Dealing with Sin:

Matthew 18:7 “...Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!...”

Luke 17:1-2 “...And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin...”

Is it necessary that temptations come?

• an-ang-kay' - Distressed, Constrained.

             NASB: Inevitable. KJV: Needs be. NIV: Must come.

• skan'-dal-on - Offence, Stumbling Block.

             NASB: Stumbling blocks. KJV: Offences NIV:Things that cause people to sin.

• Our distressed world will inevitably offer stumbling blocks that cause people to sin.

What are some sources of stumbling blocks?

• Our corruption, passions, and our besetting sins will lead us astray.
• The evil one will tempt us at our weakest points.
• Other people will influence us against God’s truth and intentions.

What awaits those who tempt, offend, and cause stumbling blocks?

• Ouai - Woe, grief, denunciation

Matthew 18:8-9 “...And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire...”

What does Jesus suggest as a remedy for personal sin?

• Cutting off the source of the sin.
• Throwing away that which causes you to sin.

What does Jesus say is the alternative?

• Eternal fire. The hell of fire.

Luke 17:3-4 “...Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him...”

What does Jesus suggest regarding your brother’s sins?

• Pay attention to yourself, and to your brother.
• Confront (rebuke) a sinning brother.
• Forgive a repentant sinner.

Does Jesus want people to face eternal fire?

Does Jesus want people to avoid sin?

How can people avoid sin?

The Chasm:

Context:

• 16:14 - The Pharisees were lovers of money.
• 16:15 - What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
• 16:17 - Not one dot of the law will become void.

Luke 16:19-31 “...There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead...’”

How often did the rich man indulge himself?

• Every day.

Does boasted righteousness and external correctness insure eternal good?

• God knows the heart.

Where did the rich man go when he died?

• The torment of Hades.
• Hades is the place or state of departed spirits. It appears to be a holding place.
• Revelation 20:13 “...And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done...”
• Hell is the place or state of those finally damned. It is the final judgment place.

Does poverty and misery preclude eternal good?

• Not in this parable.

Where did the poor man go when he died?

• He was carried by angels to Abraham’s side

How did the great chasm add to the rich man’s torment.

• He could see what he couldn’t have, much like the poor man saw on earth.

What did the rich man request?

• He wanted Lazarus to be sent back to the living to warn the rich man’s five brothers of the fate that awaited them.

What was Abraham’s response?

• The Law and the Prophets are enough warning.
• If a person doesn’t believe them, they won’t believe someone returning from the dead.

Do you think those who have had death and revival experiences can convince people when the Law and the Prophets can’t?

• The greatest miracle will have no effect on those who are determined not to believe.

• There was a Lazarus who returned from the dead. Did his whole community turn to follow Christ?

2 Peter 1:19 “...And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,...”

Destined to Sin?

Luke 16:18 “...Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery...”

Who made this statement about divorce and remarriage?

• Jesus.

Does someone commit adultery if they divorce their wife and marry another?

• That’s what Jesus just said.

Does someone commit adultery if they marry a divorced woman?

• That’s what Jesus just said .

Why did Jesus say this?

• Back up one verse to get some context.
• Luke 16:16-17 “...The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void...”
• You can’t use a personal interpretation of the law and the prophets to work your way into the kingdom of God.
• The Pharisees acknowledged that a person shouldn’t commit adultery, but often permitted divorce for almost any reason.
• Jesus used the example of divorce to reveal how the Pharisees, who proudly paraded their law abiding righteousness, were not following the law.

Was Jesus trying to teach the Pharisees how to better follow the law?

• Jesus was offering the Pharisees a chance to admit their sin.
• Jesus was offering the Pharisees a chance to realize that the kingdom of God could not be entered by way of man’s best efforts.
• A person who doesn’t understand their inability to follow the law will not understand their need for Jesus.

Was Jesus, in Luke 16:18, creating a verse to be used to condemn people who have divorced and remarried?

  This is a conviction verse:

• Romans 3:23 “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...”
• Only Jesus has followed the letter of the law without sinning.
• Ezekiel 18:4 “...Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die...”

  This is not a condemnation verse:

• John 3:17 “...For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him...”
• Only Jesus provides payment for the penalty of sin.

Does Jesus have a different understanding of the marriage bond than what is held by our culture?

Does Jesus have a different understanding of sin than what is held by our culture?

Does Jesus offer a better solution for sin than what is held by our culture?

Since Jesus offers a solution, is sin irrelevant?

• Romans 6:1-2 “...What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?...”
• John 8:11 “...And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more...”

Exalted Abomination:

Context:

• Jesus had just explained that “...you cannot serve God and money...”
• Luke 16:14 then reveals something about the Pharisees - they were lovers of money.
• The Pharisees therefore ridiculed Jesus (NASB-scoffed at, NIV-sneered at).
• The word found no place in them.

Luke 16:15 “...And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God...”

What does it mean to justify yourself before men?

• Use words to make your actions appear to be legitimate.

Can anyone justify inappropriateness before God?

• God knows hearts.
• God knows underlying reality.
• God is not deceived by manipulative words.

What types of things are an abomination in the sight of God.

• Anything that is inconsistent with His created purpose.
• In this specific case, loving money and making it sound legitimate.

Luke 16:16-17 “...The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void...”

Matthew 11:13 “...For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,...”

What changed with the preaching of John the Baptist?

• John prepared the way for Jesus Christ.
• The good news of the kingdom of God was now the focus.

What did not change with the preaching of John the Baptist?

• The Law was not voided.

Can a person force their way into the kingdom of God?

• You can’t use a personal interpretation of the law and the prophets to work your way into the kingdom of God.
• Matthew 11:12 “...From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force...”
• Acts 4:11-12 “...This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved...”
• The Pharisees were resisting what was being established by Jesus.
• They wanted a kingdom, but not the one Jesus was introducing.

Will heaven and earth pass away?

• Matthew 24:35 “...Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away...”

Managing with Wisdom:

Context:

• Finding lost sheep, lost coins, and lost family members.
• Jesus continues speaking to His disciples in parables.

Luke 16:1 “...Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions...”

Why would a rich man have a manager?

• To take care of his possessions.

Does God have any managers? Any things to take care of?

How did the manager do?

• He squandered that which belonged to the rich man.

How do we do with what God entrusts to our care?

Luke 16:2 "...And he 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 manager...'

What did the rich man require of the manager?

• An explanation of how he was handling what was entrusted to him.

What does God require of His managers?

• Romans 2:6-8 “...He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury...”
• Romans 14:12 “...So then each of us will give an account of himself to God...”
• Hebrews 4:13 “...And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account...”

Luke 16:3-7 “...And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty...’

What did the manager know was coming?

• He was about to be removed from management.

What did the manager do about it?

• He made friends.

Do we know what’s coming?

What are we doing about it?

Luke 16:8-9 “...The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings...”

How did the master respond to the dishonest manager?

• He commended him for being shrewd (KJV - wise, Holman - astute).

Who was he more shrewd than?

• The sons of light.

Was he commending dishonesty?

• No - the dishonesty put him on the hot seat.

What was he saying in this difficult passage?

• The people of this world are very focused on dealing with others to accomplish their goals.
• The people of God have a tendency to be less focused in dealing with others to accomplish the goals of God.

How can people “...make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings...?”

How can we use worldly possessions with an eye toward eternity?

Luke 16:10-12 “...One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own...?”

What is more important than unrighteous wealth?

• True riches.

How does faithfulness with worldly possessions affect true riches?

Luke 16:13 “...No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money...”

Why is it impossible to serve God and money?

• Once one gets loved, the other will be hated.
• Once one receives devotion, the other will be despised.

Which master do we serve?