The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Revelation 4:11quoted at the opening before singing: 'You are worthy, oh Lord, our God, to receive glory and honor and power for You created all things and they exist because You created what You please'
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”
quoted by Kimberly during the missions committee moment as Jesus' last words before ascending: 'You shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth'
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
quoted after the song Chainbreaker: 'I am the light of the world. And if you follow me, you don't have to walk in darkness any longer because you'll have the light that leads to life'
12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
quoted before the offering song Canvas and Clay: 'In all things, all things does mean all things, good and bad, both, that God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose'
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.
quoted to show usury is against Torah: 'If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you're not to act as creditor to him. You shall not charge him any interest'
quoted continuing the usury argument: 'In case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means among you falter, then you are to sustain him like a stranger or resident so that he may live with you. Do not take any kind of interest from him'
the primary text for the entire sermon, covering the parable of the shrewd manager, the saying about serving God and wealth, the Pharisees as lovers of money, law and prophets until John, the divorce example, and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus
1 He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.
2 He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 “The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.
4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’
5 Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’
6 He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
7 Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.
9 I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents.
10 He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
15 He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God’s Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall.
18 Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores,
21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
24 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.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish.
26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house;
28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray walked the congregation through all of Luke 16, treating it as a single unit. The chapter holds two parables, a few hard sayings about money and the law, and a pointed word aimed at the Pharisees who were listening in and sneering. The thread running through all of it is the same: what you do with what God has given you while you have time to do something with it.
What was said
The first parable is one of the hardest passages in the New Testament, and Pastor Ray said so plainly. A manager who has been caught squandering his master's money faces unemployment, decides he is too weak to dig and too proud to beg, and so quickly cuts deals with his master's debtors before he loses his authority to do so. The master ends up complimenting the man, not because his conduct was righteous but because he was shrewd. Pastor Ray was careful to note that it is the master in the story who offers the compliment, not Jesus.
The most likely explanation, Pastor Ray said, is that the manager stripped out the interest charges that had been added to the debts. Charging interest to a fellow Israelite was forbidden under Torah, everybody knew it, and everybody did it anyway. He offered that as an example of an acceptable sin, the kind that rarely gets named, and noted that this interpretation is why the steward is called unrighteous even while being called shrewd.
Jesus then tells his disciples to make friends by means of worldly wealth, because worldly wealth will eventually run out and what matters is what comes after. The point is not that money is evil but that it is temporary and that what you do with it while you have it reveals your character. Pastor Ray put it simply: a person who is stingy with a little will be stingy with a lot, and if you cannot be trusted with someone else's resources, no one is going to hand you something that is truly your own.
The Pharisees were listening to all of this and, as Luke flatly states, they were lovers of money. The Greek word Luke uses for their reaction, Pastor Ray said, literally means to turn the nose up and out, to blow someone off the way you expel something from your nose. Jesus turns to them directly and tells them that what is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God. He says they justify themselves before people while God already knows their hearts.
Jesus then pivots to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The contrast is stark from the opening: a man dressed in purple and fine linen, enjoying himself every day, and a sick, hungry man laid at his gate whom the dogs visit. When both die, the poor man is carried to Abraham's side and the rich man is in torment. Pastor Ray noted that the rich man addresses Abraham as father, meaning he knew the tradition he came from, he just had not lived by it.
The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers. Abraham tells him they have Moses and the prophets, and if they will not listen to those, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Pastor Ray called that a clear piece of foreshadowing. The fixed chasm between the two places is not incidental detail, it is the point: there is no crossing over after the fact, which rules out any idea of conversion after death.
Pastor Ray closed by holding the whole chapter together. The manager knew his time was limited and acted on that knowledge. The rich man had every resource and every opportunity and acted as though time and wealth were his to keep. The application, he said, is to take seriously that we are all managing what God has given us, that we will not have it forever, and that the clear instruction is to be generous, especially to the poor.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray described the dishonest manager as someone who knew his time was limited and acted quickly to secure his future, then drew a parallel to how we use the resources God has entrusted to us. Where do you see yourself being faithful with those resources, and where do you find it hardest?
Pastor Ray said that character is character, that the person who cheats in small things will cheat in large ones. Can you think of a time when faithfulness in something small prepared you for something bigger, or when cutting corners in something small led somewhere you did not expect?
Alright, good morning everybody. How are doing? Good. Good. What a beautiful day.
What a beautiful day. God, thank you for this day and thank you for this church. Here is a good word for from Revelation four. Would you stand with me before we sing together? It's you are worthy, oh Lord, our God, to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things.
And they exist because you created what you please. Let's start by singing glory to God forever.
Few announcements. Let's see what they are. I've been running this week. Announcements. Monday night at first speed.
What's happening, Carl?
We're on 06:00 tomorrow evening down the hall. Meal, music message. Lexi is going to be making dinner, and we're in Mark 12, and Jesus gives great great commandment, to love him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, love our neighbor.
Fantastic. That sounds good. Lexi is making the meal. Yes. You're handling the music and the message.
And then there's a conversation afterwards, a conversation style after he finishes kinda doing a little expository run through, and we get a chance to talk back for a change. Right now media. If you don't know what this is, it's like the Christian version of Netflix. We're only gonna do this about three or four weeks to let you all know about it again. But if you would like to look up Bible studies videos, any kind of resources for small group, the church pays for the service.
It's free to anybody that will just give us their information to sign up. That's it. It's It's great. It's really, really nice. So right now media, if you'll let Nick, he's right back there in the center aisle.
If you'll let him know, he'll get you hooked up with that. Solid Rock Tour. It's getting close to this. The and or is it twenty twenty sixth eighth and the thirtieth? That's Wednesday and Friday.
This week, the Emane Milele Choir from Uganda is gonna be doing a free concert at the Presbyterian Church. I think that's at six to 07:30. 06:00. Yep. So that's happening.
We have some Ugandan missionaries in the room too. That's kinda cool. Vacation Bible school is this week too. We should've led with this. Vacation Bible school is this week.
So for June twenty sixth through twenty eighth, first three days of this week, 9AM to noon. Right here, you see the decorations up. Pets Unleashed, where Jesus cares for you is the theme this year. So, please come on, bring the kids, and, enjoy it. Twenty twenty three church directory.
Nick is also the guy who's taking pictures. He's right back there in the center aisle. He's got his camera with him, and he will take a horizontal photo. You all know the difference, right? Horizontal, vertical, yes.
We need a horizontal picture of you if you want to be included in the church directory, and he'll get the information so that we can stay in touch. First B's Church Campout. Usually, we do this in August. We're not doing it in August. You need to know it's earlier this year, July 7 through the ninth.
It's also down at Palisades Lake. For more information on that, call Mike. Is Mike somewhere nearby? He's back there right behind, Nick. Anything else?
Look for him. Here he is. Youth Director Mike Demetrius. Come, it will be fun. Yes, please come, it will be fun.
There's his phone number right there. Spread it around. And today, if you pass by the tables out here and you're wondering what's going on, way back when we used to have dinner on the grounds, this is a between services thing. We're going to try to do it for the next three months. This is the first ever, first BBQ, okay?
The first BBQ is out there and it's between services, games, food, fellowship, just fun old time. So it's right out there, right after the closing, amen. If you want to sign up for weekly church emails, it'll be like the old paper bulletins we used to hand out. It'll be coming to your inbox instead and is there anything that I forgot? Anybody got a suggestion, comment, complaint?
Yes, Kimberly. Missions committee, moment. That's what we're looking for. I knew there was something. Come on, it didn't make it into the slides.
But here we are. This is Kimberly Fordyce App, a member of our very active Missions Committee. And there you go.
Is it It's
on now.
Are you okay? Acts one eight. Jesus' last words before he rose ascended to heaven, where you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth. This church takes this mission very seriously. And we in the missions committee felt that because of COVID and the restrictions on travel and stuff, it had been quite a while since we'd had any of our quarterly visits from our missionaries.
And we just kind of wanted to put out in front of you again that we are active in Jerusalem. That would be the organizations that we submit low support locally in Judea and Samaria. That would be US missionaries that we support in the remotest parts of the world. If you want to know more about it, contact me or anybody else in the missions committee. But we want you to know, We believe that we need to be fulfilling Jesus' commission to let others know about Jesus.
Amen. Thank you very much. Wonderful. Thank you, Kimberly. Would you stand with us and we're gonna close.
Hey. Give it. Yeah. For sure. Absolutely.
Would you stand with us? We're gonna sing Chainbreaker.
If you got chains, he's a chain breaker. We've all searched for the night of day and the kid of night. There's a better life. If you got paid, he's a pain taker. If you feel lost, he's a way maker.
If you need freedom, a savior. He's a prison shaking savior. If you got chains, he's a chain breaker. If you need freedom, saving. He's a prison shaking savior.
You got chains. He's a chain breaker. You need freedom. You need freedom. You're saving.
He's a prison shaking savior. You got chains. He's a chain breaker.
Hear this from Jesus. He says in John eight twelve, I am the light of the world. And if you follow me, you don't have to walk in darkness any longer because you'll have the light that leads to life. Thank you, Lord, that you are the light that leads to life. You're the good shepherd.
And God, may we follow you even though we don't always know you're leading. May we follow you because we know that you're you're headed for green pastures. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your finished work on that cross.
That finished work that allows us to stand right before you and to come boldly before you, before the throne of grace, because you've extended this grace to us and forgiveness, and now we can stand here that you would call us righteous. Oh my goodness. That's just amazing. But it's not because of our work, Lord. It is because of yours, and we sing of it.
And we remember, and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's sing that praise
again.
And you can have a seat here for for just a moment.
This is the
the worship through giving part of the the service and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward, and we're gonna sing a song called Canvas and Clay in from Roman Romans 28. We know that in all things and all things does mean all things, good and bad, both, That God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. Before we sing,
Ray, would you pray? Lord,
we're thankful to be here this morning. I'm overwhelmed by the songs so far, Lord. We've sung the gospel in three different songs just straightforward as it can be. Lord, for our life in you, this next song gets me every time Psalm one thirty nine is quoted here. We're fearfully and wonderfully made, Lord.
Our days are written out like pages in a book. Lord, maybe we walking in the steps you have established for us. And Lord, with that being said, I pray that you would show us, Lord, what you want for us to do. Would you give us direction? We know that you provide the power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
The Holy Spirit is available to us. And we're asking, Lord, show us, give us direction for what you would have us individually do, what you'd have us collectively do as a church and community. But, God, I pray that you would give us a direction, empower us, and then, Lord, obedience that we would just do it. In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask that we would be doing your will and your way. Amen.
Work together
Amen. And it's time for children's church downstairs. And there they go. And if you're standing in the back and you want to come up, there's always room on the front row. Always, always, always room on the front row.
But the kids have vacated some spaces, so there's some poor space out there now if you want to slide in. Luke 16. We've been doing a chronological study of the narrative of the synoptic gospels in order. And in this portion, it's not Matthew, Mark, and Luke all saying the same thing. It's just Luke at this point.
So Luke 16 and you might ask, all of it? Really? Yes, all of it. We're going to go through it. I think it needs to be taken as a unit and there's about 10 pounds of sugar that I want to put in a five pound bag this morning.
So listen fast, all right? Y'all was trying to get to a party out there. Now he was also saying, when it says he was also saying, it's right after this. So fifteen and sixteen could be taken together, but how long should a sermon be? Long enough to do honor to God's word.
How short should it be? Short enough to do honor to his people. The lost sheep, the lost coin, prodigal son immediately precede this, or you might call a prodigal son. Really, it's a parable about a loving father and an older brother. He was saying to the disciples.
Now, it's still in the same crowd, and we know Pharisees and scribes are present, but it's still in the same crowd. He's kinda leaned over to the disciples and he says, listen, there was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. Oh, boy. This is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament, but we're gonna go right through it. I think the New American Standard, that's what I'm using, has made some good editorial decisions, but there are a lot of things to consider.
We'll hit two or three of them on the way. There was a rich man, Jesus is saying, who had a manager. This manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions, and so he summoned him to him and said to him, what's this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management for you can no longer be manager. Basically, he says you're fired.
You're if you're out of here. You're out of here. But he says, give me an accounting too, so the guy has to go collect the accounting. He doesn't have it on his phone. And so the clicky clicker is not working there, Preston.
He the manager said to himself, now he does say it back to the boss, but he says, What am I to do since my master is taking the management away from me? He realizes that he is soon gonna be out of work, and he thinks, I'm not strong enough to dig. Desk jobs will do that to you after a while. And unlike the temptations of Motown fame, he was too proud to beg. Okay?
So I know what I'll do. He has an idea, and he says, so that when I'm removed from people will welcome me into their homes. And he summoned each one of his master's debtors. He's the manager. Master's not really paying too much attention.
And he summons to him all the master's debtors. And he began saying to the first one, how much do you owe my master? Now he knows how much he owes him. He's got the notes. Right?
He's got it written down on the ledger. There's not any doubt. But the psychological value of that guy having to say out loud how much he owes is pretty big. How much do you owe my master? And he said, a 100 jugs of oil.
Now for me, I don't know what anything costs at the grocery store, but a 100 jugs of oil, how much is that? The quantity, 875 gallons. That should be measured in barrels to me, not jars, but they're big. 875 gallons, the value is about a thousand denarii, which is a day's wage for a laborer. A thousand of them be a thousand days wages, so three years salary.
Are you keeping up? Three years salary. That's a lot. And he said to him, take your bill, sit down quickly, and write 50 in your own hand. You write it out.
You're basically signing this new document, and you owe half as much as you used to. Oh, Sure thing. That would be quickly indeed. Yes. I owe half as much as I used to.
And to another he said, and how much do you owe? And he said, A 100 cores of wheat. Anybody know what a core is? Me neither. Josephus tells us what it is.
Josephus in his antiquities tells us. So a 100 cores of wheat, the quantity is a 100 acres worth of grain. What's a 100 acres worth of grain? 3,000 denarii. So this is about eight to ten years of salary for labor.
That's a lot of money. So it's a big deal. And he tells him, take your bill, sit down and write 80 on it. So he only gets a 25% reduction or, you know, he brings it down from a 100 to 80. Take your bill and write 80.
He was delighted. He might have been jealous of the other guy for getting 50, but it's in commodities, it's not in money. Okay? That's important. They had rules in place and there's a way of getting around the rules if you use commodities rather than cash.
Okay? So that's what's going on here. Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Giving them half off or giving them a pretty good discount is one of those ways. I've got three options for you to consider.
Using the authority he still had, maybe he still had the signet ring, who knows? He just lowered the price and it made the boss look bad. It's like, oh, he's overcharged you for this. I'm not going to let him do that. Here you go.
That's a possibility. The other one is he removed the interest charge because usury is against Torah. I say was, is, still. Usury is against Torah. It's against law.
So if you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you're not to act as creditor to him. You shall not charge him any interest. Leviticus. Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means among you falter, then you are to sustain him like a stranger or resident so that he may live with you. Do not take any kind of interest from him.
Fear your God so that your countryman may live. You shall not give your silver at interest nor your food for profit. Oh, hell. I just said that out loud in a capitalist society during the summer months in Jackson. You're not to charge interest to your countrymen.
It goes on and on. Usury was against the law and everybody knew it. And so the master knows it, the servant knows it, but he is the manager and everybody also does it. Isn't that awful? It was one of those acceptable scents.
We've got a lot of stuff we get really upset about. Usury doesn't it? It hardly ever comes up for some reason. Third, he just removed his own commission, sacrificing his own money, not the master's. So in that case, that's probably the most honorable case.
But since he's called unrighteous and shrewd, you pick. I don't care which one you pick. They're all fine options. I think it's the second one. I think it was usury.
So he lowers the price to take away the interest, and the people feel blessed to not have to pay that. And his master commended or complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. Can't dig, too proud to beg, I better figure something out, I know what I'll do. And the master complimented the unrighteous steward. Now some people get confused and think Jesus is complimenting the unrighteous steward.
The New American Standard makes a deliberate editorial choice there, and I agree with it. The manager says, yeah, he got me there. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. He's talking about in this age. I'd say game recognized game.
I don't know what that means. No? Wrong crowd. Sorry. Too hip for the room.
Sorry. You recognize that someone else has bested you. Right? And then Jesus says, and I say to you because of the story I've just told, and I say to you this, to whom well, he says he's speaking to his disciples, but from the next line, we know, excuse me, the Pharisees were watching and listening. So I say to all of y'all, make friends for yourselves by the means of the wealth of unrighteousness.
The wealth of unrighteousness, that's the Greek right there. Mammona well, I won't even try. Mammon of unrighteousness, that's what it means. That's the straight literal, We might say worldly wealth. And really, it's just money.
He's he's saying the wealth of unrighteousness. It's it's really just money. It's what we use here on Earth. Right? It kind of equates to the King James version of filthy lucre in Titus, that an elder should not be someone who was given to filthy lucre, who was primarily concerned about money.
So I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of this money, wealth of unrighteousness, worldly wealth, whatever you've got, so that when it is all gone, and it is gonna run out, you can't take it with you. You've heard it. No such thing as a U Haul behind a hearse. Right? You're not going to take it with you.
When it actually is gone, they will receive you into eternal dwellings. The they is kind of throws people. They. They could be the actual friends, the least of these. When he says make for yourself friends, especially considering the last half of this chapter, I think he's talking about the poor.
That's a possibility. It could be those actual poor people that you are giving of your resources to. Could be the angels. That's a fairly common Hebraism that they would use to say, the angels came and took him home. You know, that sort of thing.
Or it could just be a circumlocution for God himself, the royal they. Could be. Those are the editorial things I'm talking about. But the point is pretty clear. The manager knew he had a limited time, and so he had to do something with what he had that would help him in his new life to come.
Okay? Are you with me? Jesus closes out here and says, the one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much. The one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. He's saying character is character.
Character is being yourself when nobody's watching. If you're gonna cheat in a little, you're gonna cheat in a lot. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the use of this unrighteous wealth, same kind of saying there, Who's going to entrust you with true wealth? Think about it. If you have not been faithful in your use of worldly wealth, if you're hoarding it and stingy with it, then who's going to entrust you with something that's truly valuable?
If you've not been faithful in the use of that, which is another's, because that manager's, right, the manager, that wasn't his money. It was unless you believe a third option, that might have been his money. But he had been cheating. He didn't even argue with the guy about the cheating. He's like, well, I'm out of here.
I gotta do something right away. If you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? We're all managing capital s, someone capital e else's resources. We're all managing what God has given each of us. And so we need to be responsible with what he's given us and do with it what he's asked of us, which is take care of the poor.
That's that's what Luke is saying, I'm pretty sure. No servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he'll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth. Living life with an open hand is not the best way in the ways of the world to make money. Right?
In God's economy, that's what he asked of us. You cannot serve both God and wealth. Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money? I love Luke. Explanatory note there.
The Pharisee. Now you might read that and go, I thought the Sadducees were the lovers of money. Yeah. Them too. But it's it's the world.
Right? Everybody kinda likes money. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, he makes it very, very clear. Because the Sadducees had a reputation for love and money, and they were complicit with the government, and they got a lot of their backing was high political type power. But the Pharisees were supposed to be people of the people.
And Luke just says it flatly. They were lovers of money. And they were listening to all these things, and they were ridiculing him, ridiculing Jesus for saying that we should be generous. They knew the rules. They knew the minimum.
They knew what they had to do. But when they heard this, they use Luke uses this word. This word, I expected two Greek scholars in the room to just laugh out loud when they saw that. It means out of blowing my nose. Properly, it is to turn the nose out and up maybe seriously.
That's what it means. Okay? That's what it means. Properly, to turn the nose out, to sneer the skull, figure to leave a scornfully reject, to blow someone off like expelling mucus from out of your nose. I'm glad Tanya's not in here right now.
And he said to them he said to them, to whom? He said to the Pharisees, y'all are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of the people because you wanna be a people of the people. You wanna be down to earth, and you wanna connect with the little man. You're not concerned about political power so much as the kingdom that's coming. You think you got it all figured out.
You're the ones who justify yourselves in the way you do things. Remember Corbin, where you set aside the money so you don't have to give it to your parents? Where you set aside things that are kinda tax exempt in a way from God? You're the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts. He knows what you're doing.
You're not hiding anything from him. That's the Pharisees. Because that which is highly esteemed among people, it is detestable in the sight of God. That is true. I put all of that in green because that is true.
That which is highly esteemed. Even that that man not the manager, but the boss, the master sees that guy and he goes, man, he got me there. Chances are he probably got his wealth the same way because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God. And then Jesus goes off on what might be called a rant just for a couple of verses, and then he tells another parable. The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John came.
If you see italics in the New American Standard, it means those words were added to make it flow better, make more sense maybe in English. The law and the prophets till John. That's what it says. Law and the prophets till John. John was the end of the prophets.
He spoke prophetically, and he was proclaiming the coming of the kingdom. And then when he pointed to Jesus and said, there it is. He's here. He's gotta increase. I've gotta decrease before long.
He would be dead. Age of the prophets over. Age of fulfillment ensuing. Law and the prophets until John. And since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached.
And you know how Jesus knows? Because he's been preaching. So have his disciples. They've already gone out by this point on multiple missions and come back and report it on them. The gospel of the kingdom has been preached.
And then he adds a tag that people fight over what it means, and everyone's forcing their self into it. Everyone's forcing his way into it. This is not the same as Matthew's. This has a completely different point. Everyone is forcing his way into it.
I think that what he's saying is everybody was convinced that the kingdom was at hand and close. And when the pharisees and the people were looking to Jesus, they're looking for that conquering messiah to get him out of the oppressive regime of Rome. And everybody's trying to force their opinion into being the actual gospel opinion. Does that still happen? Just come on people.
Does that still happen? Everybody with a cause is quoting. Everybody with a cause is quoting and saying, we're the real representatives of the gospel. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is just trying to force their way into it. But it's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fail.
When he gets to that point, he gives an example. He's saying, the law was given for your good. For one thing, it shows you where you fall short and that you need a savior. But if we would just pay attention to the heart behind, Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. God has given us the law for our good, and he says, that is always gonna be good.
Easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fail. Everyone who divorces his wife, where'd that come from? It's an example. And marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery. That is an example of law that he gives, and perhaps it's one that was aggravating to these very pharisees.
I I don't know that. That's my own speculation right there. I'll admit it. But I know that the pharisee had already trapped him and said, what do say about divorce? The the law says that we can.
And Jesus said, yeah. The law does say that you can't. It was a concession by God for the hardness of heart. Yes. There is a process for that because people do fail.
In every single point of the law, People fail. And there are people who would try to make this, because Jesus places it here as an example, into the unpardonable sin, and it's not. There are people who would try to place suicide as an unpardonable sin, and it's not. There are people who try to place a lot of things as an unpardonable sin, but they're not. There's one, and that is rejecting the Holy Spirit's presentation of Jesus as the Christ.
Rejected Jesus is the only one. Jesus launches immediately into a story. He could have given 612 more examples. There was a man, a rich man, another rich man. There was a rich man and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen.
Sharp dressed rich man. Purple is expensive. Fine linen is expensive. He was enjoying himself in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate covered with sores.
Have there has there ever been a starker contrast? Well, it gets worse. Covered with sores and longing to be fed from the scraps which fell from the rich man's table. Not only that, but dogs were coming along and licking his sores. Like I said, I'm glad Tyne is not here right now.
Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels. Like I said, that's one of the options. He was carried away by the angels to Abraham's arms, and the rich man also died and was buried. Still, you see the contrast there? Carried all the way throughout.
And in Hades, the realm of the disembodied spirits, lower regions. And in Hades, he raises his eyes. He raised his eyes. Being in torment there's a there's a proof text right there. Being in Hades, he raised his eyes.
Being in torment, and he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his arms. Technically, says in his bosom. It's the place where the robe comes together right here. It signifies complete intimacy. And in Hades, this rich man who is unnamed, in torment, sees Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom being comforted.
And he cried out, father Abraham. So he should have known the way, should he not? He's of the line of Abraham. Abraham. Abraham believed God.
Abraham acted on what he believed about God, showing that he believed God. And this rich man didn't. He calls out, father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue for I am in agony in this flame. There's another text, being in torment in flame. I burned myself with a hot melt glue gun five days ago.
And I still remember it, and I have a horrible blister, and it's terrible. Just awful. I cannot imagine a torment that Jesus is speaking of. And most often, when I hear this passage being preached, it's preached evangelistically to scare people out of hell. Okay.
That's the but in context, what he's saying is, I think a little different than that. I still think it can be certainly show, the next slide we'll see, that there is a great chasm fixed between the two. Abraham said, child, remember that during your life you received your good things. You received them. You didn't do anything to deserve them.
You received them. And likewise, Lazarus also received, and what he received were bad things. But now, he's being comforted here, and you're in agony. And besides all this, between us and you, there's a great chasm that has been set. It is just the way that it is.
And Abraham knows that. Abraham believes God. He's there. Between us and you, there's a great chasm that has been set or fixed so that those who wanna go over from here to you will not be able nor will any people crossover from there to us. So against postmortem conversion, Larry Dixon, one of my professors, this was one of his pet ponies.
Nor will any people cross over from there to us. It's just not gonna happen. And he said to him, then I request of you, you're listening, father, that you send him to my father's house. Send Lazarus to my father's house for I have five brothers in order that he may warn them so that they will not come to this place of torment as well. And Abraham says, listen.
They've got Moses and the prophets. Jesus said, up until this time, the law and the prophets, that's been all what it's about, and they've got that. They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. They're your brothers raised in the same house.
They know just as much as you did from growing up. Let them hear them. But he said, no. No. No, father Abraham.
But if someone want goes to them from the dead, then they will repent. That's big news. That's miracle. Yeah. If Lazarus was to go back from the dead and tell my brothers they'd believe him.
But Abraham says to him, if they don't listen to Moses and they don't listen to the prophets, they're not going to be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Boy, that's a foreshadowing, is it not? Now that's the end of Chapter 16. Application. I see the confused looks on your faces.
I've tried to hit it along the way, but I think we have a limited time in this job. We're not going to live forever. We can't take it with us. We have a clear command to live life with an open hand. Let's make the most of the time we have left.
Can we be nice to people? Can we be kind in our dealings with people? Can we be gracious with people in traffic? Can we? Can we just love on our neighbors like really, like we really love them?
Can we use money in a way that pleases God and serves him? His intent is blessing. He causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Rain is a good thing. He causes the sun to come up in the morning on the just and the unjust, and he treats people well.
He blesses us with air in our lungs. We should be blessing people with the resources God has entrusted to us. Be generous to the poor. I think that's the application. I wonder if I made any more.
All the people said amen. That's it. Would you stand up? Would you stand up? That's at least it.
There is a great chasm fixed. It is evangelistic. There is good news. God cares about hearts. He's reaching out to you.
He wants for you. He wants for you to take him seriously. He wants for you to be generous. If people who accept the love and the truth of God are willing to live it out, it will overflow into our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts if we just took him seriously and did it. Amen.
I got a family that I want to bring forward. Would you all come forward? And I want you to introduce yourself. I got an email this week. The way that we do membership here is a little bit different than the way that I did it in Georgia, the way that they do it in Texas.
But I'm going to let them introduce yourselves and tell you all the story of how they got here. Yeah. Thank you. Or your wife might want to do it. I'm Phil Jordan.
This is my wife Amy, Elizabeth, John, and James. And we've been coming up here for, I think, fourteen, fifteen years visiting the church for, I don't know, half of that time, maybe a little more. And come August, we're going to be permanently here in Teton Valley, Idaho. And so we wanted to go ahead and join.
So Amen. We've got to
know pastor Ray. Pastor Ray loved the church. That's just fun. I just wanted to share that with y'all. I get emails and people ask me stuff, I think nobody else knows this stuff.
So, anyway, I just wanted to bless them before they start the whole membership process. It's not hard, but before it starts. And I also want to bless the food out there, and y'all can get out there. Alright? God, I thank you for this family.
I thank you that they're devoted to one another and to your word. I thank you that they've been paying attention, Lord. And now that they are gonna be here, I thank you that they're stepping into this fellowship. May we be a blessing to them. May they be a blessing to us.
And Lord, ask you to bless the time together between services and and then some. But in Jesus name, would you bless the food, the conversations, and would you bring neighbors, lord. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Amen.
