{"id":1408,"date":"2017-11-26T01:30:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T01:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2017-12-11T01:56:43","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T01:56:43","slug":"sermon-november-26-2017-no-such-thing-as-riding-the-fence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/sermon-november-26-2017-no-such-thing-as-riding-the-fence\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon &#8211; November 26, 2017: &#8220;No Such Thing as Riding the Fence&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-1408-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/sermons\/nov26-17.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/sermons\/nov26-17.mp3\">http:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/sermons\/nov26-17.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Luke 11:14-36<\/p>\n<p><strong>Parallel Account<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Matthew 12:22-43<\/p>\n<p>Mark 3:20-30<\/p>\n<p>Each Gospel places this event in a different chronological context. Most likely takes place during Jesus\u2019 ministry in Judea.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Luke\u2019s reason for recording<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To show the final rejection of Jesus by Israel\u2019s leadership.<\/li>\n<li>To signify a change in Jesus\u2019 ministry. Miracles are no longer performed as a sign, but they will be performed in conjunction with faith.<\/li>\n<li>It is by faith that we are saved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Historical Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First century Jews had developed a sort of Messianic test based on Isaiah 35:5-7.<\/li>\n<li>The Messiah was expected to perform three types of miracles that would be exclusive to him.\n<ul>\n<li>Heal lepers<\/li>\n<li>Exorcise mute demons<\/li>\n<li>Heal people who were blind from birth<\/li>\n<li>A fourth was implied by Jesus: Raising a person from the dead after three days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In order to confirm or deny Messiahship a two-part investigation had been developed.\n<ul>\n<li>An observation period<\/li>\n<li>An interrogation period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Today\u2019s passage marks the end of the investigation and a pronouncement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The exorcism and accusation <\/strong><em>(vv 14-16)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This was an exceptional exorcism as it had the people marveling and asking if this man was the Messiah. (Matt 12:23)<\/li>\n<li>This in turn caused the Jewish leadership to pronounce judgment: This man is not the Messiah but an agent of the Enemy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Jesus\u2019 response <\/strong><em>(vv 17-23)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How can a kingdom be divided against itself?<\/li>\n<li>Let the Pharisees\u2019 own disciples be judge for they know that a demon can only be cast out by God alone.<\/li>\n<li>By their own test, Jesus\u2019 exorcism proved he was the Messiah.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus\u2019 parable of the Strongman\n<ul>\n<li>The strong man is Satan who has had control over the world.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus now presents true opposition, and defeat, to Satan.<\/li>\n<li>Therefore a choice has to be made: Either follow Jesus or continue to follow Satan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Parable of the Unclean Spirit <\/strong><em>(vv 24-26)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The parable is a warning.<\/li>\n<li>God began the preparation for the Messiah through John the Baptizer\u2019s ministry.<\/li>\n<li>The call for repentance was a call for people to change there minds so that they would be prepared to receive the Messiah.<\/li>\n<li>However, Jewish leadership would sway many of these people who had repented and they would eventually be worse off than they had started.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The woman\u2019s exclamation <\/strong><em>(vv 27-28)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many liked to hear Jesus, unfortunately many were unwilling to accept Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus uses the exclamation to drive home a point: the blessed are those who hear God\u2019s word and keep it!<\/li>\n<li>The obvious application is the acceptance of God\u2019s Messiah.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The need for a sign <\/strong><em>(vv 29-32)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some were riding the fence unwilling to deny Jesus\u2019 Messiahship and yet unwilling to accept it either.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus had provided enough signs including two of the three Messianic miracles, and he would provide no more except the sign of the resurrection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Parable of the Lamp <\/strong><em>(vv 33-36)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Despite the fact that the Jewish leadership had rejected Jesus he still appeals to the Jewish people to receive him.<\/li>\n<li>Everyone has the freedom to choose to believe the truth even when there is influence not to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Application<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is more than enough evidence to take the leap of faith and receive Jesus as Savior and live trusting him as Lord.<\/li>\n<li>One cannot ride the proverbial fence hoping to be excused on judgment day: you either choose to follow Jesus or you choose to follow the Enemy.<\/li>\n<li>You are free to make the decision, despite the opposition of worldly influence, to receive Jesus and follow him.<\/li>\n<li>We followers are the evidence of Jesus: We can either be a window or we can be a shade by how we \u201chear the word of God and keep it.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Transformation Expectation<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Continue to choose to move from \u201cagnosticism\u201d to full faith and commitment.<\/li>\n<li>Be secure in your salvation: The question is not \u201cAm I saved?\u201d but \u201cWhat should I do now that I am saved?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Live in obedience and faith.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke 11:14-36 Parallel Account Matthew 12:22-43 Mark 3:20-30 Each Gospel places this event in a different chronological context. Most likely takes place during Jesus\u2019 ministry in Judea. Luke\u2019s reason for recording To show the final rejection of Jesus by Israel\u2019s<\/p>\n<p class=\"continue-reading-button\"> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/sermon-november-26-2017-no-such-thing-as-riding-the-fence\/\"><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,21,43,10],"tags":[48,57,79,24,44,13],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-members","category-sermon","category-worship","tag-bible-studies","tag-bible-study","tag-luke","tag-members","tag-sermon","tag-worship"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Gospel-of-Luke.jpg?fit=1931%2C817&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1409,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions\/1409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kcc.life\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}