We shall now turn to the chapter which we read together, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 16, and we shall read again the first verse of the chapter. Luke 16, verse 1. And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward, and the same was accused unto him. that he had wasted his goods. And so on. So what we have here today is the parable of the unjust steward. And of all the parables told by Jesus, I think this is the hardest one to understand. And yet, it is worth our while studying it because I believe there's much of profit that we can get from studying it together today. Luke chapter 15 tells three parables. Three parables which were addressed to the Pharisees. You can see that in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 15. The Pharisees were criticizing Jesus because he sat and ate with publicans and sinners. Jesus responds by saying that he had not come into this world to save righteous men. He had not come for the salvation of good people, no. He came to save sinners. So that's why he associated with sinners, because his heart's desire was to save sinners, to deliver them from hell. to change their lives. The Pharisees, they thought they were so good, they were full of themselves and as long as people think they're good, there's not much hope for their salvation. And so Jesus told a parable about the lost sheep the lost coin and the lost sons. And at the end of the three parables, each parable, he says, there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. How wonderful. You, a sinner, when you repent, there is joy in heaven. there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels. God himself is delighted because God is delighted, delights to see. God delights to see. Now, Chapter 15 was addressed to the Pharisees. We come to chapter 16 and we notice that it is addressed particularly to the disciples. Verse 1, He said also unto his disciples. So it's particularly for Christians. It's for those who are followers of Jesus, those who are members of the church and adherents of the church. That's to whom this parable is addressed. So it's worth remembering that as we look at the parable. And what is its basic lesson? It's simply this. Prepare for eternity. Well that's a lesson that's often taught in the Bible. And why does it have to be so often taught in the Bible? Because the last thing the majority of people want to do is to prepare for eternity. The last thing any of us want to do is to think about death and eternity. It is so easy for us to sleep to sleep spiritually, it's so easy for us to go on from day to day, absorb with our work, absorb with our family, absorb with our relationships, absorb with our pleasures, and we forget that it's all going to end. Very soon, no doubt sooner than any of you expect, death will come, and then, and then eternity. And eternity is totally different to this world. Everything here is for a little time. It's all passing away. And then eternity. Eternity of misery. Eternity of joy. Prepare for eternity. Why do we have this world? We have this world in order to prepare. We have this time in this life in order to get ready for death, for the judgment and for what comes after us. So that's the first message then here, that's the basic message of this parable. Central message is prepare for eternity. Now first of all, looking at the parable, I want you to notice that we are all wasters by nature. We are all wasters by nature. We're told here about a rich man which had a steward. and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. God gives to us what we have in this world. God is the rich man and you and I are the stewards. You might think My money, my house, my job, my wages, it's mine. I can do what I like with it. But it's not. Everything you have, it comes from God and it belongs to God. comes from God and it belongs to God. It is not ours, it is His. And we are simply stewards. We are simply managers. We are those who are managing what God gives us. And what do we do with all God gives us? We're wasters. Wasters by nature. God gives us so much. For example, last Tuesday we had Harvest Thanksgiving and we were giving thanks to God for harvest. But how few came along to the Harvest Thanksgiving service. How little thanksgiving there is in our hearts for harvest. It's mine, it's my right. We think of food in our cupboards, breakfast, dinner and tea, it's our right. Food in the shops, it's our right. Money in the bank, it's our right. But friends, these things could easily be taken from us. In the last couple of years we've seen amazing going-ons in the financial markets. These things could become a thousand times worse. Yes, the financial system of the world could completely collapse and the banks collapse. It is the Lord and the Lord's mercy that gives us money and gives us food. Jesus taught us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. Do you pray that prayer? And do you pray it meaningfully? Or do you say, well, we'll get daily bread today and we'll get it tomorrow and we'll have it next week and next year and ten years time, we'll have it! But how do you know? It comes from God. The Lord blesses us with a harvest and we should give thanks for harvest. If we didn't have harvest we wouldn't have food, we'd have poverty. Do you sit down to your meal and eat your food without giving thanks to God? Rise up like an animal having eaten your food and you don't think of God who gave it to you. How terrible. Do you say grace and yet not think of what you're saying? Do we not all fail in this, you and I? So often when we're saying grace before our meals, we're thinking very little about what we're saying. instead of really giving thanks to God and praying for his blessing upon what he has given us. Do we give thanks to God for our pay packets, our salaries paid into the bank, our pensions, whatever it is that maintains us, how thankful we should be. God gives us all these things. Do we recognise that God has given us these things? and that we are answerable to him for the way we use it. Our money is not our own. We are managers. Some people think, well, God tells us to give him a tithe, so I'll give a tithe, I'll give a tenth to God or to the church, and then I can do what I like with the rest. But no. It all is His. It all belongs to Him. And to God we must give account for every penny we have, every penny we use, how we use it. Are we using it in a God-glorifying way? Are we using our money in a way that pleases God? Or are we selfishly pleasing ourselves? Wasters by nature. How much of our money we waste on trivialities. How much we waste on foolish things. How little we think that what we have doesn't really belong to us. It's God's. So that's the first point to take account of. You're a steward. You're a manager. And the wealth you have, the possessions you have, are God's gift to you. But a gift for a time, in order that you manage it for his glory. Now secondly, I want you to notice that we shall all lose our stewardship. Because we are wasters. Verse 2. He called to him and he said, How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship, and in your books thou mayest no longer be a steward. All of us are going to die and stand before God's judgment seat and there we have to give an account to God for the way we spent our time and spent His money in this world. Keep on remembering every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning. All our wealth comes from God, all our resources and then one day it's going to be taken away. We cannot take a penny with us. Think of the millionaires, the billionaires. They die, and are they any better when they die than the beggar? Later on in this chapter we read concerning the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, fared sumptuously every day, lived in a palace and his big cars and his boat and his luxurious holidays and all the rest of it and then one day he died and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torment Lazarus the beggar who ate the crumbs from the rich man's table thrown the scraps Lazarus died And in heaven he opened his eyes, blessed. The rich man couldn't take his riches with him. He couldn't take enough to buy one drop of water to cool his tongue in the flames of hell. Lazarus had nothing. Remember how Job put it. In one day, Job had lost all his flocks and his herds and his possessions. And remember what he said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither. You are born into this world naked with nothing and when you leave this world you leave it naked with nothing. A shroud has no pockets. We cannot take our wealth with us. You must give account for your stewardship, thou mayest no longer be a steward. Don't overvalue the possessions you have in this life. Remember you've only got them for a little time and they'll be taken away. Remember verse 13, you cannot serve God and mammon. There's so many people And they're living their life for mammon, for wealth, for riches, for possessions, for work, for success. And they think they can serve God too. But God will not allow any competitors in your heart. You must love him first and foremost and above all else. You must love the Lord with all your heart and soul and strength and mind. You cannot serve God and mammon. We shall all lose our stewardship. Because we are wasters by nature, because of our sins, the wages of sin is death. We shall lose our stewardship. So do you reckon with that? Do you think about it in your own life? Have you got your possessions today? But then, naked, you're going to stand before the judge. And no matter how wealthy you are, you want to be one whit better than the poor. And then it's eternity. Thirdly, prepare for the future. Verse three, the steward said within himself, what shall I do? For my Lord take the way from me, the stewardship. I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed. I'm not a farmer, what am I going to do? I've had this good job, now I'm losing it. What else can I do? Where am I going to live? I am resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and said unto them, said to the first, how much o'st thou? And he said, a hundred measures, a hundred measures of oil. So he said to him, well, cut it down to 50. And the next man, I owe a hundred measures of wheat. Cut it down to 80. You see what he was doing? He was endearing himself. to his Lord's debtors. He was using his Lord's wealth to provide for his own future. He's very wise. In fact, he's commended for his wisdom. Verse 8, The Lord commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely He's commended for his wisdom, not for his honesty. He's an unjust steward, and he's called that, and it is unjust and it is wrong, but he's commended for his wisdom, and his wisdom is simply this. He's preparing for the day when he won't have a house or a home. And if he uses his Lord's wealth to endear himself to his Lord's debtors then when he loses his home his Lord's debtors will take him in and he'll have somewhere to live. He's preparing for the future. And that's what you and I are supposed to do. Instead of sleeping our way through this world, instead of being drugged by drink and by pleasures, we are to prepare. Instead of saying, I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm sure it'll all work out. There's lots of people like me and I'm not the worst person there is. There's worse people than me around. When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child. This man, he prepares, he says, I cannot dig to beg, I am ashamed. I'm resolved what to do so that I will have a home when I'm put out of my stewardship. So he calls his masters debtors and he reduces the debts that they have to pay. And he's commended for his wisdom. He was very clever in worldly terms. and you and I are to be clever in heavenly terms, and to be wise in spiritual terms. This man prepared for the day when he would be homeless, and you and I must prepare for the day when we will be homeless. Whatever nice homes we have in this world, one day we leave them, and where will we go to live then? Once we're put out of our homes in this world, Will there be a home for us in heaven? In my Father's house are many mansions, but will there be one for you? Remember, although there are many mansions in the Father's house, there's no mansions there for those who persist in sin and unbelief and rebellion. There's no home there for those who persist in unbelief and who continue unconverted. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. Believe in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. but they're only for believers. Prepare so that when you die you will have a home in heaven. Fourthly, make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Verse 9 I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." Now what do we have here? Make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. This sounds difficult, doesn't it? What is meant by it? How can you make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness. Well, mammon is money, the god of money. So we are to make use of money so that we will have a home beyond death. We are to make use of money by showing kindness, by giving to charity, Not to earn salvation. You can't earn it. Not to buy a place in heaven. You can't buy it. But rather to show that your faith is real and your love is real. and that you have a faith, not a faith without works. Many people have a faith without works, and it will do them no good on the judgment day. You say you have faith, but if your faith is a faith without works, it's dead. The only faith that will do at the end of the day is a faith which works by love, and a faith which expresses itself in love, and a faith which shows through love how genuine it is. We're told to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. How do you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven? By making friends to yourselves of the mammon of unrighteousness, using your money wisely, making friends with that money, using it to help those who are in need. And then when the day comes, what a wonderful welcome you will receive into heaven from those you have helped. Think of Dorcas. Dorcas in Acts chapter 9. Dorcas was full of good works and then she died. And everyone was so upset when she died. And they sent for Peter. And Peter came along and he found Dorcas' body laid out on a bed in an upper room. And all round the bed were widows, showing him the dresses and the coats that Dorcas had made for them, weeping. because Dorcas had been so kind to them in all that she had done. There we have a picture of what it will be like when you enter heaven and all those that you have shown kindness and love to through your use of money in this world giving you an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What a welcome you will receive. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Money can sound a horrible thing and it can be such a worldly thing in a way and yet as Christians we are to make use of money We are to make use of it in the service of the Lord. We are to make use of it for the kingdom of God. We are to make use of it in helping those who are in need so that these very people who have been helped by us will give us an abundant welcome into heaven. Do you make friends then of the mammon of unrighteousness? were told in the scriptures the parable of the rich fool. He had a great harvest. And he said to himself, what shall I do? I know what I'll do. I'll pull down my barns and I'll build greater. And then I'll say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Eat, drink, and be merry. Have a good time. My goods, my riches, my wealth, my possessions, my pleasures. And God said, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall these things be? The fool. He thought it's mine. It's my money. It's my pension. It's my investments. I've got it. I'll use it. And he died and he had nothing. So important to see these things as gifts from God. So important to use them for his glory. For the good of men and women. and in that way to make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness. But finally we see here the exhortation to be faithful in little things. Verse 10. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is unjust in much. Be faithful in the little things. Be wise. Be kind. Fulfill the will of God and you will be faithful in much. He that breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. You and I, we tend to think of some commandments as little ones. some things as of not very great importance. But friends, every commandment is important. The smallest commandment is important and must be kept. If we're careful and conscientious in the little things, careful and conscientious with regard to something as trivial and as unimportant as money, how blessed we will be in the great things such as joy and peace and everlasting life and assurance and the Holy Spirit. Verse 12, And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? That which is another man's riches in this world, if we haven't been faithful with that, who will give us our own, which is a place in heaven? We claim to be disciples. Well, if we claim to be disciples, it's so important to live out the Christian life. If we fail in the little things, the temporal things, how are we going to be given the great things, the eternal things? If we are dishonest in the use of earthly riches, who will give to us the heavenly riches? Make to yourselves friends of the Naamán of unrighteousness. Be faithful in the little things and God will give the great things to you. What encouragement there is here. I was listening to a sermon yesterday on the internet and it was very interesting. It was talking about the feeding of the 5,000. And you remember how the 5,000 were fed with five loaves and a few small fish. But then at the end, 12 baskets full of fragments of leftovers were gathered. Why 12 baskets? Well, who was giving out the bread and the fish to the 5,000? the twelve disciples of course and at the end the twelve disciples went round with baskets and each one of them came back with a full basket and as we serve the Lord and as we give to him and as we serve our fellow men the Lord will give us a basket full and we'll all come back with our full basket. As we minister, as we serve, as we labour for others, the Lord fills our basket. God is no man's debtor, and you'll find that whatever you do for God, you're always rewarded. He'll never leave you the poorer because of it. And what you give to the church and to charity and to good causes, you don't lose out on it. And whatever you do by way of helping those who are in need, the Lord will reward you a hundredfold. They started off with just these two little fish and five barley cakes. And they came back, each one with a basket full. And that's the way the Lord works, isn't it? God gives to us abundantly. Be faithful in that which is least, and the Lord will grant you that which is greatest. So we have an encouragement here to every one of us to prepare for eternity. And as we live in this world, to be laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven, always to be active, active for God, always to be thinking of the future, not sleeping our way through life, but awake and alert and looking for opportunities to do good. And in that way, it's not that we save ourselves by good works. We can't be saved by good works, but we are saved in order to do good works. And we show the reality of our salvation by the good works we do. And so let us be abundant in good works. Let us be diligent in doing that which is good. And in that way showing that our faith is real.