Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20091216.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part LVI: Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His View Of The Proper Use Of Money
(Luke 16:1-13)
  1. Introduction
    1. Money, an entity Jesus calls the "mammon of unrighteousness" in Luke 16:9, is terrible thing to love, for the love of money is the root of all evil according to 1 Timothy 6:10.
    2. However, money itself is a morally neutral entity, so truly upright believers will USE it rightly to advance the cause of God's Kingdom, a truth we would expect God's true Savior to assert!
    3. Luke 16:1-13 reveals Jesus did just that, and we apply His teaching for application to our lives as follows:
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His View Of The Proper Use Of Money, Luke 16:1-13.
    1. The address Jesus gave in Luke 16:1-13, though it was overheard by the godless Pharisees according to Luke 16:14, was nevertheless addressed to His own disciples according to Luke 16:1a.
    2. Thus, it speaks of the right way for God's people to handle money (as follows), Luke 16:1b-13:
      1. Jesus gave an illustration in Luke 16:1b-7 about how an unrighteous steward who was about to lose his job due to bad job performance wrongly BUT SHREWDLY used his knowledge of his future job loss to secure a future livelihood from his master's debtors: he obtained only partial payments from his master's debtors to make friends with them so that when he lost his original job, he could secure a livelihood with his mastors debtors!
      2. In the parable, Jesus reported how the steward's original employer commended how shrewdly his employee had acted, adding that the ungodly of this world are wiser in their own generation than are the godly children of light, Luke 16:8. This commendation did NOT condone the deed of the steward, for it was wrong for him to obtain only partial payments of what was fully due to his master, but Jesus condoned the FACT that the steward USED MONEY to plan for his FUTURE WELFARE!
      3. Based on this parable, Jesus gave applications for the proper use of money, Luke 16:9-13:
        1. First, the believer should not acquire money as an end in itself, but USE the money God allows to come to him to influence others for God's eternal Kingdom, Lk. 16:9: (1) The KJV phrase rendered "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness" seems to say one should befriend money itself! (2) However, that is not what Jesus meant, for He claimed just the opposite later in the same context at Luke 16:13 where He teaches us not to love money! (3) Rather, in the Greek text, the preposition "of" in the phrase "of the mammon" translates the word, 'ek, and signifies "by means of" (ESV) so that Christ taught one should make friends by the proper use of his money!
        2. Second, Jesus revealed that the way one uses or abuses the money God allows to come to him is an accurate test of whether God can trust him to perform greater ministry assignments in His service, Luke 16:10-12. Thus, the believer should be motivated to use the money he has allowed of the Lord already for God's interests if he would want God to assign him to greater ministry assignments!
        3. Third, Jesus taught that no believer can serve God and money as his master at the same time: he can only hold to and love one or the other, not both, Luke 19:13. Thus, the believer needs to decide to (1) depend upon God as his ultimate financial security rather than rely on his money, and (2) that he thus subject what financial resources or income he possesses to God's eternal agenda versus aiming to advance his personal gain as his goal in this life!
Lesson: Jesus revealed that money was not to be a believer's god, but what value money provides in this life is to be USED for God's ETERNAL agenda. Thus, Jesus' RIGHTEOUS view of money reveals His credibility as a Holy God's Son and Savior of the world, and instructs us on using our money well!

Application: (1) May we believe Jesus is God's true Savior of the world by His RIGHTEOUS view of money. (2) As believers, may we (a) NOT SERVE MONEY as our GOD, but RATHER (b) USE it to ((1)) influence other people for Christ, ((2)) recalling that HOW well we USE the money we have is an accurate test in God's eyes of whether He can entrust us with GREATER ministry assignments! [((3)) We must not to give all our money to God's work, but meet family needs first, 1 Timothy 5:8!]