Let us continue to learn from our Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18…..
Last week, we noted the main instruction from Jesus Christ to His Disciples: Always pray and never give up! In context, we learned, We are to always talk to God with everything that we do and ask if we are doing His will.
As we look at His main instruction more carefully, let us note that Jesus is not just talking about prayer.
First of all, if Jesus was just talking about prayer, He could have just said, “Always pray!”
Jesus wants His Disciples to always pray AND never give up. And so, what else are there besides prayer which Disciples of Christ should never give up? Let us learn from the rest of Luke 18.
But before reading, let us pray our commitment to God’s Word…..
Read along with me v18-43 of Luke 18….
Let us summarize the stories and note the godly principles, then conclude with applications to our lives.
Look again at v18-25.
We see a ruler; which indicate the man was a leader in the community. We also note that he was very religious! He said he has kept the commandments all his life; how commendable, right? But was he religious in God’s sight or his own perception of religiosity? Jesus just said that there is no one good except God, but yet the ruler insisted that he was right with God! And of course Jesus knew his heart and the ruler was holding much from God!
We note that the ruler was very wealthy. And so, we note that the ruler was a leader in the community, very wealthy, but religious only in man’s sight.
Now, in context of the passage, what kind of answer do you think the ruler was looking for from Jesus? Don’t you think that the ruler asked the question to Jesus just to get affirmation of his life? How do you think the ruler would answer his own question about how to get to heaven??
Because the ruler lived his life this way and had the confidence to confront Jesus, he thought that getting to heaven is just about doing the right thing in front of people (the religious works, leading people, and being wealthy).
But what is the real answer on how to get to heaven according to Jesus?
We can note 2 things from Jesus about going to heaven: give everything to God and follow Jesus!
Now, remember the main instruction from Jesus? Always pray and never give up! In light of the lesson from v18-25 we can now add, “Always pray and never give up, giving everything to God and following Jesus!” Never give up giving everything to God! Never give up following Jesus Christ!
Now look again at v28-30.
The disciples were doing the right thing by giving everything to God and following Jesus and Jesus affirmed the disciples’ eternal blessings. But just because the disciples were going to heaven, was everything going to be all blessings on earth?
Look again at v31-34…
Jesus was telling His disciples, “You need to follow Me BUT I will be ridiculed and hung on a cross to die!” Jesus was saying, “You need to follow Me BUT it will not be easy.”
And so, we can add to Jesus’ instruction, “Always pray and never give up, giving everything to God and following Jesus no matter how difficult it may be!”
And finally, what can we note from v35-43?
A blind man cried out for mercy from Jesus. He was told to keep quiet but he cried out to Jesus even more! Was the blind man reprimanded by Jesus? Jesus stopped, listened to the blind man, and healed him!! Why was the blind man healed??
The blind man was healed because of his persevering faith! The Blind man knew who Jesus was, believed on who He was, and cried out to Jesus in spite of rebuke and peer pressure.
And what do we note was the result of the blind man’s healing?
The healed blind man followed Jesus and praised Him! We already noted that Disciples of Christ are to always pray in faith and never give up, giving everything to God and following Jesus no matter how difficult it may be. And so, let us add praising God to this.
Always pray and never give up, giving everything to God and following Jesus no matter how difficult it may be, …….. with continued praise of God.
And did you notice the result of the healed blind man’s faith, following of Jesus, and praising of God?
End of Luke 18, “When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
Let us summarize the biblical principles to apply to our lives today.
1. Are we certain about having eternal life in heaven?
The ruler thought he was assured of eternal life because he did all the religious works, became successful in society, and helped people; but he was lacking full commitment to Jesus Christ!
This is like many people today who would say “I’m a good person, I’m sure God will forgive me!”
A person, who is created by God, cannot assume what God will do. But a person can know what God will do based on what God says! And God says in Scriptures, “There is no one good except for God!” Romans 3:23 states, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” And God says, “I know every person’s heart!”
A true believer, assured of heaven, is one who is fully committed to Jesus Christ in their hearts! God sees our hearts. What does Jesus see in our hearts, a humble spirit or a self-righteous one?
2. We are to never give up on Jesus Christ by:
a. giving our all to Him,
b. following Him no matter how difficult,
c. declaring Him in our lives no matter what others say;
many times we keep quiet about our Lord Jesus, don’t we?
d. constant praise of God!
How are we doing with these in our lives today?
3. We know we are doing the right thing when people around us are praising God as well.
How are people reacting to the Christian life we are living in front of them?
