DAT Ministries (Header)

Tag: heaven

Posted on

Sunday’s Knowledge Nugget #007

Parable of the Good Shepherd

Turn with me if you will to the book of John, chapter 10. In my Bible, the title of this knowledge nugget appears as the heading. I am reading from the New American Standard – Updated Edition (NASU). In the Contemporary English Version (CEV), we find the title “A Story about Sheep” and in the New English Translation (NET) Bible, we find “Jesus as the Good Shepherd.” So in reading the first 21 verses of John chapter 10, we have a pretty good idea of who the parable is going to be about.

Let’s look at the first six verses of John Chapter 10:

“1 ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”
John 10:1-6 (NASU)

Verse 6 tells us that “they” did not understand what Jesus was telling them. Who are “they” in verse 6? Is it the disciples or is it a group of Jews; perhaps Pharisees? We have to go to John 9:40 to take this in context. There we find that Jesus is speaking to a group of Pharisees.

Now before Jesus interprets this parable, I want to ask “Do you understand the parable?” In reality, it is interesting to hear the different interpretations I get when I ask this question to the students.

John 10:7-18 provides the explanation of this parable:

“7 So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’ ”
John 10:7-18 (NASU)

So who are the “sheep” that Jesus is referring to in verse 7? And who is “all who came before Me” that Jesus is referring to in verse 8? If you answered correctly, you said that the “sheep” are His followers and the “all who came before Me” are the false shepherds [Note: He is speaking to the Pharisees about themselves…]. Do you think this went “over their heads?” In other words, did the Pharisees understand that He was talking about them? That answer comes in the last three verses of this week’s knowledge nugget:

“19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, ‘He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?’ 21 Others were saying, ‘These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?’ ”
John 10:19-21 (NASU)

We see that an uneven split has occurred. Note that the Word says “many” in verse 20 which is referring to those who do not believe in Jesus. The “others” that verse 21 is referring to are believers in Jesus Christ. Where in Scripture have we seen a similar uneven split? Actually in quite a few places but one place that immediately comes to my mind is Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 and 14:

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

Note the many/few comparison. Do you know what these two verses are referring to? If you said Hell and Heaven, you are correct. Or put another way in another translation:

13 “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. 14 But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (TLB)

But what about the many/few correlation? Does this align with your way of thinking? Do you agree or disagree with this; that FEW will enter Heaven (as compared to those destined for Hell? Is this what a loving God would do to mankind? Considering that these verses appear in RED in the red-letter editions of the Bible, that means that Jesus Christ Himself spoke these words. Do you believe what Jesus Christ has to say?

Wow! A tough but powerful lesson! Let me hear from you either with a comment to this post or via the “Contact Us” form found here.

That will be a wrap for today. You all have been great. I especially appreciate the eMails from folks that either let me know how this ministry has helped them or sent me ideas on content that I could publish. With that, I leave you by speaking this blessing over you:

“I pray that the Lord
will bless and protect you,
and that he will show you mercy
and kindness.
May the Lord be good to you
and give you peace.“
Numbers 6:24-26 (CEV)

Pastor Dave

Posted on

Sunday’s Knowledge Nugget #006

The Rich Man & Lazarus
(Part 3 of 3)

This week I will finish the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. If you have missed the first two installments of this series, I encourage you to go back to Sunday’s Knowledge Nugget #004 and Sunday’s Knowledge Nugget #005 before proceeding with this one in order to understand the entire teaching.

We pick up in verses 27 and 28 of Luke chapter 16.

“27 But the rich man said, ‘Abraham, then please send Lazarus to my father’s home. 28 Let him warn my five brothers, so they won’t come to this horrible place.‘ ”
Luke 16:27-28 (CEV)

The rich man, realizing the peril that he is in, wishes to warn his five brothers of their impending doom. Also, for the first time, the rich man is showing concern for others. But look what Abraham says next:

“Abraham answered, ‘Your brothers can read what Moses and the prophets wrote. They should pay attention to that.’ ”
Luke 16:29 (CEV)

“What Moses and the prophets wrote” is what? Do you know? Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament or the Pentateuch. The prophets wrote the remainder of the Old Testament. Basically, Abraham is referring to the entire Old Testament! So it goes to reason that we should all pay attention to God’s Word; from start to finish. It is the instruction manual for life!

But the rich man was not satisfied with Abraham’s answer. Reading verse 30 of Luke chapter 16 we find:

“Then the rich man said, ‘No, that’s not enough! If only someone from the dead would go to them, they would listen and turn to God.’ ”
Luke 16:30 (CEV)

How often do we hear a request like this? Quite often as it turns out. “If only I could see a miracle, I would believe.” Of course, that line is usually an excuse to go on living a life of sin.

Even the Pharisees had asked Jesus to perform a sign as we see in the following verse:

” ‘Do a miracle for us,’ they said. ‘Make something happen in the sky. Then we will believe in you.’ ”
Mark 8:11 (TLB)

Finally, look at how Abraham responds to the rich man in verse 31:

“So Abraham said,
‘If they won’t pay attention to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even to someone who comes back from the dead.’ ”
Luke 16:31 (CEV)

What Abraham is saying is this. If your brothers will not study the Old Testament with all of its miracles and signs, even sending you back to warn your brothers would have no impact on them. Those types of people will always try to rationalize out what just happened and fail to see God’s Hand in any of it.

Jesus responded in much the same way to the Pharisees as Abraham did to the rich man as seen in the following verse:

“He sighed deeply when he heard this and he said, ‘Certainly not. How many more miracles do you people need?’ ”
Mark 8:12 (TLB)

Oh how true! No matter what miracle is performed, there will still be people that do not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Sad but true. So to recap the entire story as told by Jesus, I turn to The Message translation:

19 “There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. 20 A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. 21 All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.“

22 “Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. 24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’ “

25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. 26 Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.’ “

27 “The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father 28 where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’ “

29 “Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’ “

30 ” ‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’ “

31 “Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’ “

Luke 16:19-31 (The Message)

I hope you have enjoyed the past three “knowledge nuggets” that covered Luke 16:19-31. It is a powerful story made even more powerful by the fact that this does not appear to be Jesus telling a parable since Lazarus is mentioned. Biblical scholars believe this to be a true and factual event because none of Jesus’ parables use a person’s name. We covered that in the first week of this series.

That will be a wrap for today. You all have been great. I especially appreciate the eMails from folks that either let me know how this ministry has helped them or sent me ideas on content that I could publish. With that, I leave you by speaking this blessing over you:

“I pray that the Lord
will bless and protect you,
and that he will show you mercy
and kindness.
May the Lord be good to you
and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (CEV)

Pastor Dave

Posted on

Sunday’s Knowledge Nugget #005

The Rich Man & Lazarus
(Part 2 of 3)

Today, we look closely at verses 24 through 26 in Luke Chapter 16. There are some word studies that require investigation so that we fully understand these graphic verses. If you missed last week’s Sunday’s Knowledge Nugget #004, take the time to go back and read it. This “knowledge nugget” will pick up where that left off.

In verse 24, the rich man begs Father Abraham to have pity on him. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus:

“to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”
Luke 16:24b (NIV)

We know that Hades is hot. So much so that the rich man is “dying” of thirst. Verse 24 is full of contrast. Originally, it was Lazarus that was seeking out the Rich Man for relief from hunger. Now it is the Rich Man seeking out Lazarus for relief from thirst. Originally, all that Lazarus wants are the crumbs that fall from the Rich Man’s table. Now, all that the Rich Man wants is the tip of Lazarus’ finger to be dipped in water for that one drop of water to cool his tongue.

Reading verse 25:

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”
Luke 16:25 (NIV)

It is fitting that Abraham addresses the rich man as “son” because he is indeed a descendant of Abraham. The rich man probably was remembering his upbringing which includes teachings on holy living and Jewish law. Next, Abraham says to “remember” which is what those in Hades will do every day. They will remember what could have been if they had done things differently. Abraham reminds the rich man that he has received good things while Lazarus received bad things while they were both alive. Now, after death, it is the other way around. The rich man will have plenty of time to remember. How foolish of the rich man to waste a lifetime on material wealth without the love of God and now to spend eternity remembering what could have been. His lifetime of flamboyant living is a mere minuscule fraction of a picosecond of time, i.e. infinitesimally small amount of time, compared to the time he will now spend in torment — ETERNITY. And all he can do is remember, remember, remember…

And the last verse that we will cover today is verse 26:

“And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
Luke 16:26 (NIV)

In the King James Version, the word “chasm” is translated “gulf” whereas the original Greek word is “chásma” which means impassable interval. With the addition of the word “fixed,” we understand that the separation of Heaven and Hades will never be passable. Not that anybody in Heaven would want to visit Hades nor could anyone in Hades escape to Heaven. Once death departs us from this world, the next life is for eternity. Reflect on that for a few minutes. Who are you more like; the Rich Man or Lazarus? Do you think God is trying to tell you something?

If you feel a need to talk with Pastor Dave about your future, please don’t hesitate to use the Contact Us form. Your eternal life very much depends on the choices you make now in this life as this story illustrates. Some scripture that you may wish to read are John 3:1-21 and Romans 10:8-13.

Next week we will finish this story by reading verses 27 through 31. You don’t want to miss that one! See you then…

That will be a wrap for today. You all have been great. I especially appreciate the eMails from folks that either let me know how this ministry has helped them or sent me ideas on content that I could publish. With that, I leave you by speaking this blessing over you:

“I pray that the Lord
will bless and protect you,
and that he will show you mercy
and kindness.
May the Lord be good to you
and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 (CEV)

Pastor Dave

DAT Ministries' worldwide visitors come from:
Free counters!

Copyright © 1999 – 2025

All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Where DATM Visitors are from since 15 June 2015