Grosey's Messages

Luke 12:1-34   Discipleship: God and Your Money.

People do all kinds of foolish things to become rich. They will rob, kill, kidnap, sacrifice their integrity, and prostitute themselves for money. Many destroy their families and ruin their health in pursuit of "just a little more." All this—despite the fact that wealth can't guarantee lasting happiness, health, or security. On the other hand, money is an essential part of our lives. Those who have little or none of it will face many hardships.

God is the source and owner of all wealth. "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains" and "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills" (Ps. 24:1; 50:10)

Money is a major subject in Scripture. There are more verses about wealth than there are about heaven, hell, or prayer. More than 2,000 scriptures mention money, and over half the parables have to do with monetary principles. Why did the Lord give us so much instruction about finances? Because it plays an important role in our lives. Understanding God's viewpoint on our possessions can prevent us from making costly mistakes.

The Word of God encourages us about financial provision. Money is not evil in itself; it is the love of money that is the problem.   God desires for us to have the money we need (Luke 6:38). We won't necessarily be rich by the world's standards. But as we are generous, the Lord provides for us. He gives us money for food, clothing, and other basic needs. Best of all, God enables us to enjoy His blessings (Eccl. 5:19-20).

The Bible warns us about the misuse of finances. Proverbs warns us not to wear ourselves out to become rich because wealth is often fleeting (23:4-5). 1Timothy 6:10  "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

The Lord is reminding us of a very important principle. Whatever we worry about most is really our god.       In a tough situation, your first emotional response is to take control. We all want control. We want to live with the assurance that everything will be okay and that the things that aren't right can be fixed with concentrated effort. Secretly, we often think, "If I plan carefully and work hard enough, I can win." When you face circumstances that rapidly deplete your spiritual, emotional, and physical reserves, fear may make you want to cling to something strong. The question you must consider is whether your worries drive you to the arms of God or to your own resources.

The Lord warns us against Anxieties  Are you hanging on to something other than the Lord? Are you gripping some form of earthly security instead of trusting Him to help you? Remember, whatever you hold too tightly, you will lose.  4-7

The bottom line: The Lord wants you to cling to Him.  Fear Him!  Trust Him!

Whatever you are clutching for safety other than Him has become an idol to you, whether it is wealth, your giftedness, relationships, religious rituals, or your personal charm. God is not going to allow you to keep it as your source of confidence because that is a role that rightly belongs to Him. He will let you fail by trusting something else so you can see that He only is your sovereign and unfailing Lord.  He will not allow you any notions of self-sufficiency.

Whatever we hold onto too tightly we lose.  And this is a principle for your growth as a disciple of the Lord Jesus.  Luke 12:1-3 Deals with this important aspect of the Journey of discipleship.  The Lord doesn't want us to be hypocrites, and there are things that we hold dear that can turn us into hypocrites.  A hypocrite brags of his rightness with God, but God sends along things that will expose the hypocrite for what he is.  Luke 12:1-3

Then there is a challenge to own Christ above all.   8-12

And then there is the famous parable the Lord tells, that reminds us of how easily we can grasp after money and wealth. 13 -21

How many times does this guy say in these three verses "I" and "my"?, 17-19.
He is called a fool.  His brain was not working. He mistook His body for his soul. Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.

It is his soul that must live on, not his body.  He was all prepared to treat his body well, but he forgot about his soul. He hadn't prepared at all for eternity. He mistook what was important: now or eternity.

He mistook himself for God.     He never saw anybody beyond himself. It was all about what I have and me and what I'm going to do with what I have. First mistake, he never looked beyond himself. And secondly, and big mistake, he never looked beyond this life to the life to come. When a person lives that kind of life the Bible says they're a fool.

He made a decision but he made the wrong decision. And the wrong decision was this, he made a decision to keep it all for himself. He could have made the decision, my barns are full and they're running over. It's time for me to share with other people and begin to be a giver of the blessings of God. But he was centred on himself. It was all about him and not anything about God.
Is there anything in your life that you have a grip on? Is there something that you absolutely are not going to let go? Something that you know you've worked hard for it, you've got it, it's yours? Do oyu have it, or does it have you?  You may not have barns and wealth, but it has you in its grip.

Perhaps it is something other than money that has its grip on you.

Relationships.  A definite way to destroy a relationship is to tighten your hold on that person, on their emotions, on what they do, how they do it, how they look, how they dress, what they do, what they would not do, and where they go or would not go. Because you see, if you begin to smother somebody in a relationship very soon they're going to begin to pull away. No one likes to be controlled.   

Sometimes a person will hold onto goals and dreams that they have. Instead of asking God, what do You have for my life? Here's what I want to do, here's how I'm going to do it. This is my dream. Sometimes a person can hold onto their past. One of the most destructive things you can do is to grip a past, especially if in that past there is unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment. You still hold on and you just can't let it go.

And then sometimes, it's wrong ideas;  Wrong theological beliefs. This is what my father believed, this is what my mother believed, this is what I'm going to believe. I don't care what you say. This is it.
Instead of consulting with God, trusting God, he began to reason with himself, he is talking about what he is going to do. What we should always be asking is, what does the Word of God say?  Whenever you leave God out and you begin to reason only with yourself about any issue in your life, you are leaving Him out.

Why Do People Hold things too tightly?

PERHAPS THEY FEAR LOSS.
PERHAPS IT IS REALLY A FAILURE TO TRUST GOD.
Several years ago, construction workers were laying a foundation for a building outside the ancient city of Pompeii. In their digging they found the corpse of a woman who must have been fleeing from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius but was caught in the rain of hot ashes, and killed. The woman's hands clutched jewels, which were preserved in the most excellent condition. The sad thing was she may have had the jewels, but death had her. That's the bottom line of life. Worldly treasure is not a wise investment because you can't take it with you. And that's why God won't tolerate greed from His followers. Because in the light of reality and eternity, it just doesn't make sense!

Now, you may not lose exactly what you spent your life accumulating or you may. But you will lose your joy, your peace, your contentment, your happiness. And you may lose the very things that you treasure the most in life or you thought you did. Fear of failure, fear of loss, of failing to trust God. AND SOMETIMES WE'RE MOTIVATED BY PRIDE. Some want to get rich because they just want to be known as a wealthy person. Or they want control because they want to be known as the one who did this or that. Sometimes the church itself can be the idol.  I want to be the one who made a church great!
How do I deal with it? How do you release your grip?

Recognize that something other than God is first in our life.

"Lord that thing's like an idol in my life. God, I think more about that than I do the Lord.  Jesus first above everything else.
How much time do you spend thinking about the Lord? How much time in prayer? How much time do you give reading the Word of God? How much time do you give in thinking about Him? That was the farmers problem, he didn't think about God at all! His testimony was all about himself, how great he was! There was no testimony to how great the Lord is.  I have heard a few testimonies where the person was telling me why folks should be Christians. They told me a lot about themselves but nothing about Jesus!

²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

When you are making decisions, are you asking "Lord what would You have me to do? What would You have me to say at this point?"  If you leave God out of your life and He's not number one and other things crowd into your life and they become the thing that you think about the most, worry about the most, and you are most anxious about.. hey did you notice this?

22-31

WORRY IS HARMFUL! WORRY IS USELESS! WORRY IS SINFUL! Because just like the farmer, it leaves God out and puts himself in!

1. Recognize that God cares for birds, flowers, and you!

2. Receive today as a gift—forget tomorrow's worries

3. Reduce anxiety by simplifying your life.  You only serve One person. Seek first His glory and kingdom.

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." I Peter 5:7

Realize that pleasing God is all that really matters

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE OF GOD THAT TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

George Washington Truett was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas for 47 years (1897-1944). He once visited a wealthy West Texas rancher and had dinner in his palatial ranch home. After dinner, the rancher took Dr. Truett up to a veranda on top of his house, and lit up a big cigar. The sun was setting, and if you've been to West Texas, you know you can see a long way out there. The man pointed to the South toward some oil rigs and said, "I own everything in that direction as far as you can see." He pointed east toward some cotton fields and said, "And I own everything in that direction, too." He pointed North toward a huge herd of cattle and bragged, "And, preacher, I own everything as far as you can see in that direction." He turned to the West, and said, "And I own everything you can see in that direction, except the sun, of course." Dr. Truett, turned to the man and pointed straight up the sky and said, "And how much do you own in that direction, my friend?"

William Borden was the heir to the huge Borden Diary Products Company. His father was a millionaire when few reached that level, and there were no billionaires. Borden's mother became a Christian when attending Moody Church in Chicago, and she took her son William who was saved under the preaching of R. A. Torrey. William attended Yale University and graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary. He rejected the promised wealth of his father's company and instead chose to be a missionary. He ultimately wanted to go to the Muslims in China, but went first to Egypt to learn Arabic. He soon was sharing his faith with many Egyptians. After only three months there, the 26-year-old Borden contracted spinal meningitis and died. He was buried in Cairo. His death made international headlines. When his mother later examined his Bible she found three phrases he had written. When he first felt called to missions he wrote: "No Reserves." When his father told him he would be cut off from the family fortune if he became a missionary he wrote, "No retreats." Just weeks before he died in Egypt he wrote, "No regrets."

Luke 11:14-32  Don't Wander Into No-Man's Land   Journey into Discipleship  

14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.

15 But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."

16 Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.

17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.

18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

24 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'

25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.

26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"

28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, "This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

31 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

Some people had brought a very sad case to our Lord. A man possessed with a demon who was blind and dumb.  With the word of Divine power and the touch of God Jesus healed the sufferer so that he both spoke and saw.

The people who witnessed the great miracle  were amazed, and well they might be for truly this was a mighty deed. Awed with wonder and reverence they began to say one to another "Is not this the Son of David?" "Surely this is the Messiah?" "No mere man could do these things?" 

Instantly the Pharisees retorted, "he casts out demons by Beezelbub the chief of demons."  "come show us a sign from heaven and we will believe."

Knowing their hearts our Lord replied "Every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against a house falleth." If Satan also is be divided against himself how shall his kingdom stand? If I by Beezelbub cast out demons by who do your sons cast them out?" If I by the finger of God cast out devils no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Then follows His Vivid Illustration. He portrays a palace kept by a strong man who is armed and all is safe. But Suddenly a stronger man comes upon the strong man and overthrows him and takes all his armour and his spoils.

McCheyne likens the palace to the sinner. The strong man to Satan and the stronger man to Christ.

Thus Christ comes upon the devil-filled ones and delivers them but immediately He utters a grim word of warning. "he that is not with Me is against Me." Every age has its heresy every generation its outstanding evil. The Church of Jesus Christ may not today be face to face with the firs of Smithfield or the lions of the Coliseum, or the nameless crucifixus of a Nero or the vicious attacks of a Tom Pain or Voltaire but the devil is not dead. No nor even asleep or on holiday in this our age and generation.  True, he may have slain his thousands with the weapons of persecution and martyrdom in other days.

The Lord Jesus is ever in direct and open antagonism to Satan. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed," has been most emphatically fulfilled. Christ has never tolerated any truce or peace talks with the evil one, and He never will. Whenever Christ strikes a blow at Satan, it is a real blow, and is meant to destroy. He never just meddles  with Satan, but He intends to cut up his empire, and destroy every part of it.  "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." There is a deadly, implacable, infinite, eternal hatred between Christ and Satan. No compromise can ever be thought of, no quarter will ever be allowed.

Jesus often cast evil spirits, or demons out of afflicted people.  "demonized" people may be influenced on different levels by these demonic spirits.  Jesus recognized a demonic spirit was keeping the man speechless, so He liberated the man by casting out the demon. Demonic activity is just as real today as in Jesus' day.  But we must be careful of seeing a demon behind every tree. I was reading of the Salem witch trials in New England in the USA in 1680's. Much that was used as evidence was more likely planted by Satan than was real.

Jesus had many opponents who followed Him around just waiting for Him to say or do something worthy of being arrested. They couldn't deny this man who had been speechless was talking, so they attacked Jesus by saying He got His power from Beelzebub, which means "lord of the flies." It was used as another name for the devil, or Satan. "But some of them said, 'He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons'" (v. 15).  "Beelzebul" had become in Hebrew culture an alternative name for Satan. In Ugaritic texts the name Beezeboul meant "Baal the prince." But in the Old Testament (2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16) the name is rendered "Baal-zebub," meaning "Lord of the flies." It was a deliberate distortion to deprecate the pagan god. The Septuagint translates this, "Baal, the fly-God" (see also Josephus, Antiquities 9.2,1,19). "Beelzebul" was, and is, a fitting name for Satan. The hearts of the Pharisees and scribes were so hard that they said in essence, "Yes, Jesus has done a miracle, but only because he is in league with Satan, the Lord of the flies, the God of dung and carrion." It was a calculated blasphemy of immense perversity.  Luke alone records at least ten instances of miraculous healings by Jesus, and four of them explicitly involve exorcisms—on one occasion, wholesale exorcisms:

"And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ." (Luke 4:40, 41; cf. 4:3, 9; 8:26–39; 9:37–45)

This event tells us four things.

You Have An Enemy Who Hates You  KEEP ALERT TO YOUR REAL SITUATION (14-20)

What are Satan's "possessions?" People without Christ

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

Satan watches over the man whose heart he inhabits, because he considers the man to be his property — "he keeps his goods." he claims sovereignty.

Did  you notice He says, "his own palace." A palace is usually the abode of a king, so Satan considers himself a great king when he dwells in the human heart. Divine sovereignty has ever been the great target of Satan's attacks, because he aspires to set up his own infernal sovereignty.

He "guards his palace, his goods are in peace."

And that is how many people are today. I called this "Don't wander into no-mans-land.  There have been a few war movies of recent days, such as 1917, All Quiet on the Western front and a few others, that portray people wandering blindly into No-Man'sLand as though they didn't know there was a war on.  Hacksaw Ridge, filmed between Richmond and Riverstone by Mel Gibson just a couple of years ago, showed the danger of No Man's Land.  Caught between the two enemies, the bullets flying everywhere, survival was rare!  This passage tells us the man is quite undisturbed — conscience does not prick him: why should it? God does not alarm him: who is God, that he should obey his voice? Thoughts of hell never disturb him. God botherers they call us. But the truth is they don't want to be bothered by God. Why? Because they live under Satan who dulls their conscience and darkens and drunkens their perceptions. They can't see who they are serving.  So they are not bothered by God.

The tenant of the heart is called "an unclean spirit." He is unclean, it is unclean to disobey God who created you; and above all it is unclean not to love the Redeemer, whose most precious blood has delivered his people from their sins.

Jesus visited planet earth to liberate us from the grip of the devil. Everyone without Christ is currently "possessed" in a sense by Satan. All of us who are now Christians were at one time in his house. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1-5: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature ... but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved."

II Corinthians 4:3-4, "If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are  perishing. The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God." Jesus came to rescue you from the devil's bondage–even if you don't realize you are in bondage.

2. Some times This Enemy Wears A Human Face

24 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'

25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.

26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

There are some people who have swept their house, cleaned up their lives a bit, and they think they are pretty good folks.  There are some persons who even appear to be converted, who think they are so themselves and therefore make a profession, and are cheerfully received into the Christian Church because their outward life gives evidence of a very great and remarkable change.

The unclean spirit is gone out of the man, and he is another man though not a new creature in Christ Jesus. But there was no repentance, no conviction, no struggling against depravity, no weeping before the Lord in prayer, and no looking up to the crucified Saviour and understanding that there is pardon in his wounds; no agonizing struggle after holiness, no wrestling with evil; joy came on the sudden, and the man thought himself saved. The man was a sinner yesterday, and he appears to be a saint to-day, nobody knows how. You talk to him about the work of the Spirit in his soul, convincing him of sin, breaking him with the hammer of the law or by the power of the cross, pounding him in pieces, compelling him to feel that his righteousness is filthy rags; he does not understand you. He has no root down, as Jesus said about the four soils. He bears no real fruit, though he tries to impress Christians.  A hunger for the Bible doesn't exist in his heart. He doesn't read it at home. The unclean spirit is gone out of the man, and that is about all.

Why does the evil spirit leave a man for a time? Has he not some hellish purpose in view? Certainly he has. He figues if he goves the person a taste of religion he will never hunger after the real thing. As a 5^th columnist, his man can find his way into a church, deceive those around him and settle in to poison the whole lot.

And that's where the two groups of people that were accusing Jesus falsely step in.

In Mark's gospel, we are reminded that this sin of blaspheming who Jesus is may be called the unforgiveable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the purpose of to turn many away from the Lord Jesus their only Saviour and Hope.  And these men were religious men!  It is no different today!

PHARISEES  While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.³⁸ The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.³⁹ And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.⁴⁰ You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?⁴¹ But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. ⁴² "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.⁴⁴ Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it."

They are a hindrance to the gospel of God's grace, promoting legalism among religious people that leads them away from Christ.

They are picky of others with the purpose of promoting themselves. 

They are easily offended and use power for themselves.

The Pharisees' religious rituals amounted to an exercise in missing the point. They obsessed over the external aspects of religious life that could be observed by others ("everything they do is done for people to see," Matthew 23:5-7), but gave little heed to the more unseen and internal aspects of godliness. On the outside, they gave every impression of being righteous. But on the inside, they were "full of greed and wickedness" (Luke 11:39). The problem was that the Pharisees did not appreciate God's concern for their hearts. Jesus calls them "foolish people" for failing to understand that the same God who made their "outside" made their "inside" also (v 40). This was hardly a new problem; the Old Testament prophets had indicted Israel for their reliance on "human rules" (e.g. Isaiah 29:13) and religious rituals (e.g. Hosea 6:6) in the place of heartfelt love for God and others. Jesus challenged the Pharisees to clean the interior of their cup by exchanging their heart of greed for a spirit of generosity to the poor. Because true holiness begins in the heart, such a change would mean that "everything will be clean" (Luke 11:41) for them. –McKinley

3 woes. The third woe could hardly be more pointed or offensive: "You are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it" (Luke 11:44). Because contact with a dead body would render a person unclean, graves had to be clearly marked so that people could avoid them. Here Jesus is comparing the Pharisees' corrupt spirituality to something repulsive and full of decay. But even worse than that, he is saying that they have the effect of making unclean those who wander into contact with them. "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" (Matthew 23:15).

SCRIBES  45 One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also."46 And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed.48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering." ⁵³ As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things,⁵⁴ lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

They will push things to the limit to try and hurt others to punish them.

Bottom line: they keep people from the gospel of grace. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering."

The devil's prime goal is to keep people from understanding the gospel. That is what he is about.

Remember :  II Corinthians 4:3-4, "If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are  perishing. The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God."

This is the devil's goal. He wants to keep people from Jesus.  He will slander the Lord Jesus.  He will divert people into religious works or rituals so people will not close with the Lord Jesus.

Decide For The Saviour Who Delivered You From Him

22 But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

TAKE UP THE SAVIOUR'S DESCRIPTION OF TRUE CONVERSION.

Now, observe here is a "stronger than he." This is not the man himself, the man is the house, the man is not so strong as the devil — who is this? This is Jesus Christ who comes by his Spirit into the heart of man, and the Spirit of God is vastly superior to Satanic power, as much as the infinite Creator himself must ever be superior to the finite creature. As soon as the stronger than he comes in there is a conflict. "He comes upon him," that is to say, he attacks him; and ah, how vehemently does Christ lay to at the great enemy of souls.

Col 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

"O Sovereign grace, my heart subdue, I would be led in triumph too;

Drive the old dragon from his seat, With all his hellish crew."

Cry to the Great Deliverer, he will come, he will come. Is there a conflict going on in you? Remember faith gets the victory. Look to Jesus — look to Jesus, and the battle is won. Cast your poor spirit upon Jesus.

Keep Trusting in the Saviour Who Strengthens You

2 Thess 3:1 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith.3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Ephesians 6 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Sign On With The Saviour And Gather With Him

23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

33 "No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light."

The key to living in a way that is consistent with the kingdom of God—the key to being for Jesus and not against him—is to have good spiritual vision. If we have it, we will be full of light; if we don't, Jesus says we will be full of darkness. If we see the things of the world as more precious than the things of the kingdom, then we will be in darkness but all the while thinking we have light (v 35).McKinley.

Questions:

1. KEEP ALERT TO YOUR REAL SITUATION (14-20) You Have An Enemy Who Hates You

What evidence is there of spiritual warfare?

2. Some times This Enemy Wears A Human Face 

How were the Pahrisees and Saaducees religious yes tools of the devil?

3. Decide For The Saviour Who Delivered You From Him

How is Jesus the Deliverer and how does He continue to deliver us?

4. Sign On With The Saviour And Gather With Him

How can we gather and not scatter?

Luke 10   Discipleship as Devotion

38      Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Luke 11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."2 And he said to them, "When you pray, say:

           "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

3         Give us each day our daily bread,

4         and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

           And lead us not into temptation."

5         And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'?8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Bookends.

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me

Luke 14: 25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Wait! We are talking about discipleship these few weeks. What is the core of discipleship?

Loving Others and Loving God

Last Sunday we saw that there was the outward look to others.  The parable of the Good Samaritan is about how Jesus and all with Him, seek to save that which was lost. We have an outward look to forget about ourselves and love others.

No we have the core of Discipleship: The Upward look. 

It is the Upward look that maintains all that there is in true discipleship.

The core of Discipleship is Communion with God. Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

He is the  "but one thing is necessary."

The greatest gift you can receive in answer to prayer is the Holy Spirit Himself: "how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Communion with God, sitting at the feet of Jesus, KNOWING GOD: is the big deal!

How is communion with God attained and maintained?

I grew up in a discipling church. I had memorised about 300 bible verses after being a Christian for two years. I used to read between 30and 50 chapters of my bible each and every day. I remember for several months spending 3 hours each day on my knees beside my bed in prayer.

And yet I was going through the forms of the spiritual disciplines,  but didn't really grow  to know God.  I was "practicing the presence of God", but didn't actually have a close relationship with God. I was focussing on what I could do about the spiritual disciplines, instead of enjoying the presence of God.  And that is the main difference between Martha and Mary.

Then I discovered from the Westminster Confession of Faith that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."    Enjoy Him? I enjoyed a lot of things.. but enjoy God? Enjoy knowing God?        

Communion with God is Enjoying Knowing the Lord.

Not all generations enjoyed knowing God. In Israel's history this was the real problem.

Judges 2:10  All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.

1 Kings 8:60  so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else.

Habakkuk 2:14   "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.

Jer 2 The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who handle the law did not know me;

Jer 4: 22 "For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'---in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."

You know Kipling's poem, Lest We Forget, most people think that lest we forget is Kipling's way of saying, lest we forget the soldiers. But Kipling wrote the poem to say, "Lest we forget you, our God", let me read you a couple of lines from the poem, he says   Lord of Hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget if drunk with sight of power, we have not the in awe if frantic boast or foolish word.
Have mercy on my people, Lord, lest we forget, lest we forget you, the living God and God brought his people back to remember him and to remember his words

But Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

Jeremiah 24:7  Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. 

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Ephesians 1:17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

1. Priority time with God

Mary Seeks Communion  Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

We are talking today abut you giving Priority time To God.

Priority time with God!

Notice the word as it turns here on the word but: "But"—

And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.40 But Martha was distracted with much serving.

But… there are many things that can distract you from Priority Time With God.

Being busy serving can be a huge problem. In fact the Lord tells Martha after her little meltdown, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

The godly man in Psalm 1 is described this way: in verse 2—"his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."(Psalms 1:2) There are three things that must mark the blessed man when it comes to the Word of God. There were three things that marked Mary's life as she sat at the feet of Jesus.  Number one, he appreciates the Word; number two, he assimilates the Word; number three, he appropriates the Word.

Appreciate the Word of God  Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

How like Psalm 1  "his delight is in the law of the LORD."(Psalms 1:2) Mary loved the Lord and loved to hear Him speak. The godly man of Psalm 1 just simply loves the Word of God. From the time I have been saved I have loved the Word of God. I've not loved it as I could have loved it—ought to have loved it—but the Bible is precious to me.

Today you cannot sit at Jesus' physical feet. But you can sit at His feet spiritually as you read God's word each day. The Word of God that is "quick, and powerful, and sharper than [a] twoedged sword."(Hebrews 4:12) Many people claim to be Christians, but they don't love God's Word—and I can't understand that. A man and his word may be different, but God and His Word are not that easily separated. To love God is to love His Word.

Assimilate the Word of God    Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

She took in God's Word from the Lord Jesus.  She assimilated it. She made the Lord's Words part of her very being. She brought it deep into her heart.  Do you bring God's Word deep into your heart each day?

Now, the godly man of Psalm 1  appreciates the Word of God, but not only does he appreciate the Word of God; he assimilates the Word of God, for it says, "In his law doth he meditate day and night."(Psalms 1:2) And, I've told you before, this word meditate means literally "to chew the cud."

Appropriate the Word of God   Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

Not only must we, therefore, appreciate the Word of God, but when we appreciate the Word of God, we will assimilate the Word of God. And, when we have assimilated the Word of God, then we can appropriate the Word of God. The Bible says here, "And in his law doth he meditate day and night."(Psalms 1:2) Now, notice—the man of God is not under the law; he is in the law. What a difference! That is, he literally appropriates the Word of God. Night and day it has meaning and relevance to his life. It is not a burden to him; it is a blessing to him. It is not something that he has to do; it is something that he gets to do, because he's found that God's words are life as he appropriates the Word of God day by day. And, let me say this: that not only must you, therefore, learn it; you must live it. And you've never really learned it—until you live it.

Mary took the Lord's words deep into her soul and it transformed her.

That's why the Lord Jesus said 'but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Mary was changed by it. You will be changed by it. Psalm 1:3 says "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."(Psalms 1:3)

You bear fruit!

Number one: Like a tree, he will show vitality—vitality. The emphasis here is the tree is a living thing as over against chaff, which is dead.

Billy Graham once told a story about the Word-centeredness of his father-in-law, Dr. Nelson Bell. When Bell served as the single doctor for a four-hundred-bed hospital in China, he made it a point "to rise every morning at four-thirty and spend two to three hours in Bible reading. He didn't use that time to read commentaries or write; he didn't do his correspondence or any of his other work. He just read the Scriptures every morning, and he was a walking Bible encyclopedia. People wondered at the holiness and the greatness in his life."

Nelson Bell was an astounding activist whose life was shaped and empowered by "one thing"—the Word of God.

Prayer time with God

Luke brings us along into chapter 11 with another incident that clearly indicates what it is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus.  Disciples pray! 

Luke11:1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

What the Lord did was rubbing off on His disciples.  As they communed with Him and listened to Him like Mary did, they found out there was a major priority in their Lord's life. If it was a priority for the Lord of glory to pray regularly every day, how much more need do we have to pray every day.

There is Vitality

What was vital and life giving for the Lord was to be vital and life giving for the disciple.  And again, that Psalm about communion with God reminds us of the same thing.  We need to have our roots deep down into God's Word, and we also need to have our roots deep down into the Lord Himself via prayer!

Psalm 1^{: 2} but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water  that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

 Stability

The Pattern for prayer  You might have noticed that this form of the Lord's Prayer is slightly different to the one you were raised on from Matthew 6.

Luke lacks two petitions that are included in Matthew. "Your kingdom come" is not followed by "your will be done," and the final petition ("lead us not into temptation") is not followed by "but deliver us from evil." Jesus clearly taught his disciples about prayer more than once. Also, the lines from Matthew are implicit in Luke's shorter form. That is, when one prays, "Your kingdom come," he or she is implicitly praying, "Your will be done," and likewise, "Lead us not into temptation" implies a desire for deliverance from it. The variations in the Lord's Prayers come naturally from Jesus' desire to teach a pattern for prayer rather than a rigid insistence on a form for prayer.

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread,  4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."

Do you notice that the Lord doesn't say pray the first thing that pops into your head about whatever you want God to do for you!  God is not a Jeannie!  He doesn't grant you three wishes!

He is directing you to a communion with God about the really big things of life. So often we don't see the really big things the Lord wants us to focus on. Instead the urgent overshadows the important, and as such we then get really messed up in life.

The "Prosperity Gospel" people mess with our thinking a bit.  We think the world revolves around us and our wants! It isn't about us!

"Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."(Psalms 1:3) Now, right away we're going to have to understand you don't spell prosper M-O-N-EY. Most of these churches say, "whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."(Psalms 1:3) Prosperity is the continual achieving of the will of God for one's life. That is prosperity, and this is God's plan for blessings. And God's will for your spiritual prosperity is set out in the Lord's prayer. And the first thing to notice is that it isn't about you!

Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

And secondly it is about you, but not the way you think..

Daily bread, forgiveness of sins and temptation. They are the three big things about you.

3 Give us each day our daily bread,  Give me just enough to get bye.

4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation."

And forgive me my sins!   And don't let me be tempted by the world around me and my own sinful desires!

Consistency

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Keep Asking!    Keep Seeking!   Keep Knocking! If you don't ask you won't receive!  Do you want to grow as a Christian? Ask for it!   "Ask" implies requesting assistance for a conscious need. We realize our lack and thus ask for help. The word also suggests humility in asking, for it is commonly used of one making a request of a superior.

"Seek" denotes asking but adds action. The idea is not just to express our need, but to get up and look around for help. It involves effort.

"Knock" includes asking plus acting plus persevering—like someone who keeps pounding on a closed door.

The stacking of these words is extremely forceful, and the fact that they are present imperatives gives them even more punch. The text actually reads: "Keep on asking, and it will be given to you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you." The man in this picture just will not stop knocking! 

   Prayer is the soul's sincere desire    Uttered or unexpressed—

    The motion of a hidden fire     That kindles in the breast. 

"Ask," "seek," "knock" is the hidden fire of the heart that believes God will answer and values what he gives.

Do you know what? You just got to do it consistently! "but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion"   Just Do It.

Perspicuity

And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'?8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Do you see the issue the Lord Jesus raised here? He is encouraging you to realize that God isn't like the friend next door that has to be badgered into doing something for his neighbor.

Have you ever had a friend that badgers you.  You can shut the door on that. But not if he is raising a ruckus at night and the only way to shut him up is to open the door!  Usually it's the other way round. The Music is too loud next door!  We shout out " knock it off! Turn it down!" In this case there wasn't any loud music. But there was need for some food for a late visitor! So the guy turns up the noise to get his neighbor to cooperate!

The point is, God isn't like that!  Did you notice how the Lord keeps referring to God as "Father" here?

"That God should be personally addressed as "Father" may not seem out of the ordinary to those of us who frequent the church and pray the Lord's Prayer, but it was revolutionary in Jesus' day. The writers of the Old Testament certainly believed in the Fatherhood of God, but they saw it mainly in terms of a sovereign Creator-Father to whom they owed their existence. In fact, God is only referred to as "Father" fourteen times in the huge corpus of the Old Testament's thirty-nine books—and then rather impersonally. In those fourteen occurrences, the term was always used with reference to the nation, and not to individuals. God was spoken of as Israel's Father, but Abraham, for example, did not speak of God as "my Father."

The Jews were so focused on the sovereignty and transcendence of God that they were careful never to repeat his covenant name and invented the word Jehovah (a combination of two separate names of God) to use instead. The distance from God was well guarded.

But when Jesus came on the scene, he addressed God only as "Father." All his prayers address God as Father. The Gospels record his using Father more than sixty times in reference to God. So striking is this that some scholars maintain that this word Father dramatically captures the difference between the Old and New Testaments. No one had ever in the entire history of Israel spoken and prayed like Jesus. No one!"

But there is more—the word Jesus used for Father was not a formal word. It was the common Aramaic word with which a child would address his father—"Abba." The great German New Testament scholar Joachim Jeremias, perhaps the most respected New Testament scholar of his generation, has argued convincingly that Abba was the original word on Jesus' lips here in the Lord's Prayer and, indeed, in all of his prayers in the New Testament—with the exception of Matthew 27:46 when he cried out from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" But there Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1. Jesus reverted to Abba with the final words before his death: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46, quoting Psalm 31:5).

The word Abba was also the word Jesus regularly used to address his earthly father, Joseph, from the time Jesus was a baby until Joseph's death. Everyone used the word, but as the careful examination of other literature of the time shows, it was never used for God—under any circumstances. Abba meant something like "Daddy"—but with a more reverent touch than we use it. The best rendering is "Dearest Father."

To the traditional Jew, Jesus' prayer was shocking. Think of it. God was referred to only fourteen times in the Old Testament as Father, and then it was as the corporate Father of Israel—never as an individual or personal Father. But when his disciples asked him for instruction on how to pray, Jesus enjoined them to begin by calling God their Father, their Abba! As Jeremias says:

In the Lord's Prayer Jesus authorizes His disciples to repeat the word Abba after Him. He gives them a share in His sonship and empowers them, as His disciples, to speak with their heavenly Father in just such a familiar, trusting way as a child would with his father." Hughes. Luke.

And He wants you to know that the Father calls you into a communion with Himself!

You have an appointment each day with God!  And God your Father invites you to come talk to Him.  I like John Newton's hymns. 

Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring

For His grace and power are such none can ever ask too much

But you know if He was only the King I wouldn't be game to ask.  But He is our Father. Your Father in heaven!

Fertility

And what is the biggest Petition you could ever ask?

13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Galatians  5:22: "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control"(Galatians 5:22–23)

Do you want to know the Lord? You can only know the Lord through His Holy Spirit. And He offers Him feely through the the Lord Jesus's death for your sin. He will give His Holy Spirit to you to know Him and to change you from within!  Our biggest battles in life are with.. US!  And His Holy Spirit will fight those battles in us for us! If we ask Him!

"but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion"   Just Do It.