Luke 12 Embodies
Critical Admonitions For Believers, Today!
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered,
So that they were trampling on one another,
Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying:
'Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
There is noting concealed that will not be disclosed,
Or hidden that will not be made known.
What you have heard in the daylight,
And what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms
Will be proclaimed from the housetops.
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body
And after that can do no more.
But I will show you whom you should fear:
Fear Him who, after killing of the body,
Has the power to throw you into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear Him.
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?
Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before men ,
The Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.
But he who disowns me before men
Will be disowned before the angels of God.
And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of man
Will be forgiven,
But anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
Will not be forgiven.
When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities,
Do not worry about how you will defend yourselves
Or what you will say,
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.
The Parable Of The Rich Fool
Someone in the crowd said to Him,
'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.'
Jesus replied,
'Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?'
Then he said to them,
'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'
And he told them this parable:
'The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
He thought to himself, 'What shall I do?
I have no place to store my crops.'
Then he said, 'This is what I'll do.
I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones,
And there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I'll say to myself,
'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.
Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'
But God said to him, 'You fool!
This very night your life will be demanded from you.
Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself
But is not rich toward God.'
Do Not Worry
Christ Jesus teaches us that nothing is impossible for God;
His resources are unlimited for those who love Him.
That is why He could say:
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
What you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap,
They have no storeroom or barn;
Yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Since you cannot do this very little thing,
Why do you worry about the rest?
Consider how the lilies grow.
They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you,
Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
Which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
How much more will he clothe you, O' you of little faith!
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink;
Do not worry about it.
For the pagan world runs after all such things,
And your Father knows that you need them.
But seek His Kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid, little flock,
For your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom.
Sell your possessions and give them to the poor.
Provide purses for your selves that will not wear out,
A treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted,
Where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,
Like men waiting for their Master to return from a wedding banquet,
So that when He comes and knocks
They can immediately open the door for Him.
It will be good for those servants
Whose Master finds them watching when He comes.
I tell you the truth, He will dress Himself to serve,
Will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them ready,
Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.
But understand this: If the owner of the house had known
At what hour the thief was coming,
He would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be ready,
Because the Son of Man will come at an hour
When you do not expect him.
Peter asked, 'Lord are You telling this parable to us, or to everyone?'
The Lord answered,
Who then is the faithful and wise manager,
Whom the Master puts in charge of his servants
To give them their food allowance at the proper time?
It will be good for that servant
Whom the master finds doing so when He returns.
I tell you the truth, He will put him in charge of all his possessions.
But suppose the servant says to himself,
'My Master is taking a long time in coming,'
And he then begins to beat the menservants and women servants
And to eat and drink and get drunk.
The Master of that servant will come
On a day when he does not expect him
And at an hour he is not aware of.
He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
The servant who knows his Master's will
And does not get ready or does not do what his Master wants
Will be beaten with many blows.
But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment
Will be beaten with few blows.
Form everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded;
And from the one who has been entrusted with much,
Much more will be asked.
I have come to bring fire on the earth,
And how I wish it were already kindled!
But I have a baptism to undergo,
And how distressed I am until it is completed!
Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but division.
From now on
There will be five in one family divided against each other,
Three against two and two against three.
They will be divided, father against son and son against father,
Mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
Mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
And daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
He said to the crowd:
'When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say,
'It's going to rain,' and it does.
And when the south wind blows, you say,
'It's going to be hot,' and it is
Hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky.
How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?
Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?
As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate,
Try hard to be reconciled to him on the way,
Or he may drag you off to the judge,
And the judge turn you over to the officer,
And the officer throw you into prison.
I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
(Luke 12, NIV)
Repent Or Perish (Luke 13:1-9)
Now there were some present at that time
Who told Jesus about the Galileans
Whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Jesus answered,
'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners
Than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?
I tell you, no!
But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--
Do you think they were more guilty than all the other living in Jerusalem?
I tell you, no!
But unless you repent, you too will all perish.'
Then He told this parable:
'A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard,
And he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard,
'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree
And haven't found any.
Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
'Sir,' the man replied, 'Leave it alone for one more year,
And I'll dig around it and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine!
If not, then cut it down.' (Luke 13:1-9)
