(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Luke chapter 16 tonight. This is one of the most famous chapters in the book of Luke, mainly for the end portion there that talks about the rich man in hell and the story with Lazarus and so forth. But this is a really interesting chapter. It's one of the most interesting chapters. And I really like the parable at the beginning of the chapter. And it contains a really important Bible principle that I think about all the time and I live by all the time. It's not one that you hear preached that often simply because I think a lot of people don't quite understand this parable. It's kind of a tough thing to understand because of the fact that on the surface, it's kind of strange that the unjust steward is being praised, right? Because why would God or why would this employer be praising the unjust steward when what he did was clearly wrong? It was clearly stealing. It was deceptive. But I think once I explain this to you, you'll see that it's actually not really that complicated as people have made it out to be. And it actually contains a really important valuable truth that will help you in a very practical way in how you live your life. Look what it says in verse number one. It says, he said also unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man which had a steward, and the same was accused on him that he wasted his goods. Now, steward is someone who takes care of your business for you. So this could be like a bookkeeper or an accountant or somebody who's handling his money. And it was accused unto him that he'd wasted his good. He'd done a bad job of being a steward. Verse two, 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 no longer be steward. So this guy is getting fired from his job because he did not do it right. He had wasted his master's goods. And so he tells him, look, get your stuff together, get the books in order, give account of your stewardship because you're no longer going to be steward. So instead of just throwing the guy out immediately, he has a little bit of notice to kind of clean things up, clean up the books, because he's not going to have his job anymore. Verse three, 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. Now this guy's a real loser in the sense that he's lazy, he's prideful, he has a lot of bad attributes. He's known as the unjust steward. Unjust is synonymous with unrighteous. Why would this guy get praised for anything? Well, he's going to get praised for one thing. But first of all, let's just notice the fact that he's lazy. First of all, he did a bad job. That's because he was lazy. That's why he did a bad job. That's why he's getting fired. Most of the time when people are getting fired from their job, it has to do with them being lazy. Hard workers seldom get fired from their job for any reason, okay. So he's lazy. More evidence that he's lazy, he says I cannot dig. Why not? Because you're lazy, right? Because a hardworking person would do whatever job is necessary, they'll dig, they'll do whatever. And then notice, he doesn't say begging wouldn't be right. He doesn't say begging would be dishonest. He says to beg I'm ashamed. So he's too prideful and arrogant to beg. Now look, I'm against begging. The Bible says I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. But that's not what this guy's issue is with begging. He doesn't have an issue with begging because he sees it as lazy or a lack of character. He looks at begging and says, well, it's too embarrassing for me. I'm too prideful. So this guy's too good to dig, too good to be begging. I mean, he's prideful, he's lazy, he's getting fired from his job. This guy's got some serious problems, okay. But look at verse four, I'm resolved what to do that when I'm put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. Now who's the they? We don't know yet, but he's gonna tell us in the next breath who the they are. So he called every one of his lords debtors unto him. That's the they. Now usually the antecedent comes before a pronoun. But in this case, because it's just quoting what he said, it then goes into his rationale in the next verse of who the they are that are gonna receive him into the houses. So he called every one of his lords debtors unto him and said unto the first, how much oweest 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 50. So what's he doing? He's cooking the books. So in addition to being lazy and prideful, now he's being dishonest and deceptive. By changing people's accounts, they owe the master 100, change it to 50. We're gonna give you a discount, buddy. You only owe 50 now, he cooks the books. How much oweest thou unto my lord? A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto them, take thy bill and sit down quickly and write 50. Then said he to another, and how much oweest thou? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, take thy bill and write four score. Let's just make it 80, okay? And the lord, look at verse eight, commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely. Now stop right there. First of all, we need to understand, I think this is where some of the confusion is coming from here. The lord there is not talking about the lord. Do you see how it's not capitalized? It's just a lowercase lord. The lord there is not talking about God. The lord there is talking about the rich man that had a steward. Because the word lord in the Bible simply means boss. It means the master. That's why he talks about Sarah calling Abraham lord. She's not referring to her husband Abraham as deity. Well, she's not calling him God. She's calling him sir. She's calling him the boss. So when the Bible says here that the lord commended the unjust steward, it's not saying that God commended. Why would God commend someone for being lazy, prideful, arrogant, and deceptive? God doesn't look at those as virtues, right? But this rich man who had the steward, he's not God. He's all about making money. Okay, that's how rich people get rich, by focusing on money usually. He praises or commends the unjust steward. Why? Because he had done wisely. So even though he's the one getting ripped off, he actually compliments the guy and says, wow, you're pretty smart that you ripped me off and you set yourself up to be able to have these benefactors now. They're gonna kinda owe you one, as it were, because you cooked the books and made it to where they owe less money. So he commended the unjust steward, not for being unjust, not for being deceptive, not for being lazy, but because he was smart. So that's the one thing that this guy had going for him, is that he was smart. He had done wisely. What he did made sense for himself. Not God commending him, but the Lord, meaning the boss, the rich man. Now look at the next breath. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. So what he's saying here is that there are people out there that are not saved, they're not Christians, they're not the children of light, that are wiser in their generation, meaning in this world, they're of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world here at them, they have certain wisdom or cunning in this world, and sometimes unsaved people could be smarter than saved people. Why? Because you don't go to heaven based on how smart you are, you go to heaven based on whether or not you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And also the Bible says that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Keep your finger here, flip over to First Corinthians chapter one. First Corinthians chapter one. And once you understand this, you'll see it's a great parable, and there's a valuable truth that we can actually learn from it and apply to our lives. But first go over to First Corinthians chapter one, and look what the Bible says in verse 25, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh. So according to preachers, soul winners, great Christians who do great works for God, the Bible says that there are not many wise men after the flesh among us. So if we look at great preachers of this world, they're not necessarily going to be the smartest people according to the flesh. They're not necessarily gonna be the best looking, the most talented, the most gifted speakers, or even the most intelligent that God will sometimes use greatly. They're not always gonna be the wisest after the flesh. He says there aren't many like that. Now it doesn't mean that there aren't any. There are some preachers that are very intelligent, very eloquent, very wise, but mainly God doesn't choose to use people like that. Why? It says not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God have chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, and God have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence. So if an intelligent person or a talented person or a gifted speaker comes to the Lord and says, here are my Lord sent me, obviously God's gonna use that person. God is willing to use any willing vessel, but God takes special delight and will go out of his way to use people that are not wise, not noble, not mighty men, not strong, not good looking. That's who he's gonna choose to use the most. Why? Because he wants people to understand that it's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. You see, if all the best preachers were good looking, talented, strong physically, and able to preach well and super intelligent, then what would people say? Well, it's them that accomplish the great work for God. It's his ability, it's his personality, it's his talent. And then they would elevate the man too much. So that's why God chooses to use a lot of the most unlikely possible people because then everybody looks at that and says, well, only God could have built that church or only God could have accomplished those works. That was the power of God and they won't elevate the person and they won't create a personality cult around the person, glorifying the man too much. So that should be encouraging to you if you feel a little bit deficient. Maybe you feel like, man, I'm not super intelligent. I'm not a great speaker. I'm not really talented. I don't know if I have the people skills. If you're willing to do the work, God can use you greatly. And in fact, God will get more glory out of using someone who's not up to par by the world's standards. Now that's not to say that everybody should be a preacher. The Bible does say that there has to be the aptitude to teach. You have to have the ability to teach. But you don't have to be a great speaker. You don't have to be super intelligent. And you might look at another preacher and say, oh, you know, I don't have his intelligence. I don't have his speaking ability. I don't have his charisma. But that doesn't mean that God can't use you because you don't need those gifts. God can use the foolish things to confound the wise. God can use the base things of this world. God can use you the way that you are. And so you don't have to compare yourself with other people. I remember sitting as a young married man at Regency Baptist Church in Orangevale, California. And I remember sitting there on a Sunday night and listening to Pastor Nichols preach. And I remember one night in particular, he was just on. I mean, he was just on fire. He was just preaching a great sermon. He was just nailing it. And I remember sitting there and thinking in my mind, I will never be able to preach as well as Pastor Nichols. I just sat there and thought, I'm never going to be able to preach like Pastor Nichols. But you know what? I thought to myself in my mind, the next question that I asked myself was, but am I going to be able to preach well enough to be a pastor? Because I realized I don't have to be Pastor Nichols. I just have to preach well enough to be a pastor. And that was the question I asked. I thought to myself, I'm never going to be Pastor Nichols, but can I be a pastor? See, that's enough. It's not about being the best. It's not about having the talent that someone else has. It's just about doing the work that God has for you. And you know what I decided? I decided that I was able to be a pastor, that I had the aptitude to be a preacher, not necessarily the best preacher, not necessarily as good as him or as good as him. But that's not the point. If you have the aptitude to preach, don't worry about trying to measure up to somebody else. That's just pride anyway, if you feel like you have to be the best or if you have to compare yourself to somebody else. It's OK if somebody preaches better than you. It's OK if someone's a better speaker. It's OK if somebody knows the more Bible or is more intelligent. That's OK, because you might even be used more greatly than the one who is a better preacher. Why? Because it's not by might or by power. It's by God's Spirit. So it's a very encouraging truth, amen? If you're one who wonders about your ability, maybe you're a young man and you want to preach, but you kind of doubt your ability a little bit, just remember that God gets more glory by using the little people, by using those that aren't as talented. So when we understand that, it makes sense to say that there are people in this world who are unsaved people, who are smarter, better speakers, wiser in their generation than the children of light. Right? Why? Because just because somebody is not saved, it doesn't mean that they don't have any intelligence. Doesn't mean that they don't have any wisdom. Now, they don't have God's wisdom, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But the Bible says that they're wiser in their generation, which is referring to basically in their crowd, in the world that they live in, on the subjects that they deal with. They are wiser in their generation than the children of light. They might be, for example, a brilliant mathematician. They might be someone who's very eloquent, very good. They might be able to just demolish you at Scrabble, even if they're not even saved, because their vocabulary is so good. Right? They might be able to crank through the New York Times crossword, or the London Times crossword, the real one, you know, like it's nothing. Now, it's not going to get them to heaven. And it's vain. But we need to come to grips with the fact that just because you're a Christian, just because you're saved, or just because you're a pastor, it doesn't make you the smartest person. And you don't have to be the smartest person to be greatly used by God. It's not about having the biggest IQ. Now, the world tells you that that is what it's about, and that we should always listen to the person with the biggest IQ. Well, not on all subjects. You know, when it comes to math, then OK, let's hear what they have to say. But when it comes to the things of God, we need to follow the Bible. And it doesn't matter if it's a five-year-old preaching it to us. It doesn't matter if it's someone who's uneducated that speaks it to us. If it's the word of God, it has authority. And God can use those kind of people as well. So the Bible says here that the children of this world, we're in Luke 16 again, the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And what God's telling us here is that we can even learn something from people that are not saved. Now, let me be careful here, because I don't want you to get the idea that we go to unsaved people for parenting advice, or for advice on the Bible or the things of God, or to tell us what the Bible says, or to tell us how to have our marriage. Obviously, those are not the type of things that we would want to go to the world for, because they're going to have a very unbiblical, ungodly philosophy when it comes to marriage, child rearing, and religion itself. But when it comes to areas outside of religion, you can learn something from the unsaved. Now, notice it says the children of this world. It does not say the children of the devil. OK. Now, not everyone who is unsaved is a child of the devil. If we study the Bible carefully, we'll notice that there is a classification of people known as the sons of Belial, or the sons of the devil. Belial, Bel, Beelzebub, Bel. That's the devil. The sons of the devil, the tares amongst the wheat, are the children of the wicked one. When a person becomes a reprobate, the Bible says they become twofold more the child of hell. Twice dead, the Bible calls them. So you have three types of people in this world. You've got the children of God, or also known as what? The children of light. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5, we're all the children of light and the children of the day. We're not of the night nor of darkness. So the children of light, or the children of God, are the people that are saved. Then you've got the children of the devil. These are just wicked, reprobate, wicked-type servants of the devil. But then you just have the children of this world. These are people that are not saved, but they could still go either way. They might get saved later, or they might end up rejecting Christ and becoming reprobate later. We don't know. Are they going to go to heaven or hell? Right now they're going to hell, but as long as they get saved, they can still go to heaven. So that's the children of this world. So what the Bible is saying is we can still learn something from the children of this world and not have an attitude that says, well, we can only learn from the Bible. Now, when it comes to spiritual things, only learn from the Bible. And that's why I don't read any books on theology. Look, I read a lot of books outside the Bible. I read the Bible, and I read other books as well. But those other books that I read are secular books. They are not books about doctrine. They're not books about the Bible. They're not books about theology. You say, well, why would you read these other books? To learn about other subjects. Why? Because the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. So what kind of other subjects would I read a book about besides the Bible? I would read, for example, a book about nutrition. You know what I mean? Look, does the Bible have something to say about nutrition? Absolutely. But does the Bible go into super detail on the science and the nutrition? So if I wanted to dig in deeper on a subject like nutrition, I don't have to know, hey, is the author of this nutrition book saved or exercised? Is the author of this exercise book saved? I don't need to know that. Or if I'm reading a history book. In fact, I prefer history books that are not written by Christians. Because Christians oftentimes will have an agenda to basically slant everything toward their particular slant of Christianity or their doctrine. OK, see here's the thing. If I read a book by, and I'm not against reading a book by a Christian, but if I read a book by a Christian, I would want them to be a fundamental Baptist. Right? I mean, I'd want them to be my style of Christian. If I'm going to read a book about the Bible, if I'm going to read a book about history from a Christian perspective, if I'm going to read a science book from a Christian perspective, it better be King James. It better be salvation by grace through faith. It better be from a Baptist. I don't want to read from a Presbyterian. I'd rather just read a secular book, right? Just from the children of this world. Because I don't want to read from the children of the devil. People who are teaching a false salvation, they are often the children of the devil. Often. A false gospel. So I would prefer to read something just secular than to go to a watered down Christianity. Look, we go to the library and we bring home stacks of books for our children to read from the library. Just books about very, and we check what it is and we bring home various subjects for them to read. But we don't, we're very careful with the Christian stuff, though, to make sure it's the right gospel. To make sure it's the right, because I'm not, I don't want my children to grow up with false doctrine and false teaching. But see, a lot of people, they want to homeschool their children and only teach them the Bible and only use the Bible. Here's the thing about that, though. You're only going to read so much Bible. And your children are only going to read so much Bible. And so what ends up happening with these people who say, oh, I'm only going to read the Bible, or my children are only going to read the Bible. What ends up happening is just not a lot of reading going on. Period. It's not like those children are just reading the Bible for two, three hours a day. Look, if they're reading the Bible for two, three hours a day and just loving every minute of it, great. Don't change anything. But chances are they're probably just not reading a lot. So a lot of people will brag that the only book they read is the Bible, the only book in our house is the Bible. They brag about that, but there's just very little reading going on. And then there's just very little knowledge being acquired. So I find that the children who read other books as well probably end up reading more Bible than the one who reads only the Bible, because they're probably just a better reader, because they're just reading a lot more, period. And they're just getting a lot smarter in general. And I'm not trying to just raise children that are uneducated or unintelligent. I want my children, you know, well, God says he's going to use them more if they're dumb. So let's just raise them. No, wrong. See, that's where you're twisting and abusing scripture. God's not saying, hey, being dumb is a virtue. No, that's not what he's saying at all, because what does Proverbs say? Get knowledge, get wisdom, get understanding, buy the truth and sell it not. Look, we should strive to be smarter. But what he's saying is that God can use you just how you are, even if you're not that smart. And that we shouldn't look down on people who aren't that smart, but we should try to help them to get smarter. And we should try to raise our children to be smart. And so sometimes we need to be careful of this attitude that basically just says, no reading, except the Bible. Because there's a lot of other things to learn about, such as mathematics, such as English grammar, spelling, vocabulary, science, history, other subjects that could edify them and make them smarter. And let's face it, we all need some entertainment in our lives. And I'm sure that there are some holier than thou's here tonight that think that we don't need any entertainment and want to live a monastic type life, and they want to live an ascetic type life. I don't believe in that. I believe that recreation is healthy and normal and balanced for our lives. And so we need some relaxation, and we need some entertainment in our lives. We need a little merrymaking in our lives. We see in the Bible people enjoying themselves and relaxing and so forth. And if you're not going to read, then what are you going to do? Play a video game? Watch TV? Things that make you dumb? Watching TV makes you foolish. Playing video games is not making you any smarter. Or what are you going to do? Just gossip and just get into trouble and break into buildings? And what are you going to do? You've got to give people something to do that's productive, right? So this is where playing sports could have its place. Exercise could have its place. Where reading books could have its place. Now, we don't want these things to take over our lives and to become a god unto us, an idolatry. But these things do have their place in our lives. Everybody loves the verse that says bodily exercise profit a little, right? Because they want to sit on their rear ends and become sedentary because they're lazy, right? Or every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused. They quote that as they drive through the fast food. It's sanctified by the word of God and prayer. God's going to fix all those trans fats and all that. So the point is that we need to understand that there are things in this world, principles that we could learn, knowledge that we could learn. Not on spiritual subjects. Not on how to live our lives in the sense of our marriage, our children, things like that. But just on subjects like math, science, business. Now, you say, well, are you going to send your kids to college so they can learn all that? Absolutely not. Because at college, they're going to be forced to take classes on morality and religion and ethics. And when they go to the science class, it's going to become science falsely so called. And they're going to learn a bunch of garbage about the Big Bang and evolution and stuff like that. Plus, college doesn't impart knowledge. Reading imparts knowledge. How many people have you known that have college degrees that are foolish, that know nothing about the subject that they even majored in? And how many people do you know that have four-year degrees and six-year degrees and even the doctorate and they're working jobs where they're getting paid less than people who even went to no college sometimes? It's not about going to the world to get into their program and get on their environmental, feminist, atheistic program. It's about a la carte taking what you can learn from this world. A la carte. Not letting them package it all up for you and cramming all this ungodly stuff down your throat, down at ASU. But a la carte going to the library and picking out books that will edify you, that you can learn from, that are going to make you smarter, more intelligent, and how to live your life in a better way. Now, some people might take what I've just preached about and say that I'm unspiritual or worldly for doing that. But I believe that the Bible is teaching this principle right here when it says, look, you can even learn something from this unjust steward. You could learn a biblical principle. I'm going to show you what you can learn from this guy. You could even learn from a crook. Not how to steal, but you could learn something else from him. Right? That's what it says. What can we learn from this particular guy? Well, the Bible says in verse 9 what we can learn. It 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. Now, this is a verse that's often misunderstood, but let me clarify it for you. Because verse 9 is now Christ speaking. So he told the story up through verse 8. Then he says, and I say unto you, he's saying, look, this isn't the guy in the story praising the unjust steward. This is me talking. I, Jesus Christ, he's saying, 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. Now, let's apply that to the story. Who are the they when it says they may receive you into everlasting habitations? That was in the story the people that were going to receive him into their houses. Because he said, when I get fired, they will receive me into their homes. Right? So the Bible said here, make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail, the guy in the story, he did what? He failed, right? He failed at his job and got fired. But he had made what? Friends with the mammon of unrighteousness that when he failed, they would receive him into everlasting habitations. What is a habitation? A habitation is where you live. Now, what did he say in the parable? He said, they're going to receive me at the end of verse 4 into their houses. Wouldn't that be another word for habitations? So you see that verse 9 is exactly what happened in the story. The guy made to himself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when he failed, they received him into their habitations. OK, into everlasting habitations. That's not talking about like going to heaven type of everlasting. It's just talking about a habitation that's not going to end, an arrangement that's not going to end. It's everlasting. Now, stop and think about this. The thing that the guy did wrong was to lie, and to cheat, and to steal from his boss. God's not telling us to lie, cheat. Hey, make friends by lying, cheating, and stealing. No, no, no. What he's saying is, what is the mammon of unrighteousness? That's talking about money. Like the Bible says, you cannot serve God and mammon. And it talks about where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So what the Bible is saying is, use your money to make friends that when you fail, will take care of you. Now, this is a great principle. And it's taught in scripture right here in verse 9. So here's what it's saying. And I've practiced this for a long time. Is that when I, for example, was in the fire alarm business, and I was making really good money, hand over fist, I made sure that whenever I was around friends, family members, that I always picked up the check. Because I was doing well. I gave gifts, I bought their dinner, took care of people. Why? Because I'm sowing that, because then one day when I need somebody, they're going to be there for me. You see what I'm saying? So instead of being greedy and selfish, and when you make, let's say you're making a lot of money, making real good money. Instead of just stockpiling that up, and putting it in the 401k, and putting it in the stock market, and putting it under the mattress, and turning it into gold and silver coins, what he's saying is you could use some of that money. Obviously, we should primarily be laying up treasures in heaven. But you could use some of that money to be a blessing to other people around you, to your friends, to your family, to your loved ones. And then when you get in a jam, they're going to be there to receive you. Look, if you've helped them, if you've blessed them, if you've been generous with them, well, when it comes time that you're evicted, because you can't pay your bills, they're going to receive you into their home. They're not going to leave you out in the street. They're not going to leave you high and dry. So what he's saying is to be generous unto others, and then when the time comes, they're there for you to take care of you. That's what he's saying. Why? Because the Bible says the rich have many friends, but the poor is separated even from his neighbor. So when you have money, when you're picking up the tab, when you're generous with people, that makes friends, according to the book of Proverbs. So that's what he's saying here. So I see it the same way with our church. Whenever we team up with another church for something or work together on a project, if our church has the money, we always try to pick up the tab and try to pay for everything and take care of everything. And if another church has a need, we'd like to help them out. But you know what? I'm thinking in the back of my mind is if we ever get in a jam, these are the people that I'm going to call on. These are my friends. The man that hath friends must show himself friendly. So that's what's being taught here. It actually makes perfect sense once you understand that. So we don't want to learn to be lazy or dishonest, but we do want to learn instead of hoarding money, be a blessing to other people. And then when the time comes that we need some help, they're going to be there. You know, when you stop and think about it, the people that are standing out on the street corner begging with a sign, it means they have no one in their life that's willing to help them. Where are their parents? Where are their friends? Where are their children? Where's their church? Where's their pastor? Where are their church members? Because in most cases, they've burned all those people in their life. And now those people no longer want to help them. Because they've already been burned. They've already loaned them money too many times and never got paid back. They've already been mistreated by those people. They've alienated everyone in their life to the point where they have to go to a street corner and beg. Look, I've said it before. If I got in a jam, you know what? My mom would be there to help me. My dad would be there to help me. My brother would be there to help me. My sisters would be there to help me. My church members would be there to help me. My pastor friends would be there to help me. Why? Because I'd rather spend my life investing in those kind of relationships than investing in a 401K. I've got nine children that are going to grow up and take care of me when I'm old, if it comes to that. I plan to work until the bitter end. But I've got nine children that I'm investing in. That's my retirement plan back there. It's quite a portfolio of diversified my assets. So be smart about the way that you treat people in your life. Because those are the people that are going to be there for you. I preached that sermon a few weeks ago where I touched on that. And a lot of people say, well, it's easy for you to say, my parents aren't around. Or I don't have any brothers and sisters. But here's the thing. Friends. If you don't have the parents or the siblings that are going to be there for you, then make friends that are going to be there for you. And how do you do that? By being there for them. And why don't you get plugged into a church, get involved in a church, invest in the local church with your effort, with your work, with your talents, with your abilities, and then your church is going to be there for you. See, this is the way society used to work before the welfare state. But when we get so narcissistic and self-centered, where our life's all about us, our money is all spent on us, we don't want to have kids because we don't want to spend the money. We don't want to be generous to our parents, our children, our aunts, our uncles, our cousins, our friends, our brothers and sisters. We don't even go to church because we're too busy just indulging self every Sunday morning and indulging ourselves on Sunday night and Wednesday night, and then we wonder why there's nobody there for us when we need help. So this is a great lesson from this story. And it's something you should keep. Don't shy away from it. You say, well, it's a dark parable. It's a dark saying. It's hard to understand. Yeah, but once you get the truth from it, it's a pretty important truth. So I'd put that in your computer and file that away because that's a pretty important teaching. I've got to hurry up here. But I want to spend time on that because I think that out of this whole chapter, that's probably the part that people struggle with the most. Then he says in verse 10, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in least is unjust in much. If therefore you've not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you've not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? So here's another way that we can learn from the world. First of all, God told us, look, the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. You can learn things even from the unsaved. Good principles, you can learn from them. But now he's saying you can also learn bad things from the unsaved. So you can look at how they fail, and then you don't fail. So he said, first of all, we learned the guy was smart because he made friends that are going to take care of him later. And then we learned that because he was unjust in that, which is little, the boss knew he's going to be unjust in much. I got to get rid of this guy. So what's it telling you? You better be faithful in every little job that you're given. Because if you do the little things well, God will commit to you bigger things. He'll give you a little bit and see how you do. And if you're a good steward of that, he'll give you more. And if you're a bad steward of the little you have, then he won't give you more. A lot of people, they work poorly at their job because they say, well, it's just a low paying job. It's just a starter job. But if God looks down and sees you being unfaithful in that job, he's not going to give you a better job. But if he sees you go to your bad job, your menial job, your low paying job, and give it your best, and do well, and do your work as unto the Lord and not unto men, then God is going to give you a better job. He's going to promote you with the true riches. So that's another important lesson here. So you can learn from good things from the unsaid. Look, there are principles that I pastor this church by that I learned from the world. Now, most of how I lead here, I learned from the Bible. But our church is a lot different, have you noticed, than most other independent Baptist churches that are out there. Even though I was born and raised an independent Baptist, even though I spent my whole life pretty much in the independent fundamental Baptist movement, well, there were some things I studied in the Bible and I learned, hey, they're not quite biblical, let's tighten this up. Let's sharpen this up. So our church is a little different. But then there are some things that I, principles that I learned from the world. Like, for example, the principle where I learned to give everything away for free, I didn't learn that in church. Because guess what, no church ever does that. I've never seen, I've never seen a church that gave away just tens of thousands of preaching CDs, DVDs, flash drives. I've never even been to a church where even the activities were free. Usually you had to pay for every church activity. You gotta pay for, you want a copy of the sermon tape, that's five bucks. You know what I mean? You want a Bible, it's fine. Look, we have a whole shelf back there filled with Bibles. You need a Bible, go grab one, it's yours. Grab those DVDs, grab, look, you don't have a song book, take one home. Go ahead and take it home, we'll order another one. Why? Where did I get that from? Now I could have, it's true, I could have gotten that from the Bible because the Bible talks about being generous and giving and shoving. Look, when I was a teenager, there was a band that I listened to, a worldly pop band that I listened to when I was a teenager with my hair all punked out. And I read a magazine article that was an interview with the lead singer of that band. And he said that when they first started out, they had their first demo tape or whatever, and they were selling them for five bucks each or whatever, and he was having a hard time getting his band off the ground. And he said, you know, if we would have really been smart, we would have just been giving them away for free just to promote the band, just to promote the music, just to get it, just to get people to find out about us. Now that's, look, that guy and that band, I mean, that's not a Christian role model. But yet, the guy was right about that. That's actually pretty smart that if your whole point is to get your message out, if your whole point is to get people to find out about you, then, you know, you don't sell it because you're gonna, if you give stuff away for free, you're gonna get it out to a thousand times as many people. I mean, look, if you had to pay per view to watch after the tribulation, it wouldn't have been viewed 15 million times. But if you count the Spanish version of After the Tribulation, our film After the Tribulation has been viewed 15 million times. Do you think 15 million people bought the DVD? Especially because the biggest views came on the Spanish edition. The Spanish version has like nine or 10 million views. Guess what? Paul Wittenberger sold almost no Spanish DVDs. He sold a lot of the English DVDs, but, you know, these Hispanic people, I mean, they love the film. They don't buy the DVD. They just watch it on YouTube. Am I right? So here's the point. Look, I'm not trying to get people to listen to my band. I'm not trying to get people to get on some kind of music. No, no, no. We're trying to get our message out, which is a message of soul winning, a message of Bible preaching, a message of God's word, and so our attitude is, hey, let's get the truth out. Let's get this preaching out. Who cares about the five bucks? Who cares about the three bucks? The value of that five bucks coming in is nothing compared to getting a thousand people to hear this message. That's what needs to happen. And a lot of churches, they don't get it even just from a worldly perspective, even just from a business perspective. What they're doing, selling the preaching tapes for three bucks or five bucks is dumb and doesn't make any sense. Or charging 99 cents to download the sermon on their website. Look, not only is it unscriptural, it's just dumb. It's just dumb. It just doesn't make sense. Look, even before I had a scriptural view on that, I read what that band said, and then when I started church, that came into my mind. You know, that guy was wiser in his generation than a bunch of fundamental Baptists selling preaching tapes for $3 each or $10 each. That guy knows what he's talking about on that point. So is it wrong that I learned that from that guy? No. Now I could also learn a lot of bad examples from that same guy. And in this story, we learn a good and a bad example from the same guy. So what we need to do is we need to fill our minds with scripture, fill our minds with the word of God, make sure that we have a firm foundation in the Bible, and that we go to church and hear preaching and that we know what we believe, then that's our lens that we look at the rest of the world. So when we pick up that secular book at the library and read it, we're reading it through the lens of God's word and we're evaluating everything we read by God's word. And when we see people at work and the way they live their lives, we evaluate everything we see through God's word. And we see them do things that are wrong and we see them do things that are right because sometimes they do things right without even getting it from the Bible. But then, here's the thing, if I think about what that lead singer of that band said, if I match it up with the Bible, it doesn't contradict the Bible. In fact, if anything, it jives with the Bible. So then I walk away saying, you know, that guy's right. That's a good idea. I'm gonna implement that idea, right? Other things I see people do, I'm gonna say, hey, that's not scriptural because the Bible says X, Y, and Z. Now let me say this, if you're a new believer and you haven't even read the Bible cover to cover, yeah, put away the rest of the books and go on a Bible reading marathon. Some of you need to do that. And look, if you're going into the ministry and you're gonna be a pastor and you haven't read the Bible yet 10 times cover to cover, yeah, you need to go on a Bible reading marathon. But if you're caught up on your Bible reading, there's nothing in the world wrong with reading other books. You know, once you, and look, my children, they're kids. They're just children, okay? And I don't know if any of them are gonna be preachers. I certainly know the girls aren't gonna be preachers, but I don't know if the boys are gonna be preachers or not. That's up to them. I don't really care one way or the other just so long as they go to church and serve the Lord and are faithful to their spouse. And that's all I care about. But you know, they get up and they have to read their Bible before they read any other book. But then after that, there are other books that they can read as well. After they've done the Bible reading that we've decided is a good amount of Bible for them to read. And you know, you can ask my children about the Bible and they know the Bible well. Now, if you're deficient on the Bible, then yeah, don't be like, well, Pastor Harrison said to read other books. No, you need to get in the Bible. Yeah. But for those that know the Bible, it's okay to get some smarts in other areas of life as well so that you can learn other things and that you can evaluate those things through the lens of God's word. That's the key right there. That's how, so we learn. Look, we learn through observation of everything around us, but we need to make sure the Bible's our foundation and the lens through which we view every teaching and everything. Look at verse 13. 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. He cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also who were covetous heard all these things and they derided him. Now look, this parable didn't go over very well. So you wonder why it doesn't get preached very often? Well, it kind of fell flat when Jesus preached it. The Pharisees didn't like it either. They derided him. Why did they deride him? Because they were what? It says they were covetous. So why did they not like the parable? The reason they didn't like this parable is because it's about being generous with other people and making to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. See, when their business is going good, what do they want to do? They want to keep all the money for themselves. They want to buy themselves a bigger house, a bigger car, a bigger boat, a bigger RV, a bigger retirement plan. They want to hoard it all. But you know what? God can take all that away from you anytime. God can take away from you your house. He can take away the boat, the car. I don't care what stocks you're in, what investment. I don't care if it's gold, silver. Hey, your gold and silver can rust and canker if God wants it to. God can take away anything from you. Thieves can break through and steal and moth and rust can corrupt. But if you follow God's plan for your life and invest in people, invest in relationships, you know what? They'll be there for you because you're obeying God and doing what he told you to do. But the Pharisees didn't like that. Why? Because they're covetous. Covetousness, it means they desired more money and more possessions. So what does he say to them? 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. Look, the Bible says that men will speak well of you when you do well unto yourself. You know, when you buy yourself all kinds of fancy things, people will say, oh man, he's a great man. Look at what he's accomplished. Look how great he is. Look at the success. And they'll admire you for buying yourself that fancy car. But what we ought to be doing is helping other people, taking care of other people. And by the way, when we help other people, we're not supposed to make a big show out of it. You know, we're just supposed to quietly help people out, be generous, and then those people will be there for us and the Lord will be there for us. But that which is highly esteemed among men, that which the world looks at as wonderful, he said it's abomination in the eyes of God. What's abomination means? Abomination is something that God hates. You know, God hates covetousness and God hates what the world exalts. That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Then he says the law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth into it. Now, I think he's continuing his attack on the Pharisees here. Why would he just change subject? I think he's continuing to attack the Pharisees because he's explaining to them, you know what, you got the law and you got the prophets, but you know what, that's not everything. There's a New Testament, buddy. The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time, the kingdom of God is preached and every man pressed into it. These people are claiming, oh, we believe in Moses, we believe in the prophets. But he says, okay, how about John the Baptist? They rejected John the Baptist. The Pharisees would not come out and say he's a prophet. And the Pharisees are rejecting who? Jesus. So he's ripping into them saying, hey, you guys think you have it all together because you got the law and the prophets, but you don't have John the Baptist and you're not listening to me. And by the way, Jesus said, if you would have believed Moses, then you'd believe in me. So they're claiming to believe in Moses and the prophets, but they don't really believe that. If so, they would have embraced John the Baptist and they would have embraced Christ. And it's easier, verse 17, for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail. So he's saying, look, nothing against the law and the prophets, it's just that now there's John the Baptist and Christ into the bargain. New Testament is on its way in. Obviously, the New Testament did not fully come into force until Christ died on the cross. But it says in verse 18, whosoever putteth away his wife and marrieth another, commiteth adultery. And whoso marrieth her that is put away from her husband, commiteth adultery. Why bring that up? Isn't that kind of random? I mean, here we are, we're talking about money, covetousness, stewardship, and then he just says, oh, by the way, if you divorce your wife and marry someone else, you're committing adultery. If you marry a divorced woman, you're committing adultery. Why bring that up? I'll tell you why. Because this is what the Pharisees were notorious for. He's pointing out, you guys think that my parable is teaching the wrong doctrine because you guys are so into Moses and the prophet, you don't accept John the Baptist, you don't accept me. And by the way, you act like you're so holy, guess what, you're not holy because you guys are a bunch of adulterers divorcing your wives and marrying somebody else. That's why he brings that out, why? Because in Matthew 19, it's crystal clear that the Pharisees come to Jesus and they thought that a man could divorce his wife for every cause. And what's funny is that when you get up and preach against divorce and remarriage, they call you a Pharisee. Define irony. The Pharisees were the one that said you could get divorced for every cause. Jesus had to tell them, no, you need to stick with your wife till death. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. So that's why that verse comes in, it's just, oh, by the way, let me just hit you Pharisees where it hurts, let's point out your big sin, buddy. Then he goes right into the famous parable. And I didn't spend much time on this parable, but I've done way more sermons on this hell passage anyway. And maybe I'll do a whole sermon on hell in the next couple of weeks anyway, and I'll talk more about this passage. But he goes right into this passage on hell and he starts out in verse 19 saying there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And I believe the reason why he brings this parable up at this time is first of all because of the fact that he's showing that what we look at as being righteous or good or exalted in this world, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're saved. And the person that we would look at as a bad person or a poor person or just a person who's failing in life, that doesn't mean that they're not saved. Because that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the side of the body. In this particular case, it was the rich man who these Pharisees probably would have respected, had him over for dinner, thought he was the greatest guy. This guy's burning in hell. Whereas the beggar who's full of sores, this guy's physically disabled with sores all over his body. You know, this guy was the one who was actually saved. He actually wasn't a bad guy, you know. Now, maybe he was a bad guy in certain areas of his life. We don't know, but we know at least he believed on the Lord, he was saved. So this guy, that's why he's brought up. But then I think another reason why this is brought up is because remember that comment that he made about the law and the prophets being till John. That's gonna come up at the end of this parable or not parable story actually, I should say. The parable was at the beginning. But it says in verse 22, it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. By the way, Abraham's bosom is not a place, it's a body part. A bosom is the chest. Remember when John leaned on Christ's bosom at the Last Supper. That just means he's leaning upon his chest, leaning upon his breath. John was in his bosom, okay. So when it says that Abraham was in his, come on up here, Ramon. What it's saying here is when it says he's in Abraham's bosom, this is Ramon in my bosom. This is my bosom buddy, all right. So look, this is my bosom, right. And this is him in my bosom. It just means I have my arm around him. That's all that means. So when it says that he sees Lazarus, he sees Abraham afar and Lazarus in his bosom, it just means that look, Abraham's got his arm around Lazarus, okay. Some of these people say, well, the Old Testament, when they died, they didn't go to heaven, they went to Abraham's bosom. So somebody said, okay, well, where did Abraham go when he died? Did he go to his own bosom? It doesn't make any sense. All right. Body part, folks. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I'm tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he's comforted and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you, there's a great gold fix, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, watch this, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto them, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. You know what he's saying? Kind of just through the flower here, he's saying, look, the Pharisees don't believe in Moses and the prophets, okay? Because he tells them in John five, if you believe Moses, you believe in me. And if they won't believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead when Christ rose from the dead, they were not persuaded. Not only that, but there's another guy named Lazarus. Now, isn't it funny? And some people get confused and they think it's the same guy, not the same guy. Okay, do you remember the other Lazarus in John chapter 11? But I also don't think it's a coincidence that they have the same name. Because isn't it interesting that the rich man, he wants Lazarus to come back from the dead and he's told no. But then in another story, there is a guy named Lazarus who comes back from the dead, but he wasn't a beggar. He wasn't covered in sores, totally different guy. A guy named Lazarus comes back from the dead and guess who doesn't believe? The Pharisees are right there. They see the miracle and they don't believe. And then they even go out to kill him and they say, well, because this notable miracle is done by him, everybody's gonna believe in him. We gotta stop him. So look, this whole chapter is rebuking the Pharisees and he says, look, they're not gonna be persuaded even if one rose from the dead. They just don't wanna believe. They're just wicked. They don't want the truth. So that's what he's saying about these people. Now, a few other quick lessons from this. First of all, some people will try to say that hell is not real. Well, this chapter pretty much blows that out of the water. Now, some people will say, well, it's just a parable. Well, if it's a parable, then it's the only parable that uses someone's name. Because every other parable just says there was a certain man. This actually gives a person's name. So that'd be pretty weird. But here's what's so funny. If this is a parable, then here's my question. What does it represent? I mean, a parable has to represent something. Okay, so it's a parable about someone who after they die is tortured. And in their life, they received all the good things. They were rich, they fared sumptuously, they had a great life, but now they're tortured, now they're tormented, now they're begging for a drop of water, now they're just begging to tell their family not to come to this place of torment. What in the world does that parable represent? Oh, it's just a parable. Of what? Because these people who don't believe in hell, what do they think happens when you die? You're just gone. You know, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, they just think, oh, you're just gone, it's just over. Okay, well then what in the world is this parable about? If it were a parable. Now, it's not a parable. I don't believe it's a parable. I misspoke earlier and called it a parable, but I don't believe it's a parable simply because a name is used. But if it were a parable, what in the world does it represent? And what was Jesus trying to say when he said, it's better for you to cut off your hand and enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell. Why would that be better if you just die and there's nothing there? Because hell is real, that's why. And it's a place of fire, it's a flame. And this isn't the only passage on hell, friend. There's a lot of scripture on hell. Jesus talked 10 times more about hell than he did about heaven. He didn't want anybody to go there. And so, this thing of it's a parable representing what? I've never had anybody be able to answer that. Oh, the thirst and longing for God. Well, you know what? The dead, in Ecclesiastes, it says that the dead, they don't have any desire. It says all their desire has died with them. I'm paraphrasing, but in the book of Ecclesiastes, it specifically says their desire is gone if they're dead. So if they're just dead and gone, well, what are they just, they don't exist, but they're thirsting for God? How does that work? Can you explain that to me? How could somebody who's dead and just annihilated and ceased to exist desire God and thirst? No, no, no, they're in a place of torment. And look, as unpleasant as it is, if a person today dies without Jesus Christ, they will lift up their eyes in hell, just like this guy. That fast. Say, well, I gotta have the judgment first. No, they're condemned already. That's why when they stand before the great white throne judgment, they come out of hell to stand before the judgment because they were already in hell. Because the moment a person dies without Christ, immediately they're in hell. And if you die with Christ, immediately you'll be in heaven. So that's, but another key lesson here is that the Bible tells us that the way to get people saved here is the word of God. How do we get people saved? How do we preach the gospel? How are we gonna win people to Christ? Through the Bible. See here, he says, I don't want my brethren to come to this place of torment. Well, what do they need to get saved so they don't come there? Moses and the prophets. It says they have Moses and the prophets. Verse 29, let them hear them. That's how people are gonna get saved. By hearing, and that doesn't mean just hearing, but like actually hearing as in taking heat unto what they hear. So they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. That's how people are gonna get saved. Now this other guy has a better idea. He says, well, no, no, no, no. They need to see a miracle. If one rose from the dead, he said, no, no, no. If they don't hear Moses and the prophets, they won't be persuaded though one rose from the dead. Let me say this. The unsaved have the word of God being preached to them. No, no, Pastor Anderson. But if someone shows them a fossil, they'll be saved. If someone can debunk evolution to them, they'll be saved. If someone can prove that the big bang is false, they'll be saved. You know, people were going to hell before evolution ever was even invented. Evolution was invented in the 1800s and most people still went to hell even before evolution. That's not why people go to hell. No, no, they'll repent if they just can see the science. No, you know what's gonna make them repent is the word of God. I'm telling you what works. Hey, look, I've seen all these creation ministries and all these people with their ministries to reach atheists, their apologetics and argumentations and debates and all these things. But you know what? I go to soul-winning marathons put on by Faithful Word Baptist Church all the time and I have atheists walk up to me all the time and say, I'm an atheist, I was an atheist and I got saved listening to your preaching. I see comments on YouTube all the time where people are coming and saying, hey, I'm an atheist. I don't know why, but I'm just drawn to your preaching. I just love this preaching. I don't know what it is. I just like to listen to you even though I'm an atheist. And you know what? Those people get saved. Why? Because the word of God has power. It's the gospel that has power, not a science lesson. I didn't get saved because of a science lesson. I got saved through the power of the gospel, power of the Holy Spirit. I got saved through the word of God and through Moses and the prophets and the story about Jesus Christ. That's what's gonna get people saved. So I'm not against people who enjoy science and who are knowledgeable about science or love science and they want to debunk evolution. I think that's great. I'm for that. I'm for debunking evolution, but you know what? It's not what's gonna get people saved. It's ineffective. You don't see 11,000 people come into Christ per year through a creation ministry. But you do see 11,000 people come to Christ through a local church, through a work of hundreds of people going out, knocking doors, preaching the gospel. Because most people, evolution's not their hang up. Now some people it is. And these ministries could help those people. I'm not saying that creation ministries haven't done good. They have done good. I'm not saying that it's bad. But I'm saying that that's not the emphasis. That's a side note. Just like Bible prophecy is a side note. I mean, what we need to focus on is Christ. That's the main thing. So when I show up at somebody's door to preach the gospel, it's Christ and him crucified. It's not a science debate. It's not any kind of debate. It's the word of God that's gonna save. Let's bow our heads in the word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this great chapter, Lord. It's an amazing chapter. There's so much to learn, Lord. I pray that everyone would let these truths sink down into their ears, Lord, and make these principles a part of their life about not being greedy and covetous and loving money, Lord. And that they would, when God blesses, when you bless them, Lord, that they would actually be generous with others when they're blessed by you, Lord, and not to hoard money. And we thank you, Lord, for all the things that you give us all the time, because we know that everything good that we have comes from you, Lord. And so thank you for all your blessings. And we pray that you'd continue to bless our church. And Lord, just continue to allow us to do the work that we're doing, help that work to continue for many, many more years to come, Lord, as your will will be done. And give us a great year in 2018 as well. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.