Luke 16
Parable of shrewd steward: Going to be fired verse 1- 2
And HE said also to HIS disciples
There was a certain rich man – which had a steward
and the same was accused to him that
he had wasted his goods
AND he called him – and said to him
How is it that I hear this of you?
give an account of your stewardship
for you may be no longer steward
Parable of shrewd steward: Action of steward verse 3- 7
THEN the steward said within himself – What shall I do?
FOR my lord takes away from me the stewardship
I cannot dig – to beg I am ashamed
I am resolved what to do – that
when I am put out of stewardship
they may receive me into their houses
So he called every one of his lord’s debtors to him
and said to the first
How much owe you to my lord?
And he said – An hundred measures of oil
and he said to him – Take the bill
and sit down quickly and write fifty
Then said he to another – And how much owe you?
and he said – An hundred measures of wheat
And he said to him
Take your bill and write fourscore (80)
Parable of shrewd steward: Reaction of rich man verse 8
And the lord commended the unjust steward
BECAUSE he had done wisely
FOR the children of this world are
in their generation wiser than the
children of light
Parable of shrewd steward: Teaching of parable verse 9- 13
And I say to you
Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness
that – when ye fail
they may receive you into everlasting habitations
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much
and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much
If therefore you have not been faithful
in the unrighteous mammon
who will commit to your trust the true riches?
AND if you have not be faithful in that which is another man’s
who shall give you that which is your own?
No servant can serve two masters
FOR either he will hate the one – and love the other
OR else he will hold to the one
and despise the other
You cannot serve God and mammon
Pharisee reaction to use of money verse 14- 15
And the Pharisees also – who were covetous – heard all these things
and they derided HIM
And HE said to them
You are they which justify yourselves before men
BUT God knows your hearts
FOR that which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of God
Mosaic Law still in affect verse 16- 18
The law and the prophets were until John
SINCE that time the kingdom of God is preached
and every man pressed into it
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass
than one tittle of the law to fail
whosoever puts away his wife
and marries another – commits adultery
and whosoever marries her that is put away
from her husband commits adultery
Rich man and Lazarus: Life verse 19- 22
There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen
and fared sumptuously every day
and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus
which was laid at his gate – full of sores
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs
which fell from the rich man’s table
more over dogs came and licked his sores
And it came to pass – that the beggar died
and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom
the rich man also died – and was buried
Rich man and Lazarus: Death verse 23- 26
And in hell he lifted up his eyes – being in torments
and seeing 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 tormented in this flame
BUT Abraham
said
Son – remember that you in your lifetime received your good things
and likewise Lazarus evil things
BUT now he is comforted
and you are tormented
AND besides all this – between us and you there is a great gulf FIXED
so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot
neither can they pass to us – that would come from thence
Rich man and Lazarus: Request of Rich man verse 27- 28
THEN he said – I pray you therefore- father
that you would send him to my father’s house
for I have five brethren
that he may testify to them
lest they also come into this place of torment
Rich man and Lazarus: Abraham answers verse 29- 31
Abraham said to him – They have Moses and the prophets
let them hear them
And he said
Nay – Father Abraham
BUT if one went to them from the dead
they will REPENT
And he said to him
If they hear not Moses and the prophets
neither will they be persuaded
though one rose from the dead
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 And he said also to HIS disciples, there was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused to him that he had wasted his goods. (1287 “wasted” [diaskorpizo] means scatter, disperse, to throw the grain a considerable distance, squander, to dissipate, or divide)
DEVOTION: Once we are involved in taking care of our family with the money that comes in through our paycheck we have to be wise in the management of our money. Either the husband or wife has to take over the checkbook and make sure the bills are paid on time. Someone in each marriage has to take charge. Both need to be involved in making major decisions regarding spending.
If one person is in control of the money of the house and the bills are not being paid there needs to be a change. Here we find a man who was rich had hired someone to take care of the finances of the household.
He was called a steward. He made all the finances decisions for a farm. It was a wealthy farm. It had many people who owed it money. The problem was that the steward was wasting the money.
The farm owner found out that he was losing money with this steward in control and told him that he had to audit the books and turn them over to the rich man. The steward was nervous because he didn’t know how to earn money any other way so he came up with a plan to make himself look good in the eyes of those that owed the rich man money.
We need to understand that any employment that we take makes us a steward for the person we are working for. We are there to help them make money. Yes, we want to make a paycheck but we need to be good stewards of our own money but also the money of those we work for on a daily basis. We need to be wise both for ourselves and others.
Jesus states that there is a difference between the children of the world and the children of light.
CHALLENGE: We are the children of light. We answer to God for our actions. They seem to answer to themselves.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. (5429 “wiser” [phronimos] means intelligent, prudent, mindful of one’s interests, or shrewd)
DEVOTION: This parable of the LORD told of an unjust or dishonest steward. A steward is in control of a household for a master. He can make daily decisions that the master doesn’t want to know about or care about.
However, this master found out what the steward was doing and was going to fire him. The steward did something that only a shrewd person could figure out. He reduced the debt of the debtor so that they would welcome him into their homes. Jesus tells us that those who are unjust or children of this world are shrewder than those who are just and honest and children of light.
There is a very different lifestyle for those who are followers of Christ. Those who chose to follow Christ want to be honest and just in their dealing with others. The children of the world are only concerned with the bottom line. They are looking out for number one and number one is them.
Our number one should be Christ. Is Jesus saying that his followers are not smart? NO!! Is Jesus saying that his followers are not prudent in their dealings with others? NO!! He is saying that when we look at the majority of those in the world who prosper in worldly goods they are working with a different standard.
Many of the prophets of the Old Testament struggled when they looked at those who were not followers of God and saw them seem to have no problems and wondered what the LORD was doing. He answered and told them that they have a different end to their eternity. That time frame is more important to him than this present time period. Where we spend eternity is very important, not what we can accumulate here on this earth. Our treasure should be in heaven. What are we storing up there right now?
CHALLENGE: Remember to seek FIRST the kingdom of God. Be faithful with the little that HE gives you and HE will bless you in many ways.
________________________________________________________
: 11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to you trust the true riches? (4104 “faithful” [pistos] means believing, trusty, the discharge of official duties, one who trusts in God’s promises, or trustworthy)
DEVOTION: What are the “true riches” that Jesus is talking about in this passage? There are riches associated with our employment. There are riches that are associated with our family if they have money. There are riches associated with the way we invest our money.
Our treasure needs to be laid up in heaven. Jesus informs HIS disciples that earthly riches will be robbed or rust or mold or something else will happen to them. The riches that we store up in heaven will never have these problems.
What are some of the riches we can store up in heaven? There are the souls of those we witness to on a regular basis. They are precious in the sight of the LORD. We are to share the gospel with those we meet and realize that one soul can add to our reward in heaven. We can give our money to the church or missions and the results of our giving can cause many to come to a saving knowledge of the LORD or growth in the LORD. We share in the results of the ministries we support. If we train our children to use their money to serve the LORD we are raising the next generation with a proper understanding of the use of money. If people know that we are honest with our money it helps the testimony we have for the LORD.
Our use of money can either represent the LORD well or not. If we are miserly with our money it will show. If we waste our money it will show. If we honor the LORD with our money it will show.
CHALLENGE: What are you and I showing people with the use of our money?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 15 And he said unto them, You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (1344 “justify” [dikaioo] means be freed, be righteous, to put right with, acquit, set free, obey righteous commands, vindicate, declare righteous, remove guilt, or show justice.)
DEVOTION: The Pharisees had listened to the parable of unjust steward who was not taking care of his master’s money.
This particular group of Pharisees was said to be covetous. They were faithful in loving unrighteous mammon. They committed their life to making money. Nothing and no one was going to get in their way. They didn’t care about what Jesus was teaching about the proper relationship to money. Money was their god.
Jesus said to them that if they couldn’t control their desire for unrighteous mammon they couldn’t be trusted with true riches that come from the LORD. They were supposed to serve the LORD first and then look at their need for money.
They were justifying their actions before men. We find that there are many television programs today on how to get rich quick. Some of these programs might be taught by those who think they are serving the LORD. The problem is that they don’t mention the priority of serving the LORD first in their advertising. This was true of the Pharisees as well.
They only wanted the praise of men rather than God. Their hearts were not right with God. It is because they wanted the esteem of men that they were found out of favor with God. They were considered an detestable in the sight of the LORD. God didn’t even want to look at them.
Our relationship to money matters to the LORD. All of us would like to be blessed of the LORD in the area of money. The LORD knows who can handle money and who needs to not have too much money. We are to pray for our daily bread and be satisfied with that amount of provision.
Those who are comfortable without praying for the LORD to provide are acting like the Pharisees that scoffed at Jesus. They didn’t think they needed anything HE had to offer.
CHALLENGE: We need to make sure we don’t develop an attitude of not thinking we need the LORD to provide our daily bread. We don’t want to ever vindicate ourselves to ourselves and the rest of the world. Let the LORD vindicate us.
___________________________________________________________________
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Prayer of rich man verse 27- 31
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
_________________________________________________________________
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Law and prophets verse 16, 17
Abraham’s bosom verse 22
Father Abraham verse 24
Abraham verse 25
Moses and the prophets verse 29, 31
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God verse 13, 15
God knows hearts verse 15
Sight of God verse 15
Kingdom of God verse 16
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
Parable of steward verse 1- 18
Rich man and Lazarus verse 19-
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Angels carry Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom verse 22
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Rich man (lord) verse 1, 8
Steward verse 1, 3, 8
Stewardship verse 2, 4
Debtors verse 5
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Unjust verse 8, 10
Children of the world verse 8
Mammon of unrighteousness verse 9, 11, 13
Hate verse 13
Covetous verse 14
Derided Jesus verse 14
Justify yourselves verse 15
Abomination verse 15
Put away wife verse 18
Adultery verse 18
Evil verse 25
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Children of light verse 8
Faithful verse 10- 12
Trust with true riches verse 11
Serve God verse 13
Preach verse 16
Mercy verse 24
Comfort verse 25
Repent verse 30
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Pharisees verse 14
Prophets verse 16, 31
John (the Baptist) verse 16
Abraham verse 22- 30
Lazarus verse 20- 30
Moses verse 29, 31
Church (New Testament people of God)
Disciples verse 1
Last Things (Future Events)
Everlasting habitations verse 9
Abraham’s bosom verse 22
Comfort verse 25
Great gulf fixed verse 26
Hell verse 23
Torment verse 23
Tormented in this flame verse 24
Place of torment verse 28
_______________________________________________________________________
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________________
QUOTES regarding passage
14–15 Money (v. 14) links this section (vv. 14–18) with the preceding one. The charge that the Pharisees do not have a proper sense of values (v. 15) leads to the saying about the value of the kingdom and the law (vv. 16–17). In turn, reference to the permanence of the law becomes the context for a specific example of a contested moral standard, divorce and remarriage (v. 18). Jesus’ charge of greed is not leveled at the Pharisees elsewhere in the Gospels, nor is it intended to be an absolute generalization. Jewish teachers who had been influenced by Hellenistic culture were aware that philosophers often taught for fees. Rabbis in the first centuries of our era often had secular jobs. The Pharisees would not have been immune to desires for remuneration commensurate with their own sense of importance. Later on, Paul was to work at a trade so he could say that he did not “put on a mask to cover up greed” (1 Thess 2:5; cf. 1 Cor 9:12). Self-justification (v. 15) is a temptation for religious people (cf. Matt 5:20; 6:1). (Leifeld, W. L. (1984). Luke. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 989). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House)
_______________________________________________________________
16:14–18. The Pharisees, who loved money, reacted negatively to Jesus’ teaching about it. They were sneering at Jesus because they saw Him as a poor man being followed by other poor men and yet having the nerve to teach about money. Jesus responded that God knows the hearts of people and is not impressed with their outward appearances or their wealth. Though the Pharisees justified themselves (v. 15; cf. 15:7) God, who judges the inward man, will be the ultimate Judge. The Pharisees misunderstood the blessings of God’s covenant. They apparently assumed that a person’s wealth was God’s blessing in return for his righteous conduct. They completely neglected the fact that many righteous people in the Old Testament lacked material things, while many unrighteous people had plenty. (Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 246–247). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
__________________________________________________________________
Jesus had been speaking primarily to His disciples, but the Pharisees had been listening, and their response was anything but spiritual. They sneered at Him! (The Greek word means “to turn up one’s nose.”) In spite of their strict religious practices, they loved money and cultivated values that were godless. They professed to trust God, but they measured life by wealth and possessions, the same as the unbelieving worldly crowd. Far too many professed Christians today are making the same mistake. With their lips, they honor the Lord; but with their wealth, they live like the world.
The Pharisees needed to stop “drifting” with the crowd and start “pressing into the kingdom” as many others were doing. The Pharisees had rejected the ministry of John the Baptist and permitted him to be killed, even though they knew he was God’s prophet. They were also rejecting the ministry of Jesus Christ and would ultimately ask Pilate to have Him crucified. When your life is controlled by the love of money, you open the door to every kind of sin.
The Law and the Prophets were “until John,” for John introduced the Saviour to the nation and announced the arrival of the kingdom. But that did not mean that the Law was discredited or destroyed, for in Jesus Christ, the Law has been fulfilled (Matt. 5:17–20). The Pharisees prided themselves in their faithful obedience to the Law of Moses, but they did not receive the Saviour of whom Moses wrote! (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 240). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
________________________________________________________________
16:15 justify yourselves. The Pharisees’ belief was that their own goodness was what justified them (cf. Ro 10:3). This is the very definition of “self-righteousness.” But, as Jesus suggested, their righteousness was flawed, being an external veneer only. That might be enough to justify them before men, but not before God, because He knew their hearts. He repeatedly exposed their habit of seeking the approval of people (cf. Mt 6:2, 5, 16; 23:28). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Lk 16:15). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
_____________________________________________________________________
Ver. 15. And he said unto them, &c.] That is, Jesus said unto them, as the Syriac and Persic versions express it: ye are they which justify yourselves before men: from the sins of injustice, unfaithfulness, covetousness, and all others; and would be thought, and appear to be righteous; but ’tis only in the sight of men, who can only see the outside of things, and judge thereby: but God knoweth your hearts; and what is in them, the deceitfulness, hypocrisy, covetousness, and cruelty of them, which are hid from the eyes of men: for that which is highly esteemed among men; or what is high in the account and esteem of men, as the outward appearance of these men for morality, religion, and holiness; their zeal for the ceremonies of the law, and the traditions of the elders: is abomination in the sight of God: who knew full well from what principles, and with what views they acted, to gain popular applause, and amass riches to themselves, without any concern for the glory of God, and the good of men: see Isa. 65:5. (Gill, J. (1809). An Exposition of the New Testament (Vol. 1, p. 658). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
____________________________________________________________________
The Lord did not let them get away with it. He set before them three aspects of the Mosaic Law—its essential nature—which they seemed to have forgotten (16:15). “Ye,” He said, “are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
Heaven’s values are not the same as human values. Down here, people admire those who are rich. The Lord Jesus, however, read the hearts of those who were scoffing at him. They were saying to themselves, “It’s easy to speak so slightingly about money when you don’t have any.” The Lord’s reply exposed their hearts: “You make it your business to pose before men as righteous, but God knows what you are really like. The things that rule your hearts are objects of disgust to God.” They are an abomination to Him. The same word for abomination is used to describe both the Antichrist’s image (Matt. 24:15) and the contents of the golden wine cup in the hand of the great harlot (Rev. 17:4). That is what God saw as He gazed at the scoffing scribes and Pharisees. (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring the Gospel of Luke: An Expository Commentary (Lk 16:15–18). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)
__________________________________________________________________
16:14–18 The Pharisees and the law (cf. Mt. 11:12–13; 5:18, 32). People who try to combine gaining wealth and being pious do not like such teaching. Jesus had to warn them that, while they may have succeeded in persuading men that they were pious, in fact their secret greed was plain to God—and abominable in his sight.
Vs 16–18 answer the objection that the message of Jesus and his followers made the law in the OT and its moral demands out of date. Jesus denied the charge; God’s will was still expressed in the OT (29). Certainly, the era of the law and the prophets had ended, and now the new age of the kingdom had come. But this did not mean that the law had ceased to be valid. A specific example is given: divorce, followed by remarriage, is adultery. This particular example in fact made the law’s demands more intense. The Jews thought of adultery as a sin by a woman against her husband or by one man against another; Jesus taught that a man may commit adultery against a woman and so sin against her. (Marshall, I. H. (1994). Luke. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., pp. 1006–1007). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press.)
______________________________________________________________
16:14–16 Jesus indicates a basic division in God’s plan here. The time of promise extended from the Law and Prophets until John the Baptist. Now the promise of God’s kingdom is preached. The new era approaches. Everyone is pressing into it can also be translated “all are urged insistently to come in,” emphasizing the urgency of the message.
16:17 one tittle of the law to fail: Here the law is seen in terms of promise as v. 16 suggests. Jesus’ point is not that all 613 commandments of the Torah remain in effect forever, but that the goal of the law, the promise of God’s rule, is realized. The New Covenant fulfills and replaces the old (Acts 2:14–40; 3:14–26). This verse also is an important one for the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture. Christ says that the awesome act of the universe being destroyed is more likely than for something God has given in His Word to be inaccurate.
16:18 commits adultery: Jesus illustrates the moral demands of the law by citing the inviolate nature of marriage, so much so that a remarriage is seen as adulterous. In other texts (Matt. 5:32; 19:9), Jesus notes the exception of sexual immorality, which can be a ground for a permissible divorce, though divorce is never set forth as a preferred option. What the sexual immorality refers to and whether a “permissible divorce” exists and whether one can remarry after such a divorce are all heavily debated issues in the church. Jesus’ point in Luke was not a detailed exposition of this question since the Matthean texts are more complete, but simply serves as an illustration of the moral authority of His teaching. He is the ethicist of the kingdom. Other relevant texts to the issue of divorce are: Deut. 24:1–4; Mark 10:1–12; 1 Cor. 7:7–16. In Judaism there also was debate. The rabbinic school of Shammai only allowed divorce for immorality, while the school of Hillel allowed it for a wide variety of reasons (Mishnah, Gittim, 9:10). (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (p. 1286). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.)
______________________________________________________________________
FROM MY READING:
BreakPoint Daily Commentary
In November of 1938, Nazi paramilitary forces destroyed 267 synagogues, plus thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, institutions, and homes throughout the Reich. “Kristallnacht,” or “The Night of Broken Glass,” made clear what awaited Jews under Nazi control.
Even as the Jewish victims of Nazi violence were forced to clean up the broken glass and indemnify their persecutors, the world did nothing. It couldn’t even bring itself to offer refuge to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution.
This inaction gave rise to a phrase now permanently associated with Israel and Jews throughout the world: “Never Again.” History cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
Well, it is.
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Fred Hiatt, who is Jewish, wrote that “In China, every day is Kristallnacht.” The comparison to Nazi Germany is especially powerful when you learn that Hiatt’s grandfather founded an organization to help settle Jewish refugees after World War II. In other words, Hiatt’s comparison is not made lightly.
In the article, he calls Beijing’s war on its Muslim Uighur population “a cultural genocide with few parallels since World War II.” This “cultural genocide” includes imprisoning one million Uighurs in concentration camps, “where aging imams are shackled, and young men are forced to renounce their faith.” There are also credible reports of beatings, rape, denial of basic medical care, and even organ harvesting.
Not only is Beijing imprisoning Uighurs, it’s eliminating their history. Between 10 and 15 thousand mosques, shrines, and other religious sites have been destroyed. As Hiatt writes, “Anything that looks too ‘Islamic’” is flattened, even a dome on top a department store.
A new report entitled “Demolishing Faith: The Destruction and Desecration of Uighur Mosques and Shrines” provides all the evidence we need. “Before and after” satellite photographs reveal the extent of the destruction in western China. We can see with our own eyes where mosques are turned into parking lots and Muslim cemeteries erased.
By reproducing these photos, Hiatt has made it impossible for Beijing to deny what it is actually perpetrating here: cultural genocide.
Hiatt and the Washington Post have done the world a valuable service. Now we are left with the question: “What have we learned in the past 81 years?”
For the sake of the Uighurs, not to mention the Chinese Christians whose faith is also being targeted by Xi Jinping and his henchman, I hope we have an adequate answer.
We often say things like “seeing is believing,” but to paraphrase writer Upton Sinclair, it’s difficult to get someone to look when their getting paid depends on not looking. Too many corporations, governments, and other institutions are refusing to look at China right now.
The NBA is only the most recent and obvious example, but their response is like a profile in courage compared to the non-response of companies such as Apple, not to mention so many in academia, Hollywood, video game companies, and the government. As Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao puts it, “the West kowtows to China through self-censorship.” Even more, China is exporting its authoritarianism to other countries. Beijing is not only a threat to its own people anymore.
Christians must do whatever we can to make people look with painful clarity at the persecution of religious minorities in China. We must care, and we must call our leaders to care.
Business-as-usual with a regime committing cultural genocide is no more acceptable today than it was 81 years ago. There can be no excuse for doing nothing yet again.
__________________________________________________________
1 Timothy 3
Spiritual leaders in the church must meet spiritual qualifications.
INSIGHT
The church is inherently a spiritual entity and must have spiritual leadership. While it is valid to have leaders who have knowledge and experience in many of the practical matters facing a church, practical leadership must be undergirded with spiritual maturity. A person who desires to be a bishop (elder) or a deacon should be a Christian with a strong track record of integrity and wisdom (see vv. 2-4, 7). These qualifications should be weighed carefully by all who aspire to lead in the church. (Quiet Walk)
________________________________________________________
THE MANIFEST LOVE OF GOD
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10
The apostle is anxious to remind us that God is actually manifesting that essential nature of His. He is love, but mercifully for us He has “manifested” that love, He has made it unmistakably plain and clear. So we can put John’s immediate argument like this: “If only you really understood this love, if only you knew something about it, then most of your problems and difficulties would immediately vanish.” So he proceeds to tell us something further about this great and wondrous and glorious love of God.
Surely we all must agree that this is something that is equally true of us. The more I study the New Testament and live the Christian life, the more convinced I am that our fundamental difficulty, our fundamental lack, is the lack of seeing the love of God. It is not so much our knowledge that is defective but our vision of the love of God. Thus our greatest object and endeavor should be to know Him better, and thus we will love Him more truly. Now John’s object is to help these first Christians to whom he writes in just this way, because he is quite sure that once they love God, they will love one another.
This is something we find running right through the Bible; the second commandment follows the first. The first commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind….And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39). But you will never do the second until you have done the first; so we must start with the love of God.
A Thought to Ponder: It is not so much our knowledge that is defective but our vision of the love of God. (From The Love of God, pp. 49-50, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
_________________________________________________________________
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace
“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14)
This indictment by the prophet Jeremiah of the false prophets of his day could easily find a parallel today. The charge was repeated (8:11), so Jeremiah evidently considered it important. The prophet Ezekiel later leveled almost the same indictment against the false prophets of his time: “They have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace” (Ezekiel 13:10).
Almost every person would prefer to live in peace, of course. The word itself has become almost an ironic cliché. Our annual observance of Veterans Day (originally called Armistice Day) wistfully expresses the hope that when the current war is settled, it will be the final war, and thenceforth there will be “peace, peace.” The word “armistice” is from the Latin and means “arms standing still.”
But there is no real peace; there were numerous wars back during Babylonian times and Roman times and medieval times and all times! Even today there are dozens of small “wars and rumours of wars” going on in any given year (Matthew 24:6) and will continue to be so until Christ, the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), comes back to “speak peace unto the heathen” and to establish His kingdom of peace “even to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10).
In the meantime, James reminds us of our personal guilt: “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” (James 4:1). And Paul exhorts: “Finally, brethren, . . . be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11).
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
_____________________________________________________________
DAILY HOPE
Today’s Scripture
Numbers 31-32
Wars must be fought so that peace might reign. Ulysses S. Grant stated, “I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.” This is spoken by one that had experienced all the trauma and agony of leading good men to death and killing other good men to regain peace in a land fractured by hate and misunderstanding.
Israel is now commanded to go to war against the Midianites and to destroy them for the wickedness they had committed in tempting Israel to worship false idols and commit immorality. This was a religious war with Phinehas the priest leading the army instead of Joshua. They were to take the holy articles and the trumpets that the priests used and the lead the troops into battle against those who opposed the Lord (31:6).
After destroying the Midianites, the Israelite army brought the spoils of victory to Moses and the people encamped in the plains by the Jordan (31:12). As the spoils were brought from the battle, Moses met them and was angered they had brought the women of Midian to the camp. His anger was due to the Midianite women having tempted Israel at Baal Peor. Moses commanded all nonvirgin women and males to be killed (31:17).
The Israelite men who had done battle were declared unclean and cleansing was needed before they could enter the camp. They were to wash and purify their garments and themselves. After that purification process was accomplished, the division of the plunder was undertaken by Moses. Shortly thereafter, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh approached Moses for permission to claim land east of the Jordan so these tribes could raise their cattle and sheep.
God pronounced judgment on the enemies of His chosen people. Simultaneously, He took the horror of warfare and used it to strengthen and encourage the people of Israel before they entered the land which had been promised. At times, God uses extremely bad circumstances to bring good to His people.
Persecution and suffering have been inflicted upon the church at different times to purge, cleanse, and declare her as a bride to Christ. Instead of looking at pain and difficulty as judgment, examine the situation and see if it might be God’s way of drawing someone closer to Himself.
In Expectant Hope, Pastor Miller
______________________________________________________________________
We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.
__________________________________________________________________________
PRAYER AND PRAISE:
Prayer request policy: If you want the prayer request to be private or just between me and you please say so in the email. I will pray for those requests. If you don’t mind others praying for the request, then just send the request with no restrictions and I will put it in the devotional for other to pray. We don’t include last names in any of our prayer requests. Thank you.
_________________________________________________________________
Please pray for the persons whose last name begins with the letter “J” on your prayer list, which includes your address book, church directory and email list.
_______________________________________________________________
Please remember to pray for the Biblical churches and pastors in the STATES OF Virginia and West Virginia. (REMEMBER THAT IF YOU KNOW BIBLICAL PASTORS IN THESE STATES TO LET US KNOW THEIR NAMES AND CHURCHES AND WE WILL PRAY FOR THEM)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prayer request….
Jon was denied shuttle services (provided at a reasonable cost to those with special needs/disabilities) through Pierce County transit. He “passed” their assessment, which left them saying he is fully capable of using public transportation independently. (Um, no, obviously their assessment is not comprehensive whatsoever! )
Tomorrow morning at 9 we have his appeal. Whatever conclusion they come to at that time stands. We need him to qualify so that he can access shuttle services which would allow for him to be far more independent (and take the job of being “Jon’s taxi” off of my plate.) We need to equip Jon with means to access his job, and community, going into the future (we are 57 years old after all, and we’re not goingaround forever!)
The cost of Uber between home and work (1.9 miles) is $10 one way, so obviously that’s not a financially sound option.
Prayers appreciated that the powers that be will SEE Jon and grant him eligibility for these very important services!
________________________________________________________________
Faith and Bible based ministry that encourages the faithfulness of the local church and their leaders to the LORD.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Please invite friends to visit our website: www.smallchurchministries.org or visit our Facebook page at Small Church Ministries with a Bible logo.. If they would like to receive the devotions via email – please have them send their address to me with “devotional” in the message box. Also, if you don’t receive the devotions because you have visited our website or some other source please sign up. The devotions normally go out each covering a chapter of the Bible each day. In three and a half years the entire Bible is covered. Thank you.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: SMALLCHURCHMINI