Lucas 16

Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin

Lucas 16

Hughes - Luke: That You May Know the Truth) Croft Pentz - USING OUR MONEY PROPERLY Luke 16:1–18 The sin most linked with pride in the Bible is greed, or the lust for worldly possessions. Loving money or possessions more than God is sin (ED: THAT MAKES MONEY AN "IDOL" AND A "MASTER")—and this sin is rampant in our world today. The more people get, the more they want—they are never satisfied. Rich people are fearful of losing what they have, so they have no joy. Poor people have less to lose, but instead of enjoying what they have they wish for the things they can’t afford (ED: SO THEY HAVE NO JOY EITHER! TRUE JOY IS IN JESUS BY THE SPIRIT! Cp Gal 5:22, Ro 15:13). I. FAILURE CONDEMNED—Luke 16:1–3 1. Unjust steward—v. 1. The steward becomes careless. We, too, are stewards. All we have belongs to God. We are responsible to God for: a) Our time. We should use our time wisely (Ps. 90:12). b) Our talents. We must develop our God-given aptitudes (Eccles. 9:10). c) Our tithes. We owe this to God (Mal. 3:8–10). d) Our traits. Our character and habits must be molded according to God’s law (Gal. 5:22–23). e) Our testimony. We must witness for Christ (1 Cor. 9:27). 2. Undisciplined steward—vv. 2–3. The steward did not take good care of the Master’s goods. His master called him to account for his actions. As Christians we should remember these three things as we live for God: a) Death is coming (Heb. 9:27). b) Christ is coming (John 14:1–3; Matt. 24:44). c) Judgment is coming (For believers = 2Cor 5:10, For lost = Rev. 20:11–15). II. FORESIGHT COMMENDED—Luke 16:4–9 1. Steward’s foresight—vv. 4–8. The steward used his position to decrease the amount of the poor people’s debts to his master. The master praised the steward for his foresight. But it was wrong—the steward was really “buying friends” at his master’s expense. 2. Sound foresight—vv. 8–9. We should use our money to advance the kingdom of God. Some people feel that their money will “buy their way into heaven.” Many people will spend thousands of dollars on their bodies, but spend no (or little) time on their souls, which will live forever! III. FAITHFULNESS COUNSELED—Luke 16:10–18 1. Faithful in service—v. 10. The Christian must learn to be faithful in “small things.” Note the importance of being faithful (Rev. 2:10; Matt. 24:13). 2. Faithful in substance—vv. 11–12. God wants our tithes and offerings. Our money belongs to God. All we have belongs to God! 3. Faithful servant—v. 13. Some people’s god is money. They stay home from church on Sunday, but never from work on Monday. They miss church to visit friends, but never neglect their jobs to visit friends! 4. Foolishness seen—vv. 14–18. The religious leaders knew the way, but refused to accept it. They were foolish. Christ’s teaching was not popular in His day. Likewise, those who today preach His Word are not popular. All of God’s true children face persecution and trouble. People who love money will despise: (1) self denial, (2) self discipline, and (3) self dedication. Put Christ first in your life! (Expository Outlines from Luke) Luke 16:2 "And he called him and said to him, `What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' BGT Luke 16:2 καὶ φωνήσας αὐτὸν εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί τοῦτο ἀκούω περὶ σοῦ; ἀπόδος τὸν λόγον τῆς οἰκονομίας σου, οὐ γὰρ δύνῃ ἔτι οἰκονομεῖν. KJV Luke 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. NET Luke 16:2 So he called the manager in and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.' CSB Luke 16:2 So he called the manager in and asked, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.' ESV Luke 16:2 And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' NIV Luke 16:2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' NLT Luke 16:2 So the employer called him in and said, 'What's this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.' What is this I hear about you? Ge 3:9-11; 4:9,10; 18:20,21; 1 Samuel 2:23,24; 1 Cor 1:11; 1 Ti 5:24 Give an accounting of your management Luke 12:42; Eccl 11:9-10; 12:14; Mt 12:36; Ro 14:12; 1 Cor 4:2,5; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Pe 4:5,10; 1 Ti 4:14; Rev 20:12 for you can no longer be manager Luke 12:20; 19:21-26 Luke 16 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Luke 16:1-13 How to be Truly Rich - Steven Cole Luke 16:1-13 Investing Earthly Finances with an Eternal Focus - John MacArthur Related Passages: Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. Matthew 12:36+ “But I tell you that every careless (idle - argos) word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. Romans 14:12+ So then each one (hekastos) of us will give an account of himself to God. DISHONESTY OF THE STEWARD: FIRED ON THE SPOT What is this I hear about you? - Jesus does not say how the rich man found out. "Although phrased as a question, the charges were believed by the owner, as his dismissal of the manager implies." (NET Note) THOUGHT - While this is not Jesus' main point we all do well to remember one of God's promises in Nu 32:23+ "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out." (cf Ge 4:6-7+, Ps 90:8, 1Co 4:5+) We may hide our sins for a time, but eventually we will be exposed! Next time we willfully contemplate sinning against Jehovah, we need to pause and run this passage through our mind. It is a good "preventative medicine" which can save us much grief, misery and shame! Remember, no sin against God or His Word will remain secret and unpunished! Give (apodidomi) an accounting (logos) of your management (oikonomia) - Give is a command in the aorist imperative meaning "Do it right now!" The chickens have come home to roost. His sin has been exposed. It reminds me of an old classic sermon by Pastor R G Lee entitled "Pay Day, Someday!" (Read Pastor Lee's short biography "R.G. Lee – a peerless pulpiteer") This command from the owner is not in order giving him a chance to save his job. It's like we see in companies today who give bad employees "two weeks notice." In fact, the master should have fired him at that very moment and not given him more time to mismanage the master's resources. But this is a story and so Jesus says the master gives the manager some time to report back to him regarding his management. As Hughes says "In today's terms, "Give me all your records, and clean out your desk. You're outta here!" This is depressing, even if you are a crook." For (term of explanation) you can (absolutely) no longer be manager - In short, like Donald Trump would often say on the show the Apprentice, "You're fired!" It was a management position and clearly he had mismanaged the master's money. As noted above, while he was in essence fired, he was given some notice before he had to leave. In real business, this obviously would be bad practice. Matthew

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Hughes has an interesting comment - In order to get the sense of just how clever this was, we must understand that it was illegal in Jewish culture to charge interest to fellow Jews (cf. Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36; Deut. 23:19). There was no such thing as principal and interest. So they would hide the business interest by hiding it in the loan, so that the principal included the interest. It was not unknown to charge as much as 100 percent interest on profitable commodities. The manager, according to common, accepted business practice, was making such usurious loans, just like everyone else.(See Luke: That You May Know the Truth) Debtors (5533)(chreopheiletes from chréos = a loan, debt, and opheilétēs = a debtor) literally mean a debt ower. Vine adds it is "is found in Luke 7:41, of the two "debtors" mentioned in the Lord's parable addressed to Simon the Pharisee, and in Luke 16:5, of the "debtors" in the parable of the unrighteous steward. This parable indicates a system of credit in the matter of agriculture. In the Sept only twice., Job 31:37, (Brenton's English =) "having taken nothing from the debtor;" Pr 29:13, "when the creditor and the debtor meet together." The word is more expressive than opheiletēs ("one who owes anything to another"). Gilbrant adds "In ancient times a person may take a loan to avert hunger or loss; rarely if ever was a loan issued for commercial enterprise. And though the Old Testament required mercy in the payment of debts (Ex 22:25; Dt 24:6,17; Job 24:3, etc.), by New Testament times the treatment of debtors became harsh under Roman influence (see Mt 5:25,26; 18:34).(Complete Biblical Library) International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (lengthy discussion) adds "It would seem that as Israel came into contact with the surrounding nations, debt became increasingly a commercial matter. The Mosaic laws regarding clemency toward the poor who were compelled for the time being to become debtors were utterly disregarded, and the poor were oppressed by the rich." Related Resources on debt: Easton's Bible Dictionary Debt Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Debt McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Debt What does the Bible say about going into debt? | GotQuestions.org I am a Christian in debt. What should I do? | GotQuestions.org What are some Bible verses about debt? | GotQuestions.org Luke 16:6 "And he said, `A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, `Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' BGT Luke 16:6 ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματα καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα. KJV Luke 16:6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. NET Luke 16:6 The man replied, 'A hundred measures of olive oil.' The manager said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.' CSB Luke 16:6 " 'A hundred measures of olive oil,' he said. " 'Take your invoice,' he told him, 'sit down quickly, and write 50.' ESV Luke 16:6 He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' NIV Luke 16:6 " 'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' NLT Luke 16:6 The man replied, 'I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.' So the manager told him, 'Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. ' NRS Luke 16:6 He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' YLT Luke 16:6 and he said, A hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty. GWN Luke 16:6 "The debtor replied, 'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.' "The manager told him, 'Take my master's ledger. Quick! Sit down, and write "four hundred!"' NKJ Luke 16:6 "And he said,`A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him,`Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' NAB Luke 16:6 He replied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.' MIT Luke 16:6 He replied, "100 units of olive oil." He said to him, "Take your invoices, have a seat quickly, and change the amount to 50." NJB Luke 16:6 "One hundred measures of oil," he said. The steward said, "Here, take your bond; sit down and quickly write fifty." ASV Luke 16:6 And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Luke 16:9,12; Titus 2:10 Luke 16 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Luke 16:1-13 How to be Truly Rich - Steven Cole Luke 16:1-13 Investing Earthly Finances with an Eternal Focus - John MacArthur And he said, `A hundred measures of oil.' Take your bill, and sit down quickly (tacheos) and write fifty - One by one the manager is reducing the debt of the debtors. Remember, the manager still has control of the debts at this point, but he will have that control for only a short period and so adds the instruction to this debtor to act quickly! The shrewd manager knows he must move swiftly while he still has time and authority. What a lesson for sleepy saints who are sadly failing to redeem the time they have left on earth to win souls, store up treasure and glorify their Father in Heaven! "A measure (sometimes translated "bath") was just over 8 gallons (about 30 liters). This is a large debt - about 875 gallons (3000 liters) of olive oil, worth 1000 denarii, over three year's pay for a daily worker." (NET Note) Think about what it would be like to be called into the loan office of the bank and be told that they were cutting your new car loan in half! Imagine how grateful you would be.

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Hughes - The dishonest manager had faced reality. He refused to live with his head in the sand. If he did not do something fast, he would be out on the street. He used all his intelligence, wit, and energy to insure his earthly comfort. In contrast, "the sons of light" stand on the edge of eternity but lack the vision, foresight, and strength of will to do anything about it—especially in their relationships with others. If only Christians would give as much attention to the things that concern eternity as they do to their worldly business.... If only we would be as spiritually shrewd as the corrupt manager was in temporal pursuits. (See Luke: That You May Know the Truth) (Bolding added) David

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Hughes writes "The Lord calls us to be shrewd, to use all our mind, intellect, and will in the management of money, so that we will be welcomed above. What are we doing with our money? How shrewd and calculated are we with our wealth so we can make sure we are gaining eternal friends to welcome us to Heaven? It must begin with giving. Dr. Carl F. H. Henry, the dean of evangelical theologians, was asked in a 1990 interview, "One of the major weaknesses, perhaps, of the Western church is our affluence. What kind of crippling effect has this had on the Western church and what can we do to remedy that?" Dr. Henry answered: I don't think that God despises riches; in fact, He gives them to us. What He despises is the misuse of them, and He rewards stewardship. Even Christian missions owe a great debt to the consecrated and often sacrificial philanthropy of well-to-do Christian leaders. What we need to do is enlarge the vision and burden of those to whom God has given much so they understand that they have an opportunity that is rare in the history of Christianity to substantially advance the way of Christ. Our giving must be matched by the sharing of all we have for the well-being and refreshment of God's people and the proclamation of the gospel. (See Luke: That You May Know the Truth) If we've been blessed with riches, We should be rich in deeds; God wants us to be generous In meeting others' needs. —Sper Riches have eternal value when we use them to bless others. J. C.

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Hughes says Jesus "means that if you have not been faithful with money, "worldly wealth," God will not trust you with true spiritual riches—the care of souls, missions, evangelism, the oversight of his church." (Ibid) As

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Hughes writes that "Wealth has its disadvantages. It is difficult to have it and not trust in it. Material possessions tend to focus one's thoughts and interests on this world alone. It can enslave so that one becomes possessed by possessions, comforts, and recreations. Jesus said, "The deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word" (Mark 4:19)." (See Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul) John