The Ins and Outs

Series on Luke

IV The Imperatives of the Kingdom

B Instruction in Rejection

1 Speaking Out

Text: 12:1-12

Introduction

It is clear at the end of the preceding chapter in 11:53 and 54 that the opposition of the religious establishment to Jesus is significantly intensifying, When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say. In response to this Jesus’ teaching begins to make greater demands on his disciples to take a stand in an unfriendly environment. This is the hour of decision and the words of Jesus leave little doubt as to the costliness of this decision in verse 4, I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. It is a life and death issue. On the surface Christianity in the United States is very different from China where you can face prison and torture and death for your faith. This should not trick us into believing that we can choose the easy road. The world may allow that but Christ does not. Let us therefore listen carefully to what he has to say. It is death in the inner man that produces life in the outer man. He sets before us the poison, the principle, and the profession.

I The Poison

In verse 1 we read, Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Jesus says, don’t be fooled by the Pharisees. Protect yourselves from their deception. Yeast is a very apt description of their poison for it is the hidden ingredient in your bread that spreads throughout the dough but you cannot see it. What you see in the Pharisees is not what you get. They are hypocrites. John Milton called hypocrisy the only evil that walks invisible, except to God alone. The word comes from the Greek and signified an actor, somebody who is playing a role. The objective of an actor is to deceive you into thinking he is something other than what he really is. The deception of the Pharisees was that they pretended to be righteous when in reality they were sinners. Jesus says don’t be fooled by the Pharisees. Don’t give them an Oscar or a Tony award because I’m not. What counts is what is on the inside. And so we look at the principle.

II The Principle

The principle is found in verses 2 and 3, There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. God is not fooled. Be not deceived God is not mocked, whatever a man sows that is what he will reap. What if tomorrow a book was published with the title, the secret life of the president, or the secret life of the Pope. They would hit the top of the New York Times best seller list immediately, but I don’t think our president or the pope would be very happy about it. Neither would we be happy if it happened to us. I am impressed how Jesus connects this revelation to the tongue. It is as James says, the tongue corrupts the whole person. Our words are set on fire by hell and set the whole course of our lives on fire. Jesus says it is not what goes into a man from the outside like food which defiles the man, but what comes out from the inside meaning our words, and then reminds us that we shall be brought into judgment for every idle word. The principle is simple; man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart, and what our hearts look like is shown by what we say in secret, and not by what the world hears us say. Jesus concern with our words continues as he talks about our profession before men.

III The Profession

Jesus emphasizes confessing Him before men. Fear and love are both motivations in our profession because our profession is made possible by what is inside of us. In these verses we see the role of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our confessing Christ.

A God the Father

Are we afraid to take a stand for the Lord? The reason is that we do not know who God the Father is! Jesus tells us in verses 4-7, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. The real question in life is not what you fear, but whom you fear. Do we fear men rather than God? Yes, we should fear Him. It is incorrect that the Old Testament teaches fear and the New Testament teaches confidence. In both the Old and New believers stood before God in both fear and love. They exist together. Paul writes to the Christians in Philippi, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. The best illustration I can give of this is one that I am sure you’re all familiar with. When I was a child and did something really bad I was afraid of my parents anger and judgment, but I never thought they were going to throw me out of the family or abandon me. Both fear and love were legitimate motives in my being an obedient son. Jesus points out here God’s fatherly love and care but in the following verses he also says that there are consequences for disobedience. How can anyone argue with the plain and balanced statements of Jesus and Paul. If we ignore fear as a motive we become presumptuous. If we ignore love as a motive we become anxious and paralyzed with terror. How can we overcome? Only by learning who God is: great, mighty and terrible and also gracious, merciful and tender. We learn this through His Word not our imagination.

B God the Son

Jesus Christ gives us the second motive for confessing him in verses 8-10, I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. We are talking here about the final judgement. It is easy to forget in the midst of our everyday business, but it doesn’t matter if your business is a success, or if you’re rich or poor. What matters is that you took a stand for Jesus. Our Lord here destroys every earthly ambition and says in the end nothing else will matter except whether you have confessed me, and then he goes on to talk about the sin against the Holy Spirit which is always a problem to Christians. But we need to see the contrast here between Jesus in his earthly humiliation and Jesus in his glory. Blasphemy which results from not fully understanding the historical Jesus in his humiliation is forgivable for one reason only; because the revelation is not complete. But after Jesus ascends and the revelation is complete blasphemy is inexcusable. What does this tell you about our situation? If any man hardens his heart and lives for himself ignoring the outcome he will be lost because the full truth is given in the Scripture. The sin against the Holy Spirit is rejecting the gospel of Jesus as fully revealed and not confessing Christ. Again, the full truth of the Word becomes the test. Does it govern our fears and does it regulate our goals? The inner man governs the outer.

C God the Holy Spirit

In verses 11 and 12 we see the third incentive to confess Jesus Christ, When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. Thus our fears are quieted. Believers will be opposed and they will be discriminated against and they will be persecuted, but God will teach them what to say. Therefore they are to persevere. Now what the Holy Spirit gives them to say will be intimately related to the Word of God, and their understanding of it. It’s not like the Holy Spirit is speaking through you as an oracle. He will use what you are and what you have inside to produce the right answer outside.

Conclusion

And so we have the Father the Son and the Holy spirit, but the ministry of each in our lives is related to the Word. Do we know the Father as he truly is? Do we recognize the Son of God as the ultimate determinant of our faith, and do we trust the Holy Spirit to enable us? If we do these things in the inner man-then the outer man will follow not with hypocrisy but with integrity. We’re talking about a profession here. That is Jesus’ point; confess Him before men. In order to do that the inner man must fear and trust our heavenly Father who cares for us, fear and trust Jesus who intercedes for us, and fear and trust the Spirit of God who instructs us. And then we will not fear men.