LUKE 12
10 Outlines
Luke 12:1-7
SOUND ADVICE
AVOID HYPOCRISY
Luke 12:1-3 - In
the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of
people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he
began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the
Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. [2] For there is nothing covered, that shall not
be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. [3] Therefore whatsoever ye
have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have
spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
AVOID HELL
Luke 12:4-5 - And
I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that
kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. [5] But I will
forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power
to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
AVOID HYSTERIA Vss. 6-7
Luke 12:6-7 - Are not five sparrows sold for two
farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? [7] But even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value
than many sparrows.
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Luke 12:1-7
GOOD REASONS
In this passage we see 3 good reasons to do what God
tells us to do.
1. A REASON FOR TRANSPARENCY(HONESTY)
- GOD WILL
PUBLISH OUR
SINS. - Vss. 1-3
2. A REASON FOR TREMBLING - GOD WILL PLACE
UNBELIEVERS IN HELL. - Vss. 4-5
3. A REASON FOR TRUST - GOD WILL PRESERVE HIS
CHILDREN. - Vss. 6-7
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Luke 12:1-7
WHEN GOD IS FEARED
We get confused.
So often we fear men and do not fear God.
Instead we are to
fear God and not fear men. Proverbs 29:25
When God is
feared:
BEHAVIOR IS
CONSISTENT Vss. 1-7
The Pharisees were
hypocrites. They taught one thing but practiced another. Jesus warns of the day when the truth about
everything will be revealed. When God is feared hypocrisy is shunned.
GOD IS CONSIDERED
Vss. 4-5
The concern is not
what does man think, but what does God think.
It is God who has
final say about the soul of man
He needs to be
feared.
WE ARE CONFIDENT
Vs. 6
When we fear God,
we have nothing else to fear.
God says
"Fear not" to the ones who trust Him and live for Him.
GOD IS
COMPASSIONATE Vss. 6-7
God knows us and
cares about us.
He knows each
sparrow, and we are more valuable than many sparrows.
The very hairs on
our head are numbered. That's how intimately He knows us.
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Luke 12:13-21
NEED OR GREED?
God has promised to
provide our "needs", not what we are greedy for. Matthew 6:33,
Philippians 4:19
God does not honor
greediness, as this teaching from Jesus shows us.
A REQUEST - Vs. 13
A REBUKE - Vss. 14-15
A REMINDER - Vss. 15-21
1. Not all plans are of
God. - Vss. 17-19
2. God is judge. - Vs.
20
3. Priorities are
important - Vs. 21
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Luke 12:13-20
MONEY PRINCIPLES
A common problem among men is greed, or
covetousness. Many are never satisfied
with what they have, and always looking to have more in the way of money or
things. And, we as Christians must be careful,
for it is easy for us to fall into this same sin. Jesus tells us a classic
parable about greed, in Luke 12:13-21.
The parable was actually prompted by a request that our Lord received.
Vs. 13 - It
appears that our Lord was interrupted.
Our Lord was talking about the false teaching of the Pharisees, and
about not fearing men, but fearing God.
He had just taught about the help of the Holy Spirit during persecution.
This man seems to have had something
entirely different on his mind. Like us,
sometimes, someone is explaining something and our mind is a hundred miles away. I'll be reading something at a nursing home
and the moment I stop, someone says something totally off the wall, showing he
or she wasn't with me at all!
The man's request was that Jesus speak to his brother about properly dividing an
inheritance. Whether
the man had a case or not, we do not know. Rabbis where asked to act as judge between
people on certain occasions, so such a request was probably not uncommon.
Vs. 14 - Our Lord refused. This was not the time when Jesus was here to
resolve these kinds of issues. He was
here to teach, not to play judge.
Vs. 15 - We see that our Lord
had a real understanding of what this man's problem really was. The Scriptures say that man looks on the
outward appearance but
God looks on the heart. As God, Jesus
certainly knew the heart, the motive of the man.
The man was greedy or covetous.
Our Lord warns here that "...A MAN'S
LIFE CONSISTETH NOT IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS
WHICH HE POSSESSETH."
Real life is not based on what we have in the
way of money or possessions.
Even Christians can have many things in
this world, and still be absolutely miserable.
Our Lord goes on to tell the story of a
rich, but foolish farmer. In this story
we find some principles, from which we, as believers can benefit.
1. PROSPERITY COMES FROM GOD - Vs. 16
Notice the way this verse is worded. It was the land of this rich man that was
responsible for the man's wealth. God
had given this man a very good piece of property.
God has ordained that we work. A lazy man should not expect a giveaway. The Bible says that if a man doesn't work he
shouldn't eat.
As far as I can see, God has no problem
with men and women striving to do their very best within they're given
professions. Colossians
No matter how hard we work, we must realize
and accept something which the man in this parable did not. It is God who keeps us healthy so we can
work. It is God who allows us to be productive.
It is God who gives us our wisdom.
It is God who has allowed us to have
whatever we have been blessed with. It is God who allows circumstances to be
such that we prosper.
2. GOD CAN BE LEFT OUT - Vss. 17-18
This man was obviously thankless.
And, when God blesses us with abundance, he
expects us to share it with those less fortunate. This way, God is included in our wealth. We
are then considering what He would have us to do.
1 John 3:17, Ephesians 4:28
Besides not sharing the abundance God had
given him, we see that this man left God out in another way. Notice that he
left God out of his plans.
In Vss. 17-19 he
uses the word "I" 6 times. And, he uses the Word "my" 5
times.
It was "my crops," and "my
barns" and "my grain", and "my goods", and "my
soul". There was no recognition of
God's ownership of these things, and thus no room for including God in the
plans.
3.
LEISURE, IN ITSELF, IS NOT A GOOD GOAL - Vs. 19
Notice the ultimate goal of this man. He wanted to be able to say to himself,
"You have lots of resources hoarded up, now, just take it easy."
"Eat, drink, and be merry."
There are many good goals, for Christians
to have, but leisure is not one of them.
There is a time for leisure, but continual leisure leads to
overindulgence. Continual leisure ignores the will of God. Leisure as a goal
does not please God.
Some better goals. Matthew 6:33, Romans
12:1-2, Philippians 3:10, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 2:20
By the way, there is nothing wrong with
retirement. There is nothing wrong with
taking it a little easy once in a while.
But it is wrong to have leisure as the ultimate goal of your life.
4. GOD HAS FINAL SAY ON ALL OUR PLANS VS.
20
Notice what God calls this man. He calls
him a fool!
Why was this man a fool?
He didn't consider God as important.
He didn't consider God's will important.
He thought he could function without God.
If you asked if he believed in God, he
would have probably said "Yes".
He was probably an upstanding citizen. But he was a fool nonetheless.
God has total control of how long you have
to live. He doesn't make mistakes. For this man to presume he could do anything
save but by God's permission was ridiculous.
This is a good reminder for us. We do not know how long we have to live for
the Lord. This man was told - "THIS
VERY NIGHT YOUR SOUL IS REQUIRED OF YOU."
If you plan on living for yourself now and
the Lord later, I'd think twice. Living
for the Lord better be a priority, for you never know when time is up. Hebrews
9:27
5.
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. VS.
21
For all this man's planning, his treasures
were now going to be in the hands of someone else. No one has yet found a way
to take it with them! Even though I'm
seeing and hearing of people putting things in caskets, it won't work!
6. BEING RICH TOWARDS GOD IS OF THE UTMOST
IMPORTANCE VS. 21
The man in our story could have been rich
towards God, but wasn't.
How can you and I be rich towards God?
1. BE SAVED - John 14:1-6 - God has a place
for the saved.
2. WIN SOULS - Daniel 12:3
3. BE FAITHFUL - 2 Timothy 4:7-8
4. INVEST IN GOD'S WORK - Matthew 6:19-21
5. ABIDE IN CHRIST John 15:4-5, 11
PROSPERITY COMES FROM GOD
GOD CAN BE LEFT OUT
LEISURE IN ITSELF, IS NOT A GOOD GOAL
GOD HAS FINAL SAY ON ALL OUR PLANS
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
BEING RICH TOWARDS GOD IS OF THE UTMOST
IMPORTANCE
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Luke 12:13-21
THE MONEY ISSUE
"For the love of money is the root of all
evil..." 1 Timothy 6:10
THE PETITION - Vs. 13 - Someone asked Jesus to
arbitrate over a money issue, an inheritance.
THE PRINCIPLE - Vss. 14-15 - Wealth is not the most
important thing in the world.
THE PARABLE - Vss. 16-20 - The story of the rich man
with big plans.
THE POINT - Vs. 21 - It is more important to be rich
towards God than to be rich in personal wealth.
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Luke 12:13-31
DONT COVET
COVETOUSNESS INDICTED Vss. 13-15
COVETOUSNESS ILLUSTRATED Vss. 16-21
COVETOUSNESS ERADICATED Vss. 22-31
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Luke 12:22-31
ANXIETY RELIEF
Christians tend to worry
or be anxious about many things. One of
the things that they are most anxious over is physical need. In this passage
Jesus address our anxieties about physical things.
CAUTION - Vss. 22-23
Jesus tells us not to be
worried about how what we eat or what we wear. Life itself is more important
than these.
CONSIDERATIONS - Vss. 24-28
1. Consider the Ravens -
They do no work and God provides for them. Vs. 24
2. Consider our Height -
All the worry in the world can not change how tall we are. Vs. 25-26
3. Consider the Lilies -
God clothes them magnificently, although they do not labor. Vss. 27-28
COMFORT - Vss. 29-30
Our Father knows our
needs.
CONDUCT - Vs. 31
We are to put God first,
and trust Him to take care of our needs.
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Luke 12:31-40
THY KINGDOM COME
WORK FOR THE KINGDOM -
Vss. 31-34
WATCH FOR THE KING -
Vss. 35-38
WARNING ABOUT THE
KINGDOM - Vss. 39-40
Jesus is coming at a
time when people will not be thinking that he's coming.
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Luke 12:35-40 NEW YEAR
ON THE WATCH
(Can be used any time,
but would make a nice possibility for a New Year sermon, especially at a
watch-night service.)
THE ACTIVE WATCH Vss.
35-36
THE AWARDED WATCH Vs. 37
THE ALERT WATCH Vss.
38-40