Luke 16
Luke 16:1-12:
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.
2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
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 also in much.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
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.
2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
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 also in much.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
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Luke 16:13: No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
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But then again, the rich man doesn’t think of himself as a slave, does he? He was a man who lived on a property with a gate and guard dogs. He was a man who wore purple clothes and fine linen (underwear!) every day. He was a man who ate, drank, and was merry, every day. (Remember our barn builder?)
Even after his death, the man cannot shake his sense of self-importance. When he sees Lazarus at what was considered the best seat in the house of heaven, at Patriarch Abraham’s side, the rich man orders (literally commands) Abraham to put Lazarus to work for his benefit. And when that doesn’t work, he suggests that Lazarus be sent to warn his brothers. Not once does the rich man own up to his own mistreatment of Lazarus. Not once does the rich man repent. Not once does the rich man even talk to Lazarus. And yet—he knows Lazarus’ name, indicating that he knew all along about this poor, suffering man who laid at his gates, hungry and covered in sores. -Chelsea Harmon |
The Bible teaches that if you love money more than God, you are in trouble (LUKE 16:13). Either serve God with your resources or disappoint God by acting like the resources are for your private enjoyment. If God has given you wonderful blessings it is, in part, because he is watching to see how you use them. Do you notice the needs of others and try to help them or do you love having the blessing so much that you keep it all to yourself? If you have a great deal more than you need, have you thought about why that is true and what God’s hopes are for you? If God has given you blessings, doesn’t it make sense to try to be a blessing to others? Having money is a good thing as long as you understand that it is a gift from God. Yes you work hard and you save a portion of your money, but even the energy and talent to work hard is also a gift from God. If God has blessed you, be a pipeline of love to others. Use the assets God has given you to serve Him and to serve others. Little blessings are a little test and huge blessings are a huge test.
--Bruce Caldwell; Gospel Global Vision; CORE VALUE 16: ISN’T HAVING MONEY A GOOD THING?
--Bruce Caldwell; Gospel Global Vision; CORE VALUE 16: ISN’T HAVING MONEY A GOOD THING?
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Luke 16:16:
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” |
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” Luke 16:16 (NIV)
In other words Jesus is saying that to come into the Kingdom of Heaven requires deliberate, purposeful and determined action. There is no contradiction between the two statements as recorded in Luke and Matthew – they simply explore Jesus’ teaching from a different angle. When we take both verses from Matthew and Luke together we understand that the Kingdom of Heaven does advance into this world with conflict. There are forces of evil which oppose God’s word and His work and we see violent men working against God and His church in this world. But God’s Kingdom is also coming with power and many people are being freed from the power of Satan as they take hold of the good news of Jesus Christ. --Dr Paul Adams; Word@Work; -What does Matthew 11:12 mean? |