LUKE 16:1-13 CAN GOD TRUST US AS HIS STEWARDS? 4-9-11
Let me say 1st of all what a Stewart is, a steward is a person who has charge of another man’s goods. Abraham had a steward who had charge of all his possessions. It was Abraham’s steward, possible Eliezer of Damascus (Gen.15:2) although is not named, who went on a trip to Haran to find a bride for Abraham’s son Isaac in Gen.24:, and this Steward is also a picture of The Holy Spirit that has come to this earth seeking a Bride for Christ.
1 Cor. 4:2 Paul tells us, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful”
All that we have in our possession actually belongs to God, He has allowed us to have these things and He will hold us accountable for what we do with them.
If we’re saved we are His Stewards, we’re working in His vineyard to bring praise to His name, we as His Stewards are to lift Him up and win other souls for Him with the resources that He has allowed us to use, or to put it another way, we’re His Ambassadors, an Ambassador is a representative of his King yonder in a far away country, you and I that are saved no longer belong to this world, our home is heaven and one day we’ll be going home when our stewardship has run its coarse, we’re in the world but we’re not of this world.
Let’s keep in mind as we get into this parable that the Pharisees were there and they were trying to catch Jesus in some thing or some way to ridicule Him, Jesus is still in the house of one of the Chief Pharisees; He went there to eat with them back in chapter 14:1
Listen as I read today’s text found in Luke 16:1-13.
And let’s be sure to notice that He is also talking to His disciples, we are His disciples today.
1And 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.
There’s no doubt that the Pharisees had a good dose of religion, they even knew what Gods Word said and yet they had added all kinds of do & don’ts to it that wasn’t suppose to be there, they were not true stewards of God, in fact they were bad represenitives of God and His Word.
The rich owner in this parable was perhaps away on some kind of trip and now he has returned home or it may have been that he trusted his steward and had not been observing what he’d been doing closely, but be that as it may its told to the owner of these riches about his unfaithful manager, the person that he had entrusted to take care of his riches and goods, it was told to him that his steward had carelessly been wasting his riches.
The unfaithful stewart had grown so accustom to being around and handling these riches that he fail to remember that these riches was not his, although he carelessly used these riches as though they were, he wasted his lords money.—is that not what many of us do today with the riches that the Lord has entrusted to us to use for His honor and glory?
He was like the bank worker that was finally caught embezzling the bank funds.
Ø Makes us think of Numbers 32:24 -- be sure your sin will find you out.
-------------
2And he called him, (the certain rich man called his steward, his manager) 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.
And now this crooked manager was found out, it was time to give account of what he has been doing with the rich mans goods, instead of drawing up a financial statement, he decided to use the law of the world which is self-preservation.
He obviously felt as though he was above getting a job and go to work like every body else, and he was ashamed to beg, but he was not ashamed to steal, he thought nothing about using what was not his to begin with, he was a 1st class crook, he’d make a great politician.
This man did not apologize to the rich owner and ask him to for give him and if he would give him another chance, and the reason was he had no regret or remorse for his actions.
The rich owner fires this unjust steward but gives him a short time to make arrangements to do with his unemployed situation.
---------------
3Then 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. 4I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.-- **(I know what I’ll do) he was going to try to appear to the rich mans debtors that he was really a fine feller, and then they’d remember him when he’s down and out.
5So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6And he said, An hundred measures of oil.**(about 800 gallons ) And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. –Here’s you bill, take it, just write me a check for half of what you owe, and of coarse the debtors were happy to do that.
7Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. (about One thousand bushels of wheat) And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. That’s still 80 measures, he was so crooked he didn’t give this debtor the same discount as he did the 1st, maybe he felt that this 2nd debtor could come up with that much cash.
Ø Let’s keep in mind that it’s the Lord Jesus that giving this parable, this shows us that He knows the ways of this worldly generation, it tells us that all people are not treated the same.
Our politicians at this very time and day are trying to pass laws that will take from the rich and distribute it among the less fortunate and it’s not right.
Here we see the unjust steward talking to some of the people that’s in debt to the rich owner, his previous employer, and tells them if they’ll pay such and such amount that their debt to the rich owner will be paid in full, he is still just as crooked as he ever was, keep in mind Jesus is not approving of what the unjust steward has done and is doing here, but was pointing out that this is the way many business deals go down in this world.
And when the rich owner saw what this unjust manager had done, how that he was willing to use the tactics of the worlds ways to gain income for himself, he commended him, the rich owner thought that that was a wise maneuver on the fired managers part in making himself some fast money, apparently this is the way and means that the rich owner himself does and had done many times.
He tells him he has done wisely. According to the principles of the world. This is the world that hates Christ. It makes its own rules.-- The worldly lord approved and commended his former worldly steward for his worldly wisdom according to his worldly dealings.
Remember Jesus is not approving of it at all, He’s simple pointing out the evil of this worldly generation, and putting the spot light on some of these sins to these Pharisees.
--------
8And the lord (the land lord or the rich owner) 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.
Makes us think of the crooks we have in our government today, they know how to manipulate the unknowing public, they’ve mishandled and abused the peoples tax money to line their own pockets, they’ve bailed out the banks that got themselves in their messes, and then the credit card companies have increased their interest rates dramatically, the borrower now owes more money than he ever has because these crooked politicians are trying to cover up their messes at the expense of the tax payer.
The list goes on and on, the “pork barrel spending” countless useless bills have been passed into law, all kind of unnecessary CZARS now on the pay roll of the OBAMA administration.--No one knows what their jobs are, the citizens are never told, they only report to OBAMA, pray that God will give us a Christian President that will stop this underhanded abuse of the American citizens, the tax payers.
All this fits this parable to a tee.
We see on our TV’s that people should buy gold these days because it only increases in value, well there’s coming a time not very far off that nothing will be worth nothing, a truck load of gold will be worth the same as a truck load of sand.
James said in James 5:1-4
1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
------------
---- Again vs. 8--for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.--
In other words, the children of this world (in their generation) know how to use their worldly wisdom in worldly riches dealing with other worldly people as for as conniving methods to make money, and we that are believers in Jesus Christ (the children of light) should be WISE AS A SERPENT AND HARMLESS AS A DOVE and as eager and determined in many situations to win others to Christ with this kind of zeal,
not doing as the world does but being as determined or even more so, using our money wisely for the cause that’s really important, Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus said, “For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” That is, the children of this world, of this age, use their money more wisely than do the children of light.
How many Christians today are smart in the use of the mammon of unrighteousness—money? Do they use it to gather spiritual wealth? God will hold us responsible for the misuse of the material wealth He gives us.
I know of a TV Preacher that builds his entire messages around “seed sowing” he uses fancy words and illustrations to get his point across, but when it’s all said and done he will ask for people to sow a financial seed and then in return they would receive great dividends in return, and there’s always gullibly babes in Christ that will be duped into sending him money.—their not using God’s resources wisely.
This man’s worldly ways of dealing with the mammon of this world is ripping the viewers off.
And then there’s the one that shows all the pitiful looking cats and dogs while playing sad music, wanting people to send money in order to keep these poor animals alive, these crooks are getting richer by the day.—Good hearted people, even Christians will feel sorry for these animals and send money,
Again Christian that are conned into such as this are not good stewards of God’s resources.
Ø Then Jesus says to His listeners there in the Pharisees house.
9And I say unto you, (you means ever body) Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, (fail means die) they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Verse 9 speaks of “unrighteous mammon.” Jesus was not implying that money (mammon) is altogether evil, only that material wealth is temporal in nature and will not go with us into eternal life.
Listen—a Christian will never win a single soul to Christ by being a smart Alex around lost sinners, how can we win souls if we fail to talk to lost sinners and try and reason with them as the Lord opens the door to do so?
Listen- We’re to “Make to ourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness”
Realizing that one-day “we will FAIL”**(we will DIE) and if we have used our resources wisely as we relate to these “friends of unrighteousness” lost sinners --we will be welcomed by these that we help lead to the Lord WHEN WE GET TO heaven. ( they may receive you into everlasting habitations.)
---------------
Jesus’ words in verses 10–11 make it plain that He is not saying that money is what’s bad. Not at all, our level of responsibility in His kingdom will depend on how we manage the resources that God gives us in this life.
I have said many times, that what we do for Jesus now on this side of the rapture will have a great bearing on what He will trust us with in His Kingdom and even into the ages to come. Lets use our time and wealth that He has allowed us to have for Him.
10He 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.
If we as Christians misuse or fail to use the tools that God has given us why would He continue to give us more, He’ll give it to some one that He can trust to use it wisely for His cause.
--------
11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,(wealth of the world) who will commit to your trust the true riches?
In the parable of the unjust steward the Lord Jesus is saying, “Do you think God is going to trust you with heavenly riches if you are not using properly that which He has given you on earth?”
Money in this parable is a spiritual matter. We are responsible not only for giving it, but for investing it where it will yield the highest dividends in souls won for Christ.
--------------
12And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
13No 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.
We can’t serve God if we’re convinced that our money and property belong to us. We’ll inevitably end up serving them.
So what are we doing with our money? Are we making money? If we are, what are we doing with it? This is a very important question.
Are we using it for the things of the world? If we are, we’re serving mammon; that is our master. Are we serving God or mammon? We cannot serve them both.
