I would like to look at the beginning of Luke 16, which speaks of “the mammon of unrighteousness” and “the unjust steward.” Many of us who have been in the Word for a while understand the basic message of this parable. God actually gives us a very good explanation of this. However, as God is opening up the Word in these end times, we can now look at this parable and see how it applies to our day. At this time, we can see much more in this parable. This is certainly not because we are smart. This has nothing to do with our own knowledge. This is simply because God is opening up His Word to sinners today.
Will everyone please turn to Luke 16 where we will read the first 15 verses. Luke 16:1-15 says:
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And 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. 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. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 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. 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. 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. 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, who shall 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 to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Let us first look at what is literally happening here. Christ speaks numerous parables where we see a rich man who has entrusted his business or his good to others and then goes away. What we will see is that the rich man is always a picture of God or Christ.
Throughout the Bible, we read of different men who were rich, like Abraham who was rich in flocks and herds and possessions, or like Isaac or Jacob or Job or king Solomon. These men are always a picture of God or Christ, of the majesty of the King of this universe who is spoken of as rich beyond comprehension.
So the principle of this parable in Luke is that we are to see Christ, just as we read in 2 Corinthians 8:9:
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich…
He is Creator God of this universe.
…though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
There are several parables in the New Testament of a rich man who entrusts his wealth or his goods to others, those who represent the church as they were given stewardship over God’s people and over His Gospel.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 where we read:
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Anyone who is entrusted with the Gospel, which would have been the Jews in the Old Testament and the corporate church in the New Testament, are spoken of as stewards.
…ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
This is what the stewards represent here.
So we read in Luke 16:1:
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
The rich man comes to the steward and tells him that he is going to fire him, as we read in Luke 16:2:
…give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
Then the steward says in Luke 16:3:
…What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
We go on to read that the man does something dishonest. In Luke 16:5-7, he says:
So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 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.
He is cheating but he is making friends at the same time because he is going to lose his job and he is going to need some help after this.
Then we read something strange in Luke 16:8:
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.
He is not praising this man or commending him for what he is doing. He is just giving him credit. In essence, he is saying that this steward is behaving in a clever manner.
I work in a prison. Many of those men would read this and say, “Well, the guy is doing what he has to do to survive.” They might say, “He has street smarts,” or something of that nature.
Certainly this steward is cheating, but the Lord is commending him and telling us to take notice of this. He is telling His disciples to take notice of what this man has done. Then He likens this to us in Luke 16:9 where He says:
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.
What does He means by:
…you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness…
He means that the “mammon of unrighteousness” are the riches, the treasures, the wealth, the money of this world, our wherewithal. He is telling us that we are to use what we have been given in this world to “make to yourselves friends.” By this He means that we are to use our wherewithal to do the work of the Lord, to bring the Gospel to the world in order that people might be saved. In doing so, we are making friends. God is using us as He brings people into the fold.
Let us look at John 15 where we will see this word “friends” used. In John 15:13-15, we read:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Certainly, this is speaking of Christ. Christ laid down His life for His friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
If we are a true believer, it is a marvelous thing to even consider that we are spoken of as the friend of Christ or the friend of God.
So the Lord is telling the disciples in Luke 16:9:
…you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness…
We are to go out there and do the work of the Lord with the wherewithal that we have been given so that God will work through it. We know that God works in His people “to will and to do of his good pleasure” in order that more believers might be brought into the fold.
Then He goes on to say in Luke 16:9:
…that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
What this is basically saying is that some of these people who are converted “may receive you into everlasting habitations” when you fail or when your body fails at the end of your life.
Actually, this word “he” in Luke 16:9 can also be translated as “it”:
…that, when [it] fail…
So this could be speaking of the whole creation or the things of this world. I believe that there is a reference concerning this in the book of Hebrews, but I do not have that with me today.
So what this is basically saying is that we are to go out and make ourselves friends. We are being used of God to bring more believers into the fold so that when our bodies fail, it is possible that they will receive us, those who have gone into the Kingdom of God before us.
However, as I worked through this word-for-word, I believe that there is a deeper meaning. Since God is opening up what is happening in these end times, I believe that we are to see something deeper in this.
We just looked at who the steward represents and who the rich man is a figure of. Let us now turn to Luke 12 where we will look at another parable that has this principle of the rich man in it. Christ says in Luke 12:32-42:
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward…
This is the same word that was translated “steward” in Luke 16.
Luke 12:42:
And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
In the first instance, this is speaking of Christ.
Then we read in Luke 12:43-44:
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
The words “that he hath” are one Greek word. This is the same word that was translated “goods” in Luke 16:1 where the “steward” was accused of the Lord “that he had wasted his goods.”
Again, Luke 12:44 says:
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
We see this principle of the steward in the parable of the talents where the Lord has entrusted “the mammon unrighteousness” or the things of this world unto certain people and then comes back to see what they had done with what He had given them. Again, this is a representation of how God’s people or the corporate church has been entrusted with the Gospel, with “talents” and abilities and how the Lord will return to see the fruits of this.
This is the same principle that we are seeing in Luke 16:1 where this steward is a representation of the unsaved as they have dominion in the church. So let us develop this a little bit. We read at the end of Luke 16:1:
…and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
This word “wasted” is also translated as “scattered” or “dispersed.” What we are seeing is that the stewards, those who represent the unsaved in the church, have actually “scattered” God’s people through persecution.
God has actually worked through this to get the Gospel out. God’s people are all scattered into the world. God actually works in this way so that the Gospel might go out into all the world.
Turn to Acts 11. In Acts 11:19, we read:
Now they which were scattered…
This is the same word as “wasted” in Luke 16:1.
Acts 11:19:
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
We could develop this word more, but this is a good verse to give us the sense of this word that was translated “wasted” in Luke 16:1. The word “goods” is referring to God’s people, all that He has, His “goods,” His possessions.
Let us look at Matthew 24, which is a similar passage to what we just read in Luke 12. Matthew 24:45-47 says:
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Again, this is speaking of Christ in the first instance. The “goods” here are a figure of God’s people. Christ is going to be made ruler over all of God’s “goods.”
Then in Luke 16:2, we go on to read:
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.
So this steward has to “give an account.” He has to give an answer because he is getting fired. The word “give” is Strong’s #591 and it is actually speaking of paying someone. This word is sometimes translated “render,” “yield,” or “pay.”
In 1 Peter 4:3, let me just give one reference for this word. 1 Peter 4:3-5 says:
For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they…
Since you have become saved, those on the outside now think these things of you.
Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
Then it says:
Who shall give account to him…
This is speaking of the unsaved.
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
This is speaking of Judgment Day.
In Luke 16:2, this steward is now told:
…give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
In one instance, we can see that this stewardship has been taken away from the nation of Israel corporately as God’s people. At the time that Christ came, they were so far from truth corporately that almost the entire nation wanted Him dead.
This situation is repeating itself in the New Testament period. The corporate church in the New Testament was also given this stewardship. Now that we are ready for Christ’s second coming, the church has gotten to the point where, corporately, virtually all of them are unsaved. We can see in their doctrines and in their teachings that they have left the Word of God in the dust. They are bringing all kinds of false teachings, teachings that are pleasing to mankind. Therefore, God again has taken this stewardship away from the corporate body.
Then we read in Luke 16:3:
Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship…
So this steward now needs help, and then he says:
…I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
There are a couple of words in the New Testament that have been translated as “dig,” but this word in Luke 16:3 is only used a couple of places. Each time it is used, it has to do with God nurturing His church, bringing His church along as the church does this work.
Look at Luke 6. Luke 6:47-48 says:
Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock…
This is certainly speaking of Christ in the first place, because the foundation is Christ and the rock is Christ.
He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Let us look at another passage where we see this word for “dig” used. Turn to Luke 13. Luke 13:6-9 says:
He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none…
We know that national Israel is represented as a fig tree in the Old Testament. Again, this is referring to those who are supposed to be bringing forth fruit to God.
…these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
God likens the church to the fig tree. This man is pleading to the Lord, “Give me one more year; let me ‘dig about it, and dung it.’” You dig about the roots of a plant to aerate it and to loosen up the dirt around it, and then you fertilize it. So this is a picture of nurturing this tree that is supposed to be bringing forth fruit to the Lord. Again, this word “dig” has to do with doing the work of the Lord, nurturing and bringing His church along.
But in Luke 16:3, this steward says:
…I cannot dig…
The unsaved cannot do the work of the Lord faithfully because the Lord is not working in them.
But then this steward goes on to say:
…to beg I am ashamed.
He is too proud to beg. He needs help but he is too proud to beg.
If we look at this word “beg,” this is a compound word. It is made up of two Greek words: epi (Strong’s #1909) and aiteo (Strong’s #154). Epi is a word that further defines or accentuates or hones in on a subject. People speak of the epicenter of an earthquake, which is the exact center of where an earthquake took place. The word aiteo means “to ask,” as we read in Luke 11. This word is used a lot and it is sometimes translated “beg.” This word is more often translated “ask” in the context of asking and seeking salvation from God.
Let us go to Luke 11. Luke 11:5-8 says:
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Some of you may have heard this parable worked through and explained. The loaves spoken of here are the Gospel. This person is beseeching his friend for loaves and “because of his importunity,” or due to his persistence in begging, the friend does “rise and give him” the Gospel.
Then Luke 11:9-10 says:
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you…
This is the same word “ask,” aiteo.
…Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
We know that many who come to salvation are broken by God. They come to Him asking, begging, and beseeching, only because God is working in them.
But we read in Luke 16:3 that this steward says:
…to beg I am ashamed.
We hear this on the “Open Forum.” We will hear people who do not like the idea of begging God for salvation. In the corporate churches, they have come up with a salvation plan where you accept Christ or you invite the Lord Jesus into your heart or you make a decision for Christ. Is He not fortunate that you have made a decision for Him? This is a terrible thought! This is insulting to God.
So we read in Luke 16:3 that this steward is too proud to beg. Then in Luke 16:4-8, we read about his cheating.
Again, Luke 16:5-6 says:
So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
Then in Luke 16:7, we read of the same thing. This man owes him “an hundred measures of wheat,” to which this steward replies, “Take your bill and write eighty.” This steward is cheating and he is making himself friends by doing so.
As we go through life, we sin. We cannot help but sin. Our bodies are cursed flesh and we desire sin. As we go on in life, we sin and we keep building up a sin-debt to God. We cannot enter into God’s Kingdom unless that sin-debt is perfectly paid, perfectly satisfied. Again, the corporate churches with their gospels do not satisfy this sin-debt, although they try to cheat with these gospels that do not bring the truth of the way in which salvation works.
Let us look at the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11. In the Matthew account of the Lord’s Prayer, we read in Matthew 6:12:
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
But when He gives this prayer in Luke 11, He changes it a little bit. God shows us in these things that this is the way in which God teaches us. It is as we compare Scripture with Scripture. In Luke 11:1-3, we read:
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread.
And then in Luke 11:4, He says:
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us…
We can see that He likens our sin as being indebted to Him.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Again, as we go through life, we are building up a sin-debt that has to be paid or we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, which is what the atonement was all about. It was an exact transaction. It was not just some nebulous blanket coverage, as it were, where Christ did some suffering and now you have to accept His suffering and then you become saved. No, it does not work that way. This was a perfect transaction. There were certain people who were appointed before the foundation of the world to salvation. When Christ went through the atonement, He perfectly paid for and perfectly paid off that sin debt. So here we are reading about “the unjust steward” who cannot perfectly pay off a debt and is instead making friends.
This reminds us of Absalom when he wanted to take the kingship from his father David. Let us turn back to 2 Samuel 15. David is always a picture of Christ in the Bible. Here his wicked son Absalom wants to take David’s place. We read in 2 Samuel 15:1-6:
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
Through his deceit and his wicked intentions, Absalom is skewing “the hearts of the men of Israel” from his father the king, who is a picture of Christ. In a way, this is what this unjust steward is doing. He is cheating at the expense of his master so that he might win himself friends.
As we continue working through this, we gain more and more assurance that we are on the right track. Luke 16:4 says:
I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
In one instance, what we are again seeing is that the stewardship is being taken away from the nation of Israel. However, we are also seeing how this scenario repeats itself in the New Testament when God takes His people out of the corporate church and gives the stewardship completely over to Satan where he will be “received into their houses.”
All through the Bible when we see the word “house,” it has to do with the Kingdom of God. In 1 Kings, Solomon built a house, which was a representation of Christ building His church.
Let us go to Psalm 127. In Psalm 127:1 we read:
Except JEHOVAH build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except JEHOVAH keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
This “house” is a representation of God’s church.
Hebrews 3:6 is probably the best verse in the whole Bible that gives us a good spiritual understanding of the way God uses the word “house.” In Hebrews 3, God is contrasting Christ and Moses. Hebrews 3:1-6 says:
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
That is what the “house” represents. This is the way in which God uses the word “house” spiritually.
So we see in Luke 16:4 that the unjust steward says:
I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
God is going to give “their houses” completely over to Satan. As He takes His people completely out of the church, they come out from under the stewardship of the corporate body, which we are learning more and more about, especially in the parable of the wheat and the tares.
This is a terrible thing to say; however, basically, the corporate church has always been more under the influence and the stewardship of Satan than it has of the true believers. This is what we are now learning as time goes on.
Then in Luke 16:8, we read:
And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely…
By this world’s standards, by the standards of the wicked in this world, this man has used his head. He has been clever, and so the Lord commends him in this.
Luke 16:8 continues on:
…for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
The “children of light” are most certainly referring to God’s people, the true believers. The “children of this world” are the unsaved who have more of the wisdom of this world when you really look at it in general. There have always been simply two generations in the Lord’s creation: the generation of the wicked and God’s generation.
Look at Psalm 14. Psalm 14:2-5 says:
JEHOVAH looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon JEHOVAH. There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
We see here these two generations: the “children of men” and the “generation of the righteous.”
Christ said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.” The unsaved want “a sign.” This is the generation that He is speaking about in Luke 16:8 where He says:
…for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Then God goes on to give an exhortation to us in Luke 16:9:
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.
Again, the principle is that we are to use “the mammon of unrighteousness” to do the work of the Lord, which He has given to us. If we have wealth or “talents,” we cannot take any credit for it. This has been given to us by God to do His work and He calls it “the mammon of unrighteousness.”
We certainly work hard all of our lives to earn money, and there is nothing wrong with this; however, He calls it “the mammon of unrighteousness” because it is simply the riches of this world. It is all just part of this cursed creation and it is what men covet.
Now look at Luke 16:13 where He says:
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Then He goes on to speak to the Pharisees. He speaks about how they were covetous. They begin deriding Him and then He says in Luke 16:15:
And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
This is God’s view of the riches of this world, “the mammon of unrighteousness.”
Again, this is not saying that if you work hard to earn what you have, it is unrighteous. It is unrighteous in the sense that it is part of this cursed creation and because it is what men covet.
Again, we went over what “friends” is referring to in Luke 16:9 where it says:
…when ye fail, they may receive you…
This is referring to those who have become saved. If God has privileged you to be a witness to those who will become saved, it is so:
…they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Again, in Luke 16:9, He says:
…when ye fail…
This word “ye” can be translated “it.”
I found the verse in Hebrews that I wanted to look at. Turn to Hebrews 1. This is actually speaking of when this whole creation fails, as it were. In Hebrews 1:10-12, it says:
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
That is the same word for “fail” that we find in Luke 16:9 where He says:
…that, when ye fail…
Or we could say:
…that, when [it] fail…
When this creation fails, those who have gone on ahead of you into the Kingdom of God:
…may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Then in Luke 16:10, He goes on to lay down this principle:
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.
Then in Luke 16:11, He says:
If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon…
This is referring to that which He has given us in this life, what He has entrusted to us in this life.
Then He continues in Luke 16:11 to say:
…who will commit to your trust the true riches?
This is speaking of the “true riches” that we have in God in salvation.
Now turn to Hebrews 9 where we will look at another verse that has this word “true” in it. Hebrews 9:24 says:
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
The “true riches” spoken of in Luke 16:11 are the riches that we have in Christ. It is certainly not speaking of the riches that man covets in this world.
In Proverbs 13:8, we also read about these riches. Proverbs 13:8 says:
The ransom of a man’s life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
These are the riches. These are the “true riches” spoken of in Luke 16:11.
One more point here. He says in Luke 16:12:
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
Turn to Luke 6. In Luke 6:20, we read:
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
What an incomprehensible thought that this is spoken of as ours if we are a true child of God. I believe that this is the deeper sense of this parable of the unjust steward.
Again, this is an exhortation for us to use what we have, to use everything that God has given us to His service. We cannot take pride in what we have or what we have earned in this world. Everything has been given to us from God in order that we might use our wherewithal to take the Gospel into the whole world.
(There was no question/answer session pertaining to this study.)