One of the most difficult parables (Luke 16)

all right so tonight anybody remember where we are in the gospels luke what luke 16. all right so if you've got your bible good and turn to luke 16 and tonight we are looking at what i think is probably one of the most difficult parables yeshua told and the reason i feel this one's so difficult is because it creates a moral dilemma because we have this guy who is acting in ways that we see as problematic morally and yeshua is commending him and so it creates a moral dilemma for us and so i want to look at this challenging parable kind of work through some of these issues it's the parable of the shrewd manager the shrewd steward it's luke 16 1 it says he also said to his disciples there was a certain rich man who had a steward and an accusation was brought against him or was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods so he called him and he said to him what is this that i hear about you give an account of your stewardship for you can no longer be steward then the steward said within himself what shall i do for my master is taking the stewardship away from me i cannot dig and i'm ashamed to beg i've resolved what to do that when i am put out of the stewardship they may receive me into their homes so he called every one of his master's debtors to him and he said to the first how much do you owe my master and he said a hundred measures of oil so he said to him take your bill sit down quickly and write 50. then he said to another how much do you owe and he said 100 measures of wheat and he said to him take your bill and write down 80. so the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly so the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light and i say to you make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon that when it fails they may receive you into an everlasting home he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also and much therefore if you've not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to you the true riches and if you have not been faithful with another's another with what is another man's who will give you what is your own no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and mammon now the pharisees who were lovers of money also heard all these things and they derided him and he said to them you are those who justify yourselves before men but god knows your hearts for what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of god so like i said this is one of those troubling passages one of those troubling parables that when you first look at it you think wow this is kind of kind of confusing we have this guy who is acting in unjust ways he's being wasteful with his master's property and then he goes and basically messes with the books you know and has these people reduce the amount that they actually owed the master so he's doing some shady things and then he's commended for it and we're told that something about him is commendable in this and we're we're like what what is it about this guy that we're supposed to look to as an example we have this we're supposed to learn a good lesson from this bad example somehow and so it's kind of a challenging passage and it's troubling because like i said it it creates a dilemma in our minds it creates a moral dilemma um because it it seems like yeshua's commending this man for dishonest behavior so what is the lesson we're supposed to get out of this what are we supposed to learn from this passage let's look at it i want to look at it a little you know chunk at a time it says there was a certain man who had a steward and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods it's interesting that this passage this parable follows the parable of the prodigal son and the same word used here for wasting his master's goods is the same word that says that the prodigal son the wasteful son and so it's the same word for prodigal also is wasteful and so we see that we had the prodigal son and we have the prodigal steward and so it says he was wasting his master's property he was irresponsible then it says he was told to give an account of his stewardship so he wants you know show me your records show me what you've done i want to see if you've been honest or not i want to see if you've done well i want to see if you're wasting i want to check the books i want to check what you've done give an account for your stewardship a steward is someone who manages someone else's property and so in this context this steward seems to have been in charge of the debts that were owed to this rich man because we had the one who owed oil and one who would grain and apparently there were others as well this man was apparently very wealthy and i i saw some estimates as to how much oil that was you know is olive oil and you know so it wasn't crude oil it was olive oil so it was you know they estimated that it would take you know huge vineyard i don't remember how big but a huge vineyard and quite a few years i don't remember how many years they estimated to be able to accumulate that much oil it was uh what did it say 100 100 measures of oil and you know it's equivalent of a very large sum of money but you think about how they would crush the oil you know they didn't have machinery like we have today you know they couldn't just take the barrels and stick them in a big machine and crush out the oil they would actually crush them by hand they'd wrap them put them on a stone tablet and they basically they turned it and they either walk around in circles and turn it or they'd have like a hand crank and turn it but this big heavy stone tablet basically would come down and crush the grapes and squeeze between two stone tablets these are the the olives i'm sorry squeeze between these two stone tablets the olives and squeeze the oil out of them and you have to have a whole lot more olives than you do oil so i mean you know you have a barrel full of olives it only produces a small amount of olive oil and so it would take a long time for this man to pay off that much oil and so he was indebted to the steward because he reduced his debt by quite a significant amount and he basically cut it in half he said you owe 100 i'll just make it 50. and so this man would have been very much indebted to him you know so it was probably one of those things where he said oh man i appreciate it so much thank you so much if you need anything let me know and if you need a place to stay just you know come to my house you know that's that's the whole reason the steward did this is he wanted to be indebted to these people he wanted their gratitude he wanted their appreciation so that when he needed a favor he could go to them and they would be obligated or feel obligated to accommodate him so that's why he did what he did he was trying to get in their good gracious good graces he was trying to find favor with them and that seems to be the issue that uh he's accredited for he's commended for was this shrewd act that says give account of your stewardship and the bible says we are all stewards right there's going to come a day on judgment where yeshua he's going to stand and he's going to ask us to give an account and to some he's going to say you know well done good and faithful servant and then to others you can say what did you do what did you do with what i gave you what did you do with the things you were put in charge of bible says we are all to give an account romans 14 12 it says so then each of us shall give an account of himself to god and so there's there's some things about this parable that seem to be pointing us towards future events end times events judgment time matthew 12 36 says but i say to you that for every idle word men speak they will give an account of it in the day of judgment so not only are we held accountable for the things we do but we're also held accountable for the things we say and idle words are something that we'll be held accountable for how are we using our tongue how are we using our words are we using it to build the kingdom and glorify god build others up edify people show love or are we using it in wasteful ways talking about things that don't matter or worse are we using our tongue for gossip and slander spreading evil about other people are we using it to for profanity for vulgarity of course joking are we wasting our words are we using them wisely remember he's a wasteful steward prodigal he just scatters the word means he just scatters it abroad wasteful just throws it everywhere are we just wasting our words are we using them intentionally and purposefully and planting seeds with what we say building the kingdom of what we say we're going to give an account for that second corinthians 5 9-10 it says therefore we make it our aim whether present or absent to be well-pleasing to him for we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad you know we're going to receive a reward for everything we do whether it's good or bad and the reward for bad behavior is not one you want to receive okay you reap what you sow the bible says if you sow what's good you're good you sow what's bad you reap bad we want to receive a reward for sowing good so the things that we say the things that we do how we spend our time how we spend our resources how we spend our words everything we do we should be making it our aim to be well pleasing to the father so are we being wasteful with the life that god has given us i think this is the first the first thing this parable is is addressing this wasteful steward this prodigal steward he was put in charge of this man's property of this man's estate but yet he was wasteful with it and he says you're going to give an account for that the bible says we are stewards that everything belongs to god the whole earth is his everything you have belongs to him your family belongs to him your wife your husband your children grandchildren they belong to him and you were being given they were given to you for stewardship your house belongs to him it was given to you for stewardship your finances belonged to him they were given to you for stewardship everything he has belongs to him everything you have belongs to him and it was given to you as a steward so how are you handling your stewardship are you being a wasteful steward are you being a faithful steward so that's the first question i'd like to have us just kind of self-evaluate i think it's good to do this occasionally as you're looking through the scriptures to self-evaluate and say you know where am i in this story we all want to think of ourselves as oh yeah i'm going to be the guy he says well done good and faithful servant we we like the idea of that but it's good for us to do an evaluation sometimes and say you know what maybe i'm not being that faithful maybe i'm being kind of prodigal kind of wasteful and i need to reevaluate and adjust some things and re-prioritize some things stop wasting my time binge watching netflix and do something more useful right stop wasting my time playing video games do something more useful about our money you know we we want to accumulate wealth and possessions but what for when it comes judgment day what are you going to do with it right i mean you have this big mansion and fancy car and boat or whatever you know you you've invested in all these things but does it matter what are you going to do with it in judgment day is he going to say well done servant you've got a big boat let's go fishing is is that going to be the conversation he says i don't think so you know could you have invested your money in better ways to grow the kingdom and expand god's kingdom instead of trying to grow your own remember you're you're a steward of his resources how are you stewarding his resources are you using them to benefit yourself are you using them to benefit his kingdom when you think about it that way it's is a very different scenario this is one of those things that amanda and i have talked about you know when we we do things and and we you know we have a big gathering or something we have a bunch of food she's like man we spend a lot of money on food and she says but it's you know it's the lord's money it's his food we're you know it's not my money it's his money you know these are the lord's chips right so you know if you think about it that way it actually becomes a little easier you know it's not my chips they're his chips are we stewarding these things well are we being frivolous and again are you wasting your words what are you doing with it are you investing your words in the kingdom in growing people growing the kingdom helping people get into the kingdom are you using your words in wasteful ways worship damaging ways that defeat the kingdom and fight against the kingdom you definitely don't want to do that things that tear people down things that lead people away from god it's easy to do you know it's one of those things that i would say you know it's one of the reasons why i advocate people to stay off of facebook honestly it's a waste of your time and there's so much just junk on there that just is not beneficial to any anybody and so i would encourage you just if if you spend a lot of time on facebook reduce that i think that would be a wise waste of you or wise use of your time is to reduce the amount of time you spend on places like facebook and use that for something more beneficial for the kingdom because it's not doing any good i guarantee it but are we being a faithful steward with what he's given us he says we're gonna give an account one day for the things we do we're gonna give an account one day for the things we say it also says that he he knows our hearts he knows our minds he knows our thoughts so we're going to be given account for even our thoughts how are you using your thoughts how are you using your brain power what are you thinking about are you thinking about good godly things that are beneficial are you wasting your brain thinking about useless things that don't even matter let's go on the master commended the unjust steward because he dealt shrewdly now this is the part that gets tricky because you think well hang on a second he basically just robbed from the rich man because he took the debt that was owed him and he reduced it so he's not going to get his full payout and the thing is because he was a steward it's a binding contract because he was acting on behalf of the the master and so it it serves as a binding contract the master can't come behind him and say hey wait a minute that guy was ripping me off change that back he couldn't do that once it was done it was done and so the master comes along and he says well done servant you acted very wisely that's what shrewd means wise cunning crafty sharp smart and sometimes it has some negative connotations to it but it it implies wisdom and it implies acting in ways that are uh beneficial or sharp you know smart ways but he says you know well done servant he dealt shrewdly he commended him for it and then yeshua comes along and he says that we're supposed to learn something from this and you think about what is this scenario this servant realizes that the end is near he realizes he's about to have to give account he's going to lose his position as steward this he sees judgment day coming right and what does he say what am i going to do i can't i can't dig i'm not strong enough to do manual labor and i'm too proud to beg so what am i going to do i need to do something so that i can be indebted to these other people so that they will welcome me into their home and it's interesting there's actually a phrase there it says the everlasting or eternal home let's go back and look at that so the master commended the unjust steward because he dealt shrewdly for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light so he says the sons of the world the worldly people are more shrewd in their dealings with each other than the sons of light the sons of god the children of the kingdom so he's contrasting the world with the kingdom here and he's saying the sons of the world act more wisely at times than those in the kingdom do he's basically telling us we need to be more shrewd sometimes to act with more wisdom more cunning and he says and i say to you make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon unrighteous money that when it fails they may receive you into an everlasting home and it actually could be translated eternal tabernacle which is interesting so this is talking about eternity he's talking about judgment it's talking about the reward at the end of the age he says that we're supposed to act shrewdly act wisely do things in this life that position ourselves so that we are able to receive that heavenly eternal tabernacle heavenly home but he says he's not strong enough to to do manual labor and he's too proud to beg and so his plan was i'm gonna go and cancel their debts they owed a lot and i'm going to tell them their debts are forgiven have you ever thought about that so he's going on he's what's he saying he's giving him a gospel presentation there your debts are reduced your debts are forgiven you don't have to pay the full amount that's interesting this man again he's representing a shrewd worldly person but yet there's still something in there about this this gospel message is being revealed here debts are forgiven we're supposed to be going out and telling people you owe a great debt one that you can never pay yeshua came along and paid it for you this is part of the gospel message right how many of us have owed a great debt that we could never pay but he's commended for his shrewd shrewd wise behavior because he planned ahead he was prudent he planned ahead he saw judgment was coming and he planned for it and he said what do i need to do to preserve myself to protect myself to keep myself in good graces to allow myself to make it to a place where i'm not living on the street and yeshua said that's what he's committed for was that forethought that looking ahead to the future the planning ahead being wise in ways that will help the future go better for him and he said that the sons of the world are better at that than the sins of the kingdom are now that's that's kind of a challenging thought too because you know we want to think that we're we're living for eternity we're living for the kingdom but he's saying that the the sons of the world are better at planning for the future than we are often times how does that play out what does that look like you know the people of the world they the you know they're playing for retirement right they save invest do all these things so that they can one day quit their job and have a big bank account to sit on and retire and go to the beach and live out their dream job in paradise right you know or live out their dream not working just hanging out in paradise that's what everybody's moving towards that's the the aim of the world they work 60 years of their life so that they can sit on the beach for the last five right but they're they're working and saving and planning and preparing and then you think also in the business world it's all you know trying to to get ahead trying to advance trying to move up excel do better get promotions they act shrewdly that cunningly craftily and wisely to try to prepare and plan for their for the future well then when you translate that over to the kingdom sons of the kingdom what do we do do we try to advance do we try to grow do we try to plan ahead do we try to excel unfortunately most people don't they're pretty happy where they are i prayed that prayer a long time ago i'm good i got my i got my fire insurance you know you get out of hell free card right as jesus into my heart i'm saved i'm just going to coast now they're not doing anything they're not advancing in any way they're not trying to to do anything to move up or to promote or to grow or to excel and have you ever thought about what is the kingdom going to be like the bible talks about storing up treasures in heaven what does that mean storing up treasures in heaven the bible says that those who do and teach the commandments will be called great in the kingdom and those who don't will be called least in the kingdom so there's some kind of hierarchy there's greater and lesser where are you in that scale are you one are you happy just coming in and coasting in and just being the last one on the bus barely getting in the door or do you want to actually have some property in the kingdom actually have some treasure in the kingdom because you're going to be there for a long time right are you worried about storing up earthly treasure or are you worried about storing up heavenly treasure the bible says stroke treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy what these do not break into steel that's what you should have said which kingdom are you working to build are you working to build the kingdom of heaven stork treasure is there are you working to build a kingdom on earth that's going to fade away that's kind of what he's talking about here these the worldly people they're shrewd they're wise they're cunning they they build and they plan for the future and the sons of light the sons of the kingdom they're just letting us slip through their fingers not doing anything to prepare for the future not doing anything to prepare for the kingdom barely getting by not thinking ahead not planning for the future not planning for the judgment for eternity and what was it he said he acted truly so that he could have an eternal home an eternal tabernacle are we doing that are we planning in ways so that we can have an eternal tabernacle you know and his the the example he says is i can't dig and i'm too proud to it makes you wonder is is there is he trying to hint at something in the kingdom you know there's positions where you know you may be doing some manual labor other people who have so little in the kingdom that they are still having a beg for it there i don't know never thought about that before but it makes you wonder because he does say there's least and greatest in the kingdom what does the least in the kingdom look like i don't know but what are we doing to prepare ourselves to better ourselves in the kingdom you seeking to be one of the great in the kingdom are you just happy with being the least are you being a good steward are you being a wasteful steward the bible says we're supposed to be shrewd or wise matthew 10 16 it says behold i send you out of sheep in the midst of wolves therefore be wise or shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves cunning sneaky wise intelligent sharp precise it's what the word is implying calculated but he says be harmless as doves so we need to be wise but we also need to be harmless act wisely extrudely but not hurt anybody along the way which is different than the world the world is shrewd and they don't care who they step on [Music] they're wise and crafty and they don't care who they crush on their way up he says for us we need to be wise but harmless not harming anyone else and watch out for the wolves so we need to be wise to protect ourselves and to avoid the harm that the wills may want to do to us this is actually an argument this this parable of the shrewd manager is actually an argument from the lesser to the greater some of those things that yeshua does a number of times he says you know if the lesser is true even more so the greater is true and so this idea that the you know this shrewd manager this wicked servant he's commendable for his wise shrewd action how much more does that apply to the righteous how much more does that apply to the godly those who are part of the kingdom that we need to be shrewd and wise in our dealings in planning and planning for the future and things like that and again i'm not talking about building up your retirement or your 401k i think that's actually probably counter intuitive to what you should have saying here because again that's you building your kingdom so i'm not saying plan for plan for hard times i'm saying plan for the kingdom yeah it's wise to plan for hard times too you know if if you you look at joseph right and he knew there was hard times coming and so what do you say well we need to save back set some aside i think that's wise that's good and we should do that but not only should we save and plan for times trials tribulations persecution famine stock market crash you know whatever the yes plan for that that's good that's wise you should think about those things but also what are we doing to plan and prepare for judgment for when he comes for the return when we stand before him and he says give an account for your life what are we doing to plan for that he says and i i say to you make friends for yourself by unrighteous mammon that when it fails they may receive you into an everlasting home make friends for yourself by the use of unrighteous mammon he said you can use the things of this world to still grow the kingdom this unrighteous mammon can still be used to do good to make friends to to grow to grow the kingdom use your wealth and life to gain an eternal reward is basically what he's saying use what you've been given to gain eternal rewards the things that you've been trusted with matthew 6 24 says do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where mouth and rods destroy where thieves break into steal but lay out for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth or us destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal and so again are we looking for earthly treasure are we seeking to have treasure in eternity he goes on he says he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much and i don't remember the exact quote but i heard a quote one time that basically faithfulness in little things is a big thing i don't remember the source of the quote it's just a quote that i heard a while back faithfulness in little things is actually a big thing and that's that's what he's saying here if you're faithful and little you'll be faithful with much if you can be trusted with little you can be trusted with much because if god can trust you with the small things like money for example i would consider actually a small thing god can trust you with that that's a small thing then maybe he can trust you with something else like maybe a kid right or two or three four life of a human you know he's putting something very special in your care that's a big thing for him to be able to trust you with that child are you managing it well are you training up that child the way it should go teaching that child to love the lord teaching that child the scriptures teaching that child how to pray and how to worship i heard how to serve god are you being a good steward with that child that's a that's a big treasure it's a big treasure god is entrusted into your care much more valuable than money much more valuable than your house or your car every parent in here agrees with me don't you it's a very precious precious gift are you taking good care of it consider what yeshua said about the parable of the talents matthew 25 14-30 says for the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them and to one he gave five talents to another two into another one to each according to his own ability and immediately he went on a journey then he who received five talents went and traded them and made another five talents and likewise he would receive two gain two more but he would received only one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord's money after a long time the lord of those servants came and settled the counts with them so he would receive five talents came and brought forth five other talents saying lord you delivered to me five talents look i have gained five more talents besides them his lord said to him well done good and faithful servant you were faithful over a few things i will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your lord he also who received two talents came and said lord you delivered to me two talents look i've gained two more talents beside them as lord said them well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a few things i will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of your lord how similar does that sound to what yeshua says about the judgment day well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful enter into the joy of the lord but notice he says you've been faithful with little i will give you much you'll be ruler over many things because of your faithfulness with the little that you're given now he'll he can trust you with more things in the future with more things in the kingdom so are you working to build the kingdom are you being faithful what he's given you now but then we have this final servant then he would receive one talent came and said lord i knew you to be a hard man reaping where you have not sown gathering waving where you have not scattered seed and i was afraid and i went and hid your talent in the ground look there you have what is yours but the lord answered and said to him you wicked and lazy servant you knew that i reap where i have now sown and gathered where i have not scattered so you ought to have just deposited the money with the bankers and am i coming i would have received back my own with interest therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents for everyone who has more will be given and to you as an abundance and he will have an abundance but from him who does not have even what he has will be taken away and cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth it's another one of those hard parables so the stewards who were faithful were given more the stewards who managed what they were given were given more responsibility more to manage more to take care of they could be trustworthy but the one who was not faithful got everything taken from him and there are times in life when we see that happen even now before the judgment you know people who are wasteful and squandering their life and doing things they shouldn't do lose at all lose a job lose the house lose the wife lose the kids you know they just squander their life and end up with nothing you go downtown and talk to some of the people standing on the street corner and they'll tell you their story how they got there and that's a lot of their story they squandered their life and now they're standing on the street corner begging but are we managing what god has given us wisely are we being good stewards moses therefore if you have therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to you who will commit to your trust true riches if you're not faithful with earthly wealth with worldly wealth with unrighteous mammon you know the worldly wealth the secular money of the world if you're not faithful with that are you going to be trustworthy to be given kingdom wealth if you're not trustworthy worldly things are you going to be trustworthy with heavenly things eternal true riches the bible says we're supposed to use our earthly possessions to do good and to gain true riches to use what we've been given here to gain true riches to grow the kingdom listen to first timothy 6 command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living god who gives us richly all things to enjoy let them do good that they may be rich in good works ready to give willing to share storing up for themselves good a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life you know the the parable of the guy with the talents right those who are given more more is expected of them he says he he gave them according to their abilities and so if you've been entrusted with a lot it means that god expects more of you and that interesting they were given according to their abilities the one who was given five was given five because the lord knew he could trust him with five he knew he had the ability to manage that well the one who was given two had the ability to manage those too well and the lord knew he could do it the one who was given one apparently wasn't even good enough to handle the one because he got that taken away from him but we're given according to our abilities and so he says that those who have been entrusted with riches let them do good that they may be rich in good works ready to give willing to serve or willing to share storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come using your earthly treasures to store up a treasure for the time to come that they may hold lay hold of eternal life this is i you know i think oftentimes in in churches when you hear messages like this you expect to hear them say okay we're going to pass the plates around at the end that's not that's not what i'm talking about okay i'm not saying you need to to stick money in the box i'm saying you needed to do things that grow the kingdom help those in need share with those in need okay invest in the kingdom and the bible talks about the true true religion is to care for the widow and the orphan and the poor so you know if you don't do that the bible says your religion is worthless if you're not caring for the widow and the orphan and the poor so what are you doing to grow the kingdom what are you doing to show the love of god to those people therefore if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous man and who will trust you with true riches if you're not faithful with what you've been given now how do you expect to be given more later he goes on he says no servant can serve two masters either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve both god and mammon mammon is the word for money it was a common word for money in that area if money is your master it's difficult for you to give you know as either you master your money or your mass your money masters you basically and if your money masters you you don't want to let it go you see somebody who's in need and you're like you know what i bet somebody else can help them your money masters you but if you see somebody in need and you say you know what i can i can do without let me help them they need it more than i do then you master your money consider what yeshua said to the rich young ruler matthew 19 21-22 yeshua said to him if you want to be perfect go sell what you have and give to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven and come and follow me but the young man heard that saying but when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful he went away sad for he had great possessions so what what's more important to you strong up treasure in heaven or storing up treasure on earth so what you have give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven he says you want to know how to have treasure in heaven he just told you give to the poor help those in need use your use what you've been given to bless others to benefit others to grow the kingdom to show them the love of god what does he say in this parable right use he he committed the servant because he used unrighteous mammon to make friends use use the unrighteous mammon the money of the world to make friends to do good in the kingdom to grow the kingdom to help those in need storing up treasures in heaven but this man was sad because he had great possessions and you can think about great in two different ways you know like he had a lot of stuff or he really valued it it was stuff that was really important to him it was great in his eyes like uh you know this this treasured possession of mine is is too great for me i don't want to give it up the bible calls out idolatry too by the way so if if your money rules you and you serve your money money is your master that means money is your idol right this can apply in so many different areas of your life too though what do you what are you willing to give up what are you willing to to set aside what are you willing to invest in the kingdom what are you willing to to donate to sacrifice these are all terms the bible uses late you know you lay your sacrifice before the lord why do you think what do you think sacrificing an animal was was a a well-received gift from god when you sacrifice an animal what are you doing i mean for one you're you're giving up something that's valuable to you you know and he said i don't want i don't want the the crippled ones i don't want this spotted and speckled and ugly ones i want the best so god says give me your best and your first and we talked about the tithe he says the you know the tenth one to pass under the raw that's the one you give when you talk about the first fruits he says it's the first portion that you give we talked about various sacrifices that were given he'd say the best one when you offer an offering to the lord offer him your best and so you know as as we're looking at these things it's a sacrifice what is god asking you to sacrifice what is again it's his stuff you're just being a steward he says i've given you ten sheep i just want you to give me one back right you're being a steward of and he says i've i've given you this talent i want you to invest it and multiply it he said i've given you a wife i want you to be fruitful and multiply he says i've given you children i want you to train them up in the way they should go i've given you a voice i want you to preach the gospel and share your testimony i've given you a home so you can open up your doors to strangers and welcome them in and show hospitality i've given you extra so you can help the guy who has less the guy who's doing without you see the pattern so are you storing it up for yourself are you amassing earthly things earthly treasures which i would argue as being wasteful of god's treasures if you're amassing it for yourself you are being wasteful with it you're being prodigal with it and you're being selfish with it and again it's not just financial things i'm talking about it's everything your words your thoughts your actions the way you treat other people along with your possessions but again i think the possessions are actually the least the least valuable thing and if you're not able to to be faithful with the least of those things how are you going to be faithful with more so this difficult parable is difficult in a couple of ways one is it's challenging morally to us to understand because we look at this and we say this guy is he's a crook and he's being commended for his wise actions but it's also difficult because it challenges us to look at ourselves and say you know how am i being a prodigal a wasteful servant and how can i be better how can i be wiser how can i invest in the kingdom more and be faithful when i come to give an account am i serving god or am i serving money and it says that the pharisees when they heard these things they were upset right says now the pharisees who were lovers of money they also heard these things and they derided him and he said to them you are those who justify yourselves before men but god knows your hearts what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of god so what is highly esteemed among men fame fortune power amassing wealth pride right these things are highly esteemed among men you made somebody out of yourself you you really made a name for yourself you became something special something important you should have said we're supposed to show up and be a servant and the world loves to look at the athletes and the movie stars and the singers and various celebrities and say wow look at them they they're they're somebody special they did something really special with their life they really became somebody but you know in the kingdom they're nobody what i don't get like with uh kanye you know he's like oh great kanye is a christian now he's gonna save the world jesus doesn't need kanye okay i mean it's great that he got saved but he is not ready to preach the gospel yet he needs discipleship okay he really does he is he's out there okay he needs discipleship he needs training he is not ready to be going out and being a preacher but people think because he's a celebrity he's somebody special he's not he's not anybody special he's just some guy you want to be somebody special in the kingdom yeshua says be good steward be good servant help those in need let's drop treasures in heaven that way did you buy your heads oh before i forget by the way this actually ties into the next parable that we're going to look at is the the parable of lazarus and the rich man these these are actually connected parables and i want to try to tackle both of them today because they're kind of big and i i want to be respectful of your time you know me i can get a little long so keep that in mind as we look at the parable of the prodigal of the uh lazarus and the rich man in two weeks i guess cause cory's teaching next week so leave you on a cliffhanger heads

Channel: The Grafted Church

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Keywords: church online, sermon, Bible Teaching, Grafted Church, lex meyer, yeshua, messianic, hebrew roots, sabbath, torah

Id: iVGFc5T2lRw

Length: 57min 5sec (3425 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 19 2020