Are you really wealthy? - The Parable of the Rich Fool

 Let us start with a question: Are you really wealthy?

Before answering the question, we should know what real wealth is.

There is a difference between rich and wealth.

If you have a lot of money with you, you are rich.

You might have inherited the money from your ancestors; or you might have earned it by hard work.

You may keep the money in bank or in your house without using it.

You may hide it from others or live a luxury life spending all or a part of it.

You may be kind enough to share a part of it to the poor around you.

“Rich” simply is like water you have in your large water tank which you pour out as you wish. 

Sheep and Shepherd

Jesus was responding to the question, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" in Matthew 18.

His disciples raised this question.

Jesus answered them that even the little one on this earth is precious in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Let us start this message by reading His answer.

Matthew 18 : 12 - 14

12    "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?

 13   "And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

 14   "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.  (NKJV)

Parable of the Prodigal Son - a re-reading of the parable

What is the most popular parable of Jesus?

Surely the answer is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

It is true that this is the most popular story of Jesus.

You might have heard a lot of sermons based on this beautiful story.

I too have preached at many occasions on this parable.

But let me assure you that what you are going to hear now in this video contains new information on the story.

This sermon is a re reading of the parable.

So please patiently continue to read this study.

Parable of Laborers

Matthew 20:1–16  (NIV)

1    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

2    He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3    “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.

4    He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’

5    So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.

Wisdom from A Trader

Introduction

The other day I was preparing a Bible study on the Parable of Ten Minas that we read in Luke 19: 11-27

A word in that passage drew my attention during the study.

That was not a deep theological topic, but that got my attention.

I was thinking and praying about it for further guidance from God.

Luke 19:13  And he called ten servants of his, and gave them ten pounds, and said unto them, Trade ye herewith till I come.   (American Standard Version)

I am talking about the word “Trade”

This message is for everyone, for all people living a secular life or a religious life.

I am sure that all those are in secular job or business and all those who are in our Lord’s Ministry for the Kingdom will be blessed by this message.

Kingdom of God and the Parable of Ten Minas

Parable ten Minas

Luke 19.11 – 27

The story goes like this:

Jesus was going to Jerusalem and he was near to it.

The disciples and other gatherings thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

As answer to their expectation, Jesus told them that the King had to go to the emperor and his kingdom.

So he will be absent for a period time.

To explain this truth Jesus said a parable.

A certain nobleman went into a far place to meet the emperor.

His intention was to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

He wanted the emperor to appoint him as the king of the province where he lived.

The story of the hirelings

Luke 15:17 - And having come to himself, he said, How many hirelings of my father have a superabundance of bread, and I here with hunger am perishing! (YLT)

Lost and Found

Luke chapter 15 is a chapter of ‘lost and found’

Jesus says three parables with the theme of lost and found

1.      Parable of the lost sheep

2.      Parable of the lost coin

3.      Parable of the lost son

Jesus was explaining why he is rejoicing with sinners.

He equates the gathering to a group of ‘lost and found’

Jesus was trying to communicate the joy in heaven when a lost is found

To illustrate the situation He tells three parables

The three parables

Luke 15

The first parable is about the lost and found sheep

The second is about the lost and found drachma

The third is about the lost and found son

Parable of two sons

Luke 15:17-20

17     And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18     I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19     And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20     And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

         (KJV)

The parable of two sons begins with an incident that was quite legal. The second son among the two sons of a rich man demanded his share. There is nothing wrong in asking for his share by an adult. In the old testament too we see Achsah asking for a more opulent share from her father.

 

Joshua 15:18, 19

 18    And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?

 19    Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.

         (KJV)

So the father gave his share gladly. There is no sign of hesitation from the father in the parable. But the young man had an evil intention. He sold out all his properties and left his father’s house. He went away to a distant land of evil countrymen. There he gathered many evil friends and wasted away all his wealth.

The problem with is not that he asked for his legitimate share, but that e left his father’s house. The father has no dislike to his children asking or enjoying their legitimate share of wealth. He expresses his pleasure in his children enjoying their wealth in his talk with the elder son at a later time.

 

Luke 15 : 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. (KJV)

So his mistake is that he left his father’s presence and wasted his inheritance with strange evil people. The father is not responsible for it. He had the absolute freedom of choice to choose to live with his father or leave him. He selected the later. Hence he had to bear the fruit of it. He lost everything, suffered poverty and humiliation.

Poverty, frustration and humiliation made him turn aside. The parable’s brilliant part is this incident of turning away from sins and its consequences. Bible records that he came to himself. He turned to himself. He had certain realizations.

1.    He realized his present condition.

Ignorance is hindrance to deliverance. Ignorance of one’s present situation is the greatest hindrance to deliverance. But this young man turned to himself and realized his present condition.

He was theologizing over his condition. He did not try to find a theological explanation to justify his suffering. He could argue his lineage to a rich man. He could boast of his family traditions, his membership in a church, his past spiritual experiences etc. But that would not lead him to any deliverance. He understood that he is in deep bondage.

Ignorance of one’s present condition is not a blessing, but a reason for being in the bondage.

Jesus, as he approached Jerusalem on the back of an ass as the declaring himself as the King of the Jews, looked at the city and cried. He knew what waits for him and the city. So He wept for the city. Here are his words:

Luke 19: 41-44

41     And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

42     Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

43     For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

44     And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

         (KJV)

Jesus is using an image from the Old Testament period. It is process of siege of a town or country by the enemies.

The siege is done through 5 steps.

i.                     Enemies shall cast a trench about

ii.                   Compass thee round

iii.                  Keep thee in on every side

iv.                 Lay thee and your children with the ground

v.                   Shall not leave one stone upon another.

This is the process.

The word trench now means commonly a pit or ditch. When the Bible was translated, it meant also earth thrown up to defend a camp (Johnson's Dictionary). This is the meaning of the original here. It is not a pit or large ditch, but a pile of earth, stones, or wood thrown up to guard a camp, and to defend it from the approach of an enemy. This was done at the siege of Jerusalem. Josephus informs us that Titus, in order that he might compel the city to surrender by famine, built a wall around the whole circumference of the city. This wall was nearly 5 miles in length, and was furnished with thirteen castles or towers. This work was completed with incredible labour in ten days. The professed design of this wall was to keep the city in on every side. Never was a prophecy more strikingly accomplished.

The enemies shall dig deep trench about the town so that none goes out and none comes in. No food, no medicine, no help shall come to you. No spiritual and physical blessings shall come to you. You are totally isolated.

They compass you round. Enemies on the left, enemies on the right. Enemies everywhere. Enemies in the neighborhood. Enemies in the working place. Enemies in the business field. Enemies, enemies and enemies …

They will keep themselves there. They will not leave you alone. They will exercise such pressure on you. You are pushed to this side and that. You are pulled to here and that. Torture, humiliation, betrayal and many more painful experiences.

Shall lay thee and your children even with the ground. This was literally done. Titus caused a plough to pass over the place where the temple stood.

All prosperity of your home is lost. Your children remain jobless. Divorce and break up of family relationship occur. Your income and health is lost. Diseases increase in number.

The last stage. Your town is totally destroyed and even every brick is uprooted. You house is pulled down. The enemy shall leave no sign behind that you ever lived here.

Jesus was prophesying about the future of Jerusalem. His prophecy came true by AD 70 when Jerusalem was attacked by the Roman General Titus. We are not discussing the fulfillment of the prophecy. We are deducing the methods of an enemy in attacking God’s children.

Are you at any one of the above described stages of siege? If yes, it is time to turn around to your father’s house.

2.       He realized that he cannot save himself from this bondage.

The young man tried to save himself by accepting a job with a rich man of the town. He tried to quench his hunger by eating the husks that the swine did eat. But he could not get even that. Then he remembered the fact that “in his father’s house there is plenty”.

3.       He realized that only his father can save him from this deplorable condition. Only Jesus can save us from the bondages of Satan.

4.       He decided to go back to his father’s house.

5.       He acted upon his decision. He stood up and walked back to his father’s house.

In our father’s house, there is plenty. Even the hirelings in the house eat and spare. There is abundance in our father’s house.

There is healing, prosperity and more in our father’s house.

There is another significant thing that he mentions.

He is talking about the hirelings in the father’s house. Hirelings are the lowest category of servants. They are below the slaves of the master. They are daily workers hired in the morning. The master has no responsibility towards except to give their wages in the evening. The young man remembers that even those hirelings have plenty in his father’s house.

Spiritually, all those who call upon the Lord are delivered in the last days. 

 

Joel 2:32    And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.  (KJV)

All spiritual hirelings calling on the Lord are delivered in the last days. They are receiving healing and prosperity.

If the hirelings are being saved, how much more shall those who are saved by the blood of Christ?

If we are not delivered, we are worse than the hirelings.

How come the hirelings are delivered? Because they are in the Father’s House. Deliverance is there in the Father’s House. Being in the Father’s House is the only way to be delivered.

On the Cross of the Calvary where Christ triumphed over sickness, curse, poverty and sin, there is total deliverance available to all who rely on it by faith. None else is available deliverance from sin, sickness and poverty. On the Cross there is abundance.

Let us turn back to the Father’s House.

Let us remain fast in the Father’s House.

Professor Jacob Abraham

Parable of the Wedding Feast

Many are called, but few are chosen

 

Parables of Jesus were short and pithy stories that hid the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in it.

They were like sea shells hiding worthy pearls.

The tool to understand the core of a parable often lies in the first and the last sentence of the story.

The introduction tells us what it is all about.

The conclusion tells us what we should learn.

Let us learn the mystery hidden in a popular parable of Jesus about the King and the Wedding Banquet.

The King and Wedding Banquet are images that contain the mystery of the Kingdom of God.

Moreover, this parable starts with a direct statement that it is all about the Kingdom.

The Story

The story of the parable goes like this:

Jesus begins the story with the statement it is all bout the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 22: 1, 2 

1    Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

2    “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

The marriage feast of the King’s son is the occasion.

The King had many special invites to this wedding feast.

But tragically all the special invitees did not turn up at the right time for the feast.

So the King ordered to gather a crowd from the street

And thus all sorts of people from the street are gathered.

But this is a wedding feast, so it is not proper to attend the feast without appropriate clothes for the occasion.

The poor folks in the street had no wedding dress.

They wore dirty and tattered clothes.

That is not proper for a feast arranged by a King for his son’s wedding.

So the king decided to provide a wedding garment to all free of cost.

It was distributed at the gate of the great banquet hall.

The King in our story respected the free will of every citizen.

It seems it was a country where people could live exercising their free will to accept or reject the King’s orders.

The special invitees to the feast had the freedom to attend or neglect the feast.

That is why they went their own way rejecting the kind invitation of the King.

So the King declared freedom to the second batch of invitees also to accept or reject the special wedding dress.

Now free will is declared, but wedding dress was mandatory for entry into the banquet hall.

Those who do not like to accept the wedding dress can still live outside.

Free will is always like that.

We are free to accept or reject any orders of the king.

But obedience is mandatory for all the blessings from the King.

His citizens knew the real meaning of free will.

So all of them accepted the wedding dress and entered into the banquet hall.

None wanted to miss this special occasion and this rare opportunity.

But one person was defiant and disobedient.

He rejected the wedding dress and entered into the hall.

Before the feast really began, the King entered the hall to check his guests.

He was happy with everyone except one.

He noticed that one entered the hall without proper wedding dress.

That means, he has rejected the offer of a wedding dress freely given to all at the gate of the banquet hall.

He has rejected the order of the king

He has rejected the king himself.

 

For this defiance the King ordered to imprison him in the darkest prison.

There he will have to suffer day and night.

The parable ends with a declaration by the King:

Matthew 22: 14 –  “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

As I said before, the beginning and the final statement of a parable tell all about it.

 

Three important points are discussed in this parable.

1.      The offer of salvation by grace and the free will to accept or reject.

2.       The mixed character of the Kingdom of God at the present stage in the redemptive history.

3.      The final absolute separation of the two classes – those who accept the offer of salvation by grace and those who reject the offer.

 

The study

For this study, we are focusing on the final statement said by Jesus.

Matthew 22: 14 –  “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This verse speaks a volume about the present state of the Kingdom as revealed now.

Jesus came to declare or inaugurate the Kingdom of God.

So the Kingdom of God is present now, but is anticipated in its fullness in the eschatological era.

So we or the Church now lives in His inaugurated Kingdom.

What is the nature of the present Kingdom?

Eden was a perfect picture of God’s Kingdom.

Abraham entered into a covenant about the establishment of the Kingdom and lived a Kingdom living.

David manifested the victory and the rule of the Kingdom.

Solomon exhibited the glory and richness of the Kingdom.

The present Church is the bride of the Messianic King who will defeat the enemy satan and establish the Kingdom with all its glory and richness.

But the present church is not the perfect community who will reign with the King in the eschatological age.

Christ explicitly states in many of his parables that the Church at this historical age will never be free of offences, both in doctrine and manners, until the day appointed for the restoring of all things comes.

This is a warning for us not to be disappointed.

The faithful have to arm themselves with patience and steadfastness.

Many are called but few are chosen

Here Jesus was using military language

There is an allusion to the Roman custom of raising their militia or recruiting soldiers for their army.

All were mustered or called; but only those who were found proper were chosen to serve.

A calling to join the army is announced to all.

In fact in ancient Rome, all male members should join the army.

All male members are soldiers.

So a call to join is extended to all male members of the nation.

They come together for the recruitment.

After careful scrutiny, only few are chosen.

Our Saviour often uses this custom that was prevalent during His time.

His audience was accustomed to the calling to join the army and the strict selection of the soldiers.

So this sentence “Many are called but few are chosen” had become probably proverbial.

People used this sentence as a proverb in their conversation.

We find an example for this kind of selection in the Old Testament, in Judges 7: 1 - 8.

We read about Gideon, the great man of God choosing men for army to fight against the Midian.

He gave a general call to join the army against the enemy.

Thirty two thousand men gathered, but God did not choose them.

So as per the instructions received from God, Gideon asked those who fear the war to go back.

Twenty two thousand left the army.

Again another fierce test was executed and three hundred men were selected.

From the thirty two thousand men who gathered only three hundred were selected for the war.

Many are called but few are selected.

Three fourth is wasted

Here let me share your thoughts about the wastage of efforts for the Kingdom.

We often feel that much of the efforts to build the Kingdom of God are wasted.

But the happy thing is that each of the seed that grows yields hundred fold fruits.

The parable of the sower

Another famous parable of Jesus is the Parable of the sower.

A farmer went to his field to sow his seeds.

Unfortunately many seeds fell down from his basket on the way.

Some fell on the path; some other fell on rocky places and some other fell among thorny bushes.

Only one fourth of his seeds were sowed in the prepared fertile land.

That means, three fourth of his seeds fell in uncongenial land and did not bear fruit.

This is indeed a great waste of wealth.

Then comes the marvelous surprise in the story.

The one fourth of his seeds that was sowed in the fertile land produced more than the total number seeds he carried from his home.

They bore hundred fold fruits.

One seed produced one hundred fruits.

That is more than the total number of seeds he carried from his home.

That means that the chosen few are more than the rejected many.

Parable of draw net and fishes

This idea of calling many and choosing few is well expressed in another parable of Jesus also.

In Matthew 13: 47 – 51 we read the Parable of draw net and fishes.

Here also the parable is started with the statement that “the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.”

Drag Net

The word here rendered "net" signifies a large drag-net, which draws everything after it, suffering nothing to escape

This kind of drag-nets drags everything up from the bottom of the sea.

Moreover, as this net dragged along with the boat, it keeps gathering all in its way, both good and bad, small and great.

But a separation takes place when it is brought to the shore.

Those which are proper for use are preserved, and those which are not good are either destroyed or thrown back into the water.

The Gospel Net

The net is a symbol for Gospel.

The invitation of the King is an extension of grace to all.

The gospel is announced to all; all are offered salvation by grace through faith and many respond positively.

Many join the present day Church.

But Jesus warns us that there are many in the Church who nevertheless is not of the Church.

Though many are gathered, only few will be chosen.

At length, the unfit, those who have not accepted salvation by grace will be cast out.

The full and perfect cleansing of them is deferred to the last day.

A day of judgment

A great day of judgment is a truth.

Our Saviour Jesus Christ reminded us about the great Day of Judgment.

On that day there will be a separation of the good and the evil.

Jesus came to preach salvation, and Jesus did preach salvation.

But the same Jesus spoke at many occasions about the suffering in the hell, and of the sufferings of the damned.

Wheat and Weed

In another parable about Wheat and Weed, as we read in Matthew 13:24 – 43  Jesus spoke about the final separation of the wicked from the good and the punishment of the wicked.

One farmer sowed good wheat in his field.

But as he was resting in the night, his enemy came and sowed seeds of weeds among the good seeds of the wheat.

Both grew up together to the time of the harvest.

On the day of the harvest the farmer ordered to collect the weeds separately and burn them.

And He ordered to gather all good wheat and store them in his granary. (gra-nu-ree)

Jesus tells His audience that the present day church is a field of wheat and weeds mixed together.

Though gospel has only sowed good seeds of wheat, the enemy has sown evil seeds of weeds in the same field.

Both the wheat and weed are growing together in the field now.

But a great Day of Judgment is coming.

On this Day of Judgment by God all evil weeds will be gathered and burned in the fire.

And the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of God.

The selection process

What is the selection process of the Kingdom of God?

What we should do to join the chosen people?

Jesus used a military language when he finished the parable of the Wedding Feast.

Many are called but few are chosen.

Jesus closed the parable with a warning that those who are left out of the selection process will have to face eternal torture in hell.

Gospel is actually a call to join an army.

It is a call to join the army of the Kingdom of God.

The purpose of the army is to establish the Kingdom of God.

But the Kingdom of God is not of this earth.

The Kingdom Jesus spoke about is a spiritual kingdom

So the qualification for recruitment is also spiritual.

The only qualification we need is a born again life.

That means we have to take a decision to leave the side of satan and sin and join the army of God.

Simply, gospel is about a repented life.

As we repent we leave the camp of satan.

Gospel offers the grace of God.

Gospel offers salvation by the grace of God.

Your faith in the crucifixion of Jesus is sufficient for acquiring salvation.

As the king offered beautiful wedding dress to all people from the street, God is offering salvation to all by His grace.

We have the freedom to accept or reject the offer.

If we accept the offer, we will sit and enjoy the royal banquet; otherwise thrown into hell.

Conclusion

So the parable of the Wedding Feast tells us that the present day church is a mixture of good and bad.

It is a crowd pulled by the gospel net for a strict recruitment that will happen later.

On the day of the recruitment, those with wedding dress received by the grace of the King will be chosen.

All else will be thrown out.