Banking on God's Grace

Prayer for Illumination and Opening the Study

All right, we are gonna pray and we're gonna get started. I have Leviticus open. There's a chance we might get to it. Who knows?

So.

Mea culpa, mea culpa. Let's pray Eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant us your Holy Spirit who writes the preached word into our hearts So that we may receive and believe it and be gladdened and comforted by it in eternity.

Glorify your word in our hearts make it so bright and warm that we may find pleasure in it and Through the your inspiration think what is right by your power fulfill the word and for the sake of Jesus Christ your son Our Lord we pray these things Amen.

Okay before we get into the study proper were there any specific questions Related to the exegesis of the parable of the dishonest manager. Today. I'm looking at you Bruce. I you got nothing. Wow. So you did.

Yeah, you you you were okay with how I work that text.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know it's kind of an old-school. Very. I need to repent. Do you have a a more up-to-date less offensive idiom that you would prefer that I use? Don't go FedEx.

Okay, yeah, oh.

Nice that's a nice car. Of course you did.

No.

Yeah, yeah you you and I you and I actually understand that culture I grew up in it and I despise it. So, you know, that's I remember one time Hearing somebody who was a friend of my family who who really Loves wearing his Wealth on his sleeves and in us on his wife's neck and fingers.

He one time said People who say that money can't buy happiness just don't know which stores to shop at. Yeah, it was it was I. Yeah, I just bit my lip and said nothing, you know, so.

Yeah, so.

Stewardship, Mercy, and the Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Yeah, and what's interesting is that Jesus warns us do not Store it for yourself. Wealth here on earth where moth destroys thieves steal and I would say this. It was kind of fascinating maybe about six seven years ago this fellow who again.

Who's all about status symbols like that and jewelry. Somebody broke into their house? Cracked their safe and stole all of their jewelry. So and it was a huge amount of money. So that was lost as a result of that.

I.

Didn't understand the sermon. As far as I Mean we're. We're the managers. Mm-hmm, but the manager wasn't giving away his money. He's giving away the bosses.

Exactly Yeah.

He had faith in the good graces of the of the boss to do so. Now here's the thing and this is the point where Jesus and this is the second piece of the exegesis looking at the parable Jesus says if you cannot be trusted with that which is not your own.

Who's going to trust you with something that would be your own. Or if you cannot be trusted with you know unrighteous wealth who's going to trust you with true wealth. And so kind of the sub theme of Tex itself.

And something that you have that is an implication of what Christ is saying. Everything you have here and now It doesn't belong to you. There is no real Possession here. You are only a steward and a manager of the gods gifts presently because you come into the world naked you leave with nothing.

So everything you have. Everything your current house your current car your clothes everything that you near your washing machine and dryer all of this. You are stewards of these things and they don't belong to you because you can't take them with you.

True possessions do not occur until we get into a world without end and in the world without end. We are given an inheritance and we get to enjoy that inheritance in a world without end. Days without and into eternity.

So for the first time in your existence. When Christ returns in glory and gives you your inheritance. You will for the first time in your entire existence actually truly own something. But until then everything is everything right now you're managing it you're stewarding it period.

Yeah, yeah, and so so he was using the resources of the master.

To alleviate the suffering and death of everybody else. Totally banking on pun intended banking on the grace and mercy and generosity of the master. Yeah, thank you Bruce. I appreciate that. Just the look of torture that you have right there for me for my pun.

I appreciate that so. Bad combo.

Yeah Wow Yeah.

Yeah, so I mean so you find a pagan who's in need right. And Purely out of grace and mercy and kindness you say let me help you and that person's gonna go.

Wow.

Yeah, nothing. Nothing's in it for me. In fact, you can keep it or if you want to pay it back. No interest to you. You do whatever you want. What are they gonna do? They're gonna sit there and go. I want to know more about what's what's motivating this guy.

Well, it was Christ it let your good work shine before men. And so Christ is saying use wealth in this way because what it ends up doing is at least it piques someone's interest. So that they then might have the opportunity to hear the gospel Whereas they may have been shut off to it from before.

So, you know, you'll note then that we I mean this let's just be blunt here. You know fifth commandment requires us to do this. You know the the implications of thou shalt not murder are not merely that we do not plunge a knife into the back of our neighbor while he's Enjoying a baseball game or blow his head off.

That's that's just one aspect of it the second the second piece of it is is that that we help and Love our neighbor in his bodily needs help them meet them protect him. And so, you know, I I'd love the fact that we were working through this in our catechism class at noon.

And somebody asked well, who's my neighbor? Yeah, literally asked as I said, here's the answer to the question everybody's your neighbor. Those in need and those who are your brothers and sisters in Christ doubly so.

So everybody's your neighbor. So you'll note then that our kindness our Generosity that flows from Christ to us and then from us to our neighbors. We get remember Christians do good works because they are Christians.

All right cows moo because they're cows. Cats meow and mess up your furniture because they're cats.

Right.

So Christians they do good works and they love and they're gracious and merciful and kind. Because they are Christians if you're trying if you are Trying to be mercy more merciful more kind more generous so that you can be saved.

I assure you you will be damned. It doesn't work that way. Your good works are not the currency by which you're saved but because we are confident in the mercy and forgiveness of Christ and his Unbounding generosity towards us in mercy forgiveness grace and meeting our needs.

Now we can go and we are free to love other people to meet them in their needs with no expectation in return at all. And Christ says use unrighteous wealth. You want to manage your money properly find a way to give it away to people who need it and Use it for the purpose of the kingdom and it'll it'll give them an opportunity then to hear the gospel.

All right.

Let's take a look at Leviticus. There's.

Leviticus 19, the Third Commandment, and False Swearing

Dwayne out there. All right, Dwayne. You ready for this? Leviticus 19 11 you shall not steal. You shall not deal falsely. You shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely and so profane the name of your God your God.

I am Yahweh. You'll note this mirrors Portions of the Ten Commandments, what does it mean to swear falsely by God's name? Give me an example of what that would be. Uh-huh. Yeah third commandment. Good.

Yeah, and. What does it mean? Oh, sorry second second man. Yeah, and what does this mean? Give me an example of what it means to swear falsely by his name. Yeah, oh you could you could have it. You heard the news that apparently Benny Hinn repented of the prosperity gospel.

Have you heard that. Yeah, he's still alive people are wondering if he's gonna be dead soon. It's it's not a son. It's his nephew Kosti Hinn. But here's the thing is that in analyzing his repentance in the public statements that he's made.

He made a statement that was published just this past week in an interview with his son-in-law Michael Koulianos and in there Benny Hinn claims. That he was forced to preach the prosperity message and that he was trapped into doing so.

No, he hasn't given up a penny. He hasn't given up a penny. He hasn't given any of it back. You know you think of Zacchaeus that wee little man a wee little man was he you know who climbed up the sycamore tree.

Right Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in Jericho and. And Jesus says I'm gonna eat at your house tonight Zacchaeus and everyone grumbles. Jesus is gone to be the guest of a sinner.

Right and.

You'll know Jesus shows kindness to Zacchaeus and Jesus chooses him and We know his name and again over and again. I point out in the Gospels if you know somebody's name There's a really good chance that the reason why we know their name is because the early Christian Church knew exactly who they were.

Not just because Jesus did healed this person or Spoke with them how many people in the Gospels does Jesus talk to and healed that we don't even know their names. But Zacchaeus we know his name good chance that he was.

Even after Jesus's death and resurrection that he continued in the faith. And so Zacchaeus then says Lord if I have defrauded anybody I will pay it back and he gives a multiplier. Right, and he gives half of his possessions and then to the poor.

Is he doing that in order to be saved? No, he's doing this because in a moment Christ works repentance and faith in him and now his faith breathing out good works Seeks to reconcile with those whom he's harmed and to now meet the needs of the poor.

So when somebody then Uses God's name falsely and Swears by God's name. It'll look like a lot like the televangelists God has given me a special anointing today. And if you send in your seed offering I assure you that God's gonna multiply it and he's you you give me a thousand dollars and God's gonna multiply that a Hundred fold and if you're suffering from sickness and illness send in that thousand dollars.

And it doesn't matter if you're suffering from cancer or if you're suffering from some Terrible disease God is going to heal you just send in your money and show him that you trust him and have faith.

By writing the check out to Chris Rose, bro care of Con you dot no. You get the idea False teaching is that as well?

Yeah stepson. Totally yeah, yep.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's I would say this I know it's only and I Firmly believe that given his The way he's reacted publicly and the statements that he's made regarding his pattern of sin That he should not Currently be doing any public ministry.

He hasn't reconciled with those who he's hurt and.

And.

I do not think it is appropriate in his case for him to be doing the things that he's doing presently and It's not. It's not a pharisaical reaction that basically says you just need to disappear and go away and never come back.

It has everything to do with inside information about What he has or hasn't done in light of the sins that he's committed so I would say that.

And.

I would note that I am one of the people whom he needs to reconcile with so. That's a different story. Did I say enough or too much? Yeah, no, I think you were you were reaching for something relevant that we can point that we can point to.

Probably not knowing that I I have a I had a friendship close one with him.

So those who deny the gospel?

Yeah.

Correct Correct. Yes, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, so you can twist it in two ways so the two ditches are going to be. Westboro Baptist type legalism. Where thus sayeth the Lord you're damned and there is no mercy for you. You know, it's like the soup Nazi from Seinfeld, you know, no gospel for you, right.

And then on the opposite end. Yeah, you got like the ELCA types. Okay, there's no law none whatsoever, it's just. Yeah, they don't follow anything that has to do with actual commandments, you know, so they assure you oh listen, you know.

You you are engaging in. Impenitent sexual sin doesn't matter what it is. Got love the one you're with man. How sustainable are they. Yeah, I don't even know how to apply sustainability to our communion.

Wafers, that's ridiculous. Gluten-free.

Huh?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Wow, yeah, you're right. I I do believe that. That that is a different form of legalism, you know, but when it comes to actual commandments of God. You know anything goes so.

Right, yeah, so let me.

Right.

The Drift from Biblical Morality to a New Social Code

So what you're experiencing is the the drift of Western society and culture away from the standard of what is right and wrong as defined by God's Word and a new standard taking its place and. And so the way it works is this it scripture is actually clear that as Christians We that we do not want to engage in behavior that will scandalize people.

We should not we ought not. But that presupposes then that what is going to scandalize a human being is Something that is contrary to the Word of God. For instance, you know if you found out that one of the pastors in town You know was actually selling drugs to UND students and engaging in human trafficking.

We'd all be scandalized By that whole thing, but I assure you the way today works. Is that if that were to happen there would be a whole bunch of people defending him, which is weird. Okay, so you can sit there and say wait a second selling drugs breaking the law engaging in human trafficking.

That is just Outrageous behavior. No human being should be allowed to be permitted to do this let alone somebody who calls himself a pastor. We'd be scandalized by it. And what are we. Why are we being scandalized.

Because we had the law of God written in our hearts.

Yeah.

Right, right. Right, so so so what's happened though in our society there's a new moral code. That is being put in place as a result of the assumptions of post-modernity. So kind of like what you're talking about is, you know.

And so the it's a different set of questions altogether a completely different moral standard are our communion wafers sustainable. What kind of question is that? So if if somebody from outside, you know, I know Bruce I I know you didn't.

I know I told the story recently, you know years ago when I was attending an LC congregation in in Indiana and Greenfield, Indiana, I was just being silly and I took a photo on my iPhone and put it on Instagram and on Twitter of our coffee bar, which you know was ridiculous because we had a Portable table with you know.

Like this plastic and on it was a coffee pot like that with you know. This and then next to it was, you know The canister of creamer and then after that was some a canister of C &H sugar. I Posted it on Twitter and said, you know, our church has really now gotten serious about church growth.

Look, we have a coffee bar and I was joking and at that time the emergent church was still a thing and a whole bunch of emergents were following me on Twitter and they came.

Unglued I.

Mean my Twitter feed melted down. Why?

No, no.

Because because.

C &H sugar apparently is not engages in the exploitation of indigenous people and that it's not a sustainable ethical source of sugar and How dare your church have C &H sugar. And so I scandalized all of these liberal postmoderns because with a photograph of C &H sugar on our coffee bar and I I that one caught me way off guard.

Like it's like I did not see that one coming if I know known Bruce at the time. He was a no don't post that don't post that they're gonna kill you. Okay, I get it. I'm putting the best construction on you so so so you get the idea.

So so the reason why you're a hater is because there's a new ethic and the new ethic. It's a little hard to pin down but the in the gist of it is is that it's trying to overthrow biblical morality and biblical definitions of what is right and wrong and so.

You because you are white and a male. You know past midlife even you are considered to be evil because you are representative of a worldview that has to do with oppressive patriarchy and so they are trying to overthrow oppressive patriarchy by engaging in forced multiculturalism and Basically putting you in your place and how dare you subscribe to a Biblical ethic and worldview as to what is right and wrong we've redefined right and wrong and you by your just very existence you're wrong and.

You need to check your white privilege. You need to in fact, you probably just need to resign from your job and give it to a you know, a multi-ethnically colored lesbian woman. To show you real penitence for the sins that you've committed as a white patriarch.

Yeah.

No, we don't.

This is true. Yeah. No look at the end of it. Yeah.

Not always in the middle of it.

Yeah.

Yeah, and the reason. Yeah, yeah, no, I'm I'm a little frightened. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm a little frightened by the direction the world our world is heading. No, of course not. Yeah.

No. No.

Okay, so I can talk about intersectionality. I wouldn't give a proper definition of critical race theory, but it's based upon a similar concept I would recommend. Oh, what is that YouTube channel? Where they talk about intersectionality.

It'll come to me in a little bit. They've done a far better job on this but the basic idea is this is that.

That.

The u .s. The theory is is that the United States in Western culture. The reason why it is successful is because it has systematically set up an entire set of institutions and everything is geared to create a edge for people who are white and that if you are If you are differently colored than white.

Then the way the system itself is set up that there's no way for you to really Succeed and get ahead and so it's it's kind of like Vegas if you go to Vegas all the games are rigged in such a way. That if you play the games, it always works towards the house.

So their claim is is that when it comes to race in the United States the whole system? Capitalism itself and everything in our society the education system is geared in such a way that it doesn't matter how hard you work if you really are a colored person or a person of color that that it'll always work in favor of white and so the idea then is is that there are they kind of grade things based upon then.

You know what how oppressed you are there's kind of oppression points in intersectionality. So if you are a colored male, you definitely you know. You there the system you need to have bonus points given to you so that you can get ahead.

But what ends up happening is is that the you know the more oppression points you get the apparently the more clout you have. So if you are and I'll kind of put it this way if you are a hispanic lesbian Who also happens to have official ties to Palestine?

Okay.

You are a goddess. Okay you in fact everything needs to be favored in you know in you know for you. Against the white patriarchy a good example of this would be it like in practice would be the new feminist monopoly that came out.

Have you have you heard about this? Feminist monopoly and so like one of the rules is is that when men pass go they only get $200. But when a woman passes go she gets 400. Yeah, feminist monopoly. So everything is designed to then take away.

Take away, whatever Systemic edge white men have and then by force You know break that and then counter it by giving special points and privileges to People who are oppressed minority or sexually oppressed people.

Well, so so you're assuming you're assuming a complete you see they would sit there. You just don't get it. You just. You're just not woke.

Yeah, they are.

When that happens those people are called Uncle Tom's. They're called race traitors.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I I failed to I mean I I always like to point out two things that you know when my mom divorced My brother and I and my mother we lived in abject poverty in West Covina, California. And somehow our white privilege never kicked in.

Okay, it wasn't until my mother remarried that we began to have some kind of You know solid financial base in our life, but I would also point out that wait a second. I'm Irish. Okay, and I have collected historical photographs from New York City of Newspapers as well as signs that were posted throughout the city that there was a job opening and the Irish need not apply.

I My ancestors they deserve reparations. Okay, I'm just basically but using their using their narrative we do.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, clearly, right. Describe.

Right.

Right and we're gonna talk about how you really How do you address this issue and it's. There's there's a there's a simple way to actually get outside of it and I'll explain that in a second. But I saw Dwayne's hand up Sailors and dogs keep off the grass in Norfolk.

We owe you reparations. Yeah, so so let me let me explain to you how then do you address it. Okay, so here here's the issue is that Everybody's looking at the same data. Everybody's looking at the same data.

And we it's the question is how do you interpret it? And so the data is this is that within the inner cities. There is a huge amount of poverty. Within minorities. This is undeniable the question is what is driving that and The other issue is how do we address it with a Christian worldview?

So intersectionality is a radicalized narrative that seeks to place blame for.

The.

Disparities that that are real in the United States. Economically to place it on the system itself by claiming that white patriarchs of the past Established it this way on purpose and that white men today have benefited from it without even Realizing it and that the whole system itself has to be broken.

You're gonna note then that the solution is communism or socialism. That's an ideological. This is an ideological narrative. The Christian has to sit there and say no. The whole narrative of intersectionality and critical race theory.

It is not Valid the narrative itself is false because the narrative is taking the data and then spinning a conspiracy a Racial conspiracy for the for the results that we're seeing in the economic disparities in our in our country the reality is this is that this is a result of sin and We have to sit there and say this isn't some conspiracy by white people.

This is the result of mankind's fall into sin. And then we need to take responsibility in this sense and This this is where this is going to get really tough. But scripture says if a man doesn't work he shouldn't eat.

We have contributed terribly through our governmental system of welfare. Which incentivizes minority and poverty-stricken women of all color? To abandon their husbands and it has created an entire culture and I mean this of women who have raised their children without fathers and.

They are.

Incentivized to do so, uh-huh. You see.

At this point we're talking about collective sins.

Okay.

So so this this is these are sins that were involved and so so here's the thing I am vehemently opposed to Abortion it is murder. There's just no way around it. But there's no there's no way around getting around the fact that the policies of this country That the blood of the unborn is on me That is that's that's just reality okay, and so.

Therefore it is my responsibility in conscience to God and in loving my neighbor especially the unborn that I am politically active to a degree for the purpose of Getting rid of abortion in order to protect them in the same way.

We've got to sit down and lose the communist ideologies that always place blame on the rich or on the white or the whatever and have an honest conversation about The policies that we have as a nation and whether or not they are hurting or helping somebody we talk about what goes on.

You know in some of the the tribe, you know the tribes here in in our state You know, look at the poverty that exists in the Sioux Nation than the Lakota. All right has federal government handouts help them or actually handicap them.

Because under the curse God wills for us all to toil and People whose needs are met without them having to engage in beneficial work for other people they end up resorting to video games drugs and alcohol and their lives lose any kind of meaningfulness at all and We have to ask the question has our policy of handouts and reparations for the past Handicapped or helped humanity.

I would argue it as has hurt them and this is not about Taking away anything from people but giving them back something that's been taken from them that only the scripture reveals that they need.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so so. Yeah, so this is where the Distinction between the right left hand Kingdom are gonna be helpful. And then coming back to your question about what text do I go to? I almost think you have to go to Jonah and it's preaching to the Ninevites.

Well, yeah. Well, that's the thing. There is no gospel with the intersectionality people. There's only.

Vengeance Oh.

Good night. I.

Yeah, yeah.

So you'll note then that 20 years ago society had a different view of His sin. Completely different view of it. But now he's being he's being roasted by today's critical race theory views and stuff like that.

The issue is is that the the morality has changed and The new code that is in place. And again, I'll come back to what I said to Bruce. This this is a sick code and here's the thing and and and so. You know, I just found out today.

It's like week three of the NFL, right? I stopped watching the NFL a few years ago when I was made to feel that I was sinning for being a white man. That's not justice. To accuse to basically find somebody sinful or guilty of a crime they haven't committed.

So I stopped watching the NFL When I was made to believe that I had somehow Committed a crime against minorities by being born a white man. They've lost me.

Period.

Because I believe in biblical justice. Not social justice. And so as a pastor then I preach both law and gospel and the job of the government is to what? Punish the evildoer. But pay attention. Today's social justice liberals know that the job of the government is to punish the evildoer.

They've switched the definition. They've switched the definition and now I'm I'm a law-abiding citizen. I pay my taxes. I abide by the laws of the road and I give back to my community. But according to the intersectionality critical race people, I'm a criminal and I need to be punished.

Financially socially and If I will not on my own lay down my white privilege, they will make sure I lay it down by force. And there's no absolution. I'm sorry, but this is this is not justice. This is not morality.

This is demonic. Because it is the devil who accuses people falsely and slanders them.

Right.

Yeah, all right.

The Church's Prophetic Call to Repentance and the Cost of Faithfulness

So what's the job of a church of the of the right-hand kingdom in the midst of this? The right-hand kingdom has a charge to make disciples. To convict people of their sin and their unbelief. So the church must stand up and say Minnesota North Dakota federal government you are in sin.

Usjw is out there you are in sin. Your morality is not real morality. Your justice is injustice and you need to repent and The good news is that Christ has bled and died so this this is where the church must speak out and call the sin what it is and placard Christ is the solution to it and stop engaging in Their playground.

You cannot work with their framework. It doesn't make any sense on purpose. You have to stay outside of it and call it and everyone in it to repentance.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah not completely.

No.

No, we know we speak the truth and this is where Christians are called to prophetically call individuals as well as groups as Well as nations to repent. Okay, and we do not do so because we are holy or better more moral we do so because we are forgiven sinners and.

So, you know you look at history history has shown over and again that that there are times When the church is called to confess Christ and Call people prophetically to repent and in so doing it that'll result in their martyrdom.

So be it. Yeah, so be it. But the point is this is that if you want to know what's going on out there. This is real simple this is a replacing of The moral code of the scriptures, which is the underpinning of Western society with a different moral code altogether.

And the people who are abiding by this new moral code, they are scandalized when you Break their code and you don't understand it because it's not in scripture and you were never taught it. They've just recently invented it.

In fact, I would even argue that this thing morphs and changes.

Whatever this nebulous moral code of theirs is I don't know.

I don't I don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring but I can tell you this we're in a lot of trouble.

When.

The people who hold to this weird moral code when they get power because they have made it clear their intention is to wield it.

Absolutely what you just described. It's it's the French Revolution. Yes, because the original Atheist revolutionaries who took power were all killed off by later Ones. I mean it just keeps going more killing more killing more killing because yeah, as you said they make it up as I go along.

Yeah, it's kind of a similar narrative. You think of the French Revolution? What was the whole narrative. The reason why the people are oppressed is because the opulence and the oppression and the manipulation of the economy.

By the monarchy and by those who are who are landed nobility. And so what was the solution. Off with their heads? They would take those people and you know. Bring them out into the square and have a party while they were cutting their heads off with the guillotine.

Yeah, always one. Yeah, the next one will really do it, you know.

Yep, yeah.

Yes.

And and and note this then note this then this this that's a recurring theme in Scripture a recurring statement. You think of the tail end of Deuteronomy in the song that God had Moses pen, right? And in that song I mean it tells the story of God's love and compassion for Yaakov and And how he shepherded him and took care of him, but then his descendants.

Yeah, Jeshurun the straight. Yeah, ironically spoken, right. How they how they went crooked and and then it talks about how the nations who do not believe that their root is in Sodom and that their fruit is poison and Everybody in the nations they are children of the devil if they are not penitent believers in Christ and the devil is not is not interested in getting along with Christ or his children and Everything is about overthrowing them.

And so the narrative now is is that the reason why there's all this inequality in Society why there is still poverty why there is not utopia. Well, it's the fault of male Christian patriarchs and I'm I assure you that once they have total power guillotines and Concentration camps are a real possibility, but here's the thing Killing all the white Christian patriarchs isn't going to bring utopia.

Because this is all the result of our sin. And so yeah, there will be a lot of people who will needlessly be slaughtered bummer for them.