#109 Lu. 12:11-12  HELP FROM ABOVE IN TIME OF NEED

Introduction:

    In our text today Jesus forewarns His disciples of troublous
times which they would face when He is off the scene.  He also
informs them of the special help from above which they would have
in their time of distress.

I.  The connection of our text to the previous verses

    In our previous verses Jesus had told His disciples that they
should go public with the preaching of the gospel.  Even then He
had forewarned them that they would face fierce opposition.  But
He told them not to be afraid of the opposition no matter how
fierce it may be.  He said that they were to be faithful to preach
and teach the truths of God in spite of the opposition.  He said
that they were not to be afraid of those who can kill the body,
but after death have no more power to do them harm.  Rather they
were to fear God who has power over men both in this world and in
the world to come.
    Jesus had then reminded them of the immeasurable value that
God has placed upon them and upon all who are redeemed by His
grace.  He recommended them that God watches even over the
sparrows and that not one sparrow falls to the ground without the
special attention of God.  Jesus reassured His disciples, "Ye are
of more value than many sparrows."
    Luke then records the words of Jesus about the unpardonable
sin which the Jewish leaders had committed by saying that He casts
out demons by the power of Beelzebub or by the power of Satan.
This was, in effect, calling the Holy Spirit "Satan." Jesus said
that if anyone blasphemes the Holy Spirit that he can never be
forgiven.
    In this text, Jesus talks more about the Holy Spirit and Luke
ties this in with what Jesus had already said about meeting with
great opposition to the preaching of the gospel.

II.  Trouble ahead for the Christians

    V. 11,  "And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto
magistrates, and powers..."  Note that Jesus did not say "...if
they bring you unto the synagogues and unto magistrates and
powers..." Rather He said, "...when they bring you unto the
synagogues, and unto magistrates and powers."
    Jesus was speaking about the time when He would return to
heaven and would no longer live bodily with His disciples here on
earth.  The opposition to Jesus even during His lifetime had
already become very strong.  The enemy was already seeking to put
Him to death.  After Jesus was gone, that opposition would focus
on His disciples and vent their anger against them.  The disciples
would be arrested and brought before the synagogues, the
magistrates, and powers."
    There is no question about who is referred to with the word,
synagogue.  This word refers to the Jews.  The disciples of Jesus
would be arrested and brought before Jewish synagogues.  In the
synagogues the Jewish leaders would question them with the same
bitter hostility that they had questioned Jesus.  They would
falsely accuse them as they had falsely accused Jesus.  They would
beat them and threaten them and order them not to preach nor teach
any more in the name of Jesus.  They would order them not to even
speak in the name of Jesus.  They would threaten them with their
very lives if they preached any more about Jesus.  Some of the
disciples would be killed by them.  In the Book of Acts we read
that the apostles Peter and John were among the first to be
arrested and hauled off to prison.  There they were beaten and
threatened and severely mistreated.  Stephen was the first to be
killed by them.  The Apostle James, the brother of the Apostle
John, was the first of the apostles to be killed.
    There may be some doubt about whom the word, magistrates,
refers.  It may refer to Jewish leaders such as the members of the
Sanhedrin Council.  However, it could refer to Roman officials of
lower rank such as the soldiers.
    There is no question about the word, powers.  This word speaks
of governmental officials and very definitely refers to the higher
officials of the Roman government before whom the Christians would
be brought.  They would be arrested and accused and brought before
the Roman officials for trial.  Rome ruled virtually all the known
world at that time.  No matter in what nation the Christians would
be arrested, they would be brought to trial before Roman
officials.  We are more familiar with the appearances of the
Apostle Paul before various Roman officials than we are with other
Christians.  However, Paul was but one of many who were brought
before them to be on trial for their life.

III.  Special instruction for that time of trouble

    In verse eleven of our text Jesus said, "...take ye no thought
how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say."  The
Greek word, which here is translated, "...take ye no thought..."
literally means, "Take ye no overly anxious thought."  That is,
"Do not worry."  Or to put it this way, Jesus said, "Do not spent
time in advance worrying about what to say in your defense when
you are arrested and brought before your persecutors."  "Do not
try to figure out in advance what you are going to say."
    V. 12, "For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour
what ye ought to say."  First of all, this means that the
Christians were not to try to figure out in advance what they were
to say in their defense.  They were to learn to depend on the Holy
Spirit to lead them and guide them in what to say.
    I want to point out to you the great advantage that this would
be.  First of all, it would save them a lot of worry.  Jesus told
them not to worry about it in advance.  They were to just wait and
let the Holy Spirit tell them what to say.  This would save them
a lot of worry.  Worry is a terrible thing.  It can make anything
seem far more worse than it really is.  This is especially true
when you dwell on one certain thing and worry about it day in and
day out.  Just think how much unnecessary worry they could save
themselves by following the instructions that Jesus gave in this
text.
    Furthermore, no matter how much time they might spend in
trying to figure out what to say in their defense, they would not
be able to do as good a job as the Holy Spirit would do.  The Holy
Spirit of God would most certainly be able to come up with a much
better defense than they ever could.  So it was to their every
advantage to just wait on the Lord and let the Holy Spirit lead.
    Now let me caution you right here.  Do not be misled by those
who read this Scripture and say that Bible preachers and Bible
teachers are not to study out in advance what they will say.  I
heard one preacher say, "I never know in advance what I am going
to say.  I just open my mouth and let the Holy Spirit fill it."
Now let me say, that if the Lord wanted His preachers to go to the
pulpits without studying and without preparation.  If He had
instructed them to do so I believe that the Holy Spirit of God is
perfectly capable of filling their mouths with exactly the right
words to say.  But this text does not instruct His preachers not
to study in preparation for their sermons.  Rather it instructs
them not to study in advance in preparation for their defense when
they are arrested and brought before the courts for preaching
Jesus.  Neither does this text instruct Sunday school teachers to
not study in advance for their lessons which they shall teach.
The truth of the matter is that preachers and Bible teachers are
commanded to study the word of God and learn to rightly divide the
word of truth, II Tim. 2:15.

IV.  The application of the text to Christians of today

    But the question comes:  Just what is the application of this
text to our lives today?  Jesus said that they would be brought
before the synagogues and they were.  Jesus said that they would
be brought before the governmental officials for trial and they
were.  But how many of us have been brought before the synagogues
for trial?  How many of us have been brought before the
governmental officials for trial?  How many, that is, have been
brought to trial because of our Christianity?  It is obvious that
Christians of our day have not suffered the same persecutions that
those early Christians faced.
    But this does not mean that Christians of our day are without
trials and persecution.  The only reason that our persecution
today is not as severe as their's is because the laws of our land
will not allow it.  But we can be sure, that the opposition from
Satan and his forces has not let up.  You can be sure that if the
law of the land would allow it, the opposition for Christians
today would be every bit as severe as it was for the early
Christians.  We would be arrested.  We would be brought to trail.
We would be imprisoned, perhaps for life for preaching the truth
of God.  We would be beaten and threatened and many would be
killed.
    The persecution which Christians suffer today is not
physically as dangerous, but it, never-the-less, is very real.
There is slander from every angle.  Particularly there is ridicule
from the entertainment field.  Movies and television constantly
belittle Christianity.  Prejudice against Christians is very
evident in the news media and I don't mean just the exposure of
frauds in the Christian ranks.  Those ought to be exposed.  But
there is prejudice against anyone who stands against the so-called
new morality.  There is some persecution of Christians even in the
educational field and in the business field.  Believe me--Satan
has not gone out of business and has not stopped persecuting
Christians.  For that reason we still need the special help of God
in modern times to help us face the persecution that comes our
way.
    But in addition to persecution, there is trouble galore that
comes our way.  Job said that man that is born of woman is of few
days and full of trouble.  That is true with the non-Christian and
that is true of the Christian.  It is true of the wayward
Christian and it is true of the most faithful Christian.
    Every day brings new trials and new heartaches.  Physical
sickness comes our way.  Accidents and financial problems come our
way.  Some of the problems we face are of major proportion.  They
pose a real crisis in our lives.  They could easily crush us under
the load.  They are beyond our ability to cope.  They are beyond
our wisdom to solve.  They are beyond our strength to handle.
    How great it is to know that we, too, have the presence of the
Holy Spirit in our lives to help us in these times of trouble.
There is an ever present power in our lives in the person of the
Holy Spirit of God to help us in our time of need.
    The Holy Spirit is present within each born-again person.  He
is not off in some distant land where we would have trouble
getting in contact with Him.  He dwells right within us, within
our own born-again spirit.  It was His Spirit which produced the
new birth within us and implanted His own Spirit within our's.
    The Holy Spirit is also present within the local New Testament
church in a special way to empower the church.  The local church
often seems such a helpless defenseless organization.  It has
little funds.  It has such weak human leadership.  It has such few
members.  It has such a few truly faithful participants.  But
never make the mistake of thinking that the Lord's church is
defenseless.  It has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within to
empower it.  The local church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
is among the most powerful organizations in the world.
    Neither is any Christian caught up in helpless circumstances
no matter how bad the circumstances may seem to be.  No matter
what the circumstance, no matter how bitter the persecution, no
matter how bad the accident or illness, no matter how difficult
the obstacle, no matter how desperate the need, no matter how weak
the Christian, no matter how unworthy the Christian himself, the
Christian is by no means helpless.  He has help from above.  He
has the Almighty God as his helper.  He has a very present help in
time of trouble.  In Psalm 46:1 the Psalmist said, "God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  In verses 2
and 3 he said, "Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be
removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof."
    This, of course, does not mean that the Christian will be free
from pain or suffering or trials of life.  To the contrary.  The
Lord clearly informed the early disciples that they would face
grave circumstances.  They would be persecuted.  Some would be
killed.  But they always had the Holy Spirit of God with them to
help them in their need.  Even though they would face even death,
they were not to fear.  They were to place their faith in the Lord
to handle the situation.  He was able to save them from death if
He should choose to do so.  If He should choose to let them die,
He would take care of them beyond death.  All is well as long as
he Lord is in charge.
    I will tell you what--there may be moments that I feel sorry
for myself.  There may be moments when my human nature gets the
best of me and I say, "Oh, woe is me."  But in the main I do not
feel sorry for myself.  I feel sorry for those who are not saved.
I feel sorry for those who have to face life alone without the
Lord as their helper.  I feel sorry for those who face all the
heartaches and problems of life without the presence of the Lord
in their lives to comfort them and strengthen them.  I feel sorry
for the person who comes to his rope's end and there is no higher
power to help.  I feel sorry for the person who comes to the end
of his life and he goes out into that great beyond, but he has no
better world ahead for him.  Instead, for him the world ahead is
many times worse than anything he has ever seen in this world.
The pain is far worse than he could have ever imagined it to be.
But the worse part of all is that there is no let up.  There is no
relief.  And there is no end.
    I not only feel sorry for the unsaved person, but I say,
"Thank God I'm saved.  Thank God for the Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.  Thank God for the little Missionary Baptist Church back
in Pensacola, Florida which preached the gospel to me.  I thank
God for my high-school buddy who got me started to church where I
heard the gospel and was saved.  I thank God for Bro. C. D.
Barton, who preached the gospel the night I trusted Jesus Christ
and was saved.  I thank God for the Holy Spirit of God who is with
me every hour and every minute of every day.  Even when I sleep at
night He watches over me.  In every problem He is my guide.  In
every trial He is my comfort.  In all my weakness, He is my
strength.

Conclusion:

     I am going to ask our musicians to come forward in
preparation for our closing hymn and I am going to ask you who are
unsaved to turn to Jesus Christ and be saved.  Come and put your
destiny in the hands of Jesus Christ.  Trust Him to save your
soul.  Trust Him to watch after you through the presence of the
Holy Spirit.  Come while we sing.