LUKE 7:27–35
“To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?”
(Luke 7:31).
After Jesus’ speech about John the Baptist, some of the people praised God, but others were angry at Jesus (Luke 7:29–30). This provoked Jesus to condemn the people of that generation. He states that they are like children who refuse to play the game. First, the other children call to them to dance, but they refuse. Then the other children call them to play the mourning game, but still they refuse. Like such contrary children, the Pharisees and other leaders of Jesus’ generation were refusing the kingdom.
Jesus draws the analogy to John the Baptist and Himself. “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say ‘He has a demon’ ” (Luke 7:33). John was calling them to play the “mourning game.” John was practicing a form of asceticism, refraining from strong drink and even daily bread. The Pharisees, however, said John had a demon.
Then Jesus said, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners” ’ ” (Luke 7:34). Jesus had called them to dance, but they had refused that also. They tried to make Jesus look bad because He participated in the social life of the people, going to the wedding parties, drinking wine and enjoying normal food, and worst of all, befriending the “untouchables” of His generation.
Jesus concluded, “But wisdom is proved right by all her children” (Luke 7:35). The point of this aphorism is that a wise course of action is shown by the fruit that it bears. As the Old Testament wisdom literature (Ecclesiastes 3) shows us, there is a time to sing and dance, and a time to weep and mourn. There is a time when associating with the needy and lost, even to the point of joining in their feasts, is a very appropriate course of action for a man or woman of God. There are also times when withdrawing from society into rigorous discipline is appropriate.
CORAM DEO
2 Samuel 23–24
Luke 22:39–53
Some people display a contentious spirit with respect to Jesus and find Him at fault no matter what He said or did. Like the Pharisees, they hope to excuse their rejection of Him in so doing. Be prepared to respond to such charges against the character of Christ.
For further study: Ecclesiastes 3; Matthew 9:14–16
TABLETALK
from ligonier ministries and teaching and encouraging believers • may 1990
ABORTION: A NATION DIVIDED
Daily Studies From The Teaching Fellowship Of R. C. Sproul
publisher Ligonier Ministries executive editor Ralph D. Veerman editor Robert F. Ingram assistant editor Michael S. Beates design David K. Freeland
marketing Gretchen L. Suskovic production W. David Fox, Melissa A. Prichard circulation Gwen Weber writer Sharon J. Anderson
board of directors Bruce Fogerty, G. Richard Hostetter, Robert C. Legler, Stephen H. Leveé, Jr., C. G. Mills, Archie B. Parrish, James M. Seneff, Jr., R. C. Sproul, John Thompson, Ralph D. Veerman, Luder Whitlock, Charles Colson (Director Emeritus)
Published by Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Inc. under license granted by Ligonier Ministries, Inc. Copyright 1990, Ligonier Ministries, Inc. This Bible study is based upon teaching material by Dr. R. C. Sproul. Unless noted, all Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishers.
member evangelical press association
On the Cover: A pre-born baby, the center of the abortion issue which divides our nation. Superstock, New York.
robert ingram • editor
Coram Deo
The church must exercise a social conscience. And today there is no more pressing issue for the church than the sanctity of life. In his Pastor’s Perspective, Dr. Paul Fowler, quoting Martin Luther, says:
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are attacking at that moment, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all battlefronts besides.”
Nothing less than the Word of God must be brought to bear on this social question. Certainly for the believer it must be that authority against which all thinking and behavior is measured. However, even within the evangelical community (far less the broader church), the incidence of abortion is reputed to be proportionate to the American culture at large. The conscience of the church is being compromised by wholesale disobedience from within.
The sanctity of life debate, however, is not a uniquely Christian issue. It is also a human issue. One need not be a believer to fight on the side of the angels. Even the Declaration of Independence guarantees the inalienable right to life. Thomas Jefferson said, “The care of human life and not its destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” The state too has forfeited its responsibility to exercise a social conscience on this issue.
Ligonier Ministries has a social conscience, which it will exercise. Our goal is to persuade both believer and nonbeliever that the only morally justifiable position on this issue is a consistently pro-life one. No one can escape the gaze of God. He scrutinizes every word, thought, and action. One day He will demand an accounting from both the believer and the nonbeliever. Before the heavenly bar, presided over by the Judge of all the earth, Christ our Savior, all of us will have to account for our earthly moral stances. While the unbeliever will not acknowledge the gaze of the Judge, the believer will, and hopefully will have lived his life in a manner that was pleasing to God. To do so is to live Coram Deo. ■
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