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Bro. Bill Nichols
Okay, I'd like to begin with a quick prayer. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this time and all of these places where we're meeting together in small groups. And thank you for giving us the technology to bring all of those groups together and merge them into one great group.
We bless you and we pray that you will continue to bless us. Lead us through the day, lead us through all of the services today. Be with us, protect us and keep us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We're going to begin dealing with chapter 13 of Luke.
And I'll just begin by reading the first verse, taking a comment from John MacArthur and then going back for some background. So here we go. There were present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
John MacArthur said this about that. This incident is in keeping with what is known about the character of Pilate. Evidently, some worshipers from Galilee were condemned by Rome and were sought out and killed in the temple by Roman authorities while in the process of offering a sacrifice.
Such a killing would have been the grossest sort of blasphemy. Incidents like this inflamed the Jews' hatred of Rome and finally led to the destruction of, he said, Jerusalem, and I added, and the temple in 70 AD.
Now we're going to go back into chapter 12 for some context and then we'll come back to this verse. Jesus had told the multitude some of the signs indicating the time of the coming of the Messiah or the Anointed One.
These were signs that the Jewish leaders either could not see or simply chose to ignore. Then Jesus followed up by describing the division that would follow when he, Jesus, was revealed as the Messiah.
We'll pick up at Luke chapter 12, verse 51. Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on the earth. I tell you nay, but rather division. From henceforth, there should be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three.
And the father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
That's just some of the signs that Jesus says that we will see. Now, as I prepared for this lesson, something that Chuck Missler said years ago came to mind. In looking for the signs of the time, Chuck Missler called this time that we're living in now the time of the signs.
So not just the signs of his return, but the time that we live in is the time of increasing numbers of signs. Now, with that as the background, let's take a closer look at Luke 13, verse one. There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Now, considering the division that Jesus had predicted, it's very likely that the intent of the Jewish leaders was to put him in an untenable position, one of saying something derogatory about Pilate or else ignoring the comment altogether.
Okay, here's where we were. Chuck Missler put it this way. The raising of this issue may have been a form of entrapment. Anything that Jesus said, Pilate would certainly perceive Pilate. I'm still having trouble.
And to Jerusalem, he'd give the Jewish leaders an excuse to accuse him. On the other hand, if he ignored the issue, they would accuse him of being a pro-Roman and disloyal to the people. Now, Jesus avoided this trap by raising the issue to a higher level and avoiding the politics completely.
Instead of discussing Pilate's sins, he dealt with the sins of the people questioning him. And Jesus answered and said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered such things.
Now, the question that Jesus asked, in my words, is this. Do you think these men were greater sinners than you are simply because they suffered such things? John MacArthur said this, and we'll stay with John MacArthur's analysis for just a bit.
It was the belief of many that a disaster and a sudden death always signified divine displeasure over a particular sin. We're gonna look at what Eliphaz the Tenemite told Job. Remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent.
I'm gonna pause there and interrupt Eliphaz here and add, so far as I know, all who ever lived also died. That is to say they perished. And then I made a comment, and this is my comment, and I felt bad about it when I made it, the innocent as well as the guilty, because it came to mind, was there ever an innocent person who died?
While you're pondering that, I'm gonna tell you the answer. Yes, there was, but only one, because there was only one innocent person, and that was Jesus. So, so far as I know, all who ever lived also died.
Well, there's a couple of exceptions. Everybody that's still alive today hasn't died yet, but they will unless they live long enough to be raptured at Jesus' second coming. There's two other men in the Old Testament that didn't die.
They were Enoch, who the Bible simply said walked with the Lord and was not because the Lord took him, and Elijah, which turned his work over to his successor, Elisha, and left in a fiery chariot. Now, if you go further, and you go into the signs of the times today that I think we're beginning to see at the front end of the Tribulation period, you can see that midway into that Tribulation period, there is something strange happened.
Early on, there are two witnesses. Elijah, I believe, everybody believes Elijah, and I think maybe Enoch are the two witnesses in Revelation 11, and if that's the case, then even they died. So every man that ever lived died except Noah.
Everyone died except those that are going to be raptured out at the second coming. Now, there is a passage that I'm not going to deal with now because we lost so much time in the beginning, but I will say this.
Further down in Revelation chapter 11, down in verse 13, it said, and after, this is verse 11, Revelation 11, verse 11, and after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered to them, those are the two witnesses, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them, which saw them, and everyone saw them.
We have the capability of that happening now. We have the capability of something happening anywhere in the world that everybody can see it. We didn't have that capability at the time that John wrote this, and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither.
And they, the two witnesses, who might be Enoch and Elijah, ascend up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. Now, I'm gonna go back to Job, verse four, and finish the thought that I left off.
Actually, I'm gonna go back to, well, yeah, I lost that part. Job four, verse seven. Remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent, oh, where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness repeat the same.
Now, we're gonna go back to John MacArthur. It was the belief of many that disaster and sudden death always signified divine displeasure over particular sins. And those who suffered in uncommon ways were assumed to be guilty of even more serious immorality.
We see that even among Jesus's closest disciples. Turn with me, please, to John, the Gospel of John, chapter nine, verse one. John chapter nine, verse one. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
And his disciples asked him, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifest in him.
Now, back to Luke. This is 13, and I'm gonna read two again and then go on to Jesus's answer. And Jesus answered, saying unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered such things?
I tell you nay, but except you repent, you all shall likewise perish. So now Jesus answers the question that he asked them. Do you think these men were greater sinners than you are because they suffered such things?
And his answer was no. They were no more sinful than you are. Moreover, if you fail to repent, you too will perish. Now, Jesus did not deny the connection. This is John MacArthur. Jesus did not deny the connection.
Between catastrophe and human evil. After all, such afflictions ultimately stem from the curse of humanity's fallenness. Let's go back to Genesis chapter three, verse 17. Genesis 3, 17. This is God speaking to Adam.
And to Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. Now, there's a question that dangled in my mind for a long time, and I'm going to answer or deal more with that question, really, in just a second, but I'm gonna read the rest of this passage first.
In sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herbs of the field. In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat the bread till thou return unto the ground.
Okay? Now, I'm gonna go back and consider this. It's for my sake that the ground is cursed. It's for my sake that in sorrow I shall eat of it all the days of my life. It's for sorrow, it's for my sake, that thorns and thistles the earth shall bring forth to me, that I shall eat the herb of the field.
It's for my sake that the sweat of my face shall, that in the sweat of my face I shall eat thy bread until I return to the ground. How can all that be for my sake? How can it be good for me? And the answer's simple.
There's something worse than living a lifetime on a cursed world. There's something worse than living a finite amount of time on a cursed world, and that is living an eternity apart from God. So the world was cursed for my sake.
And for the sake of all the elect, it was no surprise to God that Adam sinned. That was the plan from the beginning. But if he had not sinned, there would've been no death, and no need for Jesus to come to redeem us from our sins by his death.
Turn with me, please, to Romans chapter five, verse six, and we'll get the part of the plan, part of the plan from the beginning. Nothing surprises God. This is Paul speaking in Romans chapter five. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man, some, would even dare to die but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Without Jesus, there is absolutely no escape from the wrath to come. And that's the reason Christianity is under attack around the world today.
Christians have violated the world's one unforgivable sin. I've heard people all the time talk about the unforgivable sin, the sin that you can't sin and be forgiven by God. Oh, well, I don't know that there is one of those, but I do know this.
There is a sin that you can commit that the world will not forgive you about. That's the one unforgivable sin of the world. And that's exclusivity. Christians say there is no path to God other than through his only begotten son, Jesus.
If you don't know Jesus, there is no other path to God for you. And for that exclusivity, the world hates Jesus. And for that, the world hates God. And for that, the world hates Christians. But God does not hate us, nor does Jesus.
Reading on in Romans, Romans 5, verse 10. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And I might add that this is one of the things that, I don't remember whether Brother David actually mentioned this or not, that we only get through Jesus. We can only joy in God through Jesus. One of the things that we can only do through Jesus.
By whom we have now received the atonement. Whereas by one man, that one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death by sin. So his death passed upon all men. And I think it's even Enoch and Elijah. For that all have sinned, all have sinned.
For until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded toward many.
Many, but not all, only the elect. I'm gonna make a little comment, and then I'm gonna slide down to another portion of this passage. Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, acknowledged that Paul's writings were sometimes hard to understand.
He said this in 2 Peter 3, verse 15. Even as our beloved brother Paul although according to the wisdom given him hath written unto you, as also all of his disciples speaking in them, some things hard to be understood, which they which are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also with the other scriptures to their own destruction.
For me, verses 16 or 17 are confusing. But verses 18 and 19 clarify the thought. So I'm gonna skip 16 and 17 and go straight away to 18. And I think it comes forth more clear. Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
Now I highlighted three phrases. The offense of one, judgment came, and the judgment was condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men to the justification of life.
And verse 19 says it very clearly. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous. That's many, but not all. I'm gonna finish the verse three of Genesis 19.
In the sweat of thy face, thou shalt eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it thou wast taken, for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. This is back to John MacArthur speaking about the situation.
Furthermore, specific calamities indeed may be the fruit of certain iniquities. Some sins, I will say, actually do lead to specific calamities. Some things that we do lead directly to a punishment. Proverbs 24, verse 16.
For a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. But MacArthur goes on to say, but Christ challenged people's notion that they were morally superior to those who suffered in such catastrophes.
He called all to repentance, for all were in danger of sudden destruction. No one is guaranteed time to prepare for death. So now is the time for repentance for all. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6, verse two, 2 Corinthians chapter six, verse two, for he said, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation I have succored thee.
Behold now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation. And then commenting on the phrase, ye shall all likewise perish, John MacArthur adds this. These words prophetically warned of the approaching judgment of Israel, which culminated in the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD.
Thousands in Jerusalem were killed by the Romans. But that warning also applies, I added, to us as we wait and watch for his return. Now I'm back in Luke chapter 13, now at verse four. And hopefully all of our technical mishaps are behind us, and we can go on a little bit smoother.
I apologize for all that. Not only did it delay everything, but it sidetracked me. And in any case, now my time is up. My faculties are back with me, I think. Verse four. Are those 18 upon which the tower of Shalom fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Now the same question is now applied to what seems to be a natural disaster. The question, do you think these men were greater sinners than you are because they suffered such things? Here's what John MacArthur said.
Evidently, one of the towers guarding the aqueduct collapsed while under construction, killing some people. Again, the question in the minds of the people was regarding the connection between calamity and iniquity.
Think ye that they were sinners above all men? Jesus responded by saying that such a calamity was not God's way to single out an especially evil group for death, but as a means of warning to all sinners.
Calamitous judgment was eventually going to come to all if they did not repent, as it is coming to us if we do not repent. Verse five, he says, I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Now Jesus slips away from that and speaks in a parable. This is one of the parables, pardon me, that Jesus speaks about a vineyard. I'll just read it. Chapter 13 of Luke, verse six. He spake also this parable.
A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereof and found none. Now John MacArthur said, in this case, the parable's lesson about fruitlessness applies equally to the whole nation of Israel and to each individual soul in that nation.
I added this, the fruit that the owner sought in each individual soul represents the fruits of the spirit that the Lord will look for in each of us at the proper time. In Galatians, Paul lists them, the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.
And then he said to the dresser of the vineyard, behold, these three years, I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none and cut it down. Why, come birth it the ground. Now, I'm gonna read the vine dresser's answer, and then I'm gonna make a comment.
And he answered, saying, said unto him, Lord, let it alone also till I dig about it and dung it or fertilize it. Now, we can't presume from that that the vine dresser has been doing a poor job of gardening.
He very well has fertilized it every year. He has been fertilizing it for probably six years because they never attempted to gather fruit for the first three years. So only after the attempt was made to gather the fruit for the first time was any attempt made to gather the fruit.
So now he's come three years in a row and gathered no fruit. And so the vine dresser says this, Lord, give them one more chance. Let me dig around it one more time. Let me fertilize it one more time. And then if it bear fruit, well, if not, then after that, thou shalt cut it down.
That was verse 19. If it bear fruit, well, if it bear fruit, well, if not, then after that, thou shalt cut it down. He's asking the Lord to give them one more chance, knowing this, that every day that the Lord delays his return is one more chance he gives those who have not repeated, who have not repented to repent.
Charles Spurgeon said this, there is a time for the felling of fruitless trees. And there's an appointed season for hewing down and casting into fire the useless sinner. Chuck Missler added this, God is gracious and long-suffering toward people.
And then he cited 2 Peter 3, verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which times the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
And the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. And I will add this, when that time comes, it's too late to make any further changes. But Chuck Missler said this, not only is the Lord gracious and long-suffering toward his people, but he does more than enough to encourage us to repent and bear fruit.
An interesting passage in Matthew chapter 3, verse 7, illustrates that. In the midst of chastising the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he makes this comment. I'm gonna read it, starting at Matthew chapter 3, verse 7.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come. And yet he told them this, bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance.
Who warned you to flee from this, the wrath to come? And yet, even knowing that, he gave them one more chance. Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, we have Adam to our father.
For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And then I skipped down, well, I didn't, I just paused. And now also the act is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
And then in verse 7, chapter 7, verse 15, Jesus adds this. Beware false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?
Even so the good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. And a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. Now the bottom line here is obedience.
Many will say unto him, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? That does lead to an interesting thought. Jesus himself said that if the devil cast out devils, then his house would fall.
And that he didn't cast out devils by the devil. But these men are not actually casting out devils. They're only claiming to cast out devils, to have cast out devils, the ones that actually are emissaries of Satan.
And in thy name, we have done many wonderful works. And then I will profess to them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Now Chuck Missler goes on to say, God waited three years during the Lord's earthly ministry, but the nation did not bear fruit.
He then waited 38 more years before he allowed the Roman armies to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. And during those 38 years, the church gave the gospel a powerful witness of the gospel message. And finally, the tree was cut down.
After 38 years, the tree was cut down when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans. It's interesting that in the 38 years, it was also 38 years that Israel wandered in the wilderness after their failure in Numbers 13 and 14.
And they wandered in the wilderness for what we call 40 years. Chuck Missler also said this, it's significant that the parable was left open-ended. The listeners had to supply their own conclusion. Did the tree finally bear fruit or was it cut down?
But then he answers the question this way. The question is not what happened to the tree. The question is what will happen to me if I don't bear fruit? So the question for us all is, are we bearing fruit?
Okay, now we come to verse 10. And he, this is Jesus, was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. Jesus illustrate, this is Chuck Missler. Jesus illustrated his teaching by healing a woman on the Sabbath day.
This episode is the last time in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus taught in a synagogue. And that was significant. Jesus needed to be in the synagogue because that's where the woman was. Well, the woman we haven't got to yet.
What was she doing there? She was working, she was worshiping. Okay, let's look at the next verse. And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bowed together and could in no wise lift herself up.
18 years she has been in this state. 18 years she could not lift up her eyes to heaven and see a star. 18 years she was afflicted. Chuck Missler said this about her. There she was in the synagogue. And he makes this parenthetical comment about himself.
If I had been crippled for 18 years, I wonder if I would have been faithful to worship God week after week in the synagogue. Surely she had prayed and asked for help and was not delivered. However, God's ostensible unconcern did not cause her to become bitter or resentful.
There she was in the synagogue. And what was she doing in the synagogue? She was worshiping. And Jesus had to be there because that's where she was. Charles Spurgeon said this. She was in this condition for 18 years.
For 18 years, she had not gazed upon the sun. For 18 years, no star of the night had gladdened her eye. Her face was drawn downward toward the dust. And all the light of her life was dim. She walked about as if she were searching for a grave.
And this is Spurgeon. And I do not doubt that she often felt that it would have been gladness to have found one. Verse 12. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, "'Woman, thou art loosed from thine iniquity.'".
Here was a graphic example of Jesus's touch. This is Chuck Muster again. Here was a graphic example of Jesus's touch, bringing the woman to a position of uprightness. Jesus healed her by his words. "'Woman, you've been set free from your infirmity.'".
And by touching her. Immediately, she straightened up and praised God. This act of praise was the proper response to the work of Jesus. We have five citations in the book of Luke alone where Jesus did some miraculous work and men had the proper response to it.
We see that in Luke 2, verse 20. In Luke 5, verses 25 and 26. In Luke 7, verse 16. In Luke 17, verses 15. In Luke 18, verse 43. And in Luke 23, verse 47. And that showed that the people were understanding his mission, but that doesn't mean that everybody understood it or cared about it.
That was the proper response. Praising God was the proper response, but that's not the response he got in all cases. Verse 13, and he lay his hands upon her. And immediately, she was made straight and glorified God.
Charles Spurgeon said this, "'He,' that's Satan, "'must have bound her very cunningly "'to make the knot hold all that time. "'For he does not appear to have possessed her.'". You notice in reading the evangelist that the Lord never laid his hands on a person possessed with the devil.
Satan had not possessed her, but he had fallen upon her once upon a time, 18 years before, and bound her up as men bind up a beast in its stable, and while she had not been able, and she had not been able to get free all that time.
Charles Spurgeon said this, he might have called to her from a distance and said, be healed, but he did not. For he wished to show his special sympathy with such a sad case of suffering. Verse 14, and the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation.
Now, not with praise for some miraculous thing that Jesus did, but the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day. And he said unto the people, there are six days in which men ought to work, and in them, therefore, come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath.
Chuck Mister said this, and then I will close for the morning. In contrast to the proper response, which the woman evidenced, the synagogue ruler was indignant because Jesus had not followed the law as that ruler had interpreted it.
He appealed to the crowd to reject Jesus's miracle. This attitude supports what Jesus had already said about the religious leaders keeping others from entering the kingdom. Way back in Luke 11, verse 57, Jesus said specifically to the lawyers, woe unto you, lawyers, for you have taken away the kingdom of knowledge and entered not in yourself, and them that were entering you hindered.
Woe unto you, lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You have entered not in yourself, and them that were entering you hindered. The bondage of the ruler of the synagogue was worse than that of the woman.
Her bondage was limited to her body. His had shackled his mind and his heart. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this time to come together and worship you. Thank you for giving us your word written in your Holy Scripture available to us along with the Holy Spirit to help us interpret it.
Thank you for giving us an understanding of what we are to do. And what we're here to do on earth, while we're here, is to do the work that you have for us to do in your kingdom. There's comfort in the thought that you will not allow anyone to perish before his work for you is completed.
Nothing can assail us. Nothing can harm us. Well, we know that things can harm us, but nothing can defeat us. And we will remain in this life, on this earth, doing the things that God wants us to do until we have finished our task.
And then he will bring us home to him. For this, oh Lord, we thank you. We praise you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.