Luke 12:22 ¶ And he said
unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life,
what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The life is more than meat, and the body is
more than raiment. 24 Consider the
ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn;
and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25 And which of you with taking thought can add
to his stature one cubit? 26 If ye then
be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
27 Consider the lilies how they grow:
they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28
If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to
morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of
little faith? 29 And seek not ye what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. 30 For all these things do the nations of the
world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of
God; and all these things shall be added unto you. 32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your
Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide
yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not,
where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also. 35 Let your loins be girded
about, and your lights burning; 36
And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will
return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto
him immediately. 37 Blessed are
those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say
unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and
will come forth and serve them. 38 And
if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them
so, blessed are those servants. 39 And
this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through. 40 Be ye therefore ready also:
for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
Jesus was previously
invited to dinner with a Pharisee who considered that Jesus did not follow the
ritual hand washing the Pharisees required which drew a sermon on the hypocrisy
of the Pharisees which he then reiterated to a throng of people, encouraging
them to confess Christ before men in spite of the persecution they would face
from the Pharisees. He then reinforced that they should focus on what is
important and not on worldly matters. He spoke of covetousness and laying up treasure
with God. This has been a very powerful teaching time for Christ and is very
important for us.
Jesus continues His
lesson about covetousness and what to concern ourselves with and not concern
ourselves with from the previous passage and tells His disciples that they
should not worry about the basics of life; food and clothing. In His model
prayer for them, which He gave in the previous chapter He included Give us day by day our daily bread.
Paul wrote by the
wisdom given to him by the Holy Spirit.
2Peter 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved
brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that
are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they
do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Paul told the
Philippian church…
Philippians 4:19 But my God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus.
An interesting note
here is that God provides our food and that of the beasts and fowls in spite of
all of the National Geographic and Discovery Channel blather about predator and
prey. You didn’t think that zebra that the lions brought down was chosen by God
for their food did you? We are so clueless to the unsearchableness of God’s
mind, the Holy Ghost, acting in the world.
Psalm 104:21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
In God’s own words as
He spoke to Job He said the following.
Job 38:39 Wilt thou hunt
the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, 40 When they couch in their dens, and
abide in the covert to lie in wait? 41
Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God,
they wander for lack of meat.
Jesus reveals how
powerless we are to change many of the most important circumstances in our
lives. For instance, all of the Norman Vincent Peale or Dale Carnegie type of
positive thinking in the world won’t make you 6’3 rather than 5’8.
We don’t control the
most basic of circumstances and yet we worry about things that are way beyond
our control. We think we control our health and thereby extend our lives by
diet and exercise, one of my favorite objects of thought and action, but that
too may be an illusion.
Job 7:1 Is there not an appointed time to man
upon earth? are not his days
also like the days of an hireling?
Psalms 39:4 LORD, make me
to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
We see news stories
about how scientists are on the verge of or at least thinking about everything
from extending our lifespans hundreds of years to curing all diseases with gene
manipulation and, truthfully, it is almost laughable if it were not so
painfully sad in that man thinks so highly of his ability to oppose God’s
ordinances and the boundaries He has set and people hope while they lay dying.
God will care for us
and we are not to doubt. The unbelieving world is concerned about these carnal
things, these things of the flesh, but we are to be about God’s business and
all of these things will be given to us as needed. Of course, this is easy to
have as a standard of our faith in a rich country where we spend so much less
of our income on food than in places in Africa, South America, or Asia.
Christians are suffering in some places and in some instances almost always due
to cultural impediments and economic injustice and the oligarchic rule of a few
powerful, narcissistic sociopaths, sin and wickedness which we who are so
blessed should be willing to fight on our poorer brothers and sisters’ behalf.
They, on their side, need to trust in God to provide, to pray for deliverance,
and that this day they receive just enough to get by knowing that things may
not be resolved in this life as they live in a fallen world in fallen bodies
under the judgment of sin and the evil, malicious designs of the powerful and
the wealthy.
Specifically, and
doctrinally, though, Jesus is speaking directly to His Jewish disciples in the
first century in a preview of the book of Acts by telling them to sell what
they have and be about His business telling Israel about Him and then, after
His crucifixion expectantly waiting for His return in an hour they will not
have imagined. We must remember in reading this that Christ’s crucifixion and
His resurrection were immediate future. We must also remember that God
dispersed the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem in Acts so that they would
fulfill His command for them to be witnesses to the world rather than hold up
in that compound/bunker mentality in Jerusalem.
We Christians today are
given this from Paul to keep in our hearts.
Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace
of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works.
For those who would use
the watches mentioned as a key to knowing when Christ will return verse 40 is
an alarm that tells us we should not claim knowledge we do not have. Your
preacher does not really know when Christ will return and acting as a minister
of Satan by misrepresenting God does not speak well for those who claim that
knowledge from the pulpit. We are not given prophecy for us to sit smugly and
shout to those we consider spiritual lessers that we know when that will be or
who the Antichrist is or other things we do not know. Prophecy is given for a
specific reason according to Jesus Himself.
John 16:4 But these things
have I told you, that when
the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said
not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Just as Paul gave us
the reason for the preservation of the Old Testament writings and histories.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope.
To all those people out
there who divide and parse out words and verses and examine numbers and compare
verses to current news items, writing books like ones I have from the 1990s
about how Saddam Hussein was rebuilding Babylon and could be the Antichrist all
the way back to those who called Kaiser Wilhelm the Beast of Revelation I say
one thing. Spend more time considering and obeying what Christ has told you to do,
how to treat God and others, and less time presuming knowledge you do not have.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong
unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
My final comment on Old
Testament prophecy in particular is to ask you to remember that every
individual Christian’s life is like the experience of the entire nation of
Israel taken collectively. We can be visited by God and judged in this life for
our sin and disobedience but God will never forsake us, as He will not Israel,
or put us away forever because it is Christ’s righteousness and not our own
that saves us. We can look at Old Testament prophecy as directly applying to
the Jews then, as applying to the first and second advents of Christ, and as a
tale of how our backsliding and rebellion can lead to ruin and despair knowing
only that Christ will lift our sorry heads out of the dust, as He will
Israel’s, at the end of the day.
12:41 ¶ Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou
this parable unto us, or even to all? 42
And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his
lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of
meat in due season? 43 Blessed is
that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make
him ruler over all that he hath. 45 But
and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall
begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be
drunken; 46 The lord of that servant
will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he
is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with
the unbelievers. 47 And that servant,
which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things
worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever
much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed
much, of him they will ask the more. 49
I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already
kindled? 50 But I have a baptism to be
baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! 51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on
earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52
For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three
against two, and two against three. 53
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the
father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother;
the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against
her mother in law.
Peter’s question is met
by a direct answer from Christ regarding the labors of the apostles and even
future ministers of the gospel. Paul referred to the ministers of the gospel as
stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Corinthians 4:1 ¶ Let a
man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is
required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
He moved from
covetousness to being watchful to now a warning to the shepherds of His flock.
Disobedience to this warning is apparent all through Christian history as it
was all through the history of the Jews before Christ. The primary duty of a
minister of Christ is to feed the flock of God with His words, not to lord it
over the flock as some kind of boss man.
1Peter 5:1 ¶ The elders
which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among
you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples
to the flock. 4 And when the chief
Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Down through the last
two thousand years abusers among the so-called clergy have run rampant through
the flock of God doing great harm. We hear about Catholic priests today who
abuse the most helpless members of their congregations but we also must
consider the thousands of Baptist pastors and youth ministers who have done the
same. Jesus talks about how the fowls of
the air, used in typology for the Devil himself in Mark, chapter 4, will
lodge in the shadow of the tree and in its branches, the tree that grows
unnaturally large as the kingdom of God and Heaven in Luke 13:19 and Mark 4:32.
Jesus also warns that
there are counterfeits among the brethren in Matthew 13:24 regarding the wheat
and the tares. In the Old Testament God has an accusation about the false
teachers in Israel. Understand that Biblically defined, with and uniting synonyms in most contexts, a
pastor is a teacher as per Ephesians 4:11 and prophets are preachers and
teachers as per Nehemiah 6:7 and 2Peter 2:1.
Jeremiah 23:1 ¶ Woe be unto
the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of
Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and
driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the
evil of your doings, saith the LORD. 3
And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I
have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be
fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set
up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor
be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I
will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely: and this is
his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8
But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the
house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had
driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
9 ¶ Mine heart within me is broken because of the
prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine
hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness
are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. 11 For both
prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness,
saith the LORD. 12 Wherefore their way
shall be unto them as slippery ways
in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring
evil upon them, even the year
of their visitation, saith the LORD. 13
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in
Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they
commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers,
that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as
Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts
concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them
drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone
forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy
unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the
LORD. 17 They say still
unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they
say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil
shall come upon you. 18 For who hath
stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath
marked his word, and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is
gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon
the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of
the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed
the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
21 I have not sent these prophets, yet
they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had
caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their
evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23
Am I a God at hand,
saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? 24
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith
the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. 25 I have heard what the prophets said, that
prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets
of the deceit of their own heart; 27 Which think to cause my people to forget my
name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their
fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. 28
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my
word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. 29 Is
not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the
LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues,
and say, He saith. 32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false
dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their
lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them:
therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33 ¶ And when this people, or the prophet, or a
priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is
the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even
forsake you, saith the LORD. 34 And as for the prophet, and the priest,
and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that
man and his house. 35 Thus shall ye say
every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD
answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? 36
And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s
word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of
the LORD of hosts our God. 37 Thus shalt
thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the
LORD spoken? 38 But since ye say, The
burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word,
The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The
burden of the LORD; 39 Therefore,
behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the
city that I gave you and your fathers, and
cast you out of my presence: 40
And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual
shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Peter devotes what has
come down to us as a chapter to the damage wrought by Christian false teachers
in 2Peter 2.
2Peter 2:1 ¶ But there were
false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways;
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 ¶ And through covetousness shall they with
feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness,
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha
into ashes condemned them with
an overthrow, making them an
ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 ¶ And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that
righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day
with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the
godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to
be punished:
10 ¶ But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in
the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not
afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing
accusation against them before the Lord. 12
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed,
speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in
their own corruption; 13 And shall
receive the reward of unrighteousness, as
they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting
themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot
cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with
covetous practices; cursed children: 15
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the
way of Balaam the son of Bosor,
who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16
But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice
forbad the madness of the prophet. 17
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest;
to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through
the lusts of the flesh, through much
wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they
themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of
the same is he brought in bondage. 20
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered unto them. 22 But it is
happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Here, in this lesson
Jesus is giving it is worse for you to know the truth and to act on it unwisely
and disobey than it is for you to not know the truth at all. Perhaps that can
be one meaning of Paul’s statement in Romans.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 ¶ Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it
unto them.
The truth that Jesus
reveals will not produce unity in the world but cause divisions down to the
very household and family of believers and those who reject Him. There can be
no middle ground with Christ. You either trust Him or you don’t. This fire is
already kindled by the work of the dividers and the false teachers and elders
who plague the cause of Christ as evidenced by the multitude of Protestant
denominations and the three great branches of Christianity that are polluted by
leaven, a type of hypocrisy and false doctrine in Matthew 16:12 and here in
Luke 12:1.
Matthew 13:33 Another
parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened.
Luke 13:20 And again he
said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened.
[The woman of this
parable may be a reference to Ashtaroth, the fertility goddess of the
Canaanites of the Old Testament, who is basically the same as Ishtar, the
goddess of liberty and prostitutes of the Babylonians whose statue sits in New
York Harbor as Lady Liberty, and various feminine incarnations of Satan around
the world including the Japanese Amateratsu, the Roman Diana, or the Greek
Artemis among others. It should not be hard to think of Satan as both masculine
and feminine as some of the gods of the ancient world were portrayed as both
male and female. For instance, the Egyptian god, Atum, was also called the
great he-she.]
It appears that what
Jesus is saying here is that His servants must be expectantly awaiting His
return at any time and going about the business He has given them of expressing
the fruit of the Spirit in the world, loving God and their fellow mankind,
particularly the brethren, not abusing or mistreating those who God has placed
in their care and, most importantly, feeding the flock of God. Those who know
the most have the most expected out of them and will suffer loss in that degree
based on their unfaithfulness.
James 3:1 ¶ My brethren, be
not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
As was mentioned
earlier in the parable found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and upcoming in Luke 13 of
the mustard seed that grows unnaturally into a great tree, in the Christian
church organization there are many unsaved fake tares, false wheat, and these
counterfeits are hiding among its branches and in its shadow.
2Corinthians 11:13 For such
are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. 15
Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according to their works.
They will find their
place in the lake of unquenchable fire when a reckoning is made, with the
ignorant unbelievers, though their punishment will be greater.
Matthew 13:40 As therefore
the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Verse 50 appears to be
likening the coming crucifixion to a baptism for the man who is also God (see
Matthew 20:22.) He is focused on it and it is His mission and His purpose. He
must be killed by man, paying the price for man’s sins against Himself as God,
and then rise from the dead after 3 days.
Straitened is a synonym
of being narrowed or focused, restricted by something, either a thing, person,
or circumstance. See the definition of strait
in the following in the context.
Matthew 7:14 Because strait
is the gate, and narrow
is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it.
The gate and the way are strait and narrow. I hope you can see one way the
Bible defines itself here.
12:54 ¶ And he said also to
the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There
cometh a shower; and so it is. 55 And
when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it
cometh to pass. 56 Ye hypocrites,
ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do
not discern this time? 57 Yea, and why
even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? 58 When thou goest with thine adversary to the
magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be
delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee
to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. 59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence,
till thou hast paid the very last mite.
Christ has spoken
directly to His disciples and now He turns to the people in general. Here,
Jesus talks about how they can predict the weather by what is clear and plain
in the sky or in the direction of the wind but they cannot see what is going on
right in front of them and make a judgment. He warns about judgment. They do
not realize the day they live in as the day of God visiting them on earth. He
visited Israel in blessing and in judgment in the past and now He has come
bringing salvation or eternal loss if they reject Him.
Here is the Messiah,
the Christ, offering salvation to the Jews and to mankind. Man is in rebellion
against his Creator and he would do well for himself if he accepted that
Creator’s terms before judgment came upon him.
People who are not
blinded by self-conceit will come to a place in their lives where it is obvious
that God is speaking to them through the events and circumstances that placed
them where they are. If they will just acknowledge that the signs are showing
them just how badly they need to repent of their wickedness and turn to God
they can be saved. God doesn’t just speak through a person who is presenting
the gospel. He speaks through the events of your life, the consequences of your
sins, and the circumstances brought upon you either by yourself or others
stumbling blindly through this world.
We must be ready and be
about God’s business as the time of the end or our time of the end approaches
not wasting our time in the idolatry of covetousness and glorifying things of
this world that get in the way with our responsibility as Christians. God’s
business does not include abusing each other, trying to control each other,
dominating each other, being implacable, unmerciful, and self-righteous. God’s
business is the kingdom of God and just as Jesus will tell us in Luke 17 that
the kingdom of God is an invisible kingdom and is within us and in John 18:36
not of this world, Paul tells us in Romans 14:17 that it is not a physical
thing but is in fact righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Jesus has told us what
is not important and what is. He was warned His Jewish disciples and the future
Christian. He has given us commands and we would do well to consider them and
weigh them carefully in our hearts. Time is short. If Christ does not return
this year or the next you or I may certainly die and go see Him face to face in
that time. It is not for you or I to know that time. But, be prepared.
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