Word of Jesus Part 39

Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Luke 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
Luke 16:3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
Luke 16:4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
Luke 16:5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
Luke 16:6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
Luke16:7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
Luke 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luke 16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luke 16:12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

First of all our savior is not teaching us to be like the world in business or else it would contradict many other scriptures. Verse 16 gets us back to the real message and that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot be wrapped up in one and still be doing the other faithfully. We can't serve God and serve the deceitfulness of riches at the same time. While we are in the world we sometimes have to make a living and live among unrighteous people. If we have a secular job we are to be faithful, honest and work well to be a good example of what the Lord wants us to be. We are not to be dishonest, crafty and misuse our employer's time. We are not to be as the unjust steward who wasted his employer's goods. While he was commended for making things right in the end, the message I get is to make things right now. If we have been unfaithful and dishonest, change and do things right.

The main message is to be faithful in small things as unto the Lord if we expect to be trusted with more things later. If we can't be faithful in one area, how can we be trusted with a greater responsibility?

If a mother can't be faithful to raise a child properly, how can she be trusted with a class full of students in a Sunday School room?
If a youth pastor can't be faithful to a small group of young people, how can he be trusted to pastor a large church?

If we cheat our employer by wasting time we are being paid for, how can we be trusted to serve in the Lord's work faithfully?
I get out of this message the fact that we are to be faithful and thankful in small things as well as what we think are big important positions.

Luke 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

Jesus must have been teaching the very opposite of covetousness or else it wouldn't have offended the Pharisees.

Luke 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

We sometimes take the opposite view of what Christ says here, We usually look to people who are highly esteemed by men instead of those that are hated of men.

Except for a few fringe fanatics who are real heretics, many who are unnoticed or not well esteemed by men just may be those who are preaching and teaching truth.

We look too much to big name evangelists and leaders instead of those ignored and hated.

Jeremiah, Isaiah and even Jesus was hated for their message. John the Baptist was killed for speaking the truth. The truth does not bring approval by the crowds but causes divisions. Yet those few that walk in truth can be unified in love. We are not to be unified in lies and false doctrine.

Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Luke 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

It will not fail no matter who tries to change the word of God and make it seem different than it is.

Luke 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

Here is a verse that is highly ignored and explained away to please the lust of our flesh. We have no right to change this. It is better to avoid getting into this situation. If we find ourselves in this situation, we must seek God diligently for guidance and not trust in man's explanation of these verses.
If we remarry after a divorce that was not a bible reason for divorce such as fornication or sexual sin, then we commit adultery. It is as plain as day. It is a sin that can be forgiven but it is better to avoid getting into a second marriage if we can, so we can have a clear conscience before God.

I know many who are in a second marriage and have been forgiven but this verse constantly bothers them and hinders their complete happiness in the Lord. There is no way I can explain it away and make them feel better. I would like to tell them they are okay but how can I if the Lord doesn't say it?
I do know that the once we get our sins under the blood of Jesus it is forgotten by the Lord but we have to be careful not to encourage those who take advantage of God's forgiveness to go ahead and sin expecting to repent later. Is that attitude true repentance?
If we knowingly go against the word of God thinking we will repent later if it turns out to be wrong, we are not going to get away with it without consequences. Somehow our bad decisions is going to work against us. Jesus doesn't say these things without a reason. If it was not wrong to remarry after a divorce, why would Jesus mention it?

I will admit that I am married to one person and have never been divorced, so it is easier for me to see things this way than someone who has been through divorce and remarriage. I say this so that the reader will know my background. I am not holier than thou, I am not one who lacks compassion of those that have messed up in marriage. I have two children who have been divorced. They are both Christians. I expect them to be in heaven one day. I just do not want to pass off what Jesus said as being just good advice that we can take or leave. He said these words, not me and we must take them seriously. The same Jesus who said, "Ye must be born again," is the same Jesus who said it is adultery to remarry after a divorce.  Our Lord will restore us when we truly repent and give our lives over to Him, but we must not ignore these teachings so we can live anyway we want and expect to repent later after we get the person we want to live with the rest of our lives.  If we are not faithful in the first marriage, how can we be faithful in the second? A complete change of attitude and repentance is the only way we can make things right in this incidence.  We can't break up a second marriage and go back and redo the first one for that will only make things worse.  Two wrongs don't make something right.  It is better to seek the Lord before any marriage and do it right the first time if possible. 

Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luke 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luke 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luke 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
Luke 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luke 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luke 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luke 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

This is truly one of the saddest parables in the New Testament. If we live our lives in pleasure and are rich, yet ignore the poor and suffering, that is proof that we are not children of God. While it is true that this rich man could have repented of this sin, he did not repent or he would not have been in hell. Sin is what takes us to hell. That is why Jesus came to remove our sin when we repent and come to Him. Before Christ came, they could still repent and look forward to the time when the Messiah would come to pay the price for their sin. This rich man's works was not fruits of a repentant life. He let someone suffer and starve when he could have done something about it. Had he read the law of Moses and the prophets, he would have known better but he did not live by the law of compassion taught in the Old Testament. Once he passed from this life, he could not change and return to warn his brothers. Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom which was a place of comfort. Some teach that after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus all who die in Christ go immediately into His presence in heaven. There is no purgatory. No one can pray us into heaven. We have to make that decision now by accepting the way of salvation God provided for us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must repent of sin and accept Jesus to enter heaven. That is why Jesus came. Not just to forgive sins but to save us from sin.

2Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing

This parable also teaches us that there is no soul sleep. Only the body dies at physical death. The soul and spirit are still conscience somewhere. The soul will be either in heaven or in hell to await the final judgment and resurrection of the body. The bible never teaches soul sleep. Jesus would not make up a parable that was not possible. I believe his parables were actually incidents that happened at one time or another.

When we read about the scene on the mountain with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, we know that all were alive.  Moses physically died yet was seen. Elijah didn't die but was also with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.  None were asleep.  If we observe a dead body, we can see clearly that the real person is no longer there.  That body soon decays, the soul and spirit is gone. 

If we truly study the word of God we don't have to fall prey to so many false doctrines in the world today.

Words of Jesus 40