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THE UNJUST RICH BUSINESSMAN – LUKE 16:1-15 [JESUS’ ANCIENT PARABLES FOR TODAY 1 – NALT TRANSLATION 42.16.1-15]

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Brothers and sisters,

The Lord Jesus Christ spoke more about the use and misuse of money than any other single subject. Estimates are that about 15% of the total Gospel content deals with this vital part of life. The apostle Paul spoke repeatedly about this as well. So, we know by this emphasis that God is supremely interested in our stewardship in this most vital area.

Stewardship in the true biblical way is a foreign term and idea to the western or occidental mind. The eastern or oriental mind unpolluted by the western propaganda knows this way of life. It is to manage, protect, and superintend that which is anothers. In our Christian life, God truly owns and dispenses or allows all things, and money is a normal and customary item to daily life.

Money in and of itself is not evil, but the worldly pursuit, i.e. love and worship,  of money is the root of all sorts of evil (1 Tim. 6.10). Believers who lust for it can apostate from the faith (1 Tim. 4.1) and end up erased from the book of life and in the lake of fire for eternity.

Jesus and the apostle’s teachings on this are all the same. We are to live extremely simple, selling all our excess possessions, never store up money on earth, being content with what we have, with any excess being given to others so we may live in equality.

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THE UNJUST RICH BUSINESSMAN – LUKE 16:1-15 [JESUS’ ANCIENT PARABLES FOR TODAY 1 – NALT TRANSLATION]

Now Jesus was saying to the disciples this parable about a very rich businessman who was unjust and a thief.

“There was a fabulously rich Chairman of the Board who had a CEO, and this CEO was reported to him by the CEO’s employees as squandering his stock value. And the Chairman called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be my CEO.’

“The CEO said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my Chairman is taking the management away from me? I’ll be ruined for life, and no other decent company will want me as a CEO when they learn the truth. I am not strong enough to do manual labor; I am ashamed to grovel for a minimum wage job. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed being CEO some current vendor of my company will hire me.’

“And he summoned each one of his Chairman’s vendors who owed him money,  and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my Chairman?’ And he said, ‘A million dollars.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your invoice, and sit down quickly and write half, or only $500,000.’

“Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And this second vendor said, ‘A hundred thousand dollars.’ He said to him, ‘Take your invoice, and only write $80,000.’

“And his Chairman praised the unrighteous CEO when he learned the CEO had continued to cheat him because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age, the pagans,  are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light, the so-called Christians. This is no more true than how they handle money.

“And I, Jesus Christ, your Lord and Master, say to you, those who claim My Name, do the right thing and obey all My commands about the wealth of unrighteousness, called mammon. So that when it fails completely when you die, the angels of My Father will receive you into the eternal dwellings of heaven itself. If not, you will be cast into the lake of fire with the devil and his angels.

“He who is faithful in a very little thing, like money, is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing, like money, is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the proper use of unrighteous wealth by failing to sell all except food and covering and being content, who will, like God Himself, entrust the true riches to you meaning your eternal rewards given at your judgment before God? And if you have not been faithful in the use of mammon which God gives to His children for proper use on earth, how can you expect Him to give you your rightful rewards in eternity, and even eternal life? Of course, He will not. Do not be a fool, then.

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth, no matter what lies the false teachers like the self-professed Christian financial planners and leaders say to blind you to My true doctrine.”

Now the popular false religious leaders, who were lovers of money and always promised the people that they can indeed serve God and mammon, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Christ, God Incarnate. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your evil hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable, a rotting carcass, in the sight of God…”

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See the original Bible text here.

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See other Jesus’ Ancient Parables for Today posts here.

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The New Amplified Living Translation (NALT) is a new paraphrase Bible translation from Walk Worthy ministries combining the elements of amplification, today’s needs, and the literal words of the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.

We at Walk Worthy in no way suggest that you substitute daily Bible reading and meditation in regular translations such as literal-formal (NASB, NKJV, KJV, ESV) or dynamic equivalent (NIV, GW). Always and forever study to show yourself approved to our great and holy God.

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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.

Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,

Marc

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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!

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You may view our Archives here: JESUS’ ANCIENT PARABLES FOR TODAY – ARCHIVES;   Complete Archives. May our Father richly bless you with His grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in order to walk worthy of His name.

Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.

Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org

You may view our Archives here: GOSPELS TODAY – ARCHIVES;   Complete Archives. May our Father richly bless you with His grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in order to walk worthy of His name.

Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.

Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org

 

 

PAUL, LIKE JESUS, PREACHES ECONOMIC EQUALITY [MONDAY MANNA 162]

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Brethren,

In the days we live in today, the loud and brassy doctrine that we hear blaring from the affluent church is that Jesus wants you wealthy. Or at least, He doesn’t mind it one iota…but…

What does God’s Word declare on this vital subject of mammon? Is it vague, or somewhat cryptic? And how much volume does the Holy Spirit spend on its revelation and development?

And, also very important, what are you hearing in the assemblies of God you attend? What are people saying, especially the leaders?

On to the Word…

Our brother the apostle Paul is dealing with his Corinthian church plant. He has mega problems with them. They are arrogant, rebellious to his mandates from God, embracing false teachers and false prophets…and trashing Paul and his apostleship at every opportunity. As Gordon Fee says in his marvelous commentary, Paul is taking them on at every turn to stun them to walk worthy.

Now we come to 2 Corinthians and there’s a famine in Jerusalem. The brethren are very hungry. The famine is actually worldwide, but the saints in Jerusalem are especially hard hit, and the apostles and itinerant church planters are taking up a collection.

But the wealthy Corinthians are dogging it…and Paul pens his piercing words. How would you feel if your babies, and your child, and your teenage daughter, your spouse, and your elderly live-in parents were all half starving? And the so-called brethren in another country were storing up treasures on earth? Be honest now…how would you feel? What would you say or do?

Great generosity

The poor assemblies in Macedonian to the north of Corinth are begging Paul and his fellow workers so that the Macedonians can give even more money for the hungry saints. Amazing grace.

Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NASB)

What do we see with this poor church? Joy…deep poverty…deep, not shallow…their “wealth” is in the liberality of their hilarious giving…not some defunct Old Testament tithing but real sacrificial holiness. Begging Paul and company for the gracious privilege to give and give again. [Read more…]

THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF JESUS ON OUR WHOLE LIFE: AFFABEL – A SOBERING AUDIO STORY [THE DEVIL’S SCHEMES 3]

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(The links to this audio theater of the judgment as captured on CD 3 & 4 of the series immediately follow this short introduction. You can order the 4 CD series here:   ORDER “AFFABEL” – 4 CD SERIES

When I first heard this audio and arrived at the judgment scenes of the five friends, I was on my face in front of God asking for mercy to endure to the end.

I was absolutely terrified with the fear of the Lord…I can’t ever remember being so frightened, then or since.

The Final Judgment of Jesus on our whole life…an extremely sobering thought. Jesus proclaimed every action, every deed, and…every thought…would come up before Him in a test of fire. The only exception would be those sins remembered no more previous to initial salvation. Unless, of course, we fall away from the faith then the last state is worse than the first. He who endures to the very end will be saved from the wrath to come.

His holy Word talks about “the great and terrible day of the Lord.”

One of the most successful schemes of evil Satan against all humans, especially church goers, is the lie there’s no judgment of our whole life by King Jesus. How many messages, if any, have you ever heard warning, admonishing, and exhorting believers that every word and deed will be revealed at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ?

See then how Satan deceives the masses…and the leaders of God’s children worldwide. What is the best single Scripture to illustrate this great truth?

 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear (terror) of the Lord, we persuade men… 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 (NASB)

We all owe a great debt to John Bevere, the passionate teacher who leads Messenger International out of the Colorado Springs area. When he wrote his retort Driven By Eternity to combat Rick Warren’s deceptive best seller Purpose Driven Life, brother John also created Affabel, an allegory of life on earth and the judgment of the Lord Jesus just before final eternity as we hope to enter heaven.

Join the majestic King Jalyn (Jesus), the wise Sageous (Holy Spirit), the dark lord Dagon (Satan), the war correspondent reporter Peter, Bible school teacher Double Life, and the five friends who attended school together in Endel: Deceived, Independent, Selfish, Charity, and Faint Heart who each believe they are secure in their eternal destiny. Explore the wondrous lands of the Kingdom of Affabel (Heaven), the community of Endel (Earth) and the terrible outer limits of Lone (Hell)! [Read more…]