Transcript

Go to Luke 22, if you would this morning. Luke 22. We actually started this last Sunday morning and we’ll purpose to complete this section today. We are in the last literal hours of Jesus’ earthly life before his death, burial, resurrection and ascension. I call this “Between the Upper Room and Gethsemane.” Luke 22, beginning in verse 24,

24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27 For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; 29 and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” 34 And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.” 35 And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” 36 And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. 37 For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘and He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” 38 They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

Between the Upper Room and Gethsemane. We talked about the fact that Jesus has just finished partaking of the Jewish Passover meal and in that partaking he has now transformed it unto what we call the Lord’s Supper or communion. Now, that makes all the old dispensation of the Jews, including the Passover celebration, obsolete. It’s no longer a part of the practice of the people of God. He has been showing them that he’s about to die and that in his death everything necessary for their right standing before God is going to be accomplished so everything now, listen to me, church, everything now is summed up in Jesus Christ. Everything. You cannot make too much of Jesus.

Now, in review right quick, we talked about I. How Jesus is teaching them in our text today that true greatness is seen in a heart of humility and service. As I said, Jesus has just finished telling them that he’s going to die for them and that the bread of the Passover pointed to his body that would be broken for them. The Jews of the old Jewish Passover meal was pointing to his blood that would be shed for them. And then right when he finishes that, they begin to debate and have contention among them as to which one was the greatest. I think we learn something from that and that is that Jesus is showing us that we are all fallen, weak, frail, fleshly beings. We are so capable of falling into pride and self-advancement, self- exaltation and that lust for popularity, and Jesus was saying to them, “The world views it this way.” He said, “Think about the rulers of the world, your Caesars, you get one Caesar after another, the next Caesar takes the throne in Rome and he calls himself the great benefactor of the people, promises all this good stuff he’s going to do for everybody,” and in effect Jesus is saying, “and you know how it always turns out. You end up being oppressed and taken advantage of while he lives in luxury.”

Aren’t you glad that the founding fathers of our country came out of this kind of tyranny, this kind of centralized authority and dictatorship and when they established our country, they saw that we can’t put a lot of power and authority in the centralized government? We’ve got to have a House of Representatives that will be balanced out by a Senate, and a Senate balanced out by the House and then the Executive Branch which will balance by the President, and then the Judicial Branch with the Supreme Court and the other Federal courts so that no power resides, all power, rather, does not reside in one place. They understood what Jesus was saying, men’s hearts are wicked, men’s hearts are desperately sick and if you give men the power, they’ll abuse it. So thank God that we’ve had the greatest nation on earth for all these years primarily because the founding fathers understood the biblically defined nature of man. Don’t ever misunderstand that. I’m not even saying they were all individually Christians, but in early America there was a strong Christian consensus as to who man was and what he was.

Well, Jesus picks up, points out that very truth that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over you but, he said, now, you Christians, you’re different. It’s not this way among you. The greatest among you will be that one that from his heart has humility and a servant’s spirit. Even if and when you get a position of authority and rule, and Jesus is going to give these men positions of authority and rule, but he says when you get it, not arrogance, you’re not there to serve yourself, you’re to serve others with your position with humility and that spirit of service.

Now, II. Beginning in verse 28, he tells them, “You have stood with Me in all of My trials.” From the day Jesus began his earthly ministry, he suffered the great trial of being pure and holy in an impure and unholy world. The world, the flesh of men, the devil, constantly worked against him and he’s saying that, “You guys may have been weak at times, you may have faltered at times, but you stood with me. So there’s going to be a great and an exceeding great award for you in the coming kingdom.” And brothers and sisters, I exhorted you, I talked about our small group work and our small group ministries, why we’ve got to stay faithful and keep serving. There is a time for down time, there is a time for rest, but those are the exceptions. We should gird up our loins and recommit ourselves to serve God and serve God’s church and advance God’s kingdom because the reward is not here. Jesus knows these apostles are going to face serious trial, rejection and persecution in the world but he holds out to them, “Keep on going for me and in my name and for my kingdom because your reward is going to be exceedingly great in another kingdom.”

You know, I believe just, again, our culture used to a degree hold to that understanding that there is a God; there is an accountability; there is a judgment; there is a better life ahead. It just grieves me that our culture today has become this crass, bass, secularist, materialist culture. By materialist, I don’t mean just wanting wealth though that’s certainly there, I mean they’re looking at this world, this material world as all there is so grab for all the gusto; get all you can now because there’s nothing else. If you have a vile, filthy lust that comes across your heart, live it out and we’ll celebrate it because that’s all you’ve got. There’s not another world to live for. There is no reason to deny yourself. That’s a lie. Jesus said there is an exceedingly great and glorious kingdom coming and exceedingly great rewards for those who stay true to me.

That’s review. Now as we continue in this section where he’s finished the Passover meal instituting the Lord’s Supper there in the Upper Room and he’s about to be on his journey out to Gethsemane, we come also to III. That is we see here that Jesus is our sustaining strength. Jesus is our sustaining strength. It’s very interesting. By the way, I believe there’s going to be some things come out in this text that are going to surprise you, perhaps even startle you to a degree, and I think there’s going to be an expansion on some doctrines that will deeply and richly bless you.

Verse 31, Jesus turns to Simon Peter and he says, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.” Now, this reminds us of what Satan did when he went before God and asked for permission to afflict Job so we know this is something that Satan is allowed to do, go into the presence of God and ask for permission to do some certain things to certain saints of God. We know Satan has already taken on Judas and now Satan wants to bring Peter down also, in fact, Satan just doesn’t want Judas and now Peter, he wants all of the apostles. He wants all of you. You see, Satan is the night wolf, always lurking near the flock. He’s lurking near your house right now. He’s lurking near your marriage. He’s lurking around your children. And how vigilant without unbiblical extremes and legalisms, but how vigilant we need to be to make sure our children and our children’s children are raised up in this filthy, vile, secular, post- Christian world to know and love God and we’re going to be very thorough and very intentional and very dedicated at Grace Life to pour God’s truth into our children and prepare them.

Brothers and sisters, I just want to say this because this is just very true: if we get another liberal President who appoints one and maybe at least two Supreme Court justices, your Second Amendment rights are probably gone and our freedom to preach and teach the moral convictions that we have concerning human sexuality and marriage may be on the line. I mean, real and direct persecution could be just ahead and I would have never dreamed 20-25 years ago that I would have to say this, but if one more liberal appoints more liberal justices, that’s a very real possibility. Are you going to stay? Are you going to stay? Are you going to bail out if it’s not better for you financially? I believe the majority of you will stay strong. I am concerned about a few but the test is coming. It’s coming. Now, maybe that won’t happen but for the first time in my lifetime, it’s a very real possibility.

Satan is the night wolf lurking to destroy. Jesus says to Simon Peter here, “Satan has desired permission from God the Father to sift you like wheat.” Now, when Satan did come against Judas to sift him like wheat, Judas was found to be chaff. As you know, when wheat is sifted it means you pound it or throw it up in the air and let the wind blow the light chaff off and what’s left is the pure grain that’s useful for food and nutrition, but chaff is considered the evil, what’s worthless, what’s not of God and Judas proved when Satan sifted him that he was chaff. Now Satan desires to show that Peter is no better and I’ve got news for you, Peter in and of himself is no better. In fact, we are all desperately weak and no match for Satan. Paul writes to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 10:12 and he says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” My friend, you’re strongest when you bow your head in humility and weakness and say, “Oh God, I have no strength. You must be my strength.” Satan is like the carnivore that lurks to pick off the weak and we are all the weak. Satan is a crafty one like the serpent and he’s ravenous like the lion and we are just simply no match. Peter was the leader of the 12 but Peter was a fallen man like we are all fallen men; Peter was weak like we’re all weak; Peter was of flesh, he was a sinner, he had no strength to stand in and of himself.

Look at verse 32, “but,” Jesus speaking to Peter, “I have prayed for you.” Now, that’s powerful. “Satan, the mighty, crafty, ravenous, much stronger and much more intelligent than any human being desires to sift you like wheat, to destroy you, Simon Peter. Satan has asked the Father for permission to sift you like wheat but, Peter, I’ve asked the Father about you also.” In this we see that the Lord Jesus has supremacy over both his disciples and over Satan. You listen to me: Satan is mighty, Satan is powerful, we are no match for Satan, but he’s completely subservient to God. Completely.

Jesus said, “Simon, I have prayed for you,” and he continues in verse 32 and says, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” Now, that’s interesting. You see, faith in reality is not of man anyway. The faith you have in Jesus Christ is indeed a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” There is really just no grammatical, contextual way to interpret that verse other than to conclude is that what’s not of yourselves is the faith. He’s talking about works doesn’t save you and then the apostle goes on to say, “and not even your faith is a product of your work.” It’s the gift of God. The faith you have in Christ is God’s faith he gave to you as a gift. Is it not true, my friend, that we persevere in faith because the mighty Jesus died for us? The mighty Jesus ascended into heaven for us, even at the right hand of the Father and the mighty Jesus has requested of the Father that we be ones of sustaining faith.

“Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith won’t fail.” Now, Peter perhaps in immaturity like you and I in immaturity could have heard that statement and just kind of went past it because I’ve read this many times and you’ve read this many times, and probably haven’t thought a whole lot about it. “Well yeah, I prayed, okay, yeah, but I’m going to be strong for Jesus.” No, you’re strong for Jesus because Jesus prays for you.

“I have prayed for you, that your faith would not fail.” This reminds us of what’s called the high priestly prayer that Jesus prayed as recorded by John in John’s Gospel as Jesus is praying for his own, just like he’s telling Peter, “I’m praying for you.” In John 17:11 and 12, Jesus is praying to the Father for his followers and he says, “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves,” my followers, “are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name.” How are you going to be kept, how are you going to sustain, how are you going to make it to the end, how are you going to keep going in this increasingly perverse, tempting, dragging down, persecuting world we now live in? God is going to keep you because Jesus asked him to, and have I told you, he’s got special pull with the Father. He’s got special influence with God the Father. You’d better be glad that you’re not going through the pope, you’re going through the great high priest, Jesus Christ, and he prays for you. Our confidence is not in any human being starting with Jeff Noblit. Our confidence is in Jesus Christ.

“Holy Father,” verse 11 of John 17, “keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name. In other words, there is a season of time when I was personally taking care of them and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition,” that’s Judas, “so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” The Scripture prophesied that Judas, the son of perdition, would fall away.

Now we jump down to verse 15, “I do not ask You to take them,” my followers, “out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” Then verse 24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” Boy, I love that. Jesus said, “Father, I’m asking you that you’ll get all of these of mine home with me because I want them to see what I’m like when I’m full of glory.” You see, God the Father is going to make sure you get home to be with Jesus because God the Father and Jesus want to show off what they are to you. It’s not about you, it’s about him. You are secure. You’re going to sustain. You’re going to make it. You’re going to persevere. That’s what the early Baptists called it, not once saved, always saved. I do believe that but they called it something else, they called it the perseverance of the saints because Jesus is praying that your faith will not fail. You’re going to make it all the way home because Jesus says, “I want you to see me in all my glory.” Because when this world comes against you, when this world mocks at you, when this world ridicules you, read on the news channel this morning that the state of Georgia may lose the Super Bowl because the state legislator voted, a religious liberty law that people who own businesses ought to be free to not have to violate their biblical convictions and cater to homosexual marriages or whatever it is, and can you believe that the pressure and the persecution coming from the secular world now? It’s just amazing the stuff we are facing today. How are we going to stay strong? Jesus and God the Father said, “It’s our job to do that. We’re going to keep you. We’re going to keep you strong.”

Jesus is the one who intercedes for us. Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” That shows that there is a continuing ministry of Jesus on our behalf right now, as a matter fact, all the time. He is continually praying for us by the Father in heaven that our faith would not fail. That’s what he told Peter and that’s what he’s doing for all of us.

Do you remember the old song, “Glorious Day”? Do you remember that song?

“Living He loved me, dying He saved me And buried He carried my sins far away Rising He justified freely forever One day He’s coming, oh, glorious day.”

Now, that’s a wonderful song and every bit of that is absolutely true but I can’t help but think that when we run through it, “Living He loved me,” that’s true. “Dying He saved me,” that’s true. “Buried He carried my sin far away,” that’s wonderfully true. “Rising He justified freely forever,” that’s true but there’s something else that happens after that. There’s another line we might ought to put in there. Let’s go through it one phrase at a time.

“Living He loved me, dying He saved me And buried He carried my sins far away Rising He justified freely forever – now listen, here’s my new line, Ascended He prays for me that I’ll not fall away.”

That’s his ministry too. His high priestly intercessory ministry is not mentioned. Don’t think that I’m saying we shouldn’t sing this song, as a matter of fact, I hope we sing it next Sunday at Easter, but there’s a glorious wonderful truth the saints of God far, far too often minimize: Jesus right now for you is praying your faith will not fail. “Ascended He prays for me that I’ll not fall away.” I wish I could sing like Brother Tom. Are you with me, church? I want you to leave this, I’m not through, don’t get antsy. I want you to leave this service today thinking of the glory that Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, has died for you, paid for your sin, risen for your justification and is not finished, is actively working today in prayerful intercession that you’ll make it all the way home to glory. Wow.

So he doesn’t say to Peter here, “Peter, it’s going to get tough. It’s going to get real tough. It’s going to get real, real tough. You’re going to lose your livelihood, you’re going to lose your job, you’re going to lose your life eventually but here’s what I want you to remember, I’m praying that your faith won’t fail. I’m praying for you, Peter, that your faith won’t fail.” We have to remind ourselves that his heavenly intercession is as vital and essential as his earthly crucifixion. Did you hear that? His heavenly intercession for us is as vital to our ultimate glorification and our continued sanctification as was his earthly crucifixion.

So Jesus says to Peter, “I am praying for you that your faith will not fail,” but you can say, “Wait a minute, he did fall. Didn’t he fall?” Look at the next couple of verses. Luke 22:33 and 34, Peter responds, Peter in his immaturity but he said, “‘Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!'” Peter was probably sincere but he didn’t understand what he is made of. And Jesus gives him a little rebuke here, verse 34, “And He said, ‘I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.'” Peter, not only are you not going to do what you just said, this day you’re going to deny me three times. So here’s what Jesus is saying to Peter, “Peter, I want you to understand what you’re made of and your success is what I’m going to do for you. You’re greatest when you understand you’re weakest. Your success, Peter, is not in your strength. Today you’ll deny me three times. It’s in my faithfulness to pray for you and go to bat for you before the Father.” So Peter did fall but he did not fall away. His faith did falter but his faith did not fail. There is a real difference.

Proverbs 28:26 reminds us, “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.” Isn’t that the truth? Jesus is our sustaining strength. When you sin against God and you are grieved at yourself and you have that thought in your mind, “O God, what a mess I am. What a wretch I am. What a failure I am.” I want you to have the immediate thought right behind that, “But Christ is praying for me that I’ll make it.” And you go to God and say, “Lord, forgive me.” And he says, “I do. On the merits and the basis of what my Son did for you on the cross and his faithful intercession for you in heaven, I do forgive you.”

Verse 32, he then says to Peter, “when once you have turned again,” when you repent and get back on track with me, “strengthen your brothers.” Just a reminder that Jesus has chosen weak failures that he might work in them and through them to make them leaders and strengtheners of the church.

IV. Our last point as we are on this side of the Passover meal, about to go to Gethsemane, we see Jesus teaching them that there is now to be a transition to common methods for provision and protection. A transition to common methods for provision and protection. Look at verse 35, if you will, “And He said to them, ‘When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, did you lack anything?’ They said, ‘No, nothing.'” Verse 36, “And He said to them, ‘But now,'” here’s the transition, now it’s going to be different, “‘now whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.'” So Jesus is saying, “I’m about to leave you and when I’m gone, I’m ascended back up into heaven, your approach to ministry, ministry provisions and protections is about to change. Now there is going to be for you a wanting, a provision.” In other words, you’re going to have to be concerned about how am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to clothe myself? Now there’s going to be a need for self-defense. Previously when Jesus was ministering on the earth and they were going along with him, he would miraculously provide for them. If necessary, he’d take five loaves and two fishes and feed 7,000 people out of it. He could just do a miracle and give them a provision.

He was miraculously their protection but he’s saying, “When I’m gone, that’s no longer the norm,” and here’s one of the ways our dear friends, many in charismatic circles miss the truth about signs, wonders and miracles. They think because they see them in the ministry of Jesus they’re normative to the church today where Jesus very clearly says, “No, that season has closed and another approaches about to begin. You’re just going to have to be more concerned about the common, typical ways men take care of themselves.” You’ve got to understand that while Jesus was ministering on the earth, he brought a touch of his glorious miraculous kingdom to bear on the earth and so for that season of time they didn’t have to think about what they were going to eat or how they were going to clothe themselves, Jesus took care of it. They didn’t have to think about, “Do we need to defend ourselves,” Jesus took care of it. But now that is changing. To this point, they had been the blessed companions of Jesus during his brief earthly ministry and during that three years or so he functioned in a way that has never been seen on the earth before and will not be seen on the earth again until he returns.

Now, as a cross-reference here, go over to 2 Thessalonians 3 because I want you to see here how the Bible has progressive revelation. In other words, as you progress through the Scriptures chronologically, you get increasingly the whole picture of how God means for Christians to live and function. So we have in the church at Thessalonica some people who are not subscribing to common ordinary means to take care of themselves. 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear,” verse 11, “that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” Do you know what he’s really saying in verse 12? Work in a quiet fashion, eat your own bread. Shut up, get to work and take care of your own needs. That’s what he’s saying. In other words, “Church at Thessalonica, quit being so spiritual about this that you don’t understand you’ve got to get up and go to work and sweat and provide for yourself.” Perhaps some of them were all caught up in Jesus’ coming back and, “We’re just going to wait here and pray until he comes back.” Or perhaps some of them were “into faith,” and by the way, I don’t have time to elaborate much on this but there’s a lot under the notion of faith that’s not faith at all. The Bible tells us how to meet our needs. The Bible tells us how to support our ministries. We don’t have the liberty to be more spiritual and have more faith than God has and God tells us we go to the common ordinary approach. You take up offerings. People go to work. They work hard. They give the money. You earn your keep. You pay your bills. That’s spiritual.

Verse 13, “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.” Verse 14, “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter,” including if you’re going to eat, you’re going to do your own work, he said, “take special note of that person,” mark him out, “and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.” That’s a form of church discipline. “Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” I think he’s pointing out there some of these brothers just need to be informed and need to grow. You don’t need to be too harsh with them but they need to be called into account and accountability. What is Paul saying to the church at Thessalonica? The church in this present world while our Lord has ascended into heaven is to support itself by common means. Yes, we pray. Yes, we seek God. Yes. And God does occasionally step in and do something we can’t explain but generally speaking we’ve got to have budgets, we’ve got to go to work, we’ve got to earn our income and we’ve got to pay our own bills. Now, if a brother has a need, we’ve got a long, long record of caring and helping each other in times of need and even sometimes probably when a brother or sister may have needed this reproof right here.

So Jesus says, “Now when you go out ministering, you’re going to need a money bag. Now when you go out ministering, you’re going to need to take a sword.” Now, to trust in the money bag would be sin. It would be self-confidence. To trust in the sword would be sin but you need them. In a fallen world, even Christ’s disciples and especially these apostles will sometimes need physical, even lethal defense against those who wish to do them harm. It’s a good warning to us to be careful at the, again, ultra spiritual and I say that, I guess in a sarcastic way. Those who today pursue ministry without practical consideration for these practical things are fanatics, idolaters and are unbiblical and there has been a lot of esteem paid to a lot of ministries. Look, the Bible is thorough. When there is a ministry need, the church is to be told about it and as a community together, they take care and support each other. That’s what the Bible teaches. The Apostle Paul over and over and over talked about his need and the needs of the brethren in Jerusalem, the need for us to work together to take care of each other. The idea that you’re supposed to somehow get with God and commune and work it out just you and God, I find no biblical support for that whatsoever. Jesus said, “You’re going to have to realize that when I’m gone, you’re going to have to resort back to common means of support.” Now, God is in all of it but it’s just as spiritual for you to get up in the morning and work all week long and pay your bills and support the Lord’s work, as a matter of fact, more so than if you fast in a room somewhere all week long and somebody has to pay your bills for you.

And also it’s quite obvious here that Jesus intends for these disciples and for us to not live our lives undefended. We are to employ common human means in both providing for our provisions and supplying our defense against those who would do us evil or ill. There is a good illustration, I think, of Israel. Israel while they were in that unique season of the wilderness wanderings, they couldn’t set up households, they couldn’t set up farms, they were headed to the Promised Land and so what did God do? God rained down manna from heaven. He blew in quail miraculously. But what happened when they got to the Promised Land? They went to work. It all changed then. Now we’ve got to support ourselves the old-fashioned way.

So it’s interesting when you look at this and Jesus said, “Okay, before you didn’t take a money belt, before you didn’t need any of this, but now you’re going to need a money belt, you’re going to need sandals and you’re going to need swords.” You wouldn’t believe what the scholars do with this trying to help poor Jesus out. They are just convinced Jesus is a pacifist; just convinced Jesus would never tell them to take up arms in their defense. Brothers and sisters, that is exactly what Jesus is saying. You can’t make it mean anything else. You completely rape the grammatical, historical, systematic interpretation of this text to see it any other way.

Now, you know, I don’t know if it would surprise you or not but we have a quite extensive security detail here at Grace Life Church. I don’t even know who all is involved or exactly how it works but I do know this, that if somebody came in here to do us ill in a violent means, it wouldn’t take five seconds and they are going to be responded to with very forceful means, especially if it involves our children. Very, and quickly. That’s what Jesus said would happen in this fallen world after he was gone. You’ve got to be ready. Now, brothers and sisters, I don’t need to belabor this point, if you carry a firearm, I carry a firearm sometimes, I’m not ashamed of that whatsoever, especially if I’m going to the farm, do it with discretion, do it with humility. There should never be a brashness or a showiness about this, and do it with a prayer of, “O dear God, may I never have to resort to this.”

But Jesus told these disciples, “You’re going to need a sword.” Now, he even elaborates on this. Look at verse 37, he says, “For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘and He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” So Jesus takes this prophetic word out of Isaiah 53:12 and says, “This is about to be fulfilled. I’m about to go on a cross is literally what’s going to happen, and there will be two transgressors on either side of me. I’m going to be numbered with transgressors just as Isaiah the prophet prophesied.” So Jesus is in effect saying, “My time on earth is going to end just the way the Bible prophesied and it prophesied that I will end by being numbered as a transgressor.” So his time on earth would end by the sword of Rome though through that he would save his church, his disciples though would sometimes have to draw the sword against the sword. He’s saying to his disciples, “My toil is about over but yours is just beginning and I’m not going to be here and you must understand that it is spiritual and right to provide for yourself provision and protection by common means. That’s God’s will for you.”

Then it’s very interesting as this section is closed out, they say in verse 38, “They said, ‘Lord, look, here are two swords.’ And He said to them, ‘It is enough.'” What this means is they carried lethal provision for their defense the whole time they were with Jesus. Have you ever thought about that? The disciples were armed while they were out evangelizing. We know they were because it’s not going to be long before Peter cuts a guy’s ear off. I don’t know, does that shock you? Does that surprise you? It did me a little bit, to be honest. Spirit-filled, humble man should know how to handle themselves in these situations and there is a proper place for it. Very interesting that as Jesus is about to go to Gethsemane, he’s about to be betrayed by Judas, he’s about to go before Pilate, he’s about to be crucified, he says, “Guys, be ready to defend yourselves when necessary.” And you should too. With gravity, with seriousness, with maturity, with discretion but you should too. Now, am I predicting we’ve got something unusual about to happen? Absolutely not.

No, no, no, not at all. As a matter of fact, we’re not in a context that these men were in. I mean, we’re getting closer to it. When Jesus gets to this point, everybody is against him and his disciples. Everybody. And the true church is getting more and more like that in our world. We really are.

Let’s stand together in prayer.