Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. It's Matt Slick live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at CARM.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick live.

For answers, taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. We can have a good time.

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Pretty easy. Hey, let's get on the air with Alan from Virginia. Alan, welcome.

You're on the air. Hi, man. How are you doing? I'm doing OK. Hanging in there, man.

So what do you got? All right. It's kind of a long winded question. OK. Um, what does the Bible say about abortion and can it be considered self-defense and not murder if an abortion would save the mother from death? The Bible doesn't say that anything about it as a form of self-defense, if that's going to happen. The reason is the Jews trusted God and they believe that opening the womb was a blessing from God. So the idea of killing it would be an assault on the relationship with the true and living King, the God of Israel. And it just wouldn't be something that they would do. The Bible doesn't address that issue of of, so to speak, a self-defense reasoning in that sense.

That's just a modern kind of a of a perversion of what abortion is and for. OK. And I can ask you more and I'll tell you more. But go ahead.

Oh, no, you go ahead. All right. Well, what's your next question?

What do you got? Oh, oh, that was that was that was it. OK. So here's some of the things I talk about when I talk about the issue of abortion.

You know, a column, I don't have any. Well, let's put this way and be careful here. But the issue of abortion, what is it? It is killing of life.

And people will say it's not a human life. So I have questions. I ask and I ask, is it alive? That thing that's growing in the womb? First question. And the answer, of course, has to be yes.

And they don't even want to say I've talked to so many pro boards and they don't even want to answer the question. And it's just a massive cells. OK, some massive cells alive, you know, and I think, you know, finally they'll say, yes, it's alive. And I said, OK, what's its nature? Is its nature human or not human? Because if it's human, you've got a problem. If it's not human, then that would not be your necessary position. And they don't like being led down the road using logic. They certainly don't like that. And they'll say, if it's not human, then what is it? And they don't have any answer for that. So and I go on, I say, so if it's not human, when does it become human?

And then you get all kinds of different answers from pro boards. Well, when it's born, oh, so two minutes earlier, when it was in the womb, it wasn't human, but was outside the womb. Now it is human. So what happens to the nature of that life that changes it from non-human to human simply by going through the birth canal?

What changes in its nature? And they go on and on, abortion is basically indefensible. And they'll say it's, well, it's a protection, you know, my body, my right. Well, you can do, that's not, that's not even true. My body can do whatever you want.

That's not even true. Because if you take heroin and do all these drugs, you can get arrested for that. That's your body, right? And prostitution is supposed to be, supposed to be illegal. And so that's another form. And just this, this principle, well, my body, I can do what I want with it.

Well, no, you can't in most areas. Yeah, but it's not a universal statement of just in any sense, in any way. And furthermore, that which exists inside of the womb is not your body. It is different because if you, you know, the baby is in there and has a, you know, a head and arms and legs, and if it's your body, then do you have four arms and four legs and two heads?

Of course not. Well, then how's it your body? You mean that the thing inside of you is now subject to whatever you do with your body. So now it's okay for the mom to kill the baby. Yeah, and I go on, I love discussing it with them because it's easy to deal with using logic in their own arguments, but they're just so full of condemnation and hatred for the life in them.

Yeah, it's bad. Yeah, if I wanted to reference certain parts of scripture with it, is there, do you have certain sections of the Bible that you could reference me to? Sure. The Bible says, thou shalt not murder.

Okay. And you go to Exodus 20 for that and Genesis 9, 6 and Matthew 15, 19. And the unborn is a person and David, they'll go this way.

When, let's see, I'm trying to find the exact reference. The child conceived, Matthew 1, 20 through 21 is of the Holy Spirit and it's called a child, the child that you have conceived. It's already called a child. And then in Luke 1 41, when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. So that is, well, that's interesting. So that is a designation in the scripture is calling it a baby. And I was able to leap to hearing of a voice and let's see what else that we got.

There's stuff like that. So here's Exodus 21, 22 through 23, Exodus 21, 22, 23. If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with a child so that she gives birth prematurely, if there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as a woman's husband made demand of him and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there's any further injury, then you shall appoint as penalty life for life. This strongly indicates that the Mosaic law viewed you on board as a person. So that's Exodus 21, 22, 23. It's the eye for an eye argument, right?

I'm sorry, what? It's the eye for an eye argument, right? Yeah, it's that. And that's called the apoditic law. And so let me give you what the context is, why the apoditic law was given. The apoditic law, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, that was to stop what's called blood revenge. Blood revenge was the escalation of vengeance. So if someone injured somebody, then their brothers would go injure that person.

Well, then that person who just now got injured, that family's brothers would go in and go get the other family now. And it just escalates back and forth. So it's called the apoditic law and it was given to stop the rise of blood.

The rise of what's called blood revenge. So that's what's going on. And what he's doing here, God is saying, look, you kill the unborn. You're going to pay with your life.

It's a form of murder. So, all right. If you don't mind, could I ask one more question? Or I took so much of your time already. That's okay.

Go ahead. So where is the line between self-defense and murder? If I'm in my home and someone comes in and attacks me personally, and I can tell through the struggle that he intends to kill, and I kill him in defense, that's justified. If this same individual is seeking to destroy the life of my wife, trying to kill her, and I kill him in the process of trying to stop it, then that's justified. Now, the issue of self-defense means that there is an aggressor against you who's seeking to do harm to you. That's not the case with a baby. A baby in the womb is not an aggressor, is not seeking to do harm. It's just simply alive. So how can it be justified to say it's self-defense?

And that's the poor reasoning that people will use. Now, I have to say a couple things here. One is that if anybody out there listening has had an abortion, you can find forgiveness in the person of Jesus Christ. And I know this. Read my testimony. You can find forgiveness in him. He is the one who forgives.

And I say, look to him and trust in him. I forgot my other point I was going to make. Darn it. I hate it when I do that.

But I want people to turn to Christ. Okay. Anyway, I forgot what I was going to say. You there? All right. Yep, I'm here. I'll just make, I want to interrupt you.

No, it's all right. Are you a Christian? Uh, yeah, I am. Okay. So can you ask what the questioning is about? You don't have to tell me.

I mean, just curious, you know? Um, it's more so, I mean, I just thought about it recently and, um, it has no relation to anything that's happening around me. It's just, I'm trying to learn through the Bible and I want to use you as a resource to kind of be a catalyst to learn a little bit faster.

Okay. Well, you know, if that, this means anything, uh, the catalyst to learn a little faster, you can go to the CARM website and just read, because I write articles to be concise. You can go to the abortion section and just read through various issues and things about abortion. And so there's, is that CARM? C-A-R-M?

Yep, C-A-R-M. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, CARM.org. Oh, I remember I was going to say the other thing, um, was what do you do if the doctor comes to you and says that the baby, for a fact, will kill, uh, the mother, uh, by the development and some unusual, very unusual, uh, situation. And then the mother goes to another doctor and he says the same thing, and let's say a third, same thing is said, so she's going to die if she continues. That's the only condition I can see is, uh, could be argued as a justification for terminating that, that life because otherwise both will die.

And so that's the only thing I could see is would be justifying it. And a couple other points is my wife and I had a baby, um, Jacob who, uh, had holoprosencephaly, a birth defect, and he, if he'd have survived, he'd have been at best a vegetable. And it was offered that we could abort the baby instead of going through the pregnancy and to, I just, one of my proudest, proudest moments of my life, seeing my wife say to the nurse, no, don't ever bring that up again.

We're going to have this baby. Oh man, I just had such respect for her for that. And so, uh, there's that. Um, but, uh, even then, who are we to decide who can live and who can die when the life that we're weighing in a balance has done nothing wrong. And then, so what happens is the people who want to kill it do so because of convenience and fear. And so they, they lessen the value of that human life in the womb based on their own needs.

And this is the height of selfishness and needs to be avoided and trust God through it. Anyway. Okay. All right. I appreciate it, Matt. Thank you.

All right, brother. God bless. Hey, let's get on the air here with Elijah from Pennsylvania. Elijah.

Welcome. You're on the air, buddy. Hey, Matt. Uh, I would like to continue our conversation about that that we had. Sure, baptism, but we've got a break. Hey, just now perfect timing, I guess.

So if you can hold on to after the break. Okay. Hey folks, we have three open lines. If you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276, we will be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right. I want to welcome back to the show. Let's get back on here with Elijah.

Elijah, you're on the air. Yeah. Um, my, uh, uh, question is concerning that same, uh, on this preacher that helped you by yesterday. Um, so, so, uh, you're, you're aware that, that, that the one disposition, they believe that, uh, Matthew 28, 19 is referring to the one person of Jesus. Uh, are you aware of that argument?

I've heard all kinds of stuff. Um, what I ask him is why don't you do what Jesus said? And if they say it's his one name, uh, well then why is his one name a Trinity?

Yeah. Um, so, so, uh, one of the arguments that, that one, this preacher like to say, uh, when he like does, if you do videos trying to trying to refute that, uh, the Trinitarian arguments for their reasons for doing the Trinitarian formula and baptism, um, uh, he, he, he likes to, uh, show or bring up that Trinitarian is like to say, uh, uh, you know, uh, I think it's an ad for where they say by what authority do you do this in? And, and then, so, so, so he says that, uh, well, well, especially Trinitarian is like to say that the phrase in the name of Jesus means in the authority of Jesus, uh, he then asked the question, well, what name bears all authority?

So, so, uh, how would you answer him if you were to ask that question? Yeah, he doesn't understand the issue. He he's, uh, he's ignorant about that in the name of, as a phrase designating authority, you don't say, and what's that name?

Yeah, it's the wrong question. It's in the name of stop. In the name of the law is an expression that we say that this concept of that law has the authority. So when you have the person of Jesus stop in the name of law, it's you baptize in the name of Jesus is by the authority that Christ has. And he's given to the church to be able to do that kind of a thing. And when you do that, you do that in a, uh, you say, I baptize you name of the fathers and Holy spirit. Furthermore, the name is used, uh, elsewhere in Matthew five 43. For example, Jesus says, I've come to my, in my father's name and you did not receive me. And in Matthew 10 25, Jesus answered, I told you, and you do not believe the words that I do in my father's name. These testifies me. So the phrase in the name of, or in the father's name and in Christ's name, this is just designating the authority. That's all it is.

This guy couldn't argue his way out of a wet paper bag. Okay. Okay. All right.

Yeah. And I emailed, I think it's the same guy. I'd like you to send me some information if you would on this guy to info at karm.org. And I emailed, uh, I did some research and emailed and he said the Trinity and oneness are both heresies. So I said, Hey, why don't we get together and have a discussion on this?

Haven't heard back yet that I've checked. So, uh, we'll see, but you, uh, you, uh, emailed, uh, gave the street feature and he responded to you. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

And I said, are you oneness? And if I get the right one, this is why I'm asking you, send me the information because maybe I get the wrong guy, but it certainly looks like it. It looks like he's in his thirties and a white guy. And I think he had a beard or dark hair.

I know that. And so, um, he was after preaching, got signs and stuff like that. So if I, unless I messed up somehow, I emailed him and, uh, are you oneness? And, uh, he said, no, it's a heresy. And so the Trinity, and I said, oh, well, you want to discuss the Trinity with me and on a live discussion. And that's what I'm waiting for to have a response on that. Oh, Hey, it's back. Here it is.

I got it. Uh, we do not debate as it's a sin. Romans 1 29 brother.

This guy doesn't know what he's doing. Um, we put forth biblical teaching as use a biblical wording when teaching and discussing doctrine. You people cannot do that as you are embedded in the delusion that God has given you as stated no back and forth.

We have much work to do and little time to waste, uh, email blocked and marked as spam. Okay. So, uh, so there you go. Uh, let's go to Romans 1 29. He says debate is sinful. Let's look at that. Let's see what he's got here.

Romans 1 29 being filled with all in righteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, and gossips. That's not about debate. Now, just so you guys can know if you're making your phone making noises, man. So, uh, it says here, uh, can I, uh, can I tell you something?

Yeah. So, so, uh, I, I, I do believe you have the right guy because, because he's, he's made videos of him responding to emails and that does sound like his tone. Also, I, I, I call him oneness because that's obviously what he believes, but he doesn't realize that that's the doctor he believes because he, he has said on his channel that he believes Trinity and oneness are both wrong. But, but, but, but, but at the same time, he believes in one of the doctrine.

And also he's a, he's a King James only. So if you read the King James version of that verse, you'll find the word debate is in the King James version. Oh, let me go. Let's go. Let's go there then. Let's see, uh, Romans 1 29, uh, debate says the word debate. So therefore, um, so debate is wrong. So, uh, interesting. All right. Well then my response is this, uh, you go to acts.

I mean, I can look at, I'll get that verse cause I'm gonna do a video probably on him. You go to act 17 and it says that Paul was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and that word reasoning is deal again too, and it means to go back and forth and dialogue and go back and forth. So that's exactly what it is that he is doing there. He's going back and forth with them because look, notice what it says.

Now, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him. And, uh, so he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles and in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be present. So you do to debate it, go back and forth, they have disagreements. All right.

And you work through it. So is this guy's going to be consistent. This is why he can't think properly.

He does not have to put things together. Right. Okay. So if you're going to say that debate in, uh, in Romans 1 29 out of the King Jane, which he should never use to be serious in a serious Bible study, seriously shouldn't, uh, then why is it that Paul would go back and forth with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles to discuss? But if he wasn't debating, does that mean they believe everything he said without any discussion? Well, of course not. Of course he was debating with them.

And so this guy, he doesn't know what he's doing. Okay. Simple. Yeah.

Uh, uh, uh, uh, if you want, I can send you his YouTube channel. If you want to, if you want to confirm that that's the same guy, I'm pretty sure it is the same guy. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah.

No problem. He likes to, he likes to film videos of himself, you know, quite a few times preaching at, you know, college campuses, trying to reach the youth and also, and also he likes to preach, preach one of the Roman Catholic Church and, you know, tell them how, how they're in error, but he himself is also in error. Yeah. The Roman Catholic Church is in error. Uh, yeah. So the word, uh, I could go in and do a study on this as reasoning in the synagogue, reasoning in the synagogue, again, uh, reasoning with the Jews, reasoning and persuading them of the kingdom of God, uh, this, uh, carrying on a discussion, uh, discussing, address these issues, argued about the body of Moses, all of this stuff.

You know, I get tired of people who, uh, proclaim the great truth that they have and don't even want to defend it and then misuse scripture and then, uh, go on in their self-righteousness while they condemn others. Problem. And well, okay. All right. Thanks for the conversation, man. All right, man.

God bless, buddy. All right. Perfect timing.

There's a break. All right. Hey folks, we'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned.

Three open lines, 8772072276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 8772072276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right. I'm going to welcome back to the show.

Let's get on here with Elizabeth from Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome. You're on the air.

Hi. Thank you, Matt. Um, I love your show and I gained so much from your show, but I, I, I don't often get to hear a live show. I was in the car Wednesday evening and heard the last few minutes of your broadcast when a caller mentioned the movie, the sound of freedom. And he also mentioned the ministry of lantern rescue here in North Carolina that helps to rescue people being trafficked. You mentioned that you wished Christians supported these types of ministries.

Um, I do too. And I'm part of a ministry here in North called Voice of Christians. And our primary goal is to help rescue persecuted Christians. Um, our founder was himself once a persecuted Christian in his country of Pakistan. And he's here now in North Carolina.

So I just wanted to take a minute to just agree with you and say that we find that most Christians in America are very unaware of the horrific level of Christian persecution going on in the world at this time. And it's just not being talked about. No, it's not. So, um, I'm sure you're familiar with what's going on in, in, um, Nigeria. Absolutely.

Absolutely. And, uh, are you aware of what's going on in Manipur, India? I've heard, uh, if I, I think so it's that Christians are being slaughtered. Is that correct? Slaughtered.

It is a genocide. And our partner here, one of our team members here in North Carolina was just in Manipur, India for three weeks. And because we have contacts in several countries, um, he was able to get in and see firsthand what he calls a Holocaust. And, um, we were able to go in there and bring relief, um, through food and practical help, medical teams, medicine that was provided through our ministry. We partner with Lantern Rescue. Um, our, our, our two ministries work are, have teamed up in the past year and work together, um, to help persecuted Christians. And some of our, you know, they, their focus, if you look at their website is mostly people being trafficked, but there's a lot of persecuted Christians who are being trafficked. Um, we have just unbelievable stories and, uh, people just need to be aware that our brothers and sisters around the world need our support.

They, they feel very alone and, and it means so much to them when they realize people in America remember them. Yeah, it's, uh, it's important. That's for sure. I'm looking, I found the site now, uh, lantern ministry.org and the contact information and support and things like that. Okay. But the other one is voiceofchristians.org.

Okay. Christians.org. And, um, our, uh, founder who's also a very good friend of mine, um, he himself fled for his life because of the persecution he and his wife were under.

And, um, his story, his own story is quite incredible. And so he has such a great heart for these suffering believers and what they're going through because he, he experienced it himself firsthand. And we just, we want people in America to know they need our prayer. They need our financial support. They need those that are called to go and minister in person.

We have a nightly prayer meeting that has been going on for three years now on zoom, and many of the people that are in these other countries will join us. Some of them from refugee camps, because everybody has a cell phone now, you know, and, uh, they can join us. And, um, here's a mother in India two nights ago who her husband and infant daughter were killed. She had to escape because of being a Christian. She had to escape. And now she's in India with her eight-year-old son, hoping to find a husband who can help her because in those countries, you need a husband.

If you want to survive. And yet she's praying for my daughter here in North Carolina. And it's so humbling. It's just so humbling that this woman who is suffering so greatly would pray for me.

Anyway, I didn't mean to do that, but, um, it's very touching. And these stories of these people are just unbelievable. And John, um, who was just in India was being interviewed, um, by Lantern Rescue podcast and, uh, a mother and child were in an ambulance and the ambulance was, I mean, there's the, it's the mob mentality going on right now toward Christians. And there's a whole history there that you don't have time for, but they, women, women in the streets stopped this ambulance, pulled this mother and child out and burned them alive, only because they're Christians.

And this is just one of thousands of horrific stories. And you ask, you know, I'll ask people in my own church, are you aware of the church? Are you aware? And they'll go, no, they don't know. They don't know. And you won't see it, Nigeria or Manipur, India on the nightly news.

No, you won't. We have a missionary in Nigeria and I can't say his name and you can understand why, but this individual has been brought upon charges by some Muslims because of what he's promoting. And I'd be very, very generic, generic, but one of the things I do know is Christians have the right of self-defense and just because we're Christians doesn't mean we have to sit down and be murdered. If that's what the Lord calls someone to do, that's okay. But the Bible tells us that we're to protect the innocent and to intercede for those who are suffering. And I've written on this and it's on my website, but we have the right of self-defense. I'd like to say we have the right of self-defense, but not the obligation.

So Christians have that right to defend themselves from aggressors. They do. And so few of them do in these countries. And probably mostly they can't for the most part.

They're very victimized. Yes. And so, well, if you would ever like to interview either of these men, the one that just went to India or Kaleem, our founder, who himself was a persecuted Christian, they would love the opportunity to share what's going on. Could you send me their contact contact information? I would be glad to, at what email?

info at karm.org, I-N-F-O at info karm, C-A-R-M. Yeah. Okay. Okay, I will do it. Thank you so much. Thank you. God bless your ministry. Thank you for all you do to help us to grow in our faith and become more devoted followers of Jesus. Amen. And God bless your wife. She needs it. Thank you.

I know she does. I've heard you say that. Thank you so much, Matt. Bye bye.

Okay, thanks. Wow. I'm going to check them out, but wow. VoiceofChristians.org and Lantern. I've heard of these before, these ministries. So I'm going to check them out.

I'm going to support them. Do we have the right of self-defense, ladies and gentlemen? Yes, we do. Okay, I've written on this. Physical self-defense is permitted, but it's not obligatory. This is out of Exodus 22.

I'm going to read just the points. I didn't research on this. We have the right and obligation to defend others. That's a biblical mandate. The right and obligation to defend others. So if we can give money to help them be defended, that's good. We are not to take vengeance, however. We are to seek peace, whatever possible. We can flee to avoid persecution. We're to pray for our persecutors. We're to love our enemies. We are in a spiritual battle. We must defend the true gospel.

We're to resist evildoers, whether small in number or large, as well as resisting bad governments. Look at the scriptures for all of this. Our suffering is granted to us by God. Many Christians have accepted death as a testimony of their faith in Christ. In light of possible violence, Jesus told his disciples to buy a sword in Luke 22 36. A lot of people don't know that, but he did.

He even used a scourge to drive people out of the temple. And consider how our actions will affect unbelievers and their trust in the gospel of Christ. And so I have a suggestion of things we can do about this. But yes, folks, we do have the right of self-defense, not necessarily the obligation. And we cannot exercise vengeance. We don't have to sit idly by.

Time for Christians to stand up. Hey, folks, we'll be right back after these messages, four open lines. Give me a call.

Be right back. All right, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276.

Let's get to Luke from Washington. Hey, Luke, welcome back. Hi, Matt. How are you? I'm doing fine. I'm doing okay.

So what do you got? Question. Was Matthias or Paul God's choice to replace Judas as the 12th apostle? I can't understand you.

I'm sorry, what? Was Paul God's choice to replace Judas as the 12th apostle? There's debate about that. Some think that when Matthias was chosen by the choosing of lots that he was the sufficient replacement, but we don't hear anything about him afterwards. So some think that that was an improper selection by the apostles in that they used an Old Testament system of casting lots.

And so some say, well, that probably was wrong to do, but we don't know for sure. And then they say, and because of that, Paul the apostle came in, who's called by Jesus. So some say Jesus was the true replacement for Judas. It would make sense too, because Judas was a Jew who ended up persecuting Christ. And Paul was a Jew who was persecuting Christ. And Judas was damned and Paul was saved. And Jesus chose both of them. Jesus chose Judas and yet he knew he was a devil from the beginning, John 6.70, and Paul was chosen also, and that's Acts 9.15, but for different purposes. Very interesting.

Okay. So what about Silas, Barnabas? They are not apostles like Paul, Silas, Barnabas. Barnabas? They are also apostles.

What about him? So how come you can justify that Paul, there are a lot of apostles, a nuke. Paul was an apostle.

I'm not sure I understand what your question was. So how can you confirm that he is 12 to 1, even though Matthias was not? There are a lot of apostles in it. I'm not confirming. I'm just saying that Paul was an apostle. I'm not confirming.

I'm just saying here's the debate issues, what is discussed, and that's it. So there's reasons, and I don't know for sure. I don't know if there's 13 apostles. There were 13 tribes of Israel. People don't know that, but there were.

So there's some interesting stuff going on there. Okay, thank you. Okay, sure. All right. Hey, guess what?

We don't have any callers waiting. You want to call, you can call 877-207-2276. I think at this point what I can do now is I am going to go into, let's see, where did it go? Where did it go?

Radio questions. There we go. Got it. Had to get into the right area.

All right. Luke 16, the parable of the unrighteous steward. I understand the story, but I'm having trouble understanding the meaning. What is Jesus explaining here using this story? That's a good question.

Let me go to it and I'll explain what's going on. Luke 16, the unrighteous steward. All right.

What am I going to do? Because I don't have a whole bunch of time. I'm going to go through and just read the verses and explain what's going on. And so you can understand why Jesus said what he did.

All right. Now this is Luke 16, verse one. So he was saying there was a rich man who had a manager and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, what is this I hear about you? Given accounting of your management for you can no longer be manager. So what happens is there's rumors going around. People are reporting saying, hey, this is the manager. It sees the guy that was under the land owner who represents the land owner and takes care of the land owner's business.

That's his job. So he would go to the people who were on the land, who were tenants on the land, who would work the land. A lot of times in that situation, a man might own, let's just say 100 acres and he might parcel out one acre or two acres for a family and they would work it. And then the agreement would be they could live on the land. They could do whatever they wanted in the land. And they had to give a 10th of what they produced to the back of the land owner. The land owner and that's the rent. And it's the people would make their livings that way.

No problem with that. Now the manager would be the one who would report to each of them and say, this is what the land owner wants. He wants, instead of 10%, now he wants 11%. And let's say it'll start in three years.

It's giving you a heads up. And that would be the kind of thing that would be done. Or he might say the land owner has stated instead of 10%, he's going to give 9% because the Lord's blessed so much. So the next year it's only 9% that you're supposed to give.

And it'd be this kind of a thing. So the people who work the land believed that when the manager would go to them, he was representing the land owner. All right. Now verse three of Luke 16, the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? Because he knows he's guilty. Because I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg.

I know what I'll do so that when I'm removed from the management, people will welcome me into their homes. He summoned each one of his master's debtors and he began saying to the first, how much do you owe my master? And he said, a hundred measures of oil. And he said, take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50. He said to another, how much do you owe? He says, well, a hundred measures of wheat. He says, take your bill and write 80. And check this out. The master praised the unrighteous manager. Now we'll get into this here.

Now we'll get into this here. So another thing that the manager would do is report from the tenants to the landowner and try and negotiate something for the tenants because he's a go-between. He wouldn't only and always just give the commands of the landowner. He would often talk to the people and maybe say so-and-so, this one person, you know, he's been sick or his animal, his beast died and he's not able to produce this much.

Could you lower his requirement for the next year? These are the kinds of things that would be requested by the tenants as well. And they would take it to the manager who then take it to the landowner.

So it was a back and forth kind of a thing. So undoubtedly they were saying things like to him, you know, we need, you know, less cost or less tax or whatever it is you want to say, or it could be that the manager would just on his own and this would be done. He could go to the landowner and say, have you thought about helping them out? Because they didn't ask, but I can see that they need it.

All right. So think of all of that. So why is this so important? Because the landowner's reputation is critical. In that culture, a man's reputation was extremely important.

And it just was. We really don't have that kind of an understanding in the same way, but it was very, very important and it could mean success or failure to his family. So the people who are getting the word from the manager to write their bills at a lesser amount and pay them off, they're going to rejoice and they're going to praise the landowner. Because ultimately it's the, they're going to believe it's the landowner's decision to go ahead with this, but it wasn't. The manager's being deceptive in order to guard himself.

Oh, wait a minute. Why would the manager approve of that and praise him? Well, it's because the manager, the landowner was kind of stuck because you're a smart man, because in that culture to go back on your word would be a great, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, sin, a great, uh, blotch upon your character. So if, for example, these people are rejoicing, they're having a party because their bills were reduced drastically, they're going to be out there praising this, uh, the landowner. They're going to probably have celebrations. Hey, you know, so-and-so you hear about the, oh, he's great.

How much he reduced you? Oh, this guy's great. So they're going to be doing that. Now you can just see the manager looking at the landowners and now what are you going to do, you know, because if you say that it wasn't you, then, um, they're all going to be very upset about this. And how do they know that you didn't just change your mind later? Now you want more money.

So the landowner is now stuck. He can't let it be known that the manager was deceptive. He praised him. You're smart yet intrudely. And notice what Jesus says, for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness so that when it fails, they will receive you into eternal dwellings. That's the key. What Jesus is talking about in this parable is not the praise and the approval of deception, but what he's talking about is the praise and the approval of doing whatever you got to do to make sure you're okay in relationship to the eternal dwellings.

Because the manager represents, so to speak, each individual, us, and he's doing whatever he can to be taken care of in the future. And that's a wise thing to do. It is a smart thing to do. Sometimes people say to me, Matt, if you don't trust Jesus for the right reasons, what do you mean right reasons? Well, you have to have a sincere heart is just because you love him and not because you're afraid to go to hell.

You say, well, wait a minute. And this is the reputation of that because to be not wanting, I don't want to go to hell. It's not, maybe it's not the best motive.

It's a really good one. And I do trust Christ for that deliverance. Just as the manager did not want to be cast out and be a beggar, he acted shrewdly and he's going to be taken care of and he's praised for it. And Jesus is the one who brings this up and then he relates it to eternal dwellings. So this is an eschatological issue. It's an issue of salvation. Again, verse eight of Luke 16 and his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. And then Jesus says for the sons of this man of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.

You say the ungodly people, you Jews, you know, the ungodly there's more shrewd. They take care of their own and you're not doing this in relationship to your eternal dwellings. And he's talking about himself and trusting in Christ and their hypocrisy.

I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness. He's telling them to do this so that when it fails, they will receive you into eternal dwellings. He's what Jesus is doing is conveying to them how ultimately incredibly important it is for you to be saved. Because when you die and you go to hell, it's eternal torment. It's anguish without end, consciously, forever.

That's what's going on. So that's why this parable teaches eschatological issues regarding the eternal dwellings. And it's about the ultimate or the greatest need is to find your salvation. And even if you have to do it with impure motives, it's better that you find salvation than not, even with impure motives.

And that's what's going on there. I hope that helps you guys out there to understand that parable. I've written on this and talked about this before. And I've got this information out of a book called Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes, a two-volume set. And it was a profoundly influential book for me back in my early days, 40 years ago, reading. I read through that book.

And it's one of the few books I still have that I will never loan out to anybody. There's a man who wrote that. He went out into the Middle East. And he lived there. And he put the parables into cultural context.

And they come alive when you do that. Then it makes sense what Jesus is saying. All right. Hey, folks, we're about out of time. And may the Lord bless you. I hope you have all a great weekend. And by his grace, look back on the air on Monday. And please remember to support us at CARM.org, C-A-R-M dot O-R-G. But also remember Lantern Ministries and Voice of Christians as well.

They're supporting and dealing with those who are being martyred and persecuted because they're Christians while they're doing this in third world countries. Please support them too. May the Lord bless you. And by his grace, back on the air on Monday, have a great weekend, everybody. Talk to you later. Another program powered by the Truth Network.