I'm going to ask you to take
your Bible and turn with me to the book of Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. I had a friend call me from another
state about a week or so ago and ask me about this passage
of scripture. And I told him, I said, give
me a little time. And let me see. I've never preached out of this
particular passage. It's Luke chapter 16, verses
1 to 13. And so today, I'd like to consider. I've had it on my mind since
then. I read it. And it's a parable. that was given by our Lord for
the establishing of this truth, Luke 16, 13. No 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, God and anything else or anything else. We always think of mammon as
just being money. Anything other than God. Now, our Lord set forth this truth You can't serve me and something else. That's the
heart of this message right here. So let's look at this passage
of scripture and I'm going to tell you right now. It is a passage
that requires, as all scriptures do, but it requires God to give
us some understanding, because when we read this, you're gonna
read some things that you're gonna say, hmm, this is our Lord
speaking. Luke 16, one, and he said, also. Now, before I go any farther,
that word also, he started back in chapter 15, There drew near
unto him all the publicans and sinners to hear him, and the
Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners,
and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto
them. So the Lord had given a parable.
He gave a parable of the hunted sheep. He had lost one. He gave
a parable of a woman that had lost a coin, in verse 8, then
he said in verse 11, there was a certain man who had two sons,
he was talking about the prodigal son, and he gave the account
of that prodigal son. So now, he's continuing to talk. He's continuing to teach, and
he's teaching through a parable. And he said, also. But he's speaking
here to his disciples. That's what scripture says. 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. Now, the Lord is setting forth
the truth. And I'm going to say something
here that we all know, but I'm going to say it just to clarify.
We know that Almighty God is alone truly rich. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. And all men, all men born into
this world are His. All souls are mine. Soul of the son, soul of the
father, soul that's sentenced to die. Everything belongs unto
the Lord. And therefore, we owe everything
unto the Lord. We owe faithful obedience. Everyone owes undivided allegiance
to the Lord God. We owe Him honor. We owe Him
praise. We owe Him thanksgiving. But we all failed in Adam's fall. We all failed in our own allegiance. We failed in every aspect. We all. Now that's so. That's so. And while this certain
rich man obviously can always be attributed to the Lord of
glory, This particular parable is set forth, and I believe that
this certain rich man is declared to be by our Lord just one who
was a certain rich man. And you'll see why I'm saying
that in just a minute. We're going to be taught a vital
lesson here. This certain rich man. And the
scripture says that this certain rich man, he had a servant. who was found to be unjust. He
was an unjust servant. He wasted his master's goods. He wasn't faithful. And that
which the Lord had entrusted into his hands, goods that were
lent to this servant, just as we All possessed. Now listen,
here's the way it is. Let me just be frank with all
of us. We all have gifts from the Lord. Everybody in this congregation,
I'm looking at everybody that's got ears. Those ears owe God
the hearing of His truth. They owe Him. We all have eyes. We all have eyes. We've got the
scriptures. We all got hands. The scripture
sets forth, whether you eat, whether you drink, whatever you
do, you do it to the glory of God. Do it unto the Lord. Ecclesiastes, you don't have
to turn there, Ecclesiastes chapter 12, sums up the whole truth concerning man's allegiance. Ecclesiastes 12, 13, let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, respect, keep his commandments,
trust his son. This is the whole duty of man. Now we owe, we owe him, we owe
him. Now, but according to our Lord's
teaching, now remember this is a parable, that is given unto
the Lord's disciples. And it's gonna be a parable that's
gonna teach them and us what we read in verse 13. No man can
serve two masters. No servant can serve two masters.
You're gonna love one, hate the other, cleave to one, despise
the other. You cannot serve God and something
else. You can't do it. Now, this servant
had been unjust, wasted. Verse two through four says,
and he called him, that is the rich man. He called him, he said
unto him, how is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account
of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer a steward. And the steward said within himself,
what shall I do? For my Lord taketh away from
me the stewardship. I cannot dig to beg, I'm ashamed,
I'm resolved what to do. That when I'm put out of the
stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. Now he came up with a plan. Now I want you to remember this
is a parable that the Lord is teaching us, He's going to teach
us the principle of true faithfulness in stewardship. He's going to
teach us something. And he's going to proclaim this parable,
but he's going to set forth worldly practices or principles that
truly, now listen to what I'm saying, he's using a parable
that's going to set forth worldly practices, worldly practices.
that are completely opposite of the heart and the desire of
a true believer. He's going to set forth a principle
that would under no circumstances be fit or proper or found to
be in agreement with the heart and the desire of one of God's
sheep. This rich man He had an unfaithful
steward. And he called him on it. He called
him on the carpet. Now this steward, he's going
to do something that will best suit his need. He's going to
set forth something that's going to prepare him for the future. I'm going to prepare for him
now. If I'm put out, my master's caught me. Now if I'm put out, I'm living in his house, I'm
eating his food, I'm wearing clothes provided by him. Now
he's getting ready to put me out. What am I going to do? I can't work. Never really had a real job.
Too lazy to work. Too proud to beg. But I know what I'll do. I know what I'll do. I'm resolved
that when I'm put out, I'm going to do something where I've got
a place to go. I got somebody to take care of
it. I got a plan for the future. That's what he's saying. When
I'm, verse 4, when I'm 4, I'm resolved what to do that when
I'm put out of the stewardship, they, and I'll show you who they
are in just a minute, may receive me into their houses. And I can't go to work for a
living. I can't do that. I don't want to be a beggar.
but I gotta have a backup plan here. I've gotta have a backup
plan. Now you'll see this is what he's
saying. The Lord's setting forth a parable
to his disciples to teach them something. Now, here's what he
is. He said, I'm gonna make me, I'm
gonna make me or have me a place to go since I'm seeing this is
not gonna work out. Now this is totally not the thoughts. of a true believer. This is not
how God's people are. Whenever the Lord had all those
disciples over in John chapter 6, they followed him no more
because they heard what he was saying, and that's a hard saying.
Who can hear that? And they followed him no more.
And the Lord turned to his disciples and he said, will you go away
too? You want to go with them? You want to go? What did Peter
say? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. But this unjust steward didn't
think that way. So I can tell you from this parable,
this is not the thoughts of a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is thoughts of the world. I'm going to have, I'm going
to have a, I got a backup plan. I'm going to do something if
it's wrong. But I'm going to have a place
to go. I'm going to do whatever it takes. Verse 5 to 7, So he called every
one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and he said unto the first,
How much owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, A hundred measures
of oil. And he said unto him, take thy
bill, sit down quickly, and write 50. And he said to another, and
how much owest thou? And he said, 100 measures of
wheat. And he said unto him, take thy
bill and write four score. Write me out 80. And we'll call
it even. We'll call it even. That's what
I'm going to do. I'm going to make friends with
my Lord's debtors. It's going to be at the expense
of my Lord. But I'm going to try to settle up here. I'm going
to try to do something to where I can be friends with them. They're
going to remember. You treated us real fairly, you
know, just settling up that debt right there. And when I'm put
out of the stewardship, I'm going to have a place to go. That's
what I'm going to do. That's my plan. Now here, we
behold our Lord exposing the world's false religion and the
God that they serve. This unjust steward set about
for his own well-being a bargaining offer to his Lord's
debtors. And again, that's not the way
God's people set forth the gospel. I'm not here to bargain with
you. I'm not here to offer. Let me tell you what we owe.
Let me tell you what is owed unto the Lord. Absolute obedience. What must be paid to the demands
of God's law? Obedience is there any bargaining
is there any plea bargaining is there no no? Not offering. I'm not offering. I'm not telling
you do the best you can Because anything you do that's less than
absolute Holiness is not going to be accepted by God, but that's
not the way of this world you do what you can you do the best
you can and God will accept it and The Lord will accept it. But amazingly, and you continue
to remember this is our Lord speaking, and he's teaching his
disciples something. Look at the first part of verse
8, and the Lord Now not the Lord Jesus, that's a lowercase l,
this is not the Lord, our Lord. The Lord, the rich man, the Lord
that was over this unjust Stuart. And the Lord commended the unjust
Stuart because he had done wisely. Now this is the God, the little
g God, that this world serves. Oh, you did something. You walked down the aisle. You
prayed through. You did something. That's good. That's good. That's
good. I'll accept that. Not the God
of the Bible. The God of the Bible is holy
and just and will in no wise clear the guilty. That's the
God we serve. But that's this certain rich man. Here's the
Lord, He's teaching them, He's teaching His disciples. This rich king, rich man, spoken
of, He didn't reprimand His servant for the loss of goods, He rather
commended him on doing something wisely. He didn't commend him
for, you know, for losing his goods, but he commended him for
doing something that would give some security for his future. That's what he was commending
him on. He told him that was wise. That was wise. The scripture talks about the
ants, and they work all summer long, and in winter they make
provision. But notice now in that latter
part of verse 8, I want you to notice something. The Lord is
going to comment to his disciples on what this rich ruler, this
rich man did in commending wisdom to his servant. The Lord said,
he said, for the children of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light. Now that comment that our Lord
made, that shows you that our Lord is saying, now I've been
talking about the children of this world. This is the way they
handle it. This is the way they do it. They're bargainers. They're manipulators. They do whatever they can, but
here's what they've done. The Lord said, the children of
this world are in their generation. They're wiser than the children
of light. Now, wiser in what sense? They do something in the preparation
for their future. They do it with a distorted view.
They do it wrongly. But they're doing something.
The children of this world, according to the words of our Lord, are
those who are devoted. to this world who live for this
world only. They're those that are careful
to provide for their temporal necessities. They use every means
that they possibly can for their own interest to strengthen and
unite themselves to whoever they need to, whatever they need to
do, whatever it takes. That's what he's saying. They
were wise. They're wiser, he said, in what
they're doing than the children of Lydar. They're not negligent. God's people. And they'll all
admit it. They'll all say, yeah, I'm guilty
of this. We're all negligent in the means of God's provision. For our true, eternal benefit. We are, you know. How foolish
is it for a man or woman to neglect their own soul? This unjust steward, he was doing
what he could for his well-being. He said, I'm going to be put
out. I know I'm going to be put out. So I'm going to make preparation. I'm going to do whatever I got
to do. I'm going to make friends of these people. It's going to
be at the expense of my master. but I'm gonna have a place, as
I said a while ago, I'm gonna have a place to go. I'm not gonna
be put out on the street. When he kicks me out, a believer
thinks to himself, Lord, if you don't keep me, Lord, if I'm put
out, I have no hope. That's what a believer's gonna
say. I have nothing. Lord, if I don't have you, I
don't have anything. Lord, without you, Peter, that's
what he said, Lord, where are we gonna go? You've got the words
of eternal life, and we're sure you're the Christ. You're the
Messiah. You're the anointed one. But here's this unjust steward. Lord, he was commended by his
master for being wise in making preparation. The master told
him, he said, you were wise to do that. I'm going to put you
out. But you were wise to do what
you did. And that's when the Lord told him. He said, the children
of this world They're wiser than the children of light. Now listen,
we all know. We know. We cannot do anything
to secure our future state. We know that. Not by works of
righteousness, which we've done, but according to His mercy. We're
saved by the grace of God. We're kept by the grace of God
in this world. And we're going to be delivered
by the grace of God and power of God unto that final day. But
there's some things that we can do. Not for salvation. Not for salvation. Not for salvation. But because of it. As the evidence
of it. We need, our Lord told him, he
said, the children of the world, they're wiser than the children
of light. You know, the Lord has provided
so much for us. We have. And we need, obviously,
to be diligent according to the teaching of our Lord. To make
use of the Lord's provisions and direction Let me tell you
what we all need right here. Let me tell you what every child
of God needs. I need to hear what the Spirit
of God's got to say. I need to hear it. I need to
hear it. God, help me. God, help me. I need to call out unto the Lord. I need communion with Him. I
need, when you pray, I need communion. I need the encouraging presence
of God's people being in a place where the Lord said, I'm there.
Two or three gathered together in my name, I am in the midst
of you. I just muse for just a moment
and think, the Lord is here. The Lord's here. The Lord's here. His people are here. And I want
to be there. Lord, help me. Keep me striving
to let nothing hinder me in the hearing of your word, in the
reading of your word, in communion with you. But oh, how often,
and I say this to my own shame, how often I'm found to be so
spiritually lazy. neglectful. Lord help me. Lord help me. Increase our faith.
Then our Lord exhorted his disciples to do something. That when we
read this, we're getting ready to read, I'm getting ready to
read verse 9. And when you see it, when you read it, again I
want you to remember what he's teaching, who he's teaching.
He's teaching his disciples. He's using an earthly illustration
about how the world, how the world handles things in order
to produce them some security. That's what he's saying. This
is what they do to produce it. And a believer knows I can't
produce my future state. I can't produce a safe haven.
I can't make the Lord Jesus Christ my city of refuge. God must provide
him. But the Lord's teaching him something
here. Now listen to what he's saying. He says in verse nine,
now, and I say unto you, Here's the Lord talking to us. I say
unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,
that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting
habitations. Now you talk about a passage
of scripture that God's got to give us some light on. Now you
think about what he just said. Make to yourselves friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness. What is the mammon of unrighteousness? It's just, it's the things of
this world. It's the things of this world
that God's given. Everything that's in this world,
the Lord has given it. The Lord's given it. He said,
you make to yourselves friends of unrighteous, of the mammon
of unrighteousness, that when you fail, they may receive you
into everlasting habitations." Now what did he just say? I know
for sure I can tell you what he's not saying. He's not saying
that his people, being diligent, being wise in the use of the
mammon of unrighteousness, the things of the wealth of this
world, that they will, by making themselves closely bound to it,
friends with it, that that will secure for them a place in glory. Now, you know he's not saying
that. But rather, here's what he's saying. Make to yourselves
friends. How thankful I am for a good
concordance. Make use of or actively associate
with. He didn't say make gods out of
them. But associate yourself with the things of this world,
the mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail, when you
die, and we're going to die, when you fail, they may receive
you under everlasting habitation. Now concerning this mammon, I'm
going to, Lord willing, I'm going to try to explain it. I know
you're sitting there, you're still saying, I still don't get
it. Believe me, I can understand that part. Now concerning this
mammon being our friend, remember, and I said a while ago, mammon,
we always consider that to be money, it can be money, it can
be time, whatever, whatever. Money are the provisions of this
life, these earthly provisions, things that God has provided.
That's not the problem, having them, having them. I tell you
what the problem is, the love of them, or the trusting in them. That's man's problem. 1 Timothy
6.10, for the love of money, the love of it, there's nothing
wrong with money. God has provided money. I mean, people, you have it and
you You faithfully give it, and I've said before, this building
right here, this building cost. It cost to turn these lights
on, it cost to run these fans right here, it cost to, it just,
we got insurance and all, but it's not money that's the problem,
it's the love of it, and the trusting in it. For the love
of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet it after,
they've heard from the faith, pierce themselves through with
many sorrows. Wealth are the mammon, the things
of this world. We all got here this morning
in a car, and I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful that I can get
in one and drive. I didn't have to walk church
this morning. I'm so thankful for that, but
it's what has been entrusted to us. is to be used for his
glory. Mark chapter 10. Mark 10 verse
23-24. Scripture declares this concerning a man. The Lord looked round
about and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the kingdom of God. And His disciples were
astonished at His words. Those that have riches, I mean
Solomon was rich, David was rich. Oh, how the Lord provided for
so many money. They had money, but the Lord
qualified what He said. He said, verse 24, the disciples
were astonished at His words, but Jesus answereth again and
saith unto them, children, how hard is it for them that trust
in riches? to enter into the kingdom of
God. You can't serve two masters.
That's what he's getting at. You can't serve two. So the Lord
was not saying for his people, he's not saying to live for or
trust in the mammon of unrighteousness, but that his people should consider
the things that God has provided in this world. Things that were
the means of God's provision, kindness, compassion, mercy in
this life to be used as our friend, for our benefit. Because when
you fail, what he's saying is when you die, And we're all going
to die. Back in Luke 16, that's what
he's telling them. I say, make to yourselves friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail, they may
receive you under everlasting habitations. Meaning this, they
won't stand as witnesses against you. Turn over to Luke 18. They won't stand as witness against
you as being an unjust steward of this world's temporal provisions. These gifts that God's given
us. Luke 18. Luke 18 verse 18 to
24. A certain ruler asked him, good
master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said
unto him, why callest thou me good? None is good save one,
that is God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, honor thy father and thy mother. And he said,
all these have I kept from my youth up. And when Jesus heard
these things, he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing. Sell
all that thou hast. and distribute unto the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me. And
when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful, he said, how hardly shall they that have riches,
and the riches have them, enter into the kingdom of God. In that day, old Richie is going
to stand as witness against Him. He loved us more than you. The Lord says, make to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail, they may
receive you unto everlasting habitation. All is His. And we are stewards,
but for a while. We're just for a while. And the proper use of what the
Lord has provided isn't the foundation of our hope, it's the evidence
of our hope. Galatians 6. Galatians 6. Galatians chapter 6, verses 7
to 10. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that
also shall he reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption. He that soweth to the spirit
shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be
weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we think
not, As you have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are the household of faith. Let the things that the Lord
has provided, He's teaching His disciples, the things of this
world, let these things be your friends, you associate with them,
but don't trust in them. Don't trust them. Don't trust
them. Don't set your heart on them.
Back in Luke 16, let's try to wrap this up. Verse 10 to 12,
he 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 therefore ye have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit your trust? Who
will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have
not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give
you that which is your own? Now our Lord is wrapping up this
lesson that He's teaching. He said, if you've not been faithful
in the lesser things, in the mammon of unrighteousness. If
he hadn't been faithful in that, you know. Those who by the grace
of God have been given a heart to consider the true riches of
this world to be the person of the Lord Jesus Christ only. They
know, they know that these things are failing. You know, the older
a believer gets, I believe this is so, I believe the older a
believer gets, the more he realizes how failing he is and all this
stuff in the world is. This ain't what it was cracked
up to be. This ain't what I thought it
was going to be. I know that the true riches is only found
in the person of our Lord. And those who have been faithful
in the lesser things, And we all struggle with it, so let's
don't pretend like we don't. We all struggle. But by the grace
of God, we're kept. And the Lord continues to teach
us and show us and gives us a heart and corrects us. But we do start
to set our eyes on things of this world. And we learn, we're
taught, these things are failing. But for those who die, being
left to themselves to trust in themselves and in the fleeting
things of this world. I had someone tell me, it's a
dear lady that we all know, I won't say who it is, you all know her,
but it's not the issue. She made a statement to me one
time that someone that had just passed away and he had said Her,
or someone that she heard, he would say, and this is what he
said, he said, you know the thing I hate worse about knowing that
I'm going to die is leaving the things that I have. And I thought, oh my, Lord deliver me from that. Lord help me. Lord, those that
leave this world, trusting in the unrighteous mammon of this
world, Those that the Lord has sovereignly and justly withheld. The spiritual riches in Christ.
You remember when the Lord prayed in Matthew 11, Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight. This is what a believer
of Christ. Lord, don't leave me to this stuff. Don't leave
me to these things. These things, these messes, stuff. If a man is found unfaithful,
in the stewardship of what was the Lord's anyway. It was all
the Lord's. That which was to be used for
His glory and honor. If He's unfaithful there, God's
withheld from Him. The privilege of knowing Him.
Where's He going to go? The Lord said, If you have not
been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give
you that which is your own? Think about faith. Faith. Where did it come from? The Lord
gives you. Faith which is from above. The
faith of God's elect. You remember that woman that
had that issue of blood? And she came to the Lord Touched
the hem of his garment. Lord turned around. She told
him, he just bore her heart to it. I've tried everything. I went to doctors. And he said,
thy faith. Who gave it to her? He did. Who
did the Lord attribute it to? Her. He gave it to her. Thy faith
hath made thee whole. When our Lord was praying, In
high priestly prayer, John 17, 22, he says to the father, and
the glory which thou has given me, I've given them, that they
may be one even as we are. Now, what's the conclusion? Verse 13, no servant can serve
two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot,
you cannot serve. To make a friend of, and to associate
yourself with, and let the things of this world be a tool, that's right, that's right. To
the glory of God, to the glory of God and the good of God's
people. but to love them, and trust in them, and depend upon
them for your eternal salvation, God forbid. I pray the Lord bless
this parable to our hearts and teach us. We can't serve God. We can't serve God. Love God,
bow to Him, and bow to the things of this world too. Can't do it.
May the Lord bless you. Amen.