King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Thursday, October 28, 2021
Chapters: Luke 16-17
Message: Dots of Life
Hello My Friend,
Let me tell you, my emotions have been one big roller coaster for a few weeks now, I have somehow convinced myself that all the blessings that God has given me are going to crash down on me. Then God reminded me that one; that is the devil messing with my head, and two; even if it did, I still have Him. As Christians, we paint this pretty picture of what we think our life should be like after we get saved, but what it actually is is one of those paintings that when you walk up to it are a bunch of tiny dots. This kind of technique is a called pointillism, which are tiny dots of color placed next to each other, they blend together to form one image when viewed from a distance. In the Christian life, those tiny little dots are life, they are not always pretty, but they do paint the picture of the Saviour that others will see well before we do. Receiving Christ as our Saviour does not keep us from suffering in life, but it does allow Christ to paint the perfect picture of Himself living inside of us as we endure each dot of life with Him, [Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.]
When those dots of life start to invade the joys that the Saviour brought through our walk with Him, even strong and faithful Christians can lose sight of the fact that Jesus is with us. We struggle from day to day, trying to do all these things in our own flesh, which literally wears us out and exhausts us. That is when Jesus has to remind us that we are not in this alone, He is with us, and we can find rest in Him. What better way is there for Jesus to give us rest? Serving Him. We need to stop worrying about what we can, cannot, and do not need to be doing, and focus on someone else for a while. God will work those dots out for us with a little bit of faith and by our being the ministers that we are called to be. Now, as we continue in the reading of the Gospels, Jesus is still speaking to the crowd in the Pharisee’s house. He gives a parable about a steward, which is another word for a manager, employed to work for a man who sold consumer goods. This manager was not too good at managing his bosses goods, a lot of people owed money, when his boss found out he was about to fire the manager.
[Luke 16:1-6 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.]
[give an account of thy stewardship;] This man was irresponsible in how he managed his bosses goods, he had no time to make things right and was too ashamed to beg to keep his job, instead he comes up with a plan to get anyone who owed his boss money to pay part of the debt. Notice what goods Jesus uses in the parable, oil and wheat. These were two of the ingredients that were to be offered to God under the Law, [Leviticus 2:1-3 And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: 2 And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: 3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.]
This entire parable is in reference to how the Pharisee’s had changed the priesthood completely, including the ceremonial laws in which God had given Moses. Jesus goes on to explain why the man was commended for what he had done, [Luke 16:8-12 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. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?]
[And the lord commended the unjust steward,] [Commended; Praised; represented favorably; committed in charge.] You see, the Pharisee’s were all about appearances, and while their dots of life appeared to look like God was painting them to the people that were trusting them, they were not to God. All God saw was that their works appeared to have Satan behind them. We all have a debt that we owe for sin, a debt that we cannot pay, which by the way, even if we did pay part of it off, it would not matter. Jesus paid the entire debt for us on the cross, and in order to be commended by God Himself is to accept Him as our Saviour, [Romans 6:22-23 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]
[wiser than the children of light.] The world is so wise that they have literally become fools. However, their drive and perseverance are often wiser than believers. The unjust manage is not given to as an example that allows us to get away with what we have done, or in justifying dishonesty, it is to show us that we could learn a lesson or two about being committed with what we are given by God Himself to look after while we are here. If the world cannot trust us with their goods knowing that we are saved, we cannot expect God to trust us with His, [1 Thessalonians 5:21-24 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.]
The world may know us by our dots of life before we knew Christ as our Saviour, but they should be able to see a difference in us as Jesus blends those dots into an image that looks like Him. Abstaining from the appearance of evil has absolutely nothing to do with keeping our salvation, and everything to do with showing the lost Christ so that they too can have the opportunity to get saved as well. If our dots are looking a lot more like Satan lives inside, then we need to repent. Hell is real, and it is actually really selfish of us to live like heathens knowing that we are saved as multitudes die an end up in hell because they did not know that Jesus could save them. Jesus explains what hell really is like through another parable, proving that ignorance saves no one.
[Luke 16:19-23 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.]
[And desiring to be fed with the crumbs] Do you remember when we read about the Canaanite woman who went to Jesus to save her daughter, [Matthew 15:21-28]? This is literally a reference to that, this woman’s faith saved her daughter, a woman who was a stranger to the Jews, who thought that anyone who was not a Jew to be a dog. I can only imagine that what is even more tormenting in hell than your soul literally burning in flames is watching those they snubbed, belittled, and treated horribly I heaven, safe in the arms of Jesus. Abraham is actually used in this reference for the fact that he is being identified as his father, who God had promised to make a nation. Now, as Jesus continues with the story, He goes on to tell us why it is possible for those in hell to see those in heaven.
[Luke 16:24-26 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. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.]
[between us and you there is a great gulf fixed:] There is only one line that separates us from either heaven or hell, it is our faith in God that determines which side we will be on. If they are ignorant to the fact that hell is real and the only way to heaven is Jesus, and die in the flesh without Him, then there is nothing that can be done, [Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.]
There are so many Christians painting those dots of life without the Saviour really being prominent in their lives, they go to church once in a while, have great faith in their salvation, but have nothing to show for their faith. As a result they face endless suffering, wondering why God has left them and what the point is to live by faith when He does nothing for them. Well, Jesus has an answer for that.
[Luke 17:5-10 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. 7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.]
[We are unprofitable servants:] What exactly did Jesus mean when He said this? Our works cannot save us. We can do everything there is physically possible to do in our flesh, but if we have not accepted Christ as our Saviour, then it is all unprofitable. Now, after we are saved, our works are unprofitable in the sense that we cannot use them to keep our salvation nor further ourselves into the Kingdom of God because that has bought and pad for already. Why then do we maintain good works after we are saved? One word, PROFITABLE, [Titus 3:8-11 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. 9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; 11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.]
Yes, I know it sounds a little bit contradicting, but here it is, we should never do anything after we are saved expecting some kind of compensation out of it. If we go in this with that attitude, then we will be unprofitable because we are not really living by faith. Thousands of people get touched by Jesus and healed every single day that are not saved. Do you know why Jesus does this? He know that at least one will turn back and repent. Jesus proves this with the ten lepers that He healed, [Luke 17:13-19 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.]
[and with a loud voice glorified God,] A true believer will understand that just their getting saved is enough for them, and they do not serve Christ in order to get something out of it. Each and every dot of life that we encounter paints the picture of who we really are, if we are led by the Saviour, then we are painting a picture of Him, [Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.]
[Arise, go thy way:] And here is the best part, when we are led by Christ, God will compensate us for our time and effort right here, not until we get to heaven. And again, even if our salvation is the only thing that Jesus ahs to offer, our faith and faithfulness will give us much more that we could ever ask for, [Ephesians 3:19-21 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You, for taking my place on the cross and dying the death that I deserved. Because of my faith in what You did for me, I am saved from hell, and the torment that I rightfully deserve. Because of You, I was made me whole, and it does not matter if each and every dot of life brings sorrow and pain, I know You are the one painting the perfect picture of a reflection of You inside of me. One day, there will be no more pain, and I will be right there beside you. Amen! You send us out into the world, not to be of the world, but that we might be the ones that reflect You off of our lives. We cannot and will not reach them all, but we can reach some, just by showing them who You are as we do our duty without one thought of what we can get out of it. Lord, Lead us and guide us, fill us with Your mercy, grace, and protection from the worlds evils. Give us also Your strength, Your words, and Your Light to shine upon them, even if we reach just one, there will be rejoicing in heaven. Let each and every dot paint the picture of You as we endure them with You right here with us. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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