Warning Signs

As I listen to Jesus preaching here in Luke chapter 6, and you can turn there now, Jesus is making some predictions. He's not really changing any of the signs. He's reinforcing them. He's saying, this is what has been promised in the Old Testament, and I'm going to tell you it's still going to happen. These particular signs, where we find ourselves now in chapter 6, are in the form of warnings.

They're warning signs. Woes. Where does happiness come from? We all know how the world pursues happiness. The Bible describes it as a desire to eat, drink, and be merry. But what they fail to realize is that while they may achieve some level of happiness on earth, a judgment is coming.

So what is the root of true satisfaction? Today, Stephen Davey continues through Jesus' sermon in Luke 6. Jesus compared and contrasted those who were supremely happy with those who were eternally empty. The Lord's reminder of where hope and joy come from is just as important today as it was when he first spoke those words.

This is wisdom for the heart. Today's message from God's Word is called Warning Signs. The truth is today, you live in a world that is essentially terrified that life will become unsustainable on earth. That the sun is either going to burn out or burn us up, one or the other.

Let me encourage you today, this fear is actually related to the rejection of God's brochure, God's sign, God's predictions about planet earth. For instance, the apostle Peter talks about the first judgment that occurred by water, the global flood, and he mentions that in relation to a future judgment. He writes this, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word that is the word of God, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly 2 Peter 3, 6 to 7. Peter is referring to the coming final judgment of all of unbelieving humanity, which is going to be followed by a fire that God himself ignites. The universe is literally burned up.

So I guess you could say global warming is on its way in a sense. According to the Bible, following this cataclysmic fireball, a new heaven, that is a new universe, and a new earth specifically are crafted brand new only this time as it were immortal. How do we know that? Well, the apostle John writes of that final judgment that Peter alludes to. It's called the great white throne judgment. It's at this final comprehensive judgment of all unbelievers from all time. It's then that God records what's going to happen. In fact, he allows John to see it, giving him a vision of that future.

Here's what he sees. If anyone's name there at that judgment was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Now immediately after this judgment text, John writes in the very next verse, then I saw a new heaven, that is a new universe, and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Remember the apostle Peter explained to us how it passed away in a fireball where God burned it away, burned it up in judgment. But Peter also gave us, by the way, back in that text, God's promise about the earth. I'll show it to you again, 2 Peter 3.7, the heavens, the universe, and the earth that now exist, that we have right now, are stored up for fire, being kept until that day of judgment.

That word, kept, that Greek term means reserved, to keep in store. Who's keeping the universe functioning? Who's keeping the sun shining at just the right temperature?

Who's keeping the moon orbiting at just the right distance away? Who's keeping the earth alive and well, so to speak? God.

God is. How long will the earth remain functioning and capable of sustaining life as we know it today? Well, God said it will remain, it's being kept, until that day of judgment. But how do you know that between now and then, we're not going to either freeze or fry? How do we know? There can be variations in temperatures along the way, that's true. Based on even the most liberal estimates, the earth right now is around one degree warmer on average than it was 130 years ago. But how do we know those variations aren't going to, you know, get out of hand and then create out of earth one vast desert with no seasons, no winter, no rainfall, no ability to produce crops and provide for the human race?

How do we know that ain't going to happen? Well, we know because of a promise God made more than 4,300 years ago. It's a promise that God made, not just from Peter and John, but it's a promise God made way back to a man by the name of Noah. When Noah finally disembarked with his family from that ark they had lived on for a little more than a year, people think they lived on there for 40 days and 40 nights, now that's how long it rained. They lived on that for a year, now it wouldn't be as bad as you living in your minivan for a year, this was a big boat.

But it would still take a year for the water to recede which created, filled the oceans and rivers and lakes, carving out canyons and rock formations in a matter of months. Now if I were to give you a pop quiz today and ask you what was the promise that God gave to Noah, what did that involve? You would immediately say, well it involved a what? A rainbow.

Good, you pass, all right? You'd be right. God promised Noah that a rainbow would be his sign, his promise that he will never again flood the earth with water, Genesis 9.13. By the way, that's a significant promise and proof of a global judgment, a global flood. If God had promised Noah that there would never be another regional flood, then he lied.

There's regional flooding, local flooding every year. There will never be another global flood. That judgment passed, there is a judgment yet ahead. What God predicts always comes to pass. In fact, he allowed Noah to warn his world for 120 years that this judgment was coming. What God predicts takes place. God never has to change the brochures, the language.

Well, I guess that didn't happen. But there's another promise that God made to Noah that is also coming true. In fact, this promise would make the human race sleep better at night, and I know they're not listening, but you are, so I want you to sleep better at night by simply taking God at his word. Here's what God also said to Noah in Genesis chapter 8. While the earth remains, now he's making a promise to Noah that something is going to happen as long as the earth remains. How long is the earth going to remain in this condition? Well, Noah didn't know the answer to that.

We know because Peter and John gave us the inspired timeline from the Holy Spirit. The earth will remain until it is destroyed by the next judgment, which is fire. So what happens to the earth between now and then? Well, God told Noah, here it is, until then, while the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. In other words, between now and the final judgment, the earth will produce harvests, which require rain, sunshine. The earth is going to experience cold and heat, summer and winter, so the seasons are going to continue as they are now.

Day and night will not cease, which means the earth evidently is still rotating on its axis, revving daytime and nighttime. None of this is going to cease until the earth no longer remains. That's God's promise.

And what he promises, he performs. Beloved, this is God's universe. This is God's planet.

It's temporary. He's going to recreate it one day. In fact, now for the last 4,300 years, from the time of Noah until today, God has not had to change one sign, one prediction. They've all come true and yet ahead they will come true in the future. Now, maybe you came in today and you thought we were in the Gospel of Luke. Well, we are.

This is just an introduction, okay? And it struck me, because as I listened to Jesus preaching here in Luke chapter 6, and you can turn there now, Jesus is making some predictions. He's not really changing any of the signs. He's reinforcing them. He's saying, this is what has been promised in the Old Testament and I'm going to tell you it's still going to happen.

He's pointing them out. He's predicting things that will ultimately come true. And these particular signs where we find ourselves now in chapter 6 are in the form of warnings.

They're warning signs, woes. His audience of several thousand people are going to be listening in as he delivers these warning signs while he preaches here on the plateau, that is this level place on the mountainside. Now, if you were with us earlier in our study, Jesus preached how somebody could be in a state of blessing, happiness before God. The happy, the blessed, genuinely blessed individual is spiritually dependent on the King. They're repentant, weeping over their sin. They're faithful in spite of rejection.

They choose to stand with the King over and against the kingdoms of the world. This is how to be in a perpetual state of blessing before God. We call them the Beatitudes. Well, now Jesus is going to turn the tables and basically say, let me warn you, this is how to be in a perpetual state of danger before God. You want to know how to be in a relationship with God that's blessed? Here it is. You want to know how to be in trouble with God?

Here it is. So he flips the coin, so to speak, and gives us warnings of grave danger. And he does this by pronouncing four woes. A woe is a pronouncement, a warning delivered as a pronouncement of coming judgment. It has consequences now that are true.

Ultimately, it will take place at the end of human history. Now, these are not, don't picture the Lord yelling or angry or, you know, mad at his audience. These warnings are not the result of hatred, but love.

Not a lack of compassion, but genuine pity. The word woe has this moaning, lamenting sound. Something terrible is wrong. Something desperately needs to change. Woe is the idea.

Isaiah used this word of himself when he came into the presence of the holiness of God. What did he say? Woe is me.

When my mother used to tell me, just wait, your father will be home tonight. What did I say? Woe is me, for I am undone. Something's going to happen. Something needs to change. So Jesus delivers here four woes, which are in reality four warnings. Something can change.

You can change today. You can claim him as your king today or reject him. Now, here's the first warning, verse 24, but woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Now, before you assume that no American is going to get into the kingdom of heaven, because according to world standards, if you have food in your refrigerator and a change of clothing in your closet and an automobile in your garage, you're in the top 5% of the world's wealth. Is Jesus saying, you know, you should have never succeeded in business?

Sorry, you're out. Now, I want you to notice that each of these woes, you might circle them and draw an arrow up to the beatitude, because each of these four woes are contrasted with the previous four beatitudes. So back in verse 20, the Lord says, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. In Matthew's Gospel, we're given the added words that are helpful, blessed are the poor in spirit. So the poor person is someone who is spiritually destitute, entirely dependent on the king to get into the kingdom. And now, in contrast, the rich here in verse 24 are those who don't need the Lord. As far as they're concerned, they have everything they need.

They depend on no one but themselves. They don't know Jesus. You see, woe to the rich is a warning to the self-satisfied, you know, the self-made man, the person who does not want nor need God. Jesus says, would you notice again, he says, well, you have your consolation. That's the same Greek term translated comfort, paraklesis.

In fact, it's the root word used of the Holy Spirit. He is our comforter. He is our consolation. What's even more startling to me is that Luke uses the same phrase earlier in chapter 2 when he referred to the Messiah as their consolation, Israel's comforter. So Jesus is essentially saying here that those who are in the kingdom find their satisfaction, their comfort in the Messiah. And those who are not part of his kingdom find their comfort in themselves. The unbeliever says, I am happy without God. The believer says, I cannot be happy without God. Now to the second warning, verse 25, blessed are you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Again, this is contrasted with the beatitude the Lord delivered. Look up at verse 21, blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied or full. Matthew adds, this hunger is related to righteousness, that is being right with God. The citizen of Christ's kingdom longs to be right with God, longs to live right before mankind. The citizens of this world think they have no need for God. They have no desire to be right with God.

In fact, if he asks them, they're right now. I'm right. Don't call me a sinner.

Not me, I'm right. The warning here, woe to the full, is a warning to the self-righteous. They already look good to themselves. They know how to keep up appearances. They might even be in church. They're literally full of themselves. A believer is empty of self who comes to Christ. An unbeliever is full of self. And when you're full of self, there's no room for God.

And they have across their hearts a sign that basically says, no vacancy, no room for anybody but me. Now notice the third warning in the latter part of verse 25, what are you who laugh now? For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to the laughing is a warning to the self-assured. The word laughter that he uses here is often tied to mocking, a derisive laughter, proud, boastful laughter. It's used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, in the Lamentations chapter 1 verse 7, for the enemies of God laughing at the destruction of Jerusalem.

That's the idea. It depends on the contrast in context. So Jesus is contrasting the mocking laughter of the world here, notice back in verse 21, with the laughter of the believer. Believers mourn, they're weeping with the help of Matthew's gospel over sin. Jesus later promises you will be filled with nothing but joy and laughter as every tear is wiped away, Revelation chapter 21 verse 4.

But the unbeliever, he says here in verse 25, essentially has no sorrow over sin, no desire to repent. They laugh now, they mock the gospel of the king. Why would we want that?

Why do we need that? People are nuts. They laugh. They mock at the king and the citizens of his kingdom. So Jesus puts up a sign here, this is a warning sign, it isn't going to be changed later on. Those who laugh at the king, who mock his warning, will one day realize they have denied and rejected the true king and then laughter ceases. Matthew records in chapter 8, Jesus says their weeping will never end. This is no laughing matter.

This is dangerous territory. Let me give you his fourth and final warning, it's in verse 26. Woe to you, he says, when all people speak well of you. For so their fathers did to the prophets. In other words, these false prophets were applauded, people loved them. Woe to the popular is a warning to the sought after. Woe to you when all people speak well of you.

Now the key word there to circle is the word all. When all people, that's their goal for everyone to speak well of them. Now he's not saying that Christians should never get a good review at work.

You know, you shouldn't have anybody in your neighborhood that thinks you're a nice person. Now Jesus isn't encouraging you to make enemies or to be ornery. If this is your theme verse for being obnoxious, you're misrepresenting the verse. Again, this is understood in contrast to the citizens of the kingdom of God. Look at verse 22. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name. Why? Because you're ornery?

No. On account of the son of man, you belong to the king. Listen when you represent Jesus the king as a citizen of heaven, somebody down here in the kingdoms of earth is going to hate you or revile you or not like you or spurn you or turn your name into something evil. Again, the contrast in verse 26, look at the citizens of earth.

What are they pursuing? What matters when all people are speaking well of them? You see, they want acceptance and admiration from everyone except the king. And for the citizens of heaven, you may not have any of that, but it doesn't matter so long as you have acceptance by the king. So citizens of earth don't want to make waves, they don't want to rock any boats, false teachers, the public at large is going to pursue acceptance at the expense of truthfulness. Why don't we just change the signs and let's soften the narrative and let's go with the flow and let's fit in, let's not say God like a sore thumb. You want to be self-made, you want to be self-assured, you want to be self-righteous, you want to be sought after as an influencer.

Everybody's impressed with you, maybe that means even God is impressed with you. Jesus will say later in Matthew chapter 8, Many who think they are the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. When? When Jesus predicted it, when the Bible revealed it, when the apostles wrote in promising it that day, when their eternal destiny is sealed before that terrifying throne where all of unbelieving humanity will stand one day, when all of those signs and predictions will come true thousands of years after posting the warning. This is not a sign about a glacier melting, right or wrong, this is a sign about judgment coming. Jesus is delivering here his definition of blessing, he is delivering here his woes, his warnings of danger and will all come true one day.

Where do you stand? I want to invite you to stand with the King today. Thanks for joining us today on Wisdom for the Heart. Stephen Davey is working through a series from Luke 6 called Sermon on the Plateau. Today's message is called Warning Signs.

We'll continue through this series next time. Between now and then, we have a free resource that will help you know for certain that you belong to God. Stephen's booklet, Blessed Assurance, is available this month as a free download. You can read it on your phone, your tablet, or your computer.

There's also a print version, but the e-book is free right now. You'll find it at wisdomonline.org. Thanks again for joining us today. Our number is 866-48-Bible. We're so glad you were with us, and I hope you'll be with us for our next Bible lesson, right here on Wisdom for the Heart. We'll see you next time.