Jesus is talking to the crowd and someone yells out, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me!” What appears to be a cry for justice is turned into a teaching on greed. Let’s learn from the Master.

The man in the crowd appears to be crying out for fairness and justice, but in fact it is just his greed disguised. His father’s inheritance has rightly gone to this man’s brother per the father’s will or per Jewish custom, and he wants that money. He thus pretends to be the one who was wronged and calls on Jesus to be his advocate to get the money. All this is motivated by evil greed, the love of money.

(12:14). “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbiter over you?” Jesus stops the man in his tracks and He exposes the man’s greedy heart, but He does much more than that. Knowing that all people are naturally greedy, Jesus tells a parable about a man whose greed cost him his eternal soul, because he focused on the earthly and temporal, rather than the heavenly.

“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

This is the HEART OF THE PASSAGE and the disciple must pay careful attention to what Jesus is saying here.

“Beware” This is a word that implies that DANGER is near. Pay attention, disciple of Jesus, because we are talking about a spiritual danger. Be alert! Get you radar on!

“and be on your guard against . . .” Get your shield up and put your helmet on and take a defensive stance now, because you are in enemy territory and the attack can come at any time.

“(against) all kinds of greed/every form of greed.” Greed lurks in your heart, taking many forms and wearing many disguises and hiding in the shadows of respectability. The disciple must uncover and expose all greed, no matter how cleverly disguised.

Greed is manifested in his life by his coveting of the the inheritance. His brother has gotten something that he wants for himself. I want, I want, I want. This is the chant of the greedy. He wants something and he is not happy until he gets it.

Jesus is warning His disciples of this threat. The disciple must examine his heart and find out how greed and covetousness are manifested in his own heart and life. The disciple must become a greed detective, seeking and finding clues about his own greed and then cutting it out of his life.

Greed is a danger for the disciple of Jesus because:

First, Satan seeks areas of greed in our life to use those as entry points into your life. If he can gain access through greed, he can cause other sin and damage. Beware and be on your guard against greed!

Second, greed can destroy your testimony for the Lord Jesus. When the world sees greed in the one who claims to follow Jesus, it gives them an opportunity to blaspheme (Romans 2:24; 2 Samuel 12:14). Beware against greed!

Third, greed will corrupt and undermine the other graces of the life of faith, unless it is aggressively rooted out. All sin feeds the flesh and leads to other sins. Greed, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5), will pollute and corrupt the walk of the disciple. Seek out greed and when you find it, then confess it to the Lord and repent of it. Beware!

Here is the lie: “Money and power and possessions makes you important. Without those, you are nothing.” The flesh delights in this lie and uses these falsehoods to create discontent, which leads to greed. But consider that Jesus had almost nothing and yet He was the most significant person who ever lived on earth. Jesus had virtually no possessions and yet He was the most content man of all time. Jesus trusted His Father to ordain all things for His good.

Our significance is in the Lord, our trust is in the Lord, our hope is in the Lord, and He will supply all our needs according to His riches and glory. The disciple accepts what His Lord supplies and the disciple accepts what the Lord allows.

SDG rmb 9/24/2015

In chapter 11 of Luke’s gospel, the Lord Jesus becomes more aggressive and earnest in His ministry style. Now that His identity as the Christ has been officially declared by Peter, He talks openly of His upcoming suffering and death and begins to declare to people their need for repentance and for submitting to Him and believing in Him.

In these four verses (11:29-32) Jesus talks about signs (or ‘attesting miracles’) that have been given in the past that foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah and also about attesting miracles that are happening in His present lifetime.

As the crowds are swelling, He says, “This generation is a wicked generation.” Jesus declares the truth about the people of that generation and of all generations: we are wicked people. We seek for miracles which amaze us and at the same time distract us from the desperate state in which we find ourselves, facing death and eternal judgment before a holy God. We seek for miracles instead of repenting and seeking holiness and righteousness. And we are a wicked generation in need of a Savior.

This generation seeks for a miracle, but no sign will be given but the sign of Jonah. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish and then was “resurrected” by being vomited up on the beach by the fish. Then in his resurrected state, he came to Nineveh and preached against it, calling for repentance before Yahweh. Just so will the Son of Man (Jesus) spend three days and three nights in the tomb before being resurrected to glorious splendor to display Himself to this generation. So the first sign is the sign of the resurrection, infinitely greater than the sign of Jonah. For Jonah was vomited up on the beach, but Jesus was gloriously resurrected.

The Queen of the South traveled a long ways just to hear the wisdom of Solomon and to see the splendor of his kingdom. How much more should the men of this generation and of every generation do everything in their power to hear the words of the Son of God and do all they can to be near Him. While Solomon was wise and His kingdom was impressive, Jesus Christ is the Son of God and outshines Solomon as the sun outshines a candle. If you do not rush to the Son of God, you will be condemned in the judgment. The second sign, then, is that something greater than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it because they repented at the human preaching of Jonah and obeyed his call to turn from wickedness. But this generation has the Son of God calling out to them to repent and to believe in Him for eternal life, and they walk away in ridicule and defiance, mocking the One who can save them from eternal condemnation. As the Ninevites obeyed Jonah, so we must repent at the revealing of the Son of God. The third sign is that something greater than Jonah is here.

Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater. If these people responded to this lesser thing, how much more should we respond to glorious greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what is being shown here in these verses.
SDG rmb 9/21/2015

My two goals as a soldier of Jesus Christ are these: First, I want to be useful to the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, I want to be dangerous to Satan and to the kingdom of darkness.

Since these are my goals, I know that Satan is going to oppose me in every way that he can. As believers we must realize that Satan actively hates us and hates Christ. Satan is a formidable enemy who is constantly seeking an opportunity to destroy us. Satan also has weapons at his disposal that have the power to ruin our lives and to render us useless for Christ’s kingdom. What is a soldier to do when he knows that he has an enemy such as this? What tactics should he employ? Specifically, how should the believer train so that he/she is not vulnerable to the enemy’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11; John 8:44; 10:10)?

One of the basic strategies for the soldier is to be aware of any potential weaknesses in his/her armor and make sure those weaknesses are especially defended, knowing that the enemy will exploit any weakness and will attack at the place of your greatest vulnerability. Satan is very experienced at finding a disciple’s area of weakness and using it to destroy the soldier. Because that is the case:

1. Weaken the flesh in regard to areas of vulnerability. The flesh will betray you, so weaken the flesh in that area of vulnerability. Do not let your flesh expose you to Satan’s attack. For example, if you have a weakness for lust, then starve your eyes and your mind of any fuel that the flesh could use to weaken you and expose you to attack.
2. Confess your vulnerability to another believer to expose that to the light and to get accountability for that area of vulnerability. (Proverbs 27:17)
3. Ask others to help you see areas where you are vulnerable to attack. Let your friends see the weakness before the adversary does, so that you can sure up your defense.
4. Be specifically alert to attacks in these areas of vulnerability
5. Become an expert on what the Word says about this particular area of vulnerability (memorize verses; know the examples of success and failure in the Scripture; use biblical prayers)
6. Pray regularly about this vulnerability and ask the Lord to protect you.

Using these approaches will give you a greater defense against the adversary and will make you less vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. SDG rmb 8/30/2015

In Philippians 3:10, Paul says that his greatest desire is “to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings . . .” Here is one of the most profound of all the doctrines and the mysteries of the Christian faith, that we have a Savior, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has come to earth and has SUFFERED. We have a God who came TO SUFFER on a cross and to die in our place.

Not only is this truth profound, but it is also prominent in the New Testament. In Luke 22:15 Jesus says, “I earnestly desire to eat this Passover with you (His disciples) before I suffer.” Multiple times in each of the synoptic gospels Jesus foretells His suffering and His crucifixion. (Matt. 16:21; 17:12; Mark 8:31; 9:12; Luke 9:22; 17:25; 22:15; 24:26, 46) After Jesus’ resurrection, the apostles’ gospel message centers on the suffering of Jesus and His glorious rising from the dead. How can it be that God suffers? But this is the amazing truth, that our God came to earth and suffered.

And because Jesus Christ suffered, suffering is now and forever a Christian experience. Jesus Christ has made ‘suffering’ a theological term. To overstate the matter, only Christ and His followers truly suffer. Oh yes, there is misery, anguish, agony, pain, sorrow and despair throughout the world and common to all mankind, but this is not truly suffering, because of Jesus. Because Jesus suffered, suffering is redefined. No longer is suffering a common experience available to all mankind; rather, Christ’s sufferings have made suffering forever a holy experience reserved for the righteous.

Suffering is a means of fellowship with Jesus. I will never stop a storm by saying, “Hush! Be still!” I will never walk on water or call a corpse dead four days out of a tomb. But because Jesus Christ suffered, I can have fellowship with Him in my own sufferings and share an experience with Jesus. Paul wanted to know “the fellowship of His (Christ’s) sufferings.” This means that as the believer suffers for the sake of Jesus, he or she draws nearer to Jesus and experiences the same thing that the Son of God experienced. Surely this is what Peter has in mind when he says, “To the degree that you share (this verb could also be translated ‘fellowship’) the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing . . . If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed . . . If anyone suffers as a Christian, he is to glorify God in this name (1 Peter 4:13, 14, 16).” Why would anyone, Christian included, rejoice in suffering? The believer rejoices in suffering, because suffering is a direct means of fellowship with His great God and Savior. Is there anything that Jesus did that I could ever do? Yes; I can suffer as Jesus suffered. SDG rmb 8/25/2015

I have entered a new page on the site entitled “Mediations on Romans 6.” In this writing I take the theology that Paul develops in the first part of Romans 6 and meditate on the implications of this teaching in various situations. What hope does this teaching give to an alcoholic? What happens to my sins when the old man is crucified? How does the flesh relate to the old man or to the new man? What does that say about my temptations and my sins? I think that you will enjoy this writing. Check it out. rmb 8/17/2015

This is one of a series of studies from the gospel of Luke. These are intended to reveal the glory of the Lord Jesus and to show how we must respond to Him.

Luke 5:29-32. Jesus has just called Levi the tax-collector from his life of greed and thievery into a life where he will walk with the Son of God as one of the Lord’s apostles. Levi is so excited about knowing the Lord and about being called to follow Him that he throws a party for Jesus in his house. Since most of the people that Levi knew were other tax-collectors and people of low repute, it is only natural that those are the ones who are present. But the Pharisees (Who invited them, anyway? Or did they just sort of show up because they needed to harass the invited guests?) begin to grumble at Jesus’ disciples and say, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax-collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call righteous men, but sinners to repentance.”

Why do the disciples of the Lord and the Lord Himself eat and drink with sinners? It is because here the Lord delights to eat with those for whom He is going to die and now today He still delights to fellowship with those who love Him (John 5:24). The Lord delights to eat with those who delight to eat with Him. The Pharisees see these people as tax-collectors and sinners, but Jesus sees them as those He has cleansed and made into saints. The unrighteous deeds of these “sinners” brought them to a place of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus, whereas the religious works of these Pharisees brought them to a place of self-righteousness where they rejected the Son of God and despised His righteousness.

If you think that you are well, then you don’t need the Great Physician. The sick person must first see that they have a fatal disease, before they will seek a cure. Then once they realize that they are condemned for their sin, they must flee to Jesus for His rescue. The patient must come to the doctor. Just so, the condemned sinner must come to Jesus for deliverance and healing, for only Jesus can cure the fatal disease of sin.

If you believe you are already righteous (consider Phil. 3:9; consider “the works of the Law” in Romans and in Galatians; consider Paul’s pedigree of righteousness in Phil. 3:5-6, etc.) and are already in God’s favor (Luke 3:8 “We have Abraham for our father.”) because of who you are or all the good works that you have done, then you will never repent and bow before the Lord Jesus and receive His true righteousness. The filthy rags of your own works of righteousness (Isaiah 64:6) will remain wrapped around you and you will never be wrapped in His glorious robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). Those who are convinced of and content with their own righteousness will never come to Jesus. “My righteousness is good enough.” And so they will perish in the judgment.

Application: Here Jesus puts His finger directly on two huge dangers for people today both inside and outside the church. Outside the church we have many people who have never been told that they have a fatal disease called sin and that, if they are not cured of this disease, they will spend eternity in hell. Believers must tell the world of the sickness and tell of Jesus Christ, the cure. As believers we must deliver the diagnosis and propose the cure to a lost world.

But there is also a potential danger that is most prevalent inside the visible church. This is the danger that, while I have been exposed to the cure and have been told of the disease, I have never actually taken the cure. Maybe a person goes to church for many years and serves in all kinds of roles in church and even gives their tithe regularly. Those might be considered doctor’s visits, but that is not the radical heart surgery required for the cure. The heart of stone must be taken out and the heart of flesh put in (Ezekiel 36:24). You must come humbled and broken to Jesus Christ and call out to Him for healing and forgiveness. Any other approach has the grave danger of falling short of true repentance. Is Jesus the Lord of your life and the one who is in control? Do you trust in Him fully? Is Christ your life?

We are sick and need Jesus, the Great Physician; and we are unrighteous and need His glorious robe. sdg

This is another one of the studies in a series from the gospel of Luke.

Luke 5:17-26. This is the well-known story of the healing of the paralytic. Four friends bring a paralyzed man to Jesus and stop at nothing until they can get their friend in front of the Lord. 5:20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21) The scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Briefly let’s set the stage. Jesus is teaching in a crowded house and there are scribes and Pharisees there who are trying to catch Him in some false teaching. In the midst of this teaching, four men bring their paralyzed friend to this house and drop him right down through the tiles of the roof into the crowd and in front of Jesus. Jesus acknowledges the tremendous faith displayed by these men by declaring that the paralyzed man’s sins are forgiven based on that faith. What lessons can we learn from this encounter with the Lord?

First, faith in the Lord Jesus results in forgiveness. Paul will develop this great doctrine of justification by faith in much more detail in Romans and Galatians, but a prominent theme in Luke’s gospel is the idea that Jesus responds to faith and that faith results in forgiveness and salvation. The four friends and the paralytic display a faith that moves them to radical action. “We need to get our friend to Jesus, because He can heal our friend.” They believe in Jesus and believe He can perform miracles like making their paralyzed friend walk. That is the kind of faith which results in forgiveness.

Next we see the Pharisees asking the question, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” This is a rhetorical question, because the answer is known by all. No one but God can forgive sins. Everyone present in the crowded house would agree that God alone can forgive sins. For all others to claim to forgive sins is indeed blasphemy. So here is how the stage is set: God alone can forgive sins. Jesus claims to forgive sins. Either Jesus is a false teacher and is speaking blasphemy by claiming to forgive sins or He can forgive sins and thus proves that He is God. Which option is true depends on the identity of Jesus. The possibility that Jesus might be God never occurs to the Pharisees, so they claim He is a blasphemer. When the paralytic walks out of the house at Jesus’ command, however, the conclusion is inescapable. Jesus is God and so He can forgive sins.

Now here indeed is good news. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, has authority on earth to forgive sins (Luke 5:24). When He sees someone who believes in Him and trusts in Him, someone who calls upon His name (Romans 10:13), He will exercise His authority and will forgive the sins of the one who has faith in Him. So you and I are the paralytics. You and I need to come to Jesus for healing, but more than that, we need to come to Jesus for forgiveness, knowing that He has the authority to forgive. Jesus will heal our brokenness and allow us to rise and to walk in newness of life (Romans 5:4b). SDG

This is one of the studies in a series from the gospel of Luke.

Luke 5:12-13. While He (Jesus) was in one of the cities, behold there was a man covered with leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13) And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Here we have a very brief encounter between a leper and the Lord Jesus. A little background would be in order. A leper was unclean in Jewish society and was required not only to stay away from other people, but was also required to cry out, “Unclean!” as they traveled about. They were therefore constantly shunned and alienated from society. Also, because leprosy was contagious and because leprosy was to that society what cancer is to ours, lepers were feared and no one touched a leper for fear of being infected. And so this man comes to the Lord and falls down before Jesus, asking to be cured and cleansed of this horrible disease. In these two short verses, it is important what is revealed about the leper and, more importantly, what is revealed about Jesus.

The first thing we notice is the faith of the leper. He has heard and seen enough of Jesus to be convinced that Jesus is as powerful as God. His faith motivates him to take the outrageous action of falling down before Jesus and pleading for Jesus to do the impossible. In an act of reverence and worship, the leper asks Jesus to make him clean. Thus the leper has a strong faith that compels him to act on that faith. All true faith will be evidenced in action.

Notice that what the leper says reveals what he believed about Jesus. “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” The leper has no doubt about Jesus’ ability to make him clean. He knows that Jesus has the power to make him clean. He does, after all, refer to Jesus as ‘Lord.’ (Romans 10:9) So what would stop the man from being cleansed? The only thing that would stop that would be if Jesus was not willing. It is not a matter of ability; it is only a matter of whether or not the Lord is willing. The leper treats Jesus as who He is, the sovereign Lord who can do whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3).

The next thing we see is that Jesus accepts the leper’s worship and He accepts the leper’s assessment of His identity. Jesus does not correct the leper when he falls down before Him, but accepts that act of worship as appropriate. But Jesus also fully accepts the leper’s implied assertion that He has the power to do any healing He wants. The leper says, “If You are willing, You can make me clean,” and Jesus’ response basically says, “Yes, you are right about that, and in this instance I am willing to cleanse you.” In other words, Jesus believed He was sovereign over all disease. But was He?

The healing proved who Jesus was. After Jesus says He is willing, it is time to see if He is able. Jesus believes He can cleanse the leper, and the leper believes Jesus can cleanse him, but can He? What we see is this: Jesus says, “Be cleansed,” and immediately the leprosy leaves the man. In a moment this wasting disease that was evident all over the man’s body vanishes completely and he is as clean as a newborn baby. The object of the man’s faith proves to be as powerful as the man believed Him to be. Jesus proves He has the power of sovereign God and is the worthy object of faith for all who will believe.

Finally this story reveals the compassion and the power of the Lord Jesus, a unique and awesome combination in one Person. Jesus has all the power of God, for He is God in human flesh and can thus do whatever He pleases. He has the power to stop storms and to raise the dead (as we will see later), but this power is constrained by His compassion and His holiness to direct that power in righteousness. And thus we see the Lord of glory having compassion on this wretched leper and cleansing him. Unlike any other false god, the one true and living God is compassionate and gracious and has mercy on any sinner who cries out to Him.

As sojourners in this world, it is easy for the believer to become enamored by the things that the world offers us that increase our ease or comfort, position or prominence. We are in a material world and it is easy to be attracted by the material things in this world that appeal to our flesh and that delight our eyes. Against this allure of the delights of the eyes and the comforts of the flesh we must always vigorously wage war, for while these temptations appeal to our fallen flesh, there is no spiritual benefit to be had in these things.

Notice the complete absence of any commendation for these things in the New Testament. While the New Testament warns of the temptations of wealth and declares that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, there is not one single exhortation to acquire wealth and there is no encouragement to pursue ease or leisure or comfort. These experiences lead to self indulgence and to laziness and the experiencing of the world’s pleasures creates a dangerous desire for more of those pleasures. The New Testament warns the believer to avoid these things and to pursue righteousness instead. The world’s pleasures produce none of sanctification and none of the works demanded of the believer, but rather their pursuit wastes time and produces nothing of lasting value.

Suffering, on the other hand, is the context from which the gospel spreads. It is the suffering of the saints that proclaims to the world the infinite worth of Christ and is was the sufferings of Christ which provided the redemption needed by His followers. Suffering drives away pride and dispels indifference and replaces these things with humility and steadfastness. The temptations of the flesh are silenced and rendered impotent by suffering because the flesh itself hates the pain of suffering. But for the believer, God has provided His gift of suffering, when the believer can most closely identify with His glorious Savior and can experience what the Savior experienced. I can never know what it is like to speak to a hurricane and have the wind and the sea obey my command for a hush, for that will never happen. I cannot know the divine power of commanding a corpse dead four days and rotting to stride out of the tomb, for only God can do that. But I can know the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings. I cannot shoulder the Cross to die for mankind, but I can willingly take up my own cross and embrace the suffering that my King has graciously allowed me to know, so that I can fully know the inestimable worth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, suffering is necessary for the believer, for suffering is the furnace that hones our faith and that purifies us from our fleshly sins like hyssop. The believer, then, is not to shrink from difficulty and hardship and suffering, but is to embrace them as the cost and the reward for following Jesus Christ. Suffering makes me more Christ-like and gives me fellowship with the Lord. Embrace, then, your cross of suffering, knowing that it is a gift from the Lord that carries with it a great reward.

Jesus is the great Transformer, the one who can rescue the most hopeless and miserable of sinners and change them into useful instruments for God’s glory. The New Testament is full of stories of just these people, who were utterly lost and going nowhere until they encountered Jesus, and Jesus transformed their lives. Saul the hater of Christians is converted into the Apostle Paul and takes the gospel to the ends of the earth with an unmatched zeal and boldness. Levi leaves his tax collecting and follows Jesus until he is killed as a martyr. Peter must lay down his fishing nets and take up the fishing for men that Jesus commanded him to do.

But there is perhaps no greater picture of the transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ than the one given by the Gerasene demoniac presented in all three synoptic gospels, but most powerfully in Mark 5:1-20 and in Luke 8:26-39. I have been fascinated by this story ever since I first read it as a new Christian, how this man, who is presented as a man beyond all decency and seemingly beyond all hope of salvation, is completely transformed in his one brief encounter with Jesus. There are many aspects of the story that could provide us with teaching insights, but let’s just consider this one aspect now, that while everyone around him saw the demoniac as a menace and a threat, Jesus saw him as an evangelist. As the man howled among the tombs and cut himself on the rocks and as he shattered chains and ran naked into the wilderness, Jesus already saw him as one of His witnesses, a man who would, by his radically transformed life, testify to the great power that He had to change lives. Jesus had already determined that this man would be saved and would be used as His witness, so He went to the other side with an appointment to keep. He was going to save the demoniac and send him on his mission, then Jesus would return to the safe side of the lake.

Consider the contrasts presented in this story:
The people saw someone who was hopelessly unclean, but Jesus saw someone whom He would cleanse of all sin.

The people saw someone who was useless, but Jesus saw someone whom He would make useful.

The people saw a demoniac, but Jesus saw a saint and an evangelist and an ambassador for Christ.

The people saw someone who was dangerous to others, but Jesus saw someone who would be dangerous to Satan and to Satan’s kingdom.

The people saw someone to be shunned and avoided, but Jesus saw someone for whom He was going to die.

Jesus Christ went through a ferocious storm to the foreign side of the lake to save one man and then to return. Jesus knew that this man was one of His elect and so He obeyed the Father’s leading and went across the lake. But now we must realize another thing, also. If you are saved, your story is similar to the demoniac’s story. In a real sense, Jesus has done whatever it took to rescue you and, just like the demoniac, He has given you a mission. The demoniac knew that he was to go out and tell others about what great things Jesus had done for him. What about you? Has Jesus found in you a witness? Are you willing to tell the people in your city what great things Jesus has done in your life? The Lord Jesus endured the cross to rescue you from eternal condemnation. Though you were dead in your sins, He came to the other side of the lake to where you were and cast out your demons and gave you a new life and put you in your right mind. Now He has gone to heaven, but He is looking to you to find out what you will do with your salvation. Will you proclaim, or will you remain silent? Many need to hear what great things Jesus has done and what great things He can do. (RMB 6/10/2015)