the fruit bearing has nothing to do with salvation. Jesus is talking to his 11 disciples, they are all saved. this parable is not about losing your salvation because we are eternally secure, nothing can pluck us out of Christ's hand or the Father's hand. nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

the parable is teaching that if we do not have complete continuous fellowship with Christ, spoken of abiding in him and he in us, then we will bear no fruit. what is gathered together is the carnal work, the wood hay and stubble which shall be burned, but if our works are precious stones gold and silver they shall remain.

the same can be understood when we look at Lot. he was out of fellowship with the Lord. he produced no lasting fruit all the while he was in Sodom. all he had was burned with that wicked city, yet he was saved yet so as by fire.

I hope this helps your understanding of this subject

sincerely

Fred
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Webmaster, I found the link for the "Parable of Servants" to lead me afar to the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant. Without a page for Matt. 24:45-51, I include it with this Parable of the Ten Virgins.

The preceding Parable of the Two Servants is critical to the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which begins with the word "Then" (Matt. 25:1). Therefore, the fulfillment of the Parable of the Ten Virgins will shorly follow that of the preceding Parable of the Two Servants (Matt. 24:45-51). Well, when will that be? Who are the servants in charge, and who is their master?

For centuries churches have taught that Jesus Christ is the Master of His parable, but this understanding is collapsing before our very eyes in today's end times. He has prophesied that the end of the age, when He would rapture us home to heaven, would come once the gospel of salvation through Him got spread throughout the whole inhabitable earth for a testimony to all peoples (Matt. 24:14). My problem with the traditional church teaching is as follows: what if the evil servant in charge should prevent world evangelism so that Christ should never return? Well, in that case, Jesus Christ obviously was not the master of His parable. Hebrew and Aramaic grammar can shed light on this.

In English, we usually speak of classes of things in the plural unless we use collective nouns. The same was true of Greek, yet Hebrew and Aramaic were exceptions. In those two tongues, there is a "general (use of the) masculine singular" as we see in Psalm 1, in which a righteous (man) in Hebrew represents righteous people ("am) in general. In the Parable of the Two Servants (Matt. 24:45-51), the general masculine singular "master," "wise and faithful servant," and "evil servant" have been retained upon translation to Greek and English rather than receiving grammatrically correct plural translations to preserve the meaning of the text. The verb "dichotome^sei" (will cut asunder) could merely mean "will categorize" if the evil servant were presented naturally in the plural in Matt. 24:51. By leaving the general masculine singular forms intact upon translation to Greek, Saint Matthew makes it completely clear to us that, yes, the master(s) will most certainly cut the evil servant(s) to pieces. Now that we understand the general masculine singular, I examine the plural meanings of the master and each servant in charge.

If the master be not Jesus, he must have entrusted the servants in charge of his wealth or at least now hold the position to return and judge them. Only the people, or successors threof, who entrusted the servants in charge of the goods of God's people and responsible to nourish them can then be this master. Furthermore, when this master returns, he must recognize faithful service and entrust the good servant with all his goods: who is so incredibly generous today? Furthermore, he must conceal his intentions to return to the evil servant unawares, do so in good times, cut him to pieces, understand how the evil servant was hypocritical and assign him his portion of the hypocrites, cast him out knowing the weeping and gnashing of teeth to result, and beat or flog the evil servant according to the servant's conscience (Luke's account). The text to condemn the evil servant is Matt. 7:7 to refute the spiritual claims of every pastor who browbeat his needy while he lived it up. By putting his needy down when they made requests, the evil servant has caused them to sin habitually (worth a curse, Matt. 18:5-7) by putting aside Jesus' commands not to worry but to ask, seek, and knock. In light of the general use of the Hebrew or Aramaic masculine singular forms, the master, if not Jesus, over servants, represent the following situations...

Board of elders (master) over pastor, treasurer, Sunday school teacher;
State legislature or accreditation board (master) over psychiatrists, corrections officers, physicians, psychiatric gatekeepers, etc.;
HR Department (master) over hospital billing staff, nurses, etc.;
College of cardinals (master) over Roman Catholic bishops (servants);
Head of the United Methodist Church (master) over itinerant ministers;

and so on. Still, this judgement cannot happen yet because these masters still have today's laws to fear, laws against aggravated assault and battery. Remember, in order to return as master, each of these gatherings in power must be able to amputate the evil servants, so literal a word in the Greek as to make Matthew retain the general masculine singular of Hebrew in Greek translation to preserve its meaning of cutting into pieces, of absolute amputations, perhaps just one, perhaps several amputations. Furthermore, from Luke's account they must have the power and will to beat the crying evil servants already kicked out severely according to the content of the conscience of each. How the various masters will gain their rights to impose these corporal punishments, judgements of Scripture, I leave to the Lord Almighty. (Lord's Prayer)

Next, after all this has happened, the Parable of the Virgins will be fulfilled as the church worship industry dies and loses its buildings. The five wise virgins with extra oil represent believers, such as churchgoers, with salvation and sufficient obedience to Jesus to be received into house churches. In contrast, the five foolish virgins represent lukewarm so-called or backslidden Christians who believe or go to church for social reasons and are unwilling to desist from sin in order to stay welcome at a house church. When the Kingdom of Heaven moves out of the dedicated church buildings and into house churches to meet in mundane places, will the social churchgoers indeed feel locked out! And thus our "extra oil" represents sanctification beyond the oil in the lamps, justification. Lastly, the wedding banquet will occur then in the house churches if not after the Rapture in heaven.

Finally, the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) will be fulfilled as masters call their rank-and-file stewards to account. Each steward, each of us in charge of wealth of our own, however little, has been entrusted to make a profit according to our abilities. The good stewards or servants (not necessarily in charge of people) will have profits to show their masters, their rich friends of Luke 16 if not Jesus Christ in heaven. The lazy servants have failed to do what was right: to trade with their wealth and make profits. Perhaps the load of seventy-six pounds avordupois of silver was too heavy for the lazy to carry; soldiers who drop their seventy-pound rucksacks are those most likely to get killed because others have to carry their packs for them. Perhaps his experience is with funerals and burials rather than in trading; perhaps he does not trust in his master's return, thinking instead, "He won't ever come back. When he dies, I won't trust his heirs; they won't know what I have hidden to free myself." In the worst case, however, the lazy servants say they never had money to invest. In that case, I, Kevin Douglas Rosenberg, prophet of Luke 16, or some ally of mine, shall be their master if the faithful servants answer to their rich friends then instead of to Jesus Christ after the Rapture.

I will tell the hard-lot lazy servants that they had Luke 16:1-13 in their bibles; how come they contented themselves with financially limited congregations despising Jesus' commands to generosity as they hewed to their Budgets? Very few of them indeed in Christ can say they never had the chance to read this passage, only that no one led them to it. I will be far less sympathetic toward those lazy servants who did not have such a problem as incarceration yet still ignored Jesus' clear command to make friends with the rich people of the world so that people might welcome us into everlasting dwellings if we lost our homes and so that our congregations might be granted the wealth for our ministries. And the profitable servants will be commended by their grantors while the lazy servants get stripped of their little wealth and possessions and cast out into the outer darkness of homelessness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yes, the lazy servants content to serve God by themselves with what they have will lose it all, and that will be given to the best stewards.

By obeying Luke 16, we may know the rich people of the world, and they may let us in on their investment advice. In contrast, the proud among us who avoid the rich will make dumb investments such as gambling. Therefore, faithfulness even in the unrighteous mammon of Luke 16:1-13 is even more important than investment advice for hard-earned money.

I wish you all the best of luck in these end times as we get our houses in order for these awesome events.

Yours in Christ,

+++ Kevin D. Rosenberg

(reply here; e-mail is exclusive of junk mail)



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Why aren't all the characters in this parable Jewish?
Why did Jesus pick a Samaritan to be the neighbor in this story?

As Robert Mendez Jr. previously pointed out, Samaritans were "a product of mixed interbreeding between jews from the Northern Kingdom and other people after Israel's exile. They were considered heretics." The Jews saw them as half-breeds. Samaria was directly north of Israel. When Jews needed to get on the other side of Samaria ... they literally walked all the way around so they didn't have to pass through. Why bother? Because that's how strongly the Jews felt about Samaritans.

But before we look down on the Jews we must admit that there is still racism in our society today. So who is our neighbor? Jesus felt the need to point out that the person we find hardest to love is our neighbor.

What's an example for modern times? Being from the US, to me this question is the same as asking "What group of people do Americans want to love the least?"

Arabs, Muslims, Iraqis ... these people are our neighbors.



--Peter

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Well this present kingdom(till JESUS returns and included his reign). The church started off small and now it is big(just like the mustard seed) and there are other religions considered as CHRISTIANDOM which are not and it is up to CHRIST in the end to get rid of the tares among the wheat. These kingdom of heaven parables are not the goody goody thing that everyone thinks they are. You have two groups in this section of Matthew: the multitude(Those with no ears to hear and no eyes to see) and the diciples (who represent GOD's people).The multitude will never understand these parables and JESUS explains them to the diciples how to interpet them in Matt. chapter 13,the parable of the sower. You see the Kingdom (this present day) there are Non believers and satans people (Tares in the wheat) masked by all other christian organization,they are the birds perched in the large mustard tree(the fowl that take the seed in the Sower parable).When Christ comes in his second coming he is going to change all that with his glorious rule in the millineum. You notice the LEAVEN was HID,what is there to hide,our salvation or GOD's great gift to the world I THINK NOT.



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PLEASE FORWARD PHOTO OF MUSTARD TREE . THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS.
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At times in the Christian life, we have to believe before we can see. Other times, it is important to see first. It seems to me, that in the area of missions mobilization, seeing is an important ingredient as well. The Bible states in Matthew 9:36 that "When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion them..." Several other places in scripture it states that seeing can lead to compassion.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is a good example. Luke 10:33 reads "but a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him." Do you see as Jesus sees? The parable then ends with Jesus' command, "Go and do likewise!" This actually does not mean go and do the same thing. ie: look for a foreigner beat up along side the road and help him. I suggest rather that "go and do likewise" implies we need to see as Jesus sees and do something about that which is before our very eyes!
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Big Island, please see my response under the topic of "leaven and the dough parable". But yes. I think you've seen the light!
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Matthew 7:24-27

(24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
(25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
(26) And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
(27) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Hi, my name is Ashleigh and I am 13 years of age, my friend, Shannon and I are doing a religion assignment on that parable, worth 45% We just need some help of a few questions. Here they are:

An explination of the meaning of the parable
Revlevance for today
Catholic Beliefs evident in the parable.

If you can help us, because this is hard for us and need some 'fresh' help. Please email me on ashleigh.mansell@stclaresc.act.edu.au or you can email my friend whos email is shannon.talbot@stclaresc.act.edu.au

Thanks a bunch!

We really hope you can help me!
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Found in the postings below is a case that I’ve made for what I believe is the secret of the kingdom of God. Mark chapter four calls it Jesus’ doctrine.

Mark 4: 2And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his DOCTRINE…

The principle that Jesus talked about referred to a prayer or words being placed in a “secret” place. The context of the kingdom teachings support that this secret place is none other then the human spirit. However, it’s not just that. Jesus said that “the kingdom of God is within you”. Wherever this “secret” place is it’s where God abides. Jesus said “Our Father which art in HEAVEN, Hallowed be thy name”.

Matthew 6:6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

I think it’s more proper to regard the spirit of a man as a crossroads-so to speak-that heaven (the realm of the spirit) converges upon or is routed through.

Jesus taught that everyman has a spirit that works like an inner candle resplending things upon the picture screen of our lives. Good and bad.

But there is an inherent dilemma that occurs when attempting to understand the application of kingdom principles. Being that it thrives off of “secret” things “spoken in darkness”-Jesus being the grand master “covered” his prayers to perfection. In other words, you’ll never know what he prayed and the words that he chose.

What’s a believer to do in terms of finding examples?

Well thank God there are some things that can be used as examples. God wouldn’t leave us blind to the application of these things when he taught that we are to live by them.

Look at this scripture: Matthew 6:19-21.

19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Consider the idea of “laying something up”. Can you see how that heaven is almost considered a plateau or a realm above our heads? It’s really not; it’s just another realm that is obviously distinct from the world around us. Apparently you can place things there. Might this be this proverbial plateau where things are “hidden” I.e., “there is nothing hid that will not be manifest”?

Now don’t scriptures like these take on new meaning?

Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Proverbs 16:3
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

I Peter 5
5Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM; for he careth for you.

I guess all that I’m saying is that when you pray for something, make sure that you commit it into the hands of God who dwells in heaven and see’s in secret. Then leave it with him refusing to exalt yourself by attempts to bring it to pass. In the long run it may take a little longer pursuing “Gods reward”. But look at Abraham and Sara in their stint of foolishness creating a son with a different woman. Can you see how that mans reward can get you into trouble?


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Here the parable in the beginning says that Kingdom of heaven is as this. We know that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom (Matt 16:19), and Peter did opened the door of the kingdom in the day of Pentacost (Act 2). So here definitely he is referring to the disciples (or christian) in church. Some commentaries refers the last servant as those of old days who were afraid to be corrupted by the world that moved out of cities to live by themselves rather than being the salt and light of the world. I believe the talents can be all that we have recieved from God including the salvation and opportunities of sharing the salvation. And yes, we will be judged by our Master for our own deeds as Jesus talked about fruits and its tree to be relatable.

And I don't care what people or pastor says about "once saved always saved" theology which is taught nowadays. Bible clearly says sin will kill us. as it is written in Heb 10:26~27

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."

Though we are not perfect and often sin time to time (or everyday even!!)
if we insist to have sinful "life-style" meaning justifying ourselves to sin as in Gal 5:19, we will be lost though we could be saved previously.

I believe this parable should be also studied with Parable of Ten Virgins, which starts with same heading.
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for all my life i've belived in jesus and his teachings even though i have never read the bible i have decided to live in jesuses footsteps WWJD, but as i grow old i get deeper in the belive but i get the sence that i am going very insane with my intence belive because i do not belive in having to go to church every day that is to teach children, i think if u have god on your mind all the time and live in Jesuses footsteps as he told us to live that is being a true cristian please get back to me i was brought up in a very strict catolic family and if i said this to people i know they would laugh at me.
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What happened to Barabas, after the death of Christ? Did he change his life? Any information is helpful.
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I read a story years ago in a booklet entitled the "Good News." It said that at some point in history, the people who lived in the area the good Samaritan was from, departed from their homeland. They were led by an old man with a long beard, possibly Ezekial (this might be wrong). However they rolled a large stone with them as they left, and eventually reached England......and today (said this article) the stone they rolled all this long distance now sits HIDDEN UNDERNEATH the throne of the English Queen/King. Was this just my imagination??? Does anyone have any information on this?
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I see the Father's blessing the Obedient son even though he had a less than perfect, loving attitude. The father said, "All that I have is yours."

I would like to see more emphasis on the Obedient, Respectful son.

Otherwise, the parable is an excellent lesson on the differance between Relationship and Fellowship with the Father.
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Patrick hold on to your faith and Father God... He grieves with you...I too grive with you, as a formerly behaving as elder brother of prodigal son...Myself personaly God did a work in me and revealed my PRIDE, MY SELFISHNESS AND MY HEART, AND MY FEARS......

Keep praying God will reveal it to her in the scriptures about herself...
let god lead you when or if you should quote the scripture..Change may not come over night, as it did not come over night with you, or with the prodigal son, but the FATHER made his self availble to them, told elder son is been here for you the fatted calf, party, deliverance awaits your child. i love the comment made about wanting to be like the Prodigal son's Father that i read earlery

be bless everyone, i was enlightened by all the comments and revelations on this parable
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HI
i am doing this parable for a school essay

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Note; The parable of the ten virgins immediately following begins with the word "THEN " pointing back to the parable of the Householder and His servant. Note that by comparing Matt 24:45-51 with the parallel section in Luke 12:42-46, it is clear that one servant is in view throughout. The servant either remains faithfull or he becomes unfaithfull. The parable of the ten virgins then begins and covers the same subject matter, providing additional information from a different perspective; and the parable concludes in a similar fashion by showing that which awaits both those who are ready and by showing that which awaits both those who are ready and those who are not ready at the time of the Lord's return
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Emilee, I have just come across this site as I gave a children sermon on having the faith of a mustard seed. If you still have this picture that you mentioned above, would you email it to me? It is amazing that these trees grew so large in the days Jesus was here on earth and we never hear of a mustard tree. I would find this very amazing to see one. Thank you so much for your time. God bless!
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Amanda I will be presenting a program of the Mustard Seed in January 2004. I went to the Bible Book Store and purchased Mustard Seed pocket card to hand out to the ladies. But I need help on ways to present the Mustard Seed program. Got any ideas.
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The parable of the mustard seed continues with the same central thoughts set forth in the previous parable, the parable of the wheat and tares. Fruit-bearing remains at the forefront [v.31], as well as Satan's contining activity as he seeks to stop Christains from bearing fruit
And the method which Satan uses as he seeks to stop Christians from bearing fruit, revealed in the previous parable, is through sowing tares among the wheat. Then the parable of the mustard seed reveals that which would happen because of this activity of Satan.
In this respect, the parable of the mustard seed is simply a commentary on the previous parable, providing additional explanatory help. The mustard seed is seen growing after an adnormal fashion, showing Satans success in stopping Christains from bearing through causing an unnatural devoloping so abdormally that it eventually became a tree; and this tree is seen to be of such a nature that" the birds of the air", indivduals doing the work of Saten, found a lodging place in its branches[v.32;cf.vv.4, 19.] Thus the third parable, continuing the thought from the second parable, presents the tares being quite effective. They are seen deciving Christians to the degree that they bring about an unnatural growth in Christendom, resulting in unfruitfulness, barrenness; and the matter is carried to the point that, in the end, the tares even found acceptance among those whom they had decieved. Through producing an unnatural growth in Christendom-- one in which they themselves could find acceptance-- the tares stopped Christians from bearing fruit. The destruction has to do solely with [ The Word Of The Kingdom], the subject matter at hand. Then the tares were able to simply settle down in that which they had produced.
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In response to one of the postings found below, there is no question that leaven has been traditionally deemed a contaminating element. That being said, was Jesus bound to using that pattern in relation to the leaven and the dough parable?

Jesus said that he would reveal things kept secret from the foundations of the earth. The idea of leaven traditionally being bad is taught all over the bible. Is that a big secret? The leaven and the dough is a parable of the kingdom (secret).

Jesus used supernatural power to open the ears of those who had a good heart and intended to hear by saying “he that hath ears to hear, let him hear”.
Obviously those who were attempting to ensnare him in his words would not get the jest of what he was conveying. And Jesus did this intentionally. He declared they have eyes and don’t see, they have ears and don’t hear…and when they’re converted…

I don’t see any problem with using a prominent teaching or custom to express a different aspect or analogy.

But still I don’t think it’s contextually logical for Jesus to after saying in Mark Chapter four verse 20, one thing, and then to meander off into another subject.
(Amplified bible):

20And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit--some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.
21And He said to them, Is the lamp brought in to be put under a [6] peck measure or under a bed, and not [to be put] on the lampstand?
22[[7] Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known.
23If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend.
24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [8] [of thought and study] you give [to [9] the truth you hear] will be the measure [10] [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

Now, are people aware that they are saying that Jesus, after laying down the foundation of the parable of the sower, that he immediately began talking about sin, the church, immoral women and Satanic infiltration? And thereby totally changing the subject? Isn’t it more logical to stay on the same theme and maybe say the same thing in a different way? That’s what I believe he did. Remember; know body knew what he was saying anyway until he said, “he that had ears to hear let him hear”.

Are we to believe that Jesus went on hiatus in verse 21-25 and picked up on the idea again in verse 26?

26And He said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground,

Or is it more logical to believe that he stayed on the same subject matter? What if I was to say, after saying all this, “the cream rises to the top-all we are is dust in the wind”. Wouldn’t you think, “what on earth is he talking about? That has nothing to do with what he just said”. And yet people are accusing Jesus-the Son of God of doing the same thing. In the presence of possibly hundreds of people.

The reason I chose the Amplified version of this scripture is to bring out something that isn’t as strong in the other translations. Look at verse 22. Things are HIDDEN temporarily only AS A MEANS to revelation. For there is nothing hidden EXCEPT TO BE REVEALED, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret EXCEPT in order that it may be made known. Notice the purpose or intent in this scripture. A person HID something in his heart FOR THE PURPOSE OF bringing it to light. They got on the front end of the deal. It worked against the scribes and the Pharisees in the negative.

Luke 12
1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the LEAVEN of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. (The same thing stated in Mark’account)
3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

The above verse shows the tie between Mark chapter four “there is nothing hid…” and the parable of the leaven. Now, someone will probably say, “SEE, leaven is a bad thing”. Then why would somebody purposefully hide something in their heart if it were a wicked thing? No, it’s the principle that Jesus is laying down. Leaven isn’t good or bad. It’s just an agent that reacts with our hearts that eventually gets painted on the picture screen of our lives. Why can’t it be the Word of God? Why couldn’t righteousness be the leaven? The person in the above scripture hid it AS A MEANS to revelation. HE WANTED IT MANIFESTED.

It’s very clear that some people just don’t do their studying. And that’s a shame because the Son of God put it in a way that can be figured out, if people will spend some time meditating on it.

I often wondered how Jesus could say to a man “tell no man” without violating the precepts of this very principle. Isn’t he declaring something a secret? Isn’t he whispering something in the ear that will be proclaimed form the housetops? Check out the results of his doing that.

31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.
32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
36 AND HE CHARGED THEM that they should TELL NO MAN:

Now look at the results.

but the more he charged them, SO MUCH THE MORE A GREAT DEAL THEY PUBLISHED IT.

Go figure!

If these things are hard to glean from scripture, it may be because of something else. There is a spirit of humility that rests upon all the teachings of Jesus, and if you don’t understand that, then you won’t get the jest of what Jesus is saying. For more on that, see what I wrote in the article “true humility” under the subject, the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. It may help you to understand these things.



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The rich man will be cast into the lake of fire, and Lazarus is now in heaven!
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Father God in the name of Jesus I pray please deliver me from this deep depression that I am fallen into. God I pray please bring people around myself, Kevin, Kim, Christy, Betty, Dean, Delbert, Wanda, and all other family members that are under the Blood of Jesus. God I pray please put the love of Jesus in the hearts of my family members. God I pray please lead, guide and direct me by your spirit. God I pray please bind up fear, doubt, unbelief, lying spirits, pain, confusion, witchcraft spirits and all other demonic spirits that are attacking me. God I pray please send the right person to my sister Dean. God I pray please bring my sister Betty someone that will love her and get her out of that situation that she is in. God I pray go ahead of me next week and please keep the devil and his demons off of my back. God I pray please strengthen my faith and help me through these terrible times that I am going through. God I pray please clear the way for the person you are sending to get me out of bondage and that will love me and take care of me. God please give me your blessed assurance that help is on the way. God I ask all of these things in the Holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen
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I wish I could express those words as you did ;
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The parable is about the kingdom of Heaven, Jesus said the kingdom is inside of us(his true disciples). What was inside of his disciples? His word. Jesus Himself was a humble man, showing us an example to follow. He existed before we were all created, the Word was with God in the beginning, the Word was God. The Word dwelt in the flesh and was so humble, more humble than any man, because of that, he was exalted to sit beside the highest. The parable has connection with the sower and the seed, the seed can be related to the mustard seed, and He interpeted the seed to be the word of God. Jesus is the bread of life, and whoever eats his flesh, has eternal life. But bread must come from wheat, from a seed. And water must feed the seed. And people must tend and labour for the harvest. We must tend to the word of God, not only hear it, but do it, not be a slothful servant(proverbs talk about slothful servants, they are overcome with thorns and tares). When we tend to it, it grows, the word of God increases(the bible talks about this, I wont tell where the exact scriptures are, you'll have to work for that yourself) inside of us,(Jesus said one must be born of water and Spirit to inherit eternal life) the word of God is like water, washing our conscience(so we have a new conscience, born to abstain from all sin) so we can be baptised and then baptised with the Holy Spirit, born of Spirit. But before that we labour for the word to grow so the birds of the air with nest in it(the Spirit of God, there are gifts of the Spirit, working miracles, speaking differant languages, prophecy, revelation, faith, knowledge and wisdom), be not deceived, Paul said that everyone attending to the TRUE church of God, will and has to bring these things to every gathering. 1 Corinthians 14:26 - How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, EVERY ONE of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying." Most of these so called churches are worshipping in vain if the gospel is not preached with power also, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross have no effect. 1 Corinthians 1:17 - For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." 1 Corinthians 2:4 - And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:" Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 1 Corinthians 4:20 - For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." 1 Thessalonians 1:5 - For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake." 2 Thessalonians 1:11 - Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:" 2 Peter 1:3 - According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:" 2 Corinthians 3:6 - Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
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I found Morris's commentary on Matthew very helpful here. The background on the Jewish wedding ceremony at the time was helpful to me in understanding.

The virgins are bridemaids, waiting for the groom to come so that they can have a torch-light procession back to the groom's house where there is a fantastic wedding celebration. Reading too much into the parable can be dangerous- we could start to read all kinds of things into it which aren't there, and pretty soon we have a whole new wonderful theology based on the wild assumptions we have just made (eg: the Oil is good works, the lamp is the 10 commandments being taught, etc.)

As far as I understand it, the parable fits in with the other parables about the delay and the return of Christ catching some people out, but not the wise stewards, wise virgins etc. They are ready for the return- whether the return is late or early.

This parable focuses on the delay- so late that everyone falls asleep (notice, as Morris says- no-one gets any blame for this, it was not an offense)- but when it is finally time for the wedding (obvious OT parallels with God as Israel/(true Israel)'s bridegroom or husband), what was previously an invisible difference between the bridesmaids comes to the fore: some of them were ready not just for the delay, but more importantly are ready now that the groom has arrived. The others are not ready. The upshot: they don't get into the party- and that is a disaster.

Hope this helps!
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Very good points
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hey I'm 17teen years old, and I am trying to find my talents b ut i don't know how to begain? can you give me some bible verse or some infomation on where to begain looking for those talents God has given me. do all people have talents or just some ? i'm not talking like spiritual gifts i'm talking like drawling , playing a music insterment or something like that to let you know.

thanks your sista in christ

sarah drury
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Please send me the picture of the Mustard Tree. I would like to use in a presentation when we dedicate our community garden in May 2009.

Thanks so much. May God continue to send us all blessings!
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At this page I believe that you will find the most excellent explanation of Parable of the Ten Virgins: http://www.egwestate.andrews.edu/col/col29.html

Claudia
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1. Story of the strayed sheep
2. Story of the lost coin
3. Story of the Prodigal son
Could these three parables have the same message from different circumstances.
Strayed sheep or lost sheep, I see a member of the church caught up with the temptation of the world which is good for the eyes and good for the taste But far from the truth, the Pastor or Sheperd then must reach out or seek out to correct his/her way get him/her back on the right path.
Lost coin or misplaced coin, a member of the church family is backsliding because of some miscommunications or hurt by another church member. Again, the leader or some headfigure of the church seek out and make right with this lost member.
Prodigal son, he was in tune with everything about the church, still chose to leave God behind to find the worldly happiness, left home/church, father did not go out to seek him out as he (prodigal son) knew fully well what he was doing yet chose the world thinking he knew better. When there was no place else to go, home came to mind where peaceful rest always found, returned and was welcomed with open joyful arms. Shouldn't we seek out the son/daughter who do so choose to leave in their own free will knowing fully well after being told the consequence they'll meet if leave the truth? Is is biblical? The Holy spirit is always with us trying to guide us back home, the Father is always thinking and waiting with open arms to welcome us back home.
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Mt. 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
This is so simple...
The leaven represents the Holy Ghost
The three measures of meal is man - body, soul, spirit
When we receive the Kingdom of God within us, we are changed until we become whole, one in Him
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I too, don't beleive in 'skateboard salvation', which by that I'm assuming you mean that you're saved until you sin, when you lose your salvation and fall off. From there, you have to get saved again, and so on. My ministry (Greater Grace World Outreach) is all about the finished work and eternal security. Once we're saved, that's it. No questions. One question I had when I was first saved was like, how can I am some serial killer who was once saved when he was young, end up in the same place? There's two answers to that: one, sins are forgiven. plain and simple. they are completely erased from his life as they are from mine. and two, we have heavenly awards. if we are saved, but don't live the christian lifestyle according to God, we will still get to heaven, but may not get the same heavenly awards as someone who followed God completely. it's like cable, there's regular cable, and then there's the package deals that are extra. anywho, i guess this doesn't really have to do with the mustard seed, but it needs to be said.
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It may be important to note that the younger son does not ask for his inheritance but for his share of the property. His inheritance would bring with it cultural and societial responsibility. He only wanted to cash in and then cash out to go and party. He did not want the responsibility in the community.
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The French philosopher Simone Weil brought out some amazing insights on divine love based on this parable.

She notes that Jesus does not describe good neighbours as "loving" or "charitable", but "just". There is no distinction between justice and love. Greek justice occurs when two parties of equal strength come to an agreement. Supernatural justice occurs when an unequal relationship is treated equal by the stronger party - that is, the stronger party treats the weaker as his equal.

This is what the Samaritan did. Others walked by him, and saw an anonymous lump of flesh - they did not see a person. The Samaritan could not see the victim's humanity either, but he took that humanity on faith and acted lovingly towards the victim. Weil says that in this way, "Love shows us what is invisible."

The love of the Samaritan is not creturely love, it is divine love. She has an odd idea about Creation which I cannot agree with it, but it can deepen our understanding of love, so here it is:

God and His creatures are less than God alone. Creation was an act of loving renunciation - "He emptied a part of His being from Himself; that is why John says that the lamb had been slain from the beginning of the world."

When we love our neighbour, we are replicating God's love for Creation. We renounce a part of ourself. No person can love his neighbour. (I distinguish neighbour from friend, relative, beloved, etc.) God gives us that love.

"Only God, present in us, can really look at the afflicted with a look differing from what we give to ‘things’, can listen to their voice as we listen to spoken words. The love of our neighbour is the love which comes down from God to man."

Raphael Hythloday.
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can you give me any information on the scientific name of bread and where it was originally found?
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I have been tyig to figure out a parable my pastor gave me it goes as follows

I have friends but no friends

the second one is

Sometimes i laugh sometimes i cry can you help me figure out why

Any help would be appreciatd
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Better late than never to understand that his work to empower those bidden to supper was done. He wasted no time at all but extended what was intended for them to any within his reach. So it began again, to embolden others to forge ahead and gain their relationship to god. I see it as a positive outcome. The strength of the parable was in the nature of the giver to give, not the receiver to receive.
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I am looking for a large picture of a tree grown from a mustard seed to
use as an object lesson with children - young and old!
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If you're looking for a contemporary take on this parable... and any other biblical passage, for that matter, you might try Eugene Peterson's "The Message". He has done an admirable job of re-writing the Bible in today's context.
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I agree with you! The fowls of the air are from Gen 1:20-21, 31 where God, who is Love, brought forth the fowls of the air to fly in the firmament of heaven and God saw everything that he made and behold it was very good. (Why would a good, loving God create evil birds to fly in His heaven? He did not.) Why would anyone want to take a symbol of inspiration, love and protection such as birds reflect and want to see them as they are described but once in the Bible as unclean, foul and hateful? There are so many inspired references to wings, brooding, flying, nest, eagles that are beautiful in the Scriptures. I'd rather take the inspired Word of the Bible. Mustard seed and leaven are synon. and both small but growing and changing into good, useful things. The woman hid the leaven in three measures of meal---modes of human thought. Meal in the Bible stands for healing. The leaven is NOT that of the hypocritical Pharasees but of God's Christ, Truth. This leaven of Truth is changing the whole of thought until the whole of evil thought is leavened--changed into Truth. The grains of mustard signify this growth of Truth too, until the leaves of the tree of Truth are used for the healing of the nations--knowing the Truth that makes us free----free from what? A lie. Truth always frees us from lies. Truth never frees us from itself! Only, only from lies. The devil is a liar and the Father of it and abides not in truth. John 8:44
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1. The fig tree may have been recalcitrant.
2. OR, although the environment (temperature and moisture content of
the soil, and sunlight), may have been supportive of the early show of
leaves, perhaps the roots of the fig tree were not yet deep enough to
glean the rich nutrients needed for the fruit to develope.
3. Either way the fig tree was out of line with its own nature.
4. Much more to this. But it is really quite simple when you consider
God's universe.
5. Jesus did the right thing in stopping that tree in its tracks.
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in response to Gary:
the man who God gives the one talent to is the man with 5 talents who has earned an extra 5 (total 10 talents).
Also the Luke version states that there were 10 servants who were all given 1 mina (NIV). Also in the Luke version the servant is sent to slay the Master's enemies and is not sent into the darkness. My personal opinion on this is that the Matthew and Luke are not in fact the same story, just very similar stories. Jesus probably told the same parable dozens of times to different audiences and so adapted the parable to suit the audience. This may be the explanation why the two versions are differ in the two records. I hope that helps you.

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so what would the moral of this be?
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Quote: The ultimate sin, is sin against the holy spirit!

That is not what the bible says! I am tired of these lying preachers adding to the Word of God!

Matthew 12
31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

Example of blasphemy against the Spirit

Matthew 12
22 Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23 All the multitudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?"
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons."


blasphemous language (expressing disrespect for the Holy Spirit, calling the work of the Holy as Evil)
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Denny,

I really enjoy your musings. I tend to agree with you about most of what you say. I think that makes you a very wise person - in my estimation :)

Humility is not groveling in the dust, calling God a liar. The apostle Paul called that "false humility". True humility is when we agree that God's view and opinion is reality. True humility is when we agree with God who says we are righteous. We WERE sinners but not now.

The parable of the "unprofitable servant", (Luke 17) when taken out of context might, at first blush, seem to be telling us to work hard for God and not expect any words of thanks. But Jesus had just finished telling of the great power that is available to us if we would just believe it. "Lord, increase our faith", prayed the apostles.

If I'm commanding sycamine trees to be uprooted and planted in the sea, then such power might go to my head, don't you think? Jesus warned us to do these great works of God and keep in mind that He is the source of our power.

Far from trying to connect people with a sense of inadequacy, Jesus parable is a warning NOT to let all this power go to our heads. Jesus has all power in heaven and earth and if we are in Him, so do we. If Jesus can walk on water then so can I. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in me. If Jesus can heal the sick then so can I. If Jesus can raise the dead, so can I. "I can do all things", the apostle said, "through Christ which strengeneth me".

Do all things, small and great and remember always to give God the glory. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:6) By acknowledging God in all that we do, He keeps us on the strait and narrow. That's a promise I can use.

And the scripture was fulfilled which said, "And Rob and Denny believed God and it was credited to them for righteousness."

God has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Rest in the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit.

Your brother,
Rob

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I just wanted to thankyou Raphael. I had at first misunderstood what it was that you were saying, but in finishing what you had written I was very pleased to see that it was a great confirmation fo the Love that is given us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thankyou and God bless you!

Your Brother in Christ,

Christopher
Lynn
Godwin

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i need to know a modern day example of thee good sameritain. if you can help me that would bu great
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The 13th chapter of Matthew is both a fork in the road and a litness test for the believer in Christ. Are you going to read the Bible with Jewish or Gentile definations? What is your interpertative stance? Do you read it as you always have or do you read it as it is?

Like all definations and types in the Bible, the must be taken in context and remain consistant with any usages in previous passages. Leaven is always used as a type of sin. To a Jew, putting leaven in the bread (the reference is the fellowship offering in the book of Leviticus) is a very bad thing. (In the book of Genesis, Sarah is asked by Abraham to make a fellowship offering for Lord and two angels and to use unleavened bread.)

This scripture is clear. In the kingdom of heaven there is sin that permeates the kingdom and is found everywhere. Now before you think that I am spreading heresy . . . just what is the kingdom of heaven anyway? Is it just a place of the saved or is it more than that.

Follow my logic. Both Jesus and John the Baptist began preaching, "Repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand." They do not define this "kingdom" but just proclaim it. (It is from our New Testament only theology that we draw the conclusion that the kingdom of heaven is just the rehealm of the saved. In the Old Testament, the kingdom and the temple are always two separate entinitys. Salvation is appropriated at the temple. Justice and judgment is found at the throne. The law is appeased at the temple. The law is fulfilled at the throne.

The kingdom of heaven is the economy of God, not the people of the kingdom. It is how Christ will rule, not those who are ruled. It is Him, not us. We enter the kingdom by making Christ our King. (This is not Lordship salvation. Our salvation is by Christ our High Priest. Our purposes and placements are from our King. The kingdom of heaven exsists now in the spirit but one day it will be both in the spirit and in the flesh. Jesus will come back and rule from His throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years. Many of these parables in Matthew 13 are about His Millienial Reign. It is this Millienial Reign that will begin with the second coming of Christ and end with a war with the people of the earth who reject Him and follow Satan when he is loosed for a while. There will be fleshly people in the Millienial Kingdom and it is these carnal people and their pride that will be the sin that perminates the kingdom of heaven.

When you study the term "kingdom" from Moses thru David and the split kingdom, you will find that "kingdom" is not about who is being governed but how the people are governed. After His second coming, Christ will reign over the whole earth with a rod of iron but many will reject and hate this and thus be the unleaven bread that permeates the loaf.

I hope that this brief explanation is adequate. We are all woefully ignorant of the millienial reign. (Many popular end-times books and movies and teachers stop just after the second coming and do not realize that there is still an important chapter to go.

Write me if this is vague or confusing.

Peace
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As a pastor of a church for college age people and older people that think more in the postmodern context , we find ourselves hearing a lot about the church being relevant. Some think that relevance is not necessary, but I think that is because most people associate relevance with being hip to the culture. While is it true that culture is important and that understanding the culture of the people you are talking to is important, I think this parable shown what true relevance is. True relevance is love, the type of love that Jesus showed, it did not matter to Jesus or the Samaritan for that matter, who the person was that they showed love to. This is not a call for tolerance this is a show of love for and from the unlovable. We as the body of Christ will be relevant when we love, and I mean truly love people, weather they are mature folk, kids, punkers, goths, or just people that we don’t like. Love is the transcendent. Love in spite of will open a persons heart and allow the Holy Spirit to heal them both physically , emotionally and spiritually.
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