Reactions to Opposition

Luke 13:31–35 (NLT) 

A. Opposition From the enemy/Opposition to stop you:

31 At that time some Pharisees said to him,

“Get away from here if you want to live! Herod Antipas wants to kill you!”

1.Who gave him a warning?  What is strange here?

2. What was the warning?

3. What is the possible motive for the warning?

Faithful to Christ in Spite of Persecution

2 Thes.1:1-12  

3-4 Paul thanked God for the spiritual growth of his readers,

5-10 Encouraged them to persevere in their trials,

11-12 and Assured them of his prayers for them.

He did so to motivate them to continue to endure hardship and thereby develop in their faith.

2 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul wished God's grace and peace for them to express his continuing good will toward his children in the faith.

Grace (God's unmerited favor and divine enablement) and

Peace (the cessation of hostility and the fullness of divine blessing)

The Narrow Door

Luke 13:22–30 (NIV)         

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages,

              teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.

23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

              He said to them,

Jesus was speaking to a crowd made up mostly of religious Jews. They believed in the one true God.

They were not agnostics or polytheists.They believed in the Hebrew Scriptures and lived in basic accordance with them.In giving His answer, Jesus was not addressing a pagan audience. He was talking to the “church” crowd, most of whom assumed that they would go to heaven because they were good Jews.

And He gives us church folks some important and practical lessons on the subject of salvation:

24-------Salvation requires our earnest effort,

25a------our urgent attention,

25b-29--and our careful self-examination.