Instruction From The Master Teacher

Certainly, as a marvelous and infinite grace that we have been the recipients of, isn't it? When we come to know Christ and the forgiveness of sin and all that God grants to us, when we realize who we are, where we've come from, and what we do not deserve to know that God has been so gracious to us. It's just a wonderful, wonderful thing. And that's what we're looking at tonight. Really, it's one of the things that Jesus struggled to communicate to those who listened to Him was the concept of grace. And it was not only it was grace and salvation, which the Pharisees and religious leaders never got, but it was also grace in how you treat other people, how you live. And they didn't get that either. And the parable that we've been looking at recently last week in particular, is all about that grace, is all about how God and His grace reaches out to lost unworthy, rebellious sinners and enfolds us in His love and grace and draws us to Himself. And that's what this parable is all about. One of the greatest stories Jesus ever told is toward the end of his life as we again set where we are in our Lord's life within the last three months of his life and he is still sparring with the Pharisees, but also instructing his disciples. And what we're going to see tonight is is both he is answering the Pharisees with this threefold parable of the lost sheet coin and sun. And he is also teaching his disciples. He's teaching his disciples what it means to understand grace. And so there are wonderful lessons for us here about a grace kind of lifestyle. We've looked at the parable of the prodigal sun. That's where we are tonight in Luke 15. So you might want to find your place there. Last week we looked at the fact that Jesus was telling this parable as a part really of a threefold parable to respond to the Pharisees who had said in verse two they were muttering this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. And that was not a commendation coming from them. They did not mean that as a good thing. They meant it really as a criticism a condemnation of our Lord and so Jesus is responding to that. And he responds really with a threefold parable that describes how much God loves lost people. And so in all three parts of the parable something is lost in the sense that it is separated from its owner or in the case of the father the one who had given him life the one who had he was made in his image separated from him and that which is separated is highly valued, cherished and loved so much that an intense search is made for that lost object or person and or at least in the case of the father is always watching for him to come back. And then there is great rejoicing when the lost is found. And that parable that Jesus is telling in three three parts is designed to show the father's love for the lost and respond to the Pharisees who did not understand that God loves sinners and they didn't consider themselves in that category. And so they they felt like Jesus ought to hang out with us. You ought to show more attention to us, not these publicans, tax collectors and sinners. So at last time we saw that the parable of the prodigal son represents for us this instruction about the love of God represents a rebellious center one who has purposely chosen to walk away from the love of the father and live his life in an utter rebellion against the values and standards that he knows have been established in his home by the father but then we see that he gets to the end of himself as he finds himself empty and alone and enslaved he comes to the end of himself and he repents he turns away from his sin recognizes he is unworthy of even being a slave in his father's household but he wants to go back to his father so he returns to his father and that is a repentant center and then we saw the receiving father the one who welcomes him with love with grace and with joy and Restores him by giving him a robe to a place of honor by giving him sandals to the position of a son and by giving him a ring to the position of an heir and so restores everything that this young man has thrown away just graciously gives all of that to him and There's great joy in the household Now up to this point Jesus has been talking about The publicans and sinners the people that he's accused of spending too much time with Okay, that's that's who the the rebellious son the prodigal son refers to But as I said in closing last time I'm convinced that when Jesus gets to verse 25 He turns his gaze to the Pharisees So just imagine being in the audience and Jesus has been talking about the prodigal he's been talking about the tax collectors and sinners and then verse 25 Meanwhile the older son was in the field and I think I just of course I'm guessing I'm supposing I don't know for sure, but I just think Jesus probably looked squarely at the Pharisees and What he's communicating to them is the story turns here and we're no longer talking about a Rebellious Center we're talking about a respectable center We're talking about you we're talking about you Pharisees and I'm convinced he looked right at him as he he told this part of the story Let's read a few of the verses and then we'll comment on some of the characteristics of this older son Meanwhile the older son was in the field when he came near the house. He heard music and dancing So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on? Your brother has come he replied and your father has killed the fat and calf Because he has he has him back Safe and sound the older brother became angry and Refused to go in So his father went out and pleaded with him Now imagine yourself being one of the Pharisees listening to this, okay? There are so many parallels between this older brother and them and and Even what has led up to this So the older brother will not go in father goes out to plead with him verse 29 But he answered his father look all these years I've been slaving for you and have never disobeyed your orders Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home you kill the fat and calf for him My son The father said you are always with me and everything I have is yours But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and Is found Now it's it's quite easy to see who the old older brother represents He represents the Pharisees What are some of the characteristics you see of the older brother? In the way he responds and what he does what characteristics do you see of him? Pride okay, where do you see pride in? What he does Way answered his dad okay All right self-centered yeah jealousy all right Self-righteous okay All right What else what else do you see in this young man? resentment Yeah confusion yes Yeah great Pardon me envy okay, yeah He has a desire to please his father okay, that's interesting yeah Yeah This is his brother Say anything positive about his other brother Return There's no evidence that he feels that at all there's no evidence that he says anything Positive about his brother coming back Which is at the real heart of the story that that absence of any recognition That this is a good thing That we celebrate this rebellious son coming back the absence of that thought is exactly what Jesus is driving at Okay, anything else about the older brother you see Okay, you mentioned a lot of great things I'm just gonna summarize them under three and I'm not sure I'll capture all the Great answers that you gave To that question, but at least these three pop up one is his self-righteousness and that was mentioned and mentioned in a couple of different ways Self-righteousness don't just see it even in the tone. I mean you can just Almost hear the tone of voice in the in what he says Look okay that that tone of disrespect toward his father to start with All these years I've been Slaving for you in other words I've I've worked all these years and he get and he says I've never disobeyed your orders Okay, well that's self-righteousness He's looking at himself saying I've been the good guy I've never run off and done bad stuff like my brother had I'm I'm good I've been here and I've worked hard and I've never disobeyed your orders outwardly He has stayed within the structure and confines of the home has me outwardly he has So self-righteousness Even in the way he refers to his brother don't you see that in verse 30 this son of yours Oh It's not my brother This son of yours. I'm not even gonna call him my brother. I've disowned him like you should have dad That's the idea He's not my brother. I don't claim him you can claim him if you want to but not me This son of yours see the self-righteousness in that Looking down on this young brother because of what he's done and yes the young brother done some awful things Some awful things Just like the tax collectors and sinners who came to hear Jesus preach And the Pharisees were guilty of the very same attitude Well, I've never done those kind of things remember the story Jesus while we haven't gotten to it yet But you'll remember it. I'm sure in Luke 18 Jesus told the story about The public and and the Pharisee who go into the temple to pray and The public and or the tax collector You know is praying on one side and the Pharisees on the other and what's the Pharisee praying? I thank you that I'm not like other people like this tax collector over here Okay self-righteousness I fast twice a week. I give ties of all that I possess focus on all that I do self-righteousness Exactly what this brother saying Look at what I've done. I've worked for you I've slay for you and look at what I haven't done. I've never disobeyed your orders That's the mark of a legalist Towing up what I have done good what I haven't done bad and That's exactly where the Pharisees were self-righteous Okay, so his self-righteousness is very obvious. You mentioned this one as well His pride his pride is very obvious in the way that he speaks um I've been slaving for you. I've never disobeyed your orders You know again focus on himself and what he has done what he hasn't done I've been the good one. I've I've and and this son of yours again the pride in what he has done or what he hasn't done Is very obvious and then you mentioned this one as well envy his envy um What what is the envy yourself The cow his father's treatment of the of the brother Yeah, it is kind of the cow too and because he says you didn't even give me a goat and you and you the fattened calf for him Come on, you know, I thought that was going to be for Christmas or something or I guess be Hanukkah but um And you killed a fattened calf for him He's envious anything else you think he's envious of Attention yeah Yeah, envious of the attention We'll love the father has for the for the one that came back. Yeah Yeah Celebration is envy of the celebration you never gave me a party from my friends Yeah Yeah, you know he comes back and you've given him What he may not know yet that he's given him a sandal the sandals and the robe and the ring but you'll find that out But he's probably suspicious that Does he get back in on the inheritance now? Yeah Yeah, he's gonna be written back in the will So a lot he's probably envious of There have been some who have suggested That he may have even been envious of the things his brother did while he was gone Um kind of in a backhanded way You notice what he says he says Um when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes That's the first time prostitutes has ever been mentioned in the story Now it may well have happened, but it's not mentioned in the story He squandered with riotous living or wild living so it probably included that and maybe he was just Supposing that but there've been some who have written on this who have suggested that maybe Maybe all the time his brother has been gone He's been imagining in his mind what he would like to do if he were out there And so that's in his mind when his brother comes back Maybe he's been envious of the opportunity to sow some wild oats that he's never had the opportunity to do or never taken the opportunity to do But it's been in his mind Now I and one of the reasons I say that is because that certainly was characteristic of the Pharisees Over and over again Jesus would tell them You know you're like white wash tombs remember when he said that Matthew 23 You look good on the outside, but inside full of dead men's bones and remember when he would say to them that out of the heart comes Evil things not what you put into your body all of your food laws you think make you holy that's not what makes you holy and and sin comes from within doesn't have to do with what you take in by way of food so Certainly that was true of the Pharisees and I think it may be represented in this older brother as well but certainly Jesus is Getting across the Pharisees and who they are with this picture of the older brother And it's a striking similarity because They accused Jesus back in verse two of what Eating with Tax collectors and sinners in the story he does not want to go in to eat With the younger brother His father is throwing a banquet for him and he doesn't want to go near that See and it's it's almost an exact parallel of what Jesus was being accused of You eat with these people Not us and here's the older brother. You mean you're giving a party for him We're not going in there or I'm not going in there See just a real direct parallel there and I'm sure they got it I'm sure they knew exactly what Jesus was talking about Now notice one other thing that Jesus says about the The older brother in verse 31 My son the father said you are always with me and everything I have as yours Now there's a sense in which that represents the religious leaders They were in a privileged position Paul talks about that in Romans 9 because because they were Jews They had a covenant relationship with God they had the promises They were entrusted as Paul said in Romans 9 with the oracles of God the very word of God the very words of God They had tremendous privileges all of the blessings of the nation of Israel They had all of that they were in a privileged position to be in that sense in the father's household But in spite of being in that position they were a million miles away from the father's heart They did not understand that the father loved The rebellious center The younger brother and they couldn't grasp that And so that's why they criticized the You know him Hang out with the publicans and centers that's the reason for that But I think there's a sense in which Jesus is portraying you know you had all of these blessings And you didn't even realize what you had But in the midst of all of that you had no understanding of the father's heart That we we should celebrate and rejoice and be glad because What was lost is now found Quite a story isn't it both both perspectives of the prodigal and of his brother both perspectives are powerful in communicating Um who God is and what his heart is like And how easy it is To distance ourselves from the heart of God even when we're very close in the household And you know We have to be careful of that We have to be careful of that as as followers of Christ We have to be careful that we don't begin to think of ourselves as the good people You know who are Not involved in what rest the world's involved in and begin to look down our nose at centers Yeah, we're all centers some of us are rebellious centers some of us are respectable centers But we're all centers and that's what the older brother didn't understand Okay, anything else you want to talk about here? Yes, well Those Yeah, yeah, you're I think you're right while he did come down hard on them because they They squandered the the privileges and blessings they had Um, he did love them. He did love them and his rebukes of them come from heart of love The reason he was another reason he was so hard on them is because they were supposed to be guiding the nation religiously spiritually and they had Totally wrecked that responsibility You know, they were supposed to be the shepherds of the people of Israel and they had led them astray he again in that that Seven woes in in Matthew 23 that time when he really blasted the Pharisees he called them blind guides of the blind he said you're the blind leading the blind And you should have been showing the blind the way but you're you're leading them into the ditch you're blind too and That was one of the reasons he was so hard on them because they they had such responsibility and they they missed it You know in the Bible teaches that if you have if you have privilege you have greater responsibility If you have the responsibility to lead people into spiritual truth You have a much greater responsibility on you and they had ruined it they'd just ruined it and so he really came down hard on him. He did love them. Yes He did love them Kishti Exactly great point that the the second part of the Abrahamic covenant the Kishti was was referring to God told Abraham that he would bless him But that through him he would bless other nations and bless others and Israel and particularly in this time In Jesus day the religious leaders Had missed that second part of it all they were concerned about was being in the place of blessing themselves and not being a blessing to others and realized that Because of their privileges. They were to share that with others and some of those others were their own people who Were the tax collectors and centers and they had missed that part of what God wanted to do through the Abrahamic covenant with them Yeah Yeah, we do miss it. We have a tendency. It's it you know We all we all have a tendency to Become inflicted with pride. I mean that was the sin that caused Satan to fall from his position and So it's something that He uses very effectively with us. It's very easy for us. You're right Tommy to To get the same attitude as the older brother David You Yes Ah Yes, that is very interesting isn't it that yeah the the older son Yes Yeah, he sure is verse 32. He says he calls him this brother of yours not Yeah, not this son of mine this brother of yours that that's an interesting observation that he does Remind his the older son that this is his brother Yeah Mm and You know Jesus is no doubt reminding the Pharisees that You know these publicans and centers that you're criticizing me being with they're also the children of Abraham Ratially they're Jews too. They deserve every much every bit as much opportunity to receive the grace of God and And you're excluding them from that Okay, very good anything else Question observation on the story of the prodigal and his brother Yes Yes Uh, it was a poet by the name I believe of Thompson I think was his name that wrote a poem I've I've got it in my files. It's called the hound of heaven and He wrote it after some very troubling circumstances in his own life And it talks about how the hound of heaven continued to chase him as far down as he had gotten God never gave up on him and Michael card wrote a song using that phrase the hound of heaven And kind of popularized at least in the christian music industry that poem Um But yeah, that's a that's a beautiful picture of God never giving up on us Um, I can remember some of the poem I've fled him down the nights of tears. I've fled him Over the many years or something like that. I kept fleeing from him running as far away as I could from him But when I would turn around he was always there on my steps the hound of heaven was following me It's just a great picture and it does that you're right John it does Picture the the same thing that Jesus is talking about here Okay, let's move on into chapter 16 then chapter 16 Jesus begins to instruct His disciples the Pharisees are still hanging around because we'll see them in verse 14 They're hearing what he's saying There's interesting that Jesus now turns to his disciples and is going to press homes and truths about commitment to them So he's gonna do some teaching on commitment With the disciples. There's this interesting almost you know, I wish I could be there to see the setting um There's a mixed group here. There are Pharisees There's a multitude of people who are following him and then there's the disciples and there are times when you get the Impression that even in the midst of that great multitude Jesus kind of zeros in on his disciples And he's focusing on them as he's teaching and that's what you see here In verse one Jesus told his disciples and he's gonna talk to them about commitment First of all though, he's gonna give them a negative illustration of commitment It's a very interesting illustration Let's read it and then we'll make make a few comments on it and give you opportunity to to Talk about it some There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions So he called him in and asked him what is this I hear about you given account of your management Because you cannot be manager any longer. Okay, let's stop right there and get the setting get the scene here Um, you've got a very rich man who has a manager now That word Conjures up different things for us today than it would in in Bible times when you think of a manager today You're thinking of either a sports star and entertainment star someone who takes care of all their stuff for them and does their publicity and Makes their schedule and things like that and that's not really the same concept here this manager really is one who Manages the household for this rich man really a word that we might use today would be he was his accountant This was his accountant he took care of all these finances Um, he he was his financial planner if you will and so that that's the idea here He managed all of his business affairs is what this guy does And as you can see he's he's being accused of mismanagement financial impropriety and so um He's called in and and the owner the rich man the boss basically says to him um You've you've been accused of misappropriating funds. I'm firing you and you give me one last accounting for what what you've done I want one more balance sheet. I want one more Report of the finances before you leave, but you're done. You can't be the manager you're fired basically is what he says So that's the scene now notice what this man does in verse three The manager said to himself what shall I do now my master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg So you can just see the guys frantic and he's he's weighing his options. Okay. All right. I'm losing my job. What am I gonna do? Uh, I can't do manual labor and I'm I don't I'm too proud to beg So he's kind of Sifting through his options here. What can I do in all of a sudden? He has this aha moment He gets this sudden inspiration Ah, now I got it. This is what I'll do verse four. I know what I'll do So that when I lose my job here people will welcome me into their houses Now basically what he's doing is is I'm going to do something to gain the favor of those who owe debts To my master. I mean I run the financial picture here people who owe debts to him I'm gonna do something that will put me in their good graces and make me look good so that when I lose my job They'll take care of me. I'll get another job offer. Okay, now look at what he does Uh, verse five. So he called in each one of his master's debtors He asked the first how much do you owe my master? 900 gallons of olive oil he replied The manager told him take your bill sit down quickly and make it 450 Cut it in half Okay, verse seven then he asked the second and how much do you owe a thousand bushels of wheat he replied He told him take your bill make it 800 Now what's this guy doing? Cheating Cheating his master, okay What what's what's his angle? I'm sorry Looking for gifts from other people pity pity from other people. Yes. Yes Okay Okay, ingratiating himself with these people he's he's making himself look good There are some who suggest that basically what he was cutting Was only his commission that was typical for a financial manager like this a manager of a household To get a cut of everything that came in and so he may have just been cutting out his commission and still giving to his boss Everything that would actually be owed to him Whether or not that's the case is is hard to say um But at any rate he is obviously making himself Look good to the people who owe stuff to his master. He's making himself look kind gracious helpful um And he may be he may be cheating his master or he may just be Cutting out his own wages because he knows he's gonna get fired anyway And he's he's trying to set himself up for the future He's trying to get on the good side of these people who owe so that They'll they'll have pity on him and offer him a job when they hear he's fired Okay, that that seems to be what he's doing here He may be trying to make his master look cruel like you know, he was overcharging you really you really shouldn't have to pay that much And he comes out looking like the hero You know, this guy really helped me out Is what the the people who owe are gonna be thinking So he's he's setting himself up for the future basically is is what he's doing so look at what happens in verse 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted Shrewdly I imagine when the master heard what had happened he probably laughed He he probably laughed and said that is one sharp guy I mean he's not commended for what he did because it was dishonest but He's commended for his cleverness for his Shrewdness in preparing for his future In setting himself up To where he would be taken care of Okay This guy's pretty Shrewd this guy's pretty clever. That's what his master says When he finds out what has happened And then Jesus goes on to add and we'll get to this in just a moment for the people of this world are more Shrewd In dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light Jesus is going to make a point from this and we'll get to that in just a moment but but Any comment or question about the unjust steward as he's called or in the King James or the the Shrewd manager Never knew what this was talking about Okay, I'm not sure I do either but we'll try to get at it here in a minute It's a it's an unusual story And there've been there've been some who have Said will fly would Jesus use a crook as an example What good example comes out of this Yes, Holly Okay Right Uh-huh Right You Yes Yeah, that that's a great point and I think that really is The the point that Jesus is going to make we haven't gotten into verse nine yet But but this is the point that Jesus is really going to make is that You know the guy's not commended for being dishonest there was something about what he did that was dishonest That's clear in the text and whether or not we understand all the cultural stuff going on I'm not sure but there was something he was doing that was dishonest He was portraying things In a light which they really weren't in other words But he was very clever in what he did To prepare for his future and that's what he's commended for Now Jesus is going to use that As an illustration of a positive kind of commitment and let's let's go ahead and move on to that because I think Holly's on to something there Um Jesus is going to talk about positive evidences of of commitment here And the first 20 talks about is a commitment To investing in the lives of others Now look at what Jesus says in verse nine He says I tell you and this is the point Jesus is drawing from this story I tell you use worldly wealth To gain friends for yourselves So that when it is gone You will be welcomed into eternal dwellings Okay, now let's unpack this a little bit that you almost have to pick this apart piece by piece um Jesus is commending the The Shrewd manager not because of any Illegal stuff that you may have done or anything wrong you may have done But because of his cleverness his shrewdness in using what was available to him to prepare for his future Okay, that's the point He used what was available to him the means that he had available You know, he says I can't beg I can't do manual labor. So what are the means I have I've got a sharp mind I can figure this out and he makes this deal To prepare for his future to ingratiate himself with the the people who owed his master Now Jesus point is We as believers Need to take whatever means we have available To prepare for the future But he's not talking about our future here. He's not talking about make sure you're preparing and angling yourself to get another job Or to prepare for yourself to get a windfall of some kind Notice he he twists the whole point around at the end of verse 9 Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves So that when it is gone in other words when there's no more opportunity To gain worldly wealth Okay, which means this life is done You will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. So what kind of friends is he talking about making Temporary Christian I may have slid by this too fast here You Use your wealth to make friends So that you will be welcomed to eternal dwellings The obviously or evidently what Jesus is saying is we ought to make what take whatever means we have available and use it To win people to Christ to make Friends that will then welcome us into eternal dwellings when we leave this life and have no more opportunity To earn money to gain wealth And so I think what he's talking about is Okay, the guy in the story used whatever he had at his disposal to prepare for his future and Jesus is saying Use whatever you have to prepare for eternity And if you're going to influence people and buy people who will treat you well in the future Make sure it's people who will welcome you into heaven Because you used what you had Available to you To get people to heaven I think that's I think that's the point that he's making use every opportunity To influence people to win people to Christ To gain friends that will welcome you into eternal dwellings So that when the time is When the day comes when your life ends and you can't earn any more money here You know what you've got left the only thing you've got left is what you said ahead To heaven investment in In souls Exactly And whatever rewards we have in heaven because of Investments we've made that were eternal in nature So I think that's the point and Jesus really is talking about a commitment to invest in the lives of others spiritually To use whatever we have if it's time if it's Persuasive persuasive skills if it's money if it's Opportunity and in whatever way it may work itself out in your life Use whatever is at your disposal to influence people for eternity Because that's the only thing that counts that's the only thing that lasts And so how do we prepare for our future like this guy cleverly prepared for his future We prepare for our future by making sure that would be welcomed into heaven by people that are there because of us Those the kind of friends we made Now exactly goes exactly back to what Dan was talking about Sunday. It's an eternal perspective That everything we do has that perspective of is this gonna last is this gonna be eternal and so The point and we've got to go here, but the point is I think Whatever you do whatever job you work Whatever funds you have that God's given you whatever opportunities time wise God's given you Make sure that you're using everything God's given you at your disposal to make an eternal impact You know, so it doesn't mean well no wait a second John I worked 50 hours a week on a secular job. There's nothing eternal about that is there yes there is yes I all means there is Keep an eternal perspective on why God has you in that place on that job Think about the people he's got you around and how you can impact him for eternity Think about the opportunities. He's given you even in your job to do things and to influence people and all of that to to make an eternal impact. I mean that's That's what he's talking about here use whatever is available to you To win friends for eternity So that they'll welcome you into eternal dwellings and that's just a powerful um illustration of commitment Uh being committed to investing in the lives of others. So whatever you're doing commit yourself to invest in the lives of others Okay, we'll talk about some of the other commitments next week