Welcome to a new posting of the Weekend Sermon. I thank you for taking the time to read the blog, and I am thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to post these messages.
This has been quite a week where I live. There was an EF-4 tornado in the next county over from where I live. It did a lot of damage. We've also had the wettest month of May in the history of my area of the country. There is a lot of flooding. Please pray that those affected by the tornado will recover, and pray that the storm and rains will let up. Thank you.
In other matters, please be in prayer for those in Mozambique who are recovering from the storm damage. The people in Puerto Rico still need our prayers as well.
Remember to pray that the Ebola outbreak in Congo will come to end. Also pray that the measles outbreaks in various parts of the world will stop.
Pray for peace in the war torn areas of the world. Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and South Sudan continue to need our prayers for peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Mauritius and Taiwan. Pray that many will learn of the love of Jesus.
Today, we will continue with our series of messages which we began last week. We are examining various false teachings that are addressed in the Bible. Even in New Testament times, false ideas were prevalent. Jesus, Paul, Peter, John and Jude all addressed specific false teachings. Last week, we saw that Jesus refuted the false belief of the Sadducees that there is no resurrection.
In today' message, we will look at another false teaching that Jesus addressed during his time on this earth. In Jesus' day, and in ours, there is a false belief that having wealth and good health is a sign that God's favor is upon you. On the other hand, many believed and still believe that sickness and poverty are signs of God's disfavor. Jesus clearly addressed this false teaching in two different passages of Scripture.
In Luke 16, Jesus told the Pharisees that one could not serve both God and money. Jesus said that the things that are highly valued by people are of no importance with God. The Bible says that the Pharisees loved money and sneered and laughed at Jesus. The Pharisees held to the belief that wealth was a sign of the favor of God. They believed that a poor or sick person was under God's judgment. Jesus would tell them a story to prove that this was not a correct belief.
Jesus said that there was a rich man who clothed himself in purple. He had it all. At his gate was a beggar who didn't have anything to eat. The beggar named Lazarus was sick and had sores on his body. The dogs would come and lick at his sores. This can have at least two possible meanings.
In Jesus' time, the people believed that the saliva of dogs had healing properties. The lick of a dog was believed to promote the healing of skin diseases. Jesus might have been saying that only the dog's were willing to help Lazarus. On the other hand, dogs were viewed in a less than favorable way. Jesus may have been saying that Lazarus was in such a bad state that even the dogs were licking him.
Whatever the case, the rich man would not help Lazarus. Lazarus eventually died, and so did the rich man. Jesus said that the rich man ended up in hell while Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom which is Heaven.
This parable turned the tables on the Pharisees false teaching and belief. Lazarus was as bad off as a person can be in this life, yet he was loved by God and went to be with the Lord. The rich man went to hell. His wealth was not a sign of God's favor.
Jesus dealt with this same false teaching in another passage of Scripture. In John 9, Jesus and His disciples come across a man that was born blind. Jesus' disciples had bought into the false teaching that was common in that day. They asked Jesus if the blind man or the blind man's parents had sinned causing the man to be blind. Jesus said that neither had. That didn't have anything to do with why the man was born blind.
In our day and age, some still hold to the false ideas that Jesus spoke against. Some teach that if a person lives right and has enough faith that they will have prosperity and health. This is not the teaching of the Bible, and it is not the teaching of Jesus.
If you love the Lord and serve Him, you may be poor and you may have bad health. You may have a lot of money and have the best health possible and not serve the Lord at all.
So much damage has been done to people because they've been told that they are sick because of sin in their lives or that they don't have enough faith. This is just wrong. I was told these things when I was young. I had an immune system disorder and was sick all the time. But that didn't mean that I was a involved in some terrible sin or that I didn't believe that God could heal me.
There are people all over this world who don't have much money or very many nice things, but they love the Lord with all of their hearts. There are also many who serve God faithfully each day in spite of the fact that they suffer from sickness and pain.
One day, the Lord will restore everyone to perfect health in the world to come. Everyone will have all that they need. The Lord asks us to be faithful to Him. He asks us to serve Him with all of our hearts.
Next week, we will look at a false teaching that Paul had to deal with. I will post the sermon on Saturday next week. On Monday, I will post the verses. I will try to post a review or a poem on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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