"Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, "Leave and go from here, for Herod wants to kill You." And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish.’ Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not possible that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want it! Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’"
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today, whether it's your first time or you are a faithful member of our family in Christ, your presence is acknowledged and truly appreciated. If you have recently received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, whether through this ministry or some other, please contact us so that we can include you in our prayers.
I was incredibly blessed to have made several meaningful connections, so I wanted to again remind you to be sure to visit Go Ye Kids children's ministry, Vanessa Taylor has helped us in providing printable biblical resources for children, many of them free. So, please be sure to thank her and let her know that you heard about her here. And, if you are a Christian parent or grandparent, or just enjoy reading faith based articles, we like to encourage you to visit Andy and the good folks at Christian Grandfather Magazine, and please be sure to let them know that you heard about them here. As Christians, we are a community that loves one another, prays with and for each other, and supports one another with our time, our talents and our resources. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian, it's following Christ to love one another that makes us a Christian, defined not merely what we say, but what we do in love.
It would be too obvious to suggest that Jesus wouldn't buy into much of the theology that bears His name. Jesus' style was not to be deceptive or sugar coat the message, the call to repent and believe was not veiled or ambiguous; it was direct, clear, extremely sobering "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish," and explicitly declaring "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." God’s patience offers time to repent, as illustrated in the parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6–9), but the call remains urgent since Judgment is certain and awaits unrepentant sinners, and He desires eternal life for all. I believe we would do well to also consider the temporal cost of sin, recognizing how it pollutes, perverts, and corrupts damage that persists and affects every aspect of human life, long after the guilt is forgiven, much like a single drop of poison ruins an entire glass of water, sin corrupts both the sinner as well as society. In God’s judgment, He withdraws His restraining grace and turns those who persistently reject Him over to the pursuit of their sinful desires, and the destruction that follows until society as a whole is swimming in a cesspool of depravity, marked by envy, murder, deceit, slander, and approval of evil as described in Romans 1:18-32. God gives people what they ultimately desire—freedom from His moral order. But this freedom does not lead to self- fulfillment, but rather self-destruction. Just at the way our society is aggressively sexualizing children, doing everything they can to corrupt their view of God’s design before they can even fully comprehend it. Paul says such corruption ultimately leads to a mind that doesn’t function normally, a depraved mind, it's default position is wickedness. (verse 28)
What amazes me is the number of professed Christians that are fully in support of young children attending and performing in drag shows while adults are stuffing dollar bills in their lingerie in affirmation of LGBTQ+ youth. Deuteronomy 22:5, prohibits cross-dressing, a label frequently invoked to drag as an abomination. Notably, some within the LGBTQ+ community, like Kitty Demure, a drag performer, has expressed concerns about the appropriateness of drag events for children, emphasizing that drag is typically an adult entertainment art associated with nightclubs whose performances include mature content, such as explicit language, and sexualized performances, comparing it to allowing a stripper or porn star to influence our children. While others feel that events like Drag Queen Story Hour, which are specifically tailored for children with "age-appropriate" content focusing on inclusion and creativity are just some of the atrocities being unleashed on children which is being promoted as valuable opportunities to foster acceptance and provide representation for young people in a safe, joyful environment. I don't need to itemize or elaborate on the many incomprehensible morally repugnant decisions and gratuitous evils that are being perpetrated against God. Evil, which by the way does not make the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good God improbable as some have suggested, but instead clearly points toward God's existence, for without God, such objective moral values would lack grounding, as objective morality cannot exist without God, because humanity is inherently wicked and by nature is inclined toward sin. This is supported by passages like Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9, and Romans 3:10–12, just to mention a few.
We are living in bizarre times, our lives are essentially dominated by chaos and confusion, as our society is drowning in darkness, disruption and disarray. People have lost confidence in the government, the healthcare system, the media and even religious leaders, as pastor after pastor is being exposed for some sort of corruption. As God has promised, "For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light." I believe this should serve as a reminder that nothing remains hidden forever, especially in the eyes of God. This is a call for God's people to maintain honesty, accountability, and integrity, to live lives that shine the light of the Gospel into the darkness of this sin-blinded world. All anyone needs to do is open their eyes, and look around in any direction today and you can see that there’s more false Christianity than true Christianity, there are more false Christians than true Christians, all in the name of Christianity, this is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy exactly as He said it would happen and it has. All anyone needs to do is open their eyes, and look around in any direction today and you can see that there’s more false Christianity than true Christianity, there are more false Christians than true Christians, teaching a different message and deceiving many all in the name of Christianity, this is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy exactly as our Lord said it would happen.
John 14:29, "And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe." Discernment is essential to avoid deception. We must ground ourselves in God's Word and test all things against Scripture, the only source of Truth. God knows the future because God controls the future. Scripture then serves as the ultimate test of God’s character, in the inspired prophecy of Scripture is the test of God’s truthfulness, veracity, omniscience, affirming that prophecy originates from divine inspiration, not human will. So, when we witness prophecy unfold exactly as it was foretold, doubt gives way to trust for non-believing skeptics who have failed to believe. Peter further affirms the divine origin and authority of Scripture in 2 Peter 1:21, "For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
We all have conversations with people who don't know or don't understand the Truth, when I get into conversations with people who base what they believe on what they feel, I can't help but to feel sorry for them, because they don’t recognize their ignorance, they can't perceive the flaws in their beliefs. One's feelings or emotions behind a belief doesn't determine its accuracy, it does, however, shape how deeply they are willing to hold onto it, not because what they believe is factually correct, but because what they believe aligns with their identity, values, or emotional needs. And, if it doesn't fit, then it is invalid. I've found that it's important to acknowledge their false beliefs without validating them, because it builds trust and makes room for further reflection. You can’t force someone to accept objective truth by arguing with them, you can try to engage in conversations where they may reconsider. Cognitive bias, was introduced by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1972, where one's emotions override objective evidence, is a common disorder in the brain’s limbic system. The brain tends to process emotions faster than rational thought affecting decisions and judgment while ignoring or dismissing contradictory evidence, and influences the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s decision-making center, overriding logical analysis. This is found to be especially true under pressure or emotional arousal by overemphasizing personality-based explanations for others' behaviors while underestimating situational influences. One example may be assuming someone is lazy rather than considering they might be dealing with personal issues. There are over 180 cognitive biases that have been identified affecting the way the brain forms memories, decision-making and social judgments which has led to the "rationality war" in psychology where individuals create their own irrational "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. To feel good about believing a lie because it "feels" true, even though it’s untrue may sound ridiculous, but it is a neurological disorder backed by science. A 2015 study revealed that even people who know the correct answer can be swayed by repeated lies, as their brains interpret familiarity as truth, creating a dopamine release, giving them a sense of satisfaction that reinforces dishonesty, making future deception even easier. My heart grieves deeply for somebody like that because they essentially cut themselves off from the truth, and in some instances, the Truth that saves. I don't believe there's any other way to look at the unbelieving people
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, as always, we are so grateful for Your Word. In this world of chaos and confusion, open our hearts to the Truth, Your Truth. We’re fighting for survival. But our rebellion is not a political one, or a sociological one, our battle is fought on our knees before Your throne in prayer. You alone are our shield, our protector, our deliverer, our Savior, our strong tower. We know that nothing that can come against us can defeat You. Lord, use this message to challenge us and encourage us to live boldly for You. How can we talk to others about our loving and compassionate God, say that we belong to Him, and have no love or compassion for the lost, even when they become angry because the Truth we speak contradicts the lies they live? As we face difficulties and trials, in sharing the Truth, may we never allow the messiness of service, to cause us to become jaded to the needs of others, because serving You by serving others is the heart of the Gospel. That would be diminishing the very message we are called to live.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Today's Message: Lament for the Unrepentant
When we allow ourselves to make an authentic connection with someone while sharing the Gospel, human relationships become very personal. We become friends who live out their faith through love, mercy, and service with genuine interest and vulnerability, we reflect our Lord's own nature in a very real way, rather than just "religious salesmen and women." Jesus met people at their point of need, asking probing questions, and tailored His message to their deepest need, salvation and eternal life, even if they didn't realize it. Obviously a lot could be said, about the church trying to make the church conform more to the world than the Word of God. For as many years as I’ve been preaching, faithfully proclaiming the Word of God, I have made every effort to get the few who are listening, to distinguish the difference between the church, the True Church from the world, obviously, they’re diametrically opposed to each other. Scripture, specifically, the New Testament consistently emphasizes the distinct identity of the Church as a people set apart from the world, for the plans and purposes of God. Jesus prayed for His followers not to be taken out of the world, but to be kept from its evil (John 17:15–17), sanctified by the Truth, defined not by cultural conformity, but by our allegiance to Christ. Sin, will not only draw you toward the world and away from God, it will harden your heart toward God's Truth.
My dear Christian friends, rather than look to the world, I strongly urge you, like the apostle Paul, and many others throughout the centuries, to look toward our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. There is, I believe, enough overwhelming evidence for us to recognize that Satan’s plan is to propagate false religion as a means to escape judgment, escape Hell and live forever in Heaven. The True Church, known not by buildings or denominations, therefore, is not defined by size or popularity, but by it's faithfulness to biblical principles, sound preaching and teaching of the Word of God without compromise, love, forgiveness, a commitment to godly living, and making disciples, teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded. I believe that faithful preaching involves much more than just correct doctrine—it requires a heart devoted to Christ and committed to seeing lives transformed by the Truth.
Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 13, verses thirty-one through thirty-five. This is a very somber portion of Scripture, our Lord understands that He came unto His own and His own received Him not. While we should and do rejoice in our own salvation, we can't help but to deeply saddened by the reality that not everyone who hears the Gospel message, the Good News of salvation, will be saved, no matter how faithfully and passionately it is proclaimed. I pray that you will follow along with me as I read with an open heart to set the text in minds, as we conclude our study Luke chapter 13. Luke 13:31-35.
"Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, "Leave and go from here, for Herod wants to kill You." And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish.’ Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not possible that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want it! Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’"
Let's look at verse 31, "Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, "Leave and go from here, for Herod wants to kill You." Despite their frequent opposition to Him, some Pharisees approached Him, just as He was traveling toward Jerusalem and offered this word of caution out of concern for His safety. It really is amazing if you stop and think about it, just how many there were who would have murdered Him if given the opportunity, even though He was compassionate, and gracious in offering what everybody desperately needs, forgiveness from sin and eternal life and everlasting joy in Heaven. It's pretty remarkable that He was constantly being pursued by someone who wanted to kill Him, which really began with Herod the Great, who was the patriarch that started the Herodian dynasty, that ruled in Israel from 37 B.C. He was the one who rebuilt the temple, which began construction around 19–20 BC., though it wasn't finished until after He died, meaning it had been under construction for about 46 years by the time Jesus cleansed the temple. The Jews hated him because he was not a Jew, he was an Idumean. He was so threatened by anyone and everyone who he though might attempt to take his throne, that he even slaughtered his own family members. When he heard from the wise men that there was a child born in Bethlehem that was newborn "King of the Jews," his paranoia led him to do everything that he could to find that child, and when he couldn't, in a fit of rage he just massacred every male child two and under in the whole area around Bethlehem as recorded in Matthew 2:16, known as the Slaughter of the Innocents.
The temple authorities wanted Him dead, because He made a scourge or whip of cords, emptied the place, driving thousands of people out of the temple, overturning the tables of the money changers, reacting to a fairly new-instituted practice, all which can be combined with non-biblical historical sources to obtain an estimate of when it occurred, estimated to be between AD 24 and 29. The Jews wanted to kill Him because He was breaking the Sabbath, attacking their religion and far worse, He was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God, which they thought was blasphemy. Challenging His enemies declaring "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?" in John 8:46. Which no one could answer.
Pilate needed Him dead, even though he found no guilt in Him and wanted to wash His hands of innocent blood, but to prevent a revolution he could fomenting as the crowds were shouting "Crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him!" Being intimidated, he ultimately ordered His crucifixion to keep the peace and from being reported to Rome and losing his job for too many bad decisions. Why did Herod want to kill Him? We can only speculate because the text doesn't tell us, that his fear stemmed from guilt and superstition that Jesus was John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah, risen from the dead (Matthew 14:2; Mark 6:16), whom he had killed for publicly condemning his marriage to Herodias, the driving force behind John’s execution. So everybody seemed to have a reason for wanting to kill Jesus, even though the perfect, sinless Son of God did nothing wrong, except consistently preached the Truth about the necessity of repentance and the urgency of salvation to be reconciled with God. Religious hypocrites and unrepentant sinners still resist the call to repentance, especially when divine standards confront their lifestyle or self-righteous image. It's the same reason the world hates those of us who faithfully bear witness to the truth, exposing their sin today. John 15:18, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you."
Verse 32, "And He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish.’" "Go and tell that fox," initially it might sound like a rather unusual thing for Jesus to say, but He chose His animal very carefully. Foxes were insignificant animals in the animal kingdom, known for being cunning, sneaky behavior and opportunistic. By calling him a fox, it was a deliberate and layered rebuke, conveying multiple dimensions of Herod Antipas's character. Foxes were known to ruin vineyards. He was essentially calling him a destructive sly and crafty, second-rate weak leader, lacking any real honor and true authority in stark contrast to a lion, which symbolized true greatness, power, and majesty. When God wants to rebuke a ruler, He has every right to rebuke a ruler. However, He may even raise up such a ruler. In Jeremiah 25:9, God allowed the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Judah as judgment for Israel’s persistent sin. Proverbs 28:15 warns, "Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people," illustrating how such leaders can become instruments of divine judgment. Not that God approves of evil, but that He sovereignly permits or uses evil rulers to bring about justice or judgment on a nation’s collective sin. Jesus was not afraid of a man he viewed as morally bankrupt and politically insignificant, despite his power.
Then, He said "Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish.’" Jesus' statement is rich both theologically and symbolically, reflecting His confident awareness of the approaching fulfillment of His purpose. The "third day" is poetic language, this was a common Jewish expression for completing something. Jesus is saying with divine authority that He will continue casting out demons and performing healings until He literally completes His mission. And nothing Herod threatens to do is going to change anything. He came to do the Father's will and that's exactly what He's going to do! In John10:17-18, He said "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."
Verse 33, "Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not possible that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem." It wasn't unusual for a prophet to die in Jerusalem, even in the temple, the city historically associated with the martyrdom of prophets. Jesus knew that His death was imminent and must occur just outside the city gates of Jerusalem to fulfill Scripture and God’s redemptive plan, symbolizing that His death was not for Israel alone but for the entire world. Hebrews 13:10-14 says, "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no authority to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one to come."
Verse 34, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want it!" I find it ironic, that it wasn't the enemies of Israel that killed their prophets, they killed their own prophets. They have a long history of massacring innocent blood of the true saints of God. In Luke 11:48-52, He said "So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ Woe to you, scholars of the Law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering."
It's kind of bitter sweet if you really think about it, a profound theological paradox. The bitterness in that if they had accepted Him, they wouldn't have killed Him. And the sweetness, in that if they hadn't killed Him, there would be no reconciliation between God and humanity. It other words, no salvation. They may have killed Him due to their own hatred of Him, but in doing so, God used their wicked plan for salvation. Peter declared in Acts 2:23-24, "this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power." They did finally have Him killed and its sad to say they did it in the name of the Lord, but it was God who put Him on the cross for you and me. No wonder David wrote in Psalm 21:1-3, "O Yahweh, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!," as both a thanksgiving for victory and a prophetic glimpse into the reign of the Messiah.
That brings us to verse 35, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate, and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’" This is in itself a judgment, the "house" symbolizes the Temple, and the covenant relationship between nation of Israel as God's chosen people. Jesus foretells the desolation of Jerusalem, both spiritually and physically, due to their rejection of Him as the Messiah and declares that His presence will be withdrawn from them until they genuinely acknowledge Him as their Savior. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. His final words, the phrase, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," echoing the Triumphal Entry in Matthew 21:9, when the massive crowds hailed Jesus as the Messiah. When Israel finally repents and acknowledges Him as their long-awaited Messiah, and His return will be welcomed, and that will ultimately mark the fulfillment of God's promise. Until then, the modern state of Israel continues to remain in spiritual exile, besieged by an endless array of security threats, relentless political and terrorists attacks from her neighbors, who continue try to blow them up and destroy them at every opportunity. You can literally tell the story of Israel's desolation in the destruction of their temples, particularly Herod's temple destroyed in 70 A.D. by Titus. All that remains is The Wailing Wall, which is a monument to over 2,000 years of persecution.
When people and nations are unprotected by God, they will often find themselves experiencing economic hardship, famine, disease, societal breakdown and moral decay, destruction of family unity, persecution and even genocide, although suffering is not always a sign of divine abandonment. I believe the divisive ideologies, victimhood and anti-Western sentiment that undermine unity and trust and peace, are indeed sure signs that America, because of her rejection and rebellion, are by choice the enemies of God and will continue to face the wrath of abandonment by God.
Hebrews 2:2-4, "For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That salvation, first spoken by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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