We Are Accountable for What We Know

00:00:00.000 | Welcome back to a new week on the podcast.

00:00:06.280 | We have a question today about the weight of personal accountability that we carry for

00:00:10.720 | what we know of God's word.

00:00:14.040 | It's a short and brief question sent to us from a listener named Kerry in New Mexico.

00:00:19.400 | Pastor John, hello.

00:00:20.760 | Can you tell me if Jesus is directing his rather harsh words in Luke chapter 12, verses

00:00:26.240 | 47 and 48 to Christians or to non-Christians?

00:00:30.360 | I cannot make sense of the context myself.

00:00:33.480 | Well the way Kerry puts the question is just a little bit tricky because the parable that

00:00:38.120 | Jesus just told, he told to Christian disciples.

00:00:45.760 | But the outcome of the parable refers to people who I think are proved not to be Christian

00:00:56.700 | disciples.

00:00:57.700 | So here's, let me just read it and comment as I go so that'll make sense.

00:01:05.280 | Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?"

00:01:11.880 | He just told it to them.

00:01:14.200 | The Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager whom his master will set over

00:01:22.720 | his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time?"

00:01:28.760 | Pause.

00:01:29.760 | In other words, this parable will help you, Peter, know whether you are faithful and wise

00:01:40.520 | or unfaithful.

00:01:41.520 | In other words, he's saying, "Does this apply to us or everybody?"

00:01:44.400 | And he's saying, "Do you fit?

00:01:47.360 | Do you fit?

00:01:48.360 | I mean, if the shoe fits, wear it, Peter."

00:01:50.400 | So he keeps going.

00:01:51.760 | "Blessed, blessed."

00:01:53.320 | Now that's what we want to be.

00:01:55.280 | We don't want to be cursed.

00:01:57.400 | "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

00:02:03.840 | Truly I say to you, he will set himself, he will set him over possessions.

00:02:08.560 | But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming and begins to beat the

00:02:15.320 | male and female servants and to eat and drink and get drunk,' the master of that servant

00:02:23.600 | will come on a day when he does not expect him and in an hour he does not know and will

00:02:30.320 | cut him in pieces and put him..."

00:02:35.840 | Here's the closest thing to a direct answer to Cary's question.

00:02:39.920 | "And will put him with the unfaithful."

00:02:46.120 | So that's the closest thing to a direct answer to her question.

00:02:50.440 | The servant who uses his role in the Christian church under the guise of steward or deacon

00:02:58.880 | or overseer or pastor or you, whatever you call it, who uses his position and acts selfishly

00:03:07.040 | and cruelly, abusively, contrary to the master's wishes, will be put with the unfaithful.

00:03:17.200 | Doesn't matter how many professions of faith he's made.

00:03:19.560 | Doesn't matter how many people he led to Christ.

00:03:21.800 | Doesn't matter how orthodox he is.

00:03:23.520 | He's going to hell.

00:03:24.520 | That's what Jesus is saying.

00:03:25.840 | You will be put with the unfaithful and cut to pieces.

00:03:30.520 | And now here comes the verse that she's asking about.

00:03:33.720 | Verse 47, "And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according

00:03:44.200 | to his will will receive a severe beating.

00:03:48.640 | But the one who does not know, did not know, and did what deserved a beating," notice those

00:03:56.640 | words, very important, they still did what deserved, deserved a beating, "they will receive

00:04:04.360 | a light punishment."

00:04:05.960 | They will receive a light beating.

00:04:07.840 | "Everyone to whom much is given, of him much will be required.

00:04:12.760 | And from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more."

00:04:18.000 | So my answer to Carrie's question is that the parable is spoken to followers of Jesus,

00:04:23.920 | but the reason it is spoken to them is to warn them that if they turn their back on

00:04:30.120 | their master and start using their reputed role as his servants to act selfishly and

00:04:37.840 | abuse those in their charge, he will put their lot with unbelievers.

00:04:43.560 | And among that group, not all will get the same punishment.

00:04:49.480 | That's what she's asking about.

00:04:51.440 | Those are unbelievers, I think, that he's talking about who will not get the same punishment.

00:04:55.880 | The principle will hold, "To whom much is given, much will be required," and which,

00:05:01.680 | in this context, means the more knowledge you have of God's will, the more you are accountable

00:05:08.160 | for doing it.

00:05:09.240 | Now, just a few closing thoughts of application.

00:05:13.480 | I think this text carries a huge implication for understanding the justice of God in dealing

00:05:20.840 | with people around the world, some of whom know God only through natural revelation rather

00:05:27.000 | than any gospel witness.

00:05:28.480 | They've never heard the gospel.

00:05:30.280 | And Romans 1, 18 to 23, says that every human being has enough knowledge of God to be held

00:05:36.480 | accountable before him at the judgment day.

00:05:40.360 | But oh, how much more knowledge and more accountability there is for those who have sat under the

00:05:48.000 | gospel, maybe even in the pastoral ministry, for years and years and yet have not believed

00:05:55.240 | or have not acted in faithfulness on the gospel.

00:06:00.160 | Whenever people ask me, "What about those who've never heard the gospel?"

00:06:06.360 | My answer, based partly on Luke 12, these very verses, is that no one will be judged

00:06:13.240 | for not obeying revelation they did not have.

00:06:19.480 | We will all be judged according to the knowledge of the truth we have access to, and all of

00:06:27.360 | us, every human being on the planet, have access, Paul says in Romans 1, to the knowledge

00:06:34.560 | of God that he is to be thanked and that he is to be glorified with all the implications

00:06:41.480 | that carries.

00:06:44.180 | One more word that seems related.

00:06:47.780 | Even though believers in Christ, because our sins are covered by the death of Christ, are

00:06:52.680 | not punished by God at the judgment, nevertheless, there is a kind of what Paul calls suffering

00:07:02.840 | loss if our lives have been devoted in some measure to false teachings and false ways.

00:07:11.080 | Here's the verse, 1 Corinthians 3:14, "If the work that anyone has built on the foundation

00:07:17.760 | survives, he will receive a reward.

00:07:22.320 | If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but

00:07:34.280 | only as through fire."

00:07:36.600 | So I suspect that even though Christ has borne the punishment of all the sins of all believers,

00:07:46.520 | nevertheless, this principle of greater or lesser blessing according to how we have handled

00:07:54.520 | the revelation available to us applies to believers also.

00:08:00.680 | Sobering.

00:08:01.680 | There's a huge weight of accountability that we all bear for what we know.

00:08:05.440 | Thank you, Pastor John, for that explanation from the text, and thank you for listening

00:08:10.080 | and making the podcast part of your week.

00:08:12.000 | You can subscribe to our audio feeds and search our past episodes in our archive.

00:08:16.000 | You can read this by email with a question of your own, even questions that relate to

00:08:19.760 | things that you read in the Bible that don't quite make sense to you.

00:08:22.920 | You can do all that through our online home at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.

00:08:29.120 | Well the New Testament is amazingly clear that we are living in the end times.

00:08:34.480 | The last chapter of redemptive history, the new creation has been inaugurated.

00:08:40.160 | And one of the theologians who most helped many of us come to grips with this reality

00:08:43.660 | is a former professor of John Piper's.

00:08:46.600 | And when we return on Wednesday, we're going to talk about George Eldon Ladd and his legacy.

00:08:51.520 | It's going to be a really interesting look back at a historical influence on John Piper's

00:08:55.760 | life and legacy that you won't want to miss.

00:08:58.720 | I'm your host Tony Renke.

00:08:59.720 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast, and we will see you on Wednesday.

00:09:03.160 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

We Are Accountable for What We Know

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