Book of Luke - Ch. 13, Vs. 1-16 (12/07/2003)

Park Meadows Church

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All right, the thirteenth chapter of the book of Luke.

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There were present at that time some seasons, some that told him of the

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Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

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And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the

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Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

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Are those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them?

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Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelled in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

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Now, this thing of death, the death, death kind of like a farmer that lost his cow.

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When he was asked, how did you find her? He said, well, just all of a sudden. It just comes all of a sudden.

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We don't plan it. These few verses give us several lessons.

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Did you ever hear the expression, God will get you for that, or God's gonna punish you?

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What about that, Russell? Does God get people? Yes, because they do certain things.

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Has nothing to do with you or what you did. The victims of Pilate and the men who were killed when the tower fell were not judged of God.

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Now know with a surety that God does nothing in spite.

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Jesus is telling the religious crowd of his day that unless they repented, they should also perish.

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Now, is that true, Joy? Yes. This passage has several fine lessons for us.

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First one teaches us that when some Christian has trouble beyond the average amount, and many do, we're not to interpret it to mean that he is a greater sinner.

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Now, when someone is a greater sinner, when we see someone that is having trouble, and it seems like God is pronouncing judgment on him, what are we doing?

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We ourselves are doing what? What? Alright, first of all, you're judging, and you shouldn't do that.

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Is the amount of trouble that you have directly related to the sin that you did,

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Virg? No. Has nothing to do with that. Now, the consequences of what you did may follow, but not punishment from God.

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That seems strange. The other side of the coin is that just becoming a

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Christian does not automatically cause you to be trouble free.

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I had a Christian, a man, a grown man that just discovered that.

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He thought that when you become a Christian, everything will go fine. It would be no trouble.

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I would never have trouble again. Well, Russell, he was right in a way, but in this world, you are going to have trouble, and the reason for trouble is what,

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Russell? Right, that you can grow spiritually because of trouble.

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Now, Bob, that seems the wrong way around to me. I think you would grow better if God gave you what you wanted and patted you on the back, but it doesn't work like that, does it?

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Well, if you're a Christian, you're going to miss the great tribulation, but you won't miss the tribulations you're in while you're a

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Christian. You're going to have a little trouble right down here.

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Some of us have more than others, but he's promised us that he will never put on us more than we can bear.

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That speaks of his putting it on, and he does.

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Another thing we should see is that when trouble comes to someone else and not to you, what do you think,

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David? Well, that's true, but just know that God does nothing out of spite.

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It does not indicate that you are a superior Christian or a superior individual when everybody else has trouble and you don't.

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I've been guilty of that. I think all of you have to some degree, sometime, a long time ago.

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Maybe God's just showing you the trouble to bring you to him.

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He spake also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted.

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He planted it in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereof and found none.

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Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years

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I come seeking fruit on this tree, fig tree, and find none.

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Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground? Now, if you cut it down and haul it off,

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Bob, can you still expect fruit from that tree? No.

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You can tell he's from the north. It's impossible to gather fruit from a tree that's not there.

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So likewise good works are not possible unless the person is first made a real

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Christ, a real in Christ. He's made real.

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Eight. And he answered, saying unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also till I dig about it and dung it.

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And if it bear fruit well, and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

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The fig tree without fruit is symbolic in a way, in my opinion, of the nation

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Israel. The owner of the fig tree expected it to bear fruit, and he was disappointed when it was barren.

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Did he have the right to expect fruit from the fig tree?

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Yes. He had the unquestioned right to take the fruit and set it in judgment by cutting down the tree because it was not bearing.

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Israel had been promised blessings if they walk in light God had given them, and curses if they rejected the light.

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The nation was given special attention, cultivated, fertilized. It should have produced fruit, but it didn't.

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Now you can substitute a Christian in place of Israel. He's going to bring them back to the land someday.

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Now you say, well, they're going back now. They're not going back in belief now.

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They're returning to the land today in unbelief now, and they do not have peace.

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This is the evidence of the hand of God in the affairs of the world. I hate to say it, but everything's going right on schedule.

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Everything's taking place just as he planned it. He didn't slip up any place because we can't see the whole picture.

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We condemn and criticize. Don't do that. 1310, and he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the

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Sabbath, and behold there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself.

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Joy, what shape was this woman? I have seen people like that.

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Was in a permanent sitting position, and when

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Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

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And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified

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God. Now, Virge, he laid his hands on her. Was that necessary?

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Then why did he do it? All right.

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And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation. Now, picture this man.

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Because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath and said unto him, There are six days in which men ought to work.

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In them, therefore, come and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.

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David, he kind of missed the point, didn't he? Only a ruler, only a person of high standing, only a person that was self -righteous, that was seeking for you to obey the law, could think that way.

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This woman had one of the worst cases of illness recorded in the Bible.

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The problem arose not because our Lord healed her, but because he healed her on the

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Sabbath. The Lord's, Lord healing people on the

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Sabbath day was a reoccurring source of contention between himself and the religious leaders.

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This woman had a spirit of infirmity that had plagued her for 18 years.

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It's difficult to translate all of the terms into understandable

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English because Dr. Luke is writing this and he used medical terms.

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Suffice to say, her condition was chronic. This poor woman could not lift herself up.

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Here was a woman in desperate condition. She was an unfortunate wretch who was an object of pity.

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This was probably one of the most terrible cases of physical infirmity that the

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Lord dealt with on earth. The Lord then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite, does not each one of you on the

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Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering?

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And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham whose Satan hath bound, lo these 18 years, be loosed from this bond on the

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Sabbath day? Now I must confess

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I don't understand why she was apparently not an immoral person as she was a regular attendant to the synagogue, even in her condition.

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It was in the synagogue that the great physician said be loosed. He laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified

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God. His touch upon her was not essential but was an aid to her faith.

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It was personal contact. Personal contact.

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Do we need personal contact, David? Yes, and we need it with him.

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That's the important thing for us. Ruler of the synagogue rebuked rebuked her sharply saying,

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Yet this woman had not come to the synagogue with any intention of being healed.

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Now did she, when she left home that morning hobbling her way to church, did she expect to get healed today?

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No. The reaction of the religious ruler was strange indeed.

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He didn't question the healing. He didn't mention the woman, but he said you healed her on the

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Sabbath. You're not supposed to do that. He was more interested in the rule than he was in the fact the poor woman with a grievous infirmity had been freed.

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The Sabbath question was a most important issue to those religious rulers.

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Yet Sabbath prohibitions had become a burden too great to bear.

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The Sabbath question is still one of the healing debates today.

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Do I do this on the Sabbath? Do I not do this on the

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Sabbath? Can I play ball on Sunday? Can I not play ball on Sunday?

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Russell, we get so bogged down in doing it on Sunday that we forget the whole purpose of coming together.

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The important thing is not to argue about religion. The important thing is to learn to live it, and I challenge you today to live it.

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David gave us a very, very special message this morning on how to live it.

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I think if we listen to that message, listen to this reading, and learn to live it, we'll do fine.

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We'll stop here. Yes, wait a minute, let me find five.

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Now, now, go ahead. Yes, all right.

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In verse five, the word likewise, you shall likewise perish.

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From that, I gather that they perished on earth.

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People could see that, and they died. To likewise perish eternally is the crux of his message.

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He says you shall likewise perish, not only die physically, but you will die in hell.

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Yes, that's right, that's right.

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So the repent, repenting does not mean that if I repent,

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I'm not going to get killed. It means I will go to heaven if I repent.

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First of all, if he, if I'm one of the sheep, I will repent. So set that aside, but he's saying you must repent or you'll likewise perish.

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He makes the two together, the physical and the spiritual together.

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Yes, yes, it's got to be, because you cannot repent and keep from dying, so you will die whether you repent or not.

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No, no, they're reading things into it. Is that right,

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David? All right, anything else?