Four hallmarks of discipleship; Luke 17:1-10

As we continue in the gospel of Luke we look now at a continuation of a message that Jesus was giving to a mixed multitude that included three types of people in attendance.  There was the self righteous, haughty Pharisees who practiced their religion  to be seen of men but whose motives were known by God to be self serving and done for men’s approval.  But they were not counted righteous by God.  And there was a second group of people who were present which was largely made up of the curious.  They were there because it was something different, they were curious, they were perhaps hoping to see some miracle, but they were in a state of flux; they listened to the message of Jesus, but they had not become followers of Christ.  And then there is the third category, which were the disciples; not just the 12, but a group of men and women that were following Him as He went from place to place.  They were actively pursuing the gospel as Jesus presented the message of the kingdom of God.  And as I have said repeatedly as we have been studying Luke, Jesus does not boil His message down to a simple formula which by doing these 3 steps in this particular order you become a member of the kingdom.  But rather Jesus continues to add perspective and layers of truth to the message as He moves from place to place preaching.  And so there is a sense that if you want to be a disciple of Christ, you must follow Him and persevere in listening and obeying the truth as He parcels it out, if you truly want to be a disciple. 

So I have titled today’s message the “four hallmarks of discipleship.”  This is not an exhaustive list.  This is what Jesus gave on that day, at that time.  It is another layer, another level of truth that He is disclosing.  He is adding more detail as He goes.  And so today we are looking at this portion of the message which is addressed to the disciples in attendance in particular.  He has been previously speaking a lot about faith and repentance as requirements to enter the kingdom.  Now today Jesus expands on those subjects by saying how faith and repentance will be employed in the kingdom.  It’s not all that needs to be said about discipleship or all that He will say about it.  But it is another step in their journey, their walk of sanctification, in their walk of discipleship.  And so these four hallmarks should also be true of us; if we call ourselves Christians, then that means that we are modern day disciples or followers of Christ.  We cannot in good conscience call ourselves Christians and not follow His teaching.  Jesus said if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.  So these four principles should provide a sort of check list for us as well, if we have truly decided to follow Christ. 

Now the first principle that Jesus gives is that a true disciple will not put a stumbling block before others.  Vs. 1, “Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!  It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

Perhaps there is someone here today that doesn’t know what a millstone is.  I’m sure that you have all seen pictures or paintings of some of the old mills that used to be built in this country along side of streams or rivers.  Various types of grain mills would use the power of the rushing water to turn a great huge paddle wheel which  turned a large, heavy round grindstone.  Or it could be powered by windmills or even by oxen. But whatever the power source this extremely heavy millstone would be turned over grain to produce flour.  If you travel N. on 113 as you enter the town of Millsboro you can see a large example of a millstone at the town limits.  

And what Jesus says is that people are inevitably going to fall into sin.  There are going to be temptations that cause people to stumble and sin.  Temptations are unavoidable while we are in this world.  But woe to that person who causes someone to stumble.  Who leads someone into sin, or teaches someone a false doctrine which leads them to sin, or who by their lifestyle encourages someone to sin.  Woe to that person.  A woe is a promise from God that He will bring divine retribution upon that person that causes someone to stumble.

So to emphasize how God views this terrible tragedy of causing someone to stumble, Jesus says it would be better to have a millstone hung around the offending person’s neck and thrown into the sea.  Well obviously having a millstone around your neck would plunge you to the ocean’s floor and hold you there until you were  drowned.  Jesus is dramatizing the nature of God’s wrath and retribution against those that put a stumbling block before others.  But the point is that we should be willing to lose our own life if necessary to keep from causing another to stumble. 

Now this is a concept that is very hard for 21^st century Christians in America to understand.  We have been so indoctrinated with the idea that we have been given certain rights as individuals.  We think that our rights are inalienable.  That they are God given rights.  And nobody better step on my rights, or they will be sorry.  We have all kinds of special interest groups out there today that are clamoring for their rights to be recognized.  They say their rights are being neglected.  And yet the message of Jesus Christ says that as disciples our rights are to be subjugated to the priorities of the kingdom of God.  Our individual bodies are not as important as the body of Christ. 

Folks, I can tell you right now that if we really got hold of that principle, if we practiced that principle, then the divorce rate in the church would drop from 50% where it is today to about 5%.  We are too busy living as the unsaved are living; preoccupied with self fulfillment, with protecting our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, living for the moment, living for our pleasure as if there is no eternity. 

This is the point of the parable of the rich man we looked at last week.  He lived for himself. He had a paraplegic beggar living on his doorstep but he was too busy tending to his own needs to be concerned about his neighbors.  He invested in the present.  He was rich in the world’s goods but poor in the kingdom of God.  And when he died he found himself destitute.  He found himself in hell.  That isn’t supposed to be the attitude of a Christian.  We are to be like Christ.  If we call ourselves disciples then we are to show the love of Christ who was willing to lay down His life for sinners.  That is what we are to be like.  Dying to self, serving the kingdom and it’s citizens.  It’s not about defending my rights, but about expanding the kingdom.  That is why Jesus reminds the Pharisees about the commandment regarding divorce in chapter 16:18.  They said they were in the kingdom of God, but they ignored the commandment against divorce in order to act out their lusts and as such they caused others to suffer, they caused people to fall into sin.  They caused their wives and those that married them to sin by adultery.  They caused people to stumble by their self interest.

Listen, a true disciple is characterized by humility; he will consider the needs of others before he champions his own freedom.  There are a lot of so called Christians out there that believe they can do whatever they want in the name of Christian liberty.  They like to have their alcohol when they feel like it and they don’t care if it causes someone who is weaker to fall.  They like to use profanity when they feel like it, and they don’t care if it causes a brother to fall.  I’m suggest something radical; some people would do the kingdom of God a better service if they didn’t tell others that they were a Christian.  They give Christians a bad name.  If you’re going to cuss out your employees on a regular basis, then please take the Christian bumper sticker off your truck.  If you’re going to lose your temper and act like the devil, then please do God a favor and take any reference to Christianity off the sign in front of your business.  I’m sorry if that makes some of you mad, but it needs to be said.  God doesn’t need your help.  God wants your obedience.  He wants us to act like Jesus Christ in all we do.  That’s what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

And ladies, if you call yourself Christians, then you need to protect those weak men who might fall into sin because of the way you are dressed.  Yes, they need to practice self control.  Yes they need to stop thinking like sex perverts.  But you also have a responsibility to God to not be a stumbling block to men who find you sexually appealing.  You can still be fashionable and attractive and not be a stumbling block.  I have a suggestion, the next time you are looking in your closet for what to wear, ask God what he thinks of that outfit. And then decide whether or not you should wear it based on what He thinks, rather than based on your liberty.

Paul says in 1Cor. 10:23, “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.”  Bottom line is, your rights, even your life is not as important as the protection of others who you might cause to stumble.  A true disciple will lay down his life, lay down his rights for the sake of his brothers or sisters in Christ or to lead someone to Christ. 

The second hallmark of a true disciple is that they will forgive even as God forgives us.  Vs. 3, “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Now this principle has two parts to it.  The first is, if he stumbles, if he sins, then we are told to rebuke them.  This principle of rebuking is explicitly stated in 2 Timothy as a job description of pastors.  It says in  2Tim. 4:2, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”   But all of us as Christians, as Christ followers have a responsibility to rebuke those that are in sin.  Ephesians 4:15 says we are to speak the truth in love.  We are required to be compassionate, but not weak. 

But at the same time, notice that we are required to go to that person.  The tendency is when someone sins against you, or offends you, is to go to everyone else but that person.  We tell everyone else what a miserable cretin such and such is because of what they did.  But we fail to have the courage to go straight to the person and confront them, and them alone.  But that is what Jesus is requiring of us.  We confront them in compassion, desiring their repentance.  We desire to see them get things right.  But this also requires that we first examine ourselves.  It’s tough to go to your brother or your wife or your friend and confront them over their sin, if you are guilty of the same thing.  You first have to get the log out of your own eye before you can see clearly to get the splinter out of another’s.  So there is an element of self purification here.  In order to confront someone over their sin, you have to first deal with your own. 

In Matt.18:15 Jesus lays this principle out in more detail.  He says, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”  This passage is one of the texts upon which we base church discipline.  It’s a difficult thing sometimes to do.  But we are commanded to do it.  We don’t have time to get into it in detail today, but notice that the first step is to confront him in private.  In private.  Don’t broadcast it. 

Back in our text of Luke 17, Jesus says if that person repents you are to forgive.  In Matthew He says if he repents then you have won your brother.  That’s the goal.  And then Jesus adds that if he sins against you 7 times in a day and each time he repents, then you continue to forgive him.  The point isn’t to keep score and say, “ok, he’s got one more chance and then I’ll get him.”  Jesus tells Peter back in Matthew 18 again that you are to forgive him seventy times seven.  In other words, don’t keep score.  Forgive others even as you have been forgiven.

And by the way, since it’s father’s day let me say this; us fathers need to practice forgiveness towards our kids the way our heavenly Father practices forgiveness towards us.  As men we sometimes think that our job is to crack the whip, to apply discipline.  To lay down the law.   And maybe it is.  God does all that as well.  But thankfully for our sakes, God is a merciful, compassionate God.  The Bible says that the kindness of God leads us to repentance.  We think it’s the judgment of God that brings repentance.  But God prefers to be compassionate and merciful first and foremost.  Only when He has satisfied His compassion and mercy does He apply justice.  So I would just encourage you fathers to practice the compassion of God towards your children and strive for a balance with your family. James 2:13 “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Thirdly, a true disciple will have faith unto obedience.  As the disciples consider the weight of what Jesus is saying, and how difficult it is to do what He is commanding, they rightly say unto Jesus in vs. 5, “Lord, increase our faith.”  They recognize the difficulty of doing it in their own strength.  But I’m afraid that these two verses and others like it have sprung up a false doctrine that is called the word of faith movement.  But this is not what the disciples are asking for nor what Jesus is offering.  They are recognizing that in their strength, in their flesh, they will have difficulty in doing the things that Jesus is asking of them.  And they are right in that.  So they ask Jesus to increase their faith.  Help them to have the faith to do what Jesus is asking them to do. 

And that is exactly what faith is.  Faith is not a monkey wrench by which you can manipulate God to get Him to do what you want Him to do.  That attitude makes you Master and God your personal genie.  Faith is not a name it and claim it attitude whereby whatever you want to happen God will do if you just want it bad enough, or believe that He will do it hard enough.  Faith is not wishful thinking, or wishing really, really hard.  Faith, quite simply, is believing what God says to do, and then doing it.  I’m going to say that again.  Faith is believing what God says to do, and then doing it.  Faith is believing in the promises of God which He has written down and then being obedient to that word.  Faith is not listening to some voice in your head that you ascribe to God who told you to buy that dress at Macy’s even though you don’t have enough money to buy it .  That’s not God’s voice in your head.  God speaks through His word. Lam. 3:37, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?”  You can’t speak things into existence unless God has first ordained it. 

Vs. 6 is not a blank check to command anything we want to happen in the name of faith.  The Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”  This statement is not meant to make it easier for Christians to do their yard work, but it is a picture, an illustration that if something seems impossible from a human standpoint, if you are obedient in faith to what God has told you to do He will make it possible. Mulberry trees were noted for their immense root system which is said to be able to stay alive for 600 years.  So this unrootable tree can be uprooted by faith and tossed in the sea.  Something that God has commanded, but which I find almost impossible to do in the flesh, Jesus says can be done by faith in God’s strength. Faith is obedience to what God has commanded, even when I don’t feel like it.  Faith is obedience to what God has commanded even when it  is going to be difficult.  Faith is obedience to what God has commanded even if it costs me my liberty, even if it costs me my life.  Remember that Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane cried out to God to deliver Him from the cup of suffering that He was going through.  But He qualified that by saying “Not my will but your will be done.” When someone has sinned against me, offended me, hurt me so bad I think I can never get over it, never forgive them, Jesus says in faith that root of bitterness can be uprooted, so that we might be like Christ and forgive those who sin against us.

Finally, the fourth hallmark of a  true disciple is that he will do his duty no matter how great the cost.  Vs. 7 "Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down to eat'? 8 "But will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink'? 9 "He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? 10 "So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'"

Here is the gist of what Jesus is teaching.  He has already made it clear that you don’t do your deeds to be seen of men.  Now He’s teaching that you don’t do your deeds to manipulate God into doing something special for you.  This is the other side of the word of faith movement that I was speaking of a moment ago.  They teach that if you really have faith then you will send them some money, even if you don’t really have it.  They say that is seed faith.  Then God will honor the seed faith that you planted by sending them money and God will refund that to you 10 times over.  It’s a very convenient doctrine for the false teachers.  They get rich but you get swindled. 

But I’m afraid this false doctrine has found it’s way into a lot of Christian thinking.  If we do this or that for God, then we think that somehow that obligates God to do something for us – usually our definition of blessing.  But Jesus says that God isn’t obligated to do something special for us because we have fulfilled our responsibility. 

The blessing is that God has chosen to use you in spite of your flaws, in spite of your unworthiness, in spite of how many times you may have proven yourself unfaithful.  There is a reward for a faithful servant of God.  Eye has not seen and ear has not heard the marvelous things that God has prepared that for those that love Him.  But that reward is in heaven and will be awarded to us in eternity.  But all you need to do is look at the lives of the apostles and the early disciples and see what kind of earthly rewards they got for preaching the gospel and following Christ.  Jesus said no servant is greater than His master.  And consequently all the apostles save John suffered martyrdom.  They were imprisoned.  They lived as outcasts from society.  They were flogged.  They were publicly scorned and ridiculed.  They left jobs, families and everything for the sake of following Christ. 

Listen, Jesus made it clear in chapter 14 at the beginning of this message that a disciple must first count the cost of following Him.  He said in Luke 14:27

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”  There is a cost in following Christ.  And there is great reward in following Christ.  But the suffering comes before the glory.  Romans 8:17 says that we are fellow heirs of Christ if we suffer with Him, then we shall also be glorified with Him.

Jesus is making it clear that if a true disciple is going to do the will of God, then he will be called upon to suffer, he must bear his cross, he must deny himself, he must serve God before he serves himself.  That is our duty as Christians.  To serve the Master as a faithful servant. 

I read recently the story of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson who commanded the English Royal Navy in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  This battle was considered one of England’s greatest victories, in which they defeated the French and Spanish navies.  Lord Nelson lost his life in that battle after being shot by a sniper.  But prior to that, he had lost an arm in another battle, and then after recovering from that lost the sight in an eye during another battle.  So the fact that he was even still in the fight at that point, still serving his country is remarkable and shows his courage and perseverance.  But as the battle of Trafalgar was about to be engaged, just before his death, he sent a message by signal flags out to all the ships.  The message was; “England expects that every man will do his duty.”  As the message circulated by flags throughout the Royal fleet, it is said that a cheer went up from each of the various ships.  And though the Royal Navy won the battle, Lord Nelson himself did his duty to England to the hilt, he paid the ultimate sacrifice. 

Such patriotism and reverence for country and king seems quite heroic, that men are willing to suffer and even die for their country.  But as Christians, what higher calling have we been given?  Citizenship in the kingdom of heaven expects no less.  The Lord Jesus Christ sends out his message today to all that are within His kingdom.  He says, “The kingdom of God expects that every man will do his duty.”  I pray that God will increase your faith so that you might do His will, no matter what the cost.  Let us pray.

A tale of two destinies; Luke 16:19-31

Today’s passage of scripture is one that I have found to be one of the most important in the New Testament in regards to understanding the afterlife.   However, my view is not one that is widely shared among Biblical commentators.   There is much disagreement over the proper interpretation of this passage amongst Biblical scholars.  By way of disclaimer, I do not profess in any way to be a Biblical scholar.

However, I will tell you how I view Biblical interpretation.  I believe that God’s word is sufficient in and of itself through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit working within us. To make a practical illustration;  I think that if a man living on a desert island alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean found a Bible washed up on the beach, even though he had never heard the gospel before that time, if he read the Bible he would have enough understanding to be saved.  Furthermore, if he continued to apply what he learned, and be obedient to what the Bible says, he could learn all the essential doctrine that is necessary.  I believe in the sufficiency of scripture. I believe in the completeness of scripture.  We don’t need some additional revelation and furthermore we should not seek it. And I believe in the absolute authority of scripture.  But I think the caveat to that understanding is that one must be obedient to the Holy Spirit to be taught by the Holy Spirit.  I believe in what I call progressive revelation.  That is as you are obedient to what the Holy Spirit teaches you through the word, then He will continue to lead you and guide you to all truth.  I think that is what is meant by Jesus in John 16:13 says speaking of the Holy Spirit, “that He will guide you into all truth.”

So as I have studied this passage for the last 25 years or so, I have come to see it in some respects as a missing piece to the puzzle of eschatology. Twenty five years ago when my father died I wanted to understand exactly where he was now.  And as I began to seriously study scripture for the answer I began to see how this passage links with other passages to give us a glimpse into the afterlife.  I think that this passage is significant in that it speaks to the issues of heaven and hell straight from the mouth of God Himself.  And so therefore it provides insight that no other person could have regarding the afterlife.

Unfortunately, this passage has suffered almost irreparable harm from well respected commentators and Biblical teachers because it has been relegated to an allegory.  Many well meaning and well respected men have called this a parable and as such have diminished the significance of what Jesus had to say regarding the afterlife.  My contention is that they call it a parable or an allegory in order to sustain what for many of them is a faulty doctrine of eschatology.  In other words, they came by their view of the end times by various means such as being taught a particular view in seminary and this passage does not fit into their doctrine of the afterlife.  Therefore some say that Jesus used fanciful allegorical elements that were not founded in reality in order to teach a principle.  So while they maintain that the principle is important, they say the incidental details described by Jesus are not important and may not even exist as He described them.  He was just using a fable that was popular with the rabbis of that day as a allegory to teach a principle.

I find that approach to be unsatisfactory on a number of fronts.  First of all, I believe it is an actual story of real people, not a parable.  And to support that view I simply point out that in none of the other 40 or so parables that Jesus gave did He ever attach a name to any of the characters.  But this story has 2 characters that are named; Lazarus and Abraham. Abraham was obviously a real person, so it is logical to assume that Lazarus was as well.  Secondly, Luke does not present this story as a parable.  He did not always do so, but many times he did introduce a parable by saying Jesus taught them another parable.  And thirdly, in order to dismiss all the incidental details that Jesus gave as allegorical, you also have to dismiss the normal template that Jesus employed for parables.  But again that is contrary to all the other parables that Jesus gave.  In all the other parables, Jesus used earthly stories to teach a heavenly principle.  And in order to do that He had to use illustrations from real life situations that the people would have been familiar with such a sowing a field with seed, or tending to sheep, or fishing or whatever.  But in this story, they want to say that Jesus uses an imaginary situation with no basis in reality in order to make a spiritual point.

So before we can really understand all that Jesus is teaching here, we must accept it as it appears; an actual story of two men that died which Jesus is able to tell because He is God and knows all things.  And if this information conflicts with what we learned from reading the “Left Behind” series of books, or what some television preacher taught, then we need to be suspect of those sources of information that are in conflict with what Jesus says.  We need to recognize fiction for what it is, and believe that Jesus is only able to speak the truth.

Now that being said, let’s make sure we don’t lose sight of the main point that Jesus was making and focus on the secondary points.  I think that a lot of information can be gleaned here about what happens after death and how that fits with the doctrine of the end times.  And I will address that briefly as we get to it.  But eschatology is not the main point of what Jesus is teaching.

What Jesus is teaching is the same thing He always taught; the gospel of the kingdom of God.  In parable after parable, in  illustration after illustration, and in confrontation after confrontation, Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of God.  How to enter the kingdom of God and the distinctiveness of the kingdom of God.  And Jesus does that incrementally by a series of messages.  Sort of like the progressive revelation that I spoke of earlier.  Jesus doesn’t reduce the gospel of the kingdom to a pocket sized tract that says if you want to go to heaven then do these 5 steps in this order and you will be saved.  He doesn’t reduce the gospel to a little formula that says if you pray in just this way you will be saved.  He doesn’t dumb down the gospel to the point of just one word such as “Love”.  He doesn’t say that all you need to do is have a relationship with God.

No, if anything, Jesus seems to be making it more and more difficult to enter the kingdom of God.  When you look back over the last few chapters, it’s obvious that Jesus’ message becomes ever more confrontational.  He keeps talking about the same themes but from different perspectives.  But instead of making it easier to enter the kingdom Jesus seems to be making it harder.  He keeps raising the bar.

Just a cursory glimpse back reveals this fact. In chapter 14 Jesus said that no one can be His disciple who isn’t willing to count the cost of what it takes to follow Him.  He says no one can be His disciple that isn’t willing to give up his own possessions.  He goes on to say it may be necessary to leave your family in order to follow Him. He says that no one can follow Him unless he is willing to carry his own cross and come after Him.  He was going to Calvary to be crucified, and He says you have to be willing to do the same thing.

And to illustrate those principles He then gave a parable about a rich man who gave a big feast and invited all these people to his dinner.  They all said they wanted to come.  But when the time came for the dinner they all were busy doing other things; some were busy with work, others were busy with family, and others were busy buying and selling.  And Jesus said the host became very angry because they would not come to his dinner, and so he swore that none of those who were invited would taste of his dinner, but instead he would bring in people from the highways and the outer reaches to eat his dinner.

And so Jesus just keeps turning up the heat, revealing the exclusivity of the kingdom.  Repeatedly emphasizing that God will not be relegated to second place but must have preeminence.   By the time we get to chapter 16, Jesus has focused His attention on money and the world’s goods as symptoms of an unregenerate heart.  He says you cannot serve God and mammon.  You are either loving the world and the things of the world, or you love God and the things of God. He was illustrating that how you live reveals who you belong to.  See, the problem was that there were a lot of people in Jesus’ day, just as there are a lot of people in our day, that claim to be in the kingdom of God.  They seem to be pretty religious people on the surface.  But Jesus said God looks on the heart.  God sees the heart.  He knows the motives.  And Jesus sees the hypocrisy of those that say that they love God and yet in reality love the world.  They haven’t left anything for Christ.  They haven’t forsaken the world, but yet they want to claim the benefits of the kingdom.

In Jesus time, much as it is in our time, people thought that they were in the kingdom of God because of a relationship.  The Jews claimed their relationship to Abraham who they felt was their spiritual father.  And because they were descendants of Abraham they believed they were in the kingdom.  And so as proof of their favored status, they believed that prosperity was a blessing from God.  So the more religious you were, the more money that you had because that is how they defined blessing.

That sounds a lot like the prosperity gospel  that false teachers like Joel Olsteen and Joyce Meyers and others on the CBN network love to espouse today.  They tell you that it costs nothing to have a relationship to God, that He just loves you so much and He wants to bless you.  And if you just have faith in God then He will give you all kinds of blessings.  Particularly monetary blessings.  God wants you to be rich.  That concept of blessing happens to be completely at odds with Jesus’ teaching.

So Jesus tells this story to once again show the disparity between what you claim to be and what you are.  He tells this story to show that how you live is a reflection of what you believe.  And that if earthly prosperity is what you are living for, then eternal destitution is what you are headed for. Furthermore, He teaches that you cannot discard the law of God to please yourself and still claim to love God.  You cannot love God and despise your neighbor.

Now as we look at this story, Jesus says that the rich man had all that the world could offer;  Jesus said “he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.”  Purple was a very expensive dye in those days.  And so this guy had all the best clothes that money could buy.  He ate the finest food. Luxury characterized this man’s life.

Then Jesus contrasts that life of luxury with that of a beggar.  He  said that there was a poor man named Lazarus who laid outside the gate of the rich man’s house.  This beggar was covered in sores and longed to even eat of the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.  In those days, dogs were not pets like we have now.  They roamed the street in packs and were filthy, mangy dogs that carried diseases.  And we can assume from this description that Lazarus is probably disabled because Jesus said he laid at the gate and the dogs came up and licked his sores.  He was unable to defend himself against the wild dogs roaming the streets.

Now from a superficial point of view, Lazarus was a nobody.  He had nothing.  No friends, no family and no resources.  And in contrast to him, the rich man had everything the world had to offer.

But what goes without saying was that obviously Lazarus had something of the greatest value that wasn’t apparent on the outside, but God knew his heart.  And so when Lazarus died, God sent His angels to take him to Abraham’s bosom.  Lazarus was so poor that he didn’t even get a proper burial.  They probably carted him off to the local dump and dropped him off there.

The rich man also dies.  You know, death is the great equalizer, isn’t it?  Death comes to us all, whether we live in a cottage or a castle.  Whether rich or poor, death comes to us all.  Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.  Jesus says the rich man was buried.  I’m sure he had a nice funeral.  Lots of people may have said nice things about him.  But though he was rich in the world’s goods he was destitute in the matter of eternity. The rich man died and found himself in Hades.

Vs. 23 Jesus says, “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.”

Now I don’t want to lose sight of the primary focus of the message.  But I will take a moment to teach you what I think this passage is saying concerning the afterlife.  In the Old Testament, the afterlife was referred to as Sheol.  It was the abode of the dead.  In the New Testament, Sheol is referred to as Hades.  And according to what is implied in Scripture, Hades is in the middle of the Earth.  It is composed of two compartments, an upper and lower region.  The upper region is what is called Paradise.  And the lower regions is simply called Hades; a place of torment and fire.  Between the two, Jesus says, is a great gulf, or chasm.

Now that brings up a lot of questions that the Bible does not answer.  We don’t know how this all functions.  We don’t know how spirits experience torment from flames, for instance.  We don’t know how Abraham and the rich man were able to communicate across such great distances between Paradise and Hades.  We are just given glimpses behind the veil of death that do not answer all our questions.

But here is what we do know.  Jesus said to the thief on the cross as He was dying, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.  And yet three days later He told Mary after His resurrection to “stop clinging to Me, I have not yet ascended to My Father.”  So if God is in heaven and Jesus went to Paradise then He must have gone to Hades.  And so He did according to a number of passages in the Bible.  Acts 2:27 “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither will  You suffer your Holy One to see corruption.”  Peter says that while He was there He preached to those in prison.  That would be the souls in Hades. 1Pet. 3:18-19  “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,”   Paul tells us where Hades is located in Eph. 4:8-9 “Wherefore he said, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?” The apostle’s creed confirms that; “Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: The third day he rose again from the dead.”

Furthermore, we know that in Paradise we experience the presence of the Lord.  Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Jesus is omnipresent because He is God.  And God will comfort His people in Paradise.  And we also know that we will not stay there, but we are awaiting the resurrection of the dead.  One day Jesus promised to return for His people and Paul describes this in 1Thess. 4:15, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.” [asleep is a Biblical term for the dead in Christ, those in Paradise] “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [this is the first resurrection, the dead in Christ] “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Now there will be another resurrection that is described in Revelation 20:13, that of the dead in Hades, the unsaved awaiting the judgment.  It says, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”  Now that’s a summary of my view of eschatology.  I am not going to break fellowship with someone who disagrees with me on a point or two.  And I hope you will have the same attitude and don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.  But hopefully I have illustrated why I think this passage is the key to understanding what happens after we die.

But even if you disagree with me on some of the particulars of eschatology, one thing should be absolutely clear from this illustration.  There are two possible outcomes when you die.  There are only two possible destinies.  If you want to call it heaven or hell that is fine by me.  Jesus calls it Hades and Abraham’s bosom.
Now let’s look at the rest of the story.

The rich man in Hades, being in torment in the flames, lifts up his eyes and sees Lazarus afar off in Abraham’s bosom.  Now in a previous chapter, Jesus said to the Pharisees “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.”  See, the Jews thought that Abraham was their father and they inherited the kingdom of God from him.  But Jesus is saying that they would not enter because they were children of Abraham but only if they were children of God.  Entrance into the kingdom is not by the means of the flesh but by the work of the Spirit.

For Lazarus, Abraham’s bosom is a reference to the celebratory feast like that the father of the prodigal son threw in his honor.  Jesus said that there was celebration among the angels over one sinner who repents.  Abraham’s bosom is a way of speaking of the place of honor at that feast, leaning against the person at the head of the table. It is a place of comfort, of peace, of reward, of being filled with good things.

 Jesus does not describe the conversion of Lazarus.  But please understand that there is no social gospel here that is teaching that there is some sort of merit to being poor.  But rather Lazarus typifies the attitude of a person enters the kingdom.  In the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, Jesus says “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”  “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.”  Jesus was picturing in that sermon just the sort of attitude that Lazarus symbolized.  If you will enter the kingdom of God, then you must recognize that your own righteousness counts for nothing.  You must come to God as a beggar, begging for forgiveness.  You must come like the prodigal son who said I am not worthy to be your son, please let me be as your servant.  You must come mourning over your sin.  That is repentance.

In contrast, the rich man is in torment.  He whose life was one of ease and luxury on earth is now in terrible torment.  But again, Jesus isn’t advocating some sort of social justice, but He is describing divine justice.  He is describing the wrath of God against sinners.  He is illustrating the same principle He espoused in the earlier parable concerning the invitation to the dinner and the people that were too busy to come.  He is displaying the judgment of God upon those that are too busy living a life in the world to value the things of God’s kingdom.  His life of selfishness and self fulfillment did nothing to store up for himself treasure in the kingdom of God.  He has not invested in eternity and so he is now destitute.

The rich man calls out to Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water so that a drop could be given to quench his agony in the flames.   This statement reveals first of all that he knew Lazarus.  He knew his name.  He obviously had seen him lying at his gate begging all those years and known who he was and his condition and yet he had ignored him.  And in so doing he ignored the law of God.  Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment in the law, and He said, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength and the second one is like unto it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Well the rich man had defied the law of God.  He neither loved God nor his neighbor.  You can’t get a much closer neighbor than one that lays outside your driveway every day.  Here is a guy who never lifted a finger to help Lazarus, and now that he is helpless he wants Lazarus to help him by dipping his finger in water. He is still trying to order people around to serve himself.  He loved only himself.

Listen, love is not about liking someone.  It’s not about loving your friends.  It’s about loving the unloveable, loving your enemies. Loving those that don’t deserve it.  Love is not an emotion, but an act of will.  God’s love is sacrificial love; agape love.  It’s the kind of love that Christ had for us that He laid down His life for us.  God says if you love Me, you will feed My sheep.  If you love Me, tend My lambs.  If you say you are in the kingdom of God, that you are a child of God, then act like God.  Be gracious to those who need it and even to those who don’t deserve it.  The rich man lived luxuriously for himself.  His lifestyle manifested the kind of person that he was.  He revealed what he believed by how he lived.  Listen, God isn’t interested in lip service.  This idea that we can honor God by giving Him lip service, singing a few “praise” songs and then live the rest of the week for ourselves is a lie from the devil.  God is honored by obedience.  “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Then the rich man tries to order another service from Lazarus.  If you can’t help me, how about helping out my family?  I have five brothers back home.  Send Lazarus back there to warn them so they will not to come to this place.  But once again Abraham tells him it isn’t going to happen. Vs. 29, “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’  “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

This little exchange is insightful because it speaks of the way people think about the gospel.  If God would just reveal Himself to me then I would be saved.  If God would just do some great miracle that I want Him to do then I would be saved. We try to dictate the terms of our surrender.  But the truth is that they wouldn’t be saved.  Salvation is by faith.  And what is seen is not faith, but that which is unseen.  Salvation is nothing less than unconditional surrender to the God of the universe, to serve Him completely.  Abraham says that they have Moses and the prophets and that is enough.  Let them listen to them.  What he is referring to is the entire scriptures up to that point.  That was a way of referring to all of the known scriptures, from Genesis to Malachi.  Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, commonly known as the Law.  And all the rest of the scriptures was called the prophets.

You may remember how on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection, Jesus joins two disciples who are walking and are discussing among themselves in a very discouraged way the events of the last few days.  And as Jesus joins their conversation, it says in Luke 24:27“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”  The point being is that they had even in the Old Testament more than enough revelation to know that Jesus was the Messiah.  He was the seed of the woman who would crush Satan’s head, He was the offspring of Abraham who would bless all the nations of the earth, He was the substitute for the sacrifice that Abraham was offered in place of his son.  He was the Great High Priest who would enter into the Holy of Holies once for all.  He was the scapegoat that was driven outside the camp.  He was the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

The scripture is still the way to enter the kingdom of God. Romans 1 says it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.  We want to try to use all sorts of modern media, to try to dumb down the gospel, we want to make our churches seeker friendly so we don’t scare someone out of the church.  But we have forgotten the admonition of Jesus; John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

1Cor. 1:18, Paul said, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

In closing, I am very concerned that so very many people exist today in the church that think that they are ok, that think they are in the kingdom of God.  They claim to have a relationship with God based on some external thing or other and yet their hearts are unchanged.  They may have been baptized.  Or they may have had an emotional experience once that they thought was spiritual.  Maybe they had some crisis and they were told to have faith in God and they think that was how they got saved.  Some raised their hand in an emotionally charged service one time and maybe came forward and said a prayer.  I don’t know what you are trusting in for your eternal destiny.  But I hope you are trusting in the truth of the gospel.  I hope you have come to Christ as the prodigal son came home, in repentance, willing to become a servant.  I hope that you have come like Lazarus, as a beggar, mourning over your sinful condition.  Helpless, hoping only in God’s grace and Christ’s righteousness and begging to be made a new creation.  Listen, it’s not about just believing in God.  The Bible says the devil’s believe in God and they are not saved. Eph. 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Grace is the gift of God; sending Jesus to take your place on the cross to pay the penalty of your sins.  Faith is believing in all that God is and all that God says that He is in His word.  Abraham was the father of faith.  Abraham believed God and it was counted unto Him as righteousness.  How did Abraham show he believed God?  By obeying, going out to a place that he didn’t know, living in tents, confessing that he was  a stranger and a sojourner in this world.  He had faith to obey God.  That is the result of faith; to be given a new heart, a new spirit,  created for good works, so that we would walk in them.  Salvation is a desperate appeal unto God to remake you and forgive you and change you so that you might serve Christ and Christ alone.

Listen, the rich man’s lifestyle revealed what he believed. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. You can fool other people into thinking you are a Christian.  You can even fool yourself into thinking you are a Christian.  But you cannot fool God.  God sees the heart.   I pray that today you examine yourself in the light of God’s word. Today is the acceptable day of salvation. There are only two possible destinations when you die.  There are no second chances. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  Let’s pray.

Spiritual Pharisees, Luke 16:14-18

As we have been looking at the last few chapters, we have noticed a steady downward progression in the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees towards Jesus and His gospel which He has been preaching.  At first, there was a curiosity on the part of the Pharisees towards Jesus.  They heard great crowds were following Him.  They heard that He was supposed to be a great teacher.  They heard about some of the miracles that He was doing.  And so they had a certain curiosity to see what He was doing.

Then that curiosity progressed to the point of becoming offended by Him.  When they got past the novelty of Him and His preaching they began to understand that often He was condemning them as well.  That was an uncomfortable position to be in. They were used to having people compliment them because of how religious they were.  They were used to people noticing their good works.  And so when Jesus lumps them into the same territory as all the rest of the sinners they were offended.

In this case, it says in verse 14 that they were offended because they were lovers of money.  That means that they loved the currency of the world.  They were living to satisfy their carnal desires with the things that money could buy and yet putting up a religious veneer of self righteousness before men.

Soon that offended attitude morphed into an attitude of finding fault.  They began to try to pick at His message.  They found fault with His disciples.  They tried to find something that He was doing wrong so that they could justify themselves.  His message made them feel guilty, so they tried to find fault with Him so they could feel better about themselves.

And then by the time we get to the last chapter, 15:2, you read that they began to grumble about Him.  That means they began to vocalize their irritation.  They began to complain, to talk about Him behind His back.  They tried to tear down His reputation.  They tried to influence others to turn away from Him by speaking ill of Him.

Now today, as we look at this passage, we see that their grumbling has turned to scorn.  They began to scoff at Him.   That means they began to openly ridicule Him.  Their attitude towards Him was worsening.  It was a growing hatred that began to come out in open, public ridicule.  The Pharisees had rejected His message, they had rejected that He was the Messiah, and they are on the way to full blown hatred.

And as we continue in this gospel, we will see their hatred worsen until they reach the point of plotting His murder.  And as you know, that culminates in actually carrying out the plan to murder the Son of God by having Rome hang Him on a cross.

Listen, this should illustrate the danger of rejecting the gospel.  The danger is that as Jesus Himself said, “you are either for Me or against Me.”  It says in 1 Samuel 15 that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.  Jesus also recognized rebellion as a manifestation of the works of Satan.  That’s why He said to the Pharisees in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.”  The rejection of the truth and believing a lie results in the attitude of a murderer.  And in the case of the Pharisees, they eventually act on that murderous attitude.

What a warning that should be for all of us.  In today’s relativistic society, we don’t want to believe in absolute truth.  Nothing makes the agnostic or atheist more mad than to be told that there is a God in heaven that has given us His word and that His word is absolute truth.  The world hates Christians because we believe that there is absolute truth and that truth condemns their sin.

But listen, there is another danger, and that is to put this attitude at arms length and see it as a fault of others, or see it as something that really only applies in a historical context to an extinct type of religious zealots called Pharisees, and so therefore find ourselves excused.  The danger is in thinking that this doesn’t apply to you.  But let me assure you that there are still Pharisees today in the spiritual sense of the word.  The Pharisees were much more like you and I than we would care to admit.  They believed in God.  They went to the temple regularly.  They tithed.  They fasted.  They prayed a lot, especially in public.  They read the scriptures regularly.  They even memorized large sections of it.  They were very moral people.  They kept the ten commandments.  And they participated in philanthropic events.   They did good deeds.

And yet they rejected God’s word and that rebellion grew into a hatred that eventually conspired to kill the Son of God.  Now I’m telling you that there are spiritual Pharisees alive and well in the church today.  Even in so called evangelical Christianity there is a large cross section of the church that fits the description of a Pharisee.  They believe in God.  They go to church regularly.  They tithe occasionally.  They fast on Lent.  They like to pray in public.  They even read the scriptures now and then.  They love to champion a particular religious themed book or movie.  They are considered good moral people in the community.  They appear to keep the ten commandments.  They participate in philanthropic events.  They do good deeds.  And yet I tell you that they are as rebellious Pharisees.  They are carnal and love the mammon of this world.  And in order to satisfy their desires they have rejected the complete truth of the gospel for a partial gospel, and they are in danger of having that rebellion against the truth escalate into grumbling, into scorn, and even outright hatred for the absolute truth of God’s word and His messengers.

Listen folks, you cannot separate God from His word.  You cannot pick and choose the character attributes of God that you prefer and discard the rest.  You cannot carve out a God of your own design without resulting in idol worship.  To reject the truth of God is to reject God Himself and by extension to crucify Jesus Christ.  

Please understand the truth of the gospel. The truth of the gospel starts with the law.  You cannot separate the God of justice from the God of love.  Everyone wants the God of love.  But as modern day evangelicals we recoil at the thought of the God of justice, of holiness and of righteousness that cannot tolerate sin. But when we reject the God of justice and extract those passages from scripture that sustain our doctrine of love, then actually we are rejecting the God of the Bible.

I know that it seems as though the doctrine of justice and the doctrine of love are polar opposites.  We would like to discard God’s justice and just focus on love.  But God cannot and will not be divided.  God’s love and God’s justice were met together at the cross.  That is where the justice and the wrath of God was poured out upon His only Son, so that we might be shown the love of God which results in salvation.  But one cannot exist without the other.  And any so called gospel which denies the one in favor of the other is to hold to the standards of the Pharisees.  And there are many today that are spiritual Pharisees.  Holding to a form of religion, but denying the power of it.  Denying the truth of the gospel while trying to hold on to part of it.

And that is why a lot of people have come to this church for a while, curious, intrigued by the novelty of being on the beach, having some interest in worshipping God.  But having that interest tempered by their own image of God which they have formed according to their own desires, that they might satisfy the lusts of the flesh without guilt.  And that is why so many have come and gone.  That is why some people’s attitudes have progressed from curiosity to becoming offended by my preaching concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  And that is why their attitude has degenerated to the point of grumbling and outright scorn and ridicule and even hatred.

So there is still today a type of spiritual Pharisee in the church.  And in addressing this attitude of the Pharisees which has progressed to open scoffing and derision of the gospel,  Jesus presents a couple of principles and then an illustration which characterize spiritual Pharisees.

The first principle is spiritual Pharisees justify themselves to men, but  not to God. Vs. 15, “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”  Paul spoke of this same principle in 2Cor. 10:12
“For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.”  

The problem is that spiritual Pharisees have a wrong standard; they measure themselves by themselves.  They compare themselves to one another, to the guy down the street.  They see themselves as better than others because they are using the wrong standard.  That is the standard  of relativism.  That’s the standard of the culture.  It’s the standard of what seems right in their own eyes.  The standard of what they think should be important or not important to God.

This standard is not based on the word of God, it’s not based on God’s standard, but it’s based on what they collectively have extracted or redacted from the word of God to produce their own version of the truth.  Paul says such people lack understanding.  He says in Romans 10:3 “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”

God established the standard of righteousness in the Law.  That is where the attributes of a holy God are established.  The law is where the standards of righteousness are established.  The law is the beginning of the gospel.  It shows us our sinfulness and causes the repentant to fly unto Christ as His Savior.  But the spiritual Pharisee has either eliminated the law altogether or altered it to meet his own specifications.  He refuses to accept God’s standard, and so he is without understanding of who God is, and actually ends up rebelling against God, scoffing at God’s standards.

Such an attitude may justify you in the sight of men.  People may think you are really religious as they observe your rituals.  They may think you are really spiritual as they witness your external veneer of religion.  But Jesus says, “But God knows your hearts.”  God knows if you have really repented or not.  He knows when you refuse to bow the knee to God because you want to hold on to your sin.  Such was the case with the Pharisees.  They had altered the law.  They had lawyers work out the extent of the law so that they could appear to be keeping it, but in fact work it to their advantage.  But God knows the hearts.  He knows the motivation.  As Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount, if you hate your brother you are guilty of murder.  If you lust for a woman in your heart you are guilty of adultery.  God knows your heart.  He knows your motives.  He knows your thoughts.

Jesus condemns this kind of self justification in Matt. 23:25.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”  This is where spiritual Pharisees go wrong.  They  seek justification from men before justification before God.  And so they go about cleaning the exterior, doing good works, cleaning up their act, turning over a new leaf, quitting drinking, etc., but they have never been cleansed from within.  Jesus said clean the inside first, and then the outside may become clean also.  And the only way to be clean on the inside is by repentance of your sins and completely humbling yourself before God by faith in Christ, resulting in forgiveness.  Then when the inside is clean, the outside can become clean.  That is the process of sanctification where by the Spirit of God working in you conforms you to the image of Jesus Christ.  Don’t be deceived, God desires good works.  That is why we are saved. Eph. 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  But good deeds is a result of working out your salvation, not the means of working for your salvation.  The inside must be  supernaturally cleaned first.

The second principle of a spiritual Pharisee is they are unwilling to pay the price of becoming a disciple.  Now this principle is couched in a rather obscure statement that Jesus made concerning the law in vs. 16; “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” Here is the way to understand this verse.  Remember He is addressing the Pharisees.  They believed they were accepted by God because of their nationality.  The Law and the Prophets refers to the Old Testament covenant which was given to the Jews.  It was given to the children of Abraham through Moses to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai.  And so there was a degree of entitlement that these Pharisees had because they traced their lineage back to Abraham. They thought they were born into the kingdom of God.  They were true Jews and everyone else was in their eyes considered a sinner.   Furthermore, they thought that they were entitled to the kingdom because they were circumcised.  This was probably the most important law of all in their minds.  You could not even enter the temple grounds unless you had been circumcised.  The rabbis actually taught that Father Abraham stood at the gates of Hades and checked to make sure that no circumcised Jews entered into hell.

So these were the two pillars of Judaism that the Pharisees rested upon. Their nationality and their circumcision.  Both of them outward, external signs of their self righteousness.  And thirdly, there was the keeping of the rest of the law.  However, they had added volumes to the law in writings called the Mishna which on the surface had the appearance of being fastidious in keeping the law, but in reality had limited the law, and provided ways of getting around the law of God.  But in their minds at least, and in the minds of others, they thought they were keeping the law.  The bottom line was that the Pharisees rejected the gospel, because they saw no need for repentance. They thought they were in the kingdom. It was theirs by right, by virtue of keeping certain requirements of the covenant.  That’s why Jesus tells a leader of the Pharisees named Nicodemus that in order to enter the kingdom of God he needed to born all over again.  His nationality counted for nothing.

So Jesus contrasts that attitude of entitlement with the gospel of repentance.  He says the old covenant was taught until John the Baptist, but since then the gospel of repentance has been preached, and those that heeded that call to repentance are rushing to it.  The idea is that while Pharisees rejected the gospel in their self righteousness, meanwhile sinners were forcing their way into the kingdom out of their desperation.  

This principle is found in chapter 15 when Jesus gave three parables; the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son.  In each case, the one that was lost was accepted back into the house, in other words accepted into the kingdom with great celebration and rejoicing.  Jesus said that heaven rejoiced over one sinner that repents rather than those 9 or 99 or the one brother who needed no repentance.  Because the door to the kingdom of heaven is none other than Jesus Christ, and you enter that door by faith in His ability to pay for your sins and repentance from your sins.  That is why Jesus said He came to seek and to save those that were lost.  Quite simply, you cannot be saved unless you first realize you are lost.  It doesn’t matter what kind of external  actions you have done which justify you in the sight of other men.  What justifies you before God is a broken and contrite heart that throws oneself in desperation at the feet of Jesus and begs for forgiveness.  That person that is willing to count the cost of leaving the world, leaving the lusts of the world, forsaking the pride of life, the pursuit of money, the pursuit of career, in total surrender, in desperation coming to Christ for forgiveness.  That is who the kingdom of God belongs to.

The principle goes back even to chapter 14:27 when Jesus said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”  It refers to vs. 33 when Jesus said, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” It goes back to vs. 26 when Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”  Those that are willing to do whatever it takes, to surrender everything, those are the ones that are forcing their way into the kingdom, while the self righteous, the complacent, and the self justified are unwilling to surrender everything and so are outside.

I’m afraid that spiritual Pharisees are still taking that attitude even today in the church.  They have an attitude of entitlement.  We have a version of the gospel that is prevalent today among many evangelicals which is that as Americans we are the recipients of God’s grace.  We call ourselves a Christian nation.  We think that God owes us an upper middle class version of the prosperity gospel.  It’s too bad for the poor Christians being martyred for their faith in other parts of the world like the Middle East or Far East.  But we are the favored ones.  We have an inside track with God and if you just claim some sort of relationship to God based on feelings or good works or whatever then God is obligated to make all your dreams come true.  It’s not that different than what the Pharisees believed.  Spiritual Pharisees are not willing to pay any price of carnality for the kingdom of God.  They want their heaven on earth and eternity too.  But Jesus makes it clear that you can’t have both, you can’t serve God and mammon.

Then Jesus adds the statement found in vs. 17 which is a segue to the following illustration.  He says in vs. 17, “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.”  I heard one linguist expert say it like this;  not one little stroke (jot or tittle) of a letter refers to something like the difference between the capital letter F and the capital letter E.  That one little stroke that distinguishes a capital F from a capital E.  It would be easier in the sight of God for all the heavens, all the sun, moon and stars to be swept away into oblivion than to eliminate one little part of just one letter of the law.

Now that should give us a glimpse of how important God considers His law.  As I said earlier, the law presents the standard of God.  It’s unattainable.  It’s beyond our reach.  The law condemns us and shows us our need for a Savior.  Jesus said in Matt. 5:17, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Listen, what Jesus is teaching in this passage is that yes, the old covenant taught the law and the prophets, and then since John the gospel of Christ is preached, but God hasn’t stopped counting sin.  God hasn’t stopped counting trespasses.  God just counts them against Jesus Christ.  For those that come to Him in repentance and faith, surrendering everything to follow Him, God counts our sins upon Jesus and transfers His righteousness upon us.  Jesus didn’t do away with the Law.  Jesus kept the law perfectly.  He was the only person to ever do so.  And He did it as a man, that we might be saved through faith in Him.  2Cor. 5: 21 says, “God made Him (that is Jesus) who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Then finally, Jesus gives an illustration of the statement that He made concerning the law; that not even the smallest part of the law can be annulled or done away with.  And this illustration must have hit these Pharisees pretty hard, because it was an illustration of exactly the way that the Pharisees had adjusted the law to accommodate their lusts.

Jesus says in vs. 18, “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.”  Jesus is referencing the law concerning divorce found in Duet. 24.  And though the law had required that the penalty for adultery was to be death, yet the rabbis had used a contingency of Moses to change the law to say that you could divorce your wife for basically anything that you felt she had done wrong.  Literally the rabbis taught that if your wife burned your breakfast that was grounds for divorce.

In Matthew 19 some Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce.  They said, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”  And Jesus quoted from Genesis which says, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

In Mal. Chapter 2 it says clearly that God hates divorce.  And yet they had changed the law to accommodate their carnal desires.  And still they claimed that they were keepers of the law.  In fact they were adulterers and were guilty of the punishment of death according to the law.

Spiritual Pharisees today change the law for the sake of accommodating their desires as well. Under the claim of grace they have thrown the moral laws of God under the bus. Divorce rates are as high in Christian churches as it is in the world. But please understand that God’s standard of sin hasn’t changed.  God’s standard of righteousness hasn’t changed.  And God’s standard of justice hasn’t changed either.  God will judge all unrighteousness.  God will hold everyone accountable for what he has done. 2Cor. 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Listen, the only hope for all of us is to throw ourselves before the throne of God and ask for forgiveness of our sins.  As it says in Isaiah 53, we need to recognize that all we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned everyone to his own way.  And that the only way for us to be made right before God is for  the LORD to cause the iniquity of us all to fall on Christ.  If we are going to be acceptable to God, to enter into the kingdom of God, then  Christ’s righteousness is the only way.  And the only way we can appropriate salvation is to turn from our sin in repentance and throw ourselves upon the mercy of God and ask for forgiveness.

I will close with Isaiah 55:6 which says, “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

Investing in the kingdom, Luke 16: 1-13

I remember as a boy growing up in North Carolina someone once showing me a stack of old money that they had found in their attic.  There was enough money  there to make a person rich.  There was only one problem.  Printed on the notes was the words the Confederate States of America.  It was money that was printed in the South during the Civil War.  A lot of people in the South were paid for goods and services or for serving in the Army of the Confederacy with those bank notes.  But when the  Civil War was over, those bank notes were worthless.  And so when I was growing up in the south you used to see them framed up and hanging on a wall, or stored away in an old chest.  You couldn’t buy anything with them anymore.  It was useless currency. 

I believe that this parable that Jesus taught concerning the unrighteous manager is teaching us that investing in the things of this world is a bad deal.  Because in the next world, in the kingdom of heaven, this  world’s currency is worthless.  This money we work so hard for here on earth, is useless currency in heaven.  It’s not valid in that government.  This world is passing away.  One day all that we see here will be burned up and all that we worked so hard to build will be destroyed.  And only what is done for Christ will last. 

That is why our Lord Jesus in Matthew 6: 19 said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt, where thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is there will your heart be also."   Here is what Jesus is saying;  you want to know where a person’s heart is?  Then see where their treasure is.  Look at what they treasure.  Look at what’s important to them.  Look at what they invest in.  That is indicative of their heart. 

Now I’m not going to use this parable today to preach about money per se.  It seems that is the focus of most messages and commentaries on this parable.  I don’t necessarily think that was the focus of Jesus Christ.  Money in this case is only a symptom of the condition of the heart.  It’s an outward manifestation of one’s inward nature. 

There is nothing wrong with money in and of itself.  We all like to point out all the rich people in the Bible that were godly men.  Abraham, for instance, was very rich.   But consider what Hebrews has to say about Abraham. Heb. 11:8,  “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;  for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”  And then in vs.13, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth….they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

The issue wasn’t how much money Abraham had.  The issue was that Abraham’s focus wasn’t about building an earthly kingdom.  He was concerned about building a heavenly kingdom.  And because he was faithful and obedient to God in the earthly matters of his life, he could look forward to receiving an inheritance in the heavenly kingdom, the city of God.

Now this parable comes in the middle of a long string of parables and teachings that Jesus has been given.  And the way Luke presents them is almost like a layering affect of certain truths concerning the kingdom of heaven.  Someone has said that Jesus spoke about 40 parables that we have record of.  And many of them I’m sure He used more than once to different audiences.  But what is special about the gospel of Luke is that Luke presents an historical narrative, but at the same time positions the events and teachings in such a way as to build one upon another.  So as I say each week, it’s important to remember the context as we consider these parables and remember that they are part of a greater message. 

For instance, if you were here last week, we looked at the end of chapter 15 and the parable of the prodigal son.  And what became apparent out of that study was that both of the sons received their share of the estate.  One son went away and  squandered what had been entrusted to him, and the other son stayed home and used his share for his purposes.  But they both were given a share of the estate.  But Jesus made the point that the celebration belonged to the son who went away because he had eventually come to his senses and returned home to serve the father.  He realized that the father was the source of life and joy and sustenance and as a result the father welcomed him into the home and gave him a great party to celebrate his homecoming.  The point of the story wasn’t about the money the son had squandered, but it was about coming to the point of being willing to renounce the world and leave behind the pleasures of sin and return to the Father.  To come to the point of being willing to serve the father even as a slave.  And for that kind of commitment, the Father was willing to not only accept the son back as a servant, but as a son and restore his inheritance in the estate. So the parable of the prodigal taught that being in the kingdom required something.  It requires repentance. 

If you go back another chapter to ch.14, Jesus tells another parable about counting the cost of becoming His disciple.  And He concludes the analogy by saying in vs.33,  “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”  The principle that Jesus was teaching is that entrance into the kingdom of heaven costs you something.  And what it costs is the world.  Giving up what is considered gain in this world for gaining the kingdom of heaven. 

Just prior to that in 14:16, Jesus had given another parable to teach a similar principle.  He talked about a big feast which was a picture of the kingdom of heaven.  And when the invitation went out, everyone said they fully intended on coming to the feast on the appointed day.  But when the master sent his servant out to bring them in on the appointed day, everyone was busy doing something else.  They were all working or marrying or buying and selling and they did not have time to come to the feast.  The principle was clear, to enter the kingdom of heaven you need to make the kingdom of heaven your priority.  Your career or your family or your wife or your possessions cannot be first and the kingdom of heaven somewhere down on the bottom of the totem pole.  No, Jesus makes it clear that the kingdom of heaven must be the first priority.  The kingdom of heaven demands something.  And that which it demands is to be first place in our lives.

Jesus makes that principle really crystal clear in vs. 27, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”  He is talking about dying to your personal agenda, dying to the world’s agenda, dying to working for your personal fortune or fame or glory, and living instead for the glory of God. 

We don’t have time to backtrack over the last several chapters, but the principle is pretty much the same in all the parables.  Jesus just keeps changing the story to give you a different perspective, but the principles never change.  He says in chapter 13:24, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”  He’s talking about entrance into the kingdom of heaven!  Not many will be able to enter.  Why not?  Because their priorities were wrong.  They may have sang the songs, they said they believed in God, they may have said they were Christians, but they never renounced the world.  They thought that Christianity was a means of worldly gain.  Being a Christian to them meant that God would bless your career, God would give you a big house, God would make it possible for you  to be wealthy, healthy and wise. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this folks, but God never promised you heaven on earth.  God promised you the kingdom of heaven, a future eternal home in which you will rule and reign with Christ.  But only as you are willing to suffer with Him here first. 

Rom 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”  What we suffer is the loss of this world, to gain the glory of the next.  As Jesus said in Matt. 16:25, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Here’s the deal folks.  Let me make this clear.  There are three stages to salvation.  Various elements of the evangelical community like to camp out on one extreme or the other, but you really need to realize that there are three stages to salvation and all of them are necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven.  First is justification.  This is where I come by faith to Christ and confess that I am a sinner, and I repent of my sins and I trust in the promise of God that He will transfer my sins to Jesus and transfer Jesus righteousness unto me.  That’s justification in a nutshell.  But that is not the end of the gospel.  A lot of us want to stop right there.  The next stage is sanctification.  And this stage is where the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in me, to rule over my spirit and soul and body, to conform me to the image of Jesus Christ.  This is where I day by day die to myself by taking up my cross and follow Him, doing as He did, living like He lived, for the will of the Father, to the glory of God.  And the third stage to salvation is glorification.  This is when one day Christ comes back for me as His bride, and either resurrects me if I am dead, or I join Him in the air if I am alive, but in either case I will be changed, in moment, in the twinkling of an eye.  And I shall be like Him for I shall see Him as He is.  And I will live with Him forever in the eternal city of God which He has prepared for those that love Him.  

Unfortunately, most so called Christians today think that they can have stage one and stage three without stage two.  They think it is possible to be justified without being sanctified.  But God doesn’t see it that way.  If you are truly saved, then all three stages must happen and will happen.  They are irrevocably connected. Rom. 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,[that’s sanctification] that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Hebrews 12:14 says that without sanctification, no one will see the Lord.

So the parable that we are looking at today is teaching some key principles of sanctification.  If you have become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, then these are principles of that kingdom that you need to apply.  This is the sanctification process that characterizes those who are born of the Spirit. 

First though let’s look at the parable.  It’s interesting that Jesus uses a rabbinical style of teaching here. He is teaching from the lesser to the greater.  He is basically saying, if a lessor principle is true, then it must be even more so that a greater principle is true.  And so to make that comparison He uses an illustration of an unrighteous person.  It’s important to note though that Jesus isn’t condoning the unrighteous manager for his wrong business practices.  No one should think from this parable that God winks at sin.  But Jesus is using this example of a worldly way of thinking and producing results as a comparison to what we should be doing in the spiritual realm.  In other words, if you do this in the worldly realm to achieve results, then so should you do this in the spiritual realm to produce results. 

Now this unrighteous manager was squandering his master’s estate.  And you should note right there the parallel between the parable of the prodigal son and this parable.  In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger son squandered his share of his father’s estate.  In this case, the manager has squandered his master’s estate.    Now in this case, the rich master calls him and says he is going to fire him as manager because he has been mismanaging his funds.  And furthermore, he wants the manager to give an accounting of what he has done with the money. 

Now it’s difficult for us to put this into a 21^st century perspective.  We don’t know exactly how this sort of business that Jesus was referring to operated.  But if I can conjecture a moment, I would suggest that the manager was more or less like a debt collector for the rich man.  Perhaps like a banker who  would arrange loans for people and then charge them a percentage as profit.  And the customary arrangement was for the one who collected to add his percentage on top of what was due to the master.  So somehow this manager had been playing fast and loose with the loans.  Maybe he was charging exorbitant rates.  Maybe he was taking all the money and spending it on himself and not paying back the rich man what was owed him.  Jesus doesn’t make it clear. 

But the story progresses with the manager finding himself in a dilemma.  He has to give his boss an accounting.  That means that he has to show how badly he has mismanaged the funds and in those days that meant that he could be required to pay him back or be thrown into prison or both. And he doesn’t have the money to pay it back because he squandered it.  That means he spent it foolishly.   And there is an even greater predicament.  He is also out of a job.  He will be penniless and without a job.  Furthermore, debt collectors were hated people.  They were like loan sharks.  They added outrageous fees on top of your debt so that you could never pay it back.  So when he found himself penniless and without a job he wouldn’t be able to find another one because everyone in the community hated him for taking advantage of their indebtedness to his boss. 

So this manager comes up with a brilliant plan to not only appease his boss but ingratiate himself with the community. He goes to the first debtor and says “How much do you owe my master?” And the guy looks at his bill which has all the interest and fees attached and says, “One hundred measures of oil.”  And the manager says, “Well here is a great deal for you.  Let’s do a cash settlement.  Pay me 50 measures of oil and we will consider it paid.”  He does the same to the next debtor.  That guy hasn’t had the loan as long, so the settlement is only a 20% discount instead of the 50% discount he gave the other guy.  But it’s still a good deal.  And the implication is that the manager does this with all the people that owe money to his rich master. 

So then the day comes when he has to meet his master and give an accounting.  And because of all of his creative financing, he doesn’t look quite as bad.  He has actually done well at collecting the money for his master, and at the same time he has made friends for himself in the community because he took off so much interest on their debt.  And Jesus says in vs. 8 that the master praised the unrighteous steward because he acted shrewdly.  The master got his money back and the manager made friends in the community which would help him out in return when he didn’t have a job anymore.  He was a shrewd person and the master praised him for it.

But the principle Jesus is making is found in the second part of the verse.  “For the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.”  First we need to understand who Jesus is talking about.  Sons of this age simply means sons of the world. And sons of light means those that have been born again into the kingdom of heaven.  So you can say it like this;  unsaved people are more shrewd in relation to earthly things than saved people are shrewd about heavenly things.

In other words, people of this world are great at investing for the future, planning for retirement, networking for the sake of commerce, building a business or using money to influence people.  Men are very shrewd in regards to worldly things.  Jesus doesn’t condone worldliness, but he recognizes it for what it is, and says that men are good at doing it. They are good at using their resources to further their means. But in contrast He says that the same can’t be said for the saved person.  Though we have been born again, a new creation, yet He is saying we aren’t shrewd in relation to the kingdom of heaven.  We fail to plan for eternity.  We fail to invest in the kingdom.  We don’t network for the sake of the kingdom.  We fail to use money or resources to influence people to enter the kingdom.  Now Jesus has already referenced in another parable many reasons why that happens.  We get sidetracked by careers, or families or possessions.  Jesus has made that clear in previous parables.

So Jesus gives three principles which are to be applied for those who are sons of light so that we might be wise stewards or righteous stewards.  Just as the manager was given a stewardship so we too are given a stewardship.  And we need to apply these principles if we are to be found good stewards.  Jesus said back in chapter 12 that to those who have been entrusted with much, much shall be required.  He said in the parable of the rich fool who died after building more and more barns to house more produce here on earth, that there will be a day of accounting. 2Cor. 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

So then principle number one is found in vs. 9. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.” What Jesus is talking about is using earthly things, earthly resources for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  There are a number of ways you can do that.  God has entrusted you with a stewardship of money, time, talents and resources to use at your disposal.  And if you are going to be a faithful, righteous steward of God’s resources, then first of all you recognize that they aren’t given to spend on yourselves, but they are tools to use for the kingdom of God. 

Paul says it like this in 1Timothy 6:17; “As for the rich in this world, [or those that are rich in the things of this world] charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.”  Whatever God has given you employ in the furtherance of the kingdom, so that when this world fails, those people that you have benefited will welcome you into heaven.  That’s how you invest in the kingdom of heaven. That’s how you employ earthly resources for heavenly gains.  You have resources that God has entrusted you with to build up the kingdom of God.  And when you do that, you will be laying up treasures for yourself in heaven by virtue of the souls that are in heaven whom you have helped.

The second principle is found in vs. 10-13; “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”  You know, I really think that this is one of the most important principles in the life of a Christian.  To be found faithful in the little things.  Oh, we all want to receive the big important jobs in the kingdom.  We all desire the greater gifts.  And so we should.  But before we get the greater gifts, the greater responsibility, God often tests us with the little things to see if we will be found faithful. 

So many people I’ve met want to be a teacher and yet can’t be faithful in the little things like prayer, attendance, personal devotions, or helping with the little things of ministry.  The humble things of ministry go before the exalted things of ministry. 1Pet. 5:6, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”  And Paul said in 1Cor. 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”  When you look at all the great saints of God like Daniel and Abraham and Moses, the common characteristic of all of them was that they were found faithful in the little things.  Be faithful in the little things; be faithful with your money, be faithful to support your church, be faithful to attend church, be faithful to pray, be faithful in your devotions.  It takes a certain amount of discipline and committment to be faithful to the kingdom, but above all else, be faithful.

Finally, the last principle is in vs. 13; “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”  The point is simple.  You are either going to be employed in serving the interests of the world or serving the kingdom of God.  They are not compatible.  In fact, they are at odds with one another.  This passage if nothing else shows that the prosperity doctrine that is taught so often today is a lie from hell.  The devil knows that if he can occupy your interest in the things of the world then he can enslave you by the things of the world.  And you will not have time for the things of God.  You cannot serve God and the world.  You cannot serve the Almighty God and the almighty dollar.  One excludes the other. 

When Joshua was about to lead the children of Israel into the promised land he called them together and said in Joshua 24:14, “Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”  Five times Joshua says serve the Lord.  Serve the Lord.

Listen, that is the same choice before you today.  You can either serve the god of this world, the things of this world, the money of this world, or you can serve the Lord.  The choice is yours, but you can’t serve both this world and the kingdom of God.  But like Bob Dylan sang, “it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”  I trust you will commit to serve the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.  That you marshal all your resources that God has entrusted to you and employ them faithfully in the furtherance of the kingdom of God.  One day soon He is coming back and He will demand an accounting.  I pray that you will be found faithful. Jesus said in Mark 8:36

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

I pray you might lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth so that when one day you stand before God to give an accounting of your time and resources here on earth, that He might say, “well done, My good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”