Southern Christian University
Matthew, Mark,
Luke, & John
Class Session
14
James A.
Turner
We will begin with John chapter fourteen and verse
twenty‑one. Please remember that
these chapters thirteen through sixteen consist of the long discourse that
Jesus gave his apostles after he had kept that last supper with them. And then chapter seventeen is a long prayer
that he prayed after he had given them this long discourse. So please turn to John 14:21. "He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and
will manifest myself unto him. Judas
saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt
manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? And Jesus answered and said unto him, If a
man love me, he will keep my words: And my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him." So
any person that keeps God's word, Jesus said, I and my Father will come unto
him and make our abode with him. "He
that loveth me keepeth not my words: And the words which ye hear is not mine, but
the Father's who sent me. These things
have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you."
Now, here is a very significant reference, and I
hope you will highlight it in your Bible.
John 14:26, "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring to your remembrance, all that I said unto you." Now, Jesus had not taught them all
things. But notice that the Holy Spirit
would teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said
unto you. Well, that would surely be a
lot to bring to their remembrance what the Lord had already spoken to them, but
the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, was going to do more than that. It was going to teach them all things. In other words, the Holy Spirit would guide
the apostles and those who they had laid their hands on and gave a gift of
prophecy, it was going to guide them into all truth. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
you: Not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither be fearful. Ye heard how I said
unto you, I go away, and I will come unto you.
If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: For the Father is greater than I. And now I told you before it come to pass,
that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe."
And the apostles did not completely understand what Jesus told them
about his being put to death on the cross until after it had taken place and
after his resurrection from the dead. "I
will no more speak much with you: For the prince of this world cometh, and he
hath nothing in me. But that the world
may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so
I do. Arise, and let us go hence."
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter fifteen is his instruction about the true
vine. I am the vine and ye are the branches. Now, some have tried to use this passage to
get out of it branch/churches. But note
that a church is not mentioned in any way, and Jesus is talking to his twelve
apostles on this occasion. And, of
course, this passage is speaking to us today, and the emphasis is on the
individual that abides in Christ. "I
am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman."
Just like the husbandman prunes and keeps the vineyard free of briars,
grass, and all hindering plants from it being a good vineyard, God fits in that
category. And Jesus is the true vine in
his Father's vineyard. "I
am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman." And, of course, as we have studied from
Matthew 20:1-15, the church is the vineyard that Christians are to work in. "Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: And every branch that beareth fruit,
he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. Already ye are clean because of the word
which I have spoken unto you. Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can
ye, except ye abide in me. I am the
vine, ye are the branches. He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit." Now, notice that statement, he that abideth
in me and I in him. Jesus is not speaking
of churches but individuals. "He
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit:
For apart from me ye can do nothing. If
a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and
they gather them and cast them into fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye
bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples."
Verse eight there ought to speak to each one of us
as Christians that just as surely as we abide in Christ in the vine, then we
can bear much fruit for the Lord. By abiding
in Christ and bearing fruit, then we glorify our heavenly Father. "Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and so shall ye be my
disciples. Even as the Father hath loved
me, I also have loved you: Abide ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his
love." So much emphasis is on abiding in Christ and
keeping his commandments. And just as surely as we keep his
commandments, we abide in him and we glorify God by bearing much fruit in the
name of Christ. "These
things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may
be made full." God and Christ want us to be a happy
people. Paul said, rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Jesus is
speaking to his twelve apostles in that last discourse, and he says I have spoken these things that my joy may be in
you, and that your joy may be made full.
John 15:12, "This
is my commandment, That ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you. No longer do I call you servants; for the
servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: But I have called you friends; for all
things that I have heard from my Father
I have made known unto you. Ye did not
choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and
bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in
my name, he may give it you. These
things I command, that ye may love one another.
If the world hated you, ye know that it hated
me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: But because ye are not of the world,
but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." And that still holds true today, that the
world as a whole is ready to hate a lot of those that are faithful Christians. "Remember the word
that I said unto you, a servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also
persecute you; if they kept my words, they will keep yours also." So Jesus is saying people are going to
receive you just like they received me.
Those that persecuted me, those kind of people will persecute you. And those kind of people that receive my
word, they will receive your word.
John 15:21, "But
all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know
not him that sent me. If I had not come
and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: But now they have no excuse for their
sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father
also. If I had not done among them the
works which none other did, they had not had sin: But now have they both seen and hated both me
and my Father." You remember going back to chapter eight, how
that he emphasized those facts, if you don't believe me because of my word,
believe me for my works' sake. No man
had done all the works that Jesus did during his personal ministry. His works had testified and confirmed that
the heavenly Father had sent him. "But
this cometh to pass, that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their
law, They hated me without a cause. But
when the Comforter." The Comforter is used
interchangeably back in verse twenty‑six with the Holy Spirit, and so we
can read Comforter or the Holy Spirit. "Whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth." It is used interchangeably in this
verse too. "Which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: And ye also bear witness, because ye have
been with me from the beginning.
Chapter Sixteen
These things have I
spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble." Now, notice Jesus is warning them that they
are going to be put out of the Jewish synagogues and that the hour would come
when those who killed the apostles would think that they were offering
service unto God. It is hard to
imagine such a thing, but evidently it came to pass. And the apostles according to tradition, I
believe all of them were put to death, maybe with the exception of the apostle
John. "They
shall put you out of the synagogues: Yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth
ye shall think that he already offering service unto God. And these things will they do, because they
have not known the Father, nor me. But
these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come." Now, what would be the meaning of that
statement? When their hour is come? When their hour is come to kill them, I
believe would be the meaning of it. Do
you remember how Jesus spoke on so many different occasions, my hour has not
come. His hour had not come, and he was
talking about his death upon the cross.
And so verse four must mean that for the apostles. "But these things have I
spoken unto you, that when their hour is come." When they are ready to put you to death. "Ye may remember how
that I told you." And so Jesus is telling the
apostles, I am telling you these things so that you won't be cause to
stumble. So that you will be armed as Peter
speaks of it in I Peter chapter four when he says, For
as much as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind. And so here Jesus is giving specific
instruction that the day is coming when they will kill you, and those that will
kill you will think that they are offering service unto God. "And these things
I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go unto him that sent me. And none of you asketh me, Whither goest
thou? But because I have spoken these
things unto you sorrow hath filled your hearts.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go
away: For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. And he." Now
notice what the Comforter or the Holy Spirit is going to do. Jesus says it is expedient that I go
away. If I do not go away, the Comforter
or the Holy Spirit will not come. But if
I go away, he will come. And here is
what he will do, beginning with verse eight.
John 16:8, "And
when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; of
righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; of
judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged." Well, Jesus has not yet suffered upon the
cross, but he is going to enter into the strong man's house when he is put in
the grave. But on that third day, he is
going to be raised victorious over death in the grave. And that is what he is talking about. The prince of the world, this world hath been
judged. And do you remember going back
to John 12:31, "Now
is the judgment of this world:
now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
myself." John 16:12, "I
have yet many things to say unto you, ye cannot bear them now." I guess all of us have been in such a
situation that we reasoned that this is all my little mind can take, that we
could not bear to hear and bear to understand or to profit by it anymore. And that was true here of the apostles, that
Jesus had taught them many things, but there is still much that they needed to
be taught. But the Lord is not going to
open their minds and pour it in. It will
have to come to you through the medium
of the Holy Spirit at later days. "Howbeit
when he." Now, you need to highlight at least verse
thirteen. "Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: For he shall not speak from himself; but
whatsoever things he shall hear, these shall he speak: And he shall declare unto you the things that
are to come." And you would do well to put verse fourteen
with that. "He
shall glorify me: For he shall take of mine, and declare it
unto you." Some people still think that if
they have a read letter New Testament with the words of Jesus set apart in red
that they can profit more from the reading of that, because they think that is
more authoritative than the other instruction, and when they get to a passage
like I Corinthians chapter seven where Paul speaks of what the Lord gave and
then what he is giving, some are ready to discount there what Paul has to
say. But remember that what any of the
apostles said, according to this reading, it is just as authoritative as
anything that Jesus gave during his personal ministry. Let us read it again, verses thirteen and
fourteen. "Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth."
Now, remember that all the truth did not come at
once. Those apostles would not have
known what to do with it if it had. But
as problems developed among the brethren in those churches, then epistles went
forth from the apostles, giving them instruction whereby they could solve those
problems in the church. And when
churches today have like problems, all we have to do is turn to those epistles
where like problems are discussed, and we can find how we are to solve those
problems of today. "So
when the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all truth." Of course, that means the giving of the New
Testament. "For
he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these
shall he speak: And he shall declare unto you the things that
are to come. He shall glorify me: For he shall take of mine, and shall
declare it unto you." What the Holy Spirit
gave the apostles, that is the word of Christ just like all that Jesus taught
during his personal ministry. "All
things whatsoever the Father hath are mine:
Therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you. A little while, and ye behold me no more: And again, a little while, and ye shall
see me. Some of his disciples
therefore said one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, A little
while, and ye behold me not: And again, a little while, and ye shall see
me: Because I go to the Father?" You see the apostles do not begin to have
full understanding of what Jesus was talking about. "They said
therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he saith. Jesus perceived that they were desirous to
ask him, and he said unto them, do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this
that I said, A little while, and ye behold me not: And again, a little while, and ye shall see
me? Verily, verily, I say unto you, That
ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice." Now, notice that statement, when they put
Christ to death, the world would rejoice.
"But the world shall rejoice. Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall
be turned into joy." And, of course, turned into joy
by his resurrection from the dead. "A
woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: But when she is delivered of the child,
she remembereth no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born into the
world." Jesus is surely good at using examples. The woman forgets about that part of delivery
when that child is born and rejoices that a man or that a woman has been born
into the world.
John 16:22, "And
ye therefore now have sorrow: But I will see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you. And in that day ye shall ask me no
questions. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, If ye shall ask anything of the Father he will give it you in my
name." So that is one of the rules that we are to
follow in praying to God, we are to ask for things in the name of Christ. Our prayers are to be directed unto our
heavenly Father, but they are to be given in the name of Christ. . "Hitherto
have ye asked nothing in my name: Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may
be made full. These things have I spoken
unto you in dark sayings: The hour cometh when I shall no more speak
unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. In that day ye shall ask in my name: And I say not unto you, that I will pray the
Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye
have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came out from the Father, and am come unto
the world: Again, I leave the world and go unto the
Father. His disciples say, Lo, now
speakest thou plainly, and speakest no dark sayings. Now know ye that thou knowest all things, and
needest not that any man should ask thee: By this we believe that thou camest forth
from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now
believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea,
is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me
alone." And remember that he told them that just
after he had instituted the Lord's Supper, it is written smite the
shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. And so here, again, in this long discourse, he
reminds his apostles that they are going to turn away from him. "So behold the
hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered." And that was true of all of them. "Every man to his own,
and shall leave me alone: And yet I am not alone, because the Father
is with me. These things have I
spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace.
In the world ye have tribulation: But be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world." I hope that you remember that Jesus said that to
his apostles on several occasions, it is I, be of good
cheer. And here in this last discourse, he ends it
with this statement. In this world, you
have tribulation. You are going to have
trouble as long as you are in this world.
"But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter seventeen, all of it consists of the prayer
that Jesus prayed just shortly before he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. Think how that people still refer to the
occasion when Jesus was teaching his apostles how to pray and giving them a
model prayer. Many still speak of it as
the Lord's prayer. Well, the Lord prayed
often and he did not have just one prayer, and if we were going to refer to
just one as his prayer John seventeen would be a good one, wouldn't it? "These things
spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is
come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee." And so Jesus first prays in behalf of
himself. Then he prays in behalf of his
apostles, and then thirdly he prays in behalf of those who would believe on him
through the teaching and preaching of the gospel. So he asked the Father to give him the same
glory that he had before he came to earth. "Lifting up his
eyes to heaven he said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son." The hour is come for him to die. "And glorify thy
Son, that thy Son may glorify thee:
Even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, and to all whom thou hast
given him, he should give eternal life." And so
let us keep in mind that God wants every child of God to receive eternal life
at the end of the way, that absolutely there is conditional security in Christ.
Remember we read from John 6:37, he
that cometh to me, I shall in no wise cast out. And
he stated there that it was his heavenly Father's will that he would not lose a
single one. "And
this is life eternal that they should know thee, the only true God, and him
whom thou did sent, even me to do. And
now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was." And this
reminds me of the words of Paul in II Corinthians chapter eight when he says
that you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how
that he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty
might become rich. So Paul was reminding them about how Christ
left the riches and the glories of heaven and came to earth, that we through
him might become rich, and that being rich has reference to our obeying Christ
and being citizens of that heavenly kingdom.
A person just cannot be any richer than to be a child of the King. Remember that good song entitled, The Child
Of The King. And in the eighth
chapter of the book of Romans, he says that, his Spirit bears
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then
heirs of God and joint‑heirs with Christ. So
a person cannot be any richer than just to be a faithful child of God.
John 17:6, "I manifested thy
name unto men whom thou gavest me out of the world: Thine they are, and thou gavest them to me;
and they have kept thy word. Now they
know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from thee. For the words which thou gavest me; I have
given unto them and they received them and they knew of the truth that I came
forth from thee, and they believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom
thou hast given me; for they are thine and all things that are mine are thine,
and thine are mine; and I am glorified
in them. And I am no more in the world,
and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thine name,
which thou hast given me, that they maybe one, even as we are While I
was with them, I kept them in thy name: Which thou hast given me, and I guarded them,
and not one of them perished, but the be fulfilled. But now I come to thee; and these things I
speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves." So the Lord wants his joy to be made full in
us today. "I have
given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world."
It looks like that some of our churches in recent
years are trying to do some to appeal to worldly minded people. We need to
remember that Jesus said, that the world hates the true disciples of the Lord,
because they are not of the world, and we are not to be out trying to please
the world. Our primary goal is to please
the Lord. This does not mean that we are
to try to make enemies. When Jesus sent forth the apostles under the limited
commission he said, Behold I sand you forth as sheep in the
midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents; but harmless as doves. We are in the world, and
the Lord wants us to stay in the world. Ten
righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, would have saved those
cities and the area around them from destruction. "I
pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world, but thou shouldest keep
them from the evil one." And, of course, that is
the old devil Satan. "So
I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world." Sometimes there are brethren who reason If
we could just move over here to ourselves and get away from the world, then we
could really be the kind of people that God
wants us to be. No, that is not
the case. The Lord says they are in the
world, and I do not want them taken out of the world, but I just want you to
keep them from the devil. I do not want
to lose any of them, keep them from the evil one. "They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth, thy word is truth." And in order for us to stay holy and
sanctified before the Lord, we need to be reading and finding out what God's
truth is and then walking in the way of the truth. And thus we are set apart and sanctified by
his truth. Brethren who are suffering
from spiritual malnutrition have much more trouble in keeping themselves from
the devil consistent and sincere Bible study and prayer will aid in that sanctifying
process. "Sanctify them in the truth, thy word is
truth. As thou didst send me into the
world, even so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be
sanctified in truth."
John 17:20, Now, notice that he
prays for those who would believe on him through the teaching of the
apostles. "Neither
for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their
word." That includes all of the New Testament, what
the Lord gave during his personal ministry and then what they gave in the rest
of the New Testament. "That
they may all be one; even as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us. That the
world may believe that thou didst send me." Jesus knew that one of the largest deterrents to the
progress of the gospel would be by division among those who claim to be his
followers. Jesus is praying for those
who would believe on him through the teaching of the word by the apostles.
Jesus prayed for unity on the part of believers. Would it not be wonderful if people could get
away from denominational doctrine and denominational names and just be members
of the church that we read about in the Bible?
We do not read of a single denominational church in the word of
God, and Jesus told Peter, upon
this rock, I will build my church, and
the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. The
Lord has not built all these denominational churches that we have in our land
and that are in other lands. I wish and
pray that all could come to that understanding and sincerely turn away from denominationalism
and just try to become members of the Lord's church and do as the Lord has
instructed us to do. Think how powerful that would be. Instead of one religious group, you might
say, warring against another religious group, all would be united in teaching
the same doctrine, and worshiping God in the same way according to the instruction
that he has given. That would surely be
a powerful message to all sincere people. One of the worst
sources of unbelief and a real deterrent to true Christianity unity is that
spirit of Join a church of your choice, and there are Christians in all
denominations. In
Ephesians 4:1-7 Paul exhorted the brethren to give diligence to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and then he lists those unities: There
is one body
and the church is the spiritual body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; I Corinthians 12:13) and
one Spirit even as also ye were called in one hope of your
calling one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all. Would it not be over all as
logical, but wrong to affirm that there are many Holy Spirits, and many Christs
and many Gods and heavenly Fathers as it is to affirm that Jesus has built many
churches with different names and different doctrines?
The nearest thing to denominationalism in all of the
New Testament is recorded in chapter one of I Corinthians. The brethren were
divided into groups or parties. The individuals in one party were saying :I am of Paul and those of
another I of Apollos and those of another and I of Cepas and Paul shamed
them for their divisive party spirit. They were divided in their preferences to
those who had taught them. Paul admonished them through
the name (authority)
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing
and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfected
together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (I Corinthians 1:10).
He also asked, Is
Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized into the names
of Paul (1:13)?
Verse seventeen of this passage has been used to try
to prove that baptism is not essential to salvation. The first part of the
verse reads, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel:
and then they
make their various quibbles as though Paul was not interested in baptizing
believers, and in the process of their quibbling they have Paul contradicting
himself in Galatians 3:26-27 and Romans 6:3-7, 6:17-18, and also in this
passage. In verse fourteen he states that He was glad
that he did not baptize many of the Corinthians, but he tells why, in verse fifteen, lest any man should
say that ye were baptized into my name . He is rebuking them again.
Instead of this being a passage as some want to make
it a passage to discount the importance of baptism, it is to the contrary, that
teaches that one does not have the right to wear the name of Christ unless
he/she has been baptized into Christ. In verse thirteen he reasons that you do
not have the right to wear my name because I was not crucified for you and you
were not baptizes into my name which shows that in order for any person to have
the right to wear the name of Christ that two things are essential, Christ must
be crucified for you, and you must be baptized in the name of Christ. Notice
the reading, Is Christ divided? (no) was
Paul crucified for you? (no) or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?
(no)
Do you see how Paul is condemning their wanting to
call themselves after Paul and the other preachers, but his questions are also
saying, Christ was crucified for you, and you were baptized into the name of
Christ. Do you see the harmony of this passage with Pauls teaching in
Galatians 3:26 and Romans 6:3-7, 6:17-18? When scriptures are
correctly interpreted they are always in harmony with all other references. In
I Corinthians 14:33 Paul affirms that, God
is not a God of confusion but of peace. If this passage is contrary to, as some want to make
it, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 8:36-40, 9:18, 10:47-48, 16:30-34, 18:8, 22:16; Romans 6:3-7, 6:17-18; Galatians 3:26-27; I Peter 3:21 then God is absolutely a
God of confusion, but Paul affirms that, God is not a God of
confusion. Who
are you going to believe, the plain teaching of the Bible or what some preacher
tells you that is contrary to the plain teaching of the word of God? This is a
serious question that each person needs to give a sincere answer to! We need to
keep in mind Romans 3:4 which reads, God
forbid:
yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar ; as
it is written, that thou mightest be justified in thy works, and mightest
prevail when thou comest into judgment.
The meaning is that any person who teaches contrary
to what God has said is lying. Some fit in the categry of being liars because
they have not studied enough, but they are still responsible for wrong
teaching. Others are willful false teachers who are in an accursed condition
(Galatians 1:6-9; II Corinthians 11:13-15). We can stop some false
teaching on the part of those who are sincere, but wrong in their
teaching, that what they are teaching is
contrary to other scriptures. Willful false teachers need to be branded as false
teachers (Romans 3:4, 16:17-19; Galatians 1:6-9,2:4-5, 3:1, 5:8-9)
"And the glory
which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even
as we are one: I in them, and thou in
me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and lovest them, as thou lovest me. Father, I desire that they also, whom thou
hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou
hast given me." Now, notice the Lord Jesus wants his
disciples to be with him, where I am. Very
soo after his death and resurrection Jesus
ascend back to his Father, and he wants them to be in heaven with
him.
John 17:24, "Father,
I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: For thou lovest me before the foundation of
the world. O righteous Father, the world
knew thee not: But I knew thee, and these knew that thou did
sent me. And I made known unto them thy
name, and will make it known."
He will
make it known through his word given to the apostles by the Holy Spirit (John
14:26, 16:7-14; I Corinthians 2:10-13; II Corinthians 3:4-6). "That the love wherewith
thou lovest me may be in them, and I in them." And I
believe we have already read the rest of the gospel of John.
So we are now ready to turn to the book of Luke and
read some of the parables that are peculiar to Luke's gospel. If I remember correctly we have already read
and discussed the parables in Matthew. First let us read that little short
parable that Jesus gave Simon the Pharisee from seven beginning with verse thirty‑six. One of the Pharisees desired Jesus to eat
with him. When Jesus sat down to eat a
sinful woman came in, and standing behind him, her tears fell on his feet and
she began to wet his feet with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her
head and anointed his feet with anointment.
Luke 7:39, "Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him
saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would
have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him. That she is a sinner." So he is reasoning why we are not supposed to
have anything to do with sinners. If he
is a prophet like people are claiming that he is, he would not have anything to
do with her. And there are still some
that have that holier than thou attitude and reason I am not going to have anything
to do with that sinner. But that is
absolutely the wrong spirit, and Jesus received the publicans and the sinners. "And Jesus answered and
said unto him, Simon." Now this is not the supper that
was served at Simon's house for Jesus during the last week of his
ministry. He was spoken of as Simon the
leper.
Luke 7:40, "And
Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. And he said, Teacher, say on. And Jesus said a certain lender had two
debtors: The one owed him five hundred shillings, and
the other fifty." According to this short
parable, the sinful woman is represented by the five hundred shillings and
Simon the Pharisee is represented by the fifty shillings. So the woman, according to the reading, has
been ten times more sinful than Simon.
But notice that neither one of them could pay their debt, and the burden
of sin is an unpayable debt. Salvation
is a gift of God. Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of
God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
"When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both." "Which of them therefore
will love him most?
And Simon answered and
said, he I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou
hast rightly judged.
And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, seest thou this
woman? I entered into thine house, thou
gavest me no water for my feet." Well, it was common courtesy
of that day that the host was to supply water and further it was in order for
them to wash the feet of those coming to his house. But Simon had not even giving them any water
to wash his feet. He not even showed common courtesy to Jesus. "But she hath wetteth my
feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss: But she since the time I came in hath not
ceased to kiss my feet." So Simon had not even
been a good friendly host. He had not
greeted him according to the greeting custom of the day. "My head with oil thou
didst not anoint: But she hath anointed my feet with
ointment. Wherewith I say unto thee, Her
sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much:
But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are
forgiven. And they that sat at meat with
him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath
saved thee; go in peace." (A brief was recess taken.) We are ready to begin.
What lesson should we learn from this short parable
that Jesus gave to Simon the Pharisee?
When Simon answered that the one that had been forgiven the most would
appreciate it more, Jesus said you have rightly judged. And then he went ahead to show how this woman
had been so sorry for her sins, but Simon had not even shown Jesus common
courtesy. What lesson are we to get from
it? I believe the lesson is this, that
those who never did become or go the way of, say, strong drink or drugs or any
kind of criminal activity and no sexual immorality are inclined, to have this spirit that this Pharisee Simon
had. After all, why my debt is not very
big. The lesson that we need to learn
is, as Jesus taught in that short parable in Luke seventeen, after we have done
all that is bidden us to do, we are still unprofitable servants. And as given in the reading, sin is an
unpayable debt that Simon like the woman had to be forgiven of. All of us need to keep in mind Romans 3:23, For
all haved sinned and come short of the glory of God, and keep before us that we
are to be humble before God and not have any proud holier than thou attitudes
and that sin is an unpayable debt. If you have your sheet on the parables, you
might want to turn to that second sheet where we have listed the parables in
the gospel of Luke. And remember that
when you want to study the parables, you need to turn especially to Matthew and
Luke's gospels. Mark records only a very
few that are peculiar to his book. And
some would say there is not a parable in the gospel of John, but some would
count John ten and John fifteen that we have read as parables.
Let us turn next to the parable of the good
Samaritan as recorded in Luke ten, beginning with verse twenty‑five. And remember this parable was given in
response to the lawyer's question as to who is my neighbor? He wanted to justify himself by asking that
question. And notice that Jesus turned
things around to the question who is a good neighbor, as given in verse thirty‑six. "And behold, a certain
lawyer stood up and made trial of him saying." And a lawyer of that day was one that had been
copying the law and was supposed to know the law of God well. So it is one of them that makes trial of
Jesus. He is not asking wanting to
learn, but he is trying to justify himself.
"Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life? And he said unto him, what is
written in the law, how readest thou?
And he answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;
and thy neighbor as thyself." Notice now
that this lawyer does have a lot of good understanding. He knew as Jesus had taught that those are
the two most important commandments, as Jesus said, the whole law and the
prophets hang on these two. "And
he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: This do, and thou shalt live." You will stay in a saved condition if you
abide by these two major commandments.
"But he desiring to justify himself, said
unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?" In substance he is saying I do not know how
to obey this commandment, because I do not know who my neighbor is.
And Jesus turns it around to what are the characteristics of a good neighbor. "Jesus made answer and
said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem
to Jericho,
and he fell among robbers." I have read that there
were robbers in that area and they would be ready to harm those who went
through the area. "And
he fell among robbers, who both stripped him, and beat him, and departed,
leaving him half dead." So they robbed him, and in the
process of robbing him, they beat him, and they departed, as Jesus said,
leaving him half dead. "And
by chance a priest was going down that way: And when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side." I guess that priest reasoned, why I don't
have any time to bother with that man, and he passed by on the other side. "And in like
manner a Levite, also when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the
other side." Neither the priest or the Levite wanted to
get near the suffering man. And sometimes Christian people can reason that they
are just so busy and do not have time to help those who are in tragic
circumstances. "But
a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: And when he saw him, he was moved
compassion." Now, the Jews hated the Samaritans. Some of the Samarians may have ended up being
somewhat of a mixed breed. They had built
a rival temple, and there was a lot of hatred on the part of the Jews toward
the Samaritans and Samaritans toward the Jews.
But this Samaritan has compassion
for all human beings. "And
as he journeyed, he came where he was: And when he saw him, he was moved with
compassion. And came to him, and bound
up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine." Those were two of the major home remedies of
that day. "And
set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." So he stayed with him that day. "And on the morrow
he took two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him,
and whatsoever thou spendest more, I when I come back again, I will
repay thee. Which of those three, thinkest
thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among robbers?" Do you see how wisely Jesus just turns that
around. And if you want to know what the
command means, you just learn to be a good neighbor. "And he has him to
answer the question, Which of these thinkest thou prove
neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers?
And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou
likewise."
And so it is a wonderful short parable that we
are to be good neighbors to all that are in need of our help. And in this day in time, of course, we know
that we need to be careful. But there
are times when it might be better if we even endanger ourselves a little when
we think that somebody is really in trouble and needs our help. Surely it would be a shame if we should do
like the priest and the Levite and pass by on the other side when a person
really needs our help. And we are to be
a compassionate people as this good Samaritan was here.
Next let us turn to Luke chapter eleven about the
short parable about the friend at midnight. Jesus gave this short parable, because one of
his disciples had asked him to teach us to pray. We begin reading with 11:1, "And
it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, that when he
ceased one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even
as John also taught his disciples. And
he said unto them." And here Jesus, again, is
giving a model prayer. "When
ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us of our sins; for
we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And bring us not into temptation.
And he said unto them, Which of you have a
friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me
three loaves; for a friend of mine is come to me from a journey, and I have
nothing to set before him? And he from
within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: The door is now shut, and my children are
with me in the bed; I cannot rise and give thee." So at first the man is not ready to rise up
and give him any bread. The door is
shut, and we have gone to bed for the night, and my children are with me in the
bed. A lot of the families of that day,
lay down in their outer garment that they wore, on the floor, and with some the
floor was the ground. And you can
imagine a man getting up, why if I get up I will step on my children. "I cannot rise and give
thee. I say unto you, Though he will not
rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity
he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." He sees the emergency of the situation that
the man is in, and so he does rise up and give him what he needs so that he
will have food for those that have come to his house. They are on a journey and they have come to
his house, and he doesn't have anything to feed them.
What is the primary lesson from this short
parable? The primary lesson is that we
are to be persistent in asking for the things that we believe that we need as
shown by the following verses. Verse
nine, "I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." You see the idea of becoming more persistent
and more persistent, ask, seek and knock.
"For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. And which of you that is a father, shall his
son ask a loaf, and will he give him a stone?
Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an egg, will give him
a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children: Now how much more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" And
so Jesus is telling us, be persistent in your prayers. The Lord is a gracious giver, but he wants you
to be persistent.
And while we are reading this one, let us turn to
Luke eighteen where we have another similar parable that teaches essentially
the same way. Luke eighteen, beginning
with verse one. "And
he spake a parable unto them to the end, that they ought always to pray, and not
to faint." In other words, again, to be
persistent and do not give up. Call upon
the Lord to do what you think he needs to do for you. "Saying, There was
in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man: And there was a widow
in that city; and she came often to him, saying, Avenge me of my
adversary." And you see, she did not give
up. She continued to go to that unjust
judge and say you are supposed to avenge me of my adversary. "And he went not for
a while: But afterward he said within himself, Though
I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will
avenge her, lest she wear me out by her conditional coming." And sometimes that may be the way to collect a
debt is by that conditional coming.
"And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous
judge saith. And shall not God avenge
his elect, that cry to him day and night." And
so, again, pray to the Lord frequently, and be persistent in your prayers. "Cry to him day and night,
and yet he is longsuffering. Over them,
I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily."
Now, God is not like that wicked judge that will just avenge her because
he did not want continual coming. God
will speedily avenge his children, but he does want us to pray and not to faint
or give up. He wants us to pray day and
night as stated here. "I
say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?" So
when Christ comes in that second advent, will he find faith on the earth? Will he find men calling upon him in that
sincere manner that he is instructed us to do?
Let us turn back now to chapter twelve, to the
parable concerning the rich farmer. Luke
chapter twelve, beginning with verse thirteen, a man wanted Jesus to divide the
inheritance. "One
out of the multitude, said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother, divide the
inheritance with me." He must have been a
younger brother. The oldest brother,
according to the law, got a larger portion of the inheritance. It maybe that it was not time to divide the
inheritance or maybe it was time, and the elder brother had not divided it. "Teacher, bid my
brother divide the inheritance with me.
But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over
you? And he said unto them." This gives Jesus the opportunity to teach a
great lesson, to tell us to take heed and keep ourselves from
covetousness. "And
he said unto them. Take heed, and keep
yourselves from all covetousness: For a man's life consisteth not in the
abundance of things which he possesseth." That
is surely something that we need to keep before us. people who really do not have much can still
have a very covetous spirit. And on the
other hand, a man can be a rich man and not have a covetous spirit. You remember that was one of the great
qualities of Job. when God allowed Satan
to take everything from him in one day, including his seven sons and his three
daughters, Job arose and worshiped and
said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked
shall I return thither. The Lord gave, and
then the Lord hath taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. So Job was not a covetous
man. If he had been a covetous man, like
some are, he may have turned away from the Lord because he had lost all his
material possessions. "For
a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he
possesseth." Think of the rich in the
world today that are experiencing bad health and they would give everything
they have just to have good health again, maybe just to be able to eat a
hamburger again.
Luke 12:16, "And
he spake the parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully." Now,
this farmer did not get his riches dishonestly. The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully. "And
he reasoned with himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not
where to bestow my fruits?" The harvest is so great
that all of my barns will not hold all of my fruit, and what am I going to do
about it? Well, here is his selfish
conclusion. "And
he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater;
and there I will bestow all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." This farmer is covetous. He does not think about the widow women and orphans
that did not have anyone to take care of them.
He may not have needed any more barns if he had just gotten busy and supplied
their needs, but he wants to keep everything for himself. And he is just thinking as though he is just
going to continue to live on. "Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and
be merry. But God said unto him, Thou
foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee." So just as soon as he got it all stored up in
all of those new barns, the Lord said, thou foolish one, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee. We all know
that when the soul leaves the body, that they do not take his material
possessions to the cemetery. So this
covetous farmer is dying in a bankrupt condition because he has been so
covetous. "And
the thing which thou hast prepared, who shall they be? So is he that layeth up treasure for
himself, and is not rich toward God."
So the primary lesson from this short parable is
that we are not to be selfish and just be laying up for ourselves. Jesus said, Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where
thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal, for where a
man's treasure is there will his heart be also. I believe that is the primary reason why the
Lord wants us to be liberal in giving to the church and giving to the needs of
others. If we are investing in the kingdom of God, then we will have our
hearts, and our minds on the right things, which will enlarge the kingdom of
the Lord. If our mind is but on material things and getting one new thing after
another that we want to enjoy, then our mind is going to be wrapped up in those
worldly things as this man was wrapped up.
He just thought he would be able to be idle and eat and drink and be
merry for many years. But God said, Thou
foolish one, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. And, again, we are instructed as Christians
to be prepared at all times. We do not
know when that night is coming! A wonderful
lesson is taught in that short parable. Covetousness is defined in Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5-6 as idolatry. Recent
events have showed that we are living in an idolatrous society and we are to
guard against it. After Christians have been taught properly, and we all have
responsibility in studying and learning for ourselves (II Timothy 2:15; II Peter 3:18), and still give only two
to four per-cent of their income, is that not covetousness? Covetousness in the
church today a great hindrance to the preaching of the gospel. Several years
ago I heard brother V.P Black say, If God was still striking men dead for
lying about their giving, like he did (Ananias and Sapphria (Acts 5:1-5), that in some churches
there would not be enough men left to serve at the Lords table!
I believe the next one is in chapter fourteen. Let us begin reading with verse one of
chapter fourteen. "And
it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the
Pharisees on the sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him." Jesus healed a man of dropsy on this occasion. . And picking up with verse seven, "And
he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out
of the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a
marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man
than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to
thee, Give this man place, and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the
lowest place. But when thou art bidden,
go and sit down in the lowest place, that when he hath bidden thee cometh, he
may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: Then thou shalt have glory in the presence of
all that sit at meat with thee: For every one that exalteth himself shall be
humbled and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Luke 14:12, Now here is the
parable. "And
he said unto him also that had bidden him, when thou makest a dinner or supper,
call not thy friends, nor their brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy rich
neighbors, lest haply they also bid thee and recompense be made them." There are quite a number in the church today who
seem to think that hospitality consists primarily of what is stated there in
verse twelve. But notice that Jesus said
that that is not true hospitality.
"But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor,
the maimed, the lame, the blind." Those who really need a good meal and cannot
recompense thee for it. "And
thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: For thou shalt be recompensed in the
resurrection of the just." And those who invite
people that are really in need and not expecting them to recompense them, they
are again laying up for themselves treasures in heaven, as Jesus spoke of
it.
And then the parable of the great supper that the
man gave. Luke 14:15, "And when one of
them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is
he that shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God." And eternal salvation is spoken of as a great
supper. Matthew 8:11, Jesus said, Many
shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of God. That includes men of all countries and all races
and all nationalities of people that are going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob (Revelation 7:9).
"Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom
of God." In that eternal kingdom. "But he said unto him, A
certain man made a great supper, and he bade many." And this parable is similar to the parable
given in Matthew chapter twenty‑two about the king giving a feast, a
wedding feast for his son. But it is a
different parable here by Luke. "A
certain man made a great supper, and he bade many. And he sent forth his servant at supper time
to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make
excuse. The first said unto him, I have
bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it." Well, in the first place a man would not be
very wise to buy a field, especially if it did not cost anything much unless he
had already looked at that field to see what kind of field it was. But if he had already bought it, that could
wait. The field was still his, and it
would not pick up and move away. But it
is an excuse. "I
must needs go out and see it. I pray
thee have me excused. And another said,
I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them." And, again, a wise buyer, would know what kind of
oxen he was buying before he would buy them.
But he had bought them and so the proving them could surely wait. "I pray thee have
me excused. And another said, I married
a wife, and therefore I cannot come." I
guess of the three excuses, we might count that last one the best excuse, but
it is still an excuse. I married a wife
and therefore I cannot come. Most women
would enjoy a good feast, a good supper,
and it said a certain man made a great supper.
There are not many women would want to miss a thing like that. So it also is an excuse. "And the servant came,
and told his Lord these things. Then the
master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the
streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed,
and the blind and the lame. And the
servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out in
the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be
filled. For I say unto you, That none
of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper." Dont you think verse twenty‑four would
be referring especially of the Jewish people and especially when you compare
this parable with the one in Matthew chapter twenty‑two, the marriage of
the feast for the king's son? It is very
plain in that parable that those that were bidden and counted the invitation
lightly were the Jewish people. As a whole the Jews rejected Christ, and so the
Gentiles would be brought in. I guess
all of us are ready to come with excuses.
Remember those excuses will not avail.
The Lord expects us to do what we can do. Those who continue to make excuses instead of
working for the Lord will not be at the marriage supper of the lamb of God
(Revelation 19:9).
Chapter Fifteen,
There are three parables in chapter fifteen. There are two very short parables and then the
longer parable about the prodigal son.
And notice that Jesus gave these parables because the Pharisees and the
scribes were murmuring because Jesus was receiving sinners and eating with
them. And, again, those self‑righteous
men, they thought that it was just terribly wrong if a man associated with
publicans and sinners, but they were hearing Jesus. "Now all the publicans
and sinners were drawing near unto him to hear him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes
murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." Jesus gives the three parables to show how
God and the angels in heaven rejoice when sinners are saved. Think how Christs
teaching should have humbled all of those proud Pharisees and it did humbly a
few of them, and that is still true today. There are still a lot of proud and
holier than thou people in many societies today. And so Jesus is giving all three of these
parables to these Pharisees and scribes to teach them that there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that
repent. "And
he spake unto them this parable saying, What man of you, having a hundred
sheep, and having lost one of them doth not leave the ninety and nine in the
wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on
his shoulder, rejoicing. And when he
cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them,
Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that even so there shall
be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine
righteous persons, who need no repentance."
I can remember when verse seven gave me trouble because I was thinking wrong. I was thinking as though that God did not
have proper regard for those that were not in a lost condition, but that is not
the point. God is always glad when his
people remain faithful, but the point is that one was lost, and God does not
want a single child to be lost. So their
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons who
need no repentance. When a member of a
family gets seriously ill, or in a bad accident and they recover, do we not
rejoice more over their recover that we do over the other members who have
continue to eat three good meals each day. You see, if a man is in a lost
condition, he is lost! But these others
are in a saved condition, but the Lord of course does not want them to be
lost. So when one sinner repents, there
is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine
righteous persons who need no repentance.
The sheep was probably lost, because of carelessness, it got away from
the rest of the flock and from the shepherd and got lost.
Luke 15:8, "Or
what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one, doth not light a
lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth
together friend and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the
piece which had been lost. Even so, I
say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth." And surely we
ought to be glad when sinners repent today.
There is always rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth. And that
shows that the angels are looking out for the welfare of all of God's
people. And that is in harmony with
Hebrews 1:14, where the writer says, Are
they not ministering spirits sent forth to do service for the sake of them that
shall receive salvation. So those heavenly angels are
interested in the welfare of every child of God, and there is rejoicing in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Luke 15:11, The next is a lost
son. "And he said a
certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father
give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me." The younger son has the spirit of that man
who wanted Jesus to divide the inheritance.
Father give me the portion that falleth to me. Do you see that this young man's heart is
away from his father's house before he leaves his father's house. The father in this parable, of course,
represents God. The house of the father
would represent the church, would it not, because it is God's house (II Timothy
3:14-15)?. So we are going to have a child of God
leaving his father's house, leaving the church. God does not want any of his children to leave
his house, but notice that God does not force any person to stay in a saved
condition. It is not God's will that
Jesus should lose one disciple (John 6:39-40). But God does not force a child of God to stay
at home, to stay in his house, the church. "And he divided unto
them his living." And so that would be to the
younger son and to the elder brother. "And
not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his
journey into a far country, there he wasted his substance with
riotous living." You know the far country calls
so many in our society today. There are thousands
of people every year who pick up and leave their families and they just want to
get out there, so that they will be separated from everybody who will try to
keep them in the right way. The younger
son goes into the far country and wasted his substance with riotous
living. Everything a person does in that
far country of worldliness is wasted. Everything
one does in riotous living is wasted. Think of thousands who are wasting not only
their money but their physical bodies and their souls in strong drink, drugs,
and wrong sex. Think of the millions who die each year of gay communities
because of unnatural and perverted sex, and how they and many thousands of
supporters want to call it just another life style. It is surely not a God
given life style (Genesis 2:18-24; Matthew 19:1-9; I Corinthians 7:1-7; Hebrews 13:4). It is an abomination to
God, Genesis 18:19-24, 18:32-33; 19:1-29; Leviticus 20:13; Judges 19:14-29:28; Romans 1:24-27; I Thessalonians 4:3-8; Jude 7). These
references are not all of the references that condemn such, and there are those
who want, in fact the state of California is requiring, it be taught
and encouraged as another life style in their public schools. There are a
number of liberals in leadership in the Democratic Party who are ready to
champion the cause of the gay community including Al Gore. How many more
millions will die before America wakes up?
You know that he had a lot of sunshine friends. His elder brother accused him of wasting his
fathers substance with harlots, verse thirty.
If that be the case, he had a lot of lady friends as long as he had
plenty of money. Surely he must have had
those sunshine friends as long as he had plenty to spend. But when that spending power gave out, his
friends had gone. "And
there arose a mighty famine in that country and he began to be in wont." He did not even have anything to eat. And he joined himself to a citizen to get
something to eat. "And he went and joined himself to one of
the citizens of the country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine." He reaches that point of despair in the field
feeding swine. Swine were unclean, under
the law. He was a Jew and he could not
have had a more degraded thing to do, than to be sent to the fields to feed the
swine. But the swine field or the swine
pen is nothing new. It is always been
around, and anyone who wants to go into the far country can go into the far
country and end up in the swine pen if they want to! "And no man gave unto
him. But when he came to himself,
he said how many hired servants of my Father's house have bread enough and to
spare, and I perish here with hunger."
Any
child of God who goes back into the world is beside himself/herself. Why would anyone want to leave the Father's
house and go back into the world? And
thus it says, when he came to himself.
So a man is beside himself as long as he has that spirit of wanting to
be in the far country, but he came to himself, but what a sad thing it is that
most of those who leave the church stay in a lost condition in the far
country, the world. So it is a
wonderful thing that he came to himself. Most of the people who leave the
church today do not repent and return to the Father's house as this prodigal
son did. "But when
he came to himself he said, how many hired servants of my Father's house have bread
enough and to spare., and I perish here with hunger." He makes a wonderful decision with the right
spirit. "I will
arise and go to my father and will say unto my father, I have sinned against
heaven and in thy sight. I am no more
worthy to be called thy son: Make me as one of thy hired servants." That good and humble thinking is real and it shows
genuine repentance on the part of this prodigal son. I am not worthy. I have sinned. I am not worthy to be called thy son, just
make me as one of thy hired servants!
"And he arose, and came to his father."
The father did not force him to stay at home, but
notice that the father has been concerned about him. He has wanted him to return, and he sees him
coming afar off, and he is moved with compassion and ran to meet him. Let us not forget that we serve a loving and compassionate
God. "But while he
was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and
ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father." Notice he does not change his spirit from
verse eighteen. He sees that the father
has received him gladly, but the son still has that humble spirit. I am not worthy to be called thy son. "And the son said unto
him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, I am no more
worthy to be called thy son. But the father
said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him;
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet." Do you think he came home barefooted? So put the best on him. Bring quickly the best robe and put it on
him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on
his feet, and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make
merry, for this my son was dead.
Dead how? Spiritually dead. And anytime a child of God leaves the
father's house, the church, and goes the way of the world, then his sins
separate him from God. He was lost but
now he is found! He had returned to his
Father's house, and so he was found, in a saved condition again. "And they began to be
merry. Now his elder son was in the
field: And as he came and drew nigh to the house, he
heard music and dancing. And he called
to him one of the servants."
Look at the bad spirit of this elder brother. "And he called to him
one of the servants, and inquired what these things might be. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come;
and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he had received him safe
and sound. But he was angry, and
would not go in: And his father came out, and entreated him. But he answered and said to his father, Lo,
these many years do I serve thee, and I neither transgressed a commandment
of thine: Yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might
make merry with my friends. But when
this thy son came, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou
killest for him a fatted calf. And
he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine. But it was meet to make merry, and be glad: For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." And I see that our time is up. (A brief recess was taken.)
It is time for us to begin with this last period of
this Class Session. And I believe we are
going to be able to briefly give the meaning of the parables here in the gospel
of Luke and this will conclude our last Class Session for this course. But I would like to call attention to this
parable before we go to the one about the unrighteous steward in the next
chapter. Notice the bad attitude of this
elder brother. He was not at all happy. He called the servants and wanted to know
what was taking place, and when he
learned, it made him mad. Verse
twenty‑eight says, "But he was angry, and would not go in." But notice that good spirit of his
father. His father came out and
entreated him. But notice what he has to
say. "Lo, these many
years do I serve thee, and have neither transgressed a commandment of thine." You know that is a lie. Even if it was just an earthly father that
would not be true, What adult never did disobey a father's command. But he has that self‑righteous spirit
like the Pharisees had. "And
yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends." Going back, the father divided unto them his
living, verse twelve. And, of course, he
had received a greater inheritance than
that younger son. But still he is not
satisfied, because that fatted calf has been killed and there is rejoicing. "But when this thy
son came." He is not my brother! And how foolish it is that you are doing
this. "This thy son came, who hath devoured thy living
with harlots, thou killeth for him the fatted calf." And it is very probable the prodigal son had
devoured that inheritance with harlots. Harlots
were surely in that far country and thousands are in the far country today. "And he said unto him,
Son thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine." He had divided to them his living. "But it was meet to make
merry, and be glad: For this thy brother was dead." He was lost in sin. "And is alive again; and
was lost, and is found." It looks like to me
unless the father made a real impression on this elder brother that the parable
closes with the elder brother being in a lost condition. And do you suppose that that may have been
one reason why that younger son wanted to leave home? I think surely it is possible that you could
have a man in the church with such a bad spirit toward a brother that it might
have some influence on causing him to leave the church. Of course, it should not, but it might. But, anyway, God is a compassionate God. He does not want a single child to leave his
house, the church. But if they do and they
are willing to repent, he is compassionate
and ready to receive them again.
But as I stated, it is such a sad thing that most of those who become
indifferent about attending the services of the church and get wrapped up in
the way of the world, as Jesus said as recorded by Luke, the
cares and the riches of this world and the pleasures of this life choke out the
word so that they become untruthful.
Now, we are ready to read the parable of the
unrighteous steward. And the trust of
this parable is that we are to take the unrighteous mammon and do good with the
unrighteous mammon. And by so doing, we
will be serving the Lord well. But if we
are like the covetous farmer and try to use everything for ourselves, then we
are covetous and end up like that farmer did.
"And he said unto the disciples." So this parable is given to the disciples,
but there are Pharisees that are listening.
"And he said unto the disciples, There was a
certain rich man, who had a steward."
A
steward is one in charge of another's possessions. And we need to remember that we are but
stewards of everything, of our time and our abilities, our energy of our money
and everything. We do not really possess
anything, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and we are but stewards
of what God has given us, and our stewardship will not last very long. But we are going to have to give an account
of our stewardship. "And
the same was accused unto him that he was wasting his goods." So this steward was a dishonest steward. He was wasting his masters goods. All of us need to ask ourselves, What am I
doing with my masters goods. Everything belongs to God and he is just letting
us use it for a little time, and that little time is not a New York minute in comparison to eternity.
The rich man tells him that I am going to put you
out. You will no longer be my steward
because you are dishonest. "And
he called him and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? Render the account of thy stewardship; for
thou can be no longer a steward." I am
taking away your job. I am going to get me another steward. Well, notice what this dishonest and wicked
steward decided he would do. "And
the steward said within himself, What shall I do? Seeing that my Lord
taketh away my stewardship from me. I
have not strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed." He was probably too lazy to dig. But, anyway, he reasoned what am I going to
do that I may have something when I am put out of my stewardship. "I am resolved what to
do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, that
they may receive me into their houses. And calling to him each one of his Lord's
debtors he said to the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, a hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and
sit down quickly, and write fifty." So he discounted
his debt in half from a hundred measures of oil to fifty measures of oil. "Then said he to
another, And how much owest thou? And he
said, a hundred measures of wheat. And
he saith unto him, Take thy bond, and write fourscore. And his Lord commended the unrighteous
steward, because he hath done wisely." Done wisely
from the standpoint of this world in that he is looking out for the future. So by discounting the rich man's servant's
debts, they will receive him into their houses and take care of him after he is
put out of his stewardship. And now the
Lord does not say that the man has done right, but he is commending him for
looking out for the things of this life.
And then notice the instruction, verse eight, the
latter part is very important. "And
the Lord commended the unrighteous steward, because he had done wisely: For the sons of this world are for their
own generation wiser than the sons of light." What is the meaning of the latter part of verse eight? The sons of this world. Who are the sons of this world? Those that are living for the here and the
now. Seven times in the book of
Revelation, those of the world are referred to as, they
that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10, 6:10, 8:13, 13:8 13:14,17:1-2, 17:6). And when you read all seven of those
references together it is very plain that the statement is talking about the
unrighteous, those that are living for the here and the now. And that is what this passage is speaking of,
for the sons of this world are for their own generation. And what does that mean? That would be for this life, which is very
short. And from that standpoint, if it
just depended on this generation or this life, they would be wiser than the
sons of life. Why? They look out for the future, and they try to
invest so that they will have something for their old age. But so many times members of the kingdom of God are not investing in the kingdom of God like they ought to be. "I say unto you,
Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that,
when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles." First notice that Jesus speaks of money as the
mammon of unrighteousness. And you need
to keep that statement in mind. If I see
directly, and I believe I do, that would parallel the statement of the apostle
Peter to elders of the church when he said that they were to take heed to the
flock and not for filthy lucre's sake but of a ready mind. And in Titus one, which gives the qualification
of elders, an elder is not to go after filthy lucre. But in the parallel in I Timothy three, he is
not to be a lover of money. So the
scriptures speak of money as the mammon of unrighteousness or filthy lucre,
filthy money because so many people use money and have a great desire for money
in the wrong way. And it is the mammon
of unrighteousness in I Timothy chapter six that the love
of money is the root of all kinds of evil. There is
not any kind of evil that somebody will not do for money, and it is spoken of as a mammon of unrighteousness
or filthy lucre, filthy money, because so much of it goes for those wrong
motives and wrong things.
Luke 16:9, And
I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends, by means of the mammon of
unrighteousness that when it shall fail, they may receive ye into the
eternal tabernacles." What is the meaning of verse nine? It would be the same thing as Paul is talking
about in his letter to Timothy when he told Timothy to tell those rich brethren
in the church at Ephesus that they put not their trust
in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy, that they do good, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying
up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come. It would be the same thing that Jesus is
talking about in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
When we take our material resources and
do the work of the church and help the needy, then we are laying up for
ourselves treasures in heaven. And as
stated here, make good use of that mammon of unrighteousness, that when it
shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles. And in that sense that when we help them,
that is counted by God as an investment in heaven. Remember Matthew 25:40, In
as ye did it unto the least of these my disciples, ye did unto me. Now notice. "He that is faithful
in a very little, is faithful also in much. And he that is unrighteous in very little is
unrighteousous also in much." Sometimes
there are those that excuse themselves on the basis that I do not make but this
small income each week or each month or I am just on Social Security or I have
got just this little pension to live on.
Well, the Lord expects a man to be faithful in the very little. And sometimes, some will reason if I was like
this brother over here, making sixty‑five thousand dollars a year, I
would be a good giver too, if I made that much.
Well, the Lord says, if you are not being a good giver already, you
would not be. He says he that is
faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and he that is unrighteous
in the very little is unrighteous also in much.
So what are you doing with the mammon of unrighteousness? Are you very careful how you use it? Are you learning how to live in such a way
that you do not have to fare sumptuously every day? Do you live in a very conservative way, so
that you will have more to invest in the kingdom of God? Now, those are important questions, and I
hope you will work in such a way that you can say, Yes, I am not going to
spend everything on myself. I am going
to be liberal whether it be little or much.
And remember the Lord has promised, he that soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully. If a man
is very liberal in his giving to the Lord, then the Lord will see to it that
that man has more. Many have put the
Lord to the test to prove that, and found that God keeps his promises (Malachi
3:7-12; Luke 6:38; II Corinthians 8:24; 9:-11). And do you remember in the days of Malachi
when they were reasoning that we are not going to bring the full tithe into the
store house. We will not have
enough. And the Lord said to the prophet
Malachi, will a man rob God? But ye say wherein do we rob thee? He says in tithes and offerings. And he challenged them by saying, bring
in the full tithe that there may be bread in my house. And prove me herewith, and see if I will not
open unto you the windows of heaven, and pour ye out a blessing that ye will
not be able to receive it. And remember the Lord can and
he hath promised to pour out blessings to those who give cheerfully and
liberally, giving with that good and right spirit as stated in II Corinthians
nine. God loveth a
cheerful giver. And he is going to bless those cheerful
givers.
Luke 16:11, "If
therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will
commit to your trust the true riches?" And that
would be those true riches are in God, and the ultimate would be heaven at
last. So how are you going to have true
riches at the end of the way, if you don't use the unrighteous mammon in the
right way. "Therefore."
Referring to what had been said.
If a man is faithful in very little, he is faithful in much. If he is unrighteous in very little, he is
unrighteous in much. "Therefore
if ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your
trust the true riches? And if ye have
not been faithful in that which is another's." And, again, everything belongs to God. We're just stewards. "Who will give you that
which is your own? No man 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." There are many that want to go the way of
being religious and go the way of the world at the same time. They want to have all the worldly things and
are not concerned about the needs of the others. They just want to spend everything on
themselves. But the Lord says that no
man can straddle the fence. You cannot
serve God and mammon. And we have to
make a choice. Please let that choice be the right choice. "And the
Pharisees, who were lovers among money, heard all these things: And they scoffed at him." And there are still those that scoff. When a preacher preaches a good sermon on
giving, sometimes in the church, there
will be a few who will make fun of the preacher who preaches good Bible lessons
on how that we are to learn to give cheerfully and liberally to do the Lord's
will.
There is another parable in Luke chapter sixteen. Well, I am not sure it is a parable. It is spoken of as a certain man, and a
beggar named Lazarus. So the story of
the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke sixteen beginning with verse nineteen. "Now there was a
certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen." Those were the most expensive garments of that day. The die for purple was obtained from
shellfish, and it was a very tedious and expensive process. And those who were clothed in purple, only
the rich and those in high authority could wear such garments. But notice it is not just occasionally that
he is clothed in purple and has a feast occasionally, but he is clothed in purple
and fine linen faring sumptuously every day.
So every day is a great day.
Feast in every day. And it is all
right for any of us to enjoy a feast occasionally, but none of us need to feast
every day. "And
a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs that
fell from the rich man's table: Yea, even the dogs came and licked his
sores." So the canine family showed poor Lazarus more
compassion than the rich man did. The
rich man did not see to it that the sores of Lazarus were properly cared
for. He probably did not mind them
carrying the crumbs from his table to Lazarus, but he did not put forth any
special effort whatever to be interested and to help Lazarus. And see Lazarus was in such condition that he
could not even go to the gate of the rich man, he had to be carried. And a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid
at his gate. "Full
of sores, hoping to be fed with crumbs from the rich man's table." The dogs showed him some compassion. They came and licked his sores. "And it came to pass,
that the beggar died." And we are made to
wonder, at least I am, from that statement if Lazarus even had a funeral. It does not say anything about him having a
funeral. "And it
came to pass, that the beggar died." But
he had something far, far better. "And
was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom: And the rich man also died, and was buried." You know that the multitudes turned out for that
rich man's funeral and all the praise they gave him. All you have to do is just listen to the way
the news media ia ready to praise some men today. They can really praise those who have gained
in great wealth and great prominence in doing the wrong thing. They can really praise them when they pass
on. You know that there was a lot of
pomp and ceremony at that rich man's funeral, but the rich man couldn't enjoy
it. His soul had left his body, and he
was being tormented while they were having his funeral. "And the rich man also
died and was buried: And in Hades."
That is that unseen world where people go between this life and the second
advent of Christ. "And
in Hades he lifted up his eyes being in torments." He is in that bad place in Hades. He is where the devil and his angels
are. "And
in Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom." This is one of the passages
that teaches that there will be no second chance after death. And there are many like passages in both the
Old Testament and the New which teach that when the soul leaves the body of a
man, his destiny is already sealed. "And
seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 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 anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Son remember." Notice that this indicates that the rich man
was supposed to have been a child of God.
Remember according to the Old Testament religion when a child was born
to a Jewish family, he would automatically be a part of the commonwealth of Israel. And so he speaks of Abraham as his
father. And Abraham speaks of him as his
son. So he was supposed to have been a
child of God, but he was everything but a faithful child of God. "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 in anguish in this
flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner
evil things: But now here he is comforted, and thou art in
anguish." So things were certainly reversed when the
soul left the body for these two individuals.
The rich man had fared sumptuously every day, and every day was a cruel
day as we count it for poor Lazarus. But
now things are reversed. Now, here he is
comforted and thou art in anguish. "And
besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed." And verse twenty‑six shows that there
is no second chance after death. "There
is a great gulf fixed: That they that would pass from hence to you
may not be able; and that none may crossover from thence to us. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father,
that thou wouldest send him back to my father's house." The rich man becomes evangelistic too
late. And he did not want his brothers to
end up in this place of torment. He does
not want his brothers to end up in the same place that he has ended up. You know there are some that reason my
parents died with this religion, and if they have gone to the wrong place, I am
still going to hold onto this religion, the religion of my parents. But if they have gone to the wrong place,
they do not want you to go to the wrong place as taught in this. And this rich man tormented in the flame does
not want his brothers to come to that terrible place.
Luke 16:27, "And
he said, I pray thee therefore father, that thou wouldest send him to my
father's house: For I have five brethren." They must have been living somewhat on the
order that he had lived, because he knew that they were in a lost condition,
but he did not want them to come there. "For
I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come
into this place of torment. But
Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: But if one go to them from the dead, they
will repent." Notice Abraham's answer. He said unto him, "If
they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, one
rise from the dead." And that still holds. Every person that will not hear what the Lord
is saying, even if people should return from the dead and come back and warn
them, they still would be disobedient.
Luke 17:7, Next the short parable of
the servant, and how that we are unprofitable servants. And this short parable is given because the
apostles had said to the Lord increase our faith. And picking up with verse seven, Jesus gives
a short parable to first increase the apostles faith and now to increase our
faith. "But who is
there of you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say unto
him, when he is come in from the field, Come straightway and sit down to
meat? And will not rather say unto him,
Make ready wherewith I may sup." In other
words, prepare my meal and let me eat first.
"Gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and
drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank the servant because he did the
things that were commanded." That is what
the servant was supposed to do. "Even
so ye also when ye have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We
are unprofitable servants: We have done that which was our duty to do." And as I have already mentioned, we need to
keep this before us. In the first place,
most of us are not so good to keep all the commandments. But if we did, if we are absolutely doing
everything that the Lord has instructed us to do, we are still unprofitable
servants, and the debt of sin is still an unpayable debt. And we just need to every day to have that
real spirit of recognition that we at best are unprofitable servants. We are unprofitable servants. We have done only that which it was our duty
to do. The next parable we have not
read. We read the parable of the widow
woman and the unjust judge.
Luke 18:9, But now the parable of
the Pharisee and the publican. Notice
Jesus spake this parable because of that self‑righteous attitude of the
Pharisees. "And
he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves, that they
were righteous, and set all others at nought."
There are still quite a few of those fellows around, that they just look
at others and reason how much better am I than that person. And so the Pharisee stands in the temple and
prays to the Lord, look at me as to what a great person I am. "Two men went up
into the temple to pray. And one a
Pharisee and the other a publican." And remember
how the Jewish people despised those publicans or those tax collectors. "The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself." When a man has a holy and
self‑righteous spirit, that is what he is doing when he prays, he is
praying thus with himself. God is not
going to hear the prayer of such a selfish unrighteous man. "The Pharisee stood and
prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of
men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of
all that I get." And so he just feels like he is
so righteous and so acceptable before the Lord, and he is saying in his
prayers, Lord, look what a great servant you have. But he is everything but a servant of the
Lord. "But
the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote his breast, saying, God be thou merciful to me a sinner." So notice the spirit of the publican. He is ashamed of his condition. He would not so much as lift up his eyes unto
heaven, but smote his breast saying, God be thou merciful to me a sinner. And surely we ought to learn from verse
thirteen that a prayer does not have to be very long for it to avail with God,
because the prayer of the publican availed.
God be thou merciful to me, a sinner. I do not believe it could get much shorter
than that. "I
say unto you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: For every one that exalteth himself shall be
humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Luke 19:11ff,
We are ready to
go to the Parable Of The Pounds as recorded in Luke nineteen beginning with
verse eleven. And notice that this
parable is given to people that are expecting the kingdom to be immediate, and,
of course, expecting an immediate earthly kingdom. But picking up with 19:11, "And
as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh
to Jerusalem,
and because they supposed that the kingdom
of God
was immediately to appear." There are a
number of references which shows that they are expecting the kingdom of God to be an earthly kingdom
and for Christ to take them out from under the authority of the Roman
government. "He
said therefore even the disciples were expecting that. He said therefore a nobleman went into a
far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return." And who is that nobleman that is going into a far
country? And a nobleman would be a king,
right, or the son of the king? It is referring
to Christ. He is going into a far
country to receive for himself a kingdom.
And do you remember the words as recorded in the seventh chapter of the
book of Daniel, how that he saw one ascend to the Ancient of days, to receive a
kingdom. That occurred when Christ
ascended back to God. Reading from
Daniel chapter seven verses thirteen and fourteen, "And
I saw in the night visions and, behold, there came with the clouds of
heaven, one like unto the Son of man." And did not
I give you a sheet of quotations in Matthew's gospel, where thirty times in
that just one gospel book that Christ refers to himself as the Son of man. And so Daniel sees in night visions, going
into the clouds of heaven, one liken unto the Son of man. And he came even to the Ancient of days. Of course, that would be God. "And
they brought him near before him. And
there was given unto him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the
people, nations, and languages should serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Think of verse fourteen and compare it with
Ephesians 1:19 and the verses that follow.
So Christ has received that kingdom.
And he has that dominion and glory, and he is over all peoples and
nations and tongues, and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, which shall not
pass away. And his kingdom is that which shall not be
destroyed. You see how the nobleman is
Christ, he is going to go away to receive a kingdom and to return. "And he called ten servants of his and
gave them ten pounds and said unto them, trade ye herewith till I come." Now, this parable is very similar to the parable
of the talents. But it is a different
parable. "But his
citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not
that this man reign over us." And that
represents again the Jewish people. The
leaders of the Jewish people hated Christ and put him to death. We are not going to have this man reign over
us. "And it came to
pass, when he was come back again, having received the kingdom, that he
commanded these servants unto whom he had given the money, to be called to him
that he might know what they had gained by trading. And the first came before him saying, Lord,
thy pound hath made ten pounds more. And
he said unto him, Well done, thou good servant: Because thou was found faithful in a very
little, have thou authority over ten cities.
And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath made five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also
over five cities. And another came,
saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I kept laid up in a
napkin." And, again, like the parable of the talents,
he didn't use what the Lord gave him. "For
I feared thee, because thou art an austere man. I takest up that which thou layest not down,
and reapest where thou didst not sow. He
saith unto him, Out of thine own mouths will I judge thee, thou wicked
servant." So he judged like the one‑talent man in
Matthew twenty‑five. "Thou
knewest that I am an austere man, taking up which I had laid not down, and
reaping that which I did not sow. Wherefore."
Because I am such a hard judge. You
said I am, why didn't you at least put my money to the bank. "Then wherefore
gavest not thou my money into the bank, and I at my coming should have received
it with interest? And he said unto them
that stood by, Take away from him the pound, and give it to him that hath
the ten pounds. And they said Lord,
he hath ten pounds. I say unto you, That
unto every one that hath shall be given: But from him that hath not, even that which
he hath shall be taken away from him."
And that
principle, that whatever the Lord has given us, if we use it well, it will be
increased. If we do not use it, then we
will lose what we have. And the same
principle is taught in that parable of the talents in Matthew twenty‑five. "But these mine enemies,
that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them
before me." And when he had thus spoken, he went on
before, going up to Jerusalem. So that concludes our study for this Class
Session. This is the last Class Session
for this course. I surely do hope that
you have enjoyed and profited from our study of the Gospels. And I would like to remind you that we have
pretty well read and discussed at least briefly all four of the gospel books.
Thank you for your good attention.