July 20, 2014
Scripture:
Scripture:
Turn to Song of Solomon 2. The first application of this passage is to the Jewish remnant, but there is also a second application for us. Read v. 4. We have been thinking of how the Lord loved us. “His banner over me is love” (Darby Translation). This love was manifested throughout His life, and it was tested in death.
Hymn 231 - Jesus, that name is love
Prayer
We have finished the parable of Luke 15. The next parable is about an unjust steward. What is an unjust steward? A steward is somebody that is responsible for the management of the money or property of another. In this parable, unjust means unfaithful.
Luke 16:1-11
Jesus told the parable in Luke 15 to the scribes and Pharisees; he told this parable to his disciples. It begins with a rich man accusing his steward of wasting his money. The steward had been hired to do good management and he wasn’t doing that. The steward realized that he was about to be fired, so he needed to figure out what he was going to do. He had been in a very good position and didn’t want to dig ditches or beg; that would be a disgrace. The steward came up with a good idea. The rich man did business with other men and some of them were in debt to him. While he was still in charge, he went to these men and lowered their debt. One man owed 100 measures of oil; he cut it down to 50. Another own 100 sheaves of wheat and he lessened it to 80. What he was trying to do was to get on the good side of these men, so that they might give him a job.
The rich man commended the steward. Don’t you think he would have been angry with him? It doesn’t say he was pleased with him. He just said that what he had done was wise. He was a smart rascal. V. 8 says that the children of the world are wiser that the children of the light (Christians). They are wiser in worldly things, but they are missing the most valuable thing. It is possible to invest in heaven. When we get to heaven, we will be judged on how we used the items and opportunities that God gave us. We need to use the things that the Lord gives us more wisely than the unjust servant.
Acts 15:6-22
Once again, this is an important chapter. This is one of the first real issues within the church, and it was an issue that could have separated the two sides of conflict. One side felt that the Gentiles would have to act like Jews, and the other side said that the gospel made the law void. After confronting the issue in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas took it to Jerusalem.
The brethren in Jerusalem had a meeting to discuss the issue. At first it might sound like just the brothers were at this meeting, but notice that verse 22 mentions the “whole church.” We believe that all who wanted to be at this meeting were allowed to be present. With matters dealing with the assembly, not all are required to be present, but all who want to be can be. The sisters may not take part, but there is no reason that they should be excluded from the proceedings.
Paul didn’t speak first at this meeting. They were in Jerusalem, and—after much debate—Peter, the apostle of the circumcision, spoke. He reminded the brethren of how God had brought salvation to Cornelius and his family—uncircumcised Gentiles. He also told how the law was an unbearable burden even to the Jews. Why did they tempt God by putting a burden on the Gentiles that God Himself had not given them? He had saved them by faith already. Peter was a dyed-in-the-wool Jew, raised in the law, but in verse 11 he is reveling in the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
After Peter spoke, the people listened as Barnabas and Paul told what God had done among the Gentiles (v.12). Not only did the Gentiles believe the gospel, but they would form assemblies! These might have been some of the miracles and wonders that they told of.
Once Barnabas and Paul were finished, James finally spoke. He seems to have been one of the main brothers there at Jerusalem. Until this point in the discussion, only anecdotal arguments had been given; but now James gives us something critical: he gave place to the Word of God. “The prophets agree to what Simeon has told us,” he told the people, and—in verses 16-17—he took them back to the book of Amos. He pulled two verses out of the whole Old Testament, from a small book, to confirm the decision being made. God had said it; why dispute it? He hadn’t put the burden of the law on the Gentiles, and neither should they.
James also brings up another key point: they decided to write a letter to inform the Gentiles of their decision. They wouldn’t just send brethren to tell the news; they would write a letter. That’s important.
In this letter they did give stipulation about certain things. Those things had to do with holiness and purity, though, and went back past Moses to the time of Noah, when man was first allowed to eat flesh.
All this was decided, and—finally—there was unity. Everyone—elders, apostles, and the whole church—were in agreement.
Hymn 68—Christ is the Saviour of Sinners
Prayer