Luke Chapters 15-16, Seeking the lost at all costs, joy over one sinner who repents, Prodigal Son or gracious Father, music and dancing, unjust servant with two masters, cognitive dissonance, God knows your hearts, oikonomia, administration or dispensation, Abraham's bosom, Heaven is for Real, Soul Sleep, Purgatory

1. Luke 15-16
Luke Chapters 15-16, Seeking the lost at all costs, joy
over one sinner who repents, Prodigal Son or gracious
Father, music and dancing, unjust servant with two
masters, cognitive dissonance, God knows your
hearts, oikonomia, administration or dispensation,
Abraham's bosom, Heaven is for Real, Soul Sleep,
Purgatory

2. Luke 15
The Lost Was Found

3. G.R.A.C.E.
• Luke 15 reminds us of the manifold grace of God.
• G.R.A.C.E. =
• God's
• Redeeming
• Affirming
• Compassionate
• Embrace
• Although “grace” is not used in this parable, it’s all
about the Father’s grace

4. Let’s Read Luke 15:1-10
4

5. Luke 15:4
The 99
NAU Luke 15:4 "What
man among you, if
he has a hundred
sheep and has lost
one of them, does
not leave the
ninety-nine in the
open pasture and
go after the one
which is lost until he
finds it?

6. Luke 15:6, Sheep
A man in a corral shears whiteface sheep near a curving country road in Devon, England,
1968.PHOTOGRAPH BY TED SPIEGEL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

7. Luke 15:7,
Three Parables, One Point
• NAU Luke 15:7 "I tell you that in the same way,
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner
who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who need no repentance.
• NAU Luke 15:10 "In the same way, I tell you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.”
• NAU Luke 15:32 'But we had to celebrate and
rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has
begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"
7

8. Luke 15:7,
Three Parables, One Point
• Wants every lost person to be found!
• NAU John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but
have eternal life.
• NAU 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as
some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for
any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
• NAU 1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth.
• NAU Ezekiel 18:23 "Do I have any pleasure in the death of the
wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should
turn from his ways and live?
8

9. Let’s Read Luke 15:11-32
9

10. Parable of the
Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-32
From Wikipedia, The Return of the Prodigal
Son(1773) by Pompeo Batoni
In America we all call this parable
“The Prodigal Son”. However, in
most foreign countries it's more
likely known as the, “Two Sons, The
Lost Son, The Running
Father, or The Loving Father.”
It really is a story about the Father
not so much the son.
The Father's wealth, The Father's
forgiveness, the Fathers love, the
Father's feast, the Fathers children,
the Father's robe and ring.

11. Luke 15:11-32 The Prodigal Son
prodigal |ˈprädigəl|, adjective
1 spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully
extravagant: prodigal habits die hard.
2 having or giving something on a lavish scale: the dessert was crunchy
with brown sugar and prodigal with whipped cream.
noun
a person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.
• (also prodigal son or daughter)a person who leaves home and
behaves recklessly, but later makes a repentant return.[with biblical
allusion to the parable in Luke 15:11–32.]
DERIVATIVES
prodigality |ˌprädəˈgalətē| noun.
prodigally |-g(ə)lē| adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: from late Latin prodigalis, from Latin prodigus ‘lavish.’
11

12. Luke 15:11-32
Parable of the Prodigal Son
• From Wikipedia, “…The Prodigal Son, also known as Two Sons, Lost
Son, The Running Father and The Loving Father is one of the parables of
Jesus. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New
Testament. According to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 15:11-32), a father
gives his two sons his inheritance before he dies. The younger son, after
wasting his fortune (the word 'prodigal' means 'wastefully extravagant'),
goes hungry during a famine. He then returns home with the intention of
begging to be employed and renouncing his kinship to his father.
Regardless, the father finds him on the road and immediately welcomes
him back as his son and holds a feast to celebrate his return. The older
son refuses to participate, stating that in all the time the son has worked
for the father, he did not even give him a goat to celebrate with his
friends. His father reminds the older son that everything the father has is
the older son's (his inheritance) but that they should still celebrate the
return of the younger son. It is the third and final part of a cycle on
redemption, following the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of
the Lost Coin…”

13. Prodigal Son, Social
Gospel
• NAU John 12:8 "For you
always have the poor
with you, but you do
not always have Me.“
• NAU Luke 6:20 And
turning His gaze
toward His disciples,
He began to say,
"Blessed are you who
are poor, for yours is
the kingdom of God.
Friends Of Israel

14. Luke 15:25
Music
NAU Luke 15:25
"Now his older son
was in the field, and
when he came and
approached the
house, he heard
music and dancing.
Jesus told this
parable about the
Father who threw a
party and there was
music and dancing.14

15. Luke 15:16 The
Stomach
• NAU Luke 15:16 "And he
would have gladly filled his
stomach with the pods
that the swine were
eating, and no one was
giving anything to him.
• Proverbs 13:25 The
righteous has enough to
satisfy his appetite, But
the stomach of the wicked
is in need. (Mark 7:19)

16. Luke 15:25, Music And Dancing
• Luke 15:25 "Now his older son was in the field, and
when he came and approached the house, he heard
music and dancing.
• Jesus associated “music and dancing” with “merry
and rejoice, (vs. 25, 32)” a time of praise, joy,
rejoicing, and great family time. Jesus never even
hinted at anything wrong with celebrating with
“music and dancing.”
• God created the universe in order to hear music,
and everything has a song of praise for God. Louis
Ginsberg

17. 17

18. Luke 15:11-32
Parable Of The Grace Of The Father
• This story of two rebellious sons, and a very gracious forgiving Father, makes
me think of the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church. The first son is in a
faraway Gentile country raising pigs, and he remembers the Father, and
decides to go to the Father. I think the Jewish audience that Jesus is speaking
to would have considered him cut off from his people, and as a Gentile.
• The rebellious son who stayed home and kept his Father's commandments
and was to inherit everything surely would have reminded them of their
Jewish heritage, God's promises, and their faithful obedience to the Law. I am
reminded of their self righteousness (Luke 18:11), and fierce anger towards
the Son of God who came to the Father's house, and they killed Him
(Matthew 21:38). They still have their inheritance (15:31) because God will
keep His promises to them. But now they have to remain separated from the
Father for a season (15:28); NAS Romans 11:1… “God has not rejected His
people, has He? May it never be!…”
• The repentant pig farmer who comes humbly, and as a servant, not as an heir
(15:21), to the Father makes me think of the church; NAU John 10:16 "I have
other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will
hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

19. Luke 16

20. Let’s Read Luke 16:1-13
• The parable of the unjust servant.
20

21. Luke 16:1, Another Prodigal
• NAU 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.
• The phrase “squandering his possessions” is
literally, “prodigality”, “spending money or
resources freely and recklessly”
• It’s just that this guy is doing it for personal profit.
• This provides a bridge with the prodigal son in
chapter 15.
21

22. Luke 16:8
• NAU Luke 16:8 "And his master praised the unrighteous
manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of
this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than
the sons of light.
• Compass.org says, “In the parable of the "Unrighteous
Steward," (Luke 16:1-9) Jesus points out that non-
Christians many times act more shrewdly than Christians.
Loosely translated, that means Christians sometimes act
awfully dumb in business and could learn a lesson or two
from those non-Christians around us. A more specific
application for Christians would be that we should invest
our time and money for eternal rewards as ingeniously as
many non-Christians do for earthly rewards.”

23. Luke 16:11, Wealth
• NAU Luke 16:11 "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of
unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
• We are stewards of God, everything that we are, every moment we
have, and everything that we hold belongs to Him.
• NAU Deuteronomy 8:16 "In the wilderness He fed you manna which
your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He
might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 "Otherwise, you
may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made
me this wealth.’
• After the Exodus the Lord was preparing the Hebrew children for “the
land flowing with milk and honey” and all the wealth that King David
and Solomon would collect. But before he gave them that great
wealth, he had them survive on manna and water. And He said it was
to “test” them.

24. Luke 16:11, Stewards, Wealth
• NAU Luke 16:11…who will entrust the true riches to you?
• Do you suppose that if Jesus had $100,000 and a 401k, and
knowing that there are kids starving in China, and Africa, He
would be concerned with;
• What kind of car should I buy? Or how many bathrooms
should I get in my new house?
• 1 Corinthians 4:2 In this case, moreover, it is required of
stewards that one be found trustworthy.
• 1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it
in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace
of God.
• Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the
first of all your produce;

25. Luke 16:13, Cannot Serve Two Masters
• NAU Luke 16:13 "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."
• The best biblical evidence against polygamy
• You cannot serve two masters

26. Luke 16:13,
Cognitive Dissonance
• NAU Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters…”
• My Mac Dictionary defines, “cognitive dissonance” as; noun,
Psychology, “the state of having inconsistent thoughts,
beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral
decisions and attitude change.”
• Another one says defines “cognitive dissonance as an anxiety
that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or
otherwise incompatible attitudes or beliefs. To relieve this
anxiety the human mind will strive to diminish the relative
importance of one of those beliefs in favor of the other.”
• NAU James 1:8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all
his ways.
26

27. Serve God Alone With Your Heart, Power,
And Wealth
• NAU Deuteronomy 8:17 … remember the LORD your
God, for it is He who is giving you power to make
wealth…
• Vance Havner said, “It is later than it has ever been
before, and the smartest thing any man can do is to
set his watch by God’s clock.”

28. Let’s Read Luke 16:14-18
• Two more warnings by Jesus
28

29. Luke 16:15, God Knows Your Hearts
• NAU Luke 16:15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the
sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among
men is detestable in the sight of God.
• NAU Jeremiah 17:10 "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to
each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
• God alone knows our heart, and he says it's despitefully wicked. He alone knows
and understands our real motives.
• NAU Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD
weighs the motives.
• NAU Psalm 94:11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are a mere
breath.
• NAU James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
• NAU 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time,
but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the
darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will
come to him from God.
• NAU Philippians 1:17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather
than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.

30. Luke 16:16, A Different “oikonomia”
• NAU Luke 16:16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed
until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God
has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
• Before this Jesus commanded his disciples to, “Keep Quiet!”
• NAU Matthew 9:30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus
sternly warned them: "See that no one knows about this!” 31
But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout
all that land.”
• I find that everyone that is truly “healed” by Jesus wants to tell
everyone they know.
• This is a different “oikonomia, administration, dispensation”
than the church age. [Matthew 8:4, 9:30, 10:5, 11:11, 16:20, 28:19, Luke 16:16, Mark
5:43, 8:29, John 14:17]

31. Let’s Read Luke 16:19-31
• The rich man and Lazarus, a glimpse into
eternity.
31

32. Luke 16:22, Abraham's Bosom
• NAU Luke 16:22
"Now the poor
man died and
was carried away
by the angels to
Abraham's
bosom; and the
rich man also
died and was
buried.
32

33. Luke 16:22, Abraham's Bosom
• NAU Luke 16:22 …to Abraham's bosom…
• Gingrich describes “bosom” as kolpon κόλπον;
• [GING] …1. bosom, breast, chest… recline (at a
meal) with one's head on someone's breast
John 13:23. Similarly Lk 16:22f; John 1:18.—2.
the fold of a garment, formed as it falls from
the chest over the girdle, used as a pocket Lk
6:38.—3. bay, gulf of the sea Ac 27:39.* [pg
111]
33

34. • What is Abraham’s Bosom? By Matthew Ryan Hauge, Ph.D.
• What is Abraham’s Bosom? The phrase, “Abraham’s Bosom” is well-known in popular Christian
culture, but it was not well-known in the ancient world. What does it mean and why does it
matter?
• The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 is truly unique within the biblical corpus.
Generally speaking, the “parables” of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke feature
unnamed characters and experiences drawn from everyday life. … This story features the presence
of two named characters: Lazarus and Abraham. Additionally, the majority of the story is set within
hades, the Greek abode of the dead. These are not the only unusual features of the story. There is
an angelic escort for the dead Lazarus, the flame of hades, postmortem dialogue between the rich
man and Abraham, and the proposed return of Lazarus from the dead. Each one of these
distinctive features requires careful consideration, but for now let us turn our gaze upon the so-
called “Abraham’s Bosom.” …This phrase is unique to the Gospel of Luke within the biblical
tradition. It does not appear in any other book of the Bible, nor does it appear in pre-Christian
Jewish literature outside of the Bible. …The Greek term for “Paradise” also occurs in the Gospel of
Luke (cf. 2 Cor 12:4; Rev 2:7): He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise”
(23:43 [NRSV]). However, Luke does not choose to use this descriptor in the story of the Rich Man
and Lazarus. Luke locates Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, but he does not describe it as
“Paradise.” The Greek term κόλπος also occurs in Luke 6:38, in which it refers to the fold of a
garment, and in Acts 27:39, in which it refers to an ocean bay. In other words, this term denotes
comfort and protection…”
34

35. Luke 16:19-31, “Heaven Is For Real”
gracethrufaith.com
• Q. The book “Heaven is for Real” was extremely realistic, yet I have a catch in
my Spirit in regards to it as I feel we are not to be involved with the
supernatural, but receive our information re: heaven from the Bible and Our
Lord Jesus Christ. John 3 :13 says No one has ascended to heaven but He who
came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. I would
appreciate your thoughts and opinion.
• A. I haven’t read this book, so I can’t comment on it specifically, and I
normally don’t read books like this. Here’s why.
• In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), Abraham refused to
send Lazarus back to warn his brothers of the fate that awaited them unless
they changed their ways. He said they had Moses and the prophets (the Old
Testament) and could listen to them. When the rich man argued that a
personal visit would be much more persuasive, Abraham said if they didn’t
believe the Scriptures they would not be convinced even if someone came
back from the dead.
• If the Lord would not approve sending someone back when they only had the
Old Testament and no one had ever come back from the dead, why would He
approve it now when we have the New Testament and Jesus has come back
from the dead?
• http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/heaven-real/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29

36. Luke 16:22-24, What Happens After Death?
Soul Sleep, Purgatory, Resurrection
• Question: "What happens after death?"
Answer: Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some
hold that after death, everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell.
Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still
others claim that when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell, to await the final
resurrection, the final judgment, and then the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say
happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven,
because their sins are forgiven by having received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18, 36). For believers, death is to be “away
from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1
Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If
believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that while the
souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.”
At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and then reunited with the soul/spirit. This
reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the possession of believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth
(Revelation 21-22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to
the destiny of believers, unbelievers also seem to be sent immediately to a temporary holding place, to await their final
resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22-23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after
death. Revelation 20:11-15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and
then being cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to hell (the lake of fire) immediately after death, but
rather are in a temporary realm of judgment and condemnation. However, even though unbelievers are not instantly
sent to the lake of fire, their immediate fate after death is not a pleasant one. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in
this fire” (Luke16:24). Therefore, after death, a person resides in a “temporary” heaven or hell. After this temporary
realm, at the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny
is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1).
Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all
people—based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).

37. Luke 16:28, Eternal Glorified Bodies,
• QUESTION FOR THE DAY, Dear Compass,
• I have often wondered: If we don't age in heaven, do babies that have gone
there always stay babies? And what age will we be? I don't want to live to be
100 if that's what I'm going to look like for eternity!
ANSWER: The new body believers receive is different than the one we now
have here on earth. Although we will have all the knowledge accumulated on
earth (Luke 16:28), we will be different physically (Philippians 3:21). Our
bodies also will be similar to angels: . . . in the resurrection they neither marry,
nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. —Matthew
22:30Being compared to angels is not too shabby. Angels are majestic in
appearance, "awesome" (Judges 13:6). Angels have great wisdom: "know all
that is in the earth" (2 Samuel 14:20). Angels are "mighty in strength" (Psalm
103:20). But realize we are a higher order than the angels: ". . . we shall judge
angels" (1 Corinthians 6:3).But the most important parts of us, our spirit and
soul, have no mass. Our containers, therefore, are just not that important. But
for a rough idea in human terminology, we think the men will all be around
age 21 and the women age 18. (No, we don't have a verse for that!) :-)

38. 38

39. 39

40. 40

41. THE END
• Jerusalem Daily Photo
• A United Hatzalah
volunteer ready for
action; straight from
morning services, still in
his prayer shawl, nothing
slows these guys down
41

42. • What is Abraham’s Bosom? By Matthew Ryan Hauge, Ph.D.
• What is Abraham’s Bosom? The phrase, “Abraham’s Bosom” is well-known in popular Christian culture, but it was not
well-known in the ancient world. What does it mean and why does it matter?
• The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 is truly unique within the biblical corpus. Generally speaking, the
“parables” of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke feature unnamed characters and experiences drawn from
everyday life. Among these “parables” there is one notable exception – the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
• This story features the presence of two named characters: Lazarus and Abraham. Additionally, the majority of the story is
set within hades, the Greek abode of the dead.
• These are not the only unusual features of the story. There is an angelic escort for the dead Lazarus, the flame of hades,
postmortem dialogue between the rich man and Abraham, and the proposed return of Lazarus from the dead.
• Each one of these distinctive features requires careful consideration, but for now let us turn our gaze upon the so-called
“Abraham’s Bosom.”
• Abraham’s Bosom – An Unusual Expression
• After the arrival of the angelic escort, the dead Lazarus is carried into the bosom of Abraham in Luke 16:22a:
• The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham (κόλπον Ἀβραάμ).
• The English phrase “Abraham’s Bosom” is derived from the Greek words, κόλπον Ἀβραάμ (pronounced “KOL-pon a-bra-
AM”).
• This phrase is unique to the Gospel of Luke within the biblical tradition. It does not appear in any other book of the Bible,
42

43. Luke 16:19-31 Romans 3:28-29, Hebrews
11:1-2, OT Saints, Saved By Grace
• QUESTION FOR THE DAY
• Dear Compass,
• I would like to know what happened to the faithful in the OT. Were any of them saved? I have heard that they were held in the bosom of Abraham but
cannot find that info in the Bible.
• Another wrote:
• Prior to Jesus, who was saved and what scriptural passages support the position?
•
ANSWER:
• Everyone who goes to heaven, those living prior to the cross and those living after the cross, will have been saved the same way—by faith.
• Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. —Hebrews 11:1-2
• For by grace you have been saved through faith . . . —Ephesians 2:8 (See also Hebrews 11:1-39, Romans 3:28, Romans 5:1-2)
• Those who lived prior to the cross could be saved, by faith, by trusting that God would send a future Messiah to pay for their sin. Those saved after the
cross look back to the cross, by faith, that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God.
• Today, when a believer (saved by faith) dies, he/she goes directly into the presence of the Lord.
• we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. —2 Corinthians 5:8But those saved prior
to Jesus' death on the cross could not yet go into the presence of the Lord when they died. They had to wait until the Messiah came and paid for their
sin.Since those who were saved and died prior to the cross could not yet go to heaven, God provided a place for them to wait for the Messiah to come.
This waiting place was called "Abraham's bosom" and was located next to Hades in the center of the earth. In fact, those who were in Hades, conscious
and in an agonizing flame, could look across the divider and see those in Paradise. This is all found in Luke 16:19-31, the account (not a parable) of the
rich man and Lazarus.
• When Jesus came and died on the cross, the first thing He did was to "descend" (Ephesians 4:9-10) to Abraham's bosom to bring up the saints of old
and take them to Paradise/heaven (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7). Some scholars even speculate that the strange verses in Matthew
about the dead saints appearing after Jesus' death (Matthew 27:51-53) are referring to redeemed saints from Abraham's bosom passing through the
surface of earth on the way to heaven.

44. NAU Genesis 32:28 He said, "Your name
• NAU Genesis 32:28 He said, "Your name
• NAU Genesis 32:28 He said, "Your name
44
NAU Genesis 32:28 He said, "Your name

45. FINDING A VOLUNTEER TO BE CHURCH
TREASURER
 Pete Marcaccini says that, “Finding a volunteer
to be church treasurer is always a challenge. But
after reading the church's Annual Report, I was
not surprised to hear several members express
interest in the position. The outgoing treasurer
had concluded her report with: "It has truly been
my pleasure to work with the church finances. I
have received far more than I ever gave.”
 Skimming Off the Top?
45

46. NAU Genesis 32:28 He said, "Your
name
46

47. Luke 16:24, Mercy
• NAU Luke 16:24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham,
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip
of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in
this flame.'
• Dr. Jim Berg has a wonderful teaching on “mercy” on Sermon
Audio. He says to have mercy means to rescue someone from a
wretched state.
• http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?subsetitem=Luke&su
bsetcat=bible&keyword=Dr%2E_Jim_Berg&SpeakerOnly=true&c
urrSection=sermonsspeaker&includekeywords=&ExactVerse=;
• Pardons in the Bible
• Dr. Jim Berg
• Luke 10:30-37 47

48. Luke 16

49. Proverbs 28:13 1John 1:9 Rom 3 Rev 21:8 Luke 15:21, “Everyone
does it" ”I Was Wrong”, Keep Believing
Ministries <ray@keepbelieving.com>
• Saturday, February 9, 2013
I am writing these words from Dallas at the end of a week that included a joyful surprise.
Last Saturday I flew from Tupelo to Tampa, Florida for a week of ministry at Word of Life Florida. Marlene planned to go with me but couldn’t because she was a bit under the weather last weekend. But that worked out fine because late Sunday night our daughter-in-law Vanessa went into labor. She and Mark were expecting their second son based on the ultrasound test the doctor performed. They had everything prepared for a boy.
Then a girl showed up!
I think of it this way. My father andmother had four boys. Marlene and I have three sons. Until last Monday we hadonly grandsons. So we have a long tradition of boys in our family.
Then Penelope Mary arrived early Monday morning. Already she has all of us wrapped around her tiny fingers. Marlene drove to Dallas on Wednesday, and we changed my flight plans so I could fly here yesterday after my final messagein Florida.
Vanessa and Penelope are doing fine. We are all delighted by this surprise gift of a beautiful little girl.
This week we released a free ebook called Who Is That Man? (And Other Important Questions). We designed it as a Lenten devotional book, with readings and prayers for each day of Lent starting on February 13 and ending on Easter Sunday, March 31.
We have made the ebook available in Kindle, Nook and PDF formats. You can find the links to the different formats at Who Is That Man?.
Each day during Lent, we’ll post additional material (questions, application ideas, other Scriptures) on the KBM weblog to help you go deeper. You can help us by spreading the word about this free ebook to your friends.
Note: To load the ebook on a mobile device (Kindle or Nook ereader, iPad, iPhone, Android, etc), we recommend that you view the blog post from within your device and then click the download option.
We are providing this ebook free of charge as our gift to you. We depend on friends like you to help us financially so that we can continue to offer free biblical resources through our website. If you would like to help out, you can mail your donation to Keep Believing Ministries,P. O. Box 257, Elmhurst, IL 60126 or you can use our online donation page.
This week’s special podcast is called What is a Real Christan?
You can follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We would love for you to be part of our Keep Believing Prayer Team.
That’s the news from our corner of the world. We’re grateful to God for the “surprise” blessing of our first granddaughter.
I hope you have a wonderful week.
Ray Pritchard
Keep Believing Ministries
Tupelo, Mississippi
• Three Hard Words That Could Change Your Life
Luke 15:21
• “You can’t help a liar.”
That was the man’s conclusionbased on years of experience with college students. Occasionally he is faced with difficult disciplinary decisions when the young people break the rules of the group. “I’ve dealt with everything you can imagine,”he said. “Every sort of sexual sin. Cheating. Breaking the law. You name it, I’ve seen it.” There is an established set of procedures in place to deal with those who get in trouble. Very often they are able to help the young people make amends and set
their lives on a new path.
During our discussion the manmade two comments that stayed with me. First, he has learned that lying has almost become a non-issuetoday. Everyone lies, and they lie all the time. It’s almost as if it’s not a sin to lie anymore. Perhaps it is a sign of postmodern relativism that we have come to accept that lying isn’t wrong. Or perhaps it is just a fulfillment of Romans 3:13, “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” After discussing how people routinely lie to
cover up their sin, he offered this conclusion:
You can’t help a liar. You can help anyone struggling with any sort of sin as long as they tell the truth. But you can’t help a liar because you can’t trust anything he says.
The situation is compounded by the fact that when most of us get caught, we confess as little as possible. That’s not a student problem; that’s a humanproblem. And that leads to the second key point. One sign of true repentanceis when “they tell you something you didn’talready know.” If you knew A + B + C, but the person then adds D + E + F, you know their repentance is deeper than just, “I’m sorry I got caught.” True repentance always involves coming clean, and coming clean
means owning up to the whole pattern of wrongdoing, not just to the thing you happenedto get caught doing. God desires “truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6) or as Eugene Peterson puts it, “truth from the inside out." It is very hard for us to come to this place of total honestywith God and with others. For most of us, it is a continual battle to be transparent in all our dealings, especially when we have sinned because it’s so easy to cover up.
I can’t get one statement out of my mindbecause it contains so much truth: “You can’t help a liar." As long as a liar is telling lies, you cannot trust anything he says. It’s like the old riddle, “If a liar says he’s telling the truth, can you believe him?" It’s tremendouslydifficult for anyof us to take personalresponsibility. We live a culture of victimization, a culture that rewards us for blaming others. You may remember the shooting that took place at Virginia Tech a few years ago. The gunman
left a note behind that said, “You mademe do this.” That’s an easy way out, isn’t it?
It’s easy when we’ve done wrong to say, “Everyone does it."
Everyone cheats on their spouse.
Everyone yells at their children.
Everyone breaks a promise now and then.
Everyone lies a little bit.
Everyone uses badlanguage.
Everyone covers up their sin.
Although we live in a society that encourages us to make excuses, most of us don’t need any encouragement. We are born knowing how to pass the buck.
Back to Eden
• It all goes back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. The serpent came to Eve and tricked her into eating the fruit. She offered some to Adam and he ate, knowing full well the consequences of his action. Suddenlythe world became a very unfriendly place. Fear entered the humanheart for the very first time. When Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid.Sin had changed everything. Where once they talked with God freely, now they hid in the forest
lest their sin be discovered.
At length God called out to Adam, “Where are you?” Adam answered and said, “I hid because I was naked.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked?” Then the dreaded question: “Have you eaten from the tree that I commandedyou not to eat from?”
Adam is cornered, caught red-handed, stripped of all his excuses. God knows! Adam does what men usually do. He passes the buck. His answer is a classic form of evasion: “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit fromthe true, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12).
Did you get that? “The woman you put here with me." Adam passes the buck twice. First it was the woman. Then it was the woman you put here. “Lord, it was her fault. She gave me the fruit and so I ate it. What was I supposedto do? Say no and watch her pout all night? And anyway, who put her in the garden? You did! She wasn’tmy idea. I’m not complaining, Lord, because she’s beautiful andcute andall that, but I didn’t have this problem when it was just me and the animals.”
And so it goes. The first man, the father of the humanrace, is also the first one to pass the buck. Make no mistake. The Bible is telling us something significant. It is in our nature to denyour own guilt and to try to shift the blame to others. That’s what Genesis 3:7-12 is all about. It’s no coincidence that the first sin led to the first cover-up. The first disobedience led to the first denial. The first trespassing led to the first buck-passing.
In the thousands of years since then, nothing has really changed. Humannature is the same. Passing the buck is in our spiritual bloodstream. We do it now because Adam did it back then. He established the pattern:
Disobedience which leads to
Guilt which leads to
Shame which leads to
Fear which leads to
Hiding which leads to
Blaming others.
SolomonSays
• Let me come to my thesis: It is a fundamentalmark of spiritual health to be able to say, I was wrong." Blessed is the manwho can say those words because that manis on his way to spiritual health. If you want a verse to go with my thesis, jot down Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
When we sin, we have two options. Option 1 is to conceal it. That means to cover it up, to make excuses, to rationalize, to pass the buck. When that happens, wedo not prosper. We go through the internal hell of living with a guilty conscience. In the words of Psalm 32:3, our bones waste away and our strength is sapped. We suffer physically and mentally because we conceal our sins. Nothing works right.
Or we can confess our sins and renouncethem. Both those words are important. To confess means to own up to what you did. When you confess your sins, you are saying, “Yes, I did it and I know it was wrong.” To renounce your sin means taking steps to break the destructive patterns in your own life. When you renounce your sins, you are saying, “I’ve been walking in the wrong path and now, with God’s help, I’m not going to walk in that path anymore. I’m going to change the direction
of my life."
“I Was Wr-r-r-r-r-r-”
• Not long ago I spoke for a week of Bible conference at Word of Life Florida. On Wednesday morning I gave this message. Before the service I told the young manoverseeing that sound system that I would be speaking on three words: “I was wrong.” He wrote it down and then said, “Those are hard words.”
He’s right.
It is not easy to say “I was wrong.” Most of us would rather do anything than to admit we were wrong. Do you remember how much trouble Fonzie had with this issue on the TV series HappyDays? Fonzie was too cool to ever admit he was wrong. Richie Cunninghamwould say to him, “Go ahead, admit it, you were wrong.” So Fonzie would go, “I was wr-r-r-r-r-r-r-.” He couldn’t get the word out. So he would end up saying, “I was wr-r-r-r-r-Not right!”
But “not right” is not the same thing as “wrong.” If you’re wrong, you’re wrong. But if you are “not right,” nobody really knows what you are.
Sometimes we make our excuses so subtly that we don’t realize what we’re doing. In one of his books, Bruce Larson uses the following example. Let’s say that you are describing an argumentyou had with your wife. You say, “All I said was, ‘Is your mother coming again?’”Now you don’t have to be an Einstein to figure out that you’re in trouble the moment those words come out of your mouth.
Whenever we preface something with the four words, “All I said was,” we’ve madea big mistake. Thoseare four of the most destructive words in the English language. Theyimply that you are sane, logical and loving and the other person is a nut. When you use those four words, you’re really saying, “It’s not my fault. I don’t have a problem. Somebody else has a problem.”
As long as you continue to say that, you cannot be forgiven.
As long as you say that, your relationships will remain broken.
As long as you say that, you will struggle with bitterness andresentment.
As long as you say that, you will remain locked out of the abundantlife Jesus came to provide.
As long as you blame others, your life will remain broken and fragmented. You’ll never know holiness or wholeness or mental and spiritual health.
“I Have Sinned”
• In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus told a story about a young manwho felt an urge to leave his father’s house. It’s a familiar story, one that has happened in almost every family. This young manasked for his portion of the family estate and left for a distant land. Therehe squandered his moneyon wild living. Days passed, then weeks, then months. At last the day came when the young manhad spent all his money. Now broke and destitute, he found himself in a desperate place, far from family and
friends. Although he was ashamed,he hired on with a farmer who put him to work slopping the hogs. He was so hungry that he found himself ready to eat with the pigs.
At that precise moment the light turned on in his brain. In a blinding flash, he saw himself and he saw what he had become. Most of all, he saw that it was his own stupidity that hadgotten him in such a mess. No longer would he blame his father or criticize his older brother. No longer would he pretend to be something he wasn’t. In that moment of self-revelation, he saw what he hadbecome. He knew that there was only one way back.
The strange irony of his situation hit him like a ton of bricks. His father’s servants were eating their fill back at home, while he, the master’s son, was living with the pigs. Then he thought to himself, “I’m going to get up and go back home. When I get there, I’m going to say, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and againstyou. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’”
With that, the young mangot up, brushedhimself off, gathered his things and began making the long journey back home. He was still a long way off when his father spotted him trudging up the dustyroad. Before the young manknew what was happening, his father ran to him, threw his arms around him, kissed him and said, “Welcome home, son.”
The son said what he had memorized in the pig pen. “Father, I have sinned against you andagainst heaven. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

50. John the Baptist: The First Christian Martyr
• “Three Christian martyrdoms are recorded in the New
Testament: John the Baptist in ca. AD 31, Stephen in ca. AD
35 and James the apostle in ca. AD 44. There would be
countless others that would follow in their train. In this
article I would like to briefly consider the history and
archaeology associated with the first Christian martyr, John
the Baptist….” www.biblearchaeology.org
• [DLK asks, Is he? Matt 11:11, Luke 16:16]
• Acts 11:26…Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the
church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples
were first called Christians in Antioch.

51. Mt 14:4; Mk 6:18; Lev 20:21 John the Baptist: The First
Christian Martyr, [DLK askes, Is he? Matt 11:11, Luk 16:16], Acts 11:26
• “Three Christian martyrdoms are recorded in
the New Testament: John the Baptist in ca. AD
31, Stephen in ca. AD 35 and James the apostle
in ca. AD 44. There would be countless others
that would follow in their train. In this article I
would like to briefly consider the history and
archaeology associated with the first Christian
martyr, John the Baptist….”
Coin of Herod Antipas. Obverse (left), inscription TIBE PIAC
(Tiberias, where the coin was minted)within a wreath; reverse
(right), upright palm branch surrounded by the inscription

52. Luke 16:23, Hell Is Hot, Dark And Forever!
• Today is May 14, 2013, Verse of the Day -- Luke 16:23 . . . in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment . . .
• THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
• Hell is hot, dark and forever!
• MINI BIBLE STUDY FOR THE DAY
• Most of those who die each day go straight to hell. Upon arrival, they are rudely awakened to the fact that:
• They are in hell.In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. —
Luke 16:23
• Jesus is God.
• They will be in a painful, fiery flame forever.And he cried out and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus
so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame."—Luke 16:24
• They would do anything to be able to go back to earth and warn their friends and family, but they can't.I beg you, Father, that
you send him to my father's house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of
torment. —Luke 16:27Every human born on earth is born in sin ("Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother
conceived me. —Psalm 51:5) and headed for hell.. . . how shall you escape the sentence of hell? —Matthew 23:33Thankfully,
God intervened on your behalf. Never forget what you've been saved from—eternal damnation in a literal fire.Do not fear
those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. —
Matthew 10:28Additional resources for this GML:Hell - Real or Imagined (aka Hell - Hot Dark & Forever) - John
Ankerberghttp://www.compass.org/store/categories/Steeling-The-Mind-Speakers/John-Ankerberg/23 Minutes in Hell - Bill
Wiesehttp://www.compass.org/store/categories/Steeling-The-Mind-Speakers/Bill-Wiese/Why Evangelize if God's Already
Chosen - Mike Gendronhttp://www.compass.org/store/categories/Steeling-The-Mind-Speakers/Mike-Gendron/

53. Luke 9:30,
Knowing Each Other In Heaven?
• QUESTION FOR THE DAY
• Dear Compass,
• Where in the Bible does it discuss Christians knowing each other in heaven? When we leave this earth, we leave our bodies behind so how will I know my
father, mother, husband, children, etc.? Or have I been misled and we really won't know each other—we will only recognize God?
•
ANSWER:
• Yes, we will recognize God, and Scripture also indicates that we will recognize each other. When we die, our spirit goes to heaven.
• we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. —2 Corinthians 5:8At the Rapture, those
who have died in Christ and those alive in Christ will get new bodies.in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. —1 Corinthians 15:52We will have a new eternal body similar to Jesus' new
body after He died and was resurrected.who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the
power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. —Philippians 3:21People recognized Christ after His resurrection.Luke 16 gives us a glimpse of
the after-life. It discusses people in hell as well as people in paradise (pre-cross, waiting to be transferred to heaven after the Messiah's death paid for
their sins). They recognized each other and communicated with each other:
• And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, "Father Abraham,
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame." But Abraham
said, "Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you
are in agony." —Luke 16:23-25Also, Moses and Elijah were recognized when they stood on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus.
• And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. —Matthew 17:3Moses had died; Elijah was biding time. Therefore, we should be able
to recognize each other in heaven even before we get our new eternal bodies at Rapture.In his bookHeaven, author Randy Alcorn correctly teaches that
since the greatest commandment is to love God and then to love others, we know that God takes great pleasure in our love foreach other. He concludes
that "Our source of comfort isn't only that we'll be with the Lord in Heaven, but also that we'll be with each other." One ofthe passages he quotes
follows:
• But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Then we who are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with
these words. —1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 17-18

54. Ezekiel 14:3 Two Masters And Cognitive
Dissonance
• Cognitive Dissonance
• Wednesday, March 5th, 2014Current Events
• Past Featured
• Rapture
• Commentary by Jack Kelley
• “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? (Ezekiel 14:3)
• The dictionary defines cognitive dissonance as an anxiety that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible attitudes or beliefs. To relieve this anxiety the human mind will strive to diminish the
relative importance of one of those beliefs in favor of the other.
• Jesus warned us that no man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24) and James said when we pray we must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind and should not think
he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-8).
• God was rhetorically asking Ezekiel if He should let people with idols in their hearts even pray to Him, Jesus was warning us about becoming distracted by wealth and James was referring to wavering faith, but the principle is the
same in all three instances. A close personal relationship with God requires wholehearted devotion to Him. These are the prayers God is sure to answer. There can be no cognitive dissonance found in us.
• We love the promise from Romans 8:28, “God is working everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” But how many of us know that the word translated “love” in that verse is
agape? It’s the highest form of love in the Greek language and it means to be totally given over to the object of one’s love regardless of the outcome.
• Jesus loved us that way. He gave up His life for us, remember? Romans 12:1says we should be willing to do the same for Him. Of course, I’m not talking about our physical life. I’m talking about giving up our version of our future
in favor of His. As long as we retain any willfulness or self-determination we’re not offering our whole beings as living sacrifices. That’s why Paul told us not to conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but to be
transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We’re not to pattern our lives according to the things of this world, but according to His will for us.
• Well There’s Your Problem
• Let others lament over our deplorable behavior and our weak faith. I’m going to suggest that the area where Christians in the US today are the most vulnerable has to do with the cognitive dissonance we’ve developed between
our desire for the Lord’s return for us and our love of the life we enjoy here. The anxiety this creates in our sub-conscious has caused our longing for the next life to be diminished relative to our desire for the Lord to restore this
life to its former levels of enjoyment.
• To a degree, this is understandable. For the past 65 years or so the US has been the most preferred place to live anywhere on Earth. Even people who hate America have dreamed of living here. The benefits of American life have
been as generous as they have been numerous. Average Americans have typically enjoyed a standard of living that’s beyond the reach of even the privileged few in many countries.
• By contrast, the benefits of eternal life with the Lord are undefined and don’t seem real to many. For them, the phrase “pie in the sky by and by” defines the extent of their understanding. I see evidence of this in the letters I get
from well meaning people who are afraid we’ll be “confined” to the New Jerusalem, as some have put it, and won’t be able to visit the Earth we’ve grown to love. Others are concerned there won’t be enough room for all of us
there, and still others can’t imagine how their new life could be as nice as their current one. If they knew what the Bible says they would have no such concerns.
• Whose Fault Is That?
• This lack of knowledge is due primarily to the Church’s terrible failure to teach believers about the blessings of the life to come. After all, it is the fulfillment of our life’s purpose. Therefore I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that
asking God to save our country is a more popular thing to do than preparing to be taken away to begin our eternal adventure with Him. For many of us, returning to the good old days here seems like a better deal than longing for
the bliss that lies ahead. But while the Lord never promised to save the USA, He did promise a reward to all who long for His appearing.
• Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8)
• I often wonder how bad things will have to get before people stop dreaming about the past here and start yearning for our future there. I guess time will tell.
• To use Ezekiel’s words, The “American way of life” has become an idol we’ve set up in our hearts. We’ve become double minded because of it and if the Lord isn’t already doing so, He’ll soon be wondering if He should even let us
pray to Him about it. And remember, no matter how beautiful and desirable something appears to us, if it interferes with our whole-hearted desire to follow God’s will it’s an idol and a wicked stumbling block from His perspective.
• Asking Him to extend our time here rather than hasten the day of our departure is a clear sign that we’re not loving Him as He has loved us. It means we haven’t given ourselves completely to Him. When push comes to shove we
don’t really want to put aside our plans for the future in favor of His. We’ve enjoyed our time here too much and don’t want to leave just yet.
• When Are We Going To Learn?
• Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4). One lesson we should learn from our study of the Old Testament is that when Israel lined up behind God’s will He blessed them beyond all
measure. But when they positioned themselves in opposition, His response was to take away everything they desired more than Him until He was all they had left. It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to see that happening in
the US today. (Maybe the best way to make life easier for ourselves now is to abandon our version of the future and get behind His.)
• According to Bible Prophecy God’s plan for our times is to completely destroy all the nations to which His people have been scattered (Jeremiah 30:11) and give Israel the Kingdom He promised them. In the process He’ll restore
Heaven and Earth to provide them with a life that’s vastly superior to anything they’ve ever experienced. But before He can begin these things, He has promised to take the Church to a place filled with wealth and happiness
beyond measure where we can be protected from the wrath that’s coming against the unbelieving world (Isaiah 26:20-21, John 14:2-3).
• Saying that we want to be raptured before things get bad on one hand, but praying that He will heal our land so we can enjoy a few more years of the “good life” on the other is as clear a case of cognitive dissonance as I’ve ever
seen. It’s a wonder He doesn’t just shake His head in utter amazement and walk away forever.
• But He won’t. Ready or not He’ll come one day soon and whisk us all away to our mansions in the sky. He’ll do that, not because we’ve longed for it to happen, but because He promised He would. He is God after all. He can’t do
anything else. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 06-23-12
• http://gracethrufaith.com/end-times-prophecy/cognitive-dissonance/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29