Hi to my Forum Friends,
In the discussion begun by Uno, titled "Apology To Ono" -- Uno tells O No, "A few weeks ago, I made a post that stated that Jesus commanded that non believers be brought before him to be killed. The exact verse is Luke 19:27 that reads, 'But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them -- bring them here and kill them in front of me.'
I stated these words were uttered by Jesus as an example of the hatred Jesus had for non-believers. You accused me of taking the quote out of context and then posted the entire chapter. I skimmed over what you wrote and then claimed that what you posted did not change the context at all. I was wrong.
So, we can still talk about the hateful intent of Jesus' parable. I think it is a sucky story and would never dream of trying to teach my followers a lesson by insinuating a death threat but, you were right, I was wrong."
And, you are wrong again. When Jesus taught using parables, His intent was to teach a lesson. In this "parable of the pounds" (Luke 19:11-27) He is teaching about the gifts a believer is given -- and the rewards, or lack of rewards, the believer will receive depending upon how he/she uses those gifts.
A believer is told to "Go, Make Disciples, Baptize Them, Teach Them" (Matthew 28:19-20) and to be "His witness" in all the world (Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15). In other words, the believer is told, by Jesus Christ, to take His Gospel to all the lost in the world.
So, the believer who does this diligently -- will be rewarded more abundantly than the believer who receives the gifts -- and then becomes a "Couch Potato Christian." What is a "Couch Potato Christian"? This is one who has been given the tremendous blessing of eternal life in Christ, who has been given a knowledge of God's Word, the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- and, then, just sits on his/her couch saying, "Well, if anyone wants to hear about this, he will ask me" or "I really don't want to push my beliefs on anyone else" or "If I try to share Jesus Christ with people, it will just turn them off and drive them away from Jesus."
My Friends, they are already "away from Jesus!" When a person is on the bottom, the only way to go is up. And, our task, given in the Great Commission, is to help them begin to look up, to look up and find Jesus Christ and eternal life. We are not, in any way, ever, told by Jesus Christ, "You just sit there and wait until someone comes to you and shows an interest."
And, the worst kind of Couch Potato Christian is the one who proclaims, "Jesus told us to love everyone. He did not tell us to preach to them! I will show Jesus Christ to others by just being nice to them!"
WRONG! Jesus told us to "Go, Make Disciples, Baptize Them, Teach Them." We cannot GO as long as we are sitting on our couch -- waiting for them to come to us.
Keep in mind the old saying, "God cannot guide your path -- if you are not moving!"
In this parable, Jesus is speaking of the two judgments to come -- the Believer's Judgment, i.e., Bema Seat Judgment for believers (2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Peter 5:4, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15) and the Great White Throne Judgment for non-believers (Revelation 20:11-15).
For the believers, we read in Luke 19:26 (nkjv), "For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." By this, He is telling us that those believers who have worked diligently to share the Word of God with the world -- will receive great rewards.
But, those Couch Potato Christians who died still waiting for folks to come to them so that they could evangelize -- will get few, if any, rewards in heaven. Oh, don't get me wrong. The greatest reward is being in heaven with our Lord and Savior. But, wouldn't it be much better to hear Him say, "Well done, good servant; because you were faithful. . ." (Luke 19:17 nkjv)?
Now to the verse which has Uno so excited, so giggly, we read in Luke 19:27, "But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me."
So, is Jesus Christ gloating in joy over killing His enemy? No, for we are told in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
However, you and I know there are many, many people who will continue to deny God, continue to deny Jesus Christ, and continue to do all in their power to denigrate God's Written Word, the Bible -- until they breathe their last breath in this mortal body.
At the end of His Millennial Reign on earth, those people WILL be resurrected to stand before Jesus Christ in judgment -- the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) -- and, then, these enemies of Jesus Christ, these people who absolutely refused to receive Him as Lord and Savior -- will go into the second death, the lake of fire, i.e., hell -- because they have chosen this for themselves. They have sent themselves to hell. God did not do this. God offered them every possible way to avoid hell -- but, they refused -- sending themselves into hell for eternity.
These are the people Jesus Christ describes in this "parable of the pounds" -- when He tells the gathered crown in Jericho, "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).
Yes, the non-believers will continue to harden their hearts, they will continue to deny Him as this verse tells us -- until they have passed the point of no return. These people are in the same condition we find described in Hebrews 6:6 where the people had heard the Gospel, had heard the Word of God -- but, had hardened their hearts against Him, turning back to Judaism. Because of their hardened hearts, there is no way for them to be saved -- thus, the unforgivable sin, dying without knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
So, Uno, in your atheistic fervor, you try to blacken the words of Jesus Christ by writing, "So, we can still talk about the hateful intent of Jesus' parable. I think it is a sucky story and would never dream of trying to teach my followers a lesson by insinuating a death threat. . ." All this tells us is that you, Uno, have no understanding, have no desire to understand -- what this Scripture passage, this parable shared by Jesus Christ, is really teaching us.
But, now that I have explained the meaning -- would you like to talk about receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?
It is very simple -- even an atheist can do it! If you would like to talk more about your salvation, please feel free to contact me. We can do this in a Private Message if you like.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
What has a god ever done for them that they could not have done on their own had they chosen to do it?