The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Luke 11primary text for the sermon, covering the Lord's prayer, persistence in prayer, casting out a demon, the sign of Jonah, the lamp of the body, and the six woes against the Pharisees and lawyers
1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
5 He said to them, “Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
6 for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,’
7 and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’?
8 I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he?
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince 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. A house divided against itself falls.
18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
19 But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges.
20 But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you.
21 “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.
22 But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.
23 “He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn’t gather with me scatters.
24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’
25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.
26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”
28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.
31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.
33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness.
35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness.
36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”
37 Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table.
38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
39 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.
40 You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”
46 He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build…
woman in the crowd blesses the womb that carried Jesus, and Jesus responds that blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it
27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”
28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”
contrasting list of things to put off and put on as Christ followers, referenced from the previous week's sermon
1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
6 for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;
8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
18 Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.
22 Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
Jesus calls the generation wicked for demanding a sign and says no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah, referencing the queen of the South and the men of Nineveh
29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.
31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.
the lamp of the body, the eye as the lens, and the danger of inner darkness
33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness.
35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness.
36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.”
Jesus dines with a Pharisee and delivers six woes against the Pharisees and lawyers
37 Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table.
38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.
39 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.
40 You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.
44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.”
45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying this you insult us also.”
46 He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.
49 Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,
50 that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, 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 took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.”
53 As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him;
54 lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor worked through the back half of Luke 11, tracing Jesus' sharp confrontation with the Pharisees and lawyers who had rejected what was right in front of them. He wove in a brief but careful look at a Greek word that changes how we hear Jesus respond to a woman in the crowd, and he closed by turning the Pharisees' failures into a mirror for the congregation.
What was said
Before picking up where he left off, the pastor revisited the two verses he had skipped the previous week. A woman in the crowd shouted out that Jesus' mother was blessed, and he paused on the Greek word Jesus used in response. That word, he said, can be read as adversative ("on the contrary"), affirmative ("indeed"), or corrective ("yes, and more than that"). He argued that pounding the pulpit on one reading misses the point, because Mary herself had heard the word of God and guarded it, the same thing Jesus was commending to everyone listening.
The word translated "follow" or "keep" in that verse carried its own weight. The pastor traced it to the only other place in the New Testament where that form appears: the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Hearing the word of God and keeping it, he said, looks like a shepherd guarding sheep. It is ongoing, protective, careful, habitual attention, not a one-time response.
Jesus then turned to the crowd's demand for a sign. The pastor noted that they had just watched him heal a man who could not speak, which ought to have been enough. The sign of Jonah, he said, is not primarily about a fish. It is about the most reluctant sermon ever preached still working, because God was in the message. The queen of the South and the men of Nineveh stand as a rebuke to anyone who hears and rejects: they responded to far less than what was standing right in front of this generation.
The confrontation moved inside a Pharisee's house. Jesus went straight to the table without the ceremonial washing, and his host's surprise gave him an opening. The outside of the cup is clean, Jesus said, but the inside is full of greed and wickedness. The pastor pressed on the image: the external cleaning was supposed to be a symbol of something that had already happened on the inside. When it is only a symbol and nothing more, it is not religion. It is performance.
The six woes followed, and the pastor summarized them as a list that lands uncomfortably close to criticisms people still level at the church: hypocrisy, loving recognition, loading people with impossible demands, intolerance, building monuments to the prophets your own people killed, and using knowledge as a gate to keep others out rather than a door to walk through. He was direct that the lawyers and Pharisees had the Old Testament memorized and still missed what it was pointing toward, and that the chapter closes with them listening not for the word of God but for something to use against him.
He ended where he began, with Mary as the counterexample to every woe on that list. She heard, she was not hypocritical or ostentatious about it, she made no impossible demands, she was not exclusive, and her response was simply, "May it be to me just as you have said." The pastor acknowledged that the hard part of sitting with this passage is recognizing yourself in the Pharisees rather than in Jesus or the disciples, and that the invitation is to hear the word of God and guard it the way a shepherd guards sheep.
Doing a Bible study?
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The pastor spent time on the Greek word for 'keep' or 'follow' in verse 28, comparing it to a shepherd guarding sheep through the night. What does it look like in your own life to guard or keep the word of God the way a shepherd watches over a flock, rather than just hearing it and moving on?
Jesus told the crowd that the queen of Sheba traveled from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon, and the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah, and yet both groups would condemn his generation at judgment. What does it say about us when people with far less access to the truth respond to it more seriously than those who have it right in front of them?
Speaker 1Hey, everybody. Can you hear me now? Hey. Welcome. Glad you're here.
Would you stand with me and we're gonna sing some folks in from the best of you out there. Wonderful Grace of Jesus. This is a great bouncy number. I can't promise all the words we're gonna sing are up on that wall, but sing it if you know it. Alright?
Sing what you know of it. How about that?
Speaker 2Wonderful grace of Jesus greater than all my sin how shall my tongue describe it where shall its
Speaker 1Take the low road the first two times so you can take the high road the last time. It's another one. It took a miracle to hit that last note. It took a miracle. I didn't even quite get there.
Hymn number four ninety four.
Speaker 2My father Let's hold
Speaker 1on just a second. I think we need a biblical translator to figure out what that even was supposed to mean. Let me read it in the book. Through though hear his glory. Though hear his glory has been shown.
We'll start back with that. Through her his glory has been shown. Okay. Here we go. Hear his glory has been shown, Alright.
Y'all can have a seat. Announcements this morning. There is no Monday night happening tomorrow night here at First B because it's spring break. There's no Awana happening here tomorrow night at first b because there's spring break. Connect hour is happening next Sunday between the services.
And next week is bring a dish to share Sunday. Alright? It was not exactly dinner on the grounds. You don't have to prepare a Thanksgiving meal. Just a little something to bring to share between services.
Share a dish Sunday is next week. Ladies fellowship on Thursdays usually happens, but it's off for spring break also. Sunday school volunteers are always needed. Alright? So Sunday school volunteers during the 09:00 service, have Sunday school for the kids.
Actually, there's a Sunday school that meets down the hall too. But Sunday school for the kids, if you'd like to help out with that, can call Liz Owens. There's her number. Or you can get in touch with us and we'll let you know how to get in touch with her. There are some classes coming up in May.
So we're still in March. May's a little ways off, but I want for you to plan on this. Christian Life and Witness courses happen in May fourth, eleventh, and the eighteenth in the evenings, seven to 9PM. This is put on by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association because in September, there's going to be a big rally, sort of an old fashioned tent meeting type rally. The September 24.
The twenty third is the kids' fest the day before. Crowder will be the musical guest, and Will Graham will be the speaker. So it's it is a pretty well known organization. I was talking to Judy this morning. I know of three people in this church that walked the aisle originally got saved, if you will, at a Billy Graham rally.
And Will Graham is following in his grandfather's footstep more than his father. So that's the classes that are coming up. And this. There are books out in the foyer, and I've got a few on my desk too. Little booklets.
It's thirty days of prayer. It's kind of a concerted effort, actually. It's funny because when I got here this morning, Run Ministries has sent us some of these books. And I got a packet of them from Mennonite Churches of America, it's an interesting thing that I'm getting these packets from all over. But it's it's all different denominations praying for the Muslim world.
It's a prayer guide, thirty days of prayer starting March to April, March 18, April 17. We're gonna have a gathering here on April 16 and pray. But Christians learning about and praying for the Muslim world. 30daysofprayer.com, if you wanna look it up. Or there are books and booklets around.
There's also one book that Run Ministries has put together called One Miracle Night of Stories of People Having Been Transformed, Challenged and Transformed. So that's a good thing. Just be praying for the Muslim world. And in moments like these, let's do it. Would you stand?
Are there any corrections, deletions, suggestions, comments? No? Good. No no other announcements that I stepped on or forgot about. Good.
God help us. Amen. In moments like these. Let's sing it again.
Speaker 2I
Speaker 1I'd rather have Jesus. Y'all can have a seat. Would you pray with me? Lord, at the operatory time now, the worship through giving time. I pray, Lord, that we would open our minds and our hearts to you, to your direction, to your Holy Spirit.
You say that if we are seeking and asking and knocking, Lord, that you will be that we will be finding, that we will be getting, and that we will be having it opened to us. God Almighty, it's amazing that how true that is. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. I pray that you would lay on our hearts exactly what it is. What are our steps, lord, that you've prepared in advance?
What is it? What is our reasonable service, lord? What is it that you've asked of us? Would you show us, lord, what it is that you would have us to give? Amen.
Give us the power and the resources to be able to do that. In Jesus name, we ask your blessing on the gift and the giver and on the administration of that after the fact that we would be about your business, Lord, doing your will and your way to the very ends of earth. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Yeah.
We're gonna sing one day at a time. I'm gonna sing one day at a time. You're welcome to sing along if you if you're so
Speaker 2Lord, help me today. Show me the way one day at a time. Oh, lord, help me today. Show me your way one day at a time.
Speaker 1Amen. Thank you. Amen. So, it's been a busy week this week. I don't know how busy y'all were this week, but we had a lot going on.
I did two weddings and a funeral this week. So, two weddings during the week, and then the funeral was yesterday. And that song was a request from the the widow of the fella that the funeral was for. And it was one of my favorite services I've ever been to. Not just funeral services, but church services.
It was really, really good. What they had to say, what everybody had to say, how they came together is really, really good. One day at a time is kind of a common saying of the recovery community. And this was one of those type funerals where it was a fella that had been sober for forty years and it probably helped hundreds of other people get sober. It's just beautiful.
So when he said, hey, we practice this already this week. You wanna sing it? I said, yeah, let's do that one again. So what we're covering are we covering today? So it's a lot of ground, but we're gonna cover the rest of Luke 11.
Okay? If you are paying attention to our chronological study walking through Jesus through the gospels, there's quite a hunk in this section of scripture where Luke speaks alone. Right? Luke has sections from chapter 11 up to about 13 or 14. If you're going through a harmony of the gospels, it's just Luke telling this story, know.
Now, Luke 11 has some coverage that I've already covered in Matthew, but I think they're two different events. We're gonna hit them again. I'm not gonna hit them quite as hard. Okay? I'm gonna share the the sentiment.
But if you wanna go back and listen to the similar sermon in Matthew, I cover a couple of things at a greater depth. But I wanna start off in Luke 11. So far, we have seen the Lord's prayer. Some one of his disciples comes to him and says, would you teach us to pray the way John's disciples taught them to pray? And Jesus, yeah, when you pray, pray like this.
So the Lord's prayer. Beautiful. It's the short version of the prayer. Matthew has a longer version of the Lord's Prayer, but the Lord's Prayer is there. Basically, Jesus is saying, may your kingdom, Lord, extend to me and my circle.
May I be an obedient servant of the kingdom of heaven and be cause for or instrument of its advance. Next, Jesus says, and you pray like this, but when you pray, pray persistently. He gave three parables about persistence. One of them is going to the neighbor so that you can help another friend. Going to a neighbor and asking so that you can help out this other friend.
That's the first one. The next one are if your child comes to you asking for a good gift, are you gonna give them a bad gift? And then he closes that section out with this question. How much more if you, despite at the outset being evil and not being infinite and almighty good and loving God. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will God the father give his Holy Spirit to those who are asking him?
That's a really good thing to think about. If you are pursuing God and asking him to reveal how he is, who he is, what he is to you, he will do it. He says that he'll do it. So how much more will God give his Holy Spirit to those who are asking him? And then immediately following that, it's it's funny because he had just cast out a mute demon and then the pharisees blast him.
He did that by the power of the devil. He did that by the power of Beelzebub. By the way, Beelzebub means lord of the flies. Ugly. The pharisees blasphemy.
He's immediately following that. So they hear the word of the Lord, and they hear about this prayer, and they hear about persistence. And then when he cast out a demon and the guy who has not been able to speak is praising God, they immediately blaspheme. Call what is good, bad, and bad, good. Colossians three, I went from there and just had a contrasting list from Colossians three.
And it resonated with a lot of y'all. I heard a lot about these lists from from y'all this week. The things that we are to take off like a garment, put it off like a garment, not put it off until later. Okay? Make that clear.
Putting off is not just putting it off till tomorrow. Putting it off is taking it off. Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is in itself idolatry. If you're looking around for something somebody has that you don't and you're thinking, I don't have it. They do have it.
They shouldn't have it. I want it. That in itself is idolatry. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy talking lies. Those are the things we're to be taking off.
And as Christ followers, we're supposed to put on clothes that fit a Christ follower. Compassionate hearts, seeing people as God sees them. Kindness, which is useful goodness. I like that definition. Useful goodness is kindness.
Humility. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Meekness. Strength under restraint, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, just as the Lord and Christ has forgiven you. And actually, it goes one further and says, and put on love, which binds all of these together in unity.
If you are loving people, these other things will just be happening. So, there we are. Back to Luke 11. We left off on '26 last week. I actually had twenty seven and twenty eight in the sermon last week, but I looked out at your faces, and you could not bear another two two verses.
So we're gonna start with them this week. Actually, first service was even worse than y'all. I don't like to play favorites, but anyway. While Jesus was saying these things, I like to get the continuing action. Right?
While Jesus was saying all these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice, so she shouted and said to him, blessed is the womb that carried you and the breast at which you nursed. That's that is so contrary to what the Pharisees were saying. He did this by the power of Beelzebub. Can you think of what a contrast that is? He's healing people, and he's showing signs that authenticate his message of the gospel.
Right? He's helping, and he's being helpful, and then she just can't help it. Blessed is the womb that carried you in the breast at which you nursed. But he said, on the contrary. Now, I've I've got a translation issue here, and I wanna go into it a little bit.
Forgive me. I'm a nerd. This matters. It's an interesting one because the word is not used very often. It's only used three times in scripture.
It's used here. And on the contrary is the way that the new American standard translates it. Others will translate it slightly differently or dramatically differently. But he said, on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it. So think about this.
His mother is blessed is your mother, basically, is what the lady said. And the New American Standard says, on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it. Think about that. Did Mary hear the word of the Lord? Did she guard it, keep it, follow it?
She did. So, yes, I think on the contrary, it's kinda harsh for that. So here here is what we're gonna go through. Little Greek lesson. Menun.
Men is Pascal is here. What does men mean? Men. Yeah. It's it's a negative particle.
It is the opposite on the other hand. Right? And then un is therefore. So it can be adversative. Adversative is on the contrary, no or rather.
That's the way the New American Standard Bible takes it. The second one is affirmative. Indeed, are those things very different? They're very different. It can be either adversative or it can be affirmative.
How can it be both? Well, what do I mean when I say, yeah, right. I mean, no, don't I? Yeah. So how he said it, we don't really have.
We don't know. The the record of it, it can be either adversative or it can be affirmative. What does it say in your in your Bible, Bob?
Speaker 2New King James says more than that.
Speaker 1More than that. Yeah. So that is corrective. That's the third option right there. So, adversity on the contrary, no, rather.
And I think, and I'm gonna say this, I think that the New American Standard was trying to guard against a heresy of praising Mary. Right? And so they're saying, the contrary, don't be doing that. We don't wanna we don't wanna do that. Stop right there.
On the contrary, anybody who listens to the word of God. Affirmative is saying, indeed, my mother is blessed. You're right. Because she was. The angel said, blessed are you among women.
She she really was. In fact, her response was, may it be to me just as you have said, which is should be our response. And she also said, generations from this point will call me blessed, and this is thirty years after that. Right? So, yeah.
This is this woman's the first one in scripture that fulfilled that statement that Mary said. Yeah. Blessed are you. Blessed is this one. The third one is corrective.
It is yes, that is true, but also this. And I think that's what the King James and New King James both say. So this is the definition when you look up Menoun or Menumge lexicon. This is what it says, rather, on the contrary, is typically the definition. But the way it's used is nay rather, indeed, truly or really.
Those look very different, don't they? So it doesn't really matter how it is, but the reason you put that in there, you have to realize that you can't pound the pulpit on this point because it's three different meanings context makes a huge difference. And Mary followed the word of the Lord. So here we go. He said, on the contrary, or indeed, or yes, and blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it, like mama.
Right? But blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it. So the follow there, the form of this word is used only twice in the New Testament. The form of the verb emphasizes the ongoing continual habitual type action of it, progressive action. And it means keeping, guarding, protecting, observing, following carefully for the sake of well-being.
Okay? So that's what it means. It's participle. It's from and this is the verb right here. The other place that it's used is where the shepherds are keeping watch over their flocks by night.
Ain't that cool? They're guarding them. They're paying attention to them or keeping watch. They're guarding watch. They are guarding so that it will remain safe, protecting, keeping, preserving safe, guarding guarding guarding guarding, taking care not to violate.
That's good. If you think about a shepherd's job, that's what they're supposed to do with the sheep. And the same word is used here from Jesus' mouth to the whole crowd that hearing the word of God and then taking care of it like it's your baby sheep. Right? That's good.
I like that. Now we're gonna speed up a little bit. Now as the crowds were increasing, he began to say, this generation is a wicked generation. I love the song, one day at a time sweet Jesus, but there's one phrase in there that I don't like. It said, Jesus, if you're looking down right now, it's worse now than it was when you were here.
I think that's not true. It's always been pretty rough, you know. He began to say this generation, this one right now is a wicked generation. It's a wicked generation for a lot of reason, but it demands a sign. They want something that would eliminate their need for faith at all.
They want something to be an unequivocal sign. No doubt about it, indubitable. This generation is a wicked generation. It demands a sign. They just saw him heal a mute man.
What more of a sign do you need? His very first sermon was he's come to set the captives free. He's come to have the lame walk and the deaf hear and the mute to praise God. It demands a sign. And so no sign will be given to this generation except the sign of Jonah.
That almost seems like an afterthought. Except the sign of Jonah. We'll do that one. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, and they did. Remember the story of Jonah?
The story of Jonah is not the common Sunday school way that it's taught. Just as Jonah became assigned to the Ninevites, his preaching was the way, the method that God used for them to repent. Such will be or so will be the son of man to this generation, Jonah and the sign of Jonah. There have been books written about this. Lots of them, actually.
The sign of Jonah. Think about this. Jonah gets the word from the Lord, go and preach to the Ninevites. And he does not want to go preach to the Ninevites. Why?
Is he scared? Is he scared of what they'll do to him? He never gives any inclination that he's scared of what they'll do to him. He thinks they don't deserve salvation. And it says so plainly in the text.
Actually, after they repent, he goes and has a pity party, sits up under a plant. I knew you were gonna save him. That's why I ran. Really? Yeah.
That's why. Jonah's preaching, that was the most reluctant sermon probably ever preached, and I preached a few reluctant ones myself. Repent, and they did. Because God was in the message. That's what it took.
Jesus says, just like Jonah was that instrument that God used, so will the son of man be for this generation. Now you can accept or deny. He's saying the queen of the South, queen of Sheba, who had come during Solomon's reign. The queen of Sheba will rise up with the men of this generation. Actually, that points to a judgment.
Right? The queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them because she came from the very ends of the earth, Central Africa, to make the trip to see the wise man, Solomon. Because she came from the ends of earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Messiah, Jesus. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and they will condemn it.
Why? Because when they were given the word of the Lord, they accepted it. And they followed it. They guarded it. They kept it.
They didn't deny it. They didn't reject it. And you're rejecting it right now. It says, the men in Nineveh will stand up with this generation. If the judgment, they'll condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.
And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. I went through this in Matthew. I won't go through it further. The next paragraph or so, I also covered in March 2022 in Matthew, if you wanna go back and listen to it. No one lights a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but they put it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.
You're not going to hide it. Why would you even burn a lamp if you were going to cover it up? The eye is the lamp of the body. The lens of the body is a good way to say that. And when your eye is clear, your lens is clear, your whole body also is full of light.
It allows light in. But when it is bad, when you have a condition that clouds that or darkens that, when it's bad, your body also is full of darkness. So watch out that the light that is in you is not darkness. Your lenses that you see through make a big difference on how you see the world, obviously. If your vision is skewed, how would you know it?
Right? He's speaking to the Pharisees, the ones who just called called out a blasphemy against him, and he's gonna speak specifically to him next, so we know he's talking to him. Be careful about this. Pay attention to this. Pay attention to your lenses.
Make sure your eyes are clear. If your whole body's full of light without any dark part, it'll be wholly illuminated. It'll allow in the light. And the light is shining right here in front of you people. Allow it in when the lamp illuminates you with its light.
Now when he had spoken and said that, a Pharisee asked him to have lunch with him. Yeah. That's interesting. Wow. I heard a wow from the back, back there.
Now when he had spoken to pharisee who were very, very fastidious, you know, very, very religious, it's interesting that they even asked Jesus, a man who they thought hung out with sinners and tax collectors. Now, when he had spoken, a pharisee asked him to have lunch with him. This guy might have been on the edge of his group. He asked him to have lunch with him, and Jesus went in, and he reclined at the table. Extending table fellowship is huge in the New Testament.
Who you eat with makes a difference. Now Jesus did eat with sinners and tax collectors, and he did go to parties, and he did bring people in from that side. But also, when he's invited by the legalists, he still goes. Right? He has the woe to yous, and he has the brood of viper speeches too, but he still accepts the invitation to come in.
And when he had spoken to Pharisee, asking, if you see the asterisk in the New American Standard, it's a progressive action, is asking him to have lunch with him. And he went in and he reclined at the table. And when the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised. He went from the front door straight to the table. Well, he was surprised that Jesus had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.
What is this? In Jackson, it might be somebody comes to your house, and they go through the front door, they don't take their shoes off right away. The Pharisees saw this. He was surprised that Jesus had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. Jesus said to him, now you Pharisees, y'all y'all clean the outside of the cup and of the dish.
You make a good show, but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. Boy, that's a hard announcement from your dinner guest. I want you to see this reclining at the table. He goes, yep. Y'all y'all do a good job of cleaning up the outside, the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of greed and wickedness.
You foolish ones. Did he who made the outside not make the inside also? If you're gonna clean the outside, that's supposed to be a symbol for what's already happened on the inside. And you're just doing the former, and you're not doing the latter. He says, but give that which is within as a charitable gift.
And Luke, this time already, he said, whatever's in your heart is what's gonna flow out of your mouth. Give that which is within as a charitable gift, and then all things are clean for you. Start from a right heart, and then all things are clean for you. And then he starts, and there are six of these woes, and they're pretty emphatic. But woe to you, Pharisees.
Woe to you, Pharisees. For you pay your tithes of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet you ignore justice and the love of God. Yet, you ignore justice and the love of God. Yeah. You're following your rules.
You've made your rules pretty evident. You're doing them. You got it. Old Testament concept of the tithe. Man, they're gonna keep that.
No doubt about it. Probably ring a bell whenever they do. You pay tithes of mint, ruin every kind of garden herb, and yet, you ignore justice. Actually, what the prophets had written about more than anything is justice. Taking care of the poor, taking care of widows and orphans, James says, is pure and undefiled religion.
Taking care of people who are oppressed is important. He says you ignore that altogether, and you ignore the love of God. You believe that God loves you, but you believe that he doesn't love anybody else. When I said that about thirty days of prayer for the Muslims this morning, is there any inclination inside you like Jonah that you just thought, they don't really deserve our prayers. They don't really deserve salvation.
They have been set, dead set against from the beginning. They made up their mind a long time ago. I'm not praying for them. The love of God is for the vilest offender that truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon received. If we know that we have been forgiven, we are to be forgiven just as God in Christ has forgiven us.
We should be looking for opportunity to be loving to people who do not yet know him. I accidentally said in the first service. I said, some of y'all don't wanna even pray for the Muslims. Some of y'all don't even wanna pray for the Democrats. That and Republicans.
Yes. I know. We tend to we tend to like to go into our teams, and the Pharisees were absolutely opposed to the Sadducees. And they were the equals on the opposite side of the aisle. Right?
He's saying, you gotta tear down those walls. I'm calling a people out of every people group. Out of every self identifying group, I'm saying, lay that down and come in to me. Last week we just hit there's neither slave nor free, Scythian, barbarian, Greek nor Jew. It is everybody's called out of and into.
Ecclesia means you're called out of, but into the family of God. These are the things that you should have done without neglecting the others. You need to pay attention to justice and the love of God without neglecting the whole thing about the tithe. Woe to you Pharisees. He starts back up again.
For you, y'all love the seat of honor in the synagogues. You like to be recognized for all the good things that you've done. And the personal greetings in the marketplaces. Y'all love being the VIP. Woe to you.
Woe to you, for you are like unseen tombs. Now this one for us, you might see this and go, yeah, it's kinda rude to walk over someone's grave. Kinda rude. I remember going into cemetery when I was little. My dad helped upkeep the cemetery where we live.
And he'd say, no, no, no, no, no. You walk between them. You know? And that's normal for us. That's what we probably think.
It's kinda rude unless there's a funeral and everybody's gotta stand around. That's okay then. But for them, dead bodies touching a dead body being anywhere in the perimeter of a tomb is is a really important thing. When that Gadarene demoniac was living among the tombs, oh my goodness. That's terrible.
It's the worst. What Jesus is saying is y'all are like a tomb that's not marked. You're like an unseen tomb, and the people who walk all over it aren't even aware of it. He said, your teaching is defiling people, and they don't even know it. You're leading people astray.
Harsh words from Jesus at the Pharisees' house, at his table. Now one of the lawyers, this is experts in the law, scribes, lawyers, experts. This is funny because it says, woe to you Pharisees. Woe to you Pharisees. Woe to you Pharisees.
And then there's a guy there who considers I mean, he's an expert of the law. And he's eating with a Pharisee. He's probably he goes, teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too. Oh, you got that, did you? Yeah.
That's what I'm saying. Yes. If the shoe fits, wear it. Woe to you, lawyers, experts as well. Y'all load people up with burdens that are hard to bear while you yourselves won't even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
You don't have anything to do with helping people with their actual problems. You're the one that has created a lot of their problems, and you won't help them with it. One of the reasons I like the funeral yesterday so much is because it was an AA funeral. It was a recovery funeral. Everybody there knew they had a problem they couldn't do anything about.
Everybody there had surrendered to the fact there is a higher power that can help restore them to sanity. Everybody there had taken a fearless and searching moral inventory and found themselves lacking and decided I'm giving all this to you, God. I don't understand you completely, but I'm giving it all to you. Man, it's good. I think when I finish the New Testament, we might 12 step it together.
So good. Woe to you experts in the law. You load people up with burdens that are hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. We need to be helping people with what it is that is ensnaring them. He goes on, woe to you.
Woe to you for you, y'all. Build the tombs of the prophets. Oh, look at this one. This is Micah's tomb. This is Amos' tomb.
This is whatever. They're building up. It's a time where there's some money, and they're building up the tombs of the prophets. Woe to you, because you're building up the tombs of the prophets. And it was your very fathers who killed them.
They were delivering a message of repentance, and social equality, and justice, and love of God. An openness. You're supposed to be a light to the nations, and your fathers killed them because they didn't like that message. They wanted it just to be us. We're God's chosen people.
The rest of them be damned. Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets as your fathers have killed them. So you're witnesses and you approve of the deeds of your fathers because it was they who killed them and you're building their tombs. You're not getting this. For this reason also, the wisdom of God said, I'll send them prophets, and I'll send them apostles.
I'll try to show them how I am. I'll try to show them through the prophets how I am, and what they should be paying attention to. Some of these prophets, they're gonna kill. Some of them, they're gonna persecute. A few of them will listen to them.
So that the blood of all of the prophets and all of the apostles since that is shed since the foundation of the world may be charged against this generation. Jesus was saying to those people. The ones who would actually be instigators behind his crucifixion. He says from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah. I don't think he meant it just as an a to z there, maybe.
But Abel was first. Right? First guy that was ever killed. Zechariah. Yep.
And so the Abel to Zechariah is Abel's sacrifice was found suitable by God, and Cain killed him for it because his wasn't. Zechariah, that's a whole different story that I'm not gonna get into this week. But yeah. Zechariah who was killed between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.
And then last, woe, woe to you experts, lawyers, scribes. For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you hindered those who were entering. Now they had the old testament and they were experts in it. They knew the law.
They knew the historical books and they knew the prophets. They knew them and they had them memorized for crying out loud. He said they had the key to knowledge, but they didn't use it to enter in. And for the people who were trying to enter in, you hindered them with all of your rules. Woah.
Doesn't that make you sick? Well, what were those six woes again? Here they are. Because there's a lot of verbiage in there. But if you boil it down to one word each, hypocrisy and imbalance.
You try to shine up the outside, but you don't clean the inside. Ostentation, you love to be the VIP. You love to have the recognition and accolades. You do put impossible demands, not just the 10 commandments, but 603 other rules that you've built as hedges around them. And then you quibble over what exactly constitutes breaking one of those.
Impossible demands that you know the Bible well enough to be able to excuse yourself from them if you want to. Intolerance and exclusiveness. You know, what are people upset with the church about these days? That's a pretty good list. Woe to you.
You're paying your tithes and making sure that you do that, but you ignore justice and the love of God. Woe to you. You just love to be recognized. Woe to you. Unseen tombs.
You're causing problems for people, and you don't even realize it. You're causing people to be defiled by your errant views of God. Woe to you lawyers. You load people up with stuff that they can't do and you haven't done it either. Whether you're on this side, I've used this forever.
The the licentious ditch is over here and the legalistic ditch is over here, and they were squarely in this ditch. But they were so proud that they weren't in that ditch. Woe to you for you build the tombs of the prophets and y'all are the ones who killed them, and you're about to do it again. Woe to you. You had the key to knowledge, but you've taken it away and you've hidden it.
You've hindered everybody from entering in. Now the close of this chapter is this. Now when he left that place, the scribes, that's the experts, lawyers, scribes, people who knew it all, and the pharisees began to be very hostile. They had already been hostile, but he said it began to be very hostile. And they also were continually interrogating him about many things, many subjects.
Why? They were plotting against him. And they were plotting against him to catch him in something he might say. Oh, cancel culture's not new. They wanted him to say something that would be a trap.
They could say, no. He said this. Did you see it? I'm gonna put that in the newspaper. Can't believe this imbecile said this thing.
He separates himself from us. He's a heretic, and he should be crucified. To catch him in something he might say, they weren't listening for the word of God. He he was sharing them. He is God.
He was sharing with them the word of God that had been stated from Abel all the way through Zechariah. And what they were listening for was, how can we make him look bad? So here we go back to on the contrary. I don't like on the contrary, honestly. I don't really like that.
Yeah. If that's your problem, we can talk about it. I I don't think that that's our issue. I think that Jesus is saying, yeah. She listened, and she wasn't hypocritical about it.
She was very humble about it. She knew her Bible, And she had a balanced approach. May it be to me just as you have said. Oh, sure. I'll do that.
I'm the one. I'm the right one for the job. She didn't say that. I can't imagine that she chose me. But since she did, I'm with you.
Ostentation? Not at all. Impossible demands? Intolerance? Nope.
I like Indeed. Indeed. She is blessed. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. So I know that's a hard message to hear, and I promise you that's a hard message to deliver.
To say, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, and then you recognize in yourself that I am a Pharisee. I'm not I don't get to be Jesus in this story. I don't get to be the disciple in this story. I am either an expert in the law, which is the danger in my position, or a Pharisee where, nope, we believe this, which is the danger in the pew. Right?
Indeed. Blessed are those who hear the word of God. God, would you take the word, and would you plant it deep into our hearts, and would you allow the light to enter in, Lord? And would you grow that plant up? And you give us more light as we need it.
You give us more nutrients as we need them. You give us the water of life, Lord, so that we may grow towards the light, towards you. In Jesus' name, I pray that you would make us a holy people, wholly committed to you. Amen. Would you stand with me?
And we're gonna sing Room at the Cross for you. Actually, the whole song service today has reminded me of Doyle Vaughn. The whole thing. We've got Ira Stanfield. We've got George Beverly Shea.
We've got all these songs. And this is a very real invitation. There is still room. This comes from pondering Luke 14, which we'll get to before long. In Luke 14, Jesus tells a parable about this guy who's gonna have a big party, and then the people who are supposed to show up for the party don't.
And he says, get out there into the highways and the hedges. Servants, go and go and look for people who will accept the invitation and come in. And then he comes back and says, I'm doing it and they're coming. He said, but there's still room. There's room at the cross for you.
Altar's open if you'd like to pray or come down. I'll turn off the mic if you wanna visit with me.
Speaker 2The cross upon which Jesus died is a shelter in which we can hide. And its grace so free is sufficient for me. And he visits fountain as wide as the sea. There's room at the cross for you. There's room at the cross for you.
Though millions have come, there's still room for one. Yes, there's room at the cross for you. The sins they have sinned. The savior still waits to open the gates and welcome a sinner before it's too late. There's room at the cross for you.
For one. Yes, there's room at the cross for you. I'm gonna sing another one. The hand of my savior is strong, and the love of my savior is long. Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in pain, The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain.
There's room at the cross for you. There's room at the cross for you. Oh, millions have come. There's still room for one. Yes, there's room at the cross for you.
Speaker 1Amen. As a benediction today, I think I'm gonna drop back to Colossians three three twelve. It says this, therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, be clothing yourselves with compassion. Be clothing yourselves with useful goodness, kindness. Be clothing yourselves with humility, and gentleness, and patience, and be bearing with one another too.
Forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Beyond all of those things, on the top of all those things, put on love, which itself binds all of these things together in unity. God, may we be loving others the way you love them. In Jesus' name. Amen.
