Luke 12:4-12

This is the joy of the evening service, right?

The further back you sit, the further forward I can come.

So, it's good to have you all with us tonight.

I'm so glad you've joined us.

We are continuing our series and looking at the theme of discipleship in the book of Luke.

Thinking, what does it mean?

What does it look like to follow Jesus?

And we are glad that you are here tonight.

But, you know, as we look at our passage, we're looking at Luke chapter 12, verses 4 through 12, page 871 in your pew Bible.

Luke 12:4–12

We'll be reading that text in a minute.

But as you turn there, it occurs to me that as we look at it, one of the big themes in it is what we're afraid of.

And I think that, in fact, one of the things that's true of us is that what we're afraid of often tells us a lot about ourselves and who we are.

I don't know if you're, this is an old movie reference, but if you've seen Jurassic Park, right?

The Richard Attenborough character, John Hammond, he's the creator of the whole thing, right?

And throughout most of the movie, he doesn't get the fact that the dinosaurs are going to eat him.

He doesn't seem to get that they're dangerous animals that are out of control.

He's living in this fantasy world.

And what he, he spends the whole movie being afraid that his park is getting broken and that people's experiencers are being ruined.

And he doesn't get the fact that there are these dinosaurs that are going to kill him.

And it says something about what he really values in his life.

And it says something about what he, what he really cared about.

And I wonder if that's true for all of us too.

What are the fears in your life?

What's behind it?

You know, one of the things that's true about fear is that fear only arises in our hearts when something that is valuable

and something that we care about is threatened, right?

So if I go up on a ropes course and I try to try, I hate heights, so this is a bad example,

but I try to take that first step off the platform onto the rope,

I'm afraid that I'm going to plummet to my death at the bottom of this ropes course, right?

I feel like my life is in danger.

That's a little example.

But maybe there are other things that you feel like are, you easily become afraid of.

I'm afraid of getting sick.

Afraid of losing my job.

I'm afraid of not finding a place of comfort and security.

I'm afraid of living alone.

There's so many different things that we might find ourselves afraid of.

I'm afraid of being ignored or living a life that doesn't seem to have purpose.

I'm afraid of being unloved.

I'm afraid of myself and the darkness that I see in my own heart and the way I behave sometimes.

There's all sorts of things that we can be afraid of.

One of the things that we need to explore tonight is,

how is it that those fears shape your life?

And how is it that being a follower of Jesus can help us in this?

Particularly tonight, one of the things we're going to recognize is that

one of the greatest fears in humanity is,

we fear what other people are going to do to us.

We fear how they respond to us and we give them.

There's this great book out there,

When People Are Big and God Is Small.

And we'll come back to that at the end and talk about what that looks like in the reverse.

But when people are big and God is small in our lives,

how much that warps us.

How much that changes how we live and how we behave.

What we want to do is look at this passage tonight

and think about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in light of these fears.

And particularly in light of the fear of other people and what they might do to us.

So, that's what we're going to talk about.

Let me pray as we look at our passage and then we'll dive in for a few minutes.

Lord, tonight we acknowledge to you, Lord, that we are fearful.

We acknowledge to you that, Lord, so often our hearts are ruled by it.

God, we pray that tonight as we hear Jesus' words to us,

Lord, that you would work in our hearts,

Lord, to turn from fear to faith.

To see you

in all of your glory

and all of your goodness to us.

And Lord, that in doing so, you would change us.

Lord, the things that would rule our hearts would be different.

Because of our time tonight, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So, just if you remember, in the context of the book of Luke,

we've been looking at it for a while.

In chapter 11, we've seen that Jesus has started to teach about what it means.

And there's a long section where he's talking to the Pharisees and the lawyers.

And he's basically rebuking them and provoking them,

calling them out for their ungodly form of religion

and the way that they are responding to him in particular.

Or, he rebukes them for their hypocrisy

that they want to look good on the outside

without actually being good on the inside.

And without...

And rebuking them ultimately also for their pride.

For their wanting to perform religiously

without actually having the humility to recognize

how much they need God

and his gracious work in their lives.

So, there's a strong sort of confrontation.

And we see this in this whole section that we're preaching on in Luke.

From chapter...

At the end of chapter 9 all the way to chapter 19.

Jesus has turned his face towards Jerusalem

and he's going to the cross.

And what we see over this time

is this increasing pattern of conflict

with the religious authorities.

It's this...

It's this increasing...

And so, Jesus is starting to exhibit some of those things.

And we even see the beginning of chapter 12

where he says,

Beware the leaven of the Pharisees,

which is hypocrisy.

Beware the way they are.

He's warning his disciples,

Look, what the religious leadership of the day in Judaism was

was deeply problematic.

And a lot of it was because they were rejecting Jesus.

They were saying,

We don't believe you have anything to say to us.

In fact, we think you are wrong.

And so, they're denying Jesus' role.

So, he's set up...

So, we've sort of seen in the context

a setup of growing conflict

of if you're going to follow me,

there are these other forces out there

that you're going to have issues with.

And that leads us to verse 4,

which is where we're going to start tonight.

So, let's look at this together.

I tell you, my friends,

do not fear those who kill the body

and after that have nothing more that they can do.

But I will warn you whom to fear.

Fear him who, after he is killed,

has authority to cast into hell.

Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Why, even the hairs on your head are all numbered.

Fear not.

You are more value than many sparrows.

And I tell you,

everyone who acknowledges me before men,

the Son of Man also will acknowledge

before the angels of God.

But the one who denies me before men

will be denied before the angels of God.

And everyone who speaks a word

against the Son of Man will be forgiven,

but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit

will not be forgiven.

And when they bring you before the synagogues

and the rulers and the authorities,

do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself

or what you should say.

For the Holy Spirit will teach you

in that very hour

what you ought to say.

These are Jesus' words to us.

They're strong.

They're bold.

They're sort of blunt.

And we need to explore how we interact with them

and basically breaks down into two sections.

The first one has to do with who you fear

and the second one has to do with

how you navigate responding to people in light of that.

And so this is basically what we're going to look at tonight.

Verses four through seven.

Did you see the word fear?

It's there over and over again.

And I have a confession to make.

I've read the Bible for years

and when I first read,

when I first saw that this was a passage I was preaching on,

I'm like, oh, this is about like,

you need to fear Satan

because he's the one who can destroy your soul.

Right?

And I don't know if any of you thought that.

This might just be me because I'm a crazy man.

But I just thought, well, okay.

But then I read this and I thought,

no, no, no, this isn't what it.

What he's saying is,

what are you really afraid of?

Are you afraid of the person?

And again, in this context,

he's thinking to his disciples,

are you afraid of the rulers and the authorities

and the Pharisees and the leaders,

the religious leadership

who may oppose you to the point of putting you to death?

Are you afraid of them?

Because they might kill you.

And, you know, let's be honest.

That's pretty normal.

Being afraid when you think you're going to die

is pretty normal.

It's pretty human.

There's nothing, you know,

it's understandable, right?

We want to have,

we want to understand, like,

that's a very normal fear.

But Jesus says,

why do you fear them?

And he goes on, right?

He goes on in verse,

in verse eight,

and he says,

I will tell you who to fear.

He says, don't fear that.

And we're kind of like,

what in the world?

Why would we not fear it?

Because there's something greater

for you to fear.

There's something more important for you to fear.

And that's what he says in verse eight.

I will warn you who to fear.

Fear him who, after he is killed,

has the authority to cast into hell.

Yes, I tell you,

fear him.

And that's the part where I thought,

oh, that's Satan,

because he's the one who can destroy our souls

and all that stuff.

No, no, no, no.

It's not that at all.

Because he's saying,

who actually has the authority to judge us?

Who actually has the authority

to proclaim a final announcement

on our eternal state.

It's God himself.

And that's who he's saying.

He's saying,

you need to fear the person

who will judge your spiritual state for eternity.

And that's the person

who you ought to be concerned about.

Not about these men

who might kill your body.

But rather,

he's saying,

there's something greater

that's going on

in your spiritual life

with your soul.

And whether you

will go to heaven or to hell,

whether you will be with God for eternity,

or whether you will be apart from God

and under his wrath for eternity,

is the most important question

that you will ever ask yourself

as a human being.

This is more important

than anything else.

He's saying,

that's what I want you to be afraid of.

Because I want you to understand

the value of the soul,

and I want you to know the person

to whom you're ultimately accountable for.

That's the one.

That's what I want you to see.

And then he goes on,

and he gives great encouragement.

Because the very one

who has the authority,

the role of casting judgment upon you

for your life,

look at what kind of a person he is.

Right?

This is what verses,

verse eight,

yeah, verses six and seven,

sorry,

verse six and seven are all about.

Are not five sparrows

sold for two pennies?

He's talking about

the most mundane things.

Right?

Can't you get,

you know,

a piece of bubble gum

for 25 cents

at the,

at the,

you know,

corner store.

Right?

But God knows even those things,

and he cares.

So if God cares about

those little things,

how much more

does he care about you?

And then he goes on,

even then,

he knows the hairs of your head,

they are numbered.

For you are more valuable to him.

And this is the thing

that Jesus wants to tell them.

Jesus says,

you are precious

in the sight of God.

And your soul

and your eternal state

is the most important thing

about you.

So what are you going to fear?

What are you going to fear

in that context?

What are you going to be afraid of?

Remember we talked about

the fact that fear

is when something

that we value

is threatened.

Part of what Jesus is doing

in these commands

is he's trying to help

recalibrate for us

what we value.

Because when I step out

on a ropes course,

I'm thinking I'm putting

my life at risk.

Right?

But it's possible

following Jesus

in the first century

could mean

I'm putting myself

at risk of

literally being stoned

or burned at the stake

or being imprisoned.

And there are lots of places

in the world today

where that's still true.

That to claim

the name of Jesus

could result in the very

end of your physical life.

And Jesus is saying

the God who made you

and who loves you

and who knows you

has said that

your eternal soul

is more important.

And that eternal soul

and that eternal destiny

is connected

with following me.

We'll pick up on that

again at the end.

But I want to

simply say for you

when you think about

what do you fear

from other people?

It's probably not

getting killed.

Maybe you do.

I don't know.

I don't know

all of your life circumstances.

But it's much more likely

to be a rejection.

People will make fun of you.

People will think less of you.

In our culture around here

some people may think

you're not very smart

if you believe in Jesus

and want to follow him.

Other people

for some of you

it may feel like

your reputation at work

is at stake

if you are known

to be a follower of Jesus.

For some of you

it may be a relationship

with someone

who you deeply care about.

Your best friend,

a boyfriend,

a girlfriend.

But to be known

and identified

as a follower of Jesus

will put that relationship

in jeopardy

because you know

that that person

that you care about

isn't going to respond

well to it.

it may be

that you will face

serious consequences

for claiming to be

a follower of Jesus

in your life.

But Jesus says

do you see

there's something

more important

than even your very life

even your reputation

even those relationships

whatever seems

to be at cost here

there's something

greater value

to be kept.

It has to do

with following Jesus.

Come back to that

at the end.

The second section

in our passage

verses 8-12

Jesus addresses

the context

a little more

of this identifying

with Jesus.

Right?

He uses these words

acknowledge

whoever acknowledge

it's the same word

that in other words

is saying

to confess

or to profess

faith in

sometimes it just

means agree with

like I'm in agreement

with Jesus

I'm in his

I'm in his tribe

he's my

he's

he's my God

however we think

about it

this is what

acknowledge means

it doesn't just

mean like a

a wave like

oh yeah

hi I see you

you know

embarrassingly

from across the room

it's like

no no no

that's my guy

I'm going to

acknowledge

the son of man

is what it means

here

right?

Jesus says

I tell you

everyone who

acknowledges me

before men

so again

the context

is still

how are others

going to respond

even more so here

how are others

going to respond

who acknowledges me

then before God

before the angels

of God

which is a picture

of that ultimate

judgment

and that ultimate

throne room

where even the

spiritual heavenly

beings will sit

around

and watch God

proclaim judgment

on our life

right?

and if we have

identified with

Jesus

then Jesus

will identify

us

as his

before

in this

in this

spiritual

global

eternal

courtroom

he will say

that's my

that's my one

he acknowledges me

I acknowledge him

but

verse 9

whoever denies me

before men

will be denied

before the angels

of God

then we get to

verse 10

which I want to

spend a few minutes

on because it's

one of those

really tricky

verses right?

you just go

what in the world?

and anyone who

speaks a word

against the son

of man

will be forgiven

okay that sounds

good because a lot

of us have done

that at one point

maybe in our lives

but

the one who

blasphemes

against the Holy

Spirit will not

be forgiven

whoa

I thought

I thought the whole

message of Jesus

was forgiveness

and now there's

this one thing

that says

no you can't

be forgiven

of this

there's no hope

well

let me try to

explain it to you

give you a little

hope

a little bit

of understanding

it's very interesting

when you look at

the parallel

of this passage

you see it in

Matthew

verse 12

verses 31

and 32

and in Mark

Mark 3:28–30

3

verses 28

through 30

it's in the

context where

the Pharisees

and the religious

leaders are

saying about

Jesus

that he is

in fact

filled with the

spirit of Satan

or Beelzebub

because

in order

that that is

where his power

to heal

is coming from

that is where

his power

to do miracles

is coming from

that's actually

the context

in those other

two places

and it

seems that

in those

other two

places

it's much

clearer

that this

blaspheming

of the

Holy Spirit

isn't just

a

momentary

denial

of Christ

but it's

a much

greater

thing

here's a

definition

that I

found

from

a friend

of mine

who's

actually

a seminary

professor

who said

this

it's a

specific

active

and final

choice

to declare

the person

and the

work

of Jesus

as being

demonic

in origin

okay

it's saying

that Jesus

is not

God

but a

man

who's

being

given

power

from

spiritual

forces

that are

in opposition

to God

it is a

complete

denial

of Jesus

claim

to be

divine

to be

the son

of God

to be

perfectly

sinless

to have

power

and authority

in and of

himself

given to

him

by God

the father

to play

his role

in this

world

of being

the redeemer

and savior

of the world

it is a

denial

and rejection

of all

of that

and it's

not just

a momentary

but it is

a settled

decided

I will not

change

this

opinion

the same

writer

goes on

to say

this isn't

to minimize

the pinch

and pain

of these

strong

words

of Jesus

it's a

valid

extension

to warn

people

of persistent

hardness

of heart

in opposition

to Jesus

but

this is a

message

not for

the tender

conscience

or the

stumbling

believer

but rather

for the

pseudo

religious

who stands

over

against

Jesus

in

smugness

the

Peters

and the

Pauls

and millions

of other

believers

through history

have failed

and fallen

and yet

have found

Jesus

smiling

welcoming

face

of forgiveness

did you

hear that

think about

Peter

Peter who

on the night

that Jesus

was betrayed

and arrested

who followed

him and

around the

fire

in the

courtyard

outside the

high priest's

house

they asked

him

do you

identify

with him

he said

no

I'm not

with him

three times

he did

it

three times

he denied

being connected

with Christ

three times

he actually

did what

we see

in verse

nine

he denied

Christ

and yet

after his

denial

as the

Holy Spirit

worked in

his life

the cock

crowed

he realized

what he

had done

he went

out

and he

wept

for his

sin

and when

Jesus rose

from the

dead

Peter was

the one

who ran

to the

tomb

with John

to see

if this

was true

and when

Peter saw

Jesus

on the

beach

at the

shore

he threw

himself

into the

water

so that

he could

go and

be with

him

so if

you're

here

and you're

wondering

tonight

have I

committed

the

unforgivable

sin of

blasphemy

against the

Holy Spirit

here's what I

would say

if you are

settled in your

heart that

Jesus is not

God

if you think

that the only

way he ever

could have done

those things

is because of

spiritual

other kinds

of spiritual

forces that

have nothing

to do with

God the

Father

if you

reject him

and his

work of

dying on

the cross

for your

sins

and rising

from the

dead

if you

see all

those things

and you

say that

is not

true

and simply

I think

Jesus is

just a

crazy

wacko

spiritual

guy

then you

are in

danger

and you

need to

hear this

but if

you're

sitting

here

and you're

saying I

believe in

Jesus

but once

I said

something

or I

struggled

with this

or there

was a

time in

my

past

when I

did

this

friends

be

comforted

and return

to Jesus

you will

not be able

to repent

and come

if this

is true

of you

if you've

blasphemed

the Holy

Spirit

because it's

a settled

opinion

so know

the welcoming

embrace

of Jesus

and return

to him

and experience

the joy

of his

forgiveness

forgiveness

but getting

back to

the argument

then

what he's

saying

is

look

overall

the pattern

is

if you

acknowledge

me

before men

then I

will acknowledge

you in

that courtroom

but if you

deny me

and if you

persistently

deny me

and this is

why it's

in there

if you

persistently

deny me

you end

up here

in this

place

and there

is no

forgiveness

where there's

no confession

of sin

and repentance

and faith

in Jesus

and he

goes on

in verses

11 and

12

and when

they bring

you

it's

fascinating

he doesn't

say if

they

he says

when

they

Jesus

is telling

his people

if they

persecuted

me

they will

persecute

you

also

if you

are a

follower

of

Jesus

you

will

face

these

places

where

it

will

be

costly

for

you

to

identify

with

Jesus

this is

a part

of

discipleship

and we

need

to own

that

and to

embrace

that that's

a reality

following

Jesus

is one

of the

most

costly

things

that

will

ever

happen

in

your

life

humanly

because

everything

may be

at stake

potentially

says

when

they

bring

you

before

the

synagogues

and the

rulers

and the

authorities

do not

be anxious

about how

you should

defend

yourself

or what

you should

say

for the

Holy Spirit

will teach

you in

the very

hour

what you

ought to

say

what he's

saying

is if

you're

afraid

how am

I going

to respond

in that

moment

if you're

afraid

and you're

thinking

maybe I

just need

to deny

Jesus

to get

myself

out of

this

God

says

no

no

no

friends

listen

to me

I

am

with

you

my

Holy

Spirit

is

in

will

be

in

you

and

I

will

enable

you

to

walk

through

that

trial

I

will

enable

you

to

suffer

what

you

may

suffer

and

I

will

give

you

the

words

to

say

in

the

midst

of

it

and

friends

there

are

countless

testimonies

of this

throughout

history

those

who

are

on

the

brink

of

being

put

to

death

for

their

faith

have

given

bold

and

courageous

witness

to

the

greatness

of

Jesus

they

have

seen

their

spiritual

reality

they

have

known

more

clearly

than

ever

what

God

has

done

for

them

in

Christ

and

they

have

said

what's

the

worst

you

can

do

to

me

you

can

kill

my

body

but

then

I

will

go

and

I

will

be

with

Jesus

and

I

will

testify

to

the

end

of

my

life

that

he

alone

can

save

me

and

that's

what

it

means

to

be

a

disciple

of

Christ

to

have

that

kind

of

clarity

and

to

have

that

kind

part

of

what

Jesus

is

instructing

his

disciples

in at

this

point

is

to

say

you

need

to

know

that

this

will

both

be

really

really

hard

and

that

God

will

really

really

be

with

you

and

he

calls

them

to

a

kind

of

loyalty

I

want

you

to

not

fear

man

but

to

fear

God

I

want

you

to

acknowledge

me

identify

with

me

say

yes

I'm

with

Jesus

and

Jesus

is

with

me

wherever

we

are

and

whatever

we

are

doing

and

that's

hard

for

us

it's

hard

for

us

in

our

culture

today

we

live

in

a

culture

that

has

been

saturated

and

sensitized

about

religion

so

that

even

sort

of

mentioning

the

word

of

Jesus

can

provoke

all

sorts

of

odd

reactions

we

live

in

a

time

where

identifying

as

an

evangelical

Christian

has

all

sorts

of

connotations

that

we

never

mean

and

don't

really

want

to be

identified

with

in the

minds

of the

broader

culture

the word

evangelical

is used

in the

New York

Times

usually

in a way

that I

don't always

identify

with

and

yet

and

yet

I'm

a

follower

of

Jesus

and

am

I

willing

to

say

even

if

I

misunderstood

and

even

if

I'm

mistreated

and

even

if

people

think

less

of

me

and

even

if

my

reputation

suffers

and

even

if

I

don't

get

a

promotion

and

even

if

my

girlfriend

breaks

up

with

me

and

even

if

I

lose

my

job

and

even

if

I

don't

get

the

sale

that I

will

follow

Jesus

and

of

course

friends

we

think

how

can

this

be

true

it's

because

of

this

broader

context

this

broader

context

of

Jesus

who

is

instructing

his

disciples

as

he

himself

is

headed

to

the

cross

he

is

going

to

the

place

where

he

will

suffer

at

the

hands

of

men

worse

than

ever

he

will

suffer

the

worst

thing

and

yet

that

very

suffering

that

very

death

that

he

will

die

is

meant

to

accomplish

for

us

life

because

he

dies

not

just

because

of

the

evil

of

man

but

he

dies

because

of

our

own

sin

and

he

doesn't

just

suffer

at

the

hands

of

evil

man

on

a

whim

but

it

is

God's

predetermined

plan

that

he

would

come

and

not

just

be an

unwilling

participant

but

he

would

offer

himself

up

in

our

place

to

take

that

death

that

we

deserve

for

our

sin

he

himself

endured

the

worst

for

us

so

that

he

might

then

turn

around

and

say

for

all

who

come

to

me

and

confess

my

name

that

is

confess

their

sin

confess

their

need

for

a

savior

and

confess

that

he

alone

can

give

it

to

us

for

those

of

us

who

confess

his

name

we

then

become

his

and

he

gives

us

a

new

and

a

spiritual

life

that

is

for

now

and

for

all

eternity

he

gives

for

us

now

a

place

in

his

family

in

his

kingdom

that

begins

now

and

will

have

such

that

even

death

no

longer

matters

to

us

because

if

we

die

we

go

and

be

with

Jesus

and

friends

it

gives

us

great

freedom

because

suddenly

rather

than

people

being

big

in

our

life

and

God

being

small

when

we

see

the

enormity

of

what

God

has

done

for

us

in

Christ

in

this

work

of

achieving

our

salvation

suddenly

God

becomes

big

in

all

the

greatness

of

what

he

is

and

who

he

is

and

what

he's

done

for

us

and

when

God

is

big

in

our

hearts

then

people

become

small

not

in a

negative

way

they

just

they

become

they

shrink

in

our

view

of

I

just

want

to

live

my

day

every

day

that's

why

I

can

say

I

identify

with

Jesus

I

don't

care

if

you

think

if

I'm

a

Republican

or

a

Democrat

I

don't

care

if

you

think

that

I'm

a

white

man

or

a

black

man

or

I

don't

care

about

any

of

the

other

things

of

my

identity

nearly

as

much