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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 21 - Sensible Steward
Luke 12:45-47
45 But and [de] if [ean] that [ekeinos] servant [doulos] say [epo] in [en] his [autos] heart [kardia] , My [mou] lord [kurios] delayeth [chronizo] his coming [erchomai] ; and [kai] shall begin [archomai] to beat [tupto] the menservants [pais] and [kai] maidens [paidiske] , and [te] to eat [esthio] and [kai] drink [pino] , and [kai] to be drunken [methusko] ;
46 The lord [kurios] of that [ekeinos] servant [doulos] will come [heko] in [en] a day [hemera] when [hos] he looketh [prosdokao] not [ou] for [prosdokao] him, and [kai] at [en] an hour [hora] when [hos] he is [ginosko] not [ou] aware [ginosko] , and [kai] will cut [dichotomeo] him [autos] in sunder [dichotomeo] , and [kai] will appoint [tithemi] him his [autos] portion [meros] with [meta] the unbelievers [apistos] .
47 And [de] that [ekeinos] servant [doulos] , which [ho] knew [ginosko] his [heautou] lord's [kurios] will [thelema] , and [kai] prepared [hetoimazo] not [me] himself, neither [mede] did [poieo] according [pros] to his [autos] will [thelema] , shall be beaten [dero] with many [polus] stripes. KJV-Interlinear
45 'But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47 'And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, NASB
The slave in Gods household in this parable represents any believer. Unbelievers are never a part of Gods house. So this slave is representative of one who has believed in Christ, but has gone negative toward God and His Word. He neither studies, or he doesn't study consistently if he studies at all. He has a tendency to abuse others in his periphery. That is a description of his acting from within his sin nature, as he is obviously not functioning from within the fellowship sphere.
So, here Jesus states just how this disobedient believer will be treated.
Know too that when we leave this world, we as believers, regardless of our spiritual status, will have no more sorrow, no more tears, no more anything that we associate with pain or suffering. So this principle applies to this life and not to ones life in eternity (after death).
There are no degrees of pain in the Lake of Fire. Eternal separation from God is just that, and to imply that there will be degrees of suffering in hell, or to imply that believers might visit hell for a short time is ridiculous and contrary to all that the Bible teaches.
So, we have yet another category of person described in this passage. There are two kinds of people, believers and unbelievers. Within the believer category, people can be divided up into two additional categories, or perhaps three if you really want to make additional distinctions within the believer community.
The first is the largest of groups. These include most believers who do not give a hoot about God. Somewhere along the way they just became disinterested. They do not study, they do not believe in the Bible, or even care for it. They do not grow up spiritually obviously. This category also includes those who think they can live their life in a manner of their own definition. They pick and choose what they will believe and what they will abide by. Their lives are filled with compromises, excuses, explanations as to why they pursue their own paths in life.
The second category within the believer group consists of those folks who study from time to time. They have a little growth, but they just do not have what it takes to advance to maturity. When trouble comes along they get upset, angry, frustrated, and slip away from God. Then as time goes by they get back into a study format (maybe) or they might attend their church out of guilt or when they need Gods help in their life, which is falling apart. By the way, you could probably sub-divide this group up in to several spiritual growth levels. But it is not necessary for our study.
The third group of believers is the smallest. It consists of mature believers, or those who are advancing to and will eventually attain spiritual maturity. These are the few who persevere through thick and thin, the ones who recognize that life is not easy but the promises of God are far better than anything that this world offers. To these in this last and smallest group, God has set aside many additional blessings for eternity, as well as a phenomenal life during this life on earth.
For those who are not interested in their spiritual life (anyone who does not pursue their spiritual life), then there is the law of the jungle - the lashes of discipline, and the intensified disciplines of being cut into pieces, as it were.
On earth in this life you can either live in fellowship with God and that is tantamount to living inside Gods palace or fortress with Him. Or, you can live outside of fellowship and that places you out in the jungle where there are no protections except as the jungle dictates.
To the believer who is disobedient, then his place (in this life) will be with the unbelievers (functioning in the jungle). The negative believer is imitating the unbeliever, so he might as well be treated like one. The only difference is that the believer is a member of Gods family, therefore he gets a double whammy in his life. He gets the assaults of the jungle, as well as the discipline of God, who is the Father of the family.
Functioning in drunkenness, the eating, the drinking, the partying, the beatings of others is simply a way to describe the believer who is living life as any unbeliever lives it. The drunkenness the beatings and such are representative of living under the control of the sin nature.
In fellowship there are the rules of God within the spiritual life. Outside of fellowship where all negative believers and all unbelievers live, there are only the rules which seem pertinent to them in society. If it is popular then it is Ok. If society frowns on it, then it is not Ok. But there too are office politics, crime, social norms and compromises and such.
All of this is a function of disobedience toward God, and discipline is ordered for that life style. The negative believer (anyone who is inconsistent in their spiritual life) can either learn from the lashings (appropriate for their level of disobedience and understanding) they receive, and then get back on track with their Bible studies, or they might ignore the signs of their lashings and continue to receive more lashings, even intensified lashings (cut into pieces) of sorts. Sooner or later they will wake up and realize their flawed life, or they will die, and depart this life and then realize too late that they have been fools all along.
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Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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