In Luke 17, Jesus has some straight talk for His disciples that should cause us to think long and hard about things we may often overlook. And these words are coming from the One whose words will judge us on the last day. So let’s spend a few moments listening to the Savior speak through the first two verses of Luke 17:
“And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!” (Luke 17:1 ESV).
Jesus tells us that temptations will come. Unfortunately for us, this is a part of life. Because God has given us free will, we must deal with the consequences of having free will. One consequence is the pull to do what I want rather than having the discipline to do what God wants me to do. James says that these temptations come when we are drawn away and enticed by our own desires (James 1:14).
But Jesus also has something to say for the one through whom temptations come. While each of us will stand in judgment for our own sins and actions, if we are the cause of temptations to our brothers, understand that Jesus will look harshly upon that. Listen to His language: “woe to the one through whom they come!” Jesus pronounces a woe upon us if we are the one who brings the temptation to our brothers.
We should have a love for each other to help our brothers and sisters endure hardships and trials, but when we are the ones who lay temptations before each other, Jesus looks at it about as harshly as He looks at anything. To put a fine point on it, look at what King Jesus says about this one:
“It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2 ESV).
Too often, we might be tempted to think of the great separation of the sheep and the goats based solely on our own struggles with temptations and sins. But I think there might be a few goats on the left, not because of their struggles with temptations, but because of the temptation to sin they lay before their brothers and sisters. This harsh language Jesus has about these people makes me wonder how much grace and mercy He will extend to them.
The lesson for me is simple. I have enough trouble with my own temptations. I need to ensure that I am helping my brothers and sisters with their burdens. At the least, I absolutely need to stay away from being the cause of their temptation.
Do I tempt them by encouraging them to commit sexual sins?
Do I tempt them by encouraging them to drink or do drugs?
Do I tempt them by encouraging them to forsake the assembly and choose to be somewhere else?
Do I tempt them by encouraging them to lie?
Do I tempt them by encouraging them to engage in course jesting?
Do I encourage my brothers and sisters to do good, or do I encourage them to sin? Am I the one through whom temptations come? If so, do we understand just how much King Jesus detests this? “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”
Let us be very careful before we bring temptations to our brothers and sisters. As gracious as our Savior is to us as we struggle to maintain our walk with Him, we do not want on the receiving end of His wrath. He seems to show little patience with the ones who bring temptations to others.
When Paul says that love believes all things in 1 Corinthians 13:7, he’s not talking about believing the lies and rumors people spread about others. He’s talking about believing the best in people and giving them the benefit of the doubt.
When given a choice between making harsh assumptions and assuming good about others and their motives, always believe the best.
The story of Abraham may be more amazing than we have given it credit for. I believe that when we think of this great man of faith, who “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6), we start his life in our minds at age 75 when God called him (Genesis 12:4).
But Abraham had a history. The Bible said that he was from Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:27-28). For 75 years before being called, Abram was a Chaldean. This is the same group of people who founded the Babylonian empire; not the new, or Neo-Babylonians of Nebuchanezzar, but the old Babylonian Empire of Hammurabi.
Before Abram was called by God, Joshua tells us,
“And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac.” (Joshua 24:2-3 ESV).
Before God’s call, it seems Abram worshiped the false gods of the Chaldeans. Yet, the one true God separated him and took this Chaldean and made him and his offspring a special people. Abraham’s seed became an ark through which the Messiah would enter the world to bless all nations.
If God could take a pagan idol worshipper out of an evil land and create a nation of chosen people for Himself who would bring the Savior of the world, then I suppose that nothing in my life is so messed up that God can’t make right if I believe Him.
“And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 ESV).
Do we believe the Lord?
As I move through the book of Jeremiah in my daily Bible reading, it’s hard not to focus on the things that Israel did to provoke the Lord to anger so much that moved Him to bring judgment upon His people. Time after time, God, in His longsuffering, had delayed judgment when good Kings repented and obeyed.
But the sins of the people were great and in the days of King Zedekiah, there was no repentance from God and the people found no remedy. Perhaps the people were banking on God continuing to show His patience. But God had said to the people, “No more.”
What was it that caused God to get to this point? Jeremiah 32 gives us a taste of the sins of the people. When I read them, it sent chills through me. Many of these sins are the same ones that we, as a nation today, commit. While I am no prophet and I will not presume to speak for the Lord as to His intentions with our nation today, I do know that the things that angered God then anger God today.
Listen to these words and ask yourself if we are much better than the Israelites to whom God brought judgment in the days of Jeremiah:
“The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs offerings have been made to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth. The children of Israel have done nothing but provoke me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 32:29-30 ESV).
Can we call ourselves a Christian nation anymore when we replace God with our own creations that we bow before? We use science and evolution to deny the Creator when pure science itself attests to the Creator. We commit abominations and perversions and force them upon our people and our children. We call good evil and we call evil good. We persecute the ones who stand for the ways of the Lord, calling them bigoted and prejudiced while lifting up the immoral and perverse men and women and celebrating their perversion.
Jeremiah continues:
“They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction.
They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.
They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” (Jeremiah 32:33-35 ESV).
I cannot imagine what the Lord thinks of a people who abort millions of babies and revel in it. It’s almost as if a nation of people has become drunk on the blood of the innocent, sending themselves into a frenzy over their murderous evil desires. Their bloodlust for murder will not be restrained.
How long do we think that the holy and sovereign God, who calls Himself the Father of the orphans and the protector of the widows will stand by and allow this to continue?
I don’t know. I won’t presume to speak for the Almighty. But I do know His character. I know His character of justice and mercy; His propensity to withhold His hand and His propensity to protect the innocent.
We live in an evil land but we have the blessing of having men and women with the character of salt sprinkled throughout this evil land. That is our redeeming grace. But when we see this land continue to descend into unspeakable evil, it should be a warning and a sign for us to draw closer to the Lord. When and if His cup of wrath is poured out against this nation in our lifetime, we need to be like the good people in the days of Jeremiah whom the Lord saw that put their trust in Him.
The judgment had been executed on Judah. They lost their land and were taken captive into the land of Babylon. God told the people not to expect deliverance anytime soon. His message to them: build houses and have a family in Babylon, for they would be there for a while.
But there was a remnant left in Judah. Their lives had been upended. They had lived through the horror of war and invasion. They had seen the temple and the city of Jerusalem burned with fire. But Jeremiah had stayed with them. What did this remnant do when their lives had been shattered?
They turned to Jeremiah, knowing that he spoke as a prophet of God:
“Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us.
Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” (Jeremiah 42:5-6 ESV).
What do we do when our world is shattered?
Where do we turn when there is nowhere else to turn?
Where do we turn when we are afraid, lost, and in need?
Some turn to drugs and alcohol to hide the shattered vestiges of their lives. Some turn to false gods and beliefs rather than seeking the Lord. But the remnant surrendered to the Lord. They told Jeremiah they would obey the Lord, “whether good or bad;” that is, no matter what God wanted them to do, they would do it, even if it was hard.
When we get to the point where we will submit to the Lord, “whether good or bad,” then we are where the Lord needs us to be. This is total submission to Him.
No conditions; no half-hearted obedience; no obedience on our terms.
When our world is shattered, where do we turn? Is it to the Lord? Is it wholly, with all of our hearts and in total submission to Him?
The book of Jeremiah goes on to tell us that the people would live among others who did not want to listen to the Lord, but this remnant made a choice. Even when their fellow Jews rebelled, they said they would remain true.
Let us always have a heart to obey God, “whether good or bad” and let us do so even when our own people may be urging us to not follow the Lord.
There is a war going on around us, and many do not know they are on the losing side.
Many people battle on Satan’s side because, as Jesus says,
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20 ESV).
God is mocked, blasphemed, and ridiculed by people around us living in our nation. Just like the people who came before them, they are convinced they will be the ones who kill God once and for all.
And so they battle on the dark side because they hate the light. And the attacks against God and our faith are growing more and more brazen.
They don’t know that no matter what they do or how hard they fight, they can never win the war against God.
People who kill, steal, lie and mock the values of righteous living do not understand that when God brings an end to the war, they will bow their knees to God and confess Jesus as Lord.
Do not let the evil you see cause you to forget the victory that is King Jesus’ when He wins the war.
Stay on the side of the light, and He will vindicate you when those around you persecute you.
“for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12 ESV).
When Jesus walked on the water, we look at Peter’s response and miss what I think is the most amazing part of the story.
We either praise Peter as being the one with enough faith to step out of the boat,
Or we condemn Peter for having little faith when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the waves.
Both are true, but miss the most amazing thing in my opinion.
Jesus was walking amid the same waves as Peter, but He was not afraid.
Jesus did not fear the waves, the wind, or the darkness.
When we are in the midst of the storm and look to Jesus, we are looking to the one Who is not afraid of what makes us afraid.
We put our trust in Him because He swallows up fear for us and He becomes our courage.
We gain confidence because our King is not afraid.