True riches are found not in possessions but in faithful stewardship of what God entrusts to us, including His name, His Word, His Spirit, our lives, our bodies, our talents, our possessions, our suffering, and our opportunities. The sermon emphasizes that a steward is a custodian or trustee, responsible for managing what belongs to another, and that God will hold everyone accountable for how they use these entrusted gifts. The core lesson is that faithfulness in the least things demonstrates faithfulness in greater responsibilities, and that investing in spiritual matters leads to everlasting rewards. The application is to use all that God has given us to glorify Him and to make
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verse one and he said also unto his disciples meaning he's a continuation what he's saying is a continuation of what he's been saying in the previous chapters there was a certain rich man which had a steward or a custodian a trustee an employee and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods were embezzled. 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.
Thus the rich man. Now you have the another one speaking here. Then the steward, and the steward is speaking, he said within himself, talking to himself, what shall I do for my Lord taking away from me the stewardship, and otherwise I will lose my job? I cannot dig, beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship or lose my job, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much showest thou unto my Lord?
And he said a hundred measures of oil, and he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty, that is, half the amount. Then said he to another, And how much o'er's thou? And he said them, Hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and write poor swore. That's taken twenty percent off. And the Lord commended the unjust steward. Now the Lord there is the rich man, not the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord Jesus Christ does speak of the latter part of that verse. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
And this unjust steward belonged to the children of the world. And the children of the light can learn some lessons from the way some businessmen do business. And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitation. 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. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, how 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 else he will hold the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and mammon. Now this is quite a subject. As I mentioned in the paper, we're going to talk about Christ's lively Bible study in the home of a fantasy, a chief fantasy. And it was on a Sunday that you turned to fourteen and one, and I might mention the fact that that Sunday afternoon Bible study was quite lengthy from chapter fourteen, verse one, to chapter seventeen, verse ten, three chapters and ten verses, because in chapter seventeen and verse ten, he leads the goal to Jerusalem.
So we get into this house, the house of this chief Pharisee, and Quite the lively Bible study followed, and the Lord Jesus covered quite an area when he was speaking lightly that Sunday afternoon, Sabbath afternoon. Today we speak of Sunday, and it's really the Lord's day, but the old Jewish Sabbath was the seventh day. And so the Lord is taking up various subjects during that time. I presume you could read those three chapters and ten verses in about twenty minutes or at the most a half an hour. So we don't know how long this Bible study lasted in the home of the Pharisees.
We know one thing the Lord covered a lot of subjects. He took up the subject of the Sabbath because there was a man there who had the palsy and He healed a man. Of course, the scribes and Pharisees, they objected to that because he had done it on the Sabbath day. And the Lord said, well, if any of you have an ox or an ass, and it falls into the ditch, what do you do? You take it out. How much more value is a man than a beast? If you do that for your animals, why can't I do this with a human being? Right away he gets into the subject of the Sabbath. And the next thing he got into was, A man taking the first place, wanting to promote himself, only later than be humiliated.
He takes up that subject. Give this man place. Then he takes up the subject of the great supper. And we are familiar with that passage, who a man made a great supper. So we get into that subject. And also the subject of discipline. He got into that subject. Discipleship. And then he gets into the subject of the lost sheep and the lost coin and the lost son in chapter fifteen. Then he gets into the subject I want to speak on today, and that is stewardship. And the Lord also gets into the subject of divorce that afternoon, also the rich man in hell, and he took up the subject of service.
Now that was quite... a Bible study that afternoon in the Pharisees' house. And now we get back to the subject I want to emphasize, and that is stewardship. And the reason I didn't put that in the paper, I kind of gave generalities, is simply because if I had put him there, I was going to speak on stewardship. The people said, well, he's going to preach online. For that's just about what all preachers do when they preach on stewardship, and they warn this passage of Scripture to a thread, using it when they want to raise money and preach on money.
Well, there's a whole lot more to stewardship than giving your money. And that's what I want to take up. We don't beg for money here. We don't ask you for your tithe. We don't assess anybody. We leave it up to the free will offerings of the Lord's people. And this begging money has a two-way street. If a preacher is going to beg money from his audience, he ought to give them their money's worth from the pulpit. It's a two-way street. And if they're going to beg money out of their congregation, the church ought to rise to its obligation and give the congregation something that's worth their coming for, getting something out of the Bible, being taught something from the Bible, and finding a true fellowship.
Yes, there's a two-way street. And thank God I've never begged for a dime of my life. and neither has the chapel, and yet we don't know anybody a dime. Our debts are all paid, and no one has asked anyone for the dime. The only time an offer is taken is at the worship service, and only the Lord's people are there to give. So we've got this subject of stewardship. What is a steward? A steward is one who has been entrusted with the management of something that belongs to another.
It's a trust. He is a custodian. He is a trustee. Now, when you get into the subject, it's quite a vast subject, the subject of stewardship. And it covers a lot of things. And the first thing I want to talk about that the Lord has entrusted to his people is His name. He has given us His name. When you think of that, that's quite a test. The Lord has entrusted us. We are custodians, stewards of His name.
Now, a name is important. When a young couple get married, the young lady gives up her name, and she takes her husband's name. the husband's name. She can dishonor that name, disrespect that name, or she can honor it and respect it. A lot disrespect the name that they took at the altar. But when it comes to spiritual things, when you accepted Christ, you took his name, Christian, C-H-R-I-S-T, I am nothing.
I've taken His name, and I want to be loyal to that name. I want to bring honor and glory to that name, and that name only. There are a lot of individuals and places that I don't want my name associated with. If you saw me running around with someone has a bad reputation, some character that everybody knows a crook or a morgue, you'd begin to think something. Future Wilson associated with that character.
You see the point? I'm dishonoring the name of my Lord when I can keep company with that kind of society. not do. I'm not going to do that. And there are a lot of dives in town that I wouldn't be seen ten feet from, their door. If I were to be seen going to these dives, these places of irrefute, wouldn't that be a reflection on my character? Certainly would. And there are a lot of places I'm not going to go to because of his name.
I don't want to dishonor or disgrace the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given me his name as a trust, and I'm going to try to honor it. There are a lot of religious institutions that I don't want to associate myself with because I don't believe in what they do and preach. because it dishonors the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. My Bible says, Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my son and my daughter.
What am I saying? If, take a modernistic church, if it doesn't believe in the inspiration of this Bible, if it doesn't believe in the virgin birth, If it doesn't believe in His sinless life and His atoning death and His wonderful resurrection, if it doesn't believe in His coming again, I want nothing to do with it. If it doesn't believe in the Holy Spirit and His regenerating work in the heart of a sinner and that a man's got to be born again to get to heaven, And if that church doesn't believe in a heaven and a hell, I'm not going to associate my name with it.
That is just honoring the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means to be a good steward of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got his name, and he's given you his name. And he wants you to live up to that name. and not bring dishonor and disgrace on that name by your associations. That very plainly taught in your Bible. And there are other things, false calls. I'm not going to associate myself with false calls. Because if I did, I'd be dishonoring that name.
I'd be bringing disgrace. and dishonor upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there are places and people I don't want to associate with as a Christian because I bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want to honor it. We are stewards of His name. Another thing we're stewards of, we're stewards of His words. He's given us His word. In John seventeen he said to the Father, I've given them thy word. And we are custodians, stewards of this blessed book.
In fact, it tells you that over in First Corinthians four one, we're stewards of the mysteries of God. He doesn't say we're stewards of money in that text. He says, we're stewards of the mysteries of God. He has entrusted us with this book. And what a wonderful book we have. Can he trust us with what he's given us? Are we true, honest, worthy custodians and stewards and trustees of the word of the living God? That's quite a question, isn't it?
for he wants us to be trustees. Am I faithful in my allegiance to this blessed book in living it and preaching it? Yes, he's given us his holy word. Now, I can honor this blessed book in reading it and also learning about this blessed book and obeying this blessed book and not ignoring or dishonoring this book. If I honor this book the way God wants me to honor it, I'll obey it. First as to salvation, only in Christ, then as to the ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper.
I want to honor this book. God has entrusted me with it. I'm the custodian of it. That means I'm obligated before God to obey it. Not only in salvation, but in carrying out the ordinances of this blessed and holy book. Am I a good custodian of the word of the living God? Or am I ignoring it, disobeying that I'm not going to pay any attention to the Bible. Some man loaded. I hope you don't die with that in your mind.
You'll wake up to meet the lawful of this book. No man will disprove. God used human instrumentality to give us this book. But he has entrusted us with this book. And that's a wonderful trust. Am I faithful to what he has entrusted to me? His word. And another thing he has given to us is Christians. He has given unto us His Holy Spirit. Now that's quite a trust. I am a steward of the Holy Spirit. Now you can do a number of things to the Holy Spirit.
You can please the Holy Spirit. You can yield from the Holy Spirit. Or you can grieve. You can quench. And you can harm. And hurt the Holy Spirit. If you do, you are not a worthy custodian of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in your heart. Using the Holy Spirit, using that which God has given me. I say that reverently. How can I use and not abuse God's Holy Spirit?
I've got to use the Holy Spirit when I read that book, if I want to understand it. I've got to use the Holy Spirit if I am to pray effectually. I know not how to pray as I ought, but the Holy Spirit, who would help us in our infirmities. Yes, I must have the Holy Spirit in my prayer life. I must know something of his presence and his power. He's a trust, and I want to use him, and he loves to be used.
When I think of this, it's a solemn thing. In other words, if I were to use or allow the Spirit of God to work through me, and I was using the Holy Spirit in my preaching, And it was the work of the Holy Spirit. I was using him, and he allows for me to use him, and every man who preaches. I must have him if I'm going to preach with power. But if I use the Holy Spirit in preaching, and it's successful, and I turn around and take the credit for what the Spirit of God did, I am abusing that trust.
I am abused. the Holy Spirit. God has given us His Word. He's given us His name. He's given unto us His Holy Spirit. Am I faithful in that stewardship of doing with the Spirit of God, which God wants me to do, and He, the Holy Spirit, wants me to do with His ability, with His power? the solemn question isn't it to me to be a steward of the Holy Spirit of God then again what about my life and his life in me I'm a steward of that he gave me a new life and he expects me to use that life as it is in my body He wants me to use that life, how?
Having a good time, doing as I please, going to places that will dishonor them. Am I a good custodian, a good steward of the life I have, of the body I've got? Is a remarkable verse over in First Corinthians six, at nineteen and twenty? And it says, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which he is in you, which he have of God. God has given you this as a trust, and you're not your own, for you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit with your God.
Am I glorifying God in my body and in the life of a Christian? Am I living it? If not, I am an unjust steward. I am not a good steward of these precious things that God has given us. You read a lovely text over in First Peter, four, ten, as every man hath received the gift even so ministered the same one to another as good steward, of the manifold grace of God.
He doesn't mention money, though. If being a steward of the manifold grace of God, I'm the custodian of God's grace, am I sharing it with others? Am I manifesting it in my life? That's the point. Paul says for me to live is Christ. Is that my life? And so he's given me his life, and he's also given me this life in which to use these things that he has entrusted to me, his name, his word, his Holy Spirit, and he's given me a body.
He has given me the capability, as well as the Holy Spirit within, to be a good steward of the grace of God. These are amazing texts when you stop to think of them and talk about our talents. All our talents are things He has entrusted to us. He has entrusted some with a lot of talents. He has trusted others with just a little. There are a lot of gifts you find in your Bible. There are five major gifts. apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
Not everyone has those. They're special gifts given by the Holy Spirit. The apostles and prophets are in the foundation for the churches built upon the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, so I'm not worrying about being an apostle or a prophet, for we don't have any today. But we do have the evangelist, the pastors, and the teachers. But there's a whole lot more. Those who have those gifts, they are stewards of those gifts, and they have a lot to give an account to God for how they exercise those gifts.
But then, if you would read over in First Corinthians, Tram, he talks about a number of gifts. And there's one thing that's pretty hard for anybody to get around. He says, helps. Oh, you say, I've got any gift. Can you help? Can you be a help? You can be a hindrance. But can you not as a Christian be a help? I took out something this week. I never heard of it before, but I thought it was nice. I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. You can do something. And we're members of this body, he takes up that subject in Romans. Every Christian is a member of the body, of Christ. And those members are likened unto gifts or capability. And if you're a member of the body of Christ, there's something you can do. You've got a hand, you've got toe hands and toe fingers and toe thumbs. They're members of your body.
There's something for them to do. They're not there. There's just something to look at. There to be you, every Christian. Born again is in November the body, and he's got some gift, something he can do. He can be a help. I read something not too long ago. I thought it was a little amusing. They were going to launch a big vessel, and whether you've seen them launch or not, I don't know. Sometimes they get started with a bottle of liquor. You know, some celebrity hits the thing on the nose, and the thing starts down the way. Well, they had this big ship and everybody, big crowd there and celebrities.
And they took out the box and also the wedges. And a few of them were standing around. They put their hands on it. But it hadn't moved. Now, whether it was just a coincidence, a little boy about the crowd, he would not put his shoulder to him, said, Don't he? It would happen once in a minute. We don't know, but when he did, the old bull. Weighing thousands of tons, he started up. When he did, great crowd around, and they clapped hands for the little fellow to do a nap. Likely the little fellow took credit.
Like he could have happened anyway. But did it take his hundred pounds just to swing the scales? Just a little bit. Friend, you can be a little help. No doubt the little fella took credit for that. We'll talk about it. Well, you can take credit if you're a help. And God will give you reward for that little bit. And I can tell you something. You don't have to make any noise. You don't have to be a solace. You don't have to be a preacher. but you can occupy a seat.
That's a help. It prevents the preacher from preaching to a lumber pile. Just be a help. It's always nice to see people attend meetings. That's a big help. No Christian can say, I can't do anything. Yes, you can. There are a lot of things you can do if you stop and And so you've got your talents. And the more talent, the bigger the talent, the more you're going to have to give an account of God for the Bible that says that.
And so your talents are a trust. You are a custodian of those talents. You're the steward of those talents. You'll have to give an account to God for that. Then again, your possessions. Yes, you've got some possessions. And you have that in our passage. Your possessions belong to the Lord as a person. He seeketh not yours but you. The Lord's not too much interested in what you've got, but he's interested in you.
A man may have enough to sign a check for a million dollars. But if that man, if the Lord doesn't have that man, the Lord's not interested in his million dollars, the Lord wants you, not your property, not all your possessions. He wants you first. But if he gets you, then he knows you'll do something wrong. And so our possessions, not having to stop to think this covers quite an area, What about your car? Is your car for pleasure?
Is your car for going to work and back? Have you ever used your car to bring some Christians or children or unsaved people to the meeting? I know some Christians who've done that and have been paid off well. When there's North Carolina, after the remembrance feast was over there'd be almost a dozen men get up and tip to us and get their car and go around Greensboro to pick up some children and drink with the Sundays through eleven o'clock. And there was one man, and I'm so glad that he had as big a car as he did, man he had a car with a whole about twelve adults.
And you know he'd go and get that thing full and bring those kids to the Sunday school. Today, the churches have buses. They operate buses quite costly sometimes. But couldn't some Christians do that? Your car belongs to the Lord and goes together. That is a trust. You're a custodian. You're a steward. And one could think of some, you're home. Yes, it's your possession. How are you using your home? Wendy can use it wisely. You can use it to have a Bible study.
You can use it to invite someone in. Talk about the Lord. And the Bible says, Be not forgettable to entertain strangers, the sum of entertained angels among us. It's nice to be hospitable. Be able to use your home for the Lord to invite the Lord's people in. Some occupy or invite the Lord's service. I've stayed in many, many homes in my life. I know people, and that's about all they do. When preachers pass through, they entertain and they've had rich rewards.
Remember during the war, many homes. They used their homes to invite the soldier boys in, and many of them led to Christ. And in your Bible three times over, you find a little church in a home. Philemon was one. They used their house for the Lord. That's a nice thing to do, isn't it? Using your house for the Lord. I see lots of homes, and they're beautiful. I was in one over Christmas. and it was a beautiful home. You couldn't build it a day short of a million dollars. Seventeen rooms.
I didn't see one verse of Scripture on the walls of that palatial place. And New Deuteronomy chapter six speaks about putting the word of God on your gate and on your doorposts and so on. let someone know that Christian lives here. You can use your hope, use your hope to glorify the Lord. Then what about your children? Yes, God has given you some children and he'll hold you responsible for those children. You are a steward of those children.
Are you bringing up those true children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? That's a responsibility, isn't it? This subject of stewardship, and as more preachers were preaching what I'm preaching this morning on the subject of stewardship, instead of using it only to raise money, there'd be a whole lot more accomplished today. This subject of stewardship covers... quite an area. And of course, you can bring in your money as part of your stewardship. And that's good too. If God has entrusted you with this world's possessions, he expects you to use.
He's entrusted some men and given some men gifts of wisdom to make a lot of money. And they have a wonderful opportunity to use that. read the gospel and give to the Lord's Word. I remember reading about an old Jewish rabbi over in England, and he had quite a lot of money. So he called in a very close friend. He said, I don't think about playing the stock market. He said, I want you, I'm going to trust you. I want you to take all my money and invest it for me. He said, I'll do it.
And I was quite a thing for a dude, to do a rabbi. After three or four weeks, he saw his good friend, and he said, well, did he invest my money? He said, I did. How did he invest it? He said, I gave it all to the poor. Now, you know how that'll hit it, too. He said, I gave it all to the poor. Well, the old rabbi hardly knew what. He said, no, no, that. this man spoke up. He must have been a Christian. Well, he said, now if you ever took a long journey, he said, have you ever taken a journey? He said, yeah. Where'd you go? I went for Russia. Well, he said, didn't you have to exchange your currency, the rubles?
Yes. You ever been to Germany? Yes. Well, didn't you have to exchange your money, the Marx? Yes. So I didn't have to change your money? The France? Yes. go to the United States or Canada, you have to change your money. It's dollars and cents. He said, I think you'd be wise if you exchange some of your money to heaven's currency. But he says you're going to take a journey someday, and that's all you're going to have up there is heaven's currency. What you invested your money in down here you'll get the rewards up there.
Isn't that nice? Then you're going to take that journey. And the Bible says, when the Lord says, when ye pay, they'll receive you into everlasting habitation. What do ye mean? If I'm going to give my money, and God's not interested when you get to the Golden Gate, what they say, in handing them over dollar bills or checks or silver or gold, that's not heaven's currency. Heaven's currency is what we've done with our money down here, how we've converted it into heaven's currency.
Those things will glorify God. How wonderful we have this wonderful privilege our possessions, to give these things as unto the Lord. And you can, I can. God intends us to do that. That's true spiritual. Then there's something else you're a surah of that is suffering. You didn't expect that religion. Suffering is a trust. Suffering is to be a custodian of unpleasant circumstances.
The Bible is remarkable on this. Moreover, it is required in stewardship that a man be found faithful. Or among you. God may entrust you with suffering, with pain. He did Job. You can honor God in that trust, or you can dishonor him. You can be bitter and complaining and rebellious because of your physical situation. That's dishonoring God. Or you can be submissive, as was the Lord Jesus, as he faced Calvary, not my will, but thine be done.
That is using your trust. that means you're taking what you have and enduring what you do as from God and that will glorify God will be faithful in that stewardship of suffering these are some things aren't they times coming when you're going to have to give an account of your stewardship That's the, I mentioned seven things. There's that question, give account of thy stewardship.
When ye fail. That word means when you come to die. The point is that this man here, this unjust character, is an unconverted man, his investment in worldly things and doing what he did, was for this life to stop the death. Our investment is in spiritual things. That's it. God wants us to invest in heavenly things. And this man, he wasted his master's words. Am I wasting the things I've mentioned that God has entrusted to me, given to me?
Am I wasting them? Letting the days go by, doing nothing with these? gifts that I have. There's a word of warning. God has given you life, and I'm saying this now for the unsaved, for it can apply to unsaved as subject of stewardship. God has given to you life, intelligence, ability, opportunities. He's given you a job. He's given you a family. Are you faithful? in those things that God has given you, the Bible makes it very plain that God's going to hold you responsible for these things.
You've had many opportunities, and God has given you opportunities to get saved, and you've hastened with us. You're a steward of opportunity. You're a steward of privilege. You're a steward of privilege. that God is going to hold you accountable for. Are you faithful to that stewardship? Are you going to believe the gospel and be saved? Or will that day come when he says right here, give account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward. Give him and put out of your steward.
The end has come. You've had your last opportunity. This man says, and although he's under the burden of man, well, he says, if I'm going to lose my job, I'm going to think in the future, only in this life. He's, I'm going to make some friends and call him one of his Lord's generous. How much you owe the boss? Of course, I'm speaking in terms today that we understand not what that says about oil and so on. How much do you owe the boss? A thousand dollars. Make up a new bill? Fifty dollars. Find it. Now, say. What do you owe? I know a thousand dollars.
Sit down, write another bill. Put down eighty. I'll say. In other words, he was not only helping them by getting a reduced bill, This man was helping himself, where he says, when I lose my job, these men, that I have treated so kindly, they'll receive me into the houses I have some friends. What are we here on earth for to make friends that when we fail or come to die, when Jesus comes, they're going to receive us into everlasting habitation. Whatever I possess in this life, if I'm using it to win precious souls for Christ, may be using it so even people on the mission field can be saved, would it be wonderful that we've made friends, and when we come to die, they'll receive us in the everlasting habitation.
Do you know the Apostle Paul tells us that? And that's an amazing thing. Over in verse Thessalonians, verse two, nineteen, for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even he in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his appearance? Paul says, all of you who are one to Christ. And he said, of course, the Lord of the Lord's people helped me to do it. They gave of their substance. And he says, you made a lot of friends. When the Lord comes to you, comes to die, you've got a lot of friends up there, and they're going to receive you into everlasting habitation.
Oh, but you say, I'm like this man. He said, I'm too old to work, and I'm too proud to beg. He wasn't too old to cheat, or too proud to cheat. Friend, you can't get around if you've got an opportunity, no matter how old you are. Who are you to work? I'm too proud to beg. If you can, except Jesus Christ this morning, no matter what your age is, you have to bury your pride and become a Christian. In conclusion, a little fellow one time, and he thought, well, I have all had my mother, so he left a little pill.
under the plate this morning and he had on this bill you owe me for fetching wood and coal six times fifty cents and you owe me for going to the store twice twenty five cents you know that happened fifty years ago today they want five bucks and he said you owe me for cleaning up the yard twice fifty cents total A dollar twenty-five. The Knoxville mother left the note.