Luke 19:47-48

Luke 19:47-48 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

Titus 3:1-2 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Jesus was in a maelstrom of hatred during the final period of his ministry. Jewish religious leaders and teachers of the law hated Jesus so much they wanted him to disappear; they wanted him dead. Are you in a maelstrom of hate? As I listen to the health care debate, I think some Christians are following people who preach, discord, hatred, and disrespect. These self-acclaimed leaders loath our President; they want him gone; they seek any pretext possible to destroy him. If Jesus returned today, what would he find in your heart? Would He find the works of the flesh: hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions or would he find the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? (Galatians 5:20-23) Does the world's spirit or the Holy Spirit reap a bountiful harvest in your life?

Embracing negative spirits quickly overwhelms our minds and behaviors, preventing us from winning the world for Christ. These powerful characteristics of sinful man, these dark attitudes, have been evident throughout the centuries. Mankind constantly exhibits a lack of love, a warring mood. An angry spirit can also control or motivate good or religious people. Such power within religious people is extremely dangerous and destructive, for religious people claim they are fighting for godly principles, for God himself. In our most religious war, The Civil War, almost 700,000 people died. Both factions claimed God for their side, but these wicked spirits of control and discord decimated the country. If we willingly entertain sinful attitudes in our minds, Christians can be overwhelmed easily by these negative spirits. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel? Cain could only ask if he was his brother's keeper, for he dared not confess the evil in his heart. The innate, negative works of fleshly man caused Jesus to say there will be wars and rumors of wars until the end.

Jesus' message of love, service, and sacrifice turned the world upside down. He talked about being a caring servant, about first judging yourself instead of judging others. He talked about giving to others, about loving our enemies. His ministry revealed God's long suffering love for a rebellious people. He came as God's sacrificial Lamb for mankind's sinful nature. He came to make us children of God, to cleanse us of our self-centered, self-willed nature, a nature that yielded to the serpent, saying, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? We can observe the contrary nature of man in many contexts, such as at athletic events. I often see Christians booing the officials, yelling at them angrily because they supposedly did not make the right call for the chosen team. (It seems that most calls against the favored team are the wrong calls.) I have watched Christian basketball players pretend the ball did not go out-of-bounds from their hands, blatantly lying about the situation. I have listened to good Christian people skew almost every situation to their advantage.

A selfish or self-willed attitude in a small group or in one person may appear somewhat harmless, but extended to the world scene, such anger and deception leads to wars, discord, hatred, lust, and evil desires of every kind that are not like God. We must remind ourselves that our attitudes, our demeanor, our actions should always reflect God's holiness, his righteousness, his nature. God knows who touched the ball last. He knows who is right and who is wrong in every situation. He views each scene correctly and judges rightly. As Christians, we cannot substitute our view of things for his; we cannot substitute our will for his will, our nature for his nature. He is always supreme, right, and holy! Paul gave these instructions: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 KJV)

The religious leaders in Christ's day wanted to kill him because He undermined their authority with the people, their view of life. They feared losing their leadership positions, and to win back worldly power and influence, they took drastic action: they crucified Jesus. Are we Christians yielding to worldly desires even though the Bible says, Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15 KJV) What is the outcome of following the ways of the world? Death. Sin produces death, rebellion produces death, war produces death. Are we people of death or of life? Of course, we seek life, life everlasting through Jesus Christ! We are to love, to care, to help, to go the extra mile, even to love our enemies. We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. If we are not, we are worthless, and worthy to be cast aside. If you are troubled by an angry, self-serving, controlling approach to life, turn to Christ today. He will free you and put his nature within you.