Sound doctrine producing fear – parable of the minas; John 16:6; Luke 19:12-27.

Title: Sound doctrine producing fear - parable of the minas; John 16:6; Luke 19:12-27.

 

John 16:6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

 

Jesus doesn’t have to be a mind reader in order to see the gloom on their faces. “What in the world in going on? Where is He going, why is He going, why crucifixion, we want to ask a question but where to begin?”

 

When your life is changing rapidly and confusion blossoms you must learn to be patient and keep learning and in time the reasons for the changes will be made clear.

 

Just because we are correct in some assumptions doesn’t mean we will always be right. Be prepared for changes and don’t be shocked by them.

 

This is mental anguish because of no ECS to orient to the plan of God. Therefore there is shock, anguish, distress. At this point the disciples should be reflecting glory and obviously the light is out.

 

In the last few hours Christ has presented them with the most exciting doctrine the world has ever seen and they are sorrowful. This is a total lack of orientation to the plan of God.

 

Jesus has clearly presented His death, burial, resurrection and ascension as a part of the plan for the first advent.

 

1. Instead of rejoicing in the victory of Christ the disciples are in mental pain and anguish - failure to understand God’s purpose.

 

At a critical moment the eleven disciples are all disoriented to the real purpose of God’s plan for redemption and glory.

 

2. Doctrine must meet with reality in your life through faith in God’s purpose.

 

3. Instead of orienting to the cross, the departure, the moving forward of the plan of God, they have associated the death of Christ with catastrophe.

 

4. They therefore cannot recognise the principle of Romans 8:28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 

I have much to say on this principle before we get to #5.

 

If we are against His purpose then we are rejecting our election. One who does that does not love God, but is only looking for God to help them with their own purposes. And I’m not talking about sin, but purposes that would seem quite legitimate but are not in accordance to what God has revealed.

 

Grief and sorrow have filled their heart and so true doctrine was metabolized into false wisdom. They believed this was a catastrophe.

 

The heart is the place of the soul where information is metabolized or believed as truth.

 

As God the Holy Spirit metabolizes doctrine for the heart, the OSN metabolizes fears, grief’s, anxieties in the heart so that these sins become the negative believer’s “wisdom.”

 

And let this point not escape your notice - the disciples developed fears, grief’s, and anxieties from hearing sound and wonderful doctrine.

 

By looking at the doctrine from the wrong perspective of self the disciples developed fear instead of strength; anxiety instead of peace; and grief instead of joy.

 

This is how the truth can cause one to fear instead of developing courage, strength, joy, love, and peace.

 

ROM 8:15

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

 

Luke 19:11 And while they were listening to these things, He went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

 

This is a few days before His triumphal entry into Jerusalem for His last Passover.

 

Passover season was always an emotionally charged time for the Jews, because it reminded them of their deliverance from the slavery of Egypt. This annual celebration aggravated the misery of their bondage to Rome and made them yearn all the more for a deliverer. Of course, there were subversive groups Like the Zealots who used commando tactics against Rome, and politicians like the Herodians who compromised with Rome, but most of the Jews rejected those approaches. They wanted God to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies and send them their promised King.

 

They were primed for Christ and never more ready for Him, but they sought earthly glory instead of seeing their true need for salvation from their sins. The Levitical offerings had lost their meaning. Ritual had lost its reality.

 

Jesus knew that many of the people in the crowd were hoping to see Him establish the kingdom, so He gave this parable to clarify things. Many of the people who listened no doubt connected it with an event in Jewish history that had occurred several years before.

 

Luke 19:12 He said therefore, "A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.

 

When Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., he left Judea to his son Archelaus, who had to go to Rome to have the inheritance approved.

 

Not wanting Archelaus as their ruler, the Jews sent fifty men to argue their case before Augustus Caesar, who did ratify the inheritance without giving Archelaus the title of "king."

 

Archelaus was met with opposition when he took his seat in Palestine and he called his army to put down rebellion and 3000 Jews were killed by his army.

 

Luke 19:13 "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back.'

 

This is not the same as the parable of the talents in Mat 25. In that parable there are three slaves and each is given a different amount; 10, 2, and 1. The parable of the talents is a reference to the Tribulation. This parable seems to reference the CA, for here, each is given an equal amount - EPEO. The Jews are at a time of great nationalism and are expecting the kingdom as are the disciples, and Jesus assesses this and so He teaches a parable that reveals the intercalation of the Church into the program for Israel and the principle is unmistakeable, which is, don’t be afraid to invest what God gave you at salvation into the plan of God, for you will not lose, you will only gain more.

 

Luke 19:14 "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.'

 

The citizens are not the slaves. These refer to the Jews who hated Archelaus and will also hate Jesus Christ, therefore they are the unbelievers of Israel.

 

Luke 19:15 "And it came about that when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him in order that he might know what business they had done.

 

Now there is a significant change that indicates that this is in no way a reference to Archelaus since he was not made king but ethnarch, which is more like a governor or magistrate. Jesus Christ is the King in view who did receive the kingdom forever.

 

Only three slaves are mentioned out of the ten. These slaves are believers and this evaluation is like the JSOC. The first two took what they were given and invested it in the plan of God.

 

Luke 19:16 "And the first appeared, saying, 'Master, your mina has made ten minas more.'

 

Luke 19:17 "And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities.'

 

It is interesting to note that being responsible with what he was given led to a reward that included more responsibility.

 

That is a blessing to the one who actually enjoys the CWL. If Christianity is a burden to you because you have received the word of God under the wrong nature then you’ll want to do the minimum.

 

Notice also that the profit is given back to the king as it is in heaven as we cast our crowns at the Savior’s feet, however more blessing is bestowed on the slave, more than he could have ever imagined.

 

Luke 19:18 "And the second came, saying, 'Your mina, master, has made five minas.'

 

Luke 19:19 "And he said to him also, 'And you are to be over five cities.'

 

Luke 19:20 "And another came, saying, 'Master, behold your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;

 

Luke 19:21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.'

 

He states the power of the king. He can take anything he wants. And that is certainly true of TLJC, however, what this man does not know, or has failed to learn, is that this King is righteous, just, loving, and gracious.

 

Hearing doctrine from the wrong perspective - how is this going to affect me - leads to a false understanding of doctrine and therefore false doctrine.

 

Doctrine leads to occupation with Christ. If it leads to more occupation with self then the believer have taken a wrong angle, a wrong perspective, and he has therefore heard the truth and in his OSN controlled soul twisted the doctrine within himself into false doctrine, and for this reason he doesn’t invest.

 

In any investment there is the fear of losing, unless you are investing in a plan designed by the perfect, just, and righteous God.

 

This is a fear we don’t often refer to. It is the fear of the plan of God. The fear results from contemplating the loss of self, the loss of neural pathways that have fed me pseudo-happiness, the loss of certain relationships that I think are beneficial and profitable, the loss of whatever confronts the believer under the command to lose your life [soul priorities] that you may find it.

 

Fear of the plan of God in the believer results from hearing doctrine from a wrong perspective under the belief that the old nature should be protected for its perceived profit.

 

James 4:13

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."

 

Phil 4:17

Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. [this is the profit of giving away?]

xxx