"The Unjust Doer" - Luke 16:1-18 - Jul 5, 2026 - Pastor Scotty Brown

Get your Bibles out!

Here we go. I had to get mine out this morning and, God, I minister to my soul.

It's funny how that works of a morning. Sometimes it's just soothing and peaceful and glorious.

And other times it's Scotty, bend over and grab your ankles, boy.

But we're going to look at the unjust steward.

Now, these chapters we've been going through,

most Bible commentators believe that chapters 14 through

covers one Sabbath day.

Now, we've covered a lot of ground in those chapters.

That's some serious ministry going on.

That's some serious truth being told.

And it brings, it sheds a whole new light on John chapter 21, verse 25, where it says,

John 21:25

and there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one,

I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Amen.

And we have this incredible God, this incredible Savior that's, uh,

bigger than our minds can comprehend.

And yet he came down on our level.

And he requires some things of us, his people.

And so we're going to read the first 18 verses of the 16th chapter of the book of Luke.

I believe there's two stories in this chapter, this one,

and then the one we'll look at next time.

But some pretty powerful words from our Lord.

This first one, this parable of the unjust steward,

is probably the most difficult,

as far as interpretation is concerned,

of all of Jesus' parables.

So I don't gleefully try to teach through this this morning,

but I will do my best.

So bear with this old boneheaded country boy.

It says in chapter one of, let me try that again.

It says in chapter 16, verse one, the gospel of Luke,

he also said to his disciples,

there was a certain rich man who had a steward.

And an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.

And so he called him and said to him,

what is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship. For you can no longer be steward.

And then the steward said within himself, what shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship

away from me. I cannot dig. I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do that when I am put out of the

stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. And so he called every one of his master's

debtors to him and said to the first, how much do you owe my master? And he said, a hundred measures of

oil. And so he said to him, take your bill, sit down, write quickly, write 50. Then he said to another,

and how much do you owe? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him, take your bill

and write 80. So the master commended the unjust servant because he had dealt shrewdly, for the sons of this

world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I

I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an

everlasting home. He who is faithful in what is least is also faithful in much. And he who is

unjust in what is least is unjust in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the

unrighteous mammon who will commit to your trust, true riches. And if you have not been faithful in

what is another man's who will give you what is your own. No servant can serve two masters,

for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one

and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Now the Pharisees who were lovers of money

also heard all these things and they derided him. And he said to them, you are those who justify

yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an

abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John, and since that time,

the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven

and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. Whoever divorces his wife and

marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced.

from her husband commits adultery. Let's pray. Lord, there is a lot to unpack in these verses.

And yet it's your truth and your words. They're that powerful, sharp sword that is able to

bring clarity to the hearts of wicked humanity that needs to be enlightened. Lord,

I'm convinced not just once in a while, but on a daily basis.

maybe an hourly basis. We need the light of your word that truly is that the directing of our steps

and our lamp onto our feet, Lord. We love you and we want to be in good gracious with our king.

So Lord, teach us the truths that are here in this parable. Or maybe it's a literal story about

someone who kind of missed the mark in what he was required.

to do from his master. Lord, may we be sensitive to what you require us to do as you had told us to

seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto him.

And so Lord, I pray that our hearts would be open to that this morning in Jesus' name. Amen.

So Jesus has been sharing with these guys off and on and the lostness.

in chapter 15 of the sun and the coin and the sheep.

And now he's talking about somebody who is entrusted with the goods of another.

And not about you, that's always scared me.

I haven't really been that great with the goods of others.

I mess up a lot in my life and have in my life.

And so to see this guy sideways with his boss is concerning,

especially when it is probably a picture of our God and us.

And so he says there was this certain rich man.

And it seems that here the rich man is a type of the father,

that this guy is under his authority.

and he's called to be a manager,

to manage what the master has given him.

And an accusation is brought up to him

about one of his managers.

This one in particular,

and he's accused of wasting.

The word literally means squandering,

that he was squandering the property of the owner,

maybe embezzling,

cooking the books.

And it's so interesting that the things that people think that they can get away with.

Really fascinating, actually.

They honestly believe that they won't be found out by the ones that they're accountable to.

How do you figure that?

I believe it's in numbers, right?

3223. It says, and be sure your sin will find you out. It will. It just, it grows wings like a

little bird and it flies right into the people, the appropriate people that it needs to

disseminate that information and you're just found out. And we know that God is omnipresent.

He's everywhere.

Hebrews 413 reminds us of that, right after that powerful verse about the word of God and how sharp it is and how discerns the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

In verse 13, it says, and there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him, to whom?

We must give an account.

We just get stuck in bad habits.

and those bad habits compound and take us to a place that you don't want to be.

And sin always does that.

The master must have given him a little time to get all his accounts together because he says there,

you know, and he called him to say, verse two, what is this I hear about you?

Give an account for your stewardship, for you can no longer be stupt.

steward. You're done. Adios. Terminated. And the steward said within himself,

what shall I do? No, dear, he's wringing his hands. He's in a bad way. He needs a job. He's got to

feed his family. And so he's, he's cramming for an idea of what to do. And in verse

verse four there it says I've resolved what to do that when I am put out of the stewardship

they may receive me into their house he came up with a plan I got a plan don't you know you

got to have a plan right you and I we need a plan and he sees it coming he knows it's not

going to be good and and look what he now he's in verse five it says

so he called everyone of his deaders.

Let me back up there.

At first he says,

he says within himself,

I cannot dig, so he's a bit lazy.

He's a little uppity.

He's afraid to get blisters on his hands, right?

And I can't beg.

And he's too proud to beg.

And man, he's sure.

should have read that verse. You don't work, you don't eat, right? Go get some blisters on your hands.

Isn't that a good thing? I think it is a, it is a disservice to American society to go to one-ton

bales. I'm good, oh, Idahoans know what that means, right? It is a disservice. Every kid must

learn how to throw hay.

I mean, everything from them 60-pounders to them 120-pounders.

Kids that didn't have to learn that have been cheated.

I see a bunch of hay growers over here.

Uh-huh.

However, they like the one-ton bales.

But you've got to be willing to work.

You've got to be willing to do whatever it takes.

And so he's thinking, okay, this is what I got to do.

For people to be generous to me, and it's a great thought, for people to be generous to me,

I must, I must be generous to them.

So here he goes.

Verse five, so he called every one of his master's debtors, and he said,

how much do you owe my master? The first guy says, 100 measures of oil.

Sit down and write 50. Oh, you got it, buddy. Honey, get the checkbook. Right? 50% discount?

That's incredible. And this is oil. Most believe olive oil. Have you seen the price of olive oil?

I mean, that fresh, cold-pressed, pure olive oil.

It's between 50 and 100 bucks a gallon.

Today.

Now, there is all kinds of conjecture and ideas of what was a measure.

Was it a bath?

And what was a bath?

It was eight gallons to 30 gallons.

I mean, it could have been from $60,000 to a quarter of a million dollars.

He said, sit down.

cut that in half. I mean, I bet this guy, you know, ran people off the road getting to the,

getting to the bank, wanting to get this money so he can, or whatever he had to give. So,

he gives him a great, a great deal. And the second, not quite as value of a commodity, but he

owed a hundred measures of wheat. And he said, in verse seven, and he said to the other, how much

you owe? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. And he said, sit down and take your bill and write

80. So he gives him a 20% discount. So this guy is hoping that these people will see him in a

different light, right? Hey, you're a great guy. And so when he comes to him, he says, hey,

Remember that 50% discount I give you?

You remember that 20% discount I give you?

Can you help me out here?

They would be persuaded, right?

The whole idea, you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

And so the guy was maybe a thief, but he wasn't stupid, right?

He might have been a cheat and a thief and a terrible manager,

but he wasn't stupid.

And so the master finds out about this,

and he gives the guy a commendation.

He goes, wow, that was thinking ahead.

That's pretty smart.

I got to think this master seems like a pretty cool dude, right?

And if it's a picture of the Lord, obviously,

we know how gracious God is.

and why he didn't put this guy maybe in debtor's prison or whatever.

But he commends him and maybe he's seeing the silver lining in this.

He's thinking, wow, now my creditors are going to think pretty highly of me.

I'm a gracious guy.

Willing to let my manager have that freedom to give a 50 and a 20% discount?

That makes me look pretty good.

I mean, if he's seriously looking at it,

and just not being mad about what he's lost,

doesn't seem that he's like a money grubber.

And so the master commended the unjust steward

because he had dealt shrewdly or with wisdom.

For the sons of this world, he ends at verse 8.

For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

He makes a comparison.

He makes a comparison with you and I who would call ourselves Christians to the world.

He says those people are smarter than you are.

Right?

They're smarter.

They're wiser than you are.

In that they prepare for the future.

and really their future is finite, right?

It has an end.

They're better at preparing for retirement than you are preparing for eternity.

Right?

They're better at, you know, getting their

portfolio in place and their investments, they're better at that than you are at looking forward

to heaven.

Is what he's saying.

In verse 9, it throws people off.

And I don't know if I totally got it right, but I think I'm kind of on the right track

where it says, and I say to you, this is talking to his disciples, I say to you, make friends

of yourselves, listen, by unrighteous mammon.

and when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

What does this mean?

Unrighteous mammon.

Unrighteous mammon.

Wow.

You always hear people say, right?

Oh, money's evil.

Well, not really.

Money is amoral.

So if I take a $20 bill out of my pocket right there,

and I set it on the table, can it do evil?

It's the whole gun, right?

Guns are evil.

No, if I put my, I can put my 357 right here loaded,

and it can sit there for eternity.

Will it do any evil?

No.

But the thing about money is,

is it usually ends up in the hands.

of those who are unrighteous. Right? It's okay I was going to say something but it would be

it would really get me in trouble. I'm not going to say it. The old saying is right you can't

live with it sometimes because it controls you and you can't live without it. You got to

have it to survive this life. But he says, listen, take your unrighteous mammon, the wealth.

Mammon can be translated wealth, the wealth that God gives you and make friends, notice it says,

and make friends that when you fail or when you take your last breath, people that you have impacted

with your unrighteous mammon will receive you into an everlasting home.

These are some powerful words here.

Money is not evil.

Notice what it says, the love of money.

Timothy, Paul says it best in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 9 through 11.

1 Timothy 6:9–11

He says, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and

my ink went off there, lust which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have straightened.

from the faith in their greediness and pierce themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, Godliness, faith, love,

patience, and gentleness. And so quite the comparison here. It's the love of money.

And he tells us to be righteous, to be godly, to be full of faith and love and patience and

gentleness. Are you that way?

I think we would all like to be that way.

But I don't know about you, but I look at that list and I go, not even close.

But it woos you, this desire for riches.

So Jesus is saying here, you take this.

You take this and you make friends.

You bring friends into eternity.

There may be people with Jesus right now,

and they're waiting to tell you, thank you,

when you get there for giving to the Lord.

I hate talking about money,

because I remember being a kid.

You used to listen to them to tell evangelists, right?

Begin me, you've got to give God your money.

But then they give you their address.

Right?

I hate it.

but yet the Bible talks about it so much.

Jesus spoke of no other single subject more than he spoke about money.

Why?

Because it is vying for your attention and mine.

Right?

And every Christian you have to determine in your heart how much is enough.

You have to.

I have enough.

I've always had enough.

Even when we were dirt,

we thought we were dirt poor.

Compared to the folks in Africa,

we were living high on the hog.

He says, listen,

those things that God gives you,

you realize you're just like this manager.

Everything you have, God's given you.

Well, no, I worked hard for that.

Do you really want to go there?

seriously?

Who gives you the air to breathe

and puts the blood in your veins

and it gives you this strength, gives you the wisdom

to do what you do?

It's not you.

It's the one who

gave everything to you.

Verse 10 there says,

he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.

And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust in much.

How many people I talk to all the time, right?

Well, I don't have anything to give.

Really?

You got a life, don't you?

You know, most people have a job.

Some people's jobs are picking up cans on the side of the road and just surviving and scraping by.

Jesus said that's going to happen. The poor is always going to be with you.

That could have been the excuse of the widow, but she gave her two mites.

Right? She gave her two mites. Everything she had. I was all she had.

And Jesus commended her for that.

It's being faithful little.

That woman, if she would have been a millionaire, Lord knows what she would have given, because she was faithful in little.

He says, he who was faithful in little is going to be faithful in much.

If you're not faithful in little, well, I don't have anything to give.

That's being unfaithful in little.

So if you get a chance to embezzle a million, you're going to do it.

That's just the name of the game.

That's the condition of the human heart.

Well, I don't even make average what Americans make.

When I make average, what Americans make, then I'll give.

No, you won't.

No, you won't.

I looked at the American average.

It's between $75 and $100 a year.

Yeah, we're all Idahoans.

We don't even come close to that, right?

But then people will ask me, well, pastor, you know, it's amazing how technical people get.

Now, I know the Bible says to tithe, how much do I tithe?

Well, that's kind of simple because tithe means a tenth.

It means a tent.

That's what a tithe is.

But I don't know that God's that wotted up about giving 10% of what you make.

Some people give more.

Other people give less.

Okay, what should I tie it on in?

The net or the gross?

What do you want, blessed?

The net or the gross?

I never have anything left over to give.

You give God's leftovers?

That's what we give God, just leftovers?

When my nephew worked for the thrift store,

he said the stuff that people would give.

I mean, I think a good percentage, probably up to 40% of the stuff they went in got, went in the dumpster.

Right?

It's all leftovers.

The idea of giving in the scriptures was you were to give your firstborn calf or lamb, the first fruits.

That's why it's first.

You give first.

So it's true.

you can get a whole lot more done with 90% blessed

than you can with 100% that you don't give nothing.

You have just convinced yourself that you do.

You're either generous or you're not.

If you're generous when you have a little, you're going to give.

And if you're generous when you have more, you'll give more.

just whether it's small or a lot, you're just willing to give.

If you're not that, if this is something that begrudges you

and you're actually upset right now that I'm talking about it,

pray that God would change your heart.

Let him, he'll let you test him.

Pray about it.

these are hard verses and sometimes a bit confusing

verses

1,

it says,

therefore,

if you have been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,

have not been faithful,

excuse me,

in the unrighteous mammon,

who will commit to your trust

the true riches.

If you can't be faithful to give a little bit

of what God's blessed you with

and recognize it as such,

it's the blessing of God.

And you, how would he ever

call you

to tell anybody about him?

Why?

Why would he entrust you?

You can't even be trusted.

with Abe and George.

If, therefore, if you had not been faithful in the unrighteous man,

who will commit to your trust the true riches?

I was talking to a lawyer the other day.

He's 10 or 12 years younger than me.

He said, I planned way too good for retirement.

I said, wow, I wish I had that problem.

I said, when can you retire?

He said, right now.

He said, but what would I do?

And this guy is pretty wise and has a knowledge of the Lord,

and hopefully the Lord will move him to use what he's blessed him with

to further the kingdom.

Because the bottom line, folks, that's the only thing that counts.

Okay, your boat and your four-wheel drive and your nice home and all those things.

None of that counts.

None of it.

It's an empty hole that we try to fill.

Oh, if I get that, I'll be happy.

No, you won't.

A few years back, my wife and I bought our very first brand new car.

Very first.

We're both in our six.

Well, I'm in my 60.

She wasn't 60 yet.

And I'm thinking, this is what this is all about?

I got it, barely got it in the drive.

driveway and started thinking about the payment and think, this is terrible. Why did we do that?

Right? And it just depreciated like $12,000 when I drove it off the lot. That's stupid.

Psalm 49 says something interesting. Versus 16 and 7 says, do not be afraid when one becomes rich,

when the glory of his house is increased.

For when he dies, he shall carry nothing away.

His glory shall not descend after him.

Did you notice that?

Did you notice that word there?

Descend?

This guy gets rich.

Glorious.

Everybody thinks, man, he's the talk of the town.

He's super successful, man.

Look at that guy.

He's, you know, got a hot truck and a hot house and a hot wife

heat, he don't realize the heat that he's going to.

When the glory of his house is increased,

his glory shall not descend after him.

He's just going to be as crispy as everybody else.

I feel like the Lord's being,

he's being pretty serious here about this stuff.

Verse 12, and if you have not been faithful in what is another's man, now check this out.

If you have not been faithful in what is another's man's, who will give you what is your own?

This is a hard verse.

What do you mean?

that is what is faithful with another man's.

It's your life.

Your life's not your own.

Do you know that?

If you don't know that, please, please understand.

Your life is not your own.

And the scripture tells us that.

Daniel told Belshazzar,

the God who owns all your ways.

He owns you, dude, and all your ways.

And you knew this and you refused to repent.

He owns us.

Why?

Because he has the final say of your eternal destination.

That's why he owns you.

And it says, if you have not been faithful in what is another's man's,

our life is God's and it's not our own.

And it says that in 1st Corinthians chapter 6.

It says,

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,

whom you have from God,

and you are not your own?

For you have been bought at a price.

Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,

which are gods.

We're pretty good about glorifying.

God and spirit so we think.

But what about

in the resources he gives us?

What do we do with those?

How well are we managing this

life that God has given us?

Who?

Who will give you

what is your own?

Your own what?

Your reward.

Your eternal reward.

reward. If you can't manage it well and you squander it, you waste your life. How many people I've

done funerals for that wasted their life? Some, God was very gracious and rescued them right at the

end. No doubt they could feel in their spirit the flames of hell calling to them.

Your spirit and your spirit and your body, which are gods.

Notice the end of verse 12, the guy has glory here, but it will not follow him into hell.

You'll have glory here, but it won't follow you into hell.

And Jesus kind of sums it up, verse 13.

No servant can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other,

or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon or wealth or your retirement plan.

verse 14

I'm going to read verse 14 through 18

because I think it kind of just flows

and wrap this up

but it says now the Pharisees

who were lovers of money

also heard all these things

and they derided him

that means to turn up the nose

they like

yeah Jesus you don't know what you're

talking about. Right? Look at all this glory we have here, us people who know God.

They heard all these, they hide at him, and he said to them, you are those who justify

yourselves before men and before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed

among men is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.

our stuff, our accumulation.

It's an abomination,

especially when it rivals our relationship with God.

God sees it as abominable.

The law and the prophets were until John,

and since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached

and everyone is pressing into it.

People want to know about it.

They want to know about the kingdom of God.

They've been coming and listening, and ever since they heard John preach,

and now they see Jesus do all these things, and they're pressing in.

But many of them, they don't want to hear these words.

They don't want to hear that their wealth that they've accumulated is abominable.

But we know that God's word is not going to pass away.

And that's what he says in verse 17.

And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass.

away than for one tittle of the law to fail. Whoever divorces his wife and marries another

commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. That's

odd. Here he is talking about money and then also he talks about divorce. I think they're

tied together though some don't think so but I think so. And so he's challenging these people

who love money. James 12, or excuse me, James 5 verses 1 and 3, come now, you rich, weep and how

James 5:1

for your miseries that are coming upon you. For riches are corrupted and your garments are moth

eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be witness against you

and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

I just read this morning in the reading,

Joshua is when Aiken stole the gold and the silver and the Babylonian garment there in Jericho

and he hit it, right?

His, I mean, a big old bar of gold, you're thinking, hey, honey, what do you think?

Right?

I can get you that fur coat and that new house.

But God told him, he gave them instruction, his word, right?

His word.

Don't you violate my word?

I said, you give everything, everything that all the booty you get is to go to the Lord.

No, he wanted it for himself, so he dug a hole, and he buried it.

And it corroded really quick, because within days, they stoned Aiken and his wife and his kids

because of his covich-nish-nish.

Now, Aiken confessed his sin.

He may have got to go into glory.

I believe God is that merciful

that he confessed his sin what he had done.

He said, I seen it, and I coveted after it.

And he was just open with it.

This is what I did.

And it was wrong.

And so they,

they killed him for it.

It was a capital crime.

What he did.

I don't think we should have a bad attitude towards the Lord

when he follows through on his word.

Some people, I don't think that's fair.

I don't believe that.

It really doesn't matter what you believe.

it matter what God's word says, right? That's what matters. I know people don't come to this church

anymore because I've said that to him. Well, I feel, I'm sorry, it doesn't matter how you feel. It matters

what God's word says. That's what matters. So let God's word change how you feel, right? And that would be

that would be much better. And James says there that you,

you have heaped up treasures in the last days, right?

We know that Jesus is coming.

How big is your storehouse?

You just keep heaping it up?

Why?

Now, I don't think people should go into debt,

kind of like what they did in 1988, you know,

when the book, you know, 88 reasons why Jesus is coming back in 88.

There should have been a clue when they looked at the author because his last name was

wise, not.

But people mortgage their homes.

They maxed out their credit cards.

Jesus is coming back in 88.

Ha!

We don't have to pay any of our creditors.

Oh, except one.

The one who gave you your life, you have to pay him.

You got to give an account for your life.

So don't heap it up.

Use it up.

For the kingdom of God's sake.

If you do, listen, if you do, if you use your resources

sincerely for the kingdom of God,

you'll never run out of resources.

You'll never run out of resources.

You can't out of resources.

God. It's the only thing that he tells you and me to test him in. And I haven't been a very good tester.

Bring all the ties into the storehouse, he tells us in Malachi chapter three, verse 10.

Bring all of the ties into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And try me now in this,

says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for me,

you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

God goes, test me. You tried out, give me. It's impossible. You can't do it. But we just don't

want to take the test.

It is easier for heaven and

to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. God's word here in Malachi and in the Old

Testament, it's confirmed over and over again in the New Testament. They complement one another.

It's not a different God in the Old Testament as it was in the New Testament. He's the same God.

And we need to live in the wisdom that is from above.

And it's much different than the wisdom of the world, this wisdom from above.

And he says here, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.

And whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

I believe that he's talking about the whole money thing here.

He accused Israel of being an adulterer's.

because they would allow idols and different things to come into their life

and it would just swoop their attention away from the God of heaven.

That's idolatry.

And so it is with money.

Being a lover of money is spiritual adultery.

And people divorce the God of heaven.

for this world's riches.

They do.

God has entrusted you and I

with this life as a manager.

How are we doing?

I know about you.

I need a little work.

Right?

I need some work.

And when he calls us to account,

may he look at us,

and what I mean by that is

when you take your last breath,

breath. We're all getting older here. Some of us seem to be faster than others. But we're all

headed there at breakneck speed. You know, when Del held up that New England primer last week,

he gave me one too. And I started reading it. And all the prayers, even for the kids,

it talks about their death. Even for a kid, it talks about his death. It

prepares him that this life, this life right here is really temporary. It's fleeting. It's like a vapor,

the scripture says. It's like a breath. It's gone. It's here and it's gone. And it's so important

for us to be prepared that we are that day when we stand before our God, we give an account to him

for this life that he's entrusted us with as a manager.

and I don't about you,

but I would take a vow of poverty,

and I think in a sense we need to do that

in the sense of keeping money as a servant

and not our master.

It's our servant. It's not our master.

Because when it becomes your master,

you've just forsaken the love of your life, the Lord Jesus, as an act of adultery.

But when we come into account, may he look at us and smile and say, we all want to hear it, right?

Well done. Thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. And there is nothing in this life, you guys. There is

nothing in what's in front of us, what's behind us, anything in between that can compare with

that. Absolutely nothing. Amen? I'm going to ask the prayer team to come over here. They're

going to be behind the bleachers over here. Let's all stand, and I'm going to close us in a word of

prayer. If you need prayer, if you're just, if you're struggling, maybe this whole worldly stuff

has ran away with you. Come and be prayed for. And let the Lord kind of,

recalibrate you, reprogram you, redirect you.

It's a good thing. Amen? Let's pray.

Father, we thank you.

Thank you that, Lord, you've given us a life to manage.

And, Lord, that you've called us to yourself.

Lord, you've knocked on the door of our hearts just by hearing your word,

knowing that so often when we hear your word,

it's a humbling experience, knowing that we're guilty.

Whether it's knowing to do good and not doing it, Lord,

or even committing the sin of adultery or murder,

Lord, you're the one who can deal with all of the above.

You can wash us clean.

You can give us a clean start.

You can fill our heart with a joy that nothing in this world can give us.

May we find it in you, even this week.

Lord, give us a hunger for your word, that we be men and women who are searching the scriptures,

Lord, to make sure that we're right before our God, Lord, and you're faithful to correct us

and to encourage us, Lord, and to teach us.

We're so in need.

And, Lord, we just want to give all that we are to you.

Lord, help us to keep everything in its proper place.

I pray for husbands and wives to love one another and to be a picture of Christ Jesus.

and the church. And Lord, just a family unit as we love one another and we raise up children,

a generation that loves you and will speak of these things, Lord, that they've learned from your

word. And Lord, we're just praying that you would come quickly as well.

Bless our country, Lord, as we embark on more time. I pray that you would rule and reign in the hearts

of the people in this nation. And God, that we would slowly but surely turn to you.

before you come, that when you come, you'll find faith on the earth. And we pray it in the mighty and

powerful name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. God bless you guys. Have a great week in Jesus.