Turning your Bibles to Luke sixteen verses one through thirteen, but especially versus ten and following as this is the third message on the parable of the unrighteous steward. It's a very troubling, troubling parable. What happens in this parable is that a manager gets fired. And then he goes about reducing the debts of his master's debtors to make them more affordable, reducing the debt to the principal and eliminating the interest payments. And since those interest payments were illegal anyway, he is able to evade prosecution while currying favor with his master's debtors. And so the master in verse eight commends the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. And Jesus applies that commendation by way of rebuke of his own disciples, as he continues in verse eight, the second half of the verse saying that for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And his point was that often The children of this age, the unbelieving world, the worldly group, they show more zeal, more energy, more commitment, more focus, more decisiveness about getting ahead in this world, about accumulating material things, about making money, about enjoying earthly pleasures than do the disciples of Jesus for the sake of the eternal, for the sake of the spiritual, for the sake of their souls. It's a rebuke and a lesson about zeal. Life is short, eternity is long. Use the present opportunities that we have for the sake of our eternal souls. So that was that was lesson number one. Lesson number two is a lesson about stewardship. And we saw that last week where he says in verse nine, then make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth. So that when it fails, you may receive. They may receive you into the eternal dwellings. We saw this as a lesson on stewardship. And Jesus is saying, make friends the same way that the dishonest manager made friends as he canceled the interest and reduced the debts of his master's debtors to the principal in the same way he made friends. So we're to make friends. We're to make eternal friends. By the use of unrighteous wealth, that's a way of speaking of the money of this world. Use your money for the sake of the building of the kingdom of God. Use it to populate heaven. Use it to spread the gospel so that when it fails, that is, when you run out of money or when you die and after all, you can't take your money with you. So it's it fails at that point. It's no longer useful. It's no longer usable. You will have consumed your wealth. for eternal purposes, for the building of the kingdom of God, for the salvation of souls, for the spread of Christian missions, for the proclamation of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Make friends, he's saying, eternal friends, use your money in order to make friends who will be with you forever and ever in heaven. What better use of your money is that? And of course, we very slyly applied that to stewardship in order to encourage you to give to the ministry of the church so that we can do a better job of reaching our community and supporting mission and ministry here at home, as well as abroad. What better use of your money is that we all want to make an eternal difference? What better use of our resources than to commit them to that which will encourage the building of God's eternal kingdom? All right. Now we come then to the third and final lesson. Jesus teaches us about zeal, Jesus teaches us about stewardship, and now he teaches us about character. Or more, more particularly about character as revealed in our priorities in verses 10 through 13, Jesus is discussing and applying this parable to how character is revealed in our priorities, particularly with respect to our financial priorities, that is, in our use of money. Now, the first thing that he indicates is that character is proven by faithfulness in the small and ordinary things of life. So look at me with verse 10. He says, one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If you're faithful, you're honest and trustworthy with the little things of life, then you're going to be faithful and trustworthy in the big things. If you're dishonest or literally the word is unrighteous and in those, if you're dishonest in a very little, you're going to also be dishonest in much. In other words, the way that you handle the little things, the small things, the ordinary things is a reliable gauge of how you're going to do when the stakes are larger. You have these minor responsibilities in life. And yet you're cutting corners, you're pocketing the change, you're cooking the books, you're bending the truth. That has everything to say with who we are. And who we are has everything to say with what we will do. And we can't say about the little things of life, well, that's no big deal if we were encountering something that was more important. That was more vital. There was a bigger matter. Then we behave differently. No, what Jesus says is the way that you handle yourself when it comes to the little things is a prediction of what you will do when larger things are at stake. I'm going to tell a story. I repeat one from a couple of months ago that comes out of the Marine Corps officer training school, which, you know, our son Samuel was in. They go on these devastatingly difficult hikes. And they have a rule. You have a canteen, you have water in it and you can drink from it and you can pour it over your head, but you may not pour even a drop onto the ground. That's the rule. You might think it's arbitrary. You might think that it's silly, but that's the rule. And so the number one student in his platoon. Got to the end of one of these devastatingly difficult hikes, took a drink, poured it over his head, and there was just a little bit left in the bottom, poured it out. And so he was confronted about it by the authorities, and they said, well, you broke the rule. And he said it was just a little bit. And they said, you broke the rule. He said it was no big deal. You broke the rule. He said, what does it matter? This was in week eight of the 10 week course, he had already been through so much. How did they respond? They kicked him out of the program. And all his platoon members were. upset about it and angered by it. And so the authorities came and talked to the whole group and said and said, look, if he has that kind of an outlook and attitude when it comes to this small matter, he's not reliable. This is a character issue. We could give you an ethics test. And we might give you a question that says, what do you do if the person walking in front of you drops a hundred dollar bill out of your pocket? You'd write the right answer to say, oh, I pick it up and tap them on the shoulder and I'd give him a hundred dollars back. You know how to answer the question. What we know about your character is based on what you do. If he will not obey this rule, we can't count on him in combat. We can't count on him to follow orders. People's lives will be at stake. How you handle the little things is indicative of how we handle the big things. I give credit to the military establishment for understanding that principle. And I think we see the principle here in what Jesus is saying. Look, how does a person become an embezzler? Do you think one day they just open up the safe and take a couple of hundred thousand dollars? No, that's not the way it happens. They start by taking pennies. One day they decide to slip a couple of dollars out of the till. And then a couple of weeks go by and then a few more dollars are taken out and then a few more weeks past months, past years, past more and more is being taken. The sin changes us. The lack of integrity in little things then is replicated throughout our whole character and manifests itself. Then when the issues are big. That's how you go from stealing to being a thief, that's how you go from I'm committing adultery to being an adulterer. Sin changes us when we do what is wrong. It alters our character. It infects our personalities. It alters us. We're changed by it. That's why integrity and the little things is so important. How we handle little things and little people. How do I treat those people who can't do very much for me? Typically, we we pay attention to the people who can do things for us, from whom we gain something. Well, it's a test of integrity. How do I treat those people from whom I can gain nothing? Are my verbal commitments, are they reliable or do I view words as small things and fail to follow through and fail to show up and fail to keep my promises and honor my word? It makes a difference. is by integrity and small things that we train our consciences. So I want to urge young people, never lie, never cheat. Not even little white lies. What we do when no one is looking reveals a great deal about our character. Begin now. Tithing the first dime that you're given or that you earn. Because if you if you tied the first dime, you're much more likely to tithe when a great deal of money is at stake. Integrity in the little things means integrity in the big things, character in the little things reveals character, manifest character in the big things. You're going to keep a Sabbath, keep the whole day, don't cut corners, don't make it God's holy morning. Or God's holy two quarters, two thirds of the day. Keep a whole Sabbath, don't trim here and trim there, have integrity about it. If you believe that the Sabbath is to be hallowed. That new friend that shows up at the youth group. Or that new person that nobody knows, and he's a bit awkward, he's new. Reaching out to him or her being selfless now means It's less likely that one will be self absorbed later, what we do now counts for later. Be careful about viewing habits now when immorality is shown immorally in an immoral way, turn it off. I understand the Bible deals with immorality, terrible, terrible, awful immorality, but it doesn't deal with it in ways. That are. that are calculated to undermine our morals in the process. In other words, immorality can be a theme, but it doesn't need to be shown in ways that are immoral and corrupt the people who are dealing with the immoral theme. Begin to dress now in ways that are modest and discreet rather than indulging the sensuous pray for God to give his Holy Spirit to give us wisdom about these things, encourage about these things. We are weak. We are foolish. We need his strength. We need his wisdom. And James promises that if we seek that in Jesus name, God will give it to us. All right. Secondly, character is proven in our handling of secular things. In verse eleven, the basic argument that Jesus is presenting here is that our suitability for spiritual responsibility can be seen in how we handle secular responsibility. Is integrity in the work world a priority, or do I view it as some separate realm where different rules apply? So look at verse 11, if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, if in your handling of your secular affairs, let's just call them that your profession, your business, your job, if you've not had integrity there, then you're not going to be entrusted with integrity when it comes to spiritual things. God's not going to trust you with the more important things if you've not shown integrity, if you've not shown character when it comes to the spiritual things. It's on this basis that officers are evaluated. You'll know that from First Timothy 3, Titus 1 in the list of qualifications are, you know, how do they manage their household? What about their family life? What about their marriages? What about their handling of their finances? These before you give them spiritual responsibility, if a man cannot manage his own household, the apostle Paul says in First Timothy 3, how will he manage the household of God? I think that's the principle that Jesus is dealing with here. Looking again at verse 11, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, your worldly wealth, you've not been faithful. You've not been reliable. You've not been honest, you've not had integrity who will entrust to you the true riches, meaning by that eternal riches, genuine riches, spiritual riches, kingdom wealth. true riches as opposed to the temporary riches of this world, which is in which by way of contrast with true riches is false riches. It's fleeting. There's a there's an unreality about it. See, for Jesus. Who is our Lord and our Savior and our master and our king for Jesus, money and wealth. These are little things, you know, being faithful in the little things, what little things? Well, we'll see that for us is a big thing for Jesus. Wealth is is a false thing. It's not it's not even real for us. It is reality for us. Material things, though, well, that's what we pursue, that's what consumes our lives for Jesus. Those are little things, you know, you know, handle the little things like wealth. Nobody can be trusted with the big things you don't you don't handle these unreal temporal wealth money realm. Well, you're not going to be tested. You're not going to be. You're not gonna be trusted rather. With the true riches, in other words, again, the secular realm is the proving ground for the spiritual realm, how we handle our money qualifies and disqualifies us. For spiritual responsibility, he says, essentially the same thing in verse 12, continuing, and if you've not been faithful in that which is another's. Another's. Who will give you that which is your own another's? Not only is well, small, a little thing and false, not real in any kind of eternal or enduring way, Jesus is saying it's not even ours. It's God's. Everything on Earth belongs to him, we're just stewards, we're just managers of wealth. We're responsible for our stewardship and our management of that wealth, but it's not ours. And he's saying if if we're not faithful and that which is another is that now we're now we're being instructed by way of contrast with this this unrighteous steward, this dishonest manager, he wasn't he wasn't honest. And so he lost his job. And he's now drawing this parallel. You see, we tend to say, you know, wealth is mine. I made it. It's for me. The true view is it's God's gift. And we are but stewards and we are but caretakers. And if we don't use it well and use it wisely, then we will not be trusted with that which is our own. That is with heavenly treasure. With eternal treasure. That we cannot lose that is ours inalienably and eternally. Faithful now and we will be rich then. If I wish to be useful to God and I wish to serve God and I trust that everybody here wants that. You want your life to count. You want to do that, which is of eternal consequence that is God approved and that God will be pleased with them when they will say, well done, good and faithful servant. Because there is a coming judgment day and I will stand before God and I do want that verdict to be rendered when that day comes. Well, Jesus is saying. It began to serve right now, right where you are in the small and in the ordinary and in the secular matters of life. Be faithful as a parent and as a spouse or as an employee or as an employer. Be faithful in helping in the nursery, in cleaning up after meals and tending to the garden and licking envelopes in the office and taking flowers to the shut ins and in a myriad of small ways, be faithful in those things. And that then leads over time to expanded responsibility. You say, well, those things aren't spiritual. Exactly, that's the point. You're faithful in small things, you'll be faithful and then in larger things, you're faithful in secular things, then you'll be faithful in spiritual things. If you are faithful in the unimportant, then you'll be faithful in the important and you'll be given responsibilities in their larger spiritual and more important realms when you demonstrate faithfulness and integrity and character in these lesser realms. And then thirdly. Character is proven by faithfulness in the small and the ordinary character is proven in our handling of secular things and character is proven in exclusive loyalty. Verse 13, no servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and money. You see how the theme of stewardship runs right through this and how the concern for finances and money runs right through it. Again, this lesson is by way of contrast with the dishonest manager. He was out for himself, he was serving himself and because he was, he couldn't serve his master. He failed the owner. Because he was serving himself, serving his need for affirmation and power and money. No one can serve two masters, no servant can serve two masters. A servant here is a household servant to serve. That word is actually the word for slave. No servant can slave for two masters, and this is a bit of hyperbole, admittedly, that. You will hate the one and love the other. You will be devoted to one or and despise the other. What he's talking about there is comparatively, that's what's going to happen to be like a husband having two wives, heaven forbid, can you can a husband serve two wives? And the answer, of course, is. No, he can't. He can't give the same attention to two wives simultaneously. He's going to be devoted to the one over the other. He will love one more than the other. So it cannot be faithfully done, you can't fulfill the duties of a husband with two wives. One of them is going to be neglected. One is going to be served over the other. And this is what Jesus is saying about God and money, God and self, God and this world. You can't serve them both. You can't serve the eternal world and this world. You can't serve God and self. You can't serve God and money, it cannot cannot be done. See, at the end of the verse, you cannot serve God and money, it cannot be done. If we take our wealth and we cheat in order to get it and then we waste it once we've got it, we squander it, we selfishly consume it, we cheat to get it wasted on ourselves. Consuming it. for our own gratification, then we're serving ourselves. We're serving mammon in the sense money, in the sense that we're we're working in order to get it so that we can consume it on ourselves so that we can serve ourselves. And Jesus is saying, look, circumstances are going to force a decision. You're going to prioritize something is going to come first. It can't be both at the same time. It's impossible, it cannot be done, you cannot serve God and serve money. God will not accept it. He doesn't accept rivals. He doesn't accept divided loyalties. You could say that, really, this is the deception, this is the devil's. Primary deception, these are the seeds of confusion that he is forever sowing what we want to have it both ways, we want to have a foot in both worlds. We want to serve ourselves. and serve God. Now, it's one thing if we become wealthy in pursuit of our calling. And wealth accumulates incidentally. We are aggressively granted vigorously, faithfully pursuing our calling, whatever that might be, we're having some success in it. And wealth is accumulating. There's nothing wrong with that at all. We have a very high view of vocation. There's nothing inherently evil about wealth. The point is, what's the mentality, what's the outlook for whose for whose benefit, for whose who am I serving as I'm doing so? Is this primarily for me? Is it for my reputation? Is it so that I'll have wealth and with wealth, power and recognition and status and comfort and Wonderful vacations that I go on a wonderful thing that I'm able to buy in multiple cars in the garage and multiple houses that I can live in. Then I'm serving myself. That's the point, or at least it would appear so. And I'm to be warned that Jesus is cautioning us. And I think that he's just he wants his disciples to hear that we're his disciples, how do we become his disciples? All right, we become his disciples, not by works, but by faith. in Christ, as we surrender to him as Lord and Savior, as we turn from our sin and we cling to him by faith. And that happens apart from works and apart from us being good people and moral beings. No, he justifies the ungodly by faith in Christ alone. We are saved. Hope that's clear, but nevertheless, we are attempted to bring into the kingdom our idols and our lusts, which we want to continue to serve. We pander to them. We feed them, feed those lusts, feed those desires, feed that ego, feed that pride, indulge that selfishness. And are unrepentant about it, trying to have our foot in both worlds. Trying to do both at the same time, that that is the deception. James four nine four four rather says friendship with the world is enmity with God. What Jesus promised is that the world would hate us and persecute us, even as it hated and persecuted Jesus himself. But we don't want to choose. We want to have it both ways, we want to put a foot in both camps, we want to have We want friendship with the world and indulge the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life. All that is passing away. We want to cling to that and hold on to it. And of course, give God a place a little bit of a part, a corner, a section, even a big section of our lives. But we want to reserve for ourselves. Our idols are false gods from which we derive pleasure. That stroke our egos that feed our pride. And so Jesus is speaking to us as his disciples. You need to dissuade yourself of that opinion. You need to rid that thought from your mind. Jesus wants it all. It's all or nothing. You need to get on board entirely. You can't be half on the ship and half off the ship. You can't be half on the train and half off the train. You can't be half on the plane and half off of the plane. You're either on the plane or you're off the plane. You're either in or you're out. You have to be all in, as we you know, we put it today. All in. You can't serve God and money, you can't serve God and self, Jesus wants absolute commitment with the kind of focus and decisiveness that the shrewd but dishonest manager showed. And unlike the manager, by Demonstrate that you're all in by being faithful in the small things. Don't imagine there's a secular realm. You're faithful in that realm as well. Your service is undivided. And your loyalty is uncompromised. This is what we sing up in the old gospel song, I surrender all. Oh, I surrender all this is this is without qualification, without limitation. All to thee, my blessed savior, I surrender, not some, not part, not most, but all. That's the commitment that he calls us to as we pray together. Our father in heaven, we pray. That we would bow here this morning without reserve. Without negotiating. We bow before you. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, we bow before you, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we bow before you as Savior and Lord. Hear our prayer. As we offer it in the name of Christ, our king, all men.