True Riches

And I apologize for singing that last line wrong. The transition there is important.

Come sinner, come. Come sinner, come. But even the Christian, even the one who has already been washed by the blood, as we hear of the grace of our

Lord Jesus Christ, it is still for us, it is still something we need every day. Well, please turn in your

Bible to Luke. Luke chapter 16, we'll be looking at verses 10 through 13.

That can be found on page 875 of your pew Bible. Please turn there and we'll read

God's word. Let me go ahead and say that this follows the parable of the shrewd steward that has been given before.

And so it has several applications and implications from that. So I'm glad to be able to continue teaching on this.

Last week, we looked at what the meaning of this parable was and the core message, but these are various applications.

And so it's a lot to consider, a lot of weighty things to consider that come from this parable.

Please stand when you have that for the reading of God's word. He also said to the disciples, there was a rich man who had a manager and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

And he called him and said to him, what is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management for you can no longer be manager.

And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me?

I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I've decided what to do so that when

I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. So summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, how much do you owe my master?

He said a hundred measures of oil. He said to him, take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50.

Then he said to another, and how much do you owe? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him, take your bill and write 80.

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness for the sons of the world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

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 may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, as we go through this passage, we ask that you would give us eyes that clearly understand

Christ's spoken parables so that seeing they would see and they would not hear.

Seeing they would not see and hearing they would not hear. We ask that you would open our eyes and open our ears that we would be able to receive all that this parable has, not just in the initial application of it, but in the continuing application given here in this passage in verses 10 through 13.

We pray that it would be something that we would receive with gladness, that we would implement in our lives, that we would hold on to, meditating on, as your word is to be cherished.

And I pray also that you would help us to see in this the truth of the gospel, the graciousness of our master, whose yoke is easy and his burden light.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, there are few things more important than understanding how you should think about your own possessions.

There are few things that Jesus preached on more. There are few things more important than knowing what you should do with what you have.

Not only is what you have at stake, because what you have is more than just your own finances, it's more than just your house, your car, anything else you may have.

Your whole life is in view here, your time, your energy. Everything that you have is ultimately the

Lord's, and we are called to be stewards of these things. And so, how ought we to be stewards of these things?

The one who desires to serve the Lord should ask this question, and this passage gives us one of the clearest answers to it about the kind of faithfulness that he has called us to.

Last week we looked at the context of this and how it began in chapter 14 and continues, and so this is a passage that is particularly to his disciples.

It is particularly for those who desire to serve the Lord. He was interacting with the

Pharisees at a party of theirs, at a dinner of theirs, and he gives several parables speaking to them and continues all the way to the parable of the prodigal son, which the parable of the prodigal son, as encouraging as that is to the believer, the primary focus of it, given the context and the reason why he is telling it, is not so much about the prodigal son as it is about the older son.

The older son, who has rejected his younger brother, has rejected the one who has squandered his father's wealth and is coming to him.

And now, turning to his disciples, in chapter 16, verse 1, he also said to the disciples, turning to the disciples, he speaks about one who has squandered wealth.

And so there is a way that the prodigal son, while an excellent parable and useful even to the

Christian, is not in its intention primarily for the Christian in that way. And yet, this parable that we have read is.

And it is on another account, too. Jesus spoke in parables so that there would be some who would hear and not understand, some who would see and not understand.

And this is one that is notoriously the most difficult of parables that we addressed last week.

So who is this one for if it is, if it is written in such a way, if it is spoken in such a way by Christ to be difficult to understand?

Who is it for? It is for those who have ears to hear. It is for those who have eyes to see.

It is for those who have been saved by Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, in order that they might understand these things.

So while it is difficult, while it is a difficult parable to understand, these applications, not as difficult, difficult to receive, not as difficult to understand but difficult to receive, are particularly for those who are equipped by His Spirit to receive them.

This is not something that one without the power of God can receive and respond to correctly. This is something that only those who have been given the

Spirit of God can receive rightly and respond to rightly. And so my prayer for you today as we go through this passage is that you by the

Spirit of God, having put your trust in Jesus Christ, will have the right heart to be able to receive these things and respond to them rightly as the audience that Christ is speaking to, as a disciple.

And so as we look at this, I want to begin simply with defining some of these terms.

Last week we saw it, how some of these terms are, require a little more investigation, and so let us begin there.

In verse 10, it says, So what does it mean to be faithful?

To be faithful with something is to use it for the purpose that is to be, it is to be good to whatever agreement was set up for you to have this thing.

If someone's faithful to an agreement or faithful to a contract, they uphold their end of the contract. Now it might be surprising to people that they are expected to be faithful with the things that they had because they don't think of the things that they had as coming from somewhere other than themselves, as being given to them.

These are things that they work for. These are things that they earned. These are not things that I owe any kind of faithfulness for, but the reality is, just as we saw in our earlier scripture reading, where it talks about blood and blood being owed to God and representing the fact that God owns all life, and so our treatment of it, especially as it relates to the sacrifices in Israel, demonstrates

God's ownership of all life. So it is that our life is owned by God, and if our life is owned by God, our possessions are owned by God, and our life is given to us for a time to steward.

Our possessions are given to us for a time to steward, and so they are not things that we may use just however we please.

Now we have that authority. It has been given to us as stewards, but it is an abuse of authority to use it however we please, and what is required is faithfulness.

Faithfulness is using it according to the priorities of the one who truly owns it.

The priorities of that one is God, and his priorities are good priorities that are in line with the kingdom.

They are not things that focus on the earthly kingdom that we are a part of. They are not motives that focus on our own personal kingdom that we are building, but his kingdom is one that is not of this world, and so we should be seeking to build that kingdom that is not of this world.

He also uses the word dishonest here. If you were here last week, hopefully you remember some of the difficulties with this word.

This word is used more times throughout this passage than you would initially think, looking at typical

English translation, because it's the same word that is used for unrighteousness. He speaks of unrighteous wealth, and he speaks of unrighteous, being unrighteous, one who is unrighteous, one who is dishonest.

He's speaking of the same thing, so the concern here is not necessarily dishonesty so particularly considered, but unrighteousness in general, and so translators tend to choose a different word in English, in the target language, to describe the same word because it seems to make sense in the context, and why it seems to make sense is because you look at the man's activities.

He is talking to people, telling them to change their bills, and then it says the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.

Dishonesty first is a different word, so it distinguishes it from the notion of unrighteous wealth, and then we can say that because he was changing their bills, he is dishonest.

I believe that's the wrong way of looking at this, because he is commended by the manager for what he has done.

He is doing this within the scope of his authority, and so I do not believe that when it speaks of him being unrighteous, this word dishonest being just the word unrighteous, that it's focusing on him being dishonest.

I don't believe that his dishonesty is at issue here, or his honesty is even in question here.

Rather, his unrighteousness was in this beginning of the passage.

There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

This was the nature of the man's unrighteousness. The nature of the man's unrighteousness was to be wasteful with what he had been given.

And so think about the comparison here, the comparison being made between faithfulness and unrighteousness.

What kind of unrighteousness? Wastefulness. Faithfulness and faithlessness.

Faithfulness and wastefulness. These are the things that are at odds with each other, not faithfulness and dishonesty.

I, it seems very clear to me that this passage has in mind something other than dishonesty.

It's just simply talking about the man's wastefulness. That was the nature of his unrighteousness in the beginning of the passage.

So as we read verses 10 through 13, keep that in mind, that when it's condemning dishonesty, what we should take away from this is we should not be wasteful with the possessions that God has allowed us to steward.

And then beyond that, it talks about unrighteous wealth. In the next verse, if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you the true riches?

Unrighteous wealth, here being that same word, refers to money in a way where it's being called unrighteous.

And that word for money here being the Greek word mammon, that is translated in many translations as mammon.

This is unrighteous mammon. And so why is money called unrighteous? Well, it's not because using it would be unrighteous because we are called to use it.

It is not because it's dishonestly gotten because it's wrong to use money dishonestly gotten.

Rather, unrighteous wealth, unrighteous mammon, mammon coming from the root word for, for to trust, is describing something that you might put your trust in contrary to trusting the

Lord and being trustworthy, being faithful with what he has given. So it is called unrighteous wealth because it tempts men away toward unrighteousness, because it tempts people to trust.

And so if you think of this as unrighteous mammon, that which man puts his faith in, rather than being faithful to the

Lord, rather than putting his faith in the Lord, you can see that there are stark contrasts being made that might not be evident on a first reading of an

English translation here. So if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, that which tempts people away towards putting their trust elsewhere, who will entrust you with the true riches?

The true riches being those blessings which God has in store for his people, those things that are not unrighteous wealth, not just the secular currency of this world, not things which don't last, things which we only have in our stewardship for a little time, but things that are forever, eternal life, the riches of heaven,

Jesus Christ himself. These are the things that are being spoken of when being spoken of as true riches.

So in this passage when it says, if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you the true riches?

Let's have an honest consideration of who we are in this parable, of who we are in this verse.

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, is it the case that we have not been faithful?

Is Jesus speaking just hypothetically of one who might not be faithful and then wouldn't be allowed, allowed into that kingdom, or are we those who have been unfaithful?

This, this statement, I believe, applies to everyone. If then you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, we are people who have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth.

We are the prodigal son, the one who has wasted. We are the dishonest manager or the unrighteous manager, the one who has wasted.

Remember I mentioned last week that word for, for wasting, for squandering being the same word in each parable, right?

We are the one who has been granted many things by God and has squandered it.

So the question is, how would God allow someone who has squandered his wealth into his kingdom?

What hope is there for someone who is in that condition? Now you might think that if you were in that case and someone had some of your possessions and they squandered them, you would, you would forgive them.

Maybe you would forgive them in one sense, but would you ever trust them with that thing again?

No, no sensible person would, and God is very sensible. He is most sensible. He having given you not just your possessions, but even your own life, if this thing is squandered, why would he grant to you eternal life?

There's no reason that he would do so. And in having squandered what he has given and having misused the most precious gifts that someone could receive, what do we deserve other than death?

It is only death that we deserve, to be cast out of the kingdom, to not be part of this kingdom that he is building.

If we have squandered things of far less value, how could we steward things of far more value?

And so a sober consideration of who we are in these parables leads us to realize that we are the ones who have squandered.

We are the ones who have not been faithful, but have been unrighteous with unrighteous wealth.

We have been most squandering of it. You know, if you look at your life and you look at how you have wasted possessions, how you have wasted time, how you have spent them on your own cares and the cares of this world, and have not given

Christ, not have not have given our Lord Almighty the devotion he that deserves, then we are, we are the one who has squandered.

We are the one who is wasteful. We are the one who deserve the penalty due to us, and the wages of sin is death.

The wages for not stewarding our lives well is to not have life. It is that simple.

And so what is the answer to this? The answer, which is somewhat presumed in this parable and in this passage,

Jesus having turned to the disciples who, who are those who have wasted and have heard this, they have heard the parable of the prodigal son told to the

Pharisees, right, they know that there is forgiveness for the one who has wasted. There is great forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

He is one who perfectly stewarded his life, offering it to the Father, giving up his whole life exactly as he is called.

He lived that life perfectly, and then on top of that, he suffered the penalty that is owed to those of us who have squandered the life that we have, the possessions that we have in this world.

And having squandered these things, having no hope apart from someone to pay that penalty for us, where do we turn?

We can turn to Jesus Christ, who has, through his sacrifice, granted a perfect forgiveness for all these things.

And that is, that is a wonderful truth. Yet at the same time, still, still this is the case.

How would he let someone in who has not stewarded well? Well, it is not only the case that God has forgiven us, but also he has given us the righteousness of Christ.

His perfect stewarding is credited to us. And it is not just the case that it has been credited to us, but he has also granted us his

Spirit, his Spirit who gives the fruit of joy and generosity in order that we might be overflowing with generosity and use wealth appropriately.

It is by that Spirit, by his Spirit that he's given us, that we are able to grow in holiness, into that holiness without which no one will see the

Lord, as it says in Hebrews chapter 12. And so Christ has given us forgiveness, he has given us the perfect righteousness that we need in order to be, in order to satisfy his requirements, but then also he has granted us transformation by his

Spirit in order that we may be those who have that holiness without which no one will see the Lord. He has given us everything we need in order to be generous, but as I stated before, it is only to those who have that Spirit, it's only those who have eyes to see, who have ears to hear.

If you are here today and you have not received God's Spirit, you not put your trust in the

Lord Jesus Christ, you will continue, as it says in this passage, being a slave to money.

You might see yourself as serving yourself, but ultimately it is not ending toward the good of yourself, because you are headed to that grave, to that eternal misery that awaits those who do not have the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that have not, that have not stewarded

God's wealth well, but have squandered it. There, you might think that you are serving yourself, but you are not.

You are serving money, and you will be mastered by this master of yours.

But if you serve Jesus Christ, His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and there is a great, a great hope awaiting those who have trusted in Him and are following Him.

And moreover, they have been given the strength not to serve money, but to rather serve Him, to enjoy a more purposeful existence, more purposeful use of their wealth.

And that is what I want to invite you into as we consider these things, as we consider this passage. It's not, here are some burdens for you to bear, but rather, here is a freedom from the slavery that you have existed in in the past, that you may not have even been aware of, thinking that you are serving yourself.

But here is freedom from these things. Here is how you may serve the Lord, and having been saved by Him, how you might respond with gratitude, fully enjoying and appreciating the salvation that He's given, so that that salvation is not itself squandered, not appreciated, continuing on with the with the bare essence of salvation, but not appreciating to the fullness its goodness.

There is always more to appreciate God's salvation. That is why we gather week to week. It's because even though those of us who have put our trust in Christ are saved, even though that is the case, it is not the case that we have fully appreciated that salvation.

It is not the case that we fully enjoy that salvation. And so each week as we hear more of Christ, as we learn to follow

Him and to understand Him rightly, to understand the calling, the purpose that we've been called to rightly, the more we are able to appreciate the salvation that we have given.

And this is what we are being invited into by this passage when we read it, and it tells us how we should think about faithfulness, how we should think about riches.

And so with those things in mind, consider what it is that you should do.

How is it that you should be faithful? First of all, very simply put, you should not waste the wealth that you have been given.

If you have been given wealth, and know that this applies to more than just dollars. It applies to the position that God has placed you in, the relationships that you have, the steward, the life that you've been given, the time that you have available to yourself.

It applies to many things. But most quintessentially, we see this worked out in currency.

We see this worked out in money. Do not be wasteful with the finances that you have been given.

Do not waste them. They are things that can be used for good purposes, and when you waste them, they don't end up doing some lesser purpose.

It's just to no purpose at all, because it is to a purpose that is not eternal, is not lasting like Christ's kingdom is lasting.

Now I know there are many people who become very burdened by this, and they see a lot of the commands that are given in scripture about, you know, give up all that you have to the poor, and things like that.

And they think that maybe that might be God's calling on every single person, on themselves even, is to live a life of vowed poverty.

That is not what I'm saying. When you understand God's purposes and His priorities, you understand that He created this creation in order that we might enjoy it, so that we might fully know who

He is and enjoy Him. So this does not, this does not forbid all forms of entertainment.

This does not forbid all forms of recreation or ways that you might spend on enjoying things.

Rather, we are to enjoy the world around us, but in the moderation where it is truly glorifying to God, not something else.

1 Corinthians 6 addresses this. It says in 1 Corinthians 6 .12, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And this passage, while a bit cryptic, its message, in some sense, is clear.

One might say, well, all things are lawful for me. I can partake in all these things. I have the authority to steward my resources in whichever way

I please. Yes, you have that authority, but it would be an abuse of that authority if you were to use it in that way.

Rather than, yes, food is good, meat is good, and enjoy these things, it's saying.

Even sex is good. Yet, to use those things, ways outside of the ways that God has intended, is to rather than enjoy those things as you ought, it is to be dominated by them.

It is to be mastered by them. And that is just like Jesus says in this passage, you cannot serve both God and money.

That is the alternative to serving God, is to serving money. You might think you're serving yourself, but you are being dominated by it.

So do not be wasteful with your possessions, even though you might spend them in a way to enjoy God's creation.

Secondly, you would want to give of your possessions, right? You want to give generously to others, to those who have need, and most especially to those that are most in line with the causes of the kingdom.

What you see in that parable is Jesus speaking to the man who is preparing for himself, dwelling places, in the next chapter of his life, which he explains is the, for us, it would be the life to come after death.

He is preparing that for him. You want to have in mind that eternal kingdom and be giving in line with that.

Now, there are many people who will just give whatever cause asks them to. That kind of generosity that is not so thoughtful is not necessarily being a good steward, even if it is one kind of generosity.

I would encourage you to limit the number of things you give to. Give to those things generously rather than spreading your resources, and give to them prayerfully, understanding the importance of spiritual partnership when you give.

You know, as you read through Philippians, which is a letter about financial partnership between Paul and the

Philippians, he uses the word fellowship frequently, koinonia, which is the same word that's used for business partnerships.

You know, you should be thinking about your work spiritually in this way, your giving spiritually in this way, so that it is attended with proper prayer, and rightly understanding, rightly understanding

God's priorities would lead you, once again, not to just think, okay, well this is the only legitimate thing

I can give my money to, is missions, and then, you know, the rest is just the beans and rice that I need to survive.

I have met people who have done this, you know, really being convicted that, oh, this is what is required of the

Christian, is just to eat the bare minimum that's needed, and to give the rest to some kind of missions organization or something.

No, read all the scripture, understand all of God's priorities, building up your home is one of the priorities, building up a place of hospitality that you would not squander in just using it for yourself, but give for others.

You know, you look around at this neighborhood, and I find it very interesting, and I get that there are economic factors that make it this way, you know, the housing prices versus the price of other things, but you look around, there are some really nice cars you can find around here, next to really not great houses, you know.

Now, like I said, part of that's just the economic realities of living in Silicon Valley, but part of it is that, what are people interested in?

They're interested in, you know, serving themselves with a vehicle, etc., you know, something nice to drive around in.

They're not building up their homes for the purposes that God has said, which would involve hospitality.

You know, these are the things that God has called us to. So, as you spend on your own home, don't think of that as being independent of God's purposes.

Rather, if you were a steward, every single penny is allocated to God. Give to God, give the Caesar what

Caesar's, give to God what is God's, what is God's. Everything, everything is God's. So, don't think of these as two categories.

Okay, well, I'm going to give this to myself, I'm going to give this to God. Rather, think about how every single penny can be used with God's priorities, even those pennies that are targeted at your home, and those pennies that are targeted at missions, or whatever it might be.

Okay, think about stewardship holistically in this way. And, and moreover, if we are called to such things, also think about how you should be building wealth and stewarding your time so that you can give in such a way.

In Ephesians, Paul says, let the thief no longer steal, but let him work so that he might have something to give to others who are in need.

So, this is not just a command not to, not to be wasteful and to give to other things, but also to put yourself in positions that you might be able to, to give.

You know, people can, by their choice of lifestyle, end up depriving themselves of the ability to give to others.

And so, do not take all these factors into account.

This is what the shrewd steward is doing. He is, he is taking all the factors into account. He is being shrewd.

So, as we continue here in Luke, let us consider also the reality of this statement about how patterns work.

One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.

So, this is, this is very obviously the case, right? One who, one who can't handle a small thing, how could they handle a big thing?

And think about how this applies to all sorts of things. You know, why would you, why would you trust, if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give to that you that which is your own?

Why would you be trusted with these things? You know, how would you like, the Bible describes an elder, the

Bible describes a pastor as being one who has his house in order, who is not given toward greed, is not, you know, is not a drunkard, but one of the main things there is the house, the house being in order because he is to manage the household of God, you know, which is in some senses a greater thing.

So, how would you like a pastor who doesn't have his house in order, you know, his, his wife recently left him, his kids are, his kids hate him, he's, you know, his finances are out of order, he's got a million dollars in debt, how would you, how well would you trust a pastor like that, right?

Probably, probably not very much because he who has not been faithful with a little is not going to be faithful with much.

You wouldn't, you wouldn't trust someone who has been faithless with little to be faithful with much.

But one who is faithful with a little, you would trust him to be faithful with more.

And so it is the case with that example that we saw of the widow and her mites, right? She, a widow and her copper pennies or her copper coins that make up a penny, she was faithful with those things,

Jesus spoke of her very highly, she has been faithful with, with a little, and so in that kingdom she will be trusted with much.

And that's the case for you, it doesn't matter how much you have in this world, if you are faithful with it, you will be trusted with much.

And if you have much and you are faithful with that, you will be trusted with much. So do not, do not tell yourself excuses.

A lot of people give themselves excuses for their behavior with money that are based on how much they have and the, the limited quantities of it.

And they say, oh if I had more, if I had more I would be faithful with, with what

I had. If I had more I would, I would give, you know, this percentage or that percentage. But right now I don't have that much and so it's, it's excusable that I don't,

I don't give the way that, you know, I might, someone else might think I should. Do not, do not make those excuses for yourself as what this passage is talking against is that one who only has little, faithfulness is still required of them.

And the case is all of us have little right now. The, the wealth of this world is very little to the wealth of the, the next that is prepared for us.

And so we should walk in a way that is, that is stewarding all that well. Additionally, do not say to yourself, another excuse you can make to it yourself is that, well it's the case that if others saw the way that I'm spending my money they would, you know, they would think that this is pretty reasonable.

Don't make the society you live in the standard. We live in a world that is very wasteful with money, that is very, you know, very self -centered, very blessed and overflowing with wealth in a way that it's not responsible with it, in a way that leads to a lack of responsibility.

Do not, do not make men the standard, rather make God and his word the standard. Know what his priorities are, act in a way that is sensible with those, with those priorities.

There is, I saw a stat recently that one quarter of toy sales are adults buying toys for themselves.

One quarter of toy sales. Okay, this is, this is the kind of, this is the kind of stewardship that you are surrounded by.

Okay, so don't, don't adopt that as the standard. Okay, rather, rather look to God and his word. And let me read you this proverb because I think it's very appropriate here.

Proverb 630 says, people do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold.

He will give all the goods of his house. Now, why do I, why do I quote that? People do not despise a thief, all right, if he's, if he's satisfying his own appetite.

Poor man's hungry. Yeah, I get it. If he gets caught, he still gets in trouble. That doesn't change anything, right?

And so you might say, oh, well, no one's going to despise me for spending on myself that way. You know, I need a little self -care and, you know, we're talking about excessive, not just enjoying

God's, God's creation. Now, people who speak that way to themselves and then do these sorts of things, yeah, people might not despise them, but that doesn't change the repercussions, okay?

Don't, don't cheat yourself in that way. Don't, don't lie to yourself and tell yourself that, well, if others are the standard,

I should do that. Be sensible about what we're, what we're talking about when it comes to what

God rewards. Okay, you are, you are cheating yourself out of great riches by thinking that way.

There's another proverb here that's fairly appropriate. Whoever loves pleasure will be poor, and he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

You know, if you are a slave to your own pleasures, if you are just focused on yourself and indulgence in a way that goes beyond what

God has prescribed in his word, you will, you will not be a rich man.

You will be wasteful, and maybe you might retain your riches in this life. Generally, it'll be the case, as the proverb says, that they will be removed, but it will be certainly the case that it will have an impact on the life that we are to live in, with Christ forever.

You know, we are, we are preparing for that world. There are realities to the rewards that we will receive.

We will all be co -heirs with Christ with everything, but there are, there are particularities to the, to the blessings that he grants and coordination to, to the account that we give of what we have done in the body.

And so do not, you know, this is not, this is not a burden where you should be feeling like, how do

I, how do I get out of this? How do I get as much as I can out of this? No, don't, don't cheat yourself in that way. Know that there are great riches to the ones who understands these things and thinks about them sensibly.

And so the statement is made, and if you have not been faithful with that which is another, who will give you that which is your own?

Now, this is the case, right? If you are not faithful with things, who's going to trust you with more things?

Who's going to trust you with more things? I had my, when I was, when

I was in high school and my sister was much younger and I had a brother, my father hired a babysitter because they were going to be out for a week.

So I was, I was older, maybe I didn't need a babysitter, maybe I did. But he had hired a babysitter and she was given a large emergency fund, right, just in case she needed it.

She spent it all on jelly beans. Okay, I, I kid you not, she just bought like several mega bags of jelly beans and all kinds of snacks and stuff.

She was not asked to do that job again. Okay, this is how it works. If someone is not trustworthy with what they've been given, they will not be asked to do that again.

They'll not be asked to do something greater. However, it is interesting what Jesus says here. It's a little surprising because it's not how

I would naturally, it's not how I would naturally think of it. He says, if you have not been faithful, and if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

Now, doesn't that seem a little backwards of how you might expect it? You might think, well, okay, if he's not faithful with his, his things,

I'm not going to give him my things, right? You'd expect this to be a little backwards and say, and if you have not been faithful in that which is yours, who will give you that which is theirs?

Right, that's what you'd expect it to say, but Jesus talks about it otherwise because that is the reality of what we're talking about here, is that what we are being faithful with right now is not, is not ours.

It's actually the Lord's. We've talked about this plenty. We're stewarding what we have, but what is awaiting us, what awaiting us is truly ours because it is not something that is possessed temporarily and then given back, but it is something that is possessed eternally.

It is something that is ours to do with eternally and not just on loan to us temporarily.

Now, that's a, that's a wild reality to consider. What you own here, you don't really own.

There is, there is a treasure that you can truly own in a, in a more real sense.

You don't even know what ownership is completely because you never fully experienced it, but there is an ownership there as we enjoy

Christ's inheritance with them that we will experience is truly ours.

Now, let me, let's consider several aspects of, of true riches.

So, he says, you know, who will entrust you true riches? So, what, what is the difference between these things? Well, the first is just that, that the difference between unrighteous wealth that exists in this world and true riches is that money you can never really own.

You can only have it temporarily for the period that you are here on this earth at max, okay?

The, the treasures that await in heaven, those are things that you can own that can actually be yours because they are there forever and you will be there forever.

Now, additionally, it is, it is something that is much, right?

So, the comparison here is made between that which is little and that which is much.

What is awaiting in that world that is so much more than that which is here? It is, it is something great, something expansive, and I say that in a way that's, that sounds, you know, somewhat ignorant because we don't know entirely.

We know a lot, but we don't know the depths of it. We don't know all that that inheritance will entail, but we do know that the sum of it is

Christ, that we will have him, we will see him, we will dwell with him. As bride and groom say to each other, he will be ours and we will be his, and so that is, that is the sum of it, but we don't know the, the depths of the riches that await, and so that's why

I speak with this with, about this with some degree of ignorance. Now, moreover, these are true riches.

You know, the riches of this world are illusory. People can feel like they're really rich. You know, they can write anthems to themselves about how rich and powerful they are, as many people do in songs these days.

You go back and you look at Genesis 4 and that's exactly what the first sinners were doing, was writing, writing anthems about how much, how much wealth they have, learning to play instruments and making songs about it, but that is a, but it's all an illusion.

It's an illusion. Those are not true riches. Those are, those are things which give you capacity for some activity in this world, but they aren't true because they aren't lasting, and so you should be aware of that illusion.

Now, not, not to speak in a Gnostic way that suggests that this world is, you know, just, this world is an illusion.

I mean, it's a real world, but the fact is that it's temporary, and so in that sense, the meaning that you ascribe to it, people ascribe to a meaning that shows that they've been deceived.

They've been deceived to think it's far more than it actually is. It'll last far longer than it actually does. It's far more valuable than it actually is.

The only thing of true value is Christ, that inheritance to come, that is the, that is the true riches.

Now, beyond, beyond that inheritance, the Bible does speak of rewards in such a way to intimate that believers would be given distinct rewards based on their particular faithfulness, and so you see these, this one parable told two different ways, right?

You have the parable of the talents, and then later on in a different gospel, you have a similar parable.

Now, in one, they are given different amounts as rewards, and the other, they aren't, you know, suggesting both things, right?

That there's a sense in which we all receive the same reward at the end, and there's a sense in which the rewards differ.

You also see this in 1 Corinthians 3, where it describes the, those who have been commissioned with teaching the gospel based on how they are faithful with that duty, depending on what they are teaching, depends on whether or not they're building that which will burn up, or building that which is, which is true and lasting.

There are many things in scripture that suggest that there would be a distinction in the particular rewards and blessings that would be received.

Now, I have all kinds of speculations that I could give on what this would look like, and I'd be happy to do that in a more personal level.

I feel limited in what I could declare with confidence from the pulpit, but know that those riches are excellent.

Just know that they are excellent, and they are to be desired, and you should be developing, you should be cultivating an appetite for those things.

A lot of people hear that, and they think that that's at odds with the selflessness that, that the Bible calls us to.

That is not the case. Hebrews 11, 6 says that, without faith, it is impossible to please God, for those who believe, those who come to him must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

Okay? True faith understands that God is a rewarder, and the kind of faith that tries to push that off to the side out of a sense of, you know, self -righteousness, or, or, you know, extra holiness, or something, is not a sensible faith.

We are not those who are, who are sufficient without God. We are those who need to acknowledge our need for him, and not need for every blessing, a need for daily bread, and every kind of blessing that we might get from him.

We are, we should be developing, not, not pushing aside, or, or mortifying an appetite for heavenly things.

We should be cultivating an appetite for heavenly things, and those rewards which he has in store for us.

Not in a way that divorces them from Christ, thinking about those the way we think about earthly blessings, and, you know, pleasing our own senses, but in a way that understands that they are had truly in him, and are, are something glorifying to him.

If you can do that rightly, that is the kind of faith that pleases God far more than a faith that is, that is senseless to this.

Right? And that's why Jesus tells this parable to his disciples in such a kind of cold and cutting way.

You know, he says the people of this world are more shrewd in understanding than the sons of light when it comes to this matter.

Right? They, they know how to use their possessions in a way that's, that's thinking very sensibly about what's to come, and the rewards that await, and don't await, etc.

But the sons of light sometimes don't have that in mind, because it's harder to see, because you can't see it.

You have to only see it, you can only see it by faith. And so, think, think sensibly in that way, and know that the, yeah, just a grain of obedience in this life is worth just astronomical capacities in eternity.

You, you cannot fathom the, the disproportionate between the little and much that's being described here.

Okay, we can't do it, in part because what we're talking about is the finite versus the infinite. It's not some finite multiplier.

Right? We're talking about something that is infinitely greater. And so, any time in this life where you think about stewarding your own life, you think about giving into temptation, you're like, oh, maybe, maybe it'll be worth it.

Maybe I'm only giving up a little. You're giving up something infinite in each one of those capacities that what

God has in store for us is so much greater that you cannot. We'll look back, and we'll just think, how stupid was

I to think that that little bit of faithlessness would be, would only dock me, you know, this much, would only affect me this much in eternity, when looking back, we'll be able to, to see how impactful that was.

And I, forgive me if I, if I talk in terms that are a little too financial, you know, docking, etc.

I don't mean to suggest that it's so one -to -one. You know, we do have a parable of the, of the 11th hour workers and things like that.

But I do think it is right for us to think in a way that acknowledges there are eternal impacts of every one of our actions.

It's not that, oh, okay, I've been sinning a lot lately. Now it's okay for me to continue sinning because, you know, it doesn't really make a difference.

No, these things have relations to our, to our eternity, and we should keep those things in mind.

Now, continuing on in this passage, but actually before I do, let me, let me add one more thing, that we should be passing this on to our children as well.

You should be giving your children an appetite for heavenly things. You should be teaching them how to give.

You should be teaching them how to be faithful in the things that they have. Part of that would involve giving them some possessions of their own to steward in order to give back to God, in order to use for, for right purposes, and just thinking about the ways you can prepare them to be good stewards of all these things.

You know, this is, this is kind of what you're doing as a parent, right? You're teaching them to be trustworthy with things in order that they can have, with your things, in order that they can have their own things, right?

You know, like, can you, can I trust you with these things? I'm hoping so because at some point I'm going to have to trust you with things that are your own.

That's exactly what this passage is talking about, isn't it? So prepare your children not just to use your things well in the 18 years they've got in your home, but to use

God's things well in the 70 years they have on this earth. So in this last, last part of the passage, 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. These things are at odds.

You cannot serve God and money. What does it mean to serve money? To serve money is to, to amass it, to use it for your purposes.

As I said earlier, you cannot serve yourself. That's not really a thing that's, that's possible because ultimately you are betraying your own self and your own self -interest.

Rather, you can serve one of these two masters, money, the Greek word here being bam, and once again coming from the, coming from a root word meaning that to trust, right?

So you can, you can do that, which is you can put your trust in this other thing or you can put your trust in God.

Those are the two options. You can trust your worldly existence here, your earthly existence, or you can invest in your heavenly existence.

Those are the only two options. And you will, and those are at odds, and you will despise one if you love the other.

People sometimes have trouble considering why that is. Hebrews 13 speaks to that.

I think it's fairly, it's a very good, very good passage for that.

Hebrews, Hebrews 13 says, keep your life free from the love of money. Be content with what you have, for he has said,

I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what can man do to me.

So, they seem, these seem odd and not, not immediately related.

Keeping your life free from love of money so that you can say, the Lord is my helper. Okay, well, if you, if you have a love of money, that means that you money is your helper, not the

Lord. And if you, if you love money, then you cannot say, then you cannot say, what can man do to me?

Because man can do much to you. He can take all your wealth. He can take all kinds of things. Men can threaten you in ways that are cut right to your heart if you have this to an idol, as an idol.

But if rather you don't have the love of money, and you only love the Lord, what can they take away? They can take away nothing.

And so, you can truly serve the Lord, and you don't have to be mastered by these things. You can have the mindset of a foreigner, of one who doesn't belong to this kingdom.

You see that in the parable, right? He, the man, uses his position very, not rashly, but very quickly and efficiently, and not trying to hang on to anything, because he knows that he's only there for a little while.

Now, have you ever gone to a country where you've got some foreign currency, and you knew that as soon as you get on that plane, that stuff's not worth anything?

How do you use it? You know, whatever friends you're staying with, whoever, you just, you just give it to them. You, you, or you spend it very rapidly, like, you use it in a way that is going to do the most with what you think you can do with it, right?

And so, typically, if you're staying with someone, you would give it to them because you think, you know, this is going to help them better, and, you know, this would be,

I would love to bless them in this way, and this would be even good for our relationship, much better than whatever else

I could figure out to spend it on in this brief period of time I have left. You can have that mindset, the mindset of a foreigner who doesn't belong to this land, whose currency is a foreign currency, and isn't going to be worth very much as soon as you, as soon as you cross that border.

And we are going to cross the Jordan one day. You're going to cross the Jordan, and nothing that you have in this world will be worth anything, and it will all be, and it will all be worthless, and only worthwhile in as much as it was used for God's purposes.

And so, he has called us to be faithful in order that he might trust us.

One thing I neglected to mention here is also the similarity of the words faithful and entrust.

These are also same root words. So, what's being said here is very parallel, you know, the be faithful in order that these things might be in faith to you, or be trustworthy so that these things might be entrusted to you.

This is what we've called to because there is a, there's a great reward. There is, there are individual rewards, there is eternal life itself, there is all of creation which

Christ will inherit, and we as, as sons along with him will inherit with him, and there's

Christ himself and whom all these blessings may be had. If you have eyes to see, you will understand these things.

If you have ears to hear, you will respond to these things as you ought. If you have trusted in the

Lord Jesus Christ, you will not be a slave to money, thinking that you're serving yourself but only cheating yourself out of an eternal blessedness, but will instead be able to enjoy the riches of your salvation, not only in that life, but even in this life here where you can understand the purpose of what

God has given you, and be able to, with joy, respond with gratitude to what

Christ has done, saving you, regardless of how wasteful you've been, regardless of what you have done to squander the life that he has given you, he has given forgiveness, he has given us

Christ's righteousness, and he has also given us the spirit by which we might begin to operate with that purpose and enjoy this blessedness of salvation in anticipation of the great hope that is to come.

Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the great opportunity we have to serve you in this life with that which is not ours, that which we did not deserve but you have graciously given to us.

We ask that we would steward it well and that we would be well prepared to have that which is ours, that you would, in seeing that we are faithful with a little, decide to entrust us with much, in seeing that we are, that we have dealt well with that which is another's, give us that which is our own, and we look forward to this great inheritance that we have in Jesus Christ, the one who is perfectly righteous, the one who has saved us from our sin.