Sermon Tone Analysis

November 22, 2015

*Read Lu 13:31-33* – The first sin of all time is recorded for us in Isa 14:14 where Lucifer, the highest of God’s creation, says, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

The essence of every sin since has been the desire for control – to be one’s own God.

In our fallen human existence, submission, even to God, comes hard.

Enlightenment advances encouraged a man-centered, anti-God mindset typified in 19th century proclamations like Algernon Swinburne’s “Hymn to Man”: “Glory to Man in the highest!

For Man is the Master of Things.”

Modern geneticist H. J. Muller assures us, “We see the future of man as one of his own making.”

Politicians join in.

JFK, “All man’s problems were created by man and can be solved by man."

And Frank Sinatra simplified it to, “I Did it My Way.”

But is man really the master of his own fate?

Can we make our own future?

The answer makes a world of difference – an eternity of difference.

Who is in charge here?

Secularism answers man is in charge of a chance-drive existence which is largely meaningless.

Jesus answers, God is in charge of a purposeful, God-glorifying universe with a plan intended for our benefit and His glory that gives meaning to our personal existence – if we choose for Him.

That’s the message we see in these few short verses.

Who’s in charge here?

God is.

And Luke details that by showing us first I.

Man’s Deluded Attack followed by II.

God’s Divine Authority.

What a contrast!

*I.

Man’s Deluded Attack*

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”

So – Pharisees?

Looking to protect Jesus?

Well, there are some “good” Pharisees in the Bible.

Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and others.

But for the most part they were an self-righteous, deluded lot.

That is the case here.

Notice, “At that very hour.”

That refers us back to the sermon Jesus has just preached that emphasizes the need to enter by the narrow way, the extreme contrast between heaven and hell as eternal destination and the indication that the Pharisees and their lot are headed for hell unless they repent.

That was not calculated to make friends and influence people.

So you can bet these guys were looking to hurt Jesus, not help.

They hope this threat will move Him on to Jerusalem where we already know from John 7:1, “the Jews were seeking to kill him.”

They could not safely object to His message here because of His popularity.

But in Jerusalem, He will be on their territory.

The advantage will shift to their side.

This is a grand attempt to manipulate Jesus into their trap.

Who’s in charge here?

The Pharisees think they are!

They’re in for a rude awakening from that delusion.

So is any person who arrogantly ignores or denies God.

God is patient.

He does not always give us what we deserve when we deserve it, or the world would be empty of human habitation.

But that does not mean that He has lost control.

Believe me, Beloved, no one, from the greatest to the least can move a little finger without the oversight of a God who is working all things to His purpose.

It is the ultimate delusion to think otherwise.

Despite appearances, God is as firmly in control now as He has ever been.

Nothing escapes His notice; nothing is outside His control; and no one is in charge except God.

The Bible says, “Man throws the dice, but God makes the spots come up.”

Okay, that’s a paraphrase of Prov 16:33 which says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”

That means, “Man throws the dice, but God makes the spots come up.”

It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t make a move without God’s expressed permission.

Prov 22:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.”

There is no escaping the sovereignty of God.

Who is in charge here?

God is.

Always has been.

Always will be.

All things work to His glory.

The illusion of human sovereignty borders on insanity.

Like the patient who told his psychiatrist, “Doc, I’m a bridge.”

The doctor said, “What in the world has come over you?”

The guy answered, “So far 10 cars, 3 busses and a truck.”

When we claim to be something we are not, we are living in Fantasyland.

And that is true of anyone who believes man is in charge.

They are like the Brits who watched Hitler come to power in 1933 and immediately begin to rebuild German military power in violation of the Treaty of Versailles which ended WWI.

Churchill raised a warning voice but was labeled an alarmist.

The world turned a blind eye and deaf ear as Hitler retook the Rhineland, annexed Austria and a part of Czechoslovakia – during which time he could have easily been defeated.

PM Chamberlain said he bought “peace in our time” – which turned out to be very short when Hitler invaded Poland in Sept 1939 and WWII broke out.

The illusion that they could control the mad-man was over.

And very soon, Beloved, the illusion that man can control God will be over once and for all.

Just as these Pharisees discovered that Jesus was firmly in charge, so the whole world will see it one day.

Man’s deluded attack will come up far short.

God is supreme.

Look how Jesus demonstrated God’s authority here.

Three ways.

*I*I.

God’s Divine Authority

*A.

His Omniscience (He Knows Hearts)*

32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox”, speaking of Herod.

Interesting phrase.

Tells us a lot.

First, it indicates how bad Herod really was.

It’s a term of utter contempt.

“Fox” is feminine.

We might translate, “Go tell that vixen.”

Jesus pronounced woes on the Pharisees, too, but remember those were expressions of regret and calls for repentance.

This is the closest thing to an indication of absolute hopelessness in the ministry of Christ.

A female fox.

Devious.

Jesus sees right through the conspiracy hatched by Herod to get rid of him to his black heart.

Herod had already beheaded John.

But he was guilt-ridden and paranoid that Jesus was John raised from the dead.

He wanted Jesus gone.

But he didn’t want to kill another Jewish prophet.