Prudence in Giving Unrighteous Mammon (2)

Prudence in Giving Unrighteous Mammon (2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible Verses~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in the least is faithful also in
much; and he who is unrighteous in the least is unrighteous
also in much. (11) If therefore you have not become faithful in
the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you what is true?
(12) And if you have not become faithful in that which belongs
to another, who will give to you that which is your own? (13)
No household servant can serve two masters; for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Words of Ministry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Part 2 of 3]
"Least" [vs. 10] refers to mammon, the possessions of this age.
"Much" refers to the rich possessions in the next age. The
"true" [vs. 11] refers to the true possessions in the coming
kingdom age. It is not God's intent in His New Testament
economy for the New Testament believers to care for material
possessions. Though the material things in this world were
created by God and belong to Him, they have been corrupted by
man's fall (Rom. 8:20-21) and usurped by Satan the evil one (1
John 5:19). Hence, they belong to fallen man and are
unrighteous (Luke 16:9). While God does supply the believers
with their daily necessities from the material things of this
age (Matt. 6:31-33) and commits to them as His stewards a
portion of these material goods for their exercise and learning
that He may prove them in this age, none of these goods should
be considered theirs until the restitution of all things in the
next age (Acts 3:21). Not till then will the believers inherit
the world (Rom. 4:13) and have an abiding possession (Heb.
10:34) for themselves. In this age they should exercise to be
faithful in the temporary material things God has given them so
that they may learn faithfulness toward their eternal
possession in the coming age.

Here [vs. 13] the Lord indicates that to serve Him requires us
to love Him, giving our hearts to Him, and cleave to Him,
giving our entire being to Him. Thus we are released from the
occupation and usurpation of mammon so that we may serve the
Lord wholly and fully. The Lord emphasizes here that to serve
Him we must overcome the enticing deceitful mammon of
unrighteousness. In verse 13 we see that mammon is in rivalry
with God, competing with Him. On our part, we cannot serve two
lords. We serve either God or mammon. This matter is very
serious.
[Continued tomorrow]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from
the Recovery Version of the Bible (RcV) and Words of Ministry,
from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 308-309. Both are
published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat
2/18/02)

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Prudence in Giving Unrighteous Mammon (1)

Prudence in Giving Unrighteous Mammon (1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible Verses~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luke 16:1 And He said also to the disciples, There was a
certain rich man who had a steward, and this one was accused to
him of squandering his possessions. (3) And the steward said
within himself, What shall I do, because my master is taking
the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I
am ashamed to beg. (4) I know what I will do so that when I am
removed from the stewardship they may receive me into their own
houses. (5) And when he had called to him each one of his
master's debtors, he said to the first, How much do you owe my
master? (6) And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said
to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty.
(7) Then to another he said, And you, how much do you owe? And
he said, A hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, Take your
bill and write eighty. (8) And the master praised the
unrighteous steward because he had acted prudently; for the
sons of this age are more prudent in their dealings with their
own generation than the sons of light. (9) And I say to you,
Make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of
unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they may receive you
into the eternal tabernacles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Words of Ministry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Part 1 of 3]
The parable regarding the prudence of a steward is simple and
brief. Nevertheless, this parable contains a puzzling point,
and this is the Lord's using an unrighteous steward to
illustrate the service of a steward in God's house. ...this
does not mean that the Lord is teaching us to be unrighteous as
we are serving. The important matter here is the steward's
prudence. In verses five through seven we see that the
discharged steward, while he was still in the house, took the
opportunity to do something for others in order that later they
might do something for him. This was the steward's prudence.
Here [vs. 8] the Lord certainly is not teaching us to be
unrighteous. Instead, He is teaching us to be prudent, that is,
to do things at the right time, to take the opportunity at
hand.

To make friends by means of mammon [vs. 9] is to help others by
the use of money to do things according to God's leading.
Mammon, that is, money, is of the satanic world. It is
unrighteous in its position and existence. The steward in the
parable exercised his prudence by his unrighteous act. The Lord
teaches us, His believers, to exercise our prudence in the use
of unrighteous mammon. Verse nine indicates that those who have
been benefited by our proper use of money will welcome us into
the eternal tabernacles. This will be in the coming age of the
kingdom. When the Lord Jesus comes back and we are received
into His kingdom, some of us will have a number of people
welcoming us. Who will be these welcomers? They will be those
who have received benefit in this age by our prudent use of
money.

Let me give a simple illustration of this. Suppose you use an
amount of your money to publish gospel tracts for the purpose
of bringing people to the Lord. Those who have been benefited
by this use of your money will welcome you in the future. They
may say, "Brother, we want you to realize that we were saved
through one of the tracts paid for by you."...while we are
still on the way to the kingdom, we should use our money for
the benefit of others. We should not use it for ourselves, for
our luxury, amusement, pleasure, or indulgence. There is a
great deal of need, and there is much that we can do that will
be a benefit to others. This is to be prudent in serving the
Lord.
[Continued tomorrow]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry. Bible verses are taken from
the Recovery Version of the Bible (RcV) and Words of Ministry,
from Witness Lee, Life-study of Luke, pp. 306-314. Both are
published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat
2/12/01)

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Morning & Evening -- Song of Solomon 7:13 and Psalms 84:11

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Monday, October 1, 2007

MORNING:

"Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee,
O my beloved."
-- Song of Solomon 7:13

The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces. Our heart
has "all manner of pleasant fruits," both "old and new," and they are
laid up for our Beloved. At this rich autumnal season of fruit, let us
survey our stores. We have new fruits. We desire to feel new life, new
joy, new gratitude; we wish to make new resolves and carry them out by
new labours; our heart blossoms with new prayers, and our soul is
pledging herself to new efforts. But we have some old fruits too. There
is our first love: a choice fruit that! and Jesus delights in it. There
is our first faith: that simple faith by which, having nothing, we
became possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we knew
the Lord: let us revive it. We have our old remembrances of the
promises. How faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did he
make our bed! In deep waters, how placidly did he buoy us up! In the
flaming furnace, how graciously did he deliver us. Old fruits, indeed!
We have many of them, for his mercies have been more than the hairs of
our head. Old sins we must regret, but then we have had repentances
which he has given us, by which we have wept our way to the cross, and
learned the merit of his blood. We have fruits, this morning, both new
and old; but here is the point-they are all laid up for Jesus. Truly,
those are the best and most acceptable services in which Jesus is the
solitary aim of the soul, and his glory, without any admixture
whatever, the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up
only for our Beloved; let us display them when he is with us, and not
hold them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key in our
garden door, and none shall enter to rob thee of one good fruit from
the soil which thou hast watered with thy bloody sweat. Our all shall
be thine, thine only, O Jesus, our Beloved!

EVENING:

"He will give grace and glory."
-- Psalms 84:11

Bounteous is Jehovah in his nature; to give is his delight. His gifts
are beyond measure precious, and are as freely given as the light of
the sun. He gives grace to his elect because he wills it, to his
redeemed because of his covenant, to the called because of his promise,
to believers because they seek it, to sinners because they need it. He
gives grace abundantly, seasonably, constantly, readily, sovereignly;
doubly enhancing the value of the boon by the manner of its bestowal.
Grace in all its forms he freely renders to his people: comforting,
preserving, sanctifying, directing, instructing, assisting grace, he
generously pours into their souls without ceasing, and he always will
do so, whatever may occur. Sickness may befall, but the Lord will give
grace; poverty may happen to us, but grace will surely be afforded;
death must come but grace will light a candle at the darkest hour.
Reader, how blessed it is as years roll round, and the leaves begin
again to fall, to enjoy such an unfading promise as this, "The Lord
will give grace."

The little conjunction "and" in this verse is a diamond rivet binding
the present with the future: grace and glory always go together. God
has married them, and none can divorce them. The Lord will never deny a
soul glory to whom he has freely given to live upon his grace; indeed,
glory is nothing more than grace in its Sabbath dress, grace in full
bloom, grace like autumn fruit, mellow and perfected. How soon we may
have glory none can tell! It may be before this month of October has
run out we shall see the Holy City; but be the interval longer or
shorter, we shall be glorified ere long. Glory, the glory of heaven,
the glory of eternity, the glory of Jesus, the glory of the Father, the
Lord will surely give to his chosen. Oh, rare promise of a faithful
God!

Two golden links of one celestial chain:
Who owneth grace shall surely glory gain.

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Mustard Seed Thought: Loaves, Part 1

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. John 6:11 NIV

This is a great story! Jesus did a great miracle through the feeding of more than 5,000 people. I want to encourage you, however, not to rest on the promises of this story! Jesus is so much more than this story portrays. Please, let's don't miss Him!

Several years ago, while on vacation, my family visited a large city zoo. We had a great time, but it started to rain and so we left early. Once I returned home, I remember telling someone about the zoo. They asked me several questions to see if I had seen what they had seen on their visit to the same zoo. I hadn't seen any of what they described. What we missed, by not going deeper into the zoo, would have been more fascinating than the part we did see.

I also recall the story of the homeless man, who died on the streets of New York City from starvation. When his body was found, an autopsy was performed and he was found to be a man for whom authorities had searched for years. Over one million dollars was being held in a trust for him, since he was the missing sole heir to a large estate. He was wealthy and didn't know it.

Our relationship with Christ is like that sometimes. If we are content just to rest on what we know about Him, and we never grow in our faith, we miss the greatest blessings of life He has for us. This week, let's go deeper in our faith, as we discover that there really is more to the Jesus feeding miracle than just filling some empty stomachs!

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