Matthew Series, Week 41 - “RightSide Sheep”

  So I stumbled upon this quote from a football coach this week. I can’t remember the guys name or his exact phrasing, but it went something like this, “You don’t fail until you blame someone else for your failing.” It stood out to me because a lot of the problems I see come down to blaming others. I didn’t know much about anything as a kid, still really don’t, but what I did know was that Satan was bad. And so, when I was asked why I did something bad, I would say, Satan made me do it. Deflection of consequence is always the go to for most people. Kids learn that deflection early on, and we carry it with us into adulthood, where we learn to blame everything so that people will give us sympathy. 

That’s one of the reasons we’re having the problems in our society today, we deflect responsibility for our own actions on the people around us. It’s my parents fault, it’s my teachers fault, it’s my friends, my spouse, my kids, the government, the media. Believe me there is blame to go around, but our deflection of our own role in life leads others to deflect. But there will come a day when we will not be able to deflect anymore.

And that day is what brings us back to our series in the Gospel of Matthew, where we’ll be finishing off chapter 24. And as we open together to Matthew chapter 25, verse 31, let’s recap the last several weeks. 

For the last seven weeks we have been looking at the final section to Matthew’s Gospel. There are five total sections, each one wrapped around a sermon by Jesus. In this fifth and final section of Matthew, Jesus’ authority is the focus. In the first four weeks we looked how a disciple must live under Jesus’ authority. Living under that authority means we are satisfied with what God gives us, we are seeking God’s will, we are acting upon his will, and we are not confining God’s will or work to our own. It’s living under God’s authority where humanity was created to be. It’s the created order that brings us all the things that we desire, but try to find apart from God. 

When we don’t live under God’s authority we enter into sin. Woes, or consequences of sin, then follow, and we have no one else to blame but ourselves for what happens. Yet, this is why Jesus comes to us. Instead of God leaving us in our sin, and left in our woes, God the Son descends to us as Jesus and takes the punishment of our sin, the ultimate woe of eternal death, onto himself. If we then accept his work through the cross and trust in the resurrection, we then become his disciples under his authority, with no woe ahead of us.

But there is a day when Jesus’ salvation call will come to an end, and that day is his return. So for his disciples, he gives them an insight into that day. Jesus gives a handful of future signs to let his disciples know what to expect as precursors to when his coming will be. These signs are to prepare us for that day.

And when that day comes, Jesus’ disciples must be watchful and actively doing Jesus’ Gospel work. Being wise as we look for Jesus’ return and faithful in the job he has given us, will show us as true disciples. And at the Master’s return, he will bring us into his eternal kingdom.

Yet, there is always the other side. What happens if we are not followers of Christ, or if we are lost in our sin? That is what Jesus’ final thought concerning his return is all about. Let’s read together starting in verse 31 of Matthew chapter 25.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

For a lot of people this section of the Scriptures is, to use a modern word, triggering. In one of the clearest passages Jesus refers to hell as both a reality and as an eternal destination. For our modern society, this is horrible, and for a lot of people is a reason why some either do not come to Jesus as Savior, or leave the faith.

I am part of an Alliance online theological forum. A lady posted a situation she encountered, where she met an ex-pastor who left the faith because of hell. He could not reconcile the idea of hell, with a loving God. This is a common issue that I’ve witnessed, and I believe it’s because we as individuals tend to not believe God  about how horrific sin is. We deflect, believing my sin isn’t that bad, at least not bad enough to warrant hell.

So to understand the concept of hell, we must understand the gruesomeness of sin itself.  In Genesis 3, the result of humanity’s sin does not effect humanity alone. We read, “So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’ 16 To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’ 17 To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,” Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return (v.14-19).’”

The results of Adam and Eve’s sin sends ripples throughout the entirety of creation. It effects our relationships with God, our relationships with other spiritual beings, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with our environment. Every aspect of the creation has been distorted and brought low because of that act of sin.

We have been talking about living under the authority of Jesus, because that authority was put aside by the first humans. Jesus is calling us back to the authority that we were created to live under from the beginning. Yet humanity is living outside of God’s authority; we are living in the perpetual woe that resulted from that first sin. Every hurricane that destroys our town, every rape, every war, every murder, every broken home, every evil thing that plagues humanity came from that first sin. And if we’re honest with ourselves, we will see that our own sin adds to that original and brings about more woes on to us. Every lie we tell breaks relationship. Every mean word, hateful thought, physical hit, adds to the woe of the world that results from sin. 

This is why Paul writes in Romans 8:22, “22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” And why do Christians talk about the return of Jesus? Because, as Paul continues writing in the next verse, “23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” Those that recognize the devastation that comes as a result of sin, understand the need of a Savior and will not only look for him, but will live under his authority now, telling others about their need. 

This is why this passage of Scripture here in Matthew 25 is so important, it is dealing, not with issues like don’t smoke or don’t cuss, but of the eternal impact that sin has for each of our lives.

This is why Jesus tells us that he will sit on a glorious throne. The throne is a seat of judgement, it’s his authority fully seen. As he is speaking, Jesus is on the precipice of dying on the behalf of humanity, but at his second coming he will be it’s final judge. That’s why this scene is so heartbreaking; it is due to humanity’s sin that permeates every part of it’s relationships with the rest of creation that not only did it’s Creator have to die for it, but that there will still be those who reject the Creator and will have to go away into a horrific place.

And so Jesus describes the separating of two groups. On the one hand you have the sheep. This is the common description of God’s people throughout the Scriptures. From the David’s famous Psalm 23 to Jesus’ own words throughout Matthew, the people of God are the sheep to his Good Shepherd.

On the other had are the goats. These two groups parallel the wheat and weeds from Mathew 13, where Jesus described both growing together and being separated at the end. 

The sheep will go to Jesus’ right side, a place of honor, while the goats will go to Jesus’ left a place of dishonor. 

Here we get an insight into the two groups. Both were given opportunities to put Jesus’ words into action. The sheep or righteous will put Jesus’ words into action. They will have the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives producing right actions. They will treat others as if they were Jesus. The feeding, the visiting, the comforting to the least of these sees people of all stripes as opportunities not just to help people, but to serve the Master.

The goats, on the other hand, are unrighteous because they do not put the words of Jesus into action. They do not feed, clothe, visit, comfort, because they are their own masters, who seek their own will. 

And this is what it comes down to, those who put Jesus’ words into action are those who have their trust counted as righteousness. They trust that Jesus is correct, that we are sinners incapable of fixing ourselves to be righteous and good enough for God. They trust that he came to live the perfect life they could not, and then take their punishment on the cross. They trust that Jesus rose from the dead, because his sacrifice was acceptable to pay for our sins. They trust that the Holy Spirit has been given to indwell them to bring about Jesus’ righteousness in their own lives, by transforming us into the image of Jesus himself. And they trust that Jesus is coming again.

The goats, trust none of this, thinking that they can achieve righteousness on their own, and in so doing, miss everything that Jesus has said.

And the kicker is this. The destination of the goats, of those that are unrighteous because of their own sin and their lack of acceptance of Jesus, was never intended for humanity. In verse 41 Jesus says, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The eternal destination for those who stay in their sin, who do not seek after God, who reject the salvation that is found in Jesus alone, was never intended for humanity in the first place. It was intended for those who saw the authority of God in it’s fullness and rejected it. Yet, it has become the place for all sin to reside in punishment. It is the place where all those that choose to live under their own authority apart from God, will be given what they have chosen. 

It’s a heartbreaking moment in time that Jesus will have to execute. Remember, just a few chapters back in chapter 23 of Matthew, Jesus spoke about the woes that follow those who live outside of his authority, to which he ended the woes with this, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing (v. 37).”

Peter who listened to all of this recognizes God’s heart for humanity when he writes in his second letter about the return of Jesus in these words, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).”

God deeply loves his creation and desires it to come back under his authority where they were first created to thrive. But the reality is this: at the end, there will be the sheep and the goats. Those that submit to the authority of Jesus and those who don’t. It isn’t a comfortable reality, but it is what will be. This is why it’s so important for us who call ourselves Jesus’ disciples to share the life giving message of the Gospel. It is why it is so important that we be putting Jesus’ words into practice. It’s why it’s so important that we not just say we are Christians, but we seek the work of the Holy Spirit in us, that we may truly be Christ-like. 

This part of the Scriptures ends with these words in chapter 26, “When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 ‘As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’

Jesus saw his death just ahead; a death that was needed for you and me, yet he walked straight towards it, that his sheep would someday be separated into his eternal life. The question that we are left with is, will it be you?

My challenge this week is this: If you are unsure, now’s the time to be sure. Each of us can agree that we are sinners, all we need to do is take just the ten commandments and ask the question have I broken anyone of these. If we are honest, will quickly see, we’ve broken not just one or two, but all of them. That’s all it takes to be separated onto the Judge’s left side. But the Judge also provided a way to be on his right side. He himself left his throne in heaven to descend to us. He lived the perfect life we couldn’t, then died in our place. Now all we must do is trust him in all that he says. And a part of that trusting is putting it into practice. Then, we can be assured that we have salvation, that we will be his sheep, because he will give us his Spirit to transform us into his image. The image we were created to bear, but didn’t. 

If you have already put your trust into Jesus as your Savior, then I want to invite you to look at the people around you, not just as sinners, but as people who need Jesus. Treat the people around you as Jesus himself. Taking care of their needs, giving comfort to them, as if you were doing it for your Savior himself. Show this world what it means to be a Christian, and just as our Savior laid his life down for others, let us do the same.

Let us be a those who the world can see live under the authority of Jesus. Who look like our Savior and on that day when Jesus judges, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that we walk on Jesus’ right side of righteousness, because we are his sheep. Amen.

Matthew Series, Week 40 - “End Times Prep”

 In the last three years, prepping, as it’s called, has become big. Prepping is a term for preparing for SHTF situations. What’s SHTF situations? Well SHTF stands for, stuff (this is the sanitized word) hits the fan. It’s a hurricane that destroys a costal town. It’s a tornado dropping down. It’s a flood, it’s an earthquake, it’s a governmental collapse, or a major supply chain interruption. It’s a zombie outbreak. It’s whatever happens when you can no longer count on normal life being normal, and you have to survive on your own.

For these situations, there are essential items they say everyone needs.1) Personal Defense Items. 2) First Aid Kit. 3) Protective Gear and Clothing. 4) Shelter. 5) Water. 6) Food. 7) A Waterproof, Heavy-duty Backpack. 8) Back-up Power, Flashlights, Headlights, Batteries. 9) Emergency Communication. 10) Navigation tools.

These are just a general tool kit of what to have for these situations. Every region is different, every household is different. But the idea is to be prepared for what you can think of and what you can’t. And in our day an age we have resources to make sure we can live comfortably for months. With food storage that can last you years, or solar panels that can give you electricity. God has blessed us greatly with the ability to prepare for the unknown.

And it’s this idea of preparation that brings us back to our Matthew series, where we’ll be picking it up in chapter 24, verse 36. And as we open to Matthew 24:36, let’s look at where we are so far in our study.

In this final section of Matthew, we’ve been looking at what our response as disciples to Jesus’ authority should be. The rightful response is that we are to be disciples who are satisfied with what God gives us, who seek his will over our own, who act on his will, and who do not try to confine him. If we rest in Jesus’ authority, then we will find that we are satisfied, that we are in his will, that doing his will comes more frequently, and we get to see his amazing power at work.

Yet, if we don’t submit to Jesus’ authority, there are woes, or consequences to that. We will find limited satisfaction in this world a part from God, sin is always fun for a time. But we will never be fully satisfied when we are outside of God’s will or trying to make him do what we want.

This is really important because the timetable of Jesus’ return is always inching closer. Jesus gave us a lot of signs by which we can see that his return is coming closer. And in those signs gave us a job, share the Gospel. We are to be witnesses of God’s great work through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We are to be disciples transformed by the Holy Spirit, living our lives, both good and bad, in front of the world; willing to take a stand for Christ, especially as our world grows darker. 

And it’s with that in mind that we return to Matthew 24, picking it back up in verse 36. Let’s read together.

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Let’s pause right here and take a look at Jesus’ words. The question in verse 45 is the focal point of Jesus’ second part of his teaching on his return. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant…,” is what this thought hangs on.

Jesus begins this second of three thoughts on his return, by referencing the unknown hour of his return. No one knows the hour, except, we are told our Father in heaven. So any predictions that you hear, throw them out. If the exact time was able to be extrapolated from the Scriptures, then Jesus would have pointed us in that direction. Three times in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus asked his opponents, “Haven’t you read…(Matthew 12:3, 5; 19:4)” Jesus would point back to to the Scriptures to justify his own arrival to the people. Even here, Jesus points to the Scriptures to give a parallel to his second coming. Yet, he does not point to the Scriptures to give us an exact time frame.

But he gives us the signs that we talked about last week, and now he gives us the state of the world. At his second coming, the world will be like it was in the days of Noah. Noah was building a giant ark in front of the people, yet none turned to God to be saved. Noah was counted as righteous because of his faithfulness to God’s call of building the ark. But we’re told that the reason God started the project was because, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5).”

We can see, through the signs Jesus gave us in the previous thought, that at his return, people will be inclined to nothing but evil once again. That the ark of salvation, Jesus himself, will be proclaimed, yet people will continue to think that the day is not coming. Yet Jesus’ return will be like the floodwaters of Noah, swift and unexpected for those who were never wanting to pay attention. The thief is like the flood waters, quick, and behind both, they leave a trail of devastation.

Then Jesus asks the question, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant?” Who will be the one doing what God has called them to when the Master comes? That is the question that Jesus gives two parables to answer. Let’s read these two parables in chapter 25.

25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The two parables are the parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Talents. 

The first of these parables calls us to be watchful and prepared disciples. No one knows the hour, so we should be prepared at every moment. The ten virgins are divided into two groups: those who were watching, and were prepared, so they were called wise; and those that were watching but were unprepared and they were called foolish. The foolish virgins who have the lamps, who are out there with the wise ones, are those that are not in it for the long haul. 

They might be a person that accepts Jesus as more of a spiritual concept, rather than a physical presence. There are groups gaining ground today in the Church that believe that Jesus’ predictions of his second coming have already come true, and that his reign is a spiritual one, not a physical one. They are not truly watching for Jesus’ return and so are not truly prepared.

Or they might be someone that says they have accepted Jesus as their Savior, but they continue in sin. They are not becoming holy as God is holy. They continue to allow anger to rule their emotions. They continue to doubt the goodness of God. They continue to question the Scriptures, instead of letting the Scriptures transform them. Or they might think that they need to do good works alone, without being inwardly changed by the Holy Spirit. 

The foolish virgins are those that say their waiting for Jesus’ return, but have not submitted to God, going about his work, and waiting on his timeframe and not their own.

The second of the parables parallels the first, but goes a step beyond. The three servants who are given money, are not simply entrusted with it for their own benefit. They are given the money as a test to see what kind of servants they are. The first two take what is given to them, and multiply it. And at the return of their master, they are given even more, because they took what was given to them and used it. These first two servants are like the wise virgins, not only were they aware at their masters return, and so were ready, they were at work to make their master’s money grow. The third servant is like the foolish virgins. He knew the master would return someday, but instead of figuring out a way to utilize what he was given, he stored it away and gained nothing for his master. The problem with the servant wasn’t just that he didn’t grow the money, but that he was in defiance of the master, because he didn’t understand who his master was, and so didn’t understand the purpose of the money in the first place.

The third servant had a skewed view of his master. He thought of his master as cruel, and deceitful; taking what wasn’t his. Yet it was the master who gave out his gold, it was the master that rejoiced at the other two servants work, and it was the master who gave them more and invited them into his happiness. There are so many people that hold grudges against God because they have a skewed view of him, and at the second coming of Jesus they will be just like this servant accusing God of being evil, when it is their own deeds and thoughts that were evil.

These two parables, taken with Jesus words prior to them, all hang on the question, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant?” And the answer is threefold; the one who knows the master is coming, is watchful for the masters return, and who is doing the work of the master.

This is what is means to be living under Jesus’ authority. If we are seeking God’s will, acting on his will, not confining him to a box, not only will we be satisfied in him, but we will be wise servants prepared for his return. 

That’s because we take his words seriously. Christians are those who read and listen to Jesus’ words. They don’t change his words to suit their own thoughts. They read and trust it.

And because they trust Jesus’ words, they prepare. We are called to be a holy people, set apart from the world. That means that we seek to have the Holy Spirit live in our lives, pushing out the sinful desires and habits that we have acquired on our own. That means we stand for biblical truth in a world that seeks to rebel against God and his created order. 

And since we know he’s coming and we’re preparing for his coming, we are at work not just in our own lives, but seeking others to know Jesus, that they too would be ready for his return. We are given a job to do, to love God and love people. Loving God means we trust his word and are moved by the Holy Spirt to be transformed into the image of Jesus. To love people means to share with them the life changing Gospel message that we are all sinners who have fallen away from God and we cannot get back to him on our own. We’re sinners because we seek our own will outside of the will of God. But God in his great love for us, descends to earth, taking on human flesh, living the perfect life we were created to live, but could not because of rebellion in sin. Jesus then dies on the cross, taking what should be our punishment for our rebellion and sin. He does this eagerly, speaking words of forgiveness even while experiencing the pain of the cross. He is raised from the dead to prove that his sacrifice for us was acceptable. And now, anyone who trusts in Jesus’ work, gains salvation, is empowered by the Holy Spirit to be transformed into who God intended them to be: people in right standing with him, prepared for his return.

And so my challenge for you this week is simple, get prepared. Ask yourself these three questions: First, do I trust Jesus’ words that he will be returning? If not, why don’t you trust them? Second, are you prepared for Jesus’ return? Are you being transformed by God’s word and by the Holy Spirit’s work? If not, what is holding you back? Finally, are you doing the work of the Gospel? Sharing it with your actions and your words to the people around you, that they may be prepared for Jesus’ return as well.

God is not leaving us in the dark about his intentions and actions in this world. He is calling his people to be ready and active in his work. Let us be people that are known as looking forward to our Master’s return, and loving those around us until that day. Amen. 

Matthew Series, Week 39 - “Resolute Disciples”

 In my sophomore year of baseball we had the opportunity to play in an invitational Christian college tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In was a really fun experience, and the first time I saw Arizona. We had to make a stop at the Phoenix airport to pick up one of our teammates, and I remember circling before we landed, thinking, who would ever want to live in such brown place?

When we arrived in Tulsa, and started the the tournament, we won our first game. We then made our way to another game in progress, the winner of which we would play. Now you have to understand, this wasn’t just any tournament, we represented Christian colleges from all over the US. And when we sat down to watch this game, it was like watching a a rugby game. I can’t remember the names of the teams, but I do remember that one was out of Florida. The reason I remember that one is because they were memorable. The players were cussing everything in the world. Cussing the other team, the fans in the stands, and the umpires. Several times their players got up to brawl with the other team over minimal slights. But it wasn’t just the players, their coaches as well. In all my years of play I had never seen such bad behavior from an entire team, and I wasn’t the most even tempered player myself. 

We left early from that game and held a team meeting when we heard that they had won. After a long discussion, we decided to protest the game. In order to get to that game, we had to fundraise the money. Our school provided nothing for us; we had to earn every penny to go. But in that moment, we decided that it wasn’t worth it to play. The prize didn’t mean as much to us, as the statement that we were there to play as Christian brothers, honoring Jesus. 

We got a lot of angry comments from the other teams and coaches. One of our own teammates was so angered by our decision not to play, that he left the school the following year. Afterward, when the duo settled, we found out that the Florida school was so embarrassed by their teams representation, that they fired the coaching staff, and expelled several of the teams players. A thank you letter was sent to our coach from the tournaments organizers thanking us for taking an unpopular stance.

We could have played, and we could have won, but even if we beat the that team, it would have been a loss on their record, but not a challenge to their behavior. When our team took the stand to not play because they were not representing Christ, it did more than an “L” in their ledger. Because it said to the other schools, that a wins/loss record is nothing compared to our representation of Jesus.

And it’s this idea of taking a stand that leads us back to Matthew chapter 24, where we will be in verse 1. And as we open to Matthew 24, verse 1, let’s look at where we are so far in our final section of the Gospel of Matthew.

For the last five weeks we’ve been looking at Jesus’ authority and how, as disciples, we must submit to it. In the first four weeks of this final section of Matthew, we talked about how, as disciples, we are to be satisfied with what God gives us, seeking his will over our own, acting on his will in faith, all the while making sure that we are not trying to confine him to our limited understanding of what he can do. Taken all together, if we do not box God in, then what he desires will be what we desire, making it easy to do what he says, and be satisfied while doing it. This is what it means to live under Jesus’ authority.

But in our last week, we saw what it means to live outside of his authority. In the seven woes, we can see that to live under Jesus’ authority means to live for him. But to live outside of Jesus’ authority is to live for ourselves. Which sounds good, who wasn’t a teenager ready to live out from under their parent’s rule? Yet, just like every teenager learns that they had it better when they didn’t have to work or provide for themselves, it will eventually come to a point where those who live for their own authority will learn that it only leads to destruction.

It’s on the heels of this understanding that we come to Matthew chapter 24, and one of those passages that are so crammed packed with deep theology, that in our summer series we cannot hope to excavate everything that is there. Instead, like we do in these summer series, we are going to look at the over arching point of the passage.

So let’s read, Matthew chapter 24, starting in verse 1.

1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Now if we were to read this section as a whole, we need to read all the way to the end of chapter 25. But that would be so overwhelming that we are stopping here, because, though the overarching thought goes all the way through chapter 25, there are three sub to this larger section of Scripture.

The first of these subparts are linked by Jesus’ words in verse 4, 25, and 32. So, for our first of these three subparts we are going to focus on these first 35 verses, to understand the point of Jesus’ first sub-thought. 

This whole section begins with what seems like the disciples boasting about the temple they are leaving. If you remember from last week, Jesus spoke of the desolation. God had made desolate the first temple due to Israel failing to hold their end of the covenant they made with God. This is why Jesus tells them that the second temple will also be destroyed. 

The disciples are understandably interested in when this will happen. Remember, at this point they’re still in the mistaken idea that Jesus has come to Jerusalem with the goal of re-establishing Israel as a great nation. So they want to know when they can expect Jesus to begin the uprising.

And, in an uncommon response, Jesus lays out the events that must occur before he will take his rightful place as the Davidic King. But we must not miss the reason for what Jesus says. That’s where verses 4, 25, and 32 come in. In these verses Jesus tells the disciples his purposes in telling them when the end and his return will occur. He says things like, “See that no one leads you astray (v.4)… See, I have told you beforehand (v.25)… From the fig tree learn its lesson…”

The purpose of Jesus laying out the events that proceed his full taking of the Davidic throne, is so that his disciples will not follow false prophets and messiahs, and that his disciples would know the signs that proceed his coming. So everything that Jesus presents here, isn’t to give us a moment-by-moment breakdown of everything that will happen, but rather the highlights. So let’s look at these highlights.

First, Jesus gives us three parts of the his return: events that proceed the end, events during the greatest tribulation of humanity, and finally his return. 

The proceeding events, will have people claiming to be the returned Jesus, but are not. We can see this happen all around us. In fact, years ago I did a study of people claiming to be the Messiah. Starting in the 1800s, a person claiming to be Jesus came on the scene roughly every dozen or so years. By the 1900s, that number went to 1 every 8 years. Today, there are handfuls of people around the world that currently led groups who claim to be some sort of reincarnate Jesus. A popular one is Vissarion in Russian who has gathered a large following. 

But false christs are just one sign. Wars, rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes will also be in this stage of proceeding events. Another study I did found that, starting in the first century AD, a large scale war occurred roughly every 80 years. So at least one every century. But in the 1900s that number went down to 1 every 11 years. And since the turn of the 21st century, the world has seen nothing but war. Even now, there is a major war in Ukraine that is effecting the world, and there is a rumor of a war in Taiwan. 

Yet, all these things Jesus says are, “birth pains.” Just because we see them, just means we are getting closer. But added to these proceeding events is that Jesus’ disciples will have greater tribulation. The Church will see great betrayal, love in this world will grow cold. We are seeing these things as well. Too often we look to the western Church to see the things that effect us, but the world wide Church as seen greater persecution in the last fifty years. In Africa the Church is being persecuted like never before. We in the western Church are just now feeling it, but there’s more to come. We see love grow cold everywhere in our society, but it has been growing colder and colder for decades. 

But these are just the proceeding events, the event that seems to end these proceeding ones, is what Jesus tells us in verse 14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus’ Gospel will be witnessed to in every nation. That means that there will be a witness of the Gospel of Jesus in every corner of this world, to every people group, and once that happens we have moved from the proceeding events to the events of the greatest tribulation the world has ever seen.

There are two events that Jesus focuses on here, the first is the Abomination of Desolation, and the second are more false prophets and christs. 

The Abomination of Desolation comes from the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapters 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11. The temple that Jesus said would be torn down, will have a third one built in its place. This isn’t a temple that God decrees, because God no longer dwells in man built buildings, but rather in the lives of his disciples. This third temple will restore the sacrifices    of Israel’s covenant, But soon after, a person will enter the temple and proclaim their own deity to rival God’s. The sacrifices to the covenantal God of Israel will cease, and the world will turn to a new god to follow. 

It is here that the outflow of false prophets and false christs will explode exponentially. They will all be calling the people of the world to follow this false deity. And it will be a horrific time for those who call on the name of Jesus for salvation. 

But there is one more transitory event that happens. In verse 29, Jesus combines the end times language found against Israel in Isaiah’s thirteenth chapter, with the language in Isaiah’s thirty-fourth chapter, to let us know that his return will be a sign so massive, that all the earth will see it. What we see in our sky will have such a disturbance that if we’re not awake yet, this is our last opportunity to come out of our slumber. Jesus proceeds this last sign with some eerie words, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

The imagery of vultures at a corpse is to relay to us the death of this world. But it is also to remind us that when we see the vultures, we know what they are doing. And so, when we see these signs we know what is about to happen.

Finally Jesus returns, he gathers his people to himself, and begins his eternal rule. There is more that the Scriptures teach on this subject, but our goal in this summer series is to see how these moments we are given by way of the Holy Spirit’s direction, connect to the overarching themes of this particular Gospel. 

And we can see this in Jesus lesson of the fig tree. Jesus says, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.”

Just as there are signs to know when seasons change, we must know and be ready and mindful of the signs that proceed the coming of Jesus. For almost 2,000 years the Church has been looking and waiting, and we can see that the signs that Jesus spoke of seem to be happening in our day. So what must we do?

Jesus tell us that he gives us the information so that we won’t be led astray. We won’t be people who follow false prophets, christs, or any other. That we will be his disciples, under his authority, seeking his will, satisfied with his purposes. 

This week I want to challenge you to first, not be afraid, that’s not the purpose that Jesus has for telling us what will happen at the end. Secondly, there’s a quote up on a wall of the church for the men. It reads, “Don’t pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men.” I want to challenge you to have a paraphrase of this quote as your prayer this week. As you here about the wars, about the persecution, about the famines and earthquakes and problems of this world, pray this, “Lord, make me a stronger disciple.”

Our Lord could return soon, let us as his people pray for that day, let us be on the look out for what our Lord has said, and let us walk strong in his ways, that we may be gathered together with him on that greater and glorious day. Amen.

Matthew Series, Week 38 - “No Woe for Me”

 In our day there are warning labels on everything. That’s because people have used items improperly and so as to not get sued, companies place warning labels on things. There’s a warning on wheelbarrows, that they are not intended for highway use. Or strollers that say, remove child before folding. Or how about the warning on irons, that tell you to take the shirt off before ironing. Or one of my favorites, Once you use a thermometer rectally, you shouldn’t use it orally.

These warning labels are placed on those items most likely because someone did it, and now we have the label. Throughout the Scriptures, God gives us warnings as well. So if we are going to use what he gives us right, we better understand and take seriously his warnings. 

So it’s the warnings of God that bring us back to our Matthew series, where we’ll be looking at the whole of chapter 23. And as we open to Matthew 23:1, let's see where we are so far in the Gospel.

In the four previous weeks that we’ve been studying the last section of Matthew’s book, we have looked at what it means to follow Jesus’ authority. So far we have seen that following Jesus’ authority means that we are satisfied with what he gives us, we are seeking his will instead of our own, we’re acting upon his will which is our faith in action, and we are not trying to corner God into a box of our own making.

Jesus’ authority over our lives needs to be absolute, because when it’s not, it leads to us not experiencing God’s presence the way he intended.

In fact, we can see that kind of disciplinary action in Jesus’ words today. So let’s read together Matthew 23, starting in verse 1.

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely (Not all manuscripts have this verse).] 

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Chapter 23 is bookend with references to the seat of Moses and the desolation of a house. These two ideas brought together point to the reality of how Israel has lost its way through their leaders. The religious leaders place themselves in the role of Moses’ authority, thinking they have the correct reading or interpretation of the Scriptures, but if they did, they would have embraced Jesus as the Messiah. Yet, because they reject him, their house will become desolate because they are being judged by God. 

Throughout the Old Testament, when God’s presence leaves the people of Israel because of their rebellion, God speaks of leaving both homes and the land desolate. Speaking in Isaiah 5:8 we read, “The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing: ‘Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants.’”

The prophet Jeremiah wrote that God said, “Take warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so no one can live in it (6:8).”

The presence of God is walking with them at that very moment, calling his people to himself to turn away from sin, and to salvation. Yet because they have rejected him and sought to kill him, The presence of God is withdrawing from Israel and a new covenant will now be established with the nations through the cross and resurrection.

So Jesus’ words between the bookends are both a summary of God’s reason for the removal of his presence and a warning to his disciples. So let’s look at Jesus’ seven woes and see how each is a reason for judgment and a warning to the disciples.

In Jesus’ first woe he speaks of how the religious leaders cause barriers to the kingdom. They have become the guards to the Kingdom’s gates. They think that they have a right to decide who gets in, and who is left out. But we’re told by 1st John 2:1, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” It is not the religious leaders of Israel who decide which person enters the kingdom, its Jesus. And time and time again we have seen him call all people to himself.

This is a warning to Jesus’ disciples that we cannot be guards at God’s Kingdom gates. All who accept Jesus as Savior and Lord are welcome before the throne of God. The way a person smells, the way a person sings, the way a person acts, the way a person speaks, the wealth of a person, the clothes of a person, the skin color, none of those things are what separates us from God. And we who follow Jesus, must not put any stumbling block to salvation in front of people, except Jesus himself.

If people are not going to get in to God’s Kingdom, it’s going to be on the own personal rejection of Jesus’ message of unique access through him. It should not be because we have created theology or culture that is unbiblically closing the door for people to come to God.

The second woe speaks against the religious leaders that they seek disciples for themselves, not for the Kingdom. These religious leaders are building ministries where they are the focal point. Where they are more important to the spiritual lives of the people, than God himself. Paul corrects the Corinthian church when they tried to pull this idea of following humans instead of God. We read in 1st Corinthians 3:5-6, “5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

This is a warning to Jesus’ disciples to not seek to build our own little kingdoms within God’s. Jesus says that we shouldn’t be called Rabbi, or father, or instructors, because we have one Teacher, one Father, one Instructor. This is one of the reasons why I don’t like to be called pastor. As Jesus’ disciples, we are all on the same level, and we are all ministered by God himself. We might help each other in different ways, using the gifts God has given us, but we are to give glory back to God, both acknowledging his work and submitting to his authority in our lives.

In Jesus’ third woe, we see that the religious teachers are teaching people to trust in things and not God. They are teaching them to place their faith, not in the person of God, but in the gold. They are teaching the people to place their faith in their own acts of sacrifice, rather than God who forgives. This is why Paul says in 1st Corinthians 2:2 that, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

The warning to Jesus’ disciples is to not focus other’s faith into what we may have for them. No ministry, will save you. No project will bring about salvation. Faith in anything other than Jesus is no faith at all. No denomination, no global or local ministry confines God’s blessing. Only Christ is holds salvation, and we cannot point others to, anything other than Jesus, his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

Following Jesus’ third woe, the fourth woe calls the religious leaders out on their desire to pick and choose what commands to obey from God. The religious leaders wanted people to obey what was the most profitable for them. Tithe’s, offerings, and other payments kept the money rolling in and helped the religious leaders live more than comfortable lives. But the poor were not being taken care of. The most vulnerable were left to the wayside. This is why in the opening to James’ letter, the first chapter ends with, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (1:27).”

This is a warning to Jesus’ disciples to not seek after wealth. Too many people have a rightful problem with the modern Church, because there are too many millionaire pastors. Too many leaders of the Church who wear thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, or drive lavish vehicles. The world has a right to call us out, but Jesus did it first. We must seek to live as subtle lives as we can, especially us leaders. It’s one reason, I personally never took a raise, even going from youth pastor to leader pastor, because the church supplied my needs and there was no reason to add to it. It’s one reasons I was uncomfortable with the recent increase in my salary. If we are not taking care of the most vulnerable among us, while the least vulnerable have excess, then we are failing God’s call on the church.

Jesus’ next two woes parallel each other. Both deal with the religious leaders trying to look righteous on the outside, but embracing sin on the inside. The religious leaders had no problem talking the talk and walking the walk in front of others. Their facade of following God fooled everyone. Everyone, except God himself. Every generation thinks that if they put on a good outward look, then they’ll be fine, but just as God said to Samuel concerning David in 1st Samuel 16:7, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart…” God is speaking that to us today.

A disciple of Jesus needs to be seeking after God to clean up the inside, the place, as Jesus said early in Matthew (15:19), where evil comes out of. It’s good not to smoke, it’s good not to cuss, but those and so many other things are merely symptoms of deeper issues. Issues that God desires to deal with. But when we focus on the outward, without addressing the inward, we create legalistic communities, where everyone is trying to look good, but none are experiencing the grace of Jesus that transforms them.

The final woe deals with the thinking of the religious leaders believing they would have followed God in the past, if they were alive when the Old Testament prophets came. But they show they wouldn’t have followed then, because they aren’t following now. If they do not submit to God’s authority as he walks in front of them as Jesus, then they would never have followed the authority given to a human who spoke on behalf of God in the past. The Hebrew writer, in the opening to their letter writes, “1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs (1:1-4).” If a person cannot accept Jesus’ words on their own, then that person cannot accept anything else God has spoken. This is the epitome to why God’s presence was taken from Israel, they rejected not simply a Messiah, but God himself, come down to the earth.

Jesus is the full revelation of God, as disciples, we do not get to pick and choose what he says, as if he was a buffet for our liking. No, we are the children who’s parents place dinner in front of them that we must eat. To think we get to choose Jesus’ words, is to not seek the true and living God who provides salvation through none other than Jesus and his cross. 

This chapter can feel like Jesus is really sticking it to the religious leaders of his day, but we see the same things that Jesus spoke against them, festering within the world wide Church today. We must take the woes against the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, and stand against what led to those woes. The Church will endure, the people of God always endure, but our witness has been tarnished again and again, and we have seen church bodies fold again and again because God has removed his presence from them.

The seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 is a cautionary example of God’s willingness to remove his witness from those body of believers that seek their own kingdom above his. So we must hold steadfast to seeking the will of God above our own. That we are seeking the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Jesus. That we are good stewards of the blessings of God, seeking to both love him and the people around us. That we are not a clubhouse of people who look alike, but are a collection of flawed people seeking to share God’s grace with each other. 

My challenge this week is to review the seven woes, asking God to reveal if you have succumbed or are succumbing to one or more of these warnings. Ask that the Holy Spirit both to cleanse you of it, and confess it to a fellow believer that they may pray for you. The only way that we will build each other up in the Lord, is to stand with each other in our problems and extend grace to one another.

Let us be people who are willing to be corrected by God, so that we may fully experience his presence as he created us to. Amen.