4/29/12

What we know and what we believe...



This picture is a lie!  Even if you accept the Big Bang Theory, there is a moment in time where everything was in one place; formless and super hot!!!  So, everything was NOT there; only its raw materials.  Today, it is popular to believe the theory of Evolution.  Again, I say, the theory of Evolution!!!  It is a theory, NOT A FACT!!!  Science is the process of experimentation, i.e. running a repeatable experiment, collecting data and drawing consistent repeatable conclusions from that data.  Evolutionary theory is taught as fact, when in reality it is only conjecture.  To be fair, great minds have conceived this, BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT TRULY SCIENTIFIC!!!  Great minds can be wrong!!! For thirteen hundred years humans believed the Earth was the center of the universe and that has been disproved.  Even today, with all our technical capabilities, it is commonplace to hear that a previous study is disproved and then later to find out our newest study is negated by an even newer one!!!  You believe the study that you have faith in, yes, faith!  At this point, it is appropriate to refer to the Bible, a book of faith.  Read on to see what God has to say about it....

  1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

  3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.  5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning, one day.

  6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”  7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.  8 God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

  9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.  10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.  11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;” and it was so. 12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

  14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;  15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.  16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.  17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

  20 God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.”  21 God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

  24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. 25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

  26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.  30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

  31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

The complex organization we see around us comes from God.  It isn't accidental or unplanned; there is a pattern and it comes from God.  The chances that things "just happened" are beyond astronomical, they are beyond belief.  I worked in laboratories for many decades and I can tell you that even the most intelligent chemist I have ever known designed experiments that failed and failed miserably.  And this person had an I.Q. of 190!!!!  We all have "faith" in something, whether it be science or God.  Science changes, God does not.... you choose... but choose wisely!!!

Apr. 29 Deuteronomy 13, 14


Apr. 29
Deuteronomy 13, 14

Deu 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for Yahweh your God proves you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 You shall walk after Yahweh your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.
Deu 13:5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
Deu 13:6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
Deu 13:7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;
Deu 13:8 you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him:
Deu 13:9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
Deu 13:10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Deu 13:11 All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.
Deu 13:12 If you shall hear tell concerning one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, saying,
Deu 13:13 Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known;
Deu 13:14 then you shall inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in the midst of you,
Deu 13:15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.
Deu 13:16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all its spoil every whit, to Yahweh your God: and it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again.
Deu 13:17 There shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand; that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers;
Deu 13:18 when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
Deu 14:1 You are the children of Yahweh your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
Deu 14:2 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deu 14:3 You shall not eat any abominable thing.
Deu 14:4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
Deu 14:5 the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the chamois.
Deu 14:6 Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat.
Deu 14:7 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud but don't part the hoof, they are unclean to you.
Deu 14:8 The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn't chew the cud, is unclean to you: of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.
Deu 14:9 These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat;
Deu 14:10 and whatever doesn't have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean to you.
Deu 14:11 Of all clean birds you may eat.
Deu 14:12 But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the vulture, and the osprey,
Deu 14:13 and the red kite, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind,
Deu 14:14 and every raven after its kind,
Deu 14:15 and the ostrich, and the owl, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind,
Deu 14:16 the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl,
Deu 14:17 and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant,
Deu 14:18 and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
Deu 14:19 All winged creeping things are unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.
Deu 14:20 Of all clean birds you may eat.
Deu 14:21 You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner: for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Deu 14:22 You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year.
Deu 14:23 You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.
Deu 14:24 If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you;
Deu 14:25 then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose:
Deu 14:26 and you shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
Deu 14:27 The Levite who is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
Deu 14:28 At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:
Deu 14:29 and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" Chapter Eleven by Mark Copeland

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                             Chapter Eleven

While the apostles were fulfilling the limited commission, Jesus was
approached by emissaries from John the Baptist who received confirmation
that He was "The Coming One" (1-6).  Jesus revealed that John was "The
Messenger" foretold by Malachai and that many were inconsistent in their
opposition to both Jesus and John (7-19).  Jesus then rebuked cities
which did not repent at His teaching (20-24), and at the same time
extended a tender invitation to those who would accept His teaching
(25-30).

POINTS TO PONDER

   *  The relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist

   *  Why the day of judgment will be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon,
      and Sodom than it will be for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum

   *  The Savior’s tender invitation to those with troubled souls

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - John’s disciples come to Jesus - Mt 11:1-6
   - Jesus’ discourse regarding John the Baptist - Mt 11:7-19
   - Woe to impenitent cities - Mt 11:20-24
   - The Savior’s prayer and tender invitation - Mt 11:25-30

2) Why did John send two disciples to Jesus? (2-3)
   - To confirm that Jesus was "The Coming One"

3) What evidence did Jesus offer to John’s disciples? (4-5)
   - His miracles, and the fact that the poor have the gospel preached
     to them

4) What two O.T. prophecies did Jesus say that John fulfilled? (10,14)
   - Mal 3:1 and Mal 4:5

5) Who did Jesus say would be greater than John the Baptist? (11)
   - He who is least in the kingdom of heaven

6) How did some people describe John and Jesus? (18-19)
   - John:  having a demon
   - Jesus:  a glutton, winebibber, and friend of sinners and tax
     collectors

7) Why did Jesus rebuke the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and
   Capernaum? (20)
   - Because they saw His might works and yet did not repent

8) To whom did Jesus extend His invitation?  What did He expect in
   return? (28-30)
   - To all who labor and are heavy laden (by the guilt of sin)
   - To take His yoke upon them and learn from Him (become His disciple)

4/28/12

Not Welcome...here


Not welcome.  We had better get used to being not welcome.  Society is being programmed by the media to be biased against Christians.  First, the propaganda, then the promotion of a heathen agenda and lastly laws against the propagation of the Christian faith.  Finally, the inprisonment of those labeled "Christians", confiscation of their property and eventually extermination in the name of "Law".  The Caesars tried it, but failed.  Hitler had his agenda against the Jews and failed.  The methodology is the same as is gradually being instituted today.  Soon, it will be a dangerous thing to be called a Christian.  But, we will be in good company....
 
1 Peter chapter 3

 13 Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good?  14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.”  15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear:  16 having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ.  17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil.  18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  19 in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,  20 who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.  21 This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,  22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.

This passage is so good that I encourage you to read it several times!!!  Yes, we may suffer.  Yes, we may be maligned. But, we have the example of Christ to guide us and a good conscience and heaven before us.  If this world does not want us... Jesus does!!!  People may post signs, say bad things about us, or hurt us in a myriad of ways, but heaven awaits and its gate will never be closed. Well done; good and faithful servant are words that I long to hear... how about you?

Apr. 28 Deuteronomy 11, 12


Apr. 28
Deuteronomy 11, 12

Deu 11:1 Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
Deu 11:2 Know this day: for I don't speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,
Deu 11:3 and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;
Deu 11:4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day;
Deu 11:5 and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;
Deu 11:6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel:
Deu 11:7 but your eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which he did.
Deu 11:8 Therefore you shall keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it;
Deu 11:9 and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deu 11:10 For the land, where you go in to possess it, isn't as the land of Egypt, from whence you came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;
Deu 11:11 but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of the sky,
Deu 11:12 a land which Yahweh your God cares for: the eyes of Yahweh your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.
Deu 11:13 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 11:14 that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, and your new wine, and your oil.
Deu 11:15 I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.
Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 11:17 and the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.
Deu 11:18 Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.
Deu 11:19 You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deu 11:20 You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates;
Deu 11:21 that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.
Deu 11:22 For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him;
Deu 11:23 then will Yahweh drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
Deu 11:24 Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the hinder sea shall be your border.
Deu 11:25 No man shall be able to stand before you: Yahweh your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to you.
Deu 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
Deu 11:27 the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day;
Deu 11:28 and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
Deu 11:29 It shall happen, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.
Deu 11:30 Aren't they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
Deu 11:31 For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.
Deu 11:32 You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.
Deu 12:1 These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth.
Deu 12:2 You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree:
Deu 12:3 and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.
Deu 12:4 You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.
Deu 12:5 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come;
Deu 12:6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock:
Deu 12:7 and there you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.
Deu 12:8 You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;
Deu 12:9 for you haven't yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Yahweh your God gives you.
Deu 12:10 But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety;
Deu 12:11 then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.
Deu 12:12 You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your male servants, and your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
Deu 12:13 Take heed to yourself that you don't offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;
Deu 12:14 but in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
Deu 12:15 Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
Deu 12:16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.
Deu 12:17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;
Deu 12:18 but you shall eat them before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God in all that you put your hand to.
Deu 12:19 Take heed to yourself that you don't forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.
Deu 12:20 When Yahweh your God shall enlarge your border, as he has promised you, and you shall say, I will eat flesh, because your soul desires to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, after all the desire of your soul.
Deu 12:21 If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to put his name there, is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
Deu 12:22 Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so you shall eat of it: the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.
Deu 12:23 Only be sure that you don't eat the blood: for the blood is the life; and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.
Deu 12:24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.
Deu 12:25 You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.
Deu 12:26 Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yahweh shall choose:
Deu 12:27 and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Yahweh your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Yahweh your God; and you shall eat the flesh.
Deu 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
Deu 12:29 When Yahweh your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;
Deu 12:30 take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 You shall not do so to Yahweh your God: for every abomination to Yahweh, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32 Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

Apr. 28, 29 Luke 16


Apr. 28, 29
Luke 16

Luk 16:1 He also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.
Luk 16:2 He called him, and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'
Luk 16:3 "The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.
Luk 16:4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.'
Luk 16:5 Calling each one of his lord's debtors to him, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe to my lord?'
Luk 16:6 He said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'
Luk 16:7 Then said he to another, 'How much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred cors of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
Luk 16:8 "His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.
Luk 16:9 I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents.
Luk 16:10 He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
Luk 16:11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luk 16:12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
Luk 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren't able to serve God and mammon."
Luk 16:14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
Luk 16:15 He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
Luk 16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall.
Luk 16:18 Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
Luk 16:19 "Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
Luk 16:20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22 It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
Luk 16:23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
Luk 16:24 He cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.'
Luk 16:25 "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
Luk 16:26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'
Luk 16:27 "He said, 'I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house;
Luk 16:28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of torment.'
Luk 16:29 "But Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'
Luk 16:30 "He said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
Luk 16:31 "He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.' "

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" Chapter Ten by Mark Copeland

                      "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                              Chapter Ten

Following His own call for prayer for more laborers (Mt 9:37-38), Jesus
selected twelve disciples to be His apostles and gave them power to cast
out demons and heal all kinds of disease (1-4).  He then sent them to
preach and heal throughout the cities of Israel with specific
instructions in what has come to be called "The Limited Commission"
(5-42).

POINTS TO PONDER

   *  The twelve men selected to be Jesus’ apostles

   *  Evangelistic principles utilized by Jesus

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - The appointment of the twelve apostles - Mt 10:1-4
   - Instructions for the twelve for the limited commission - Mt 10:5-42

2) List the names of the twelve apostles (2-4)
   - Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas,
     Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Labbaeus surnamed Thaddaeus,
     Simon the Cananite, Judas Iscariot

3) What was to be the range of their preaching?  Their message? (5-7)
   - Only to the house of Israel; "The kingdom of heaven is at hand"

4) What miracles were they to perform as they preached?  At what charge?
   (8)
   - Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons
   - No charge for their services ("Freely you have received, freely
     give")

5) How were they to be supported? (9-11)
   - By people willing to receive them into their homes

6) What were they to do if they were not received by a house or city?
   (14-15)
   - Depart, shaking the dust from their feet

7) What did Jesus prepare them to expect? (16-26)
   - Persecution

8) What were they to fear more than persecution? (28,33)
   - Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell; being denied
     by the Lord

9) What did Jesus acknowledge His teachings might do? (34-36)
   - Separate members of the same family

10) What blessings would befall those who assisted the apostles? (41-42)
   - The same reward for their service