Luke Week 11 • Luke 12:35-13:5

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

Good morning.

Glad that you guys are here with us or joining us online.

If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

As you turn there, a couple of announcements I want to remind you guys of.

We've got a couple of discovering classes that are going to be happening at Willow Ridge Church.

Excited about those.

The first one that you saw on the video, Discovering Willow.

And so here's what that class is.

If you would like to become a member, or if you're just interested in getting more information

about Willow Ridge Church and who we are, Pastor Dave's going to be leading that class.

And so there's a sign up for that in the lobby.

I want to encourage you to go and be a part of that.

Let's say you've been here worshiping with us for some time, and you know you want to make this your church home.

Then go to that class, and at the end of it, you'll have an opportunity to do that.

Let's say you're visiting, and you just want to find out more about our church, who we are, what we do, why we do it.

Get some questions answered.

That's a wonderful place for you to be able to go and to gain some information.

We don't force anyone.

We've had a lot of people say, hey, following the class, I want to go home and pray about becoming a member.

And that is definitely welcomed and encouraged.

And so I want to give you that opportunity, but that's our Discovering Willow class.

The second Discovering class we've got is our Discovering Baptism.

And so that's for anyone, right?

Any of our kids, of our students, of our adults who would like to get baptized.

Pastor Dave is going to be leading a class on that, where we explain what baptism is, what this means, what you're saying is when you come forward.

So let's say you're a believer in Christ, and you've never been baptized, and you know that that's what God has for you.

We want to encourage you to take that class.

Let's say you're unsure.

Let's say you came from another faith, maybe even another denomination, and you want to understand baptism and why we do it the way that we do it and what this means.

You can just sign up to be a part of that class as you continue to explore and see what God has for you, okay?

We'd love for you all to be a part of this.

I will say this as we get ready to plan our next baptism.

In order to be baptized, we do require that you go through the class.

We want to make sure that you know that baptism does not save you, that you were saved prior to being baptized.

But it is a commandment from the Lord, and it's a profession of the faith that you are saved.

And so we'd love to have you go through that class.

Last announcement before we get in, you'll see, hopefully, you got the email this past week.

If you didn't get the email this past week, you've got a piece of paper on the section of chairs where you're seated.

That is the email introducing you to our new student minister, Moses Boyd.

Just kind of share with you guys some of the details as we've gone through this process for coming up on around 17 months.

When we went into this, pre-COVID, pre-everything, we thought, well, this will be easy.

I had plans, thought this is what it would be like, and God threw the brakes on it for us.

And it's been a wonderful time of transition for us as a church as we've gone through a different season of life.

And I'm not talking about with COVID, just a different season as we've led our student ministry in different capacities.

And as we would go through this, we would feel like we were getting somewhere with a candidate,

and then God would close the door and go with another candidate, and God would close the door.

And then this past January, we got introduced to Moses and began the process with him.

And at each and every time that we spoke and that we had an opportunity to sit down across the table was just another confirmation that this is who God has for us.

And so Moses will be moving down here this Thursday.

We've got a small group that are going to go up there and help.

It's wonderful.

A bachelor, so he doesn't own much, and first floor apartment, so we don't have to do stairs, all right?

So we're going to go and move him from Rock Hill, where he lives now, and move him down to Lexington.

And he will be here next Sunday, just as he starts.

That will be his first day officially on staff.

And so I want to encourage you all to get to meet him that day.

And then his fiancée, Christina, she will be graduating from Winthrop in May and then be moving down to Lexington later this summer.

Now, I know some of you have done this already because I've been checking our mutual friends on Facebook, all right?

I had somebody ask me, hey, now that we know, can we go find him on Facebook?

Yes, you can.

Go Facebook stalk him, friend him, comment on him, encourage him, welcome him here as they're excited about the transition that God is leading in their life.

And I know that we're excited about the transition that God is bringing us through here at Willard Ridge as well.

So just pray for them, pray for this process, and we look forward to what God has in store for us.

Well, on to our message this morning.

So I want to kind of recap.

We took about a month off with Easter and with Pastor Dustin sharing last week as he's playing in Hope Valley Church there in Utah.

But we're back in our study of the Gospel of Luke.

And I want to remind you that this is a section of what we've just kind of gotten into where Jesus and the disciples are approaching Jerusalem.

There's kind of the first time, the first section of the Gospel of Luke is Jesus' early ministry out in Galilee, kind of in the rural parts of the area.

But then the Bible tells us that Jesus turned his face to Jerusalem and they began to head that way.

And that's significant because what Jesus is heading toward is his betrayal, his arrest, his trial, his crucifixion, his burial, and his resurrection.

And this is where we find him in this time.

And so as he's headed there with his disciples, with his followers, right, most times in the earlier, there were kind of larger groups that had come out to the country to hear Jesus.

But now for the most part, these are the smaller, more intimate, personal groups that Jesus is walking with.

And what Jesus is doing in 1235, okay, is he's preparing his disciples for the time when they will be without him.

And this is important for us.

Jesus does a lot to prepare them for the crucifixion and the resurrection and the time in between.

But when I say Jesus is preparing them for the time without him, it's not that time.

It's not the time that we just got done celebrating for Easter.

Jesus is preparing them for the time after he ascends into heaven.

So after the resurrection, Jesus came back and he ministered and walked amongst the disciples.

And then we see in Acts chapter 1, he ascends into heaven.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

And so what Jesus is preparing them for is that day where he ascends into heaven and the time for when he goes to then when he returns to the earth.

And that's an important part of our Christian faith that Jesus in Acts 1, he departs.

And then what we see in Revelation is the telling of the return of Christ.

And he says to them, this will happen.

And so that you need to know that it will happen.

And then it should change your life that I'm going to return.

The return of Christ should matter to them.

And what we're going to see this morning is that the return of Christ should matter to us.

Like the notion of end times should be more than just a science fiction approach that we take where bad movies and bad books are written about it, all right?

That it should change the reality of your everyday life and my everyday life.

That there's going to become a point in time when Jesus returns and then here's what's key.

And we don't know when that will be.

It'd be great if we could write it on the calendar.

It'd be wonderful if we knew the time in which it would happen.

But as we're going to see, Jesus tells the disciples that even the Son of Man doesn't know when it will happen.

But that we live our life every single day and every single moment in the anticipation that Christ is going to come.

So we live for future events.

And this should be something that we're comfortable with.

It should be something that we're good at.

I read this this week and I loved it.

It says this,

Everyone plans their actions in the present based on what they believe the future is likely to hold.

Let me read that again.

So based off of what you believe tomorrow and the next week and the next year looks like is why you decide to live your day in the way that you do.

It's why we have retirement accounts.

It's why we have retirement accounts.

We're not promised tomorrow, but we look forward to a day.

In a more practical speaking for all of us, we all did this today.

Here's what we did.

We woke up this morning.

We got out our phone or we turned on the news and we checked the weather, right?

We want to know what will the day hold in the future so that I know how to prepare in the right now.

It determines the way that we dress.

It determines the schedule of our day, what we're going to accomplish.

And if you live in our house, it even determines what we eat.

Nothing makes us happier in the wintertime than to find out that it's going to be a cold, rainy day come dinnertime because we know that's soup night and we love soup night, right?

So we live in our current situation.

We plan our present actions based off of what we believe the future to hold.

And Jesus is going to tell us that based off of his return, it should impact and it should change and it should alter the way that you and I, the way that we live our everyday life.

And so let's look at this.

Starting in verse 35, I'm sorry.

Jesus says,

So that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and he will come and serve them.

If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, blessed are those servants.

So what Jesus does here is he paints this picture, as he tells this stories for his disciples,

is the reward of the servants who actively wait, that's important, who actively wait for the return of their master.

Jesus says in scripture, it's not that they're just anticipating the day that he returns.

It's that they're intentionally doing things in their life.

They're changing a pattern from which they had before because they know at some point in time, the master is going to return.

They are actively waiting.

Jesus says that they stayed dressed and they kept the lamps burning.

Here's what this means.

Their everyday attire of what they would do to work and to serve when the master would come, that's how they would look.

That they would keep their lamps instead of saving and conserving the oil that it would take to burn them.

They keep the lamps burning because they know at some point in time, he's going to be here and we want everything ready for them.

He says that even blessed are those that the master finds awake when he comes.

That they wait on the second watch or the third watch and he finds them awake and blesses those servants.

So Jesus says, look, there's even some who decide they're not going to sleep because the master is going to return.

You see, it's not a picture of waiting on Jesus doesn't look like kicking our feet back in a recliner, spiritually speaking.

It's actively waiting, continuing to do what the master has called them to do.

They had no reason to know when he would return.

Jesus says that the master could return at any moment.

And based off of the readiness that they show, Jesus says, then that's how their reward is gained.

And I think this is really interesting.

Jesus defines this, describes this reward.

He says, look, the master is going to take their role.

They're waiting for the master to return so that they could serve him.

And then what happens?

The master takes the role of the servant and seats them at the table and serves them.

Look at verse 39.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what time the thief was coming,

he would not have left his house to be broken into.

You also must be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Here's the key.

Jesus reminds them, you don't know when this will be, so be ready.

Be ready.

I remember there's an age in my life.

I'm six years older than my sister.

And at a point in time in my life, my parents determined that I was mature enough and responsible enough

to be left at home, but to also be the authority figure over my sister.

Now, it wasn't at the age yet where they would leave for an overnight trip or for a weekend or for a vacation.

But now they reached that point in life to me.

We can go out and go to friends' houses and not have to bring them along with us and leave us at home.

And so my parents, because they know the idleness of my hands and my mind would get me in trouble in a lot of things,

they would leave me a list of things to do.

Get your homework done.

Clean up after supper.

Get the clothes folded.

Nothing crazy.

And then they would always say, make sure all of these things are done before we return.

Well, 14-year-old Bo would follow that with a question.

When are you going to be home?

Because if you're leaving at 6 and you're not going to be home at 10, I don't have to start any of this until 9.55, right?

And at 9.55, I can get everything in order so that you walk in and I'm good.

And my parents would say, we'll be home when we're home.

Right?

Yeah, I hear that from parents.

Like, ooh.

Yeah, but y'all know y'all do that too, right?

You don't tell your kids what you're going to be home.

Catch them, right?

That's what we do.

The joy of being a parent, right?

So that's what my parents would do.

They'd say, no, no, no.

Your obedience is in the fact that you're ready.

Your obedience is not by based on when we're going to come home to catch you.

That the obedience that we're looking for is that you do what's right.

That you're prepared.

That you're ready for when we return.

And that's what Jesus describes his servants that will receive this reward.

Verse 41, Peter's in the crowd of his followers.

And he asks a question.

It says, Peter said, Lord, are you telling this parable for us?

Or for us or for all?

This is important.

Peter draws a line of a moment of clarity.

Jesus, is this for everyone or just for us?

Verse 42, and the Lord said,

who then is the faithful and wise manager whom his master will set over his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all of his possessions.

So Peter asks a question.

Is this for us, right?

This group of leaders, close disciples of Jesus that have been put in these positions of authority and are going to be put in greater positions of authority when Jesus leaves.

Is this for us or is this for all?

And Jesus answers the question by saying, yes.

It is for all.

But it's a different level for those who are entrusted with Jesus' words with managing, but what we're going to call leadership.

And that in that, within leadership, there's this greater reward that's there.

And so we look at those of us who have been trusted in matters of teaching and authority and leadership within the body.

And Jesus says, look, there's a greater reward in your faithfulness.

We don't know what it all means.

I don't know what it all looks like.

But I think it gives great clarity to what James writes in James 1, 3, where he says that those of you who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Oftentimes we look at that verse and we look at the negative aspect of it.

And there is true, and we're going to see that in just a moment.

But there's also the reward side of that.

So for those of you in authority, those of you in leadership, those of you in teaching, and I want to clarify,

sometimes people hear that, they think of authority above adults, teaching of adults.

But we view it as within the body.

So the great value that we place on every age and the influence of them,

from our nursery to our preschool to our elementary school to our students to our adults,

at every age of life is a value in here.

And that's what Jesus is pointing them to.

Yes, it's for them, but it's also for you.

Be judged with greater strictness.

Jesus continues on in verse 45.

He's going to paint the other side of this for us.

But if that servant says to himself,

my master is delayed in coming and begins to beat the male and female servants

and to eat and drink and get drunk,

the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him,

and at an hour he does not know,

and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.

And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will

will receive a severe beating.

But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.

Everyone to whom much was given of him, much will be required.

And from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand more.

And so what we find here is it's not just about the reward,

the other side of the coin,

and Jesus wants us to understand that those who do not actively wait

in the manner by which the master had established

will face the punishment of the judgment that is going to come.

It's not just the exciting part that we get to see that this is the reward.

Jesus also says, well, here are the consequences to this.

And just as there are two kinds of rewards that we see,

we're going to see that there's two kinds of punishments.

And these punishments should cause us to look and to evaluate

and to assess our lives and our hearts of who we are.

I want to look at these two punishments, but in reverse order.

So look at verse 48 with me again.

But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.

The one who didn't know the will of the master.

The one who didn't know that the punishment would come.

The one who didn't know the standard and who lived in counter to the standard will still receive a beating.

The ignorance is not an excuse.

And what that should create in us, it's been our heart for so long at this church,

is why it matters when we walk out of here knowing that there are men, women, and children

who do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That there are men, women, and children who do not have access to the gospel.

It should bother you.

It should affect you that those in your life whom you deeply love don't know Jesus.

And more importantly, how do you know that they've heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ?

One of the important takeaways that I hope you got last week with hearing Pastor Dustin come and share.

There are people in this world who have heard a lot about Jesus.

But they've never been introduced to who he truly is.

And that should pull at our hearts.

To the point to where we're not isolating in ourselves, in this group of perceived self-holiness,

of pockets of the church excluded from the world,

but that you and I are intentionally diving into relationships with men and women who do not know Christ

and who are far from him, with a hope for the opportunity to share the gospel with them.

That you and I take on a burden that it's not okay that men and women who speak different languages

and who live in different countries do not have access to the gospel.

And so we give and we go and we pray that that could happen.

This should matter to us.

Jesus' words are clear.

Let verse 48 tug at your heart.

But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.

The punishment is there.

Now, verse 47 is the verse that keeps me awake.

And the servant that knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will

will receive a severe beating.

You know, my heart and my fear in this, when I read this verse,

is there are men and women who were filling churches all over this world

who have bought into a cultural Christianity that they've become a part of

but who were far from the gospel.

They know the gospel.

They could tell you the gospel.

They've tweaked and modified some behaviors to trick you for the gospel.

But the truth is of who they are is reflective of what happens when the master leaves.

Who they are is reflective of not what takes place in moments of worship,

of not what takes place in confidentiality of a small group,

but it's who they are in their mind and their heart the rest of the time.

And let's be honest, who they are in their mind and their heart when they're gathering for worship,

when they're gathering for small group, that this is who they are.

People who know the will of the master but still choose to act according to their own will

because they're still their own master.

And they're still their own authority.

And notice, Jesus says,

those who don't know will receive a light beating.

But those who do and still reject,

they will receive a severe beating.

We've got to let that resonate within us.

We've got to allow that to capture ourselves.

What frightens me the most about verse 47 was that for so much of my life, that was me.

I had them tricked.

I had them fooled.

I had myself convinced.

But who I was at my heart was far from God.

I knew the things of God.

I knew the behaviors that God wanted.

But if the transformation of what God wanted me to be was far from that.

And I fully believe that until that day when Jesus saved me,

in spite of the spiritual resume that I could have built before,

if I would have passed, verse 47 would have rang true in my life.

So this story has a simple point.

Be ready.

Be ready.

He could return at any point in any time.

Be ready.

What does that mean, though?

When my parents would leave me,

be ready for when we return home.

I knew what that meant.

Be ready.

There was a list that was there.

There were things that I could do.

Well, when we look at Luke 12 this morning,

I want us to see Jesus gives us some details of what this could be.

Now, there's two things I want to be mindful of.

And what does it mean to be ready?

Number one, I don't think that this is an exhaustive list

of what a life with Christ looks like.

But I do believe there is reason

that Jesus brought these two things together

in Luke chapter 12 for us.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

So I don't want it to create a list like I did with my parents.

All right, homework, checked.

Dishes done, checked.

My sister in bed, checked.

I don't want to create that.

But what I do want for you to do

is to be able to examine your heart and your life

and begin to search for and ask yourself,

who am I?

And am I ready?

The first thing that Jesus is going to point us to

is fear the Lord.

Luke 12, 5 says,

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.

And Jesus is pointing to a time in their culture

where people are afraid of things

they need to be afraid of.

They're afraid of the authorities.

They're afraid of persecution.

They're afraid of what life may roll out at him.

But their fear of God is removed.

And I feel like you and I can find ourselves

in that same manner.

Was it this just week that the fear of UFOs

was all over the news, right?

But I tell you, fear the Lord.

And here's what this means.

Normally when we fear things,

we hide from them and we get away from them.

That's not what the fear of the Lord means.

But to fear the Lord is to live your life

in reverence and awe of who he is.

Because of his holiness

and our depth in knowing them.

So what we do is God is so good

and loving and approachable.

And what we have to do is approach God

in the way that he reveals himself to us

but also in a manner that acknowledges that he is holy.

He is God the Father who hears you,

who loves you,

who pursues you and saves you.

But there's a holiness about him

that the more that I dive into understanding his love,

the more I dive into understanding my reverence

in response to him.

The second thing that Jesus is going to tell us

is to be bold.

To be bold.

Luke 12, 8 through 9.

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.

What I want us to point to

is to be bold,

to be confident

in your faith

and who you are in Christ.

If you're here last week,

I told Dustin I was going to steal this from him

as he's telling us

of what it looks like

to go and plant a church

in the Salt Lake City area of Utah

where he lives.

He said this,

we share the gospel,

we're not there to argue.

And I took that

and began to really think through that

in our life

of what it looks like

to not try to argue the gospel

into someone's brain.

Here's one thing

that I've become to understand

more and more

in our day

and in our time.

An argument hardly ever changes

anyone's mind.

We can argue

till we're blue in the face.

And that's what we do.

We come at it with a fight.

But Jesus calls us

to live in a boldness

with where we share.

Now, if I were to say to you,

have you ever shared your faith?

Most of the church hasn't.

And we haven't

because of a fear.

And what I want to do this morning

is I want to take away your fear.

Here's what you're afraid of.

You're afraid of,

I don't know enough.

What if they ask a question

I can't answer?

What if there's something

that I leave out?

What if I mess this up?

What if I get a word wrong?

I don't know enough scripture.

What if they bring up

a point that confuses me?

And all of this is legitimate

if your point is to argue.

But if your point is just to share

who Jesus is,

let me take this away from you

with a silly example, okay?

I love,

deeply love

creme brulee.

All right?

Anybody else there with me?

Raise your hand.

It is goodness, right?

God gives that to me

to show me that he is good

and that he loves me.

That's what I believe

about creme brulee, all right?

If I go to a restaurant

and creme brulee's on the menu,

I'm ordering creme brulee.

One time Erin and I

were at a restaurant

and I ordered creme brulee.

And she said,

oh great,

we could share that.

I called the waiter back.

We're going to need two of those,

all right?

She said,

well,

I only want half of it though.

And I said,

great,

that means that

I have more creme brulee.

I love creme brulee,

all right?

Here's what I'll tell you,

okay?

I love it.

I eat it every chance

that I get.

Number one,

I don't know what's in it.

I have no clue.

Number two,

I don't know the history

of creme brulee.

I don't know who created it.

I don't know who invented it.

I have no clue.

Number three,

I don't know how to cook it.

If you were to tell me today,

go home without the internet

and make creme brulee

will give you all the ingredients.

You've lost me at that.

I don't know.

Here's what I know.

I know how to eat creme brulee,

all right?

That's what I know.

Here's what I can tell you

about creme brulee.

I can tell you that I love it.

I can tell you the restaurants

that have it.

I can tell you what it tastes like.

And as weird as this may sound,

I know the sensation that I get

when I eat creme brulee

because it is good.

Why?

Because I've tasted it.

I've experienced it.

I know the goodness

that comes from it.

And so I can stand here today

and tell you my experience

with creme brulee.

Psalm 34 tells us,

taste and see that the Lord is good.

You know, when we look at

sharing our experience with Jesus,

when we look at sharing our faith,

I believe there's more of Psalm 34

that we need to share

and not so much worry about

arguing our theological points.

There's a point in time

that we can do those things,

but your neighbor

does not care

about your view of end of times.

Your neighbor does not care

does not care about your perspective

of speaking in tongues

or the difference

between Islam and Christianity.

Your neighbor needs to know

who Jesus is

and the best way

that you can do that

is because you've tasted

and you've seen

that the Lord is good.

And if you've tasted God,

if you've experienced Christ,

you know what that looks like

in your life.

You can't explain

every verse of Scripture,

but you know

the goodness of the Lord.

And so when we say share it,

you can.

Now here's the question.

Or can you?

Well, I can't tell them

those things.

I haven't experienced

those things.

If that's where your heart

is this morning,

if I'm saying to you,

share your experience with God

and you can't,

my question for you

is what is your heart telling you?

Why can't you?

Third thing,

live generously.

It says,

sell your possessions,

Luke 12, 33.

Sell your possessions

and give to the needy.

Provide yourselves

with money bags

that do not grow old,

with a treasure in heavens

that does not fail,

where no thief approaches

and no moth destroys.

Live your life generously.

Make kingdom investments.

So important for us to see

and to realize

that the gospel calls ourselves

to see us second.

Jesus says,

love the Lord your God

and others.

Right?

That's what we're to look at.

And then we fall second

in that list.

And what does that look like

in your life and mine?

It means to live generously.

I love the words of Jesus.

He doesn't hide them there.

He's pretty confident

with what he's saying

and we can be confident

in what he means.

Sell your possessions

and give to the needy.

So what does it mean

to live generously?

Give to the needy.

When we see needs,

we give to them.

We don't accumulate.

We give away.

We don't worry about

what they're going to do with it.

We worry about

what we're doing with it.

Let God sort out

the things of God.

That's the whole point

of Luke chapter 12

Luke 12 · chapter mention

of what Jesus is talking about.

Let me worry

and define

which servant

obeyed the master

and what servant didn't.

Financial shrewdness

is not necessarily

what we're looking for

but it's living in generosity.

Now it doesn't mean

that we should be

financially smart

because of what God

can take and bless and do.

But don't overthink

a handful of change

to someone that's hurting.

Don't overthink

an extra combo meal

at McDonald's

for the man standing

on the side of the road

holding a paper sign.

Don't overthink it.

Give it away.

Let God sort it out.

But be faithful.

And then Jesus says

invest in the kingdom work.

Invest in the work

that's being done.

We can go

and we can give

and we can do both.

And are you?

Do your finances

reflect

your relationship

with the Lord?

I would argue they do.

What do they look like?

The fourth

obey.

Simply put obey.

Luke 12 47

and that the servant

who knew the master's will

but did not get ready

or act according

to his will

will receive

a severe beating.

Jesus says

just obey.

We have to move

in faith.

If we are

being ready

for the return

of Christ

we must live

our life

not in a

have to mindset

but in a get to mindset.

They actively

waited

in anticipation

for the return

of the master

and in everything

and in every hope

they had

as he came

it was fulfilled.

And so for you

and I

it's not

it's not

that we

have to

the mindset

that we have

to have

is I get

to obey.

Jesus in John 14

is pretty clear

with his words

if anyone loves me

they will keep

my commandments

is what he says.

If anyone loves me

not they may

Jesus says

they will.

I want to be careful

this is not

works gospel

it is grace

through faith

that saves us

but the gospel

does a work

and those

who are

truly saved

that a transformation

begins to happen

and they desire

to do

the will of God

and it's what we see

as the fruit

of our salvation.

So at a point

in time

in our life

I'm going to tell you

this

this is something

recently

that God

has brought me

into in my life

that I'm starting

to have a heart

that is transforming

more and more

to like his

to here's where

here's the weirdness

of where I am

with the gospel

right now

that when

the Holy Spirit

or someone

the Holy Spirit

puts in my life

points out a sin

in my life

I get kind of excited

and here's why

because I get

the joyful process

of seeing that sin

removed from my life

and the victory

of Jesus

found in me

and that's obedience

I'm not perfect

hang out with me

for an afternoon

right

it's not perfection

it's obedience

of what he's calling us to

and then lastly

and we'll close

with this

most important one

that we're going to see

but you got to jump

forward to Luke 13

it's repent

repent

chapter 13

verse 1 through 5

there were some

present at that

very time

who told him

about the Galileans

whose blood

Pilate had mingled

with their sacrifices

and he answered them

do you think

that these Galileans

were worse sinners

than all the other

the Galileans

because they suffered

in this way

verse 3

it's important

verse 3 and 5

I want to hang on to these

no I tell you

but unless you repent

you will all likewise perish

verse 4

are those 18

on whom the tower of Siloam

fell and killed them

do you think

that they were worse offenders

than all the others

who lived in Jerusalem

verse 5

no I tell you

but unless you repent

you will all likewise perish

the conflict of what Jesus

is dealing with

is there are some individuals

who experienced

some horrific deaths

and like are their sins

worse than others

and Jesus is like

that's not the point

the point is verse 3

the point is verse 5

no I tell you

but unless you repent

you will all likewise perish

here's the truth of us

for us this morning

death is coming

and it shows no favoritism

death's coming for you

death's coming for me

and death doesn't care

how much money you make

how much education you have

how well liked you are

death is coming

and it shows no favoritism

and we as believers in Christ

aren't freed from the physical reality of death

but we are free

from the punishment

and Jesus says

here's the key

repent

repent

repent

repent

and somewhere along the lines

we've changed repentance

into just saying I'm sorry

I'm sorry

the truth is

that's a part of repentance

but to repent

means to change

your mind

that's a hard thing

to do

I'm going to change

my mind

about a history

of behaviors

in my life

I'm going to change

my mind

about who I am

in my life

I'm going to change

my mind

on the perceived image

that I portray

to people

I'm going to change

my mind

of who I am

and what's going

to come from this

power of the gospel

Acts 26

Paul says

I preached

that they should repent

and turn to God

and demonstrate

their repentance

by their deeds

it's not just about saying you're sorry

it's what you've done with it

and so for Jesus

he says

look

death's coming

it's going to happen

it's not about who dies

it's about when you die

and what you've done before it

and here's the key

we're all guilty

but we all

have the opportunity

to repent

to repent

in the sense of

biblical terms

is to change your mind

about your sin

to change your mind

about who you are

to change your mind

about what you've done

but also to change your mind

about Jesus

that Jesus is no longer

a person to be used

and manipulated

but he's the one

and true son of God

he's the savior

of the world

he's the one

who paid the price

for your sins

he is the king of kings

the lord of lords

and that's who he is

and that we acknowledge

that that's who he is

but I change my mind

and I am no longer

those things in my life

it is no longer

my will

in my life

but it's his

here's the question

I have for you

this morning

have you repented

have you

have you changed your mind

who you are

and do you see

as Paul says

the representation

of their repentance

is seen

by their deeds

of who they truly are

let's pray

God we come to you

this morning

and Jesus

we thank you

for this opportunity

that you give us

to gather together

Lord I pray

that we would

stay dressed

that we would

keep our lamps burning

that we would

actively wait

for the return

of the master

and live our lives

in such a way

that are reflective

of that

Lord but I pray

that this morning

that if we're here

if we're hearing

this message

Lord there's still

time to evaluate

to look

and to see

Lord what does

obedience look like

for us

what does

generosity

look like

for us

what does

our boldness

look like

Lord

what does fear

before you

look like

Lord as we stand

before you

Lord as the

as the teller

of who we are

Lord that you see

and you know

Lord we don't

know when you

return

but when you

do

whether it's

in this moment

or a thousand

years from now

Lord have we

been ready

Lord and if

we're not

Lord my prayer

for us this

morning

is those very

simple words

that you gave

us in verse

three and

verse five

repent

unless you

repent

you will

perish

unless you

repent

you will

perish

Lord may we

stop saying

we're sorry

and then we

start changing

our mind

and we view

ourselves

through the

lens of the

gospel

may we see

how desperately

we need to

be for you

Lord we

can't argue

with one

another

we just

got to

share

and it's

my prayer

that hearts

that need

to repent

this morning

will repent

Lord they'll

move from

from death

to life

Lord they'll

see themselves

of who they

are before

return of the

master

and that we

will go

and actively

live every

single moment

Jesus is if

you're about

to return

not because

we have to

but because

we get to

it's in

Jesus

name we

pray

amen

are you

ready

are you

ready

I pray that

you are

would you

stand as we

worship

thanks again

for listening

to the

Willow Ridge

Church

weekly podcast

we hope

that you

enjoyed

listening to

this week's

message

if you'd

like to

learn more

about who

we are

or explore

additional

resources

visit us

online at

www.willowridgechurch.com

or by searching

for Willow Ridge

Church on

Facebook and

Instagram