As I have tried to tell you on
many, many occasions, our Lord's parables are intended by him
to teach us one thing, just one thing. And that which is taught
here in Luke 16, in this parable of the unjust steward, is deeper,
far, far deeper than the doctrine of God's election. and divine
sovereignty. It takes more grace to hear what's
in this parable than it does to understand what Scripture
teaches about reprobation, election, predestination. It's more profound,
and it's a greater test of the reality of our professed faith
in Christ than any of those things. This is what our Lord teaches
us here. Everything we have in this world. Everything. Everything. Every moment of time. Every material possession. Every talent. Every ability. Every opportunity. our homes,
our husbands, wives, children, everything. Everything we have
in this world belongs to God, only to God. And we are mere
stewards in the house of God, stewards of his property for
a brief, short period of time. He allows us to use all of these
things, they're His. But it is our responsibility
to use it all for His glory, by His direction,
according to His will. Now that, my friend, is deep,
deep doctrine. That is profound theology. Believers are men and women motivated
by love. And duty is the least, duty is
the very basest of motives in anything. But love never neglects,
but rather rejoices in the duties that every loving relationship
brings. Now I want us to look at this
parable. First, we'll look at the parable itself, and then
I will show you what our Lord teaches us from the parable.
In verses 1 through 8, our Lord gives us this parable of the
unjust steward. He begins in verse 1 by telling
us there was a certain rich man which had a steward, and the
same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods." The
steward wasted his master's goods. Here our Lord holds before us
a wicked, self-serving, unjust steward. His master trusted him
with all the wealth of his house. all the business of his house,
all the care of his house. But this man used his office
and used his position to cheat his master and his master's debtors
to serve nothing but himself and his own interest. This unjust steward represents
all men, believers and unbelievers. You might think, well, I didn't
ask to be a steward unto God. That doesn't matter. You're his.
You're his. And you're responsible to him.
One of the earliest questions and catechism I once taught to
our daughter, why did God make you? And the answer is, God made
me to glorify him forever. That's it. That's it. That's why God made man. He made
man to serve him in his creation and with his creation. He made
man to honor him in his creation and with his creation. But we've
taken that, all of us, every one of us, no exceptions. We
have taken that which God himself owns and has trusted to our hands. and used it for ourselves. And
we have endeavored all our lives long to rob God of everything. That's the nature of fallen man. That's his nature. Isn't it amazing
that you bounce your babies on your lap and you want them to
say mama or daddy? First words out of their mouth
is my, mine, or I. That's mine. You can't have it,
it's mine. Brothers and sisters, a fight
over a stall is my stall. That's my stall. Because we all
like to rob God by nature. We go astray from the wounds
speaking lies in the depravity of our hearts, just like our
father Adam. Now it is not accidental that
this parable is given by Luke. in chapter 16, right where it
is, just after our Lord Jesus had given that parable of the
lost sheep and lost coin and lost son, particularly emphasizing
the thing of the elder brother, that self-righteous one, in Luke
15. That parable was written to the
scribes and Pharisees, and it was by them. They understood
it. Then he follows up this parable. He follows up that elder brother,
that self-righteous, hard, judgmental, rebelling elder brother who claimed
he had never rebelled against his father, broken one of his
commandments, with this parable. Now this parable he speaks to
his disciples. The parable in Luke 15 he spoke
to the scribes and Pharisees. This one he speaks to his disciples
in the hearing of these scribes and Pharisees. And they understood
clearly, he was talking about them. In verse 16, they took
offense at him. I said, he's talking about us
again. He's talking about us again.
He's belittling us. He's attacking us. He's saying
that we are unjust stewards. Now, here are four things our
Lord shows us in this parable. First, he tells us that this
steward wasted his Lord's goods. He embezzled his Master's goods. through carelessness lost them.
And for this he was accused and accused rightly before his master.
This is the charge against us all. We've taken that which God
has given us to use, not given us, but given us to use for his
glory, his Son and his people in this world, and we've wasted
it upon ourselves. How often do you look at someone
and think, what a wasted life. I have a very dear friend, got
a house of children that love him, and another son, the smartest,
the best looking, the most capable, the one who could go into any
form of business, I suspect, and make a killing. And he spent
his entire adult life in and out of prison. How come? Wasted. Wasted. It's a wasted life. What a waste. What a waste. And our Lord gives a warning
here. Because this man had wasted his Lord's goods, the steward
is given notice. Your stewardship's by Ophir.
It's just by Ophir. You're soon going to be put out
of your stewardship. Verse 2, He called unto him and said unto
him, How is it that I hear this of thee? Give account. of thy stewardship, for thou
mayest be no longer steward." In a little while, you're going
to be required to give up your stewardship and give an account
of yourself to me, your master. Now, Lord Jesus spoke these words,
I remind you, against the Pharisees, but he spoke them to his disciples. They're written for our learning.
But if they're written for our learning, what do they teach
us? Let me give you three things. Soon you and I will be compelled
to give up our stewardship. Do you remember what our Lord
said to his disciples, work while it is day? For the night cometh
when no man can work. We will not always have the privileges
and opportunities and pleasures that we now have. I'm going to
die soon. You too. I am often encouraged by careful,
caring, tender friends to stop doing this, stop doing that,
slow down, you just can't go on like this forever, can't keep
it up forever. No, I can't, but I can while
I've got breath. I can while I've got breath.
I've got a day in which to work. The allotted time is fixed by
my God from eternity, and soon I'm going to give up this stewardship.
I'm going to give it up. When death deprives us of the
abilities and opportunities we now have of serving our Redeemer
and his people, the interest of his kingdom and his glory,
then someone else will come along and take our place, another steward. And you know something about
stewards? They're never important. They're never significant. They're
just stewards. They're just stewards. And the
one who's gone will be forgotten quickly. Here's the second thing. Our discharge from our stewardship
is a matter of justice. We must die because we've sinned.
both believers and unbelievers. For the believer, thank God,
death is not death. And yet this physical body is
cursed to death because of sin. Because in our father Adam we
wasted our Lord's goods, we have forfeited the stewardship he
put into man's hands. And when the Lord takes the stewardship
from us, it will only be right. No matter how God takes a man
out of this world, no matter when, it's only right. It's only right. And here's the
third thing. When our stewardship is taken
from us, when the opportunity of the space
of our lives is gone, the space God's given us to glorify
him, We're going to meet God and give
an account. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and after this, the judgment. Having been warned of these things,
if we are wise, we'll make preparation for that day. He is a wise man
who says to himself continually, prepare to meet thy God. Soon
we must stand before God to give an account. of our stewardship. It's been more than 20 years
ago. I was in Jamaica, out in the country, and I saw an epitaph
on the gravestone. I've tried deliberately not to
forget it. This is what it said. Please view my tomb as you pass
by. For as you are, so once was I. And as I am, soon you shall be. So make your plans to follow
me." We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive things done
in his body. According to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto
God, and I trust also to your consciences." Now, look at verses
3 through 7. As soon as this unjust steward
realized that his master is about to take his stewardship from
him, as soon as he realized that everything he now held in his
hands was about to be taken away, he began to make preparations
for that day. Look at it. We're told that this
man cunningly, cunningly, unrighteously but cunningly,
wickedly but cunningly, this unjust steward made preparations
for that day that was to come. In verse 3, then the steward
said within himself, what shall I do? For my Lord taketh away
from me the stewardship. I cannot dig, and to beg I am
ashamed. He realized that he had no ability,
turn of livelihood, and that he was too proud to beg. He couldn't
dig because he wouldn't dig, and he wasn't willing to lower
himself to what he looked upon as menial labor. He wasn't too
proud to steal, but he was too proud to work. And he was lazy,
too lazy to work and too proud to beg. Both work and humility,
you see, were contrary to his nature. And this old boy was
in a pickle. Well, spiritually we are too.
We cannot, by the works of our hands, save our soul. We have
neither the will nor the ability to obey God's law, and by the
works of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God's
sight. Man is not justified by the works
of law. Salvation is altogether a matter
of free grace, but there's still a problem. Every one of us, every
one of us, are too proud to be saved by begging for mercy from
someone else. We won't do it. Not unless God
makes us. It won't happen. We're too proud
to bow like that publican and cry, God be merciful to me, the
sinner. We're too proud to seek grace
through the merits of a substitute. And though this man was too lazy
to work and too proud to beg, this unjust steward determined
what he would do. He said, I'm going to make friends
in my Lord's debtors, so that when my Lord takes me out of
the stewardship, I can go over to Joe's house and I can stay
with him for a while, and I can go to Charlie's house and stay
with him for a while, and I can go over to that plantation on
Buffet and I can stay with him for a while. And this is how
he does it. Verse 4. I am resolved what to do. I know
what I'll do. We are scheming wretches, aren't
we? I know what I'll do. When I'm put out of my stewardship,
that they may receive me into their houses. So he called every
one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and our Lord gives us an
example of two. He said to the first, How much
owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, A hundred measures
of oil. And he said to him, Take thy bill, set it down quickly,
and write fifty. Then he said to another, How
much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures
of wheat. And he said to him, Take thy
bill and write out eighty. Write out full score. I wonder
why he didn't charge him fifty. I don't know. I'm kind of guessing.
I suspect because he figured he'd get out of them everything
he could and still look like he was doing them a favor. This
unjust steward was a treacherous, dishonest man. But he was brilliant. You've got to give him that.
He was brilliant in one thing. He used the opportunity he had,
the brief space of time he had, to prepare for a day coming. He used the brief space of time
he had to prepare for that day when his Lord would take away
his stewardship. I know that's exactly what our
Lord intends by this parable, because in verse 8 he tells us
that this unjust steward is given a commendation by his Lord. The
Lord 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. Now how can that be? How can
that be? How can it be said that the children
of this world, while they live in this world, exercise greater
wisdom than the children of God? How can that be? They have enough sense to prepare
for tomorrow and to use what they have now with reference
to tomorrow. That's all. And in that, the
ungodly Oh, how they put us to shame most of the time. Most
of the time. His Lord did not commend him
because he had done the things he had done. He commended him
because he had wisely provided for himself, dishonest as he
was, knowing the circumstances he was facing. By lessening the
bills of his master's debtors, he made some friends. Now, you
can't really call them friends. friends that you get by bribery
and crooks. They're not really friends. But
he made for himself folks who will take care of him in his
time of need. Wicked as he was in his deeds, he had an eye for
the future. Disgraceful as all his actions
were, he provided well for himself. He didn't sit still in idleness
and wait to be reduced to poverty, but rather he schemed and planned
and contrived and found a way to secure a future home for himself
when he was put out of this one. I hope you see the contrast. This man with regard to earthly
things was diligent. He wisely looked to and provided
for the future. Come back to Proverbs 6. Hold
your hands here. Proverbs 6. I have no doubt at all that the
wise adages and anecdotes given in the Book of Proverbs have
a temporal, carnal application of wise things. But I am equally
convinced they are not intended to teach those things. They are
not intended to teach those things. I know the whole religious world
takes the Book of Proverbs to be a book of morality and teach
you how to live a good way and make things good for you in this
world. Our Lord, by inspiration, gives Solomon the wisdom to write
out these proverbs, which any man could look at things in a
carnal way and say, Well, that makes sense, that's the way to
live. Man, that's the way to get along in this world! But that's
not his purpose. Our Lord did not give these proverbs
that we are about to read to teach us how to live make our carnal lives of greed
and covetousness better. He just didn't. He didn't do
it. He did not teach exactly opposite of what we're going
to read in just a little bit in Matthew 6. Look at verse 6, Proverbs
6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard.
Consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer,
or ruler. Boy, the ant's a smart critter.
At that end, those pests that you see running around your kitchen
cabinets when the exterminator hadn't been there in time, Bill
Ness got around the sidewalk and you go kill him. It's smart.
Learn a lesson. Having no guide or overseer or
ruler that provided meat in the summer and gathered her fruit
in the harvest, how long will you sleep, old sluggard? When
wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Oh, now. Boy, if you want to
be rich when you get old, lay up everything you can while you're
young. Prepare for a rainy day. How often have you heard it?
Why, even the ant knows how to prepare for winter. Works in
the summertime. Prepare for a rainy day. Oh,
no. Look at the dumb ant. Look at
the dumb ant. and see how utterly ignorant
you are. While it is day, prepare for
that night that's coming. Prepare. Prepare. Proverbs 30, verse 24. He uses
some more dumb animals. But he says they're exceeding
wise. Proverbs 30, verse 24. There be four things which are
little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. The ants
are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the
summer. The conies, little prairie dogs, are but feeble folk, but
they've got enough sense to make their houses into rocks. The
locusts have no team. But they go forth, as soon as
they pop out, they go forth, all of them by bands. The spider
taketh hold with her hands and is in king's palaces. Yet how
foolish we are. Men. Men who have no regard for the
ant, the spider, the coney, or the locust. but despise them
all. How foolish we are. In regard
to this unjust steward that's set before us here, we have an
example. And we would be wise to follow
the example. Like him, we would be wise to
look to the future. Oh, my soul, don't live for today. live for an eternal tomorrow.
Make provision for that day when we shall have to leave all things
present behind. Secure for ourselves a house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, and that can't
be secure in any day except this day. Use every means at your
disposal to secure the everlasting welfare of your soul. The diligence of the ungodly
of this world about the things of the world and the things of
time ought to shame us. You and I who are believers,
they wisely improve their opportunities. We squander ours. They redeem
their time. They've redeemed their time.
You find any man in this world, any man in this world who is
successful in business, successful in trade, successful in the military,
successful in politics, find any of them, any of them, I'm
going to guarantee you their leisure time, they just haven't
got any. They don't have any. How come?
Because they give themselves to what they do. I want this,
and I'm going to have it, no matter what it costs. And they
sacrifice family, and friend, and children, and wife, and parents,
and time. They sacrifice everything to
get what's really important. You and me, we throw away our time like it
was never going to end. They seize the moment to increase
their riches. We live as if we expected to
live forever, as though there were no eternal riches and glory,
but everything there is to enjoy is for here, now, time, and this
world of time and sense. And then in verse 9, our Lord
gives an exhortation. Now watch what it says. The parable, as I said, ends
in verse 8. Verses 9 through 13 are the words of instructions
that our Lord gives to his disciples, to you and me, by which he appointedly
applies the parable to us. I say unto you, now, I've told
you this parable, I've told you about the Lord's commendation,
the Master's commendation of this unjust steward. I say unto
you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Now, that doesn't just refer
to material possessions, though that's the way it's commonly
used. It commonly refers to money. It's talking about all things
in this world, all carnal material things. Make to yourselves friends
of everything here, that when you fail, and fail you will,
they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Now this is the meaning of that
exhortation. Make to yourselves friends of
your money and earthly goods, so that when you die you may
enter into everlasting habitation. Use your earthly goods as a steward
under God with an eye to eternity. Use your riches in this world
in such a way that they shall be friends to you and not witnesses
against you when you stand before God in the day of judgment."
Now again, lest any mistake what I'm saying. Our Lord is not teaching
us in this verse that somehow men and women can purchase salvation
with what they have by giving of their means to some good cause,
even to his cause. He is not teaching us that salvation
can be bought by money or earned by works. We are redeemed not
with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with
the precious blood of Christ. Salvation is altogether by the
grace of God. These things And your use of
them, Laocris, can't save you, but they can dead sure damn us. Our Lord said be careful, beware. The care of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches have a way of choking out the
Word. We have a little weed here in
Kentucky. I'd never seen it until I came here. A wild sweet potato vine. Just
an insignificant little thing. Just insignificant. But we go
out there and plant field corn in that garden. I don't care
how tall the stalks get, until it starts to ear up. If you let
that sweet potato vine go for just a little while, I'm talking
about that little old bitty thing, got little tiny leaves on it.
Just let it go for a couple of weeks. You're not going to have
any corn. Your corn is going to be dead.
And that's the way the cares of this world work on the hearts
of men. The deceitfulness of riches. a wife she likes to go and do,
and gotta make time for my husband, he likes to spend the weekends
down at the lake, gotta take time for my children, they like
to do things you know we can't neglect them. No, don't. But better to neglect
your wife and your children and your grandchildren and your neighbors
and everything in this world than to neglect the will and
glory of God and the good of your soul. Don Fortner, hear what you say.
Hear what you say. Look at verse 18, verse 22 of
Luke 18. Our Lord is here addressing this
rich young ruler. When Jesus heard him brag about
all the things he had done and how good he was, he said, You
are a good fellow, man, you are a good fellow. Yet thou lackest
one thing, one thing needful. And there is always just one
thing needful, just one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute
it to the poor. and you'll have treasure in heaven,
come and follow me." Oh, you mean if a fellow takes a vow
of poverty and gives everything away, he'll be Christ's disciple?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. But you're going to have to give
it all away to him, or you won't follow him. 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, Boy, I hate to miss
eternity, but I sure can't give up this! I hate to miss Christ,
but I can't give up this! I hate to miss heaven, but I
can't give it up! The Lord said, How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. It is our responsibility not
to serve our earthly possessions. but rather to use our earthly
possessions to serve our God, his people, and his gospel. All
that we have belongs to God and is to be used for God. You and I are nothing but stewards. Just do it. That's all. That's
all. I don't have any idea, Ron, when
you get paid, how much you make or where you bank, but I guarantee
you every payday you go to the bank shortly after you get paid
and you stick your money in somebody's hands. Now, if they get caught
dipping into your account, they're going to jail. How come? It's not their money. It's not
their money. But he gave it to me. No, he
didn't. He just trusted you with it.
He's just a steward. We're nothing but stewards. Everything
that we have belongs to our God and needs to be used for our
God. A steward takes in with this hand and distributes with
that hand. That's all he does. He just takes
in this and gives it out back. And he does it according to his
Master's will. I'm going to show you plainly that the passages
we read in Proverbs 6 and Proverbs 30 were not talking about carnal
things. Look in Matthew 6. You look at the ant and you learn
to lay up for the winner. Like that rich man we're going
to look at in a little while, or we looked at some time back.
He said, oh, I've got so much goods. I believe I'll tear down
my bar to build it bigger. Oh, eat, drink, and be merry.
I've got everything laid up for many years. Well, let's see. Matthew 6, 19. Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon the earth. Well, isn't it smart to
do that? Tell me at the judgment day. tell me at the judgment day,
where moth and rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and
steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. Because wherever your treasure
is, wherever that is which is always on your mind and on your
heart, now that's your treasure. I'm
telling you, that's your treasure. Wherever that is that you care
about all the time, that's your treasure. Where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. Verse 33. But seek ye first. That is, seek this above all
things, if everything has to be lost, the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and everything you need in this world you're
going to have. all these things shall be added unto you." We
weren't put here to amass wealth, to build fortunes, and to get
fame. We were put here on this earth,
and God Almighty has put in our hands a certain measure of time,
a certain measure of ability, a certain measure of opportunity,
a certain measure of this world's goods to use for his glory and
the good of his people. Now, that's the doctrine of this
text. The proper use of our earthly goods from proper motives are
for our eternal benefit. It is an evidence of God's grace
in us which shall befriend our souls forever. Let me give you
some commentaries on this parable. You turn, if you will, to Galatians
chapter 6, and you can jot this down and look at it later. Our Lord tells us by the wise
man in Ecclesiastes 11, cast thy bread upon the waters, for
thou shalt find it after many days. I had a fellow one time, a very
wealthy fellow, and he told me, he said, the way to get money
As you never save it, you nest it, cast your bread on the waters,
he quoted this verse, for thou shalt find it after many days. That's not what he's talking
about. We cast out the bread of life, and in God's time we
see sinners converted by his grace. But what he's talking
about here is we cast out everything God puts in our hands. exactly according to his direction,
by his will. And we wait for eternity to see
what God does with it. Galatians 6, verse 7. Be not
deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that
shall he also reap. Boy, if you give us a little
seed faith money, God will fill up your bank account. That's
not what it's talking about. He that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption. Now this is what that means,
Merle. You take everything God's given you and use it for your
lust to please you and to please your wife, your children, your
grandchildren. And you'll see it bring forth
nothing but your lust gratified. That's all. That's all. But he that soweth to the Spirit Take everything God's given you,
everything he's given you, and use it for God's glory. And you shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting. That's what the text is. And let us not be weary in well-doing.
But I don't see any results. We're not supposed to. I don't
see anything happening here. We're not supposed to. If we
did, we'd pop our suspenders and start. Let us not be weary in well-doing,
for in due season we shall reap if we think not. As we therefore
have opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially unto them
who are of the household of faith. In verses 10, 11, and 12, our
Lord tells us the basis of this exhortation and enforces it. In verse 16, he that is faithful
in that which is least. Isn't that amazing? Our Lord
calls all of those things after which men and women fight wars. Those things for which families
will bust up and sons and daughters won't speak to each other for
the rest of their lives. All those things, all the things
of this world. Bob, he calls it the least. That
which is least. All that you can get in this
world, everything you can get, is least. He that is faithful in that which
is least is faithful also in much. He that is unjust in the
least is unjust also in much. You see, spiritual riches, the
riches of grace and glory, these are infinitely, immeasurably
much, the unsearchable riches of Christ. God's riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. If therefore you have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, you can't be faithful with the
dollar in your pocket. Who will commit to your trust
true riches? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain.
The riches of mammon, spiritual riches, these are true riches.
And those who are rich in faith, oh, we're truly rich. We're truly rich. All things
are yours. All things are yours. I embarrassed myself the other
night talking to the lenses over here, concerned about the future
a little bit. I'm soon to be 54 years old,
and you can look at me and tell I've never been too hungry. I've never run around naked.
Now, I sometimes have to buy clothes with goodwill, but I
still take clothes just like you did. My God's always provided for
me, always provided for my family, always. I have all things in the bound,
all things. A little black boy down in Alabama
one time years ago, He was always a real happy old man. And a rich
white fella came up to me and said, he said, Sam, how can you
be so happy all the time? He said, he's always happy and
you got nothing. What do you mean you got nothing? He said,
you don't own anything. He said, oh, yes, sir. He said, everything in this world
is mine, you white folks are paying taxes on it. It's mine. It's mine. And the eternity What? All this in heaven, too? Now
look at verse 12. If you've not been faithful in
that which is another man's, who shall give you that which
is your own? The riches of this world are
another man's. They all belong to God. And if we're not faithful with
We'll never have God to give us all his glory as our own. And then our Lord gives us this
lesson, verse 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. You cannot serve God
and Mammon. Now listen carefully. If we love
the world and seek to hold to the things of this world, we
will hate God. There's no in-between. If we love the world and seek
to hold to the things of this world, we hate God and despise
his grace. We may be religious, but our
worship of, service to, and faith in God will always be subservient
to our worldly interest. We'll use the things of God to
serve the world. If, on the other hand, we love
God and seek to hold on to Him, serving His kingdom and His glory,
His Son and His gospel, then we will hate the world and despise
everything it offers.