30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 11 37-54 Repenting from hypocrisy Woe 15
📖 Luke 11:37-54
*Persecuted for representing Jesus* _Luke 11:37-54_
As our Lord was confronting the religious leaders of that day, of their hypocrisy, longing for them to repent and turn to Him, He was also laying down before us a general fact that plays out in life _Luke 11:48-49._
Our Lord has commissioned us to be His witnesses, in the fullness and enablement of the Holy Spirit, to the ends of the earth _Acts 1:8._ What do we witness? We witness all of Christ. We represent Him, to our generation, for that will be our judgment _I John 4:17._ God’s heart is full of compassion for the lost. He does not want anyone to perish but that all should come to repentance _II Peter 3:9/II Chronicles 36:15-16. Though, God’s heart longs for people to turn back to Him, the response of the people of each generation has been that they have mocked the messengers of God, despising the words of God and have scoffed at God’s prophets, until the wrath of God arose and then there was no remedy.
We, as disciples of Christ, have a dual role. One, we are prophets of God to our generation and we speak the wisdom of God, to our times _Proverbs 8:1-4._ At the same time we are also part of our generation. We are not just standing outside of our generation and speaking to our generation but we identify with our generation and repent on behalf and with our generation _Daniel 9:4-5._
The fact that we will need to keep in mind is that we will be persecuted from city to city _Matthew 23:34._ We must therefore take the prophets, of previous generations, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience _James 5:10._ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us _Hebrews 11:37-40._ We are therefore part of the lineage of the prophets of God.
*Thought to ponder*
```Now, Lord,…, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness we may speak Your word, Acts 4:29```