LUKE CHAPTER 16
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Lk 16,1-15
(21m) Sin
>> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >>
The love of money
(163c) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> Being slaves of men >>
Being a slave to greed
(182k) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Deceitfulness of riches
Lk 16,1-13
(20d)
Sin >>
Nature of sin >>
Motives of unbelief -- These verses go with verses 19-21
(21i) Sin >>
Premeditated sin >> Intending to abuse the
grace of God
(36i) Gift of God >>
Inheritance >> Our inheritance can be withheld
(96m) Thy kingdom come
>>
Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having
an attitude of greed
(160k) Works of the devil
>> Satan
determines the world's direction >>
Temptation to walk in unbelief >> Tempted to
pursue your addictions
(179i) Works of the devil >>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Unworthy servant >> Unworthy because of
unfaithfulness
(183ea) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Nursery
for the spirit of error >> Selfish
ambition >> Seeking to control the Church
(184g) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace
of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Abusing your position –
There is one word in common with this parable and the one before it (the
Prodigal Son; Lk 15,11-32), the word "squander". Note that the
only difference between these two parables is motive. The unrighteous steward was lazy and not
particularly intelligent, but he was shrewd; he didn’t know
how to do anything but lie, cheat and steal. He devised a win-win plan and
paid a visit
to all his Masters’ debtors and discovered how much they owed Him and
undercut his Master, so that every cent he received from them was pure
profit, telling them, 'Write out the
check to me and I’ll make sure my Master gets it.' This way everybody was
happy. The people were happy because He lowered their debt, and he was happy
because he became rich by cutting his Master out of the deal. In
His mind God never was part of the deal. The unrighteous steward was in rush
mode before word got out
that he had lost his job, knocking on people’s doors, they would
have known he was up to no good. He skipped town and never saw his Master
again, leaving with about seventy percent on the dollar of all that was
owed, so he made a lot of cash and a lot of friends at the same time. The money represents sin. The unrighteous steward
was a pastor preaching a diluted gospel to his parishioners, suggesting to them that they
are not as sinful as they thought. That is, the unrighteous
steward humanized the gospel, preaching easy believism, circumventing
repentance, the fear of God and the believer’s judgment to the degree of
cutting
salvation out of the deal. It made the
people happy to hear they were acceptable to God without feeling beholden to
Him, which initially caused the Church to numerically grow and led to more
tithing and money in the unrighteous steward’s pocket.
(195b) Denying Christ >>
Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >>
You can only serve one at a time – There is a sharp distinction between
serving God and loving money: to pursue money beyond our needs is to serve an idol. Giving the appearance of righteousness and faith, they
placate those around them to assume they are Christians when in fact they
are really servants of the unrighteous mammon.
(197b) Denying Christ >>
Man exercises his will against God >>
Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling Against what
God wants you to do >> Refusing to take on
responsibility
(198g) Denying Christ >>
Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained
by man >> Having evil motives for seeking
leadership positions >> In the ministry for personal gain – The
previous chapter about the prodigal son
squandering his father’s possessions was similar to the unrighteous
steward, yet there is one main difference between them: the
prodigal son received only love and mercy for his mistakes, whereas the
unrighteous steward received condemnation and the boot. Note also that the rich man
was a Father to the prodigal son, while the rich man in this story was the
boss. Both made the same mistake, squandering the rich man's money, but the consequences
were drastically different. The main difference between them is motive: the prodigal son’s
infraction
was carnal and fleshly in nature, whereas the unrighteous steward's
infraction was spiritual. He was working on a
level of knowledge that was much higher than that of the prodigal son; hence he was
working on a level of sin that was far greater. The rich man had a certain amount of trust in the
unrighteous steward, so betrayal was involved, whereas the prodigal son
asked for his share of the estate in advance, which
was not an infraction of the agreement. The unrighteous steward was
squandering the rich man’s money as a business, ruining
people’s lives and deceiving them in the process. Jesus was telling these
parables back to back to show the correlation between them and it says that
the unrighteous steward found his place in hell, which is a vastly different
outcome than the prodigal son. The unrighteous steward represents pastors who abuse their
positions and abuse the people God entrusted to them, while the prodigal son represents
His children who
occasionally go astray.
(222b) Kingdom of God >>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give
what is holy to dogs >> God does not entrust
his treasures to dogs >> God retrieves his
treasures when sheep revert to dogs
(225c) Kingdom of God >>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >>
Parables about wealth >> Parables about a rich
man -- These verses go with verses 19-31. The rich man is God, and the unrighteous steward
was an embezzler of human souls, which is the only thing God considers
valuable. Note that the unrighteous steward never answered the rich man,
because he had no relationship with him, but
immediately began conniving. God owns everything, so the unrighteous steward
had ownership of nothing, he merely managed those who belong to him. God probably has billions of tons
of gold somewhere on a planet thousands of galaxies away, yet it has no
value, nothing does except the human heart, because it is the only thing He doesn’t own,
until we give it to Jesus.
(249i) Priorities >>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
World’s perception of wealth >> The world's
wealth erodes good values >> Being a slave to
wealth –
The unrighteous steward was caught stealing from his Master before pulling
this stunt. The idea was to make everybody write a check in his name,
cash them and run for the hills with the money. This is an accurate depiction of
low-life preachers of the gospel, televangelists who have come
and gone over the years, whose interests were only in exploiting the people.
The unrighteous steward began to surmise some of his choices. Based
on his skill-set given at birth, he had the gift of gab, the ability to talk
people into anything and schmoozing them out of their money. Being fired
and His means of income about to end, how would he get through life? He
would not submit to the circumstances of his Master putting him into the streets in total defeat
to become like those he once pilfered, picking up mundane jobs paying little
to nothing. The unrighteous steward made a plan to put himself in a
position where he would be set for life; he would never have to punch a
clock. So the man’s only interest was in this temporal realm; not for one
minute did he have a care about eternity, being totally devoid of
faith. The the ministry was just a business to him. He had no interest
at all in leading people into a genuine faith.
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Lk 16,1-8
(173f) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >>
Unholy sacrifice (Penance) >> Offering sacrifice without
God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the word
of God –
The unrighteous steward was never hired as a mediator between his Master and
his clients; that is a position he assumed by his own authority. That sounds
just like the Catholic Church; they were extremely oppressive to the people,
telling them that if they didn’t bow to their demands, they would go to
hell. All their doctrines and traditions were tailor-made to strip the people
of their money. The unrighteous stewarded made a covenant with the people that
his Master did not request, yet He required more from them than the
unrighteous steward collected, for he demanded only a fraction of what they actually owed his Master. If people don’t
accept the sacrifice of Jesus’ body on the cross as full payment for their
sins, they will have to pay their debt in hell. The cross of Jesus was at the center of Catholicism,
technically making them a Christian religion, yet they lorded themselves over the
people as
mediators, which made them a cult. It was the
height of wickedness, telling the people their sin was not as egregious
as God had told them, that if they worked out their salvation according to the
Catholic traditions, they would go to heaven, without ever attempting to lead
the people to faith in the truth.
(180e) Works of the devil >>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Be shrewd as wolves and more innocent than they appear >>
Wolves are clever – Jesus
said his own people are not very cleaver compared to those in the world who love money; nor
do His people’s dedication to godliness rival the world’s shameful love of
money. Jesus was essentially prophesying that in the last days the Church
would grow cold and slow of heart and unable to compete with the wisdom
of the world. The wisdom of God operates as a barometer of a
person’s faith. Jesus expects His people to be more cunning and cleaver than the world,
but the Church does not love God by comparison. The world
wants what it wants, but we can’t say that about the Church; it doesn’t
want righteousness more than the world desires sin.
(217f) Sovereignty >>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> God gives up on you >>
After you refuse to comply – The
fact that the unrighteous steward was a manager suggests that he was the pastor of a
church. The
unrighteous steward will not
be joining us in heaven, for he stole more than money from his Master; he stole human
souls. Jesus in another parable said about His Father, “I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and
gathering where you scattered no seed” (Mat 25-24). If God is a hard man,
why do we paint Him so softly and give ourselves so much leeway with Him? At
every opportunity we spin the word of God in our favor, doing just what the
unrighteous steward did, who required only a fraction from His Master’s clients
than was expected of them.
Lk 16,1-7
(18g) Sin >>
False Judgment lacks evidence >> Temporal
mindset
Lk 16,1-3
(203e) Denying Christ >>
Dishonor God >> Stepping out of position
Lk 16-1,2
(4e)
Responsibility
>> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable
in your stewardship
(165e) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake
of the world >> Do not desire the treasures of
the world -- These verses go with verses 19-31
(186k) Works of the devil >>
The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >>
God’s role in forming a reprobate >>
Rejected by God
Lk 16,3-9
(62c) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Being clever >> Responding
with wisdom to your
enemies them
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Lk 16,3-8
(75j) Thy kingdom come >>
Motives >> Being manipulative >>
Controlling people by abusing authority
Lk 16-4
(240d) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >>
Beware when all men speak well of you >>
Natural disadvantage of being popular
Lk 16,5-8
(177e) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >>
Doctrine that tickles your ears –
In the last days many unrighteous
stewards have made deals with the people and told them that they really
don’t owe God as much as they thought, but what they do owe they should give
to them, and they will see that their Master gets it. Religion has told the
people over the centuries that God is not demanding like the word of God says,
and His expectations of us are not great, and their debt
of sin is not severe, so all they have to do is follow their
religion and they will find favor with God. The unrighteous steward taught in
essence, ‘Just do what I say and I will make sure that God receives you,’
so these unrighteous stewards developed clever religions and doctrines that
led the people to believe that if they just follow the
clergy, they will be right with God. That is the very definition of a priest,
but priest was not the position his Master assigned to him, for the Bible teaches that priests
are no longer needed, for Christ is our Great High Priest. This unrighteous
steward was acting as a priest, a very unrighteous one, for there are no good
priests, since their position was eliminated 2000 years ago. Nevertheless,
people are far more ready to believe in a lot of religious doctrines to
excuse them from accountability of their sins before God through a priest, than to believe in
Jesus Christ through His blood sacrifice. That is, people are far more willing to
accept a religion than they are to accept responsibility for their own
salvation.
Lk 16,5-7
(75d) Being
Manipulative
(Key verse)
Lk 16,8-13
(166e) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the
world >> Nature Of Man’s Wisdom >>
Man’s wisdom is fixed on gaining personal advantage
Lk 16-8
(112f) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >>
Light >> Obeying the truth in broad daylight >>
Church’s deeds in the light
(129k) Thy kingdom come >>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Single minded >>
Determination
Lk 16,9-31
(55l) Paradox >>
Gain the world to lose your soul >> live this
life to Lose eternal life
Lk 16-9
(47f)
Judgment >>
God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of torment -- This verse goes
with verses 23-28.
Jesus is telling the unrighteous steward to make friends by means of the
unrighteous mammon, promising that it will fail, and when it does, his friends
will receive him into the eternal dwellings. What does that mean? The fact that
Jesus mentioned eternal dwellings means that Jesus is talking about
either heaven or hell, and the unrighteous steward certainly didn't go to
heaven. Rather, Jesus was describing the unrighteous steward’s experience in
hell, that if he plays his cards right, he could create a better situation for
himself in eternity. The one who has made many enemies in this life will in hell
receive direct retribution from them. This draws a mental image of people
seeking-out those in hell who sinned against them in this life and exacting revenge on them. Some say that hell is a very lonely place with no
relationships, but Jesus is painting a much different picture; therefore, He advised the unrighteous steward to develop relationships
now, as opposed to making enemies in this life and having to contend with them
forever in hell. Those who have made many enemies in this life will find hell
all the more unpleasant by their fellow inmates. Not only will judgment befall
him from God through shame and everlasting contempt, but added to that will be
those who languish beside him and gloat over his suffering.
(47k)
Judgment >> God judges the world >>
Eternal judgment against unbelief >> Rejecting
Christ
(59d) Paradox >>
Two implied meanings >> Being sarcastic / Being
clever
(63d)
Sarcasm
(Key verse)
(63l) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Sarcasm >>
Scoffing at the wicked –
Jesus told the unrighteous steward to make friends for himself in this life, so
when he finds his place in hell, he won’t have to live alongside enemies he
made in this life. The sin of the unrighteous steward was that he underbid
the debt of those who owed his Master. We interpret the role of the unrighteous
steward as the pastor of a church who preached a gospel that downplayed the
subject of sin, so the one who owed 500-measures of oil thought he owed
only 200, representing their sin level. The unrighteous steward made their lives
easier by helping them believe that God was more acceptant of them without the
need of His grace and mercy. Although the unrighteous steward (pastor) did not lead them from this horrible pit of eternal damnation, apparently his congregation
thought he meant well. Probably the saddest part of this
whole story is that the people in his care didn’t understand that the
unrighteous steward was their worst enemy, because he led them to this hellish place and
away from a loving God who would have accepted them through the grace and mercy of
Christ. He could have revealed to them that their debt level of sin was so
enormous it was impossible to pay (Mat 18,23-35), so they needed to completely rely on
the grace of God to forgive them. The saddest part is
that the people were not angry with him for misleading them, but were happy that he
lowered their bill.
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Lk 16,10-15
(22a) Sin >>
Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >>
The deception of greed
Lk 16,10-13
(4g) Responsibility
>> Advocate God’s cause >>
He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much
– This is one of the many kingdom principles
that Jesus established during his ministry. Give someone a dollar and see what
he does with it. If he is faithful with it, he would probably be faithful with
ten thousand dollars. It is the same way at church; if you see someone who is
faithful in the little things, you would be safe to entrust him with bigger
things. There are all kinds of criteria that pastors use to choose people for
lay ministries and other purposes, and this is the number one criteria
they use. They should be looking for people who are faithful in the little
things. It’s also true in business; it is a universal principle; character
is very important. There are those who are spiritual, who are
interested in the Bible, who even have a prayer life, but lack character. There are those who would rather exploit people
than to be entrusted with something valuable and important.
(102g) Thy kingdom come >>
Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Trustworthy >>
Faithfulness –
In the parable of the unrighteous steward, the employee was put in
charge of managing the owner’s business while he was gone, and of course
he was utterly corrupt and saw the situation as an opportunity. This
story is about faithfulness, loyalty and trust, and these are all things
that pertain to faith, which obviously the unrighteous steward did
not have. Each person can only serve one god, and if it is not the God of
heaven, then he is an idolater. Ironically, idolatry is a sign that he doesn’t believe in God. There are many indications of faith and unbelief;
sometimes we show signs of unbelief even though we do believe; other signs
point to believing in God when the person really doesn’t. So it is our overall
lifestyle that determines whether or not we believe. Jesus promised an
inheritance waiting for us in heaven that will far exceed the value of
money, so we should store up treasures in heaven “where moth and rust do
not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal” (Mat 6-19). However,
these are things unbelievers cannot do; though they can believe in God, they
cannot believe to the point of changing their lives. They can only offer lip
service and hold to a form of mental ascent regarding certain doctrines, but converting their beliefs into a changed
life is impossible without
faith, hence the difference between the believer and the unbeliever.
(113h) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >>
The anointing >> Anointed through obedience
Lk 16-10,11
(109b) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >>
Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Revelation of
the gift of God
Lk 16-10
(222k) Kingdom of God >>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give
what is holy to dogs >> Give to him who has >>
Whoever has shall more be given – Gal 5-9 says “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough,”
so any sample of ourselves is an accurate representation of our entire lives.
Jesus placed very little value on money, which sounds like blasphemy in the
ears of those who love money. Anybody could
find a way to spend a million dollars a year, yet that same person could learn
to live on only $10,000.
Overabundance clouds our understanding and paints our value system and wastes
our time making it and spending it. We would be further ahead serving the
Lord. Note that Jesus compared money to true riches, suggesting that money is
not true. He was talking about heaven and eternal life, saying that there was
no equivalent of money in heaven, but there is something in heaven that will
be far more valuable than money that we can gather here in this life, faith.
See also:
Wealth (Being ultra-rich
is inherently evil; Lk 16-19; 170d
Lk 16-11,12
(222j) Kingdom of God >>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give
what is holy to dogs >> Give to him who has >>
Take from him who does not have – When Jesus said “who will entrust the true
riches to you,” He meant that God won’t. He was saying that if we have not been
faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon (calling money a necessary evil at
best), then God won’t entrust His true riches to us, meaning we won't be
going to heaven. What are God's true
riches? At the top of the list is human souls, but there are other
things that are very valuable to God, such as keeping His word. Those who are
unfaithful in the things
of the world will never be trusted with the things of God. The person who
is unfaithful in the unrighteous mammon is an opportunist and will make the
rest of us feel we need to watch our backs. However, the one who is brimming with the wisdom of the
Spirit can be trusted with anything, because God has entrusted him with His
treasures. Note that being spirit-filled can be
faked, but no one can fake the wisdom of God. Therefore, the
litmus test for spiritual leaders is to listen for the wisdom of God coming
from their pulpits. Jesus said that these true riches actually belong to us,
but God must personally give them. If we
are unfaithful in the things of the world, He will not give the things He
meant for us to be our greatest possession. It is a real
travesty when God cannot trust us with His treasures, because then we are
incomplete in our faith and walk with God.
Lk 16-12
(21b) Sin
>>
Disobedient to the call
(48j)
Judgment >> Levels of judgment
>>
Judged by withdrawing rewards –
If we believe in Jesus and live for Him, the question is not whether God will
let us into His heaven but what level of reward we will receive
when we get there. God has a certain trail of good works that he wants us to
walk (Eph 2-10); to the extent that we walk on it, will be the extent of our
reward. Walking this trail also proves that we are His true
children, hence guaranteeing our heavenly enrollment. If we
walked this trail perfectly, He would give us a full reward, but we all fail
in various ways and have deviated from His designated trail. In the ways that we
do not
fulfill His purpose and calling, He will subtract from our reward; this is the believer’s
judgment. Most people in the Church pooh-pooh the rewards, giving themselves
freedom to live as they choose at the cost of rewards in the life to come, as
though they had no value. In fact, heavenly rewards are almost never mentioned
in the Church but are reiterated throughout the Scriptures. When that day comes and our
judgment is at hand, and God pulls out our record and begins processing it,
chopping at our reward and handing us a mere fragment of what we could have
received, this sad state will be reflected in our resurrected body, so that everybody will forever know by
simple observation to
what extent we served the Lord in this life. Then we will wish we served Him
with a whole heart. See
also: Trail of good works (Omitting righteousness
is the cause of sin); Col 3-13; 124e
Lk 16-13
(92e) Thy kingdom come >>
The narrow way >> Trail of good works >>
You cannot walk two trails –
The
problem today is that people go into debt spending money they don’t have,
and whether they pay off their credit cards and mortgages is scarcely in the
interest of either the borrower or the lender, which makes the world all the
more bizarre. When the Church assumes this lifestyle, it grossly violates this
passage. Another word for materialism is hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure. No
idol has ever satisfied anybody; people buy expensive toys because they think
they will make them happy, but all idols have failed to satisfy their
worshippers.
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Lk 16,14-17
(249k) Priorities >>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
World’s perception of wealth >> The world's
wealth erodes good values >> The world attains
wealth by hook and crook
Lk 16-14,15
(74f) Thy kingdom come >>
Heart is man’s central value system >> Where
value interprets the man –
Jesus sure knew how to rebuke the Pharisees. They were becoming wealthy off
the backs of the people who had to work hard for what little they had, while
the Pharisees enjoyed the prestige of being religious leaders of Israel. In a
theocracy, that is like being a king. Definition of "theocracy": a nation
whose
religion and political state are one. That was the case with Israel, starting in the days of Moses.
God mandated
that their religion should govern them, so the religious leaders managed the people
through the Law of Moses, but they used it to justify
themselves and condemn others, so God’s response was to redefine His chosen people
as those who would believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.
(179b) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >>
Jesus rebukes the Pharisees >> Rebuked for
loving money –
Christ and the Pharisees were exact opposites of each other,
indicating that most everything the world values is detestable to God, and
that everything God values is detestable to the world. People must find ways
around Him in order to introduce their own value system, since they cannot say
God is wrong or evil, because He values things like love, justice and compassion, and nobody can
conscientiously deny these things. So the world concurs with God that His values are good, but the world
does not hold to them. They try to practice them to a point, but when somebody
wrongs them, or when they are in a bad mood, all their values fly out the
window, and they haul out their own value system and seek
justice their way. Meanwhile, they have wronged others
and forgiven themselves. The Pharisees were lovers of
money, so when Jesus told the story of the unrighteous steward, it was a
parable against them. They told the people how to find favor with God, and most of what they taught
drew money
into their pockets.
Lk 16-15
(57e) Paradox >>
Opposites >> What is highly esteemed among men
is detestable in the sight of God – The Pharisees were not people of the heart,
and for this reason they hated Jesus on many fronts, not the least of which
was His preaching against their love of money. He infringed on their
business of religion.
Jesus made this statement as a matter of fact; He didn’t say it was often
true or most likely true, but said, “That which is highly esteemed among men
is detestable in the sight of God.” He spoke it as a principle
of His coming kingdom,
suggesting that it was always true! This means that no matter what becomes
popular in this world will invariably contradict God’s truth. Whatever man considers important is
always detestable in the sight of God. Man’s value system is completely
backwards and upside down. God’s children who love Him and devoted to
Him and walking with Him are the only people whose value
system is not utterly corrupt. Jesus said, “Beware when all men
speak well of you” (Lk 6-26). If we start getting notable acclaim for our
efforts and accomplishments, we might want to check our work to make sure it
has God’s approval. In AD 300 the Church started
developing a positive image as Catholicism gained a foothold in the world,
proclaiming to be God’s one true church; they are really the contemporary
Pharisees of our day.
(240e) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >>
Beware when all men speak well of you >> Natural
disadvantage of seeking popularity
Lk 16-16,17
(90k) Thy kingdom come >>
Keeping the law >> Unless you keep the law you
will not see heaven –
A lot of conjecture has been raised over the meaning of people forcing their
way into the Kingdom of God. Jesus was talking about people trying to get into
heaven any way they can, making up the rules as they go and expecting God to
abide by them. The Old Testament rarely spoke about heaven; references mostly
in the Psalms and Isaiah occasionally spoke about God’s home, longing to go there one day, but no revelation beyond that.
In contrast,
Jesus emphasized heaven and introduced the idea of eternal life, so now the
New Testament is loaded with passages that speak about heaven. The goal of the
new covenant is to go to heaven, whereas the goal of the old covenant was to
live a good, long life with little mention about the afterlife. Therefore, the
Old Testament is the basis of our pursuit of heaven. When Jesus introduced the
concept of eternal life as the goal of faith, instead of
listening to Jesus who tried to tell them how to get there, we developed our own ideas and
hoped that God would accept
them, essentially forcing our ideas on God, but Jesus said that not one
stroke of one letter of the Law would fail. Jesus was saying that if they
violated the Law in their pursuit of heaven, they would not find it. People
think they can live any way they want and go to heaven in the end, plowing
through the pearly gates like a theater on fire, trampling on people along
the way. Instead of causing a stampede, we are to help
other people find the emergency door exit sign at the back of the theater that
leads directly outside and to safety, that leads to life, suggesting that if we
trample on people trying to get to heaven, it is unlikely we are running in
the right direction. Isn’t that the way of the world? People see everybody
running and follow the crowd.
(187g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Separation from the old man>> Die to the flesh >>
Dying to receive the glory of God >> Dying to
self precedes the resurrection
Lk 16-16
(46a) Judgment >>
Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Violent take it by force
>> Taking the kingdom by force – Wherever Jesus went, huge crowds followed Him,
and they pushed their way into front row seats to be closer to all He was
saying and doing, but most of His spectators didn't accepted His blood sacrifice, hence they were
never saved. So, what exactly was it that attracted them to Jesus? He cared
about them for one thing, but all their interests were of this temporal realm.
He was a
novelty in their eyes that was destined to fade; they were not actually
listening to His words. He spoke to them about eternal life and
sacrificing this life to achieve the eternal kingdom. There is no forcing our way into the
Kingdom of Heaven. Rather, we find it like a little child who quietly asks Jesus in
her heart, and then quietly lives for Him the rest of
her life. So, according to the flesh there is no forcing our way into the Kingdom of God, but according to the spirit there are many obstacles and
entities that we cannot allow to stop us reaching our goal. The little
girl who prayed and quietly lived for Jesus encountered many spiritual
obstacles throughout her life, and she had to push through them to reach the shores of
heavenly; the battles
she fought were not visible to the naked eye.
Lk 16-17
(244g)
Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The word of God is eternal
>> The word of God will outlast the creation
Lk 16-18
(134j) Temple >>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Immorality >>
Adultery >> Physical adultery – For reasons other than infidelity, it
doesn’t matter if the divorced person is getting remarried or if someone is
marrying a divorced person, in the eyes of God whenever they have sex they are
committing adultery against the former spouse, for God does not recognize
illegitimate divorce. A person can get divorced for any reason, but what is
addressed here is who can remarry. We marry for life, and if we divorce on
grounds other than infidelity, then we should remain singe for life. The
person who divorces over physical or emotional abuse should not remarry for
the sake of God’s word, but also because of a record of poor choice in
partners. This is the sacrifice the person must make to avoid sin. In other
words, if you marry the wrong person, you can ruin your life.
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Lk 16,19-31
(22a)
Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The
deception of greed – We think people who are happy in this life
are least likely to go to hell, but that is not the case. There is something
about wealth that mimics the approval of God that others readily accept, but
God does not accept wealth as an emblem His approval. People figure that if a
person is well-off, he must have something going for him; he must have good
common sense, fortitude, ambition; he must be pretty cleaver; he must be wise
and know how to
make good decisions, but none of these things can save
him from the flames of hell.
(47c) Judgment >>
Hell is a place of sorrow >> Hell is to be
avoided at any cost – It seems that the rich
man wasn’t asking for much, but then neither was the Lazarus. The rich
man only asked for a single drop of water and didn’t get it, so apparently
thirst is a tormenting punishment in hell. Lazarus didn’t ask for much
either; he didn’t ask for a turkey dinner or a nice warm bed; he only asked for a few crumbs and didn’t get it. The
rich man went to hell because he was rich and Lazarus went to heaven because he was
poor; this is
the way Jesus told the story. Although there are some rich people who go
to heaven, their numbers are small. The gospel of the kingdom was actually
designed for the poor and
misfortunate of the world, for they have the least to lose, whereas the rich are called to first give up their
fortunes in order to embrace the truth of God’s kingdom. The poor have
very little they must sacrifice, but they do have to give God their loyalty,
faith and trust. That is all He asks from us, but the rich trust in their
money; it is their God. Hell is the hallmark of failing wealth.
(56k) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Least are greatest >> Smallest in the eyes of men are
big to God – Lazarus was in bad shape; he was most likely
homeless for a long time, probably diseased from poor hygiene and regularly
beaten by robbers, the last morsel of sustenance taken from
him, and he sat at the rich man’s gate hoping for mercy. The angels came and
took Lazarus away to Abraham’s bosom, but no angels came for the rich man.
They left him for dead and he descended to the flames of hell. He
probably was looking for heaven and the pearly gates, thinking they
belonged to him like everything else as a continuation of his former life.
(56l)
Paradox >> Opposites >> Greatest are least in the eyes of God –
We know the name of the poor man
but not the rich man.
(165e) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake of
the world >> Do not desire the treasures of the
world -- These verses go with verses 1&2
(182l) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Unaware of the spirit world
(208e) Salvation >>
The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >>
Preaching on hell
(218a) Sovereignty >>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> You cannot control the judgment of
God >> You cannot control how God responds to
rejection
(221a) Kingdom of God >>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden
behind the veil from the world >> God hides from
man’s ignorance >> God hides from those who
are not looking for Him
(225c) Kingdom of God >>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >>
Parables about wealth >> Parables about a rich
man -- These verses go with verses 1-13
(248i) Priorities >>
God’ s preeminence >> Values >>
Valuing God >> Do not value things that
devalue God
(249m) Priorities >>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
World’s perception of wealth >> The world’s
wealth has no value >> The world’s wealth
cannot afford a single soul
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Lk 16,19-21
(20d)
Sin >>
Nature of sin >>
Motives of unbelief -- These verses go with verses 1-13
(157d) Witness >>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Being displeasing to God >>
Leading a fruitless lifestyle
Lk 16-19
(22c) Sin >>
Greed takes without consideration for others >>
Serving self – The
word “rich” is a relative term; we are rich compared to others.
Give money to a homeless person and he will probably spend it on beer and
cigarettes, so how does he need
money? The truly poor person is one who will receive the gospel of Christ and benefit from
our assistance. Once he
is a Christian Psalm 37-25 says, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I
have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.” Who
are the poor? Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven” (Mat 5-3). Lazarus, when he died, found his place in
Abraham’s bosom; he was truly poor, because he was open to God's help; but
those who close their heart to Him He cannot help, and neither can we. Some have nothing,
yet we
should not consider them poor, being they could do more with what they've been
given. People like this exploit the system and reject their conscience and spend their money without
consideration for their children. They represent Lazarus, and
the parents represent the rich man without a name, who died and was forgotten and
went to hell because he never once considered the poor.
(170d) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory
of man >> Greed and lust are the glory of man >>
Earthly riches are the glory of man –
The rich man enjoyed his money; what's wrong with that? In heaven we will all be
rich beyond our wildest dreams and enjoy our lives in splendor, and so the
rich man was acting like the average person in heaven, but he wasn’t in
heaven; he was living in this life, while others were living in dire poverty.
This is the way it has been since the beginning of time with the rich getting
wealthy off the backs of the poor. We would think the rich would protect the
middleclass, since they are mostly responsible for making them wealthy, but
that usually is not the way it goes. The rich engorge themselves with the wealth
of the middleclass through excessive greed, exploiting and oppressing them,
sacrificing their chief source of wealth to temporarily become wealthier than
ever, destroying any prospect of sustaining their wealth. They become
unimaginably rich at the cost of future generations, even sacrificing the
future of their own prodigy. If they had any sense they would protect the
middleclass, but they are only interested in becoming ultra-rich, not just
billionaires but trillionaires. The ultra-rich in the world today control the
government, not for power and affluence but for legislative purposes to ensure
laws are passed in their favor to benefit their pursuit of wealth. This is
called a plutonomy, where the ultra-rich control governments for the sake of
further increasing their wealth. They loosen regulations on the environment
and then strip the earth of its natural resources and beauty, leaving open
sores for runoff to erode chemical-laden soil, polluting local streams and
rivers. They do the same to people, until the ultra-rich virtually own
everything. Greed is never content; it knows no bounds; it has no off-switch. If one is a
millionaire, he wants to be a billionaire, if a billionaire then a
trillionaire; it just never ends. “What else is there to assimilate?” This
is what the rich man says in his heart, and so they suck dry the resources of
man and earth, until there is nothing left, until the economy itself is no
longer sustainable and then collapses on itself. The ultra-rich go into hiding
with their bars of gold and wait for the economy to rebound, so they can
resume their position at the top of the world. This is what’s wrong with the
rich man joyfully living in splendor every day, not just that he didn’t care
about the poor, but that he created the poor. He was the reason Lazarus was a
beggar, seeking scraps off the rich man’s table. This is basically the wage
that people earn these days. They work forty hours a week and barely have
enough to make ends meet, their income resembling scraps off the rich man’s
table, and this will never end until Jesus returns and establishes His
Millennial Kingdom and teaches man how they could have lived throughout the
ages. See also:
Wealth (love of money); Lk 16-10; 222k / Plutonomy; Rev 12,1-10;
61f
Lk 16,22-31
(185d) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of
lawlessness >> Denying Christ in spite of His
proven identity
Lk 16,22-26
(12c)
Servant >> Examples of God’s people >> Abraham is our example of
faith – Abraham’s bosom is best described as the
place where all old covenant people went who walked by the faith of Abraham.
In Old Testament terms the faith of Abraham was translated as obeying the
prophets, but in New Testament terms it is translated as obeying the Holy
Spirit. All people who go to heaven
believe in God with the faith of Abraham. When Lazarus died, it says his soul was taken by the
angels to Abraham’s bosom, taken in many respects as the
angels will bodily “gather together His elect” in the rapture (Mat 24-31). The angels left the body of Lazarus to decompose, being different from
the rapture, whereas our bodies will be suddenly transformed into spiritual
bodies in the twinkling of an eye. Abraham’s bosom was a heavenly place, not heaven
itself but an old covenant version of heaven, a place where the souls of man
went, until Christ could
create a way for His people to enter true heaven through the door of His own
flesh.
(202k) Denying Christ >>
Running from God >> Wicked men cannot approach
the throne of God >> Goats are unsaved church
attendants
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Lk 16-22,23
(243i) Kingdom of God >>
The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible
kingdom >> The body of Christ is indestructible >>
Our spiritual bodies are indestructible
Lk 16-22
(15d) Servant >>
Ministering spirits >> Angels Perform certain
duties – We know Lazarus but Jesus did not give a name
to the rich man; when he died, he was buried. This implies that no one came for
him; when the rich man died, he suddenly found
himself alone, no one tended to him, no one cared for him; they just buried him. The rich man was so tied to
the material world that he
literally identified himself with it, so when he died, he lost his identity. During his life
he nurtured his body and pampered it, meanwhile leaving Lazarus to starve.
The rich man’s
body and his spirit were undergoing many of the same changes, undergoing decay,
as it were a death that would never end. They buried the rich man, “and
in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away,
and Lazarus in his bosom.” Everybody is going to
die, and when that day comes, we had better hope an angel comes for us.
There may be a host of people gathered around our deathbed; we might not
physically die alone, but when the body can no longer house our spirit and
evicts us, there had better be someone on the other
side waiting for us. If we die and there is no one there to escort us to
heaven, we
cannot wander in the darkness and expect to find the door of heaven, and
even if we found it, the door would be locked, and it would be
no good to knock, because no one would answer. We need an escort if we are
going to see heaven. If we believed in Jesus, when we are met by
the angels on the other side, they will gladly
escort us into the Kingdom of Heaven, where the door will be standing
open for us to enter.
(57f)
Paradox >> Opposites >> To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord – Abraham’s bosom represents a place where
all the old covenant believing saints went when they died prior to the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now when someone dies in the Lord, he goes directly to
heaven (see: Jn 10-16; 2Cor 5,6-8; Eph 2-15,16). Sheol is defined
as the place of the dead without distinction between the righteous and the
wicked. There was an insurmountable
chasm fixed between these two separate areas of Sheol with death and Hades on one side and Abraham and
God's children
on the other. Presumably the bottomless pit, as it is called, represents the difference between
these two places, being also the difference between faith and unbelief, and
after Jesus shed His blood the chasm widened and deepened. Now the sinner is
thrown into the bottomless pit with the devil and his angels, the same
crevasse that once divided Abraham's bosom from Hades.
(151ba) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears
witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >>
Abraham >> Faith of Abraham
Lk 16,23-28
(47f)
Judgment >>
God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of torment -- These verses go
with verse 9
Lk 16-23,24
(47a)
Hell
(Key verse)
– There are some who believe there is no actual hell, as though people centuries ago tampered with the Bible and injected
their own ideas into it to scare parishioners into the Church. The problem with
this
claim is that "hell" is marbled throughout the Scriptures. Those who
don't believe there is a hell are probably going there. Another far more serious problem
of not believing there is a hell is that it hurls contempt on the cross of
Christ, belittling the purpose of His sacrifice. The Bible says that
Jesus came to save us. It uses the word "saved" 51 times, such as in Mk
16-16, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be
condemned." If there is no hell, we are saved from what? Looking at the cross we see the urgency of God to save us from an eternal dying process. Hell is
a place where life does not exist; it is the place of the living-dead. Hollywood’s depiction of
the living dead may not be the same as the biblical version, but it is
similar. There is a hell and those who go there have already died, and now they are
wandering spirits hopelessly looking for a way to escape their darkness;
and after the resurrection of the damned, God will give them indestructible
bodies to be tormented forever and ever.
The reason God made hell was to show
the extent that the creation needs Him, by removing every semblance of Himself from
Hell's environment.
Outside His presence there is nothing but pain and suffering. Nothing grows in
hell; there is nothing to eat or drink; there is no joy, nothing living. In
contrast, we enjoy sunlight, a green summer, rainfall, autumn colors, they all
come “from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting
shadow” (Jm 1-17).
Lk 16,24-31
(193j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Turn from sin to God >> Repent >>
Consequences of not repenting
(241b) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of
the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >>
Asking for something that is not in His will
Lk 16-25
(48g)
Judgment >> Levels of judgment >>
Judged according to your standard of measure
(69i) Authority >>
Righteous judgment (Outcome of Discernment) >> Judging the flesh by the
Spirit –
Jesus made hell sound like people go there because they had a good life, and people go to heaven because they had a miserable life. How could
that be the best explanation for a person's final destination? This is an extreme generalization contrasting the easy life
of the rich man versus Lazarus' dire poverty. It is safe to say
that Lazarus died much younger then the rich man, being that he was
probably malnourished and ill-treated and susceptible to disease, whereas the
rich man had all the comforts of life afforded to him. Jesus was saying that those
who live in luxury tend to go to hell because they have
everything they need and have no use for God, whereas the poor man asked
Jesus in his heart since he had no hope for
this life, perhaps the afterlife would be more gracious to him. This parable does not mean that every rich man goes to
hell and every poor man goes to heaven, but this is
generally the way it goes. For the poor man faith is a win-win covenant with
God, but not for the rich man. Poor people can more easily see their spiritual
need of Christ, because there isn’t anything in the way, whereas the rich
man has his wealth in the way of seeing his stark spiritual poverty. The
poor man can easily believe that his spirit is poor as his flesh, whereas the rich
man tends to think that if he has a spirit, it must be wealthy too.
(228a) Kingdom of God >>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> Comforted >>
God comforts you in times of adversity >> He
comforts you in your suffering –
Had the rich man asked why this was happening to him, Abraham might have
quoted Paul, “This is a plain indication of God's righteous
judgment… after all it is only just for God to repay [you] with
affliction… and to give relief to [Lazarus who was] afflicted” (2The
1,5-7). This is what Jesus said to the rich man: "You received
your reward in full" (Mat 6-2,5,16). He lived in his royal pomp, strutting in
gorgeous robes like a king, and now he is in hell and Lazarus is in heaven
because he paid no attention to the poor. This is the
justice of God. Jesus made it sound as though the rich man deserved to be
punished because he was rich and Lazarus deserved heaven because he was poor. This is one perspective; another is,
"without faith it
is impossible to please [God]" (Heb 11-6). Putting them together it suggests that
wealthy people find it very difficult to believe in God from their luxurious
lifestyles masking over their spiritual impoverishment. In contrast, Lazarus
had the mindset that if man won’t help him, then maybe God will. This is not the
mindset of every person who suffers, but one who endures his suffering. Some
people blame God for their suffering, but Lazarus did not accuse God of his
miserable life; instead, he saw himself from a realistic point of view. He was
probably born a surf into a poor family almost devoid of opportunity, which
led him to the rich man’s gate begging for
morsels. It was nobody’s fault, and it especially wasn’t God’s fault.
That is how the poor man understood his life, and because he didn’t blame
God for his miseries, his heart was open to believing in Him, and for this
reason God was with him.
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Lk 16,27-31
(112b)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light
>> Jesus’ light overcomes darkness
>> The light of His power
– Verse 31 contains the most profound statement
Jesus ever made (in my opinion). He said that the Scriptures are more convincing than
signs and wonders, that if God's word does not persuade them to believe in
Jesus, then nothing else will either, not even someone rising from the dead.
Signs and wonders cannot transfer the miracle of faith, only the Holy Spirit
can do that, working
with the word of God, and it was the rich man’s resistance of the Holy
Spirit that earned him a place in hell. The rich man wanted Lazarus to go to
his brothers since he did not repent at the hearing of God’s word, and for
this reason he didn’t expect his brothers to repent either. Abraham said they
actually had a better chance of salvation and repentance in the hearing of
God’s word than witnessing someone rise from the dead! During His ministry
Jesus raised people from the dead, but it was His word that changed the world.
His signs and wonders merely acted as a seal that proved His identity
as the Son of God and Israel's Messiah to the people in His day, but His word
continues to influence people in our time. Had the gospel writers documented all
the miracles He performed without recording a single word, Jesus would have slipped into obscurity or possibly
been admired as a novelty.
Without His words His sacrifice would have meant nothing; He would have been
just another man who met an unjust end.
(149c) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Three key messages in evangelism >>
Righteousness, judgment and self-control
(168j) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world has
deaf ears to God >> Deaf from a hardened heart
(183h) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >>
Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of unbelief
(186h) Works of the devil >>
The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >>
Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Being
unable to repent
(199k) Denying Christ >>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Rejecting Christ >> Unwilling to receive Christ >>
Ignoring Christ – It would seem that the rich man found his
place in hell by accident, but in fact the rich man made his decision through his love of money. In the rich man’s mind there is a
great chasm fixed between himself and God, called unbelief. The rich man continued living
according to the way his parents raised him because it was all he knew.
Switching from the god of money to the God of heaven would have been a
decision his friends and family would have disapproved. The poor are facing a
similar chasm, only the way they live is not very
appealing, so it is easier for them to step to the other side with Abraham
and his children. In the next life, making this simple passage becomes
impossible, because faith is not possible in Hades. Living and walking by faith
just didn’t befit the rich man,
but now he would like to change his mind. He didn’t want heaven so much as
he just didn’t like being in hell, but God doesn’t want people populating
His heaven who are merely trying to avoid hell; He wants them to actually
desire heaven.
Lk 16,29-31
(79h) Thy kingdom come >>
Know the word >> Practice listening to God’s
word so you can hear it
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