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Wednesday, November 25 2009
The Messiah's parable of God and mammon (also known variously as the parable of the shrewd manager or the parable of the dishonest steward):
"16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.16:3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 16:4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." (Luke 16:1-4 KJV)
"Ye cannot serve God and mammon"
The parable of the man turning his master's business into his own, that is, using his master's interests to further his own interests, continued.
"16:5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?16:6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil.
And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
16:7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou?
And he said, An hundred measures of wheat.
And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
16:8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." (Luke 16:5-9 KJV)
The Messiah then explained the foremost meaning of the parable - that Christ's servants must not be servants of themselves in Christ's Name, selling themselves by making compromise "deals" with the LORD's Truth (in the time of Christ, "mammon" was a Syrian idol "god" of worldly wealth).
"16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 16:12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?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 the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." (Luke 16:10-15 KJV)
Fact Finder: How is "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (chosing between obedience to God and idolatrous wealth) evident today?
See The Fall Of Satan's Financial Empire; also No Class Struggles In Christianity
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This Day In History, November 25
1644: Ole Romer born. The Danish scientific researcher and astronomer was the first to accurately determine the speed of light - 186,000 miles per second. Light can travel around the entire earth 7 times in 1 second, or travel from the earth to the moon in just over 1 second.
1513: Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first known European to sight the Pacific Ocean. He claimed the entire Pacific Ocean, and all lands anywhere that were touched by it, for Spain.
1555: In Germany, the Peace of Augsburg was declared. It was the first effort in the Holy Roman empire to allow Lutheranism (Protestantism) and Catholicism to exist together in the Holy Roman Empire.
1690: The first newspaper in the United States, the Public Occurances, Both Foreign and Domestic, was published in Boston.
1789: The First Amendment of the United States Constitution stated that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"
1818: The first human blood transfusion took place at a hospital in London, England.
1890: The Mormon Church officially banned polygamy.
1956: The first transatlantic telephone cable between Europe and North America went into service.
1996: Israeli troops and Palestinian security forces exchanged gunfire in Jerusalem and in other areas in Israel, set off by Palestinian opposition to an Israeli historical research tunnel dug in Jerusalem in the area of the Temple Mount. The confrontation was described as the heaviest fighting in Jerusalem since the area was captured by the Jews during the 1967 Six Day War.
