Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-13 Teaching Outline)

Introduction: This brief parable is given in the form of a rhetorical question, after which Jesus supplies the obvious answer in order to drive His point home. Then He goes on to offer some application of the parable's teaching. So, we will follow this simple order in our examination of the parable: 1) the question of the parable, 2) the answer of the parable, and 3) the application of the parable.

I. The Question of the Parable

The question itself is quite long and extends from verse 5 through verse 7:

NKJ  Luke 11:5-7 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves [ἄρτος, bread or loaf of bread]; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you '?”

As I have already indicated, this is a pretty long question, but it is pretty easily understood nonetheless. The question demands an answer something like, “Of course my friend would not refuse to help me in such a situation!” Jesus is simply asking us to think about how a friend would indeed get up in the middle of the night in order to help us with a need. And He assumes that we all have friends who would not refuse us but would help us out. After all, isn't this what friends do?

But beyond this simple point, Jesus also ties the question to the preceding context when He describes the man in the story as in need of bread. Notice that Jesus has just taught the disciples how to pray by use of what has come to be known as “The Lord's Prayer.” And in verse 3 He has said that they should pray, “Give us day by day our daily bread [ἄρτος].”

So, in this parable Jesus wants to encourage the disciples not to be afraid to keep asking every day for their daily bread. He wants them to know that they can be confident in seeking God to meet their daily needs. If a friend would get up in the middle of the night to give us bread when we have need, then wouldn't God also give us our daily bread? Especially since He has commanded us to ask Him daily for it? This is the idea Jesus has in mind, which will become apparent when we go on to examine the answer.

II. The Answer of the Parable

The answer is found in verse 8:

NKJ  Luke 11:8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence [ἀναίδεια, literally shamelessness] he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

Perhaps the key term for understanding the meaning of this parable is the word translated persistence in the NKJV. The Greek word is anaídeia, and its meaning is strongly debated by scholars of Biblical Greek. In fact, this debate is reflected in the translation and notes of some of the modern versions.

For example, the NASB translates the Greek term anaídeia as persistence, but then it includes a footnote that reads “Lit shamelessness.” On the other hand, the ESV translates to word as impudence, but then includes a footnote that reads “Or, persistence.” So, which is it? Does the word mean something like shamelessness or impudence? Or does it carry the idea of persistence or perseverance? I think the ESV Study Bible does a pretty good job of laying out the issues in its study notes:

Impudence is Greek anaideia, which occurs only here in the NT. In all of its other known uses in ancient literature, the term means “lack of sensitivity to what is proper,” “impertinence,” “impudence”; it describes being without aidōs (“respect,” “modesty”). “Impudence,” then, would indicate that the friend is shamelessly and boldly awakening his neighbor, and of course the neighbor will give him whatever he needs. On this interpretation, Jesus' point is that if even a human being will respond to his neighbor in that way, then Christians should go boldly before God with any need they face, for God is more gracious and caring than any human neighbor. Some other interpreters believe that anaideia means “persistence” here, even though there are no other known occurrences of that meaning. Such a reading does fit the context, however, for the very next verses emphasize that believers must keep seeking, asking, and knocking (vv. 9–10) …  Both ideas—a kind of shameless persistence—are possibly intended by this unusual term. (BibleWorks)

So, although the Greek word really does literally mean shamelessness or impunity or a lack of sensitivity to what is proper, the idea of persistence is also clearly indicated in the context, as the following explanation by Jesus makes clear. But before we move on to His application of this parable, it is good to consider for a moment what type of parable this is. It is what many would call an implied “how much more parable,” in which an argument is made from the lesser to the greater. For example, one prominent parable scholar observes:

As most interpreters agree, it is an argument from the weaker to the stronger. It is a “how much more” argument, a procedure common in Jewish hermeneutics, but the reader must supply the “stronger” element that makes explicit the intent of the parable. A second “how much more” argument is explicit in 11:13 and shows how the parable in 11:5-8 is to be interpreted … The parable says in effect: “If a human will obviously get up in the middle of the night to grant the request even of a rude friend, will not God much more answer your requests? (Klyne Snodgrass, Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, p. 447)

That Jesus intends such a meaning becomes clear in His application of the parable, to which we will now turn our attention.

III. The Application of the Parable

The application of the parable is found in verses 9-13, and, as we begin to look at Jesus' application of this parable, we will see that He appears to have two main points of application in mind.

1. We must be constant in our praying.

This appears to be a primary focus in verse 9:

NKJ  Luke 11:9 So I say to you, ask [Present Active Imperative > αἰτέω], and it will be given to you; seek [Present Active Imperative > ζητέω], and you will find; knock [Present Active Imperative > κρούω], and it will be opened to you.

That Jesus wants us to be constant in our praying – praying with passion and persistence – can be seen in two ways in this verse:

1) The use of the present imperative in each instance – keep on asking ... keep on seeking ... keep on knocking. 

2) The progression of intensity in describing the actions of first asking, and then seeking, and then knocking.

Upon reflecting on these three verbs, “Richard Glover suggests that a child, if his mother is near and visible, asks; if she is neither, he seeks; while if she is inaccessible in her room, he knocks” (as cited by John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, p.184). I think Glover gets the metaphoric language of Jesus just about right.

So, we are to keep on asking. This is what we do when we are certain that the one we are imploring is near and can hear.

And we are to keep on seeking. This expects an action on our part. We have to actively look for the one we are imploring.

And we are to keep on knocking. This expects further action after having located the one we are imploring. It pictures us as persistently banging on the door to get the person's attention.

This progression of intensity in Jesus' use of metaphorical language teaches us just how passionately we should persist in prayer. For example, the more we may feel that God is distant – perhaps because we have already been persistent in asking – the more we are to persist in seeking Him. As the author of Hebrews reminds us:

NKJ Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Application: 1) The main point here is that God wants us to pray this way. He wants us to have to be persistent and to have to wait for answers from Him. Have you ever secretly thought that God must get tired of hearing your prayers? Or that you might annoy Him with bringing the same requests to Him? If so, Jesus wants you to know that God never gets tired of listening to His children! 2) On another note, have you ever thought that what you pray about most may reflect what is most important to you? And that what you persist in praying about demonstrates to God what you care most about? Or, as David Guzik puts it:

God promises an answer to the one who diligently seeks Him. Many of our dispassionate prayers are not answered for good reason, because it is almost as if we ask God to care about something we care little or nothing about. (Commentary on Luke, e-Sword)

When we stop to think about it like that, it can be very revealing and very convicting. On the other hand, perhaps each one of us should further ask of himself, “Do the things I pray most passionately and persistently for reflect what God is most concerned about?” (More on this later!) As Kent Hughes observes:

We naturally persevere in our prayers when someone close to us is sick. If one of our children becomes ill, we pray without ceasing. Likewise, if we are in financial trouble or if we are hoping for a promotion or if we have a frightening or dangerous task ahead of us, we generally find it easy to pray.

But do we persist in prayers for spiritual growth for ourselves or for others? Do we “ask... seek... knock” for a pure mind? Do we keep on knocking for a forgiving spirit or for the removal of an angry or critical spirit? I think that Christians usually do not! Consider what would happen if God's people understood what Christ is saying here and put it to work. (The Sermon on the Mount, p. 235)

But aren't these the very sorts of spiritual things that we ought to pray the most for and that we can be most confident about God's granting us? I say the answer is an emphatic, “Yes”! And this leads us to our next point.

2. We must be confident in our praying.

In verses 9-13 Jesus indicates that we must have confidence first that God will, in fact, answer our prayers, and second that God will always answer our prayers in a manner that is best for us.

First, we must be confident that God will answer our prayers.

NKJ  Luke 11:9-10 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

There you have it! Jesus has stressed it three different ways … and then repeated all three two times so that we cannot miss it! God will, will, WILL answer our prayers! Of this we can be supremely confident!

Question: But this raises a very important question: Will God answer any and all prayers in the way that we desire? Will He give us anything we ask of Him as long as we just keep on asking?

There are seemingly countless “name it and claim it,” “prosperity gospel” preachers around these days that say “yes” in answer to this question, but we will see that a truly Biblical answer is “no.” We can see this not only from the immediate context of the passage but also from the context of the rest of Scripture.

The Immediate Context:

Remember that in the preceding verses Jesus has just taught the disciples how to pray, and His instruction there is quite informative:

NKJ   Luke 11:2-4 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [God's will and glory should be foremost in all our praying.] 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” [Prayer for our own good is focused on our basic physical and spiritual needs.]

So, all prayer is to be focused ultimately upon the glory of God and the accomplishment of His will. And, even when we pray for our own needs, this should be with a view to the glory of God. This is the kind of praying Jesus has in mind when we come to the verses before us this morning.

If we want to be the kind of Christlike people the God has demanded of us, and if we want God to meet our needs – both physical and spiritual – to that end, and if we ask Him for such things, then we can be supremely confident that He will give us all that we ask for!

The Context of the Rest of Scripture:

Consider the teaching of James:

NKJ James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James clearly teaches that we know we will always receive such things as the wisdom to be more faithful in living for God if we ask. But that isn't all he has to say about prayer. For example:

NKJ James 4:2a-3 Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 

Imagine the audacity and spiritual blindness one must have to ask God to feed their own selfish, sinful desires! How can such people dare to think He will answer their prayers as though He is their great credit card in the sky or the divine government agency that exists to subsidize their sin!

E. Stanley Jones was correct when he wrote:

Prayer is surrender—surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God. (As cited by Kent Hughes in Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, p. 73)

As the Apostle John teaches with great clarity in his first epistle:

NKJ 1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

And if we want to know what His will for our lives is, then we have no better place to look than to Scripture, which, as Paul teaches us, has been “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

When we pray that God will indeed accomplish these redemptive purposes in our lives and provide for us in every way so that these purposes may be accomplished, then we can, indeed, be confident that He will answer our prayers.

Second, we must be confident that God will answer our prayers in a manner that is best for us.

I think this is a primary point of verses 11-13:

NKJ  Luke 11:11-12 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

Here Jesus is using several absurd examples to drive home the point that it is absurd to think that God will not lovingly answer our prayers.  Kent Hughes may be on the right track in capturing the point of these examples:

In the Galilean setting for the giving of the Sermon on the Mount, the people were familiar with the flat stones by the shore that looked exactly like their round, flat cakes of bread, and with fish (more likely eels) that looked very muck like snakes. Can you imagine your son coming to tell you he is hungry and you give him a stone instead of bread? “Here son, enjoy!” you say mockingly as he cracks his teeth. “Oh, you didn't like that? Here, have a fish,” and you give him a harmful snake or eel. No first-century father would be as ignorant or cruel. (The Sermon on the Mount, p. 237)

Nor would any of us be so cruel! It would be absurd to think so. But that is exactly the point Jesus is making. If it would be absurd to think that any one of us would normally do such a thing, then how much more absurd would it be to think so of God!

NKJ  Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

If an evil human being can manage to love their children enough to give them good things rather than things that will harm them, then surely God – in whom there is no evil at all – will give His children only what is best for them! And in this passage Jesus gives a terrific example not only of what is good for us, but of what is the absolute best thing that we could wish for! He promises that our heavenly Father will give us the Holy Spirit when we ask Him! And with the Holy Spirit comes such blessings as a new heart, salvation through union with Christ, and power to overcome sin.

Conclusion: Of course, we who know Christ have already received the Holy Spirit, for without Him we would not be Christians at all! But we can still ask for a greater filling of the Spirit in our lives and for greater power to live for Christ and to overcome sin. And we can learn from Jesus what kind of prayer warriors God wants us to be.

I would like to conclude with a quote from Andrew Murray's book entitled With Christ in the School of Prayer, in which he comments on Luke 11:1, where the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray”:

Yes, let us joyfully say, ignorant and feeble though we be, 'Lord, teach us to pray': 

Blessed Lord! Who ever lives to pray, You can teach me to pray, me to ever live to pray. In this You love to make me share Your glory in heaven, that I should pray without ceasing, and ever stand as a priest in the presence of my God.

Lord Jesus! I ask You this day to enroll my name among those who confess that they do not know how to pray as they ought, and specially ask You for a course in teaching in prayer. Lord! Teach me to wait with You in the school and give You time to train me. May a deep sense of my ignorance, the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of prayer, lead me to cast away my thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before You in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.

And fill me, Lord, with the confidence that with a teacher like You I shall learn to pray. In the assurance that I have as my teacher, Jesus, who is ever praying to the Father, and by His prayer rules the destinies of His Church and the world, I will not be afraid. As much as I need to know of the mysteries of the prayer-world, You will fold for me. And when I may not know, You will teach me to be strong in faith, giving glory to God.

Blessed Lord! You will not put to shame Your student who trusts You, nor, by Your grace, would he put You to shame either. Amen. (As cited by David Guzik, Commentary on Luke, e-Sword)

Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 Teaching Outline)

Introduction: Jeff Miller, pastor at Trinity Bible Church in Richardson, Texas, asks some penetrating questions regarding the application of this parable:

Do you look upon people as an inconvenience or an opportunity to serve? In your mind, are people obstacles to fulfilling your God-given purpose, or do people serve a central roll in God's purpose for your life? Depends on how your day is going, right? In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus offers penetrating insights into what it means to be someone's neighbor. He provides His own commentary on the second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He describes two religious individuals who choose to ignore the needs of people on their way to accomplish their tasks. He then describes one individual who sets aside his infinitely-less significant tasks in order to serve another person and so fulfill this second greatest commandment. This week, which description will best fit you? (From an abstract of an online sermon entitled, What's Your Hurry?)

I hope you will keep these questions in mind as we examine the Parable of the Good Samaritan today. But in order to properly understand what Jesus intends to say in this parable, we need to understand it in its context, because this parable is actually part of an exchange between Jesus and a lawyer who was questioning Him. In the exchange between them, we will see two rounds of questions and answers, with the parable used by Jesus to answer one question and to ask another.

I. The First Question (vss. 25-28)

Here we will examine both the question and the answer given by Jesus, and we will see that Jesus' answer includes a counter-question.

1. The Question

The question is found in verse 25.

NKJ  Luke 10:25 And behold, a certain lawyer [νομικός, an expert in the law] stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Here we have an account of an expert in the law seeking to test Jesus with a question. So his motives are immediately in question, aren't they? He is not genuinely seeking Jesus' answer so that he can know what to believe. Rather he is challenging Jesus. But the question he asks – “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” – is an important one. In fact, it is one of the most important questions that anyone can ask! It has to be kept in mind, however, that it is a religious man, one who is an expert in the law and thus would be assumed to know better, who is asking the question here. And this is crucial in understanding why Jesus answers the question the way He does.

2. The Answer

The answer is found in verses 26-28.

NKJ  Luke 10:26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

Since this man was known to be an expert in the law, he ought to have been able to answer his own question. So Jesus turns the tables and asks him about his own understanding of the law on the matter. And, as the next verse indicates, the lawyer readily answers Jesus' counter-question.

NKJ  Luke 10:27 So he answered and said, “'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'”

Here the lawyer cites a pair of key Old Testament texts which were often cited together as a summary of the Law:

NKJ  Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. [Note: The addition of the phrase “and with all your mind” in the lawyer's citation was apparently in order to stress the idea that the Hebrew term lēḇāḇ– heart – included an emphasis on the mind, thus clarifying the meaning of the command and avoiding misunderstanding. That Jesus approved of this is clear from His own citation of the passage on another occasion – see Matt. 22:37 and Mark 12:30.]

NKJ  Leviticus 19:17-18 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

We see Jesus' response to this citation of the Old Testament in the next verse.

NKJ  Luke 10:28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."

Jesus affirms that the lawyer has correctly understood the importance of these Old Testament commands. But when He goes on to say, “do this and you will live,” He alludes to yet another text with which the lawyer would have been familiar:

NKJ  Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. [Emphasis mine.]

Now, it is important to remember the covenantal relationship to God that should have been assumed here, along with the Old Testament stress on the need for God's mercy and for a substitutionary sacrifice in order to be forgiven. But the lawyer has not mentioned such concepts. He instead appeared to be operating on the assumption that works could somehow earn salvation. He correctly cited the demands of the law, as Jesus observes, but he did not think through what he was saying. It is certainly true that – if someone is going to seek salvation through law keeping – that he must do so perfectly, but it is also certainly true that no one can do so. I think Bob Deffinbaugh gets this right when he states:

It is at this point that our expert in the law becomes downright uneasy. Here is where beads of sweat must have started to form on his brow. Jesus has not yet told this man anything new. He simply asks the man how he reads the law, and the man reads the law exactly as Jesus does. Then Jesus says, “All right, you know what the law says; do it.” This is where it gets uncomfortable for us too, isn't it? The law commands us to do what we cannot and persistently do not do. If you want to be saved by your works, by law keeping, then you must be saved by keeping the whole law; not most of the time, but all of the time; not in most of its commands, but in all of its commands. This is when beads of sweat should begin to form on all of our brows as well. 

It is very important that we understand this: Jesus is not teaching works as a means of salvation here; He is actually teaching that doing good works (law keeping) cannot save anyone, because no one can keep the law perfectly. This man asks the question, “How can I be saved?” Jesus answers, “You tell Me, according to the law.” He responds, “One can be saved by perfectly and persistently obeying the whole law, with one’s whole heart, soul, mind and strength.” The lawyer is now on the spot. The system he is seeking to defend is a system that cannot save anyone. In seeking to condemn Jesus, the lawyer has just condemned himself and the whole world. (The Good Samaritan)

Jesus' response, then, is intended to drive home to the lawyer the implications of what he has just said. If he is going to seek life through law keeping, then he is going to have to perfectly love God with all his heart and mind and soul and strength, and he is going to have to perfectly love his neighbor as himself. But there is no way he could ever do this! And this should have led him to seek God's grace. Indeed, this is one of the primary purposes of the law, which Jesus knew full well. You see, one of the main purposes of the law is to help us see our sin and thus our need for salvation by God's grace. For example, as the Apostle Paul says:

NKJ  Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

NKJ  Galatians 3:21-25 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Yet, instead of admitting just how sinful he was and how much he was in need of God's mercy, the lawyer went on to ask a second question, one designed to evade the very implications Jesus wanted him to see.

II. The Second Question (vss. 29-37)

Again we will examine both the question and the answer. And again we will see that Jesus' answer includes a counter-question.

1. The Question

The question is found in verse 29.

NKJ  Luke 10:29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Notice the motive given for asking this question: the lawyer sought to justify himself rather than admit his failure! He obviously sensed his own inadequacy to keep the law, but instead of admitting his failure to live up to what the law really requires, he tried to make excuses for himself. Sound familiar? Isn't this a tendency we all have aside from God's grace in our lives and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts?

Anyway, the manner in which the lawyer sought to justify himself was to ask a second question designed to limit the application of the command to love one's neighbor and thus to make it easier to fulfill. But Jesus turns the tables on this expert in the law with his answer.

2. The Answer

We will see that Jesus' answer is given in the form of a parable that is followed by a counter-question.

The Parable

The parable is found in verses 30-35:

NKJ  Luke 10:30-35 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'”

The key to getting why Jesus responded with this parable is to understand the Old Testament context of the passage from which the lawyer cited the command to love one's neighbor:

NKJ  Leviticus 19:33-34 And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

The lawyer should certainly have known this command to love the stranger every bit as well as he knew the command to love one's neighbor (Lev. 19:17-18). After all, it occurs just a handful of verses later in the same passage! But he didn't want to acknowledge this command because he didn't really want to follow it.

But Jesus powerfully drives home this point in the parable by making a stranger the hero of the story. It is the Samaritan who actually obeys the very command that the priest and the Levite fail to obey, for it is the Samaritan who, himself a stranger, loves the stranger as himself! And in doing so, he treated the stranger like a neighbor, which was the point of the Levitical command in the first place. But this is something that was forgotten by the priest and the Levite in the story.

The priest and the Levite both refused to take a closer look to see if the man could be helped. Instead they just passed by on the other side of the road! But the Samaritan not only took a closer look, he also made use of his own resources, money, and time to actually help the man. He didn't stop to ask himself, as the lawyer had done, “Who really is my neighbor?,” thinking that perhaps he could get out of helping the man on some kind of legalistic technicality that would allow him to be as selfish as he liked and still think of himself as a law keeper! Indeed, Jesus obviously intends the Samaritan's example as a rebuke to the lawyer in this regard.

Application: The application to us is obvious, isn't it?  We must be willing to sacrifice our time and resources in order to truly love our neighbor. Indeed, our neighbor must be seen to be more important to us than our time and money, or we have not yet begun to really love him. In his guide to the parables, Klyne Snodgrass has commented on the various ways in which this particular parable has been applied:

This parable has been applied to virtually every aspect of ethics. If compassion in the issue, this parable is applied most notably with regard to medical services and relief of hunger. Allen Verhey uses the parable as the means to discuss the scarcity of medical resources. Richard Hays applies it to abortion in relation to both mother and fetus: “Jesus, by answering the lawyer's question with this parable, rejects casuistic attempts to circumscribe our moral concern by defining the other as belonging to a category outside the scope of our moral obligation.” In a world torn by war and genocide this parable will not allow us to be passive. A journalist commenting on the genocide in Darfur asked, “Where is the piety in reading the Bible and averting our eyes from genocide?” This parable is annoying, for it will not let us avert our eyes. (Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, p. 360)

I wonder how many of us live our daily lives averting our eyes from the needs of others. I wonder how many of us seek to rationalize away our responsibility to love others, perhaps even citing the Bible out of context in order to do so! We need to realize that Jesus won't allow such rationalizing at all! This is why He asks the following question.

The Counter-Question

The counter-question is found in verse 36.

NKJ  Luke 10:36 “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

Notice the way in which Jesus has turned the tables on the lawyer. Instead of focusing on the issue the lawyer wanted to focus on – who we may or may not regard as a neighbor – Jesus instead focuses on how each one of us is supposed to be a good neighbor to all! This was, after all, the real point of the commandments in Leviticus 19. This was something that the priest and Levite in the story – as well as the lawyer standing outside the story – should have known and lived every day. But they refused to obey the law in this regard. It is this very failure that Jesus seeks to help the lawyer understand. He is trying to help the man see that he has not kept the law because he has not obeyed it fully. And the lawyer's response to Jesus in the following verse shows that he at least partially got the point of the story.

NKJ  Luke 10:37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Notice that this lawyer – like the typical Jew who hated the Samaritans and refused to acknowledge them as among their neighbors who were to be loved – couldn't even bring himself to say, “It was the Samaritan who was the good neighbor to the man who fell among thieves.” Instead, he says simply that it was “he who showed mercy on him.”

Here the real issue finally comes into the foreground, namely the need for mercy. When Jesus tells the lawyer to go and do likewise, He is telling him to be a merciful person, one who is merciful to all, allowing no class or race distinctions to limit the demonstration of his love and mercy toward others. But this also means that the lawyer has to understand what true mercy is, which would involve his taking time to learn about the mercy of God.

In other words, I think Jesus has given this expert in the law a pretty important homework assignment! He has basically said, go and learn about mercy!

Conclusion: I think this is a good homework assignment for all of us, isn't it? To go and learn about mercy. But we must recognize that we cannot learn about mercy toward others without first learning that we ourselves need mercy because we are sinners who cannot possibly live up to God's holy standard of righteousness. None of us can make ourselves acceptable to God. We all need His mercy. And we will never love others in a merciful way unless and until we have first received God's mercy ourselves. The Apostle Paul later emphasized the same principle when he said, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:31-32). We can love others and show them grace only when we ourselves have first experienced God's grace through Jesus Christ. This begins by realizing our need for His grace, and this is the real lesson of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Parable of the Lamp (Luke 8:16-18 Teaching Outline)

Note: Begin reading in verse 1 in order to get the full context. This will become important as we try to correctly understand the parable.

Introduction: Steven Cole offers the following illustration on the importance of being careful how we listen to the Word:

Challenging his wife with a riddle, the man began, “You’re the engineer of a train. There are 36 people on board.  At the first stop, 10 get off and 2 get on. At the next stop, no one gets off, but 5 get on. At the third stop, 4 get off and 2 get on. Now for the question: What is the name of the engineer?”

“How should I know?” snapped the wife.

“See, you never listen! Right at the start I said, ‘You are the engineer of a train.’”

That little story shows how we often fail to listen carefully. What husband or wife has not had the experience of mumbling “Uh huh” while his partner is talking, but his mind is tuned out? One husband dropped his newspaper, looked directly into his wife’s eyes, and gave her his full attention while she was speaking. “Stop it,” she snapped. “You’re deliberately listening just to confuse me.”

Just as we often fail to listen carefully to other people, so we often fail to listen carefully to the Lord. His Word is often clear on the issue we are facing. But our minds are already made up and we don’t want to hear what God says because it confronts the direction we want to go. God can speak clearly, but if we are not listening carefully, we miss His will for our lives. (Take Care How You Listen!)

I think this pastor has hit on an important issue that is stressed in the parable before us this morning. Here we will see that Jesus is very much concerned with how we listen to the Word. And He stresses how being a good hearer of the Word is seen in the way we live our lives and in the way we share this same Word with others. Let's see how our Lord Jesus stresses these truths beginning with verse 16.

NKJ  Luke 8:16 No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.

The context for these statements is Jesus' explanation of the Parable of the Sower, and it is crucial to understanding His meaning. So let's briefly examine what He says in the preceding verses:

NKJ Luke 8:9-15 “Then His disciples asked Him, saying, 'What does this parable mean?' 10 And He said, 'To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” [Citing Isaiah 6:9] 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.'”

The emphasis Jesus' places on the importance of hearing the Word in the right way will resurface again in verse 18, but the point we want to focus on for the moment is found in verse 10, where Jesus tells the disciples, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.”

The disciples are those who – as Jesus says in the parable in verse 16 – have lit their lamps, and now they will be responsible for what they do with the light that they have been given. They have had the mysteries of the kingdom revealed to them. They have been given the light, and now they must not hide what they have been given. They must set it “on a lampstand,” that others “may see the light.” They must go about sharing the truth that has been made known to them with others who need to know it as well.

I think John Gill gets the meaning right when he observes in his commentary:

Christ by this, and some proverbial sentences following, observes to his disciples, that though the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were delivered in parables for the present, that they might not be seen and understood by some; and though he gave to them the explanation of such parables, as of the above, in a private manner; yet his intention was not that these things should always remain a secret with them; but as they were the lights of the world, they should communicate them to others; and that that light of the Gospel, and the knowledge of the doctrines of it, which he had imparted to them, were not to be retained and concealed in their bosoms, but to be diffused and spread among others …. (Exposition of the Entire Bible, e-Sword)

Those who have been given the light – who have had the Word revealed to them and have understood its implications – are responsible to share it with others. They are expected – as Jesus said in verse 15 – to “keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

So, the fruit Jesus seeks in His followers can be summed up in two ways: 1) He expects that they will keep His Word, living it out faithfully, and 2) He expects that they will share His word with others, telling them what they themselves have heard. These two things must always go together. We must always sincerely live out the Word that we proclaim to others if we are going to bear fruit for the kingdom. This is how we set our light on a lampstand for others to see.

Application: I think we all need to remember today the importance of being good hearers of the Word. We did not come here to listen to the teaching of God's word in order to leave unchanged. If we are good hearers of the Word, then we will leave here transformed by it! We will go out and live it! And we will go out with a desire to share it with others! For if we do not live it out, and if we do not share it with others, then we have only pretended to be good hearers of the Word. Remember the admonition of the Apostle James in this regard:

NKJ  James 1:22-25 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

How easily we may deceive ourselves into thinking we are good hearers of the Word just because we may regularly attend church on Sunday morning or listen to good preaching on the radio or watch good preaching on TV – what little of it there is! How easily we can forget that the true test of whether or not we have been good hearers of the Word is found in the difference that it makes in our lives. It is seen in a love for the Word that leads to a desire to live it out and to share it with others.

We should actually be excited by the fact that we have been privileged to know the mysteries of the kingdom and to have a relationship with the Lord, and we should want to share these kingdom secrets that have been revealed to us, as Jesus goes on to stress in the next verse.

NKJ  Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.

Here again I think John Gill is correct when he writes:

Meaning, whatever was then wrapped up in parables and dark sayings, or was secretly, and in a private manner, committed to them, should be made manifest by them to others hereafter …. (Exposition of the Entire Bible, e-Sword)

Remember again verse 10, where we saw one important reason that Jesus said He spoke to the disciples in parables. He told them, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'”

He was for the time being giving them private explanations of much of His teaching, intending that only they should know the mysteries of the kingdom, but this was to prepare them for the time when they would declare all these things openly to others. These things are “secret” and “hidden” now, but they will be “revealed” later. In fact, Jesus began giving the twelve experience in such open proclamation of the kingdom when He sent them out on a special preaching ministry recorded in Matthew 10. There Jesus told them, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops” (Matt. 10:27).

Jesus did not want the disciples to assume that they shouldn't proclaim His teachings openly in the future just because He wasn't revealing everything openly now. But, of course, He also warned them in the Parable of the Sower that not everyone will genuinely receive the Word even when it is openly proclaimed. In fact, He told them that only some will be among “those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (vs. 15).

Application: I think we must all learn from what Jesus is saying here. We cannot assume that, just because we have been called to share the Word openly, we will necessarily always see great results. And we cannot necessarily assume that, when we do not see fruit in those who hear, we have somehow failed to be good witnesses to the truth. We are not responsible for the response of others. We are only responsible to be faithful in sharing the Word with them as we faithfully live it out before them.

But we must also remember Jesus' warning recorded in the next verse.

NKJ  Luke 8:18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.

Given what we have seen so far, we cannot be surprised that Jesus warns the disciples to be careful about how they hear the Word. As we have seen, they will be held responsible for what they do with it, for how they live it out and for how they share it with others. But notice that Jesus adds another reason to be careful how we hear, and He states it both positively and negatively.

First –  positively – Jesus says that we should be careful how we hear because “whoever has, to him more will be given.”

Here Jesus has in mind those who were described in verse 8 as having “ears to hear” and those who were described in verse 15 as “good ground” in the Parable of the Sower. Because they have really grasped the truth of the Word and have receive it with “ears to hear” and “with a noble and good heart,” they will be given even more truth. And they will also be given the ability to “bear fruit with patience,” as we also read in verse 15. So, those who really posses the truth in their hearts – however little it may seem to them – can be assured that they will be given even more truth. And those who have really born fruit as a result of hearing the Word can be assured that they will be given more fruit.

Second – negatively – Jesus says that we should be careful how we listen because “whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Here Jesus must have in mind the first three soils from the Parable of the Sower recorded in the preceding context. In each case, those represented by the various kinds of soil seemed to have the Word only to have it taken from them. Let's look again at these three soils in order to see what I mean:

NKJ  Luke 8:12-14 “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

It is my view that Jesus sees each of these three soils as examples of those who are not good hearers of the Word and whose subsequent lack of zeal for the Word, together with a lack of fruit in their lives stemming from the Word, demonstrates this fact.

Application: But what about us? Are we truly good hearers of the Word? Have we all been good hearers of the Word today? If so, then I expect we will all leave here with a deeper desire to live out what we have heard and to share it with others. If not, then we must realize the spiritual danger we are in and seek from the Lord ears to hear, noble and good hearts to listen as we should, for only He can do this for us!

Conclusion: In closing, I want to remind us all again that we cannot be good hearers of the Word aside from God's enabling grace. This the Psalmist knew full well when he was inspired to write Psalm 119, and I can do no better than to take you to his words, in which he repeatedly cries out for understanding:

NKJ  Psalm 119:33-37, 73 “Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way…. [And again:] 73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments…. [And again:] 144 The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I shall live.”

James White Responds to Adam Harwood's Challenge to Reformed Theology

Dr. Adam Harwood, the Associate Chair of Theology and the McFarland Chair of Theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary located in New Orleans, Louisiana, recently delivered a sermon at Truett-McConnell College, in which he directly challenged specific points of Calvinistic theology.

 

In this sermon, it is my view that Dr. Harwood demonstrates -- to put it mildly -- a very poor understanding of what Calvinists actually believe, and that he consistently misrepresents our point of view. Here is the video of that sermon:

Dr. James White, the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries and an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church, has offered the following response:

Needless to say, I am in agreement with James White here, because he correctly understands and proclaims the teaching of Scripture concerning our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:36-47 Teaching Outline)

Introduction: In the Bible there are a number of metaphors used to express the meaning of the forgiveness of sin. For example, forgiveness can be described as the hiding of sin (Ps. 32:1), as the taking away of a burden (Ps. 32:1, 5), or as the wiping away of a stain (Ps. 51:1, 9). But we will see how in this parable Jesus makes use of the metaphor of a debt being remitted in order to express the meaning of forgiveness. As a matter of fact, this idea was both common in ancient Judaism and prominent in Jesus' ministry.

As Klyne Snodgrass aptly observes in discussing this parable:

The idea that sins are debts to God is well known in Judaism and appears elsewhere in the teaching of Jesus [e.g. Matt. 18:21-35]. Canceling of debts may have been subversive to some since it went against the inequality and hierarchy of the client-patron relationship, but it would not have been subversive to Jews familiar with Deut. 15:1-3 [about granting release of debts every seven years] and the year of Jubilee (Lev. 25:10-55), both of which call for canceling of debts. Jesus' adaptation of Isaiah 61 recorded in Luke 4:16-21 is almost certainly to be understood as an announcement of the eschatological Jubilee, and this parable, like the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, assumes that the Jubilee has begun and that God is in the process of canceling debts, i.e. forgiving sins. This parable expresses the grace and the goodness of God. When it comes to forgiveness, God is like a moneylender who does not care about money. (Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, p. 87)

I think this description really brings out some of the rich background of this parable, which helps us to have the right mindset when we read it. So let's examine the parable together. In doing so, we will look at 1) the context of the parable, 2) the communication of the parable, and 3) the consequences of the parable.

I. The Context of the Parable 

The context of the parable is found in verses 36-39.

NKJ  Luke 7:36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.

Ever the friend of sinners, Jesus went even to the house of a Pharisee, who had invited Him to supper. But, as we shall see, this Pharisee had the same problem so many other Pharisees had, namely that he didn't seem to get just how sinful he was himself. But the important thing to recognize here is that Jesus didn't necessarily spurn the self-righteous, since they too needed a Savior. If a Pharisee showed any openness to Him, Jesus was apparently inclined to try to reach him where he was, just as He would any other sinner.

NKJ  Luke 7:37-38 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping [Pres. Act. Part. > κλαίω, continually weeping]; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped [Impf. Act. Ind. > ἐκμάσσω, NASB appropriately has kept wiping] them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

Here we have a description of very lavish and humble acts of service toward Jesus. This woman has obviously been greatly affected by Jesus, given her persistent weeping and the tenderness of her actions toward Him. But we will not see until later in the text exactly why she was so overwhelmed with emotion. We only know at this point that she was a known sinner, so we might assume that her tears were those of repentance and remorse for her sins. But we will see further on that her response is due to far more than this!

NKJ  Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

Notice that the Pharisee seems utterly unconcerned by the woman's persistent weeping. All he seems concerned about is the fact that she is a known sinner and that Jesus is apparently flouting the Pharisees' fastidious purity regulations in even allowing her to touch Him! How, he wonders, could Jesus possibly be a prophet if He doesn't seem to know just how bad a person is touching Him?! But we will see that this Pharisee is wrong on several levels when we we look next at the parable itself.

II. The Communication of the Parable  

The communication of the parable is found in verses 40-42a.

NKJ  Luke 7:40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

Here we finally find out the Pharisees' name – Simon – when Jesus addresses him, and this indicates Jesus' personal focus. He has picked up on Simon's attitude and thinking, and He is going to tailor His remarks to suit Simon's personal issues and needs.

But we also see that – in spite of the fact that he questions whether or not Jesus is truly a prophet – Simon does show Him some respect, which is indicated by his calling Jesus “Teacher.” However, as the story unfolds, we will see that his use of this title of honor is not all that sincere.

NKJ  Luke 7:41-42a  There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave [χαρίζομαι, NASB has graciously forgave] them both.

Now, there are at least three significant points to notice in this parable.

First, it is significant that there are two debtors, which, given the context, would appear to stand for Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman. The debtor who owed the most would represent the sinful woman. The debtor who owed the least would represent Simon the Pharisee.

Second, it is significant that neither debtor could repay the debt that was owed. The implication is that Simon was just as incapable of paying his debt as the sinful woman was of paying hers. However small he may have thought his debt was in relationship to her debt of sin, he really was in the same desperate situation she was in.

Third, it is significant that both debtors were freely forgiven. Simon should have realized that, whether he viewed his own sins as being as great as the woman's or not, forgiveness for both can only come as a free gift and not something that is earned. In fact, Jesus emphasized this idea with the very word He used to describe forgiveness, the Greek verb charízomai, which comes from the noun charís, meaning grace. It definitely carries the meaning, then, of freely forgiving or, as in the NASB, graciously forgiving.

All of these ideas are clearly communicated in this parable, although Jesus will highlight not so much the meaning of the forgiveness communicated in the parable, but rather the response one should have to such forgiveness, when He goes on to press Simon regarding what He has said.

III. The Consequences of the Parable  

The consequences of the parable are found in verses 42b-47.

NKJ  Luke 7:42b-43 “Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him,

“You have rightly judged.”

Here Jesus asks a question that has an obvious answer, but one which Simon needed to consider. What is surprising about the question, though, is that it doesn't really focus on the issues highlighted by the parable. Simon definitely needed to consider that, despite his own thinking of himself as a little sinner rather than a big one, he still couldn't pay his own sin debt, and thus he still needed the grace of God. But Jesus focuses instead upon what a person's response ought to be when he has been so forgiven. For a person's response reveals just how much he has been forgiven, if at all. And it reveals just how deeply a person realizes how much he has been forgiven.

We are not surprised, then, when Jesus openly does just what Simon has been doing in his own mind – He compares Simon to this woman who was a known sinner. But, as we shall see in the next few verses, Simon doesn't fare so well when Jesus is done making the comparison!

NKJ  Luke 7:44-46 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.”

Notice the emphasis Jesus put on the contrast between Simon's actions toward Him versus those of this sinful woman. Simon clearly thought he was better than her, but Jesus indicated that she had shown him up in his own house! And Jesus did this for the obvious reason that Simon was oblivious to what had really been going on.

Klyne Snodgrass is again helpful when he notes the significance of Jesus' having to point out the woman to Simon, even though He already knew that Simon had seen her there:

After Simon answers [Jesus' question] correctly, Jesus asks if he sees “this woman.” Clearly Simon sees her reputation, not her, and is this not frequently still the problem, that we see systems and concerns but not people? This is not to say that concerns about sin or other issues are not important, but if Jesus did anything, he actually saw people. (Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus, p. 87)

But not only did Simon fail to really see her, he also completely failed to see the significance of her actions toward Jesus, actions which revealed her own love for Jesus and served as an indictment on himself. You see, like so many of us can do at times, Simon focused solely on the woman's past and allowed that to eclipse the present. He couldn't see who she was now, because he couldn't get past who she had been.

NKJ  Luke 7:47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.

There are a couple of points that need to be highlighted here.

First, when Jesus emphasizes the fact that “to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little,” we cannot miss the focus on Simon. It is Simon who has been forgiven little and who therefore loves little. And this is why he has shown little – if any – love for Jesus and absolutely no love for the woman! Now, I do not think we ought to assume that Simon actually had sinned very little in his life up to this point and thus needed very little forgiveness. In fact, Jesus is highlighting a pretty egregious sin on his part in the very telling of this parable and the ensuing discussion. The point really seems to be that Simon did not realize the gravity of the sins he had committed or the fact that they could only be forgiven by God's grace.

Second, when Jesus says of the woman that “her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much,” He is not saying that she was forgiven because she loved much. On the contrary, the context of this statement makes it clear that He is saying that her great love is the evidence that she has been forgiven much and that – unlike Simon – she obviously realizes this.

And here we find the ultimate reason for the woman's tears. They are tears of joy from a woman who is used to being treated as Simon had treated her, but who has found acceptance in God's grace, for He has forgiven all her sins. She had a debt that she could not pay, and she knew it. She understood just how great that debt was, so she also knew the greatness of the grace that had been bestowed on her.

Conclusion: I would like to conclude my teaching about this parable by asking a diagnostic question of all of us. I would like each one of us to ask himself or herself this simple question: “Does my love for Christ and for others demonstrate that I realize just how bad my sins are and that they have only been forgiven by the grace of God?” After all, if the greatness of our love – especially toward sinful people – is the true test of how much we have been forgiven – or, rather, whether or not we realize just how much we have been forgiven – then I think we ought to think about it, and I hope you all will go on thinking and praying about it today and in the days to come.

What I Have Learned after 14 Years of Ministry

God is faithful and faithfulness is what God requires of us. Sometimes out of prideful ambition, I am tempted to move too fast and seek to produce results by the works of the flesh. Waiting on the Lord is hard. Seeing no visible results (e.g., growth) is hard. Seeing other churches growing at a faster rate is hard. What are others doing right and what are we doing wrong? The pressure to grow is present in all ministers and ministries. Because of this pressure, we are tempted to take things into our own hands. We need to do something now! We need to rally the troops, raise funds, get people excited, and start a few more programs (I mean “ministries”). We need a building program because, churches don’t build themselves, now do they?  

What I am learning is that it is a blessing and not a curse when God does not bless our fleshly and pragmatic endeavors.  When stuck in the mud, it is a blessing when we do not get things done just because we spin our tires faster. We may get dirty, but thankfully, we don’t always get more traction. If God allowed us to grow through fleshly means, it would be a more compelling temptation to abandon trust in God and take pride in our own “creative endeavors” and leadership skills. Flirting with pragmatism may not end well. It is likely to work, and before we know it, we may find ourselves in bed with it. A house built out of hay and stubble goes up quickly, but it cannot stand the blowing wind of God’s judgment.

I don’t write this out of bitterness or envy. I am not trying to console myself by thinking that growing churches must be doing something wrong. This is because the church that I pastor is growing. In the last two years, we have tripled, if not quadrupled, in size. I am having a difficult time keeping up with all the visitors and learning all the new names.  Are we excited? Yes we are! It is fun seeing people interested in our church, and it’s much more enjoyable to preach to a crowd than just a handful of people.

This growth has not always been the case for Grace Bible Church. For over 10 years, we were just a handful of people who were faithfully meeting and ministering to one another. For years, we were tempted to disband because of feeling discouraged. We would add a family and we would lose a family. Year after year, nothing seemed to change. Not only were we not growing, we had no prospects of growing. Friends suggested that I look for another church to pastor. It is not easy being small, to say the least.

O how things have changed. Now we are growing and visiting families are sticking around. Amazingly, they are coming back week after week….and joining! What are we doing different? The answer—nothing! We are still preaching the same gospel and keeping true to our core commitments. Without any posturing and maneuvering on our part, it seems that God is adding to our number. I am more of a spectator than a contributor. But do not think that this numerical increase is a result of our faithfulness, as if God is rewarding us for what we have done right. There are too many other churches, just as faithful for even longer periods of time, which are not experiencing any major growth for me to think that our church must somehow be better. The size and growth of a church has nothing to do with how God views a church. Rather, faithfulness is what God is impressed with, no matter the size of the church.

This brings me to what I am in the process of learning—the church belongs to God and He can do with it what He wishes. We are just stewards and ministers in the ministry that belongs to Him. Our responsibility is to remain faithful regardless if we shrink, maintain, or grow in size. God’s responsibility is to care for, empower, and supply the needs of the church. Too many times, we are tempted to take over God’s responsibilities to fulfill our own personal ambitions rather than seeking to be content laboring with the fold that He has assigned and allotted to us.  

I am learning that the church belongs to God, and this is liberating. I don’t have to stress about growing the church but simply follow orders. I am merely to obey the Word of God and be faithful to what God has called me to do, such as preach, encourage, love, help, evangelize, and serve the body. If we grow or shrink, it does not necessarily mean that I am doing anything right or wrong.

I am learning that the ministry is too big for me. I am learning that I can do little to nothing to keep our church together. The church is something that is supernatural and something too big for me to maintain. I need God. The church needs God. And, if it is God’s church, then it is God’s responsibility to sustain and hold our little flock together, and if He decides to move His sheep into other local churches, who am I to withstand Him. It is His church and He has the right to do with it as He pleases. Knowing that it is not my responsibility to sustain or build the church allows me to rest at night. My job is simple…just be faithful and put the results in God’s hands.

I am learning that a growing church has many more needs, such as new building(s), and more money is needed to fund these new building projects. But, thankfully, I am learning that my job is not to become a fundraiser but to remind the church that we are to be good stewards of the money that God has given to our church. I am learning that it is God’s responsibility to supply the needs of the church. If God can take care of millions of Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness, He can take care of the needs of our little flock in Conway, Arkansas. Tempted as we may be to want to take over God’s responsibility by irresponsibly going deep into debt and hound God’s sheep for money every week in fear that if we do something quickly, the rate of growth will slow down if not stop altogether, I am learning to relax and wait on God.

I am learning that God is faithful. God is faithful. No matter what size of church, God is faithful.