that

[89:52] Jesus is coming who will baptize with the spirit and and so they're pressing into the kingdom but you guys are rejecting and so the old prophesied prophesied that this time would come now that time is here and he says the old not one tittle of it will go unanswered or unfulfilled but Jesus is the answer to all of it and he's saying here I am today it will be fulfilled but you guys are rejecting it okay and then verse 18 is interesting one single verse about divorce and remarriage in the middle of nowhere in the middle of money teaching because he continues right on teaching about money after that verse and the my thoughts for what that is it's dealing with covetousness and is they were covetous for money and material things and for other women and it was very common that they would divorce and get a new wife get something new maybe younger and it was very common practice and especially those higher up in the system and so

[91:33] Jesus slaps one verse in there covetousness coveting another woman and he says it's like money is wrong if you're coveting it so is divorcing and having another woman then we have the story of the rich man and Lazarus we're a few minutes over ready I'd like to finish this if I have your permission so this is kind of a summary to their greed and he illustrates what happens to the rich man who is highly esteemed in their society he's got it made he has God's favor on him in their teaching and so we have the rich man and the description of the rich man is that he lived richly selfishly he lived without compassion for others because

[92:37] Lazarus desired to eat the crumbs from his table or that fell actually not from on top but that fell and so that characterizes a selfish rich man in their society and when he died and was buried he found himself where torment and this man represented their ideology this is what they all were striving for because that was God's favor and Jesus tells the story this guy ended up in hell this is a rude rude awakening to their thinking the other fellow Lazarus was a poor was a beggar was full of sores says the dogs licked his sores

[93:38] I don't know if we can picture that it sounds like obviously he's there's physically things wrong with him he may have been carried around and placed where he might find scraps and so on he couldn't move on his own dogs come and lick that probably means you're a cripple and so that described his life he desired to eat the crumbs and when he died what happened to him he was carried doesn't say he was buried although he probably was but he was carried by the angels to Abraham's side and where is Abraham in heaven in paradise and so the story goes on the things that we learn about

[94:41] Hades here is that it's a place of torment and we know from other scripture that Hades is a place for the dead that are awaiting judgment it's already a place of torment it's a temporary hell is what it is and the rich man experienced that also we from this story we learn that the souls that go there are conscious they're aware of their surroundings and their suffering it's like their bodies have been buried on the ground and yet they're experiencing the pain the suffering for us it's hard to grasp but they're fully aware of their surroundings and of their circumstances and so he is in torment and so and also we learn that hell is a place of no return and that there's a great gulf fix between heaven and hell or paradise and Hades even today you cannot cross so no return once you're there and and when he begged for water you know even one drop to cool my tongue and he was denied the severity of punishment he was denied and then when he realized this is hopeless at least send someone to warn my five brothers that they don't join me here and the answer is they have the word they have the word they have a choice to make and even though we would wake somebody from the dead before their eyes they still would not believe it would not influence and so that this story would have destroyed their concept of wealth or made them very mad and ready to lift up stones again because it destroyed their way of thinking totally all right that's any thoughts there or questions before we close here so it wasn't the wealth that

[97:30]  Jesus condemned here but the love of money right the security that they thought it brought all right thank you we will stop here and Lord willing continue next Wednesday and to my knowledge we don't have a children's ministry yet for next Wednesday so keep that in mind and we'll probably have it in the bulletin again as well so it'll be nice to have that going as well thank you and you are dismissed