We are guilty enemies of God by nature who owe God our worship and obedience, yet we have all failed to render Him what is His due. He will bring all men before the supreme court of the universe and exact justice. Therefore, it behooves us to make every effort to be reconciled to Him now, before it is too late!
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Be Reconciled To God Before It Is Too Late!
Luke 12:54-59
We come this morning in the Word of God to the last paragraph in Luke 12. In this chapter, Jesus has been speaking on some crucial spiritual issues:
- Flee hypocrisy
- The Judgment to Come
- Fearing God who can cast into Hell
- God’s Care for His People
- Necessity of Confessing Christ before Men
- The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
- The Danger of Covetousness
- The Sin of Worry
- Being Ready for Christ’s Return
- The Spreading Fire of Jesus’ Kingdom
Now, who was Jesus speaking to? In Luke 12:1, it says, “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all…” Notice that. Jesus was speaking to His disciples, in the presence of an enormous crowd of people. There were tens of thousands of people assembled, so many that they were even stepping on one another, trying to get close to Jesus. However, Jesus wasn’t speaking directly to them. He was teaching His disciples. Notice again in verse 22, “And He said to His disciples…” Although there are perhaps somewhere between 25 and 50 thousand people assembled, Jesus is speaking very directly to His disciples and teaching them some very important spiritual lessons. These lessons relate to the kind of life they are to live, and the kinds of sins they must avoid. They must avoid hypocrisy, covetousness, and worry. They must pursue the fear of God, confessing Christ before men, and being ready for Christ’s return.
In this final paragraph everything changes. Notice verse 54, “And He was also saying to the crowds…” Now, there’s a huge change. No longer is Jesus teaching His disciples specifically, but now He is lifting up His voice and crying out to all the crowds that are assembled there. Also, notice that the subject matter has changed. No longer is Jesus teaching them how to live the Christian life. He is exhorting them to begin the Christian life. He is urging them to be reconciled to God before it is too late, and they are thrown into the prison where they will never escape.
Our passage divides itself naturally into two parts – verses 54-56, and verses 57-59. In 12:54-56 Jesus is telling them that they are able to use good judgment when it comes to the physical realm. In verses 57-59, He tells them to also use good judgment in the spiritual realm.
1. You Make Good Judgments in the Physical Realm (12:54-56)
In this section Jesus gives two examples of how they were able to use good judgment when it came to discerning weather changes. He gives the example of a cloud rising in the West, and a south wind blowing. Let’s look at these two examples.
The Cloud Rising In The West. Jesus said in 12:54, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately7 you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out.” The west of Palestine was the Mediterranean Sea. When the people saw a cloud rising in the west off of the Mediterranean Sea, they knew that it was only a matter of time until rain would be falling all around them. And when they made those judgments, they were usually right.
The Blowing of a South Wind. To the south of Palestine were the hot deserts, so when a wind from the south was blowing, the people knew that it was going to be a scorcher. And it ended up turning out that way.
Jesus’ Point. So, what is Jesus’ point? He says in 12:56, “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” Jesus is saying that in both examples they were able to analyze something and then make some accurate judgments. However, they weren’t doing that in the spiritual realm. They had every reason to believe that Jesus was their Messiah. In Daniel 9 there was a prophecy that it would be 483 years from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuilt Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince comes. Well, those 483 years had just come to an end. In Micah 5:2 there was a prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Well, Jesus had been born in Bethlehem. Then there was the testimony of the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son, and that He would be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end. The angels proclaimed “today in the City of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” There was also the prophecies of Simeon and Anna concerning Christ when He was taken into the temple to be circumcised when He was eight days old. Then there was the proclamation of John the Baptist “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” There is also God’s own testimony concerning Christ at His baptism when He spoke from Heaven, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” There was also the testimony of the Holy Spirit who came down upon Him in the form of a dove. And if all that is not enough the people had seen His miracles with their own eyes. The lame walked, the deaf heard, the blind saw, the demon-possessed were delivered, and the dead were raised. Jesus walked on water, turned water to wine, cursed a fig tree, and multiplied loaves and fishes to feed thousands.
The people were able to have minimal evidence, and yet draw accurate conclusions concerning the weather. However, they had all the evidence in the world pointing to the fact that Jesus was the Son of God and their Messiah come to deliver them, and yet they rejected Him. Thus, Jesus called the hypocrites. They were hypocrites because they were pretending that they didn’t have enough evidence to decide whether Jesus was who He claimed to be. That’s why they kept demanding Him to show them a sign. The truth was they had more than enough evidence. Yet, they refused to surrender to Him and become His followers. They were great at being able to make accurate judgments concerning the weather with just a little bit of evidence. They were able to make good judgments concerning the physical realm. However, when it came to making accurate spiritual judgments in the spiritual realm, they were failures. So, Jesus now exhorts them to make good judgments when it comes to the spiritual realm.
2. Now Make Good Judgments in the Spiritual Realm (12:57-59)
That’s really what Jesus is saying in verse 57, “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?” You are perfectly able to analyze the signs in the heavens and make accurate judgments about what the weather will be like. Why don’t you do the same thing concerning what is right? Why don’t you analyze the evidence for who I am, and then judge what is the righteous decisions you should make? And what are those righteous judgments Jesus is thinking about? Well, he tells us in verses 58-59. In effect, He is saying, “If you properly analyzed the evidence, you would know that I am the Messiah sent from God to deliver My people from sin. And the most important and vital spiritual decision you can possibly make is to make sure you are reconciled to God before it is too late.
Jesus wants us to judge what is right. So, what are those right judgments that we need to make?
We Are God’s Enemies by Nature! The word “opponent” carries with it the idea of “adversary” or “accuser”. In this little parable, God is our opponent or adversary, Jesus Christ is the Judge, and His angels are the officers who will throw us into prison. Now, Jesus is depicting a situation in which we have borrowed money from a creditor, and then have not paid it back. So, the creditor is taking you to court to get this dispute settled. Jesus is saying it is in your best interests to make sure you settle that dispute now, before you are brought before the Judge, because if you don’t, you may find yourself thrown in debtor’s prison. Because you will have no means to make any money in prison, you will never be able to pay off your debt.
Now, here Jesus depicts God as our adversary, and our accuser. And, those terms are very Biblical. He is the One we have wronged and offended. He is the One we have incurred a great debt to. Because God is our Creator, and we are His creatures, we owe Him absolute obedience, devotion, and love. God commands all people to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. But all of us, without exception, have loved ourselves with all our heart, soul, mind and strength instead of God. We worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. And the problem is, that even if we started to love God with absolute love and obedience from this day forward, that would do nothing to erase our debt to God, when in prior years we didn’t love and obey Him. We have run up a huge debt to God, and now find that it is impossible for us to pay it. God is the lender that we have not paid back, and now He is coming for justice. He says, “I’m taking this case before the Judge. He will see that justice is accomplished!”
My friends, if you are not a true believer in Jesus Christ, God is your opponent! He is your adversary, your enemy, and your accuser! No, He’s not a gray haired old Grandpa who spends all His time patting little children on the head! He’s not the Man Upstairs! He’s not a God who loves and forgives everybody! He is a just God whom we have wronged, and He will make sure that we are brought to court so that justice is upheld.
Friends, if God is our adversary, what does that make us if we are not saved? It makes us God’s enemies! And, that is exactly what the Bible teaches everywhere. Ephesians 2:3 says that we are by nature children of wrath. Romans 5:10 says we were enemies of God. We have wronged God. We have offended Him. We have not given Him what is His due. And He is angry at the injustice of it all.
Unless We Are Reconciled to God Now, We will Receive Eternal Condemnation! Jesus is teaching us that if we appear before Christ, not having been reconciled to God, we will be thrown into the prison of Hell. He says that we will not get out of there until he has paid the very last cent. The word he uses for “cent” is actually about 1/10 of one of our pennies. Basically Jesus is saying that person will never get out of debtor’s prison until justice has been fully satisfied. The only problem, of course, is that a person in debtor’s prison has no means to pay off his debt. Unless a loved one on the outside pays off his debt he is stuck in there forever. And the awful truth is, that if you die in your sins, there is no one on the outside who will ever pay your debt. Hell is a place where you are cut off forever from all help, and have no chance to ever escape.
Be Reconciled to God Now! There is only one imperative in this entire section and it is in verse 58 – “make an effort to settle with him!” The word is “give diligence.” The meaning is “make every effort.” And when are we to make every effort to settle with him? While you are going with him to appear before the magistrate. When is that? Right now! God is bringing us in hand toward Christ the Judge who will give us our eternal sentence. Why must we make every effort to get things settled now? Because now is the only opportunity we will have! If we wait until we are standing before the Judge, it will be too late to settle anything. There is a story told of William III, King of England, that he made a proclamation that all those who had taken part in a revolution in Scotland against his kingdom would be pardoned if they pledged allegiance to him by December 31. Mac Inn, a chieftain of a prominent clan, decided that he would return with the rest of the rebels, but proudly determined that he would be the very last one that would take the oath. Thus, he postponed his journey until 2 days before the expiration date. A snow-storm impeded his way, and before he got up to take the oath and receive a pardon from the throne, the time was up and past. While the others were set free, Mac Inn was miserably put to death. My friends, some of you are in danger of forever losing the opportunity of the gospel. Mac Inn put off the matter until it was too late. Some of you may be forever too late!
Conclusion
Non-Christians. Imagine that you were out drinking and partying and then drove home. You were stopped by a police officer because you were driving 110 miles per hour in a 30 mile zone drunk. When you were brought before the Judge, he told you that because of the seriousness of this offense, your punishment would be a $10,000 fine or a year in jail. Now, you don’t have $10,000 so you are headed for jail. But now let’s imagine that the Judge happens to be your older brother who loves you. He doesn’t want you to have to spend a year in jail, but if he just dropped the charges he would be an unjust judge. So he, at his own expense, hands you a check for $10,000 to pay your fine. Now, the law is upheld, justice is satisfied, and you can go free. This is the only way the judge can be both loving and just.
Now, do you deserve to go free? Not at all! You were drunk and driving through a residential area at 110 miles an area. You could easily have killed someone. Do you deserve your older brother’s kindness? No, you deserve to go to jail for a year. If you are set free, you will never be able to take credit for it. It is an act of sheer mercy.
So, what should you do? I can only think of a few options he has. He can tell his brother, “thank you very much, but I’ll pay for it myself.” If he does that, he goes to jail. Or, he can tell his brother, “Thanks for the payment, but I will pay you back.” However, when it comes to our sin, the debt is not $10,000. It is more like $10 trillion dollars! We would never be able to pay it off. So, we can’t pay it ourselves, and we can’t pay it back. What are we to do then? The only other option is to say, “I don’t deserve it, but I humbly accept your gift. Thank you!”
In that scenario, the law is upheld, justice is satisfied, and the brother’s love is displayed. The only reason this young man can go free is because of the older brother’s undeserved favor to his younger brother.
My friends, that is exactly what took place at the cross of Jesus Christ. We were guilty criminals and enemies of God. We deserved eternity in hellfire for our sins against His majesty. There was nothing we could do to make up for our crimes against His law. However, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was born of a woman, so that He could become our elder brother. He lived a perfect sinless life as the spotless lamb of God. He voluntarily offered Himself up to God as an atoning sacrifice to put away our sin, and to absorb the wrath of God our sins deserved. He paid for our sins in full! That is the meaning of “It is finished!” It is paid in full! Then he was raised from the dead three days later to prove forever that God the Father accepted His payment in full for anyone who would surrender to Him and trust Him.
So, what do we do? Do we say, “Lord, I realize I have sinned against you greatly. But I’ll pay my debt myself. I will atone for my sins! I will be a good person from now on. I will stop my evil ways, and start going to church, reading my Bible, and helping others. I will atone for my sins.” No, that is like the young man trying to pay a fine when he has no money.
Or should he say, “Lord, I thank you for dying for me on the cross, but I’ll pay you back! I’ll work really hard at doing everything you told me to do in the Bible. I’ll pay you back for the gift of salvation.” My friends, it is impossible for you and I to pay God back for our salvation. The price is way too high, and we are way too sinful to do it. Plus, God isn’t asking us to pay Him back. If we paid him back, we would not be beholden to Him any longer. No, God’s plan is that we forever be recipients of sovereign grace! We will forever be beholden to Him for what He has done for us. We will forever worship and praise Him for the indescribable gift of salvation from sin.
The only thing we can do is receive the gift He offers, and say “Thank You from the very bottom of my heart! I don’t deserve this. I can never repay you. But I thank You and praise You for it!”
You would think that everyone would be quick to humbly receive the gift of eternal life from God. However, the opposite is the case. Most would rather perish in their sin than accept His gift. Why? Because it offends their pride. To accept that gift means that they are unworthy and undeserving of salvation. To accept His gift means they agree that they owe God an infinite debt, and they can do nothing to atone for their sins, and they need Jesus. My friends, only a broken, humble person can be a Christian. A proud man can never be saved.
We are all hastening toward the Judgment! Christ is the One who will assign to us our eternal sentence. If you are not reconciled to God, make an effort to settle with Him now! You and I are not promised tomorrow. Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. God offers you the free gift of everlasting life in Jesus Christ. Humbly accept that gift today.
Christians. If you have received the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, how does this passage apply to you? The answer is in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” What is an ambassador of God? He is an official representative of God, sent to do God’s will. So, what is God’s will? It is that sinners are reconciled to God. In fact, when you and I share the gospel with lost people, God Himself is making His appeal through us! When we beg people to be reconciled to God, God is begging through us! His heart is being expressed through your appeal. So, if you have already been reconciled to God, your job is to bring this message of reconciliation to lost people. You are to represent your God by appealing and begging others to be reconciled to Him!
I encourage you to join with us who are working in the harvest. Be willing to sacrifice some of your time in order to obey Jesus Christ and fulfill His Great Commission. Join us on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings to go out into the harvest, and share His gospel, appealing to the lost to be reconciled to God. My friends, there is nothing in the world more important than this, but it is the the one thing we are so hesitant to do. May God help us all to obey Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
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