INTRODUCTION:
A. Luke 13:10-11
B. Description of the crooked woman
I. APART FROM CHRIST, WE ARE ALL INHERENTLY CROOKED.
A. Many do not recognize their spiritual condition.
B. We are crooked people in need of His healing (Rm. 3:23; Is. 53:6; 1 Pet. 2:25; Is. 6:5).
C. This is the greatest problem of man through each generation.
1. The first generation (Gen. 3; Rm. 5:12; Gen. 4:8)
2. The generation of Noah (Gen. 6:11, 5-6; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5)
3. The inhabitants of Canaan (Gen. 15:16)
4. The children of Israel (Dt. 32:5, 15-18)
5. The Jews on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37, 38, 40)
6. The Christians at Philippi (Ph. 2:14-15)
7. The generation of Christ’s ministry (Mt. 11:16; 12:39; 16:4; 17:17; 23:23, 34-36;
Acts 7:51-53; Rm. 5:8; Jn. 3:17; Acts 17:30-31; Jn. 12:48)
D. Sin is the cause of crookedness (Ps. 32:1-2; 1 Jn. 3:4; Rm. 3:23; Acts 2:40; Ex. 34:6-7).
E. Why are rivers crooked? (Ex. 23:2; Mt. 7:13-14).
F. Crooked living is caused by crooked thinking (Lk. 13:14-17; Is. 55:6-9; 1 Cor. 1:21).
G. Only God can straighten the crooked heart (Lk. 13:12-13; Ps. 103:10-13)
III. STRAIGHTENING UP IS URGENTLY NEEDED.
A. Living a crooked life is a miserable existence (Acts 22:14; Jer. 10:23; Prov. 13:15).
B. “Straighten” means “to restore to straightness or erectness” (cf. Jn. 8:1-11; Eccl. 1:15).
C. Straightening is not an easy process (Hb. 12:11-13).
III. HOW DO WE COOPERATE IN GETTING STRAIGHTENED OUT?
A. We must practice determination (Mt. 7:21, 13-14; Lk. 9:23).
B. We must practice concentration (Prov. 4:25; Heb. 12:2; Col. 3:1-2).
C. We must make constant course corrections (Jas. 1:21-25, 20; Gal. 4:16; Acts 7:54-60;
2 Tim. 4:1-4; Heb. 3:13).
D. We must trust in God’s help (Prov. 3:5-6; Is. 40:3-4; Ps. 5:8; Jer. 31:9)