Luke 16:1-31 - What Riches Reveal

Question for you, are you living for this life or for the life to come?

Are you living for this life here, now, today, worldly things, or for eternity?

For the kingdom of heaven?

Are you trying to live with one foot in this world and one foot in the kingdom of heaven?

Are you humble enough to see the truth and act on it?

Or do the riches of the world pull at you?

Do you love the riches of the world too much?

If the parable of the prodigal son does not wake you up to the realities of life, if it doesn't shake you up to what is true and good, then maybe, just maybe this example of a shrewd manager, a conniving man, will, or maybe a picture of heaven and hell will wake you up.

In Luke chapter 14, Jesus tells his listeners to count the cost before they decide to follow him.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

In Luke 15, Jesus gives the Pharisees and the scribes an indictment because of their pride, their hard-heartedness.

And now in Luke 16, Jesus is going to teach his disciples and all who hear what it means to live as sons of light and what happens to those who walk in darkness.

To live as sons of light means to live with eternity in mind.

To live with your eyes on eternity, not on the riches of this world.

You know, Luke 16 begins with a story which Jimmy just read for us about a rich man and his manager, his steward.

And the manager was responsible for taking care of the affairs of the rich man, his wealth, managing his business portfolio, and all those kinds of contracts and those kinds of things.

As we get into this story and into this chapter, you'll realize there are some difficult and maybe even confusing questions.

J.C.

Ryle puts it really well.

He says, speaking of Luke 16, that it has knots that need untying, and some knots that we might never untie.

So as we go through this passage, we'll talk about some of those things.

But again, there's this, it begins with a rich man and his dishonest towards shrewd manager.

And when the rich man realizes that the shrewd manager, that the conniving steward is stealing from him and mismanaging his funds, he goes to fire him.

And what the shrewd man does, this manager, is he knows what's coming, and he realizes I'm going to be fired, I'll be out of work, and I'm too uh I'm too prideful to beg, and I'm either too lazy or too soft to go work in a manual labor job.

I don't want to do either of those things.

So he goes around to all the debtors and he starts making deals.

And in a sense, he kind of makes those people his debtors to him because he starts slashing prices and making deals so that once he's fired, he has some friends who will take care of him, so to speak.

And then we come to verse 8.

And the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.

And this is where, again, those knots begin.

Why would a rich man praise his dishonest manager who cheated him out of even more money?

Well, commentators read a lot of commentaries this week.

Commentators kind of disagree on this, but most of them, or I should say all the ones I've read, agree that this doesn't change the point and what Jesus is getting after.

But why is it in verse 8 it says the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness?

Well, some think that the rich man, being probably dishonest himself, was just impressed.

Like, hey, I kind of know how that world works.

That was pretty clever, good on you.

He just gives him a, commends him for that.

Keeps him out of the ditch, digging ditches, and keeps him off the street for begging.

So the rich man was just impressed.

He commended him for it.

But another option, option two, uh, takes verse eight, and it says that actually this is Jesus, in a sense, commending him, commending his shrewdness.

That verse eight implies this.

This is what R.

C.

Sproull says.

By implication, Jesus himself commends the unjust steward for his action.

Not that he is putting his blessing upon this kind of deceitfulness, but acknowledges that at least this man had the good sense to look out for his future.

And that's what Jesus is getting after with this parable of the rich man.

Either option, however you want to take verse 8, whether that's Jesus commending him or just his own manager commending him, the second part of verse 8, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Jesus is using this parable.

He's speaking the language of the Pharisees.

He's saying, worldly people have the awareness to look at the future and make preparation.

This guy's shrewd.

He doesn't want to dig ditches, he doesn't want to be a beggar.

So he does something about it.

He takes action.

And Jesus again is speaking the language of the Pharisees and the scribes.

Remember that the religious leaders are also serving as political leaders, right?

Yes, uh, Rome is kind of over Jerusalem at this time, but it's still somewhat functioning as a theocracy.

And so these are religious leaders and these are politicians.

And it wasn't uncommon for them to be very shrewd in their own dealings and making deals with the Romans, even going against their own people to gain a better standing, to gain wealth, to gain status.

So Jesus uses a parable that they would have understood the rationale, the shrewdness, the intentionality to address what's going on.

Jesus is addressing their conscience.

He knows their conniving hearts, and he's revealing to them the shrewdness they have for this life, but not for the life to come.

And he's speaking to his disciples and to the sons of light and saying, look, look at the people of the world.

They're living with intentionality because they want to enjoy this life.

Likewise, knowing that eternity is coming, you should be intentional with your living.

Why?

So that when it fails, you may receive they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

So verse nine again gets a little bit tricky.

Because Jesus says, and I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Now I will just say, I have grown up in the church.

Um I was saved at a young age, and I've gone through this story, I've read it many times, just having just gone through the Bible.

And it's always been really confusing.

It's just been confusing.

What's Jesus getting after?

He's commending a guy who's a thief, and then he's saying, Now use your like unrighteous wealth to make friends so that when something fails, something's gonna welcome you into heaven.

But as we dig into this passage, and particularly in verse 9, we need to answer two questions.

What is the it that's gonna fail, and who are the they that are gonna welcome us into heaven, into the eternal dwellings?

This is another not to work out.

So Jesus is saying to his followers, to the sons of light, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous wealth.

So that when it, I think that means the wealth, the worldly riches, the possessions you have, the things of this world fail, and they will, right?

Your money will fail, uh, your intellect will fail.

All the things that you want to claim and put your identity into outside of Christ, they will fail.

So when they fail, they just they cease.

They may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

I think what Jesus is getting after here is use what you have so that in a sense, in a sense, people are saved because you used your life and your possessions for the kingdom of God rather than earthly kingdoms, rather than the earthly kingdom.

You are taking what God has given you, and I don't mean salvation, although he's given you that, but just your ability, the money you have in your bank account, your intellect, the opportunities, whatever the Lord has given to you, you're taking that and then you're using it to advance the kingdom of heaven.

JC Ryle puts it this way: use your money with an eye to the future as the steward did.

Spend your money in such a way that your expenditure shall be a friend to you and not a witness against you in another life or another world.

Along a similar line, John MacArthur says, and he expounds upon this, the unjust steward used his master's money to buy earthly friends.

Believers are to use their master's money in a way that will accrue friends for eternity, by investing in the kingdom gospel that brings sinners to salvation, so that when they arrive in heaven, an everlasting home, those sinners will be there to welcome them.

Christ did not commend the man's dishonesty.

He pointedly called him unjust in verse 8.

He only used him as an illustration to show that even the most wicked sons of the world are shrewd enough to provide for themselves against the evil that is coming.

Believers ought to be more shrewd because they are concerned with eternal matters, not just earthly matters.

Again, the aim is to take our possessions and our worldly belongings and to use them to advance the kingdom of God while we have time to do so.

Our opportunity, your life, is limited, and you do not know when it will be taken from you.

You do not know if it will be today or tomorrow or in 50 years.

The scriptures say that we are not promised tomorrow.

So it is a foolish thing to just assume that tomorrow we will obey the Lord and tomorrow we will repent, and tomorrow we will use what God has given us for his glory and for the good of others.

We take what we have been given by God, worldly possessions, and the translation here is unrighteous wealth, worldly wealth.

It's not sinful wealth, but it's just it's just worldly.

It's not heavenly, it's not true wealth, it's not true treasure, it's just worldly possessions.

We're gonna take those things and we're gonna begin to employ them so that when we die, God will welcome us in.

And potentially those who have been who God has used our things to change other people's lives.

The they there in verse 9, as commentators were saying, they would often say in Hebrew culture, they, the plural for God, they do not want to use the name proper, his proper name, so they would say they in reference to God.

So that when the riches of this life fail you, the Lord would welcome you in.

Because you were not dependent, you were not relying on the things that would fail you, the riches of this life.

You were dependent upon Jesus Christ.

Well, how do we go about doing this?

By being faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

Look at verse 10.

One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much.

And one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.

If then you have been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, the worldly things, you know, just taking care of the possessions in the bank account that you have and in your job and the just the practical needs.

If you have not been faithful in that, in just little worldly things, worldly wealth, worldly possessions.

And I just want to pause here, and just in case anyone's like, well, that's a great text, Pastor, but it doesn't apply to me because I'm not wealthy.

I want to encourage you right now, historically, you're very wealthy.

You are the richest people to ever live on the face of the earth.

And on top of that, whatever the Lord has been given, whatever the Lord has given to you, just in your possessions.

Maybe you have a really old beat-up car, maybe you have ten dollars in your bank, whatever your situation is, it's what the Lord has given you, and you're to use it to advance his kingdom, to be faithful stewards with that.

It's easy for us to say, I would be faithful if if I was entrusted with a lot.

But until then, I don't need I don't need to be faithful.

I mean, you know, I I take my check and I pay all my bills, and most of it's gone by then.

So it's really easy.

But I want to encourage you, this is about money, but this is about your time, this is about your abilities, this is about the intentions of your heart.

Everything the Lord has given to you, you're to take and use faithfully.

Because if you're not going to be faithful with little, you will not be faithful with much.

This is what Jesus is getting after.

If you've not been faithful with little, you will not be faithful with much.

Verse 13.

For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

Again, you can't manage$30,000 or$50,000.

You can't manage$200,000.

If you can't manage your own schedule and your own calendar, you can't manage one for the family or for a company.

If you can't manage your own life and be faithful with what God has given to you, don't just assume that you're ready for a spouse or ready for a family.

Be faithful with what God has given to you.

But don't worship what God has given to you.

Do not be mastered by what God has given to you, for you cannot serve two masters.

It simply cannot be done.

It can't be.

You won't be the one person of the billions of people who walk the face of the earth who's actually able to do this.

You cannot do it.

You cannot serve money and God.

You cannot serve your own comfort and God.

You cannot serve your own security and God.

You cannot you cannot serve the acceptance and the affirmation of others and God.

You must be willing to forsake all for the kingdom.

This is what Jesus said back in Luke 14, 27.

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

He's just clarifying what he already said.

If you're not willing to serve one master, you can't be my disciple.

The disciples cannot follow in the footsteps of the Pharisees and the religious leaders who are trying to serve God, but also really trying to serve money, power, possessions.

See, the Pharisees, what they're trying to do is they're trying to keep the law and the prophets, but also they want to be rich and they want comfort and they want power and they want the praise of man.

And they do want to be welcomed into the kingdom of God.

And this is simply impossible.

And I believe verse 13 here, you cannot serve two masters, is the primary point of chapter 16.

You can't do it.

Looking here at verse 14, you see Jesus interacting with the Pharisees who are trying to do that very thing.

They're trying to serve two masters.

Verse 14.

And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things and they ridiculed him.

Like, what did they say?

I wonder.

And he, Jesus, said to them, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.

For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

The law and the prophets were until John, since the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.

Because it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void.

What's Jesus saying?

Well, first thing, he's rebuking the Pharisees for three things.

He's rebuking them for their love of money, he's rebuking them for exalting themselves in self-justification, and he's rebuking them for ignoring the Old Testament's authority, ignoring the law and the prophets.

You think you look good before men?

It doesn't matter.

They will not judge you.

God will judge you and he knows your heart.

And this isn't like, well, he knows that I didn't mean to do well occasionally.

No, he knows that you loved other things more than him.

In striving after the praise of men and being exalted by man, you have become an abomination, a detestable, something that God hates.

Exalting yourself above God.

This is what the Pharisees love doing.

And it makes it all the more worse when these are the very people who should be following the law of the prophets and who claim to be authoritative teachers.

But they are ignoring the teaching.

They're ignoring these words.

J.C.

Ryle gives us so helpful of a quote here as he talks about the frustration and the tension and the discontentment that comes when people try to serve two masters.

Speaking of this passage in the Pharisees, he says their consequence.

Are so far enlightened that they feel they must have some religion.

But their affections are so chained down to earthly things that they never come, then the comfort never comes, and they never become true Christians.

Hence they live in a state of constant discomfort.

They have too much religion to be happy with the world, and they have too much of the world in their hearts to be happy in their religion.

In short, they waste their time in laboring to do which cannot be done.

They are striving to serve God and money.

The frustration, the tension, the discontentment that comes.

You think about your own life.

I often talk and ask for prayer for me about my discontentment.

And this passage this week has caused me to deeply reflect.

Am I trying to serve two masters?

Brothers, sisters, it's easy to be deceived in this.

Because you can think that you're serving Jesus and He's your only master.

But then when things don't happen the way you want them, even good things, you're distraught.

There's no more joy in your heart.

There's not a rejoicing spirit about you for all the things that God has done for you.

You're frustrated.

You're apathetic.

You're discontent.

We must be diligent in this.

To search our hearts and be honest with ourselves.

Are we trying to serve two masters?

Every day that you wake up, there will be a pool on you.

And this will not go away until Jesus returns or you die.

But every day you wake up, you will have to choose again.

I'm not saying be saved again, but you will have to pick up your cross.

You will have to serve and choose to serve one master.

You don't get two.

And one of the worst things is that you could go about your life, and you could even be in a church that holds high God's word.

And you could have brothers and sisters around you who love Jesus, and you are deceived, and that you're trying to serve two masters.

That you're willing to lay everything down for Jesus except for maybe one thing.

Whatever that could be for you, I just need to have this much financial security.

I just need a spouse.

I just need my children to walk with Jesus.

I'll do anything to follow Jesus.

I'll do, I'll go to the ends of the earth, but I've got to have this one guarantee, this one thing he's gonna make sure that he meets.

This one thing he does for me.

Brother and sister, in that, in that comes the lies of the enemy.

Because when God doesn't do that for you, the same lie that we read in the garden in Genesis 3 comes.

Did God really say that he loves you?

Does God really intend good for you?

Then why wouldn't he give you this good thing?

This isn't a sinful thing that you want.

Single-minded, eyes wide open, devotion to Jesus Christ.

That we bow the knee to him, to King Jesus, in every area of our life.

May it not be said of us.

And they knew the Bible, and they knew how to preach, and they knew how to pray, and they knew how to study the scriptures, and they knew the gospel.

But Jesus wasn't their master.

That Jesus was not their all in all.

Jesus is getting after the hearts of the Pharisees, the religious leaders.

And he's teaching everyone who's listening.

Remember, chapter 15 and chapter 16, it's all the same dialogue happening.

It's the same setting.

And he begins to teach them about the law and the prophets.

To these, the religious leaders, the experts in the law and the prophets.

And he says to them, The law and the prophets were until John, meaning John the Baptist.

Remember, John the Baptist is the greatest of all the prophets, as Matthew 11 tells us.

Since John, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached.

So you know the law and the prophets.

Obviously, you don't believe, you're not following them, but you know them.

And here comes John, as the greatest prophet, the final prophet, and now the good news of the kingdom is preached.

Well, what is this good news?

It's that the Messiah has come.

It is that the salvation for Israel has come.

The one that all the scriptures were pointing to has come.

The kingdom of heaven is beginning.

All of the Old Testament, all the law and the prophets, they would have known and they would have studied and they would have memorized.

And it was all pointing to the Messiah.

And here he is.

The good news of the kingdom of God is preached.

And everyone forces his way into it.

Which is an odd translation.

I think the CSB says it well when it says, everyone is urgently invited to enter into it.

No one is forced into the kingdom against their will.

But similar to Luke 14, when Jesus is telling a story, he says, and the master said to the servant, Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

The kingdom of God is preached, and people are seeking to enter into this kingdom.

But the ones who should know about the kingdom, the ones who should be preparing the sheep, the ones who should be leading the people to the gates to go into the kingdom are standing out in rebellion and they will not enter in.

They will not be compelled to go in.

They do not want this kingdom.

Rather, they want to stay in their rebellion.

And just in case the Pharisees or the religious leaders would like to accuse Jesus and say, well, look, he's doing away with the law of the prophets.

He's preaching a whole new scripture.

He teaches them about the law of the prophets.

And so we have in verse 8 this interjection about divorce and remarriage.

And one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.

And he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

And this, again, verse seems to be so out of place, just randomly thrown in about marriage and divorce.

But what Jesus is using that, and there's other teachings in the New Testament about marriage and divorce, this isn't the only one.

But Jesus is using this to say just because the kingdom of God is at hand in the new covenant is coming in does not mean that the standard, God's standard is going away.

The law and the prophets are fulfilled in Jesus.

God's standard has not changed.

It's not a new kind of revolutionary throw everything away.

No, but Jesus is fulfilling these things.

Jesus wisely pulls out this part of the law of the prophets.

He touches on this because the Pharisees were quick to grant divorces.

They were quick to do this.

Why?

Because that's what people wanted.

I don't want to be married to this person.

You know, they did so-and-so, and they did this thing.

Give me a divorce.

Okay, sure, you get a divorce.

It revealed their lack of understanding why God gave the law and the prophets.

It revealed that they didn't really care about God's standard for holiness at all.

They were after the praise of man.

And Jesus is revealing, yes, there is something new.

And it requires outward obedience.

A veneer of righteousness will not do.

But this requires genuine, true righteousness and true obedience.

And to make all of this clear, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus.

Here in the second part of Luke 16, there is this debate about is this a true story or just a made-up story?

Pastor Jimmy, who actually preached on this text almost exactly a year ago, you can go back and listen to it.

Pastor Jimmy and John Calvin think this is a historical account, which I tend to agree.

How can you disagree with Jimmy and Calvin, right?

You shouldn't do that.

What Jesus is teaching, I will say, doesn't change.

If it's real or if it's a story, it doesn't change what he's teaching.

But what's interesting is in no other parable does Jesus use someone's name as he does here.

Jesus introduces the story the same way that he introduced the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the shrewd manager.

So some people think this is just another parable.

Either way, it's teaching us the same thing.

And it's going to use the language here of Abraham's side, or you might know that as Abraham's bosom.

And that's just another way of saying paradise or heaven.

So you probably know the story, and as we read it earlier, the rich man, he's got purple clothes and fine linen, which usually means some kind of royalty.

Some kind of royalty there.

And he is extremely wealthy.

He feasts every day.

Contrast that with a poor man.

We know his name is Lazarus.

He's a beggar.

He desires not even a full meal, but just crumbs that would fall from the table.

And he's covered in sores.

So much so that the dogs would come and lick his source.

And then they both die, the rich man and Lazarus.

No doubt for the rich man, the funeral and the burial would have been extravagant, beyond compare.

Everyone would have been there, no expense spared.

But for Lazarus, he would have either been discarded in a mass grave or placed somewhere else to decompose, where potentially those same dogs would have had access to his corpse.

But his soul is carried to heaven by the angels.

And he is right with Abraham.

And the rich man goes straight to hell.

And there are other passages in the scriptures that teach us about hell, but from this account alone, we understand that there is fire, there is anguish, and there is torment for those who are there.

The rich man is never consumed by the fire, but is constantly burning and tormented by it.

Just a touch of water to the tongue would bring a relief for just a moment, a second.

And in some way, the rich man looks up and he recognizes Abraham and calls him father.

So this would have been someone who is well acquainted with the teachings of the law and the prophets.

Excuse me.

In verse 25, Abraham tells him and calls him child.

This is an endearing term.

Child.

Remember that in your lifetime you received good things.

Worldly good things.

And Lazarus in like manner received bad things.

But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

And besides, this chasm, this distance between us is too great.

I can't come down there, and no one can come down there, and no one from there can come up to here.

So then this rich man makes a really normal plea.

This makes sense.

Well, go tell those whom I love what has happened and warn them so they might not come here.

To which Abraham replies, They have Moses and the prophets.

Let them hear them.

He, meaning Abraham, said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.

Lazarus knew who Abraham was.

He still views, or excuse me, the rich man knew who Abraham was.

And he still viewed Lazarus as someone who could go and do his bidding or serve him in some way.

The rich man would have known what Deuteronomy 15, 7 through 9 says.

If among you one of your brothers should become poor in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.

Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart, and you say, The seventh year and the year of release is near, and your eye looks grudgingly on your pro your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cries to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin.

If the rich man would have known Abraham and called him father, and Abraham called him child, no doubt this teaching in Deuteronomy 7 would have been known by the rich man.

But what was the attitude from the rich man to Lazarus?

Clearly he knew who Lazarus was.

He recognized him.

He would have seen him at his gate, he would have seen him begging for food, he would have seen him covered in pourers, in the dogs, which very well could have been his own dogs, going out to lick his wounds.

And yet he did nothing.

The rich man allowed himself to be deceived.

He allowed his pride and his hard-heartedness to lead him to hell.

And he heard the truth and he rejected it.

Jesus in Luke 6 said, But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

And blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

And what some people will do is they'll take this passage and they'll say, Listen, if you're just really poor, you'll go to heaven.

If you're really rich, you'll go to hell.

It's just that simple.

Then it's a complete misinterpretation, clearly misunderstanding what Jesus is teaching.

But what he is saying is if your worship is caught up in riches, if you serve the things of this world, then enjoy it, because this is as good as it's going to get.

If your master is anything other than Jesus Christ, enjoy that because this is as good as your life will ever be.

It's nothing but hell and torment for you after this.

But if you are humble, if you're understanding God's word and you're submitting to it, even if you are poor financially, even if you are in poverty, you have nothing.

And the whole world is mocking you.

Yours, because of Jesus, yours is the kingdom of God.

See this former rich man, no longer rich, no longer adored in his wealth and his palace and his food.

He rejected the teachings.

He rejected his heart was hard.

It's understandable that he would want his brothers to not come to hell.

But how prophetic is Moses is Abraham's response that, man, he's got Moses and the prophets.

If he ain't gonna listen to them, someone can rise from the dead and they're not gonna believe.

How prophetic.

The very audience is like the rich man's brothers.

They're living for worldly riches and neglect to follow God's word.

And the speaker is Jesus, the embodiment of the law and the prophets, who will soon die and rise from the dead.

And when he does, those brothers will not believe.

They don't want to believe.

They want to serve the riches of this life.

You cannot serve two masters.

Luke 16 is this warning that life is short.

And it's filled with distractions.

The kingdom of God is at hand, so repent and follow Jesus.

What's so interesting about chapter 15 with the prodigal son is Jesus is dealing with his hard-heartedness.

And at the end of the story, what happens to the older brother?

This came up in our community group this week.

We were talking about this.

And I think this is a common question because it just ends.

What happens to the older brother?

Well, in a sense, the rich man here is the older brother.

This is his fate.

He has his wealth, he has his friends, he has his feasting, he has his callous heart, he has his self-righteousness that tells him that he deserves recognition and he deserves wealth and he deserves to be in the kingdom.

And that the poor and the shameful deserve hell.

He never softened his heart.

And now, unlike the prodigal son, the older brother is forever lost, and his soul is forever in the place of eternal death.

You cannot serve God in worldly things.

How easy it is for us to be deceived about this.

You're alive.

And what I don't want is everyone to go home and just think, well, I don't even know if I'm a Christian anymore.

I don't know if God loves me.

I want you to thoughtfully evaluate your life.

Jesus gives this rebuke to the Pharisees.

They love money, they justify themselves and they ignore God's word.

Is that happening in your life?

Do you love money?

Stuff, the security that money brings, the power or the influence or the comfort that money brings?

Do you seek to justify yourself or are you self-reliant?

What makes you right with God?

Is it you, something you've done, or is it just the free grace and mercy of Christ?

What do you put your hope in?

What do you find security in?

Is it your intellect, your friend group?

Or is it in Christ alone?

What kind of dialogue is happening in your head about others?

Are you looking down on them and elevating yourself?

Are you saying, well, thankfully I'm not like them, or at least I'm better than they are, or I can't believe that they're that way?

Thankfully I'm not that way?

That's all self-justification.

That's all self-righteousness if you're doing that.

Are you ignoring God's word?

Do you believe it?

Do you actually follow it?

Or do you just pick what you want?

Pick and choose.

I like this, I don't really like that, I like this, I'll do without that.

Are you ignoring God's word?

What is your attitude toward the poor and the needy?

John, 1 John 3 says, but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

What's your attitude toward those in need?

Just as the prodigal son in chapter 15 came to himself, and in a sense, just as the shrewd manager could look out and see the future and make preparation for it, we must take up our cross daily to follow Jesus, who is the better older brother, who paid the debt for his rebellious brothers and sisters.

We must take up our cross daily to follow Jesus, the better rich man who took on the suffering of his people and who paid the price for their sins so they could be reconciled to their Creator and spend eternity with God in paradise.

We, church, must serve God alone.

So let us reject and turn away from the sins that so easily entangle us.

Let us single mindedly, with eyes wide open, be devoted and bow our knee to King Jesus.

Let's pray.