WWUTT 2447 Temptations are Sure to Come (Luke 17:1-4)

Jesus warned his disciples, temptations are sure to come. He encouraged them to increase their faith and he reminded them to remain humble before God and one another, knowing that we are unworthy servants in this calling of the gospel.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Jesus Warns About Temptation in Luke 17

Thank you, Becky. And greetings everyone. In our study of the gospel of Luke, we are on to chapter 17. And here Jesus teaches his disciples, warning them first of all about temptation, encouraging them in their faith and then reminding them to remain humble in all things.

Let's read it verses one through 10. Hear the word of the Lord. And he said to his disciples, temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him.

The apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea and it would obey you.

Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and recline at table. Will he not rather say to him, prepare supper for me and dress properly and serve me while I eat and drink.

And afterward you will eat and drink. Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty.

Temptation, Accountability, and Forgiveness Among Believers

Now there's a lot to cover here. We may not get through it all today, but you'll probably have noticed this is split up into three parts, like the outline that I gave at the very beginning. First of all, Jesus warning about temptation and then encouraging the disciples in their faith.

When they say to him, increase our faith and he encourages them to have faith and then reminds them that they are unworthy servants. And so to be humble and grateful for all that God has called them to do, but also to do what God has called them to do.

Now, this first part where he gives this warning about temptation, this can be broken up into three parts as well. So first of all, you have the warning that temptation is sure to come. And then secondly, the woe regarding the one through whom they come.

And then finally, if your brother comes to you and asks for forgiveness, then you must forgive him. So let's start at the very beginning here. Chapter 17, verse one, with Jesus saying to his disciples, temptations to sin are sure to come.

Now, first of all, that opening clause there at the beginning of chapter 17, and he said to his disciples, who was the last group of people that Jesus addressed? It was the Pharisees with the account of the rich man and Lazarus that we read about in chapter 16, verses 19 to 21.

We finished that up yesterday. Sorry, 19 to 31. And then after that, Jesus is teaching his disciples. So where he was with his disciples and in the hearing of the Pharisees, we've moved on from there.

And now Jesus telling his disciples that temptation is sure to come. Just because you are a follower of Jesus does not mean that you won't ever be tempted. We're going through that in our sermon series in church right now.

In fact, we are in the book of Romans. If you've been listening to the sermons on Sunday, the sermon that I just preached was out of Romans chapter six. Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

By no means. And Paul says, submit the members of your body as instruments for righteousness, not as instruments for unrighteousness. But those cautions are given because we as Christians are still going to struggle with temptation even as we are in these bodies.

We have been risen from the dead. We've been risen from death to life that we may walk in newness of life with Jesus as said at the start of Romans chapter six. But that doesn't mean that we won't ever be tempted and we won't ever sin.

We're still gonna stumble. If anyone does sin, John says in 1 John 2 .1, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also the sins of the whole world.

So whoever believes in Jesus, he becomes our advocate before God and he is speaking favorably of us on our behalf. Sin will still happen, but we must be aware of it. And desiring to please God whom we serve, we stay far away from it.

We wanna be holy as God is holy as said in 1 Peter 1 or what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, you must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And we would desire as his children to live lives and to serve in a way that is pleasing to our God.

And so we heed this warning that Jesus gives here. Temptations to sin are sure to come. Now, as the apostle Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10, God will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability to resist.

So with every temptation that comes, he provides for us a way out. No one who gives into temptation and falls into sin should blame God for that. Why didn't God protect me from that? Or why did God put me in a place where I was gonna fall into this temptation and sin?

It's never God's fault. As James says in James 1, he will never cause anybody to sin. And so we need to be aware of that temptation. We need to be aware that those things will be there, not even putting ourselves in the place to be tempted by something if we can help it, though going out into the world to share the gospel or even working in the world.

And many of you probably have secular jobs and you're surrounded by humanist coworkers. You know, those temptations are going to be there. We need to be aware. We'll be in those kinds of situations where you might be tempted by something.

So be warned that temptations to sin are sure to come, but there's always the way out, that we would draw near to Christ when tempted, that we would pray to him, that we would submit our mind to him, that we would flee from the evil that is in front of us.

As the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6, to flee from sexual immorality, or as Paul encouraged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, to flee youthful passions and instead pursue righteousness, love, peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Now, Jesus is going to encourage the disciples to help one another here as we continue on. So first of all, we have the warning, temptations to sin are sure to come. And just because we become followers of Jesus doesn't mean that we won't ever sin.

We need to be on guard. We need to watch ourselves. But then Jesus says, woe to the one through whom those temptations come. So a person that causes someone to be tempted or puts a stumbling block in front of them, that they would be tempted and therefore fall into sin, there's going to be a particular judgment for that person.

Jesus will later say in Luke 22, for the son of man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. That's a reference to Judas, of course. And then it's also said in Acts 2, when the apostle Peter preaches the gospel at Pentecost, he says there, men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

So even though it was by God's ordination, by his foreordained plan, that Jesus would be delivered up and killed, would die on the cross for our sins, Jesus himself saying, you don't take my life, but I lay it down on my own accord.

Even though this was God's doing, and it was according to his plan, yet the people who killed him are still going to be held accountable for the wickedness that they have done. Even though Jesus was delivered up according to the plan of God, you crucified him and killed him, this done by the hands of lawless men.

And then of course we know, as you go on there at Pentecost, at the end of Peter's sermon, the people are cut to the heart and they say, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter saying, repent and be baptized.

So that those who would come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ may be forgiven, even of an evil such as this, even putting the innocent son of God to death, we receive the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ.

Temptation is sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come. The lawless men, Jesus being killed by the hands of lawless men, the Pharisees, the Romans, and then everybody else who gathered into it with them.

Yeah, we'll go along with you on this. They caused the temptation and brought them into deeper and graver sin. But we still won't be able to blame anybody else for our sin. As I've talked about before regarding false teachers, those false teachers that teach and the people who follow them, there's a symbiotic relationship that's going on there.

So those who were lied to by false teachers won't be able to stand in the judgment and say, well, God, that false teacher deceived me. And that was why I went away into this sin. As said in 2 Timothy 4, these people heap up for themselves false teachers to suit their own passions.

They go after the false teacher because the teacher is promising them something that they want in their flesh. So yeah, the teacher lies and he's going to be held accountable for the false teaching that he gave.

Teachers will be judged with greater strictness as said in James 2 .1. But at the same time, the person that follows the false teacher is following him because he likes what he says. So there is that symbiotic relationship.

The false teacher needs students. The student wants teachers to tell him what it is that he wants to hear. But woe to that man through whom these temptations come. There's still a greater woe that's going to be on the teacher that misleads in this.

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, Jesus says, and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Now, oftentimes, whenever we make that reference to the millstone being cast into the sea, that would be better for him than causing one of these little ones to sin.

You know where I most often hear that verse referenced, where I hear that verse applied? It's with regards to sin that might happen to a child, either abuse or even sexual abuse that may happen in some way.

Child pornography, that is becoming more and more rampant and widespread. A lot has been done to try to stop it. People being arrested, of course, but nonetheless, it continues to be an increasing problem in our world.

But that aside, not to go down that rabbit trail, but oftentimes with regards to those who would abuse children, I hear this verse applied. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he would be tossed into the sea.

But that's not, the context of this is not with regards to abusing children. Now, I share the sentiment. Yeah, a person who does so many rotten, awful, evil things to kids, there will be a wretched day of judgment for him.

There's a hot place in hell for him if he does not repent, he or she does not repent of the evil that they have done to children. There will be great judgment upon them if they don't repent and turn to Christ.

But specifically what's being talked about here, the little ones who are in view here are those who would be young believers, young Christians, immature. That's who Jesus has in mind. If you think back to Matthew 18, where Jesus shares the same thing in Matthew's gospel, at that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Now that certainly would pertain to children who believe in Jesus, but it also pertains to those young believers in the faith. Young meaning that they just recently came to faith. They're immature. There's still a lot that they don't know.

And you could have a 60 plus year old who just became a Christian and is now a babe in the faith. And if in his weakness, in his understanding, or rather you could say misunderstanding, or he just, he doesn't have understanding.

He still lacks that maturity in faith. And if in his immaturity, somebody says or does something that causes him to doubt or fall into sin, woe to that person who has caused one of these little ones, those who are immature in faith to sin.

It would be better for him to literally have a literal millstone literally tied around his neck and literally tossed into the sea. That would be better for him than the judgment that would come upon him, which will be much, much worse.

So yes, this can certainly pertain to children, but the context is more with regards to anyone who comes to faith who is spiritually young in the faith. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Now going on, here is where Jesus encourages the disciples to help each other in all of this. He says in verse three, pay attention to yourselves. Now he's not saying there necessarily that you individually, you, Peter, you need to watch yourself.

You, Peter, you need to discipline yourself so that you won't fall into temptation. That's not really the context. When he says, pay attention to yourselves, he's talking about all the believers, the whole body of believers.

You're watching out for each other. You're caring for your other brothers and sisters. And we can certainly take from this a lesson to guard ourselves and be self-disciplined. That's not the direct application, but you can certainly find that application.

As the apostle Paul said to Timothy, 1 Timothy 4 .16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Now there's personal discipline that Timothy would be applying there, but even there, even in that instruction that Paul gives, there is, there's something to watch out for one another.

You'll save both yourself and your hearers. Your self-discipline will be a benefit to other people. And you know this, you've seen this before. You've probably witnessed some well-known teacher, somebody who has a great public platform in Christianity, and they stumble and fall.

They fall into sin. They bring a reproach upon themselves and on the gospel. It is a, it's a grievous witness that somebody may look at that teacher and think, well, you know, he can sin. And so maybe I can sin too.

They may not reason it that way in their minds, but somewhere in there, they've been fighting with temptation. And when they see a teacher do that, when they see somebody with a public platform that falls into sin, they start to relax their defenses a little bit.

Like, oh, he just fell into that sin. I can do it too. And just ask for forgiveness. And then there are also those teachers that are out there getting people riled up with things that are contrary to sound doctrine.

And even those teachers are stirring people into doing things that are causing them to sin. I think of those teachers right now that are stirring people to anger. It kind of seems to be the political climate right now in evangelicalism.

And you'll have those social media platformers that will give those fiery sermons, not a fiery sermon in the sense of you're a sinner, repent and turn to Christ, or you're going to fall under the wrath of God.

It's not a fiery sermon in that way. It's a fiery sermon in the sense of them getting on some sort of political platform and talking about current events. And, oh boy, yeah, that just gets everybody going.

And now they're riled up and angry and causing them to sin. Because this pastor's probably trying to feed his social media platform. He's not trying to feed the sheep. And so this encouragement from Jesus here is to pay attention to yourselves.

You're not doing this for you. You are looking out for one another. If your brother sins, rebuke him. Now you can highlight that and you can remember those six words. If your brother sins, rebuke him.

So that when anybody comes along and says, hey, the Bible says, judge not. Oh yeah, well, Jesus said, if your brother sins, rebuke him. All right, that's a direct command that we have.

Why?

Why would we be rebuking one another? So that your brother doesn't continue down a path that could lead to destruction or something worse may happen to him or he would cause somebody else to sin. Call him to correction.

This is what we refer to as admonishing. To admonish means to correct with goodwill. So you're correcting him for his sake. It's not so you can look smarter than everybody else or even to make a public spectacle out of him.

It is because you care for your brother and you don't want him to continue in sin for which Christ died. Sin that God has promised that he will judge. So if your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, Jesus says, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him. Now, does this mean that we just let somebody just go on sinning? They can sin and sin and sin over and over and over again.

And we just forgive and forgive and forgive. And it was just kind of like, oh yeah, that's James. That's what he always does. He's always going into sin. Oh, there goes James again, down a path of darkness.

Let me go rebuke him. You know, there does come a point where a person may demonstrate themselves to not really be a believer because they are practicing sin. And Jesus said, whoever practices sin is a slave to sin.

And again, they may reveal themselves to not really be repentant and walking in the grace of God. But this is more along the lines of a brother sins several times a day. It may not be the same habitual sin that he keeps going back to over and over again.

He sins against you in this way, I forgive you. Then he sins against you in this way, I forgive you. Then he sins again. He comes and apologizes. It's a different sin than before. And you forgive him.

Or it may be in the beginning, it could be the same sin that they're doing over and over again. But remember the context here. They're a little one. They're immature. They're still growing in matters of holiness.

So have patience with them. For the apostle Paul instructs the church in Romans 15, one, we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves, but to please our neighbor for his good, to build him up.

As Paul said to the Colossians in Colossians chapter three, if any of you has a complaint against one another, forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. So you must also forgive. And this is how we exercise the grace of God with one another in the body.

God has shown grace to us through Jesus Christ. By faith in him, we are forgiven our sins and you've sinned greatly against God. The sin that you've committed against God far greater than whatever anybody has done to you.

And yet God has forgiven you. So you must also forgive. Showing and demonstrating the grace of God that he has given to each and every one of us. Now we still have a couple more lessons to go in this section.

Faith That Trusts God and Humble Service

Jesus encouraging the disciples faith and we can have our faith encouraged in this as well. And then the reminder to remain humble and working servants. And we'll get to that section of this passage tomorrow.

Heavenly father, we thank you for what we have read. And I pray that we also would beware of temptation and we would not want to become somebody that might cause somebody else to sin, but we would desire to walk in holiness, being a good witness and a good example to one another.

And if we see a brother that is walking in sin, that we would rebuke him, call him back to the path of righteousness. And if he is repentant, we don't hold grudges, we forgive. Seven times or even as Jesus said elsewhere, 70 times, seven times.

We just continue to show grace because you continue to show grace to us. May our grace abound all the more in Christ Jesus. And it's in his name we pray.

Amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word, when we understand the text.