Give an Account of Your Stewardship

The book of Isaiah was written as the man Isaiah received a vision from the Lord about what was going to come upon his nation. The vision that he received was a distressing vision. It caused him great consternation.

However, as we get to Isaiah chapter 55, the Lord spoke to him something that I think is important. I believe the Lord spoke to my heart yesterday as I was considering Pat's blog and the different things that are going on with our church body here. In Isaiah 55:8, God speaks through Isaiah, saying, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I was encouraged yesterday as I thought about this, as I read Pat's blog, and as I considered that God sees something that you and I don't see. He knows things that you and I certainly don't know. We all understand very clearly that we have this flesh, this worldly tabernacle. God created it, but it's just the housing of our soul. These tents that we have are corruptible.

God desires to have fellowship and communion with you and me, but this flesh still stands in the way. It is our flesh that desires to hold on to this life. It is our flesh that desires to never lose any other people, any other brothers or sisters, or family members.

As believers, as Christians, our spirit understands that God's thoughts are not our thoughts. He has a perfect, holy, and right way about things. Considering that Pastor Pat's wife, Joyce, whom many of you know and we all love very dearly, stands on the edge of eternity, it serves as a reminder to me, or it did yesterday, that we are all standing on the edge of eternity.

It's just that, as things appear today, temporally speaking, she's just a little bit closer than we are. But God has a plan, and He has something that He is doing. He desires that we, as believers, focus on the next life and not this life. Our focus as believers needs to be on the future. That's why Paul would exhort us in Colossians chapter 3 to set our affections and our minds on things above, where Christ is seated.

Yet, our flesh so desires to store up treasures here and hold on to this life. However, God has a very specific purpose for us in this life, and I believe the Lord spoke that through Isaiah in the next few verses. After verse 9, after He says that His thoughts are higher than the heavens, He says in Isaiah 55:10, "For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and returns not there, but it waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it."

Notice what God is saying to us there. He equates His word to the water that comes down from heaven to water the earth, to bring forth fruit, to make it bring forth seed for the sower and bread for the eater. He says that His word, in the same way that water waters the earth, is to have an effect in this world, and it will not return void. It will accomplish that which God set it forth to do; it will accomplish what He pleases.

But if His word is like the water that falls down from heaven, what does that make us? We are the clouds that carry the water to this earth. God has called us to be His chosen vessel, a vessel fit for honor, to bring forth His word, His water, to this earth, that it would bring forth fruit. And that's God's purpose and plan for each of us. God has used Joyce faithfully for many years to do so. As it stands today, the Lord is calling her home very soon. She stands on the brink of eternity. Thankfully, her focus has been on eternity for all those years.

And while her flesh may cry out and say, "I don't want to die," some of you may have even read that on Pat's blog this week. That's her flesh speaking. But her spirit groans, as does all creation, for that calling home. Very soon, the Lord will call her home. We will grieve, but Paul, speaking to the Thessalonians, said we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. We have hope. We have the hope of heaven. We realize that this is not all there is, that God has not called us to live eternally here on earth. He's called us to be with Him for eternity.

Jesus would tell His disciples in John chapter 14, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. Were it not so, I would not have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." God has prepared a place for each and every one of us who are His disciples that have followed Him. He will return to take us there, that where He is, there we may also be forever. So we do not sorrow as those who have no hope.

In light of that, we come to Luke chapter 16 this morning, which deals with the heavenly perspective that each of us is called to have. Jesus speaks about this heavenly perspective in Luke chapter 16 through, to be honest with you, a rather weird story. So before we jump into that story, let's pray and ask that the Lord would guide us in all truth by His Spirit.

Father God, we do thank You for the fact that this is not all there is, that there is coming a day when we will stand in Your presence, when this corruption will put on incorruption, when this mortality will put on immortality. God, the whole of creation groans for the manifestation of the sons of God. We all look forward to that day when we will be manifested in Your presence, that when we see You, we will be like as You are.

I ask that You would help me to keep that perspective, to have eternity's values in view, to have my mind fixed upon You, Jesus, not the things of this world, that my affections would be with You, that my treasures would be with You, for where my treasure is, there my heart is also. I want my heart to be with You this morning, Lord. So guide us in Your Word, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

Last week, we finished Luke chapter 15, which dealt with the prodigal son, a son who had wasted his father's goods and his inheritance. This morning, as we come to Luke chapter 16, we're going to read about a steward who had wasted his master's goods.

In Luke chapter 16, verse 1, Jesus said to his disciples. Note that in verse 1, Jesus is now speaking to his disciples. You may remember that in Matthew's Gospel and also in Luke's Gospel, Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables. Matthew chapter 13, verse 34 tells us that all these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable, he did not speak to the people. However, Mark 4 tells us something different. In Mark 4, verse 34, we read that without a parable, Jesus spoke not unto them, and when they were alone, he expounded all things unto his disciples.

So, he spoke to the multitudes in parables, but he spoke truths to his disciples. Based on that, we could logically deduce that this story may not be a parable. This story may, in fact, be a true account that Jesus is speaking of. In fact, there's another story, which I don't know if we'll get to this morning, at the end of Luke chapter 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. That too is very likely a true story, a true account, not a parable. Why? Because twice in that parable, Jesus names the characters Lazarus and Abraham, which is uncharacteristic of his parables.

As we look at Luke chapter 16, with Jesus speaking primarily to his disciples in the first half, it would appear that Jesus is telling them a story that may be very true and has application for their lives and our lives as well. He said 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." This rich man is not named but is simply referred to as a certain rich man. We will read of another certain rich man down in verse 19.

Thus, twice in this chapter, we will read about those who are rich. This chapter deals with worldly earthly goods and riches. We sit here this morning in Escondido as those who live in really the wealthiest nation in the world.

I believe that this has great application to us. There was a certain rich man who had a steward or a manager, someone who managed his accounts. You could call him maybe a financial planner of Jesus's day. During that time, they had these different stewards and managers. In fact, we see them in various places in the Bible.

Back in the book of Genesis, you may remember the story of Joseph and how he was in Potiphar's house as a steward of Potiphar's goods. It was committed to him the care of all the goods, all the riches, and all the wealth of Potiphar. He had to take care of those things and tend to them so that this rich man, Potiphar, wouldn't even have to think about it. He was to invest those goods and use them for the profit of his master.

Well, here in Luke chapter 16, we read about a steward, a manager of a rich man's goods, and yet we are told that he wasted the rich man's goods. This came as a surprise to the rich man. In verse 2, we read, "And he called unto him and said unto him, How is this that I hear of thee, that you've wasted my goods? Give an account of your stewardship." Underline that in your Bibles: "Give an account of your stewardship." The master says to him, "How is it that you've wasted my goods? I've committed everything into your care, and yet you've wasted it. How is it that you've done these things? You need to give an account. Break out the books. We're going to make an account this morning of your stewardship."

The steward was accused of wasting that which was committed into his hands. First Corinthians chapter 4, verse 2, tells us that the steward is required to be faithful. Moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful.

Looking at this passage, even at the very beginning, we can begin to draw some comparisons because every single one of us this morning is a steward of great riches that God has given to us. There is coming a day, as Scripture makes very clear, when we will make an account of that which was given to us. What sort of things have been committed into our care? Well, James chapter 1 tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights. Every good and perfect gift that you have in your life has been given to you by God.

You and I are merely managers of His goods. We are to invest those goods and use them in such a way that it benefits Him and His household, Him and His kingdom. Everything that I have is His, whether it's my life, my time, my wife, my job, or those that God has put me over as a leader. Everything in your life is His. He has committed it into your care: your children, your words, your time. It's God's. We are going to be judged and held accountable for how we have used these goods.

In fact, Romans chapter 14 states that every one of us shall give an account of himself unto God. This is found in Romans 14, verse 12. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27, tells us that it is appointed unto every man to die once, and then comes judgment. Jesus also spoke of this in Matthew chapter 12, verse 36. There He said, "But I say unto you that every idle word that a man shall speak, he shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment."

There is coming an audit, an accounting where the books are opened, and God is going to judge you and me as His stewards in His household. In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus speaks of the parable of the talents that the Master had given to each of His servants. Each servant received a certain amount of talents, and those talents were to be invested for the good of His household.

There was a wicked steward, an unjust steward, like the steward in our story here, who did not invest wisely. In fact, he buried his talent, thinking, "I'll just give back to the Lord what He gave to me, and that'll be fine." But it wasn't fine, because his Master was looking for dividends, for growth.

So this Master in the story called his steward to himself and said, "I hear this of thee. What is going on? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be my steward." He already tells him right at the very beginning, "Listen, you're fired. That's all there is to it. You've got to give an account of what's going on here. We're going to check the books, but this is not so you can get your job back. You're done."

In my opinion, the steward was fortunate that he wasn't prosecuted before the law because of this. But still, his job is gone.

Well, with that before him, the steward said within himself, "What am I going to do? What shall I do? My Lord takes away my stewardship; he's taken away my job. I can't dig, and to beg I am ashamed."

As he thought about these things, he realized he could not dig. We don't know if he had some sort of physical limitation or something that hindered him from doing actual hard labor, but that doesn't really matter. Perhaps he simply didn't want to do that kind of hard work. He was used to his job and didn't want to engage in difficult tasks out in the world. He also didn't want to become a beggar; he would be ashamed to do so.

This situation reminds me of another parable that Jesus told—the parable of the servant who owed the king a thousand talents. When he came before the king, the king demanded, "Pay me what you owe." The servant replied, "I can't pay you." The king then said, "I will throw you and your whole family into jail until you pay the last penny." The servant bowed down and began to beg his master, "Have mercy on me; I'll pay you every cent." The king was moved with compassion for him and forgave his debt. Unfortunately, the story didn't end there, but that's a study for another day.

At this point, the steward says, "I'm ashamed to beg. I'm not going to get down on my knees and beg for my position back or for this man to forgive me." In his mind, he began to figure out what he could do now that his job was being taken away and he was being cast out of his master's house. Not only did he have this job, but it would appear he was also living there with his master.

In verse four, he says, "I am resolved what I will do, that when I am put out of my stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." He had a plan. As the books were getting ready to be opened, he thought, "What am I going to do? My master is going to kick me out of the house and take my job from me. I can't do that hard labor anymore, and I don't want to beg for money on the side of the road." He needed to figure out something to do. As he contemplated these things, perhaps even while his master was speaking to him, he resolved within himself that he had a plan.

Considering this text as we come to this point, maybe you are beginning to realize, perhaps under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that as a steward of God's goods, you may not have dealt faithfully with what He has committed into your care. You recognize that there is coming a day when you will stand before Him, and every idle word will be judged. The books will be opened, and there will be an accounting of the things that have been committed into your care. At this moment, you may recognize that you haven't kept well the goods of your Master.

So, do you have a plan? Is a plan beginning to formulate? Let's consider what the text has to say at this point. The steward went away from his master, and in verse 5, he called every one of his master's debtors to himself. He called all the individuals who owed his master money or goods. He said to the first, "How much do you owe my master? How much do you owe my lord?" This debtor replied, "I owe him a hundred measures of oil." This is very likely upwards of a thousand gallons of oil.

It's quite possible that this rich man was a landholder who had a lot of different land, and the steward's job was to lease this land to different people who would farm it. While they farmed that land, they would keep a portion of what they farmed for themselves, but they had to pay this rich man, the landowner. It was the job of this steward to keep account of these things.

So, he goes to this first debtor and asks, "How much do you owe my master?" The debtor responds, "I owe him a thousand gallons of oil." The steward quickly says, "Pay him fifty, and we'll call it clear." In verse 6, he instructs, "Take thy bill, sit down quickly, and write out fifty. If you pay it right now, I'm going to give you fifty percent off."

Do you think that debtor took the deal? Of course he did; he would be a fool not to. "You're going to cut my debt in half? All right, here it is. I'll give you fifty measures of oil right now."

Then he said to another, in verse 7, "How much do you owe?" The second debtor replied, "A hundred measures of wheat." This is nearly fifteen hundred bushels of wheat. Again, we see the same picture. Perhaps the rich man was a landowner who had leased out this land to this man to farm and tend it. But he owed the master, the rich man, the landholder, fifteen hundred bushels of wheat.

And so this steward, before his job was out and before he was kicked out on the street, used his privileged position and his stewardship to call all the debtors in and say, "Listen, let's square away the accounts. I'll give you fifty percent off." To the man who owed fifteen hundred bushels of wheat, he said, "Take your bill and write out eighty. Just give me eighty measures of wheat and we'll call it clear."

In verse 8, we read that the master, the lord of that servant, commended the unjust servant because he had done wisely. The other night, when I sat down to read this passage, I thought, "Oh man, Pat asks me to teach on the tough chapter." I looked at it and wondered what in the world it meant. I read it in my King James Version Bible, then grabbed a New King James Version and read it there. After that, I picked up a New Living Translation and read it, followed by the New International Version. Each time, I thought, "This isn't getting any easier." What is Jesus talking about here? How is He using this story of the unjust servant? What's this all about?

In fact, I was laying in bed and turned to Andrea, saying, "Let me read this to you; tell me what you think." I read it to her, and she replied, "Well, that's your job." Thank you, helpmate. But the lord of this servant, the master of this servant, commended the unjust servant. What's going on here? He just got cheated out of his goods.

Now, this may not have been a complete cheating of his master, as we might think, because during this time, we need to understand a little bit about the culture in which these men lived. God commanded His people in Deuteronomy and Exodus that they were not to lend to people for usury, meaning they could not charge interest. However, these Jews were sly; they were good businessmen. They had been raised in Babylon for a time and knew how to conduct transactions. As a result, many of these men would often add the interest on at the beginning. For example, he might say, "He's going to owe me 500 gallons of oil, but I'm doing him a good service."

Let's add a little bit of interest, maybe double it to 1,000. It is possible; we don't know for sure, as the text doesn't say, but it's possible that this steward was just saying, "Listen, pay the debt without the interest. We'll just kill the interest right here." If he did this, understand that his master couldn't take him to court over this because he had no legal grounds to charge interest.

Another possibility is that oftentimes these stewards, these managers, received a kickback or a commission. This could be the reason that this guy was considered an unjust servant. He had to make an accounting for what he was doing, possibly because he was taking quite a bit more of a commission than he should have been. So now he goes to the debtors and works out in his books, "Well, my commission was 500 gallons; we'll just cross that out. Oh, you owe 500 gallons." He might say, "My commission was, oh goodness, 20 measures of wheat; we'll just cross that out. You owe 80 measures of wheat."

Here, the Lord, the master of this servant, commends the unjust steward. Why? Notice this: because he had done wisely or worked shrewdly. He did not commend the unjust servant's unethical practices; he commended the unjust servant's shrewdness in business. He recognized that what this guy had done was very shrewd. The man was planning for his future. The steward knew that he was going to be booted out of his job and kicked out of his living place. He wanted to have some friends when he was down and out.

So he went to all the debtors, all the people who owed his master money, and said, "Listen, you know what? Because I'm such a good guy, I'm going to work out a deal for you today. You owed a thousand gallons of oil; let's just call it 500." Really? Yes, really. In his mind, he was thinking, "Next week, you'll be paying up to me. I'm going to come stay with you."

Notice what he said previously when he thought about this. In verse four, he resolved what to do so that when he was put out of his stewardship, they may receive him into their houses. Who? The debtors. He wanted to have a place to live. Maybe they'll hire him or give him a good job. They'll recognize that he's not all that bad.

His master, seeing what he did, got the books and began to look at them. He saw, "Boy, you've been busy this last week," just like when a president is getting ready to leave office and has all these presidential pardons. The last week in office is a really busy time, and the same goes for this steward.

His last week in his position, his last week in his privileged place, he was working everything, trying to figure things out. We get two stories about one debtor who owed a thousand gallons of oil and another debtor who owed 1,500 bushels of wheat. Notice that he called every one of his lord's debtors, all the different people that owed his master. By the end of this, he probably had lots of friends who were willing to help him when he was put out of his stewardship.

The master, the lord of this servant, commended the unjust steward because of his shrewdness, because of the wisdom he used and how he utilized his position. He used the wealth that was available to him for his future. His focus was on his future, not on that temporary place he was in, in his master's household. He knew that something was coming down the road, so he focused on the future. His lord commended him for this.

Now notice this: Jesus finishes his story in the middle of verse 8 and speaks directly to his disciples. He says, "For the children of the world and their generation are wiser than the children of light." What? If you look at different commentaries on this passage, you'll find that many commentators say this is one of the hardest sayings of Jesus.

Please turn off your cell phones and pagers. This is considered difficult because Jesus uses this illustration of the unjust steward and states that the children of this world and their generation are wiser or more shrewd than the children of light. He makes the application in verse 9, saying, "I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness." Does this sound like the Jesus you normally think of? He says to use your money to make friends. What is this all about?

The children of this world are wiser than the children of light. He essentially concludes his story by saying, "Listen, the people in the world are more concerned about their future and planning for it than you are. They use their connections and possessions shrewdly and wisely."

Now, God does not desire that we be unjust. In fact, neither Jesus nor the master in the story ever commends this unjust servant for his unethical practices. We are not to be unjust or underhanded in our dealings with those outside, but I do think that God commends our shrewdness, our ingenuity, and our service for Him.

I want you to consider for a moment the Apostle Paul. He was not worried about using the privileged position he had in Acts chapter 22. They were about ready to beat him, and he asked, "Is it lawful to beat a Roman citizen?" The centurion probably turned white. What? Not only was his job on the line at that point, but his life was also at stake. If he had beaten Paul, who was a Roman citizen, he could have been called to account and put to death for that. So, Paul had no problem using his privileged position as a Roman citizen and saying, "Is it lawful for you to beat a Roman citizen?" Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. No, I guess not.

Remember, before he was Paul, he was Saul of Tarsus. What was his line of work? He was a Pharisee. Where did Paul go every single time he visited a new city to plant a church? What was the first place he went to? The synagogue. I guarantee you he showed up in his Pharisee garb, introducing himself as Saul of Tarsus, instructed under Gamaliel. "Oh, really? You're from Jerusalem? You want to teach today?" Ah, don't mind if I do. "Hey, maybe next week you can come back. We'll just clear off the schedule for the next three weeks." You see, he used his privileged position to get in and be able to preach the Word.

Now, oftentimes it backfired; they beat him up, threw him out, stoned him, and cast him outside the city. But he still used his privileged position.

My good friend Nick Long, the senior pastor of the church in Siegen, Germany, told me a story when I was there. One of the people who attends his church is the owner of the second largest beer company in Germany. I know, a little weird. The owner of this beer company goes to his church. The guy's not a believer, but his wife is, and the children really love the children's ministry. So, this man is thankful to the church, Calvary Chapel Siegen, and thankful to Nick for the ministry they have. He has become friends with Nick and told him...

Listen, I know a lot of people in this city. If you ever have any problem with the city, just call me. I'll take care of it. Nick was in a situation where he thought, "Lord, is this from You? This doesn't make any sense. I don't know if I should ever call this guy." It felt kind of mafia weird to him.

A few weeks later, he said he was back here in the States and was at the pastor's conference in Marietta. He went to Pastor Chuck and told him the story. He asked, "Chuck, what do you think about this whole thing?" Chuck replied, "It's of the Lord, man."

Sure enough, while I was in Germany, the church wanted to build a big, huge skate park inside of a warehouse, but the city was giving them all kinds of trouble. This was really stressing Nick out. The owner of a beer company asked him what was going on. After Nick shared the situation, the owner said, "Oh, don't worry. I'll take care of it." Nick was hesitant, saying, "Oh, no, don't." But the owner reassured him, "No, no, no, don't worry about it."

The next day, Nick had a meeting with basically the mayor and the leaders of the city. I don't think we should take advantage of such connections and the things that we have available to us, but we shouldn't take them for granted either. The Lord has set you in a privileged position for a purpose.

Remember, as we looked at in Isaiah 55 earlier, you are the cloud that's to carry the water, the Word of God, to other people. By whatever means and connections you use, great! You have a privileged position in your workplace or in your family that Pastor Mark, myself, Pastor Richard, Pastor Josh, or whoever it is, will never have. God has placed you there for such a time as this and for a purpose.

Esther is another picture of someone who used the privileged position she had with the king to bring forth her people out of destruction. It is true that Jesus' estimation is accurate: the children of this world and their generation are wiser than the children of light. Sometimes, when people become Christians, it's almost as if they check out and say, "Well, I'm going to heaven, and everything else doesn't really matter." Yet, Jesus gives this illustration to challenge us and to say, "Listen, use what you have for the benefit of your Master."

We have a master, and do you realize that there are a lot of people in debt to him? Every one of our friends, family, associates, and co-workers who are unbelievers have been given many benefits from God—the same benefits that you've been given. They've been given life, wealth, breath, families, and all these things. God is going to call them to account one day as well. They'll have nothing with which to pay; they are all in debt to the master.

The people of this world are concerned about their future, but their future ends at the time they breathe their last. Their future may only extend to when they turn 62. They have their 401(k)s, annuities, and Social Security; they are looking forward to all these different things and planning for the future. But it's such a short future; it's temporal and will go away.

You and I, however, have a different future. We need to recognize that we have a different destination. We are told in this passage to invest in that future destination. Jesus would tell his disciples to store up treasures in heaven. Therefore, we need to ensure that we are storing our treasures in heaven, using the resources we have. Jesus calls it unrighteous mammon, which simply means worldly wealth. If you look in some translations of the Bible, you'll see that it refers to worldly wealth.

Jesus says to use the worldly wealth that you have for what? To make friends for yourself. Use the position you have to gain friends. Notice this key point in verse 9: make for yourself friends so that when you fail—meaning when you die—they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Who do you think "they" are in that verse? Think of the context. Make friends with worldly wealth, and they will receive you into everlasting habitations.

Who's the "they"? It's the friends who are saved through your ministry, based on your privileged position, using the things that God has given you today. They too will be with the Lord when you arrive there as well. That they may receive you.

I mean, the statistics are staggering, aren't they? Ten out of ten people die. We're all going to die, and it is very clear that you can take nothing with you. I heard a story once that after the death of John D. Rockefeller, someone asked, "How much did he leave behind?" Quickly, someone said, "Everything. Everything." Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 7, "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we will carry nothing out."

However, there is one thing that will go on into eternity, and I think Jesus alludes to it when He says that the friends you make with worldly wealth and the position that God has given you will receive you into everlasting habitations. They will be there with you when you see the Lord. One of my very good friends, a student of mine in Germany, is named Jaco. He comes from a very wealthy family, and a couple of times I've said to Jaco, "Oh man, don't worry about it, you're rich." His response always brings a smile to my face. He always says, "I'm rich in friends, man. Rich in friends."

The unjust steward in our story used his privileged position to gain friends for the future. God has given me, and He has given you, a privileged position in this country. He has given us great wealth and has poured out great things abundantly upon us. He desires that we would use those possessions for His kingdom because we are merely stewards of His goods. Everything you have is His. That is when you start to become a good steward of what you have—when you recognize whose goods they truly are.

But the problem is that too many of us are storing up our treasures here on earth. I don't say this to offend you; again, it's the word of God that sometimes brings offense. Note what Jesus says to us: "Store up your treasures in heaven, not on this earth, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I say unto you, make yourselves friends of worldly wealth, that when you fail, when you die, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in the least...

In that which is least, he who is faithful is also faithful in much. He who is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If, therefore, you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon, or in worldly possessions, who will commit to you the true riches? This is a pretty heavy saying right here. Do you recognize what is being said? True riches are not the things of this world; the true riches are the souls of the saints.

If you're wondering why your evangelistic efforts are not going anywhere, it's quite possible that you have not been faithful with the worldly wealth that God has given to you. How you deal with the worldly wealth that God has entrusted to you will hinder your evangelistic work in this world. Worldly wealth is not just money; the things that we consider gain to ourselves here on earth would be considered worldly wealth. We are told that we are to take care of and tend to those things in a right way. If we are unjust in that and if we are not faithful in those things, then the Scripture is clear: you will not be committed the trust or the care of true riches.

If you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? If you haven't been faithful in that which has been committed into your hands that is not yours, then who is going to give you something for yourself? 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.

It has been said before that you must master your money or your money will master you. You must master the things that have been committed into your care, or they will master you. We are told here that you cannot serve God and mammon. You can use the worldly wealth, the mammon that God has committed into your hands, to serve His kingdom and to serve God, but you cannot self-seekingly serve mammon and those worldly riches while simultaneously serving God.

That's why Jesus would say that riches are a snare and that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. We will see this when we get into Luke chapter 16, verse 19, when we read of the certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who fared sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus who laid at his gate.

At His gate, we'll get to that in a moment. Now, of course, the Pharisees who were standing around as Jesus was speaking to His disciples—do you think they really liked this saying of Jesus? They typically don't.

The Pharisees, verse 14, who were covetous—this was the heart of the Pharisees—heard these things and derided Him. They didn't like what He had to say. They were convicted by the Holy Spirit, and yet at the conviction of the Holy Spirit, they would not repent. They just figured they had to kill the conviction. Get rid of the conviction, and they'll be okay.

He said to them, now speaking to the Pharisees, "You are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts." What were their hearts? Verse 14 tells us they were covetous. God knows your hearts. I wonder if Saul of Tarsus was standing there.

For that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. What does man highly esteem? Money, power, riches, possessions, position, prosperity. Man highly esteems these things, and yet what man has highly esteemed is an abomination in the sight of God. It's worldly wealth. We need to recognize that when we die, it dies. We're not taking it with us. It is worldly wealth.

God can use such things here on earth to further His kingdom, but understand that those who serve those things become an abomination unto the Lord.

The law and the prophets were until John, Jesus says. Since that time, the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it. He says the law and the prophets of the Old Testament were until the time of John. But now, Jesus brings in a new covenant—the new covenant in His blood. There were many people who were pressing into this kingdom, and yet the Pharisees were on the outskirts saying, "Oh, we don't like this guy. We've got to kill him. We've got to get rid of him."

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail. He says, "Listen, the law has not gone away. The law is not thrown out because Jesus came. He is the fulfillment of the law, but the law is not done away with."

So He speaks of the law once again to these Pharisees, something that they dealt with. He says in verse 18, "Whosoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whosoever marries her that is put away from her husband commits adultery."

And so now He speaks directly to them about something that they had a problem with because divorce was a very big issue during Jesus' day. There were a couple of different schools of thought on divorce among the Jews in His day. One of them was a very liberal view that took the writings of the Old Testament, which said that if a man finds any uncleanness in his wife, then he can put her away and write a bill of divorcement. This liberal view interpreted "uncleanness" very broadly; for example, perhaps she puts too much salt on the eggs. In that case, it was considered an uncleanness, and away with her.

Then there was the very conservative view. Which view do you think was more commonly held by the Jews in that day? Of course, it was the liberal view. Jesus speaks against that in verse 18. But now, verse 19 returns to the real application of what He is speaking about regarding riches.

There was a certain rich man in verse 1 who had a steward who was unjust and who was accused of not using the riches of his master wisely. Now we read of another rich man who definitely did not use his riches in a wise way. Jesus was telling us in the first story that we need to use what we've been given, the things that have been committed into our care, with an eye for the future. This is not all there is, and we need to invest in the bank of eternal securities.

In verse 19, we have a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen. He indulged in the fineries of life and all the great things that his wealth could afford him. He was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.

There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus who lay outside his gate, full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. It came to pass that the beggar died, and notice this: in verse 22, the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, or paradise. But the rich man died and was buried.

This poor beggar died and was carried by the angels to paradise, but the rich man died and was buried. In hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom in paradise. He cried out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water."

"Finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in torment in this flame." You see, this rich man’s focus was only on his earthly life and what his riches could afford him on earth. In contrast, the beggar, who had nothing but the scraps that fell from the rich man's table, was fully invested in the bank of eternal securities.

When the rich man died, he found himself in Hades, in hell, and he was in torment. He cried out, "Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and quench this fire." But Abraham spoke to the rich man and said, "Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. Besides all this, between us is a great gulf fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you cannot, nor can they pass to us who would come from there."

Then the rich man said, "I pray thee, therefore, father, that you would send him back to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come to this place of torment." The sad fact was that this rich man, when he had riches in his life, did not invest them in gaining the souls of his brothers or in investing in the kingdom of God. But while he was in torment, he remembered. That is a scary truth in this verse. While he was in hell, while he was in torment, he remembered.

He pleaded, "Send Lazarus back, please! I have five brothers that they may testify unto them, lest they also come to this place of torment." Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets." Remember, Jesus just said that not one piece of the law is going to pass away. So, his brothers had Moses and they had the prophets. "Let them hear them."

The rich man insisted, "No, father Abraham, but if one went from the dead, then they will repent. If they saw someone rise from the dead, they'll repent." Abraham said to him, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

It's ironic that in John chapter 12, there is a story about a man by the name of Lazarus who died and rose again.

There's a reason why these two stories are similar. In the city of Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, Jesus' dear friend Lazarus was sick to the point of death, and Jesus didn't make his way up to him. Then word came that Lazarus had died. So, Jesus went to Bethany, and as he was coming into the city, his sisters came out and said, "If you had only been here, he would not have died."

Jesus spoke to Martha. In verse 23 of John chapter 11, He said to her, "Your brother shall rise again." Martha replied, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She was not a Sadducee; she believed in the resurrection, but she saw it as a distant future event. She thought, "I know he'll rise again at the last day."

Jesus then said to her, and I really do believe that these verses, specifically verses 25 and 26 of John chapter 11, are pivotal. Jesus declared, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die." Here is the point at which you and I must answer a crucial question. Every person must. He asks Martha, "Do you believe this? Do you believe this?"

As the story continued, you may remember that in verse 35, the shortest verse in the Bible states, "Jesus wept." He wept not because Lazarus was dead; He knew that He was going to raise him from the dead. He cried at that moment because of their lack of belief. They were filled with unbelief, thinking, "If only He had been here, then He could have kept him from dying. But now he's dead. There's no hope." Yet, there is hope.

In verse 39, Jesus says, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, responded, "Lord, by this time he stinketh. It's been four days." Jesus replied, "Said I not unto you that if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?" Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I know that Thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said..."

Should we believe that Thou hast sent me? When He had spoken, He cried with a loud voice and said, "Lazarus, come forth." And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said, "Loose him and let him go."

Now, what was the response of the rich Pharisees when Lazarus was raised from the dead? Did they believe? No. What did they want to do to Lazarus? They wanted to kill him. He had just been raised from the dead, yet they wanted to kill him. This was bad news for them. They could not have this on the Jerusalem Times tomorrow: this Messiah figure, Jesus, raises the dead. They had to deal with this. They wanted to kill both of them.

And yet, the rich man, while he was in torment, said, "If one goes back, then my brothers will believe. They will repent." It is not the signs and wonders that lead to belief. God had given that rich man great things to invest in his brothers, that they would come to the knowledge of the truth, but he did not. God has given me, and He has given you, great wealth and great riches abundantly today. Not just money, but money is a part of it as well. Jesus tells us that we are to use these things to make friends—not in the sense that we use those things so that they will hang around with us because we always give them a handout. No, that is not the point. We are to use them to make friends so that, in the future, our friends may receive us into everlasting houses.

Let's stand and pray together. God, may it be said of us that we are rich in friends. I think this last week, Pastor Pat has seen that he and Joyce are very rich in friends, and I know it has been a great blessing to him, Lord. God, would You speak to our hearts? Would You plant Your word in our hearts this morning so that we would know that everything we have is Yours? We have been put in the care of these things and charged with them, and we will one day give account. Lord, help us to look forward to the day we give account, not with dread, but with joy, because we will be joined in Your presence with our friends. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. If you need prayer...

This morning, the pastors and some of the elders will be up here to pray for you. I'm sure that many of you have great heaviness in your heart towards the things that Mark read this morning and towards what's going on with Pat and Joyce. But I want to encourage you: God has a plan. He has used Joyce faithfully, and He wants to bring her home. She will be with the Lord.

David, when one of his sons died, fasted and prayed for his son who was sick and near death, as recorded in 2 Samuel. Many of you have fasted and prayed that God would heal Joyce. However, despite his prayers, David's son died. Afterward, he put on new clothes, washed, made himself clean, and asked that they bring him food. His servants thought, "What are you doing?" He replied, "I know that my son cannot return to me, but I will go to him."

I don't know what Pat's plan will be after Joyce passes. Perhaps he'll be here to teach right after that, because he knows she can't return to him, but he will go to her. God bless you today. May He be with you as we go from this place. You are dismissed.