4-76. Pride Is Exalting Oneself Above God

Luke 16:1-13 

This episode explores biblical perspectives on pride, humility, and stewardship through Luke 16, emphasizing the importance of serving God with our resources and lives. It also discusses a powerful video on pride and the need for humility in a culture celebrating Pride Month.

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Transcript

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Welcome back again to the One Truth Podcast. This is your host again, Josh Brightman, and uh welcome to 476 this week as we continue on through season four uh of the podcast and the year of our Lord 2026. So uh glad you found us, glad you're here today uh this week as uh we drop out another episode as we jump back into our study of Luke here in chapter 16. If you're following along, uh this if this is your first time uh joining the podcast, uh we work through in each season a different book study, and uh along the way we'll have different uh guests on and different interviews and things of that nature as we go. So uh to talk about different topics or talk about uh the guests themselves and their walk with the Lord and uh where we're at. So uh with that, uh this week we're in our traditional uh episode format of our Bible study through Luke here as we go through season four. Next week uh will be a fun one as we've got another uh guest on that will be uh young man. I think y'all will be really excited to hear about um and and hear his story and some of the things he's got uh got going and coming. And uh so next week I'll give you just a little bit of a hint will be uh titled A Light in the Barn. And so it'll be uh be a fun one next week. Uh be sure to tune back in. But uh before we get there, as we work through this week, uh we're picking up again back in Luke 16, uh, just uh as we always do where we'd left off before. And uh this uh is another one of the parables of our Lord of Christ teaching, and it's a very interesting one uh that I've really enjoyed studying on. There's been some things that have uh, as we get to them, we'll we'll cross the bridges as we go um and uh get into some of the things that uh that maybe I had to really bear down in to be sure I was understanding correctly and the Spirit uh showed me, and and it was fun here, especially right at the end, uh just before I jumped on to record um of what uh what the Holy Spirit has taught me in this uh this particular passage. So uh as you'll notice normally uh Dan is alongside with me uh in these our schedules kind of couldn't line up. Uh end of the year, first of the summer type stuff for him and me and and Farrowin and that, and and uh we just couldn't get uh couldn't get connected this week. So just me uh as we go through these first 17 verses of Luke 16. Uh before we get into that, it is uh come to my attention here as this drops in the first week of June. That we are in June now of 2026, no longer in May, working into the summer. It's getting hot around the pig farm, baby pigs are starting to to uh show up in lots of places and and uh getting uh getting busy around here from the summertime standpoint. But um interestingly enough, uh I actually kind of uh maybe it's a testament to the culture that uh that this has been by our culture label is Pride Month over the uh the past few years. And and if you remember back, uh we did an episode on this, uh at least one, maybe two, but I know we did one um called a A View on Pride and Parentheses Month. And if you haven't heard that one, uh, encourage you to go back, I think that's in season three or season two, uh, or maybe even season four and just a year ago. I I really don't remember. I guess I should look that up. But um it occurred to me that uh we're into that point now, and and the reason that it did actually wasn't anything that I saw, but Carrie was talking about uh this um post that she had seen of a Christian employee at uh I don't know the company or anything, and I tried to research it and find it, but uh that uh this company that was having a video contest of of submitting what does uh what does pride mean to you? And um had uh had a contest, had prizes and and some things like that uh for the the person that would win and the and the best uh the best video or what have you. And uh I like I said I did a little research to try to find as much about this as I could, and and uh I really couldn't find aside from the video itself and just a little tidbit of information. Um I couldn't find a lot. What I did find is um is on uh a guy, a pastor named Jerry Doris's Facebook page. This man's uh I I know nothing about. Um literally just where I found the video. Um if I'm reading the lines, he may be the pastor of the man in the video, um, but uh is the pastor of Reformation Church in Shelbyville, Kentucky. And uh the video was posted uh there on Jerry's page and uh in the text of it, it said a member of Reformation Church, which is the church that he pastors, submitted this video to his employers, What Pride Means to Me campaign. Corporate wanted public clips to signal support for the LGBTQ. After his submission, the whole program vanished, the videos were pulled, the prizes were canceled, and no reply. And then he finishes this post with this is Christian Witness, Christ is King. So um I'm gonna play you this video here in a second because uh not not not even to really have a discussion on Pride Month or anything else, but uh really just to see what uh I thought this guy did a very good job of discussing what pride is and how the Lord views it and how it's spoken of in God's word. Um some things that really stick out to me is he doesn't give his opinion, um he comes straight from scripture and he takes a bold stand. Uh I'm sure there'll be more of this uh information about this story maybe come out, and as it does, we'll revisit it. Uh, but at least for the short term, I wanted to play you the video because I thought it was it was really good. And so um again, uh even in the video, the man's face is blurred out, I'm sure, for his own protection. Uh, but uh without any further ado, we'll go ahead and play this, talk about it just a little bit before we jump into Luke 16 today. Hello everyone. I hope you're doing well today. My name is and I wanted to share just a few thoughts regarding Pride Month. Before I share, I do want to acknowledge that I understand that my viewpoint is not popular with many. However, it is important for companies to know that their employees have a diverse range of views and beliefs on these types of things, and that companies should seek to be neutral on these matters. So, what does pride mean for me? As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe that pride is not a virtue to be celebrated, but rather it is a sin to be turned away from. Pride is exalting oneself above God and others. Pride says, I am great and worthy to rule my own life, and pride is condemned by the Bible. James 4 6 says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Another verse, Proverbs 16, 18, says that pride goes before destruction in a haughty spirit, before stumbling. When we celebrate pride as a nation, we are essentially saying that we are greater than God in his word, and that we are free to be and do whatever we want, specifically in the area of gender and sexuality. This is the essence of foolishness and a recipe for disaster. We should not be celebrating things that are displeasing to God and destructive to people and our society. So, what should we do this month? Well, the answer is that we should be humbling ourselves. Humility, unlike pride, is a virtue, and it means having a right view of who God is and who we are, and submitting to God's authority in every area of life, including relationships, marriage, gender, and sexuality. Humility includes the acknowledgement that we are sinners in need of a savior. I have beloved family members who are part of the LGBT commun community, so this is a very personal issue for me. And I can tell you that for these family members of mine, this uh life that they have chosen has not been healthy or wholesome, and it has not provided them with true joy or happiness. My prayer for them and for anyone who is caught up in this movement is that they would find true hope and peace through humble submission to Jesus Christ. This is not a time to celebrate, but rather to mourn and be humbled. For those who do, there is hope. As Jesus said in his well known Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew five, three through six. I thank you again for this opportunity to share, and have a great day. So there uh there's that. I thought uh again, I I I have very little information behind this video who the man actually is, who he actually works for, what the contest was, what the company was, uh uh for for that matter, uh it could all be be made up. I don't think that it is, um, but but I but I guess it could be, and hopefully I can dig around and continue to find more. But but I'm still comfortable putting that out regardless because I think the message behind it is is very good. Uh again, what did the man say? What does pride mean for me? And he didn't give his opinion, um but but he gave he gave God's words, God's word and what it says of of pride, he said from a biblical perspective, as a Bible-believing Christian. He said it's a sin, uh that that that pride goeth before destruction, uh, as the Bible clearly says, that when we celebrate something like pride, that the that the Bible that God speaks directly against, um that uh that we're we're in complete opposition to his word, and we're celebrating clearly what God hates. So um what else does the man say? We should we should humble ourselves before the Lord, as the Bible says, he said it um you know he equals James, equals Proverbs, he he he comes out, and and then he he even tied it into being a personal issue and and family members that are caught up in this. And and if you're listening to this in America, you probably um if you don't have a family member, you at least know of someone uh that's been that's caught up in this this movement of our culture and this sin of of homosexuality and and celebrating the pride of that. And so um I again uh well probably my favorite part of it is as he wraps up in talking about the beatitudes in Christ in Matthew 5, 3 through 6, that uh we should humble ourselves, that those who are of of sober spirit, that uh we don't exalt ourselves but exalt him and his word. And when we do that the opposite way and we exalt ourselves, we we lower God, we lower his standards. Uh he um he said, you know, when we celebrate this as a nation uh and even as an individual, we say, I am great and worthy to rule my own life. What does God have over me? And that's essentially what you say uh when you deal with the with the with the principle of pride, and that doesn't have to be even limited down to pride in this specific movement or in homosexuality or the LGBTQ on and on alphabet community. Pride in any situation, to be proud is the opposite to be humble. To be proud is to stand and look at yourself and say, I am worthy, I am good enough, I am elevating myself to be humble is to submit. And we've been seeing that as we walk through Luke, and it's an interesting tie today to me that I didn't realize until I was playing that and listening along with y'all on that video, is to say that I am great and worthy to rule my own life is antithetical to the fact of that God is sovereign and God is ruler over all, and that God gives me everything down to each breath that I take. So as we think about that and we get into this um parable today in Luke 16, I thought it was interesting how uh Sproull framed this parable um as we're gonna start today in Luke 16, and he says the point of this parable is not to give us a lesson in stewardship, but it does serve to remind us that every human being is a steward on this earth. And here's the part that tied to me to that. It says God owns the world, he owns us, and what we do with our lives, our money and the earth are matters of stewardship. I'll say that again. God owns the world, He owns us as maker and creator. For the believer, uh, even further, uh I'm drawing the blank of the exact reference. Um, I think it's Paul that writes that you were bought with a price. I think that's in one of the Corinthian letters, but don't quote me there. That you were bought with a price. God owns us, He is our maker, He is our creator, He is our Master for those of us, especially who who walk and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. He is master, we are servant, humble servant. And we see that again as we're working through the gospels, that Jesus submitted himself perfectly to the Father's will as the humble servant, he who is Lord of all and is Lord of all, removed himself out of heaven to take on and clothe himself with flesh and humble himself as a servant before the Lord. So we have a king, the king of kings, who not only calls us to be a humble servant, but then leads us, in a perfect example of that, and how he submitted himself as the God man, as the humble servant, to the Father's will as he walked the earth. So we are to imitate him. Paul writes it also. He said, Imitate me as I imitate Christ. So as we're looking again to Christ, you know, you see those those bracelets, what would Jesus do? But but the the appropriate way to take that is is imitate him. Now we're in the flesh and fall in sin, uh, still in the battle. Uh Galatians says that the the those who walk in the spirit and walk in step with the spirit are uh are against the flesh, and there's that that war going on with each of us. Paul writes about it in Romans 7 that I do what I don't want to do, and I don't want to do what I do. Jess talked about that a couple of weeks ago in his episode on here of referencing that in Romans 7. So we we can't do it perfectly as Christ did, but but we seek to imitate him. And as we grow and are sanctified and continually growing in holiness and sanctification, as we walk through our life, we should become more and more because the Spirit is making us more and more like him, until ultimately one day in glory, we will we will be like him because we will be again clothed in Christ as we are now, but without this body of flesh and sin. So I thought that was a neat tie of so we look at this parable and we go ahead and get into it now, that God owns owns everything. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he owns He owns us as our creator and maker. And to see this as as we walk into this and and and to see what that man said about to say that I'm gonna celebrate sin and and and that is to say I'm great and worthy to rule my own life, that I'm more mighty than the one who made me. And so God would call those, yeah. You might say, I don't I don't agree with that. I think that we should be able to have autonomy and and make our own decisions. And if a person wants to live in in the culture and and celebrate uh a homosexual lifestyle for the Cake of Pride Month, uh what's the what's the proper response to that? The proper response to that is is see what what scripture says, it's the same responses to any sin that we all struggle with. If we're walking in a sinful lifestyle of any kind, drunkenness, uh, homosexuality, uh if you wake up every day and and the filth that comes out of your mouth is nothing but profanity, and and and you say, you know what, I'm okay with that. Because I think it's alright. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Well, you're saying the opposite of what God says about it, and the and you know what what does uh what is what does 1 John 1 9 say, but that he who confesses his sins Jesus is just and perfect and righteous and forgiving those sins. But that's not that's not the same thing as saying, I don't think this is a sin, I don't think this is a big deal. That's not confessing their sin before the Lord. So to to repent and turn away from sin begins with saying the same thing about a sin that God does, is that it is sinful, it is opposite of his word, his commandment. And so to to celebrate something, uh whether it's a lifestyle of homosexuality or um consistent, constant um act of partying and and drunkenness and saying, like, I think it's all right, it's not that big of a deal, is the is the same thing. Uh you're you're saying the opposite about something of what God says. And so again, if you can do that, it starts with pride, and you're elevating yourself above the one who created you. And um he warns us not to do that, to humbly submit ourselves to him, to walk and follow him, confess our sins, and he is faithful and just to forgive us of those sins as we repent and turn and trust in him. So it's kind of the two two sides of the coin there. So what do we what do we say to that person? Repent. Repent and believe, repent and trust in Christ that though we have sinned, he who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf, so that we may trust in him for providing for that penalty of sin which is death, to give us eternal life, and then turn as a new creation and walk and trust in his faith, and because of his kindness that leads us to that repentance. Not that he's holding it over your head, but that he's righteous and faithful and merciful and forgiving and loving and provided these things. And there's walk in gratitude of that, because I think it's Vodibacum who said that that God should have killed me, struck me down yesterday for my sin, though I still walk today, and because of his grace, I can continue to and to walk in that grace, and because of that, because he hasn't, if you're listening to this and you think, Man, I think it's all okay. He hasn't struck you down, it's because he's given you the chance to continue to to walk and see the light and hear the truth and repent and trust in his everlasting payment um in Christ. And so I've encouraged you to do that. And just as as I walked in sin for so many years, didn't bother me um from a from a godly standpoint, and uh continued on, and I'm so thankful that that he was patient with me and long suffering and drew me to himself to then see the truth, repent and believe, and trust in Christ and continue to walk in sanctification from there. So a little longer intro than I was planning, but um yeah. Repent and believe, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and forgiveness of sin. If you got any questions about that, that's the whole point. That is why we do this, to uh call sinners to repentance and to disciple other believers uh in Christ as he tells us to go make disciples and teach them all the things that I commanded you. That's the point of us doing this podcast. So welcome. Thank you. And uh we'll jump in now to Luke 16. So as we get into uh Luke 16, we've kind of been been rolling along and and we went uh last time through Luke 15 and the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son, uh, and the older son. And uh man, that was a that was a fun episode to do. If you haven't heard that one, uh be sure and go back last week and and check it out. But as we turn the page and we get into Luke 16, uh we um we see at the beginning of this, and we kind of get a little context of he also said to the disciples. So now he's he's speaking specifically at this point, we know. To his disciples that are there listening to his teaching. And so, you know, sometimes we can see that he's speaking directly, as we've talked about over the last few weeks, to the Pharisees. Sometimes he's speaking to a mixed crowd. And we'll see as we get into the later part of this chapter, there is somewhat of a mixed crowd here, but it says at the beginning that he also said to the disciples, so who he's directly speaking to, maybe others in the in the vicinity and in the crowd listening, as we'll see when we get into verse 14, and it says the Pharisees heard all these things. But at the beginning, we see who he's directing this to. And these things are important because uh again, it's like taking a if you're reading a book or you're you're reading the story and you don't know who's speaking, you don't know who they're speaking to, you don't know what setting they're in, um, you you can take things out of context and and try to see it for different than what it is. But here we get to see at the beginning, he also said to the disciples. So we get into this parable of the dishonest manager. Uh in Luke 16, verse 1, he also said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. So this man finds out he's got a hired servant, hired employee would be the common vernacular, I guess, today. And so this man apparently has quite a few affairs, he's he's got a uh pretty good business um going on. And you know, I think in this culture and time you can think of this manager that that maybe he manages his house, he manages his business. Um there's a totality there, potentially in this uh manager. So uh there was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. So, how could any of us feel uh if we're uh if you listen and you own a business or you're in some sort of a situation, uh, that you send someone else out to manage your affairs and you find out that they're being wasteful of your possessions, it kind of spurns and scorts, right? Uh maybe you're you're uh a person that that's uh an employee and you know of of a manager above you that that uh that does these type of things and and and manages poorly, and uh these things come up. So he called him in verse two and said to him, What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be managers. So obviously we see from this point that something something's already gone south. This man uh understands, and so um what's happening here is this unjust steward or managers is being exposed. He's being called to give an account to speak plainly. Uh, there's an audit about to be underway, something's not right about the accounts that are being managed. And and really, I think as we read here in verse two, we can maybe say that that it's already been decided that and this guy's been given the notice that that he can no longer be manager, he's gonna be fired. And the purpose for kind of calling the balance sheet is to see exactly what uh what's going on and and what the details are. And so in verse three, that's not necessarily the main point, but it's kind of going along as we go. So uh in verse three, and the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? So this guy's now in panic. He realizes that his crooked dealings that he's been doing, uh, the game's called, I've been caught. What am I gonna do now? And he says, uh, what shall I do since my master's taking management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to bag. So the guy apparently doesn't have a lot of skills, he's not physically stout enough to go take a manual labor job. Um, he's he's too proud of himself to to go and bag, which there's some something good that can be said about that. But uh, in a sense, he says, I've decided what to do so that when I'm removed from management, so maybe he hasn't been fully made aware. Maybe maybe I was incorrect in my quick assumption of verse two. Uh it's all in process. Uh, maybe it hasn't the the uh the account hasn't been fully reconciled that that this has happened, just suspected, and we're gonna do some investigative work. But I've decided what to do so that when I'm removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. So he's got a plan. This is what I'm gonna do that way when I do get fired, because I've obviously been dealing um illegitimately with with uh my master's accounts. When he looks into it, he's gonna figure out exactly how poorly I've done, and I'm gonna get fired. What am I gonna do? I've figured out what I'm gonna do. And the manager acts what we're gonna talk about is shrewdly here. And uh in uh verse uh verse five, he says, So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master? He said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. So this first guy apparently is uh owes him a hundred measures of oil, he cuts his bill in half. Tell you what, actually I'm gonna give you fifty percent off, write fifty. Then he said to another, and how much do you owe? And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill and write eighty. So now we've knocked twenty percent off. And um, so so the man goes around, and these are the only two that are in the parable. Maybe there's others. He goes to these uh debtors, these that are in debt to his master, and he starts to forgive much of their debt. Now, um, you know, again, what's he doing? He's trying to make friends with people while he's still got the chance because he's about to be kicked out of his job and and not have much, right? He's already said he doesn't have many skills, and so in this shrewd yet wise act, he goes and makes friends here in a dishonest way. Going around saying, You owe a hundred, make it fifty. Don't forget about me when I'm out, kicked out of my of this position here in the near future. You owe a hundred, make it eighty, don't forget about me and what I did for you. That's kind of what's going on. And so in verse um verse eight, it says, The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. Now, shrewdness, uh, another way and is a word that's used uh a few times through the New Testament, but he says, uh he calls him shrewd, he calls him wise, having um Miriam Webster's defines shrewd as having or showing the insight, intelligence, and understanding to make good judgments about practical matters as in business or finance. So that's Miriam Webster's definition of shrewd. So this master commends him. Now, just because he commends him, I don't think he's saying, Hey, good job, and I commend you, but he's saying at least you were wise enough from a business sense and a worldly sense to go and try to make something that would work for you, even though you did it in a dishonest manner. So it says again, verse eight, the master commanded the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. Now here's where where we start to see some of the ties, and Jesus starts to make his point as as we continue reading on here in uh in verse as we get into verses eight, nine, and and so on. So the master commanded him for dishonest manager for his shrewdness, and he finishes in verse eight, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Now, as I was kind of studying on this, um, I was reminded of Matthew 10, 16, where the NAS uses this same word shrewd as Christ is speaking. And he says, Behold, he's speaking to his disciples, as he's sending them out. He says, Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Okay, now that's a little bit what we're about to get into here, because we've got the dishonest man who's who's acting of the world, who's being very shrewd in these worldly endeavors to try to make him some friends before he gets kicked out of his job. And Christ says, Behold, to the disciples in Matthew 10, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So people that are that are shrewd, that are intelligent, that are wise, they're crafty, that are selfish, that are that the the midst of wolves. So he tells them then, so be now the ESV says be wise, but the NAS is gonna say, so be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. So he doesn't say go out, be naive, expect to not come across any trouble, and it's all gonna be easy, just go proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, that the kingdom has come, and you know, when you run into these evil people, they're gonna be wise and intelligent and crafty. You know, you just go be unwise and and naive and that. He says, No, he says, be as shrewd as serpents, but as innocent as doves. And we see a lot of that here uh as we get into the bottom part of this parable, because it says the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation. So there's that same thought. You're you're gonna go out amidst wolves that are shrewd, that are intelligent, that are sharp, that are cunning, that are cutthroat. And you think about business in this world today, man, you go out and start working in business, and it's like it's cutthroat, do whatever. Dishonest, honest. What do I have to do to make a dollar? Get ahead and beat the other guy, right? Um, I think it was the the the founder of uh McDonald's, there's a movie about that. Ray Krock, maybe is his name. And this may be completely wrong, and I may have dreamed this up, but said um, you know, if you're not willing to drop one of your competitors, tie basically tie into a rock and drop him down into the bottom of the ocean to sink him so that you can elevate over him, then you're not ready for business in this world, or something to that effect. That's a poor paraphrase, but you get the point. If you're not willing to do everything to overcome your competitor, then you're not gonna survive. It's it's kill or be killed, cutthroat action when you get into the world of business. Now, that's again a worldly philosophy, and that's uh again, we see somewhat of this in this dishonest manager that that he was shrewd and intelligent. He thought, you know what, tell you what, I'm gonna go forgive these guys a bunch of their debt that aren't really gonna cost me anything, so that when I get booted out, they're gonna remember that and be my friends and help me and take me in so I'm not out on the street begging, so on and so forth. But then Christ makes this comparison. He says that they, those people, the sons of the world, they're more shrewd in dealing with one another than the sons of light are in dealing with the eternal things. And he goes on, verse nine, he says, and I tell you, and this is where I spend a lot of my time, in verse nine he says, and I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth. Now, what does that mean? Unrighteous wealth. For the simplistic bit of it, we'll just say money. It doesn't necessarily mean that everything that the unrighteous mammon is the unrighteous material things, common things, money would be the easiest example. And so he says, make friends by these ways of these common things, these temporal things of the world. Use your money wisely to make friends, use your wealth wisely to make friends. And I was listening to MacArthur teach on this in a series, and I haven't got to finish it all, um, because it's it's two or three or four hours worth, but um you think about it of how we we go about it and how do we steward what God has given us as believers walking through the world. Now, this is not going to be a man, you should really feel bad if you haven't been putting enough money into missions or uh doing enough money this way, but this is really just a let's sit back and really think about this. So as we utilize and spend the things that have been given us financially, what are we putting it into the most? Are we putting it back into business to grow more business? There's not necessarily anything wrong with that. Are we using it to expand in times? Not anything wrong with that. But what that's not really what I'm what the question that I want to pry at, I think, is here is is let's peel back to the foundation of what's the purpose? What are we using? What's called here unrighteous wealth? What are we using wealth in this world, temporal, finance, monetary things? What are what is our goal and how we use that? Are we using it for again just unrighteous means to go on and continue to gain in this world? Or are we using it to provide again for the kingdom as we're building and as we're called to go out and proclaim the gospel as we're called to go out and and build the kingdom of God? Uh or what's our underlying foundation? What what's our plan? What's our purpose? And so I think that's where where he gets into this in verse 9. He says, I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth. Go and be kind to those, whether it's the poor and the needy or others, but but use that wealth in a way that you will proclaim the gospel to people, that you will build friends, but for the right reason. And and he finishes it up in the other half, so that when it fails. So take your wealth and take your material things and take your business and take your talent, take your stuff, and use it for God's purpose to gain friends, so that when all those temporal things fail, they may receive you into eternal dwellings. Now I think MacArthur does it really well here. He says, the unjust manager used his master's money to buy earthly friends. So we just read about that. He said, Take your bill, 100, make it 50, 100 make it 80. And so that that guy, he he used his master's money to buy earthly friends. Makes sense. 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, the eternal dwellings, those sinners will be there to welcome them. So you think about that. Everything that we do, there there's kind of that that one way or the other. But is our underlying foundation are we here to serve the Lord or are we here to serve ourselves? Am I am I wanting to serve the Lord with what he's given me? Or am I wanting to serve Josh? Am I wanting to serve Jesus, or am I wanting to serve Brockman Farms? Am I wanting to serve the King of Kings, or am I wanting to serve the world and the selfish desires and needs of my family? Not basic necessities, but luxuries and business and success and fame and those type of things. So so what's my what's my underlying principle? And this is great for me too, to to really unfold this, because this is something that that uh that we can all get get a little off base on. And so again, this is not a man, you should feel bad and need to start doing it better. This is a really like think about the principle of the matter of how we go about life and and what what are we doing? You know, I'm gonna tell this story not not because uh I want to boast of myself, but but I can remember uh a time of of um a couple of young uh kids just out of college, and uh they were uh they were seeking to start not a new ministry, but somewhat of a new ministry with the church, and the church could only afford um to pay half of their salary, so their other their other half was going to be um donated from kind of kind of like a missions standpoint, and and um they were um they were trying to get all of their ducks in a row to get that going before they could go, and and I remember carrying us setting and it was just after, I guess it was in the winter time, so we had pigs on feed, and um, and we'd kind of you know we're we're a month or two out of pig selling season. But uh it was kind of getting towards the end of the year, so we were going through tax stuff and that kind of thing too. And and um but I can remember the amount that they were they were short, and it was a significant amount. And ironically, if not ironically, we had uh we had tried to buy a peg through the fall for a very similar amount, and and we didn't get him bobbed, but it was it was significant, and and and I can remember me and Kiri sitting down and and saying like and there's been a few instances like it's like this, it's like alright, we we tried to buy a peg for the kids to show for this silly amount and didn't really think anything else about it. These kids want to do nothing but serve the Lord. We've been blessed to be able to give. And it was it was not an exact amount or anything like that, but it was within a couple thousand dollars of the same. I said, why why are we debating this even more than we would have that to buy a pig? And when when it was viewed by each of us in that context, it's like, yeah, that's you know, you feel stupid, really, of that. And I can remember some other some other instances that we've had those realizations come up. It's like, okay, if this was, you know, buying this uh this thing to so a Zoom Bible study can be more effective, and you know, it's it's a thousand dollars, it's a high expensive piece of equipment, but you know, if it was if it was buying that for the the farm to utilize as the business to generate more revenue, well, it would be a no no contest, no, no thought, right? And so I think that's the same thing. Like I said, I don't tell you any of those stories to to put the light on ourselves, but it was but really the mindset of the conversation that we have that um I would encourage you to have of sometimes we look at things from a temporal standpoint and a business standpoint of like, yeah, we need to do that, makes sense, you know, and usually we rationalize it with like from a business venture. And that's that's a good thing. It's good to be a good steward of that. Like, if we invest in this, it will generate, you know, this much dollars, pay for that, and and so on and so forth. That's obviously good business and good principles. But why don't we look at that enough? I'm talking to Josh here, as if I take this and invest it here, the eternal virtue that can come from that. And this doesn't just have to be material things, it could be time, it can be, yeah, you can take the list on down, but here he's kind of speaking of that, so that's kind of where my my mind's at. So uh again, kind of where he makes this tie in verse nine in the parable of I tell you, make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth, take the things of the material things of of wealth and mammon and money and that, and invest it to grow the kingdom in people, in however many different ways. And that way, when the temporal things fail, they have the eternal things, and that they may receive you into eternal dwellings. And so MacArthur goes on in the rest of his of his note here. He says, Christ did not commend the man's dishonesty here when he said, you know, uh back in verse eight that uh the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. He doesn't commend his dishonesty, he pointedly called him dishonest there in verse eight, but Jesus only used him as an illustration to show that even the most wicked people of this world are shrewd enough to provide for themselves against coming evil. So now think about it like this in this parable. This man knows what's coming from his master that's gonna fire him when he finds out that he's been a poor manager, and more than that, not even a poor manager, a dishonest, crooked manager that's probably stolen from him. And we see that because we see it here where he he goes to to chop his bills in half or cut 20% out of them and that. So even this wicked man is shrewd and wise enough to defend himself in a way against this coming evil that and the coming evil for him in the parable is to get fired and get booted out on his own. MacArthur goes on, believers ought to be even more shrewd because they are concerned with eternal matters, not earthly ones. So now think of the coming judgment on sin. Um Paul says in Acts 17 that God is has raised up a man, not raised up a man, but that God has has put, I'll paraphrase it, Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. There is a coming judgment. Hebrews 9 27, it's appointed for a man to die once, and then comes the judgment. We're all on the clock. There's a coming judgment. Why would I not enjoy? Invest all I can to proclaim the gospel of of Christ that can save someone eternally from this coming judgment. Same thing here. Believers ought to be even more shrewd, more wise and intelligent in how they go out, invest and do things. How you use what God's given you, material, talent, time, etc. How do we use that for eternal matters? How do we complete the Great Commission? How do we walk in the things that He's laid out beforehand for us to walk in? So we should approach each day that way. It's not, man, man, I feel bad. I haven't been given enough money to the church, or I haven't been given enough money to missions, or I haven't been given enough money to this or that or that. Yeah, those are physical acts that are going to come with this, but it's the mindset underneath of, and he says in ten, one who's faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. If the you then you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, temporal things, who will entrust you to you the true riches? And that that's the other thing. Like we we see it upside down so often as we walk in the culture and get used to the world. We see business success. I mean, let me let me try harder next year so I can win another show, so I can pay another feed bill, so I can expand at another cyber barn so I can get instead of 50 letters, have 60 and make that much more uh and have that much better of a chance to win. Again, it's not bad to F60. We have a hundred and however many of them out there. Um, but again, it's it's it's that underlying foundation of what's my point? Why am I why am I in construction business? Am I doing it to to make more money and to expand the construction business? Or am I doing it ultimately so I can meet people that I can I can shine the light of Christ to them and hopefully give them an eternal benefit to our interaction. And that's how how you know man, I don't do it every time. Like when somebody pulls up on the farm, God has given me a chance to to to shine the light of the gospel to this person. Not to sell them a pig for their county fair, that too. But because of that, that's what's brought them here. I I can I can be the light of Christ. Man, do I do that every time? No. Should I? Yes. But is that my underlying principle? Is that is that the things that I pray about? Or do I pray about Lord, give me more success? Or do I say, Lord, bring the people that you would have the gospel be heard to, to my pig farm so that you can use me and my family in that regard? And that's kind of the difference. But here we see it again in a physical way also. So, verse 12, and if you have not if you and if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for he will either 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. So he closes it all out again with the the division. You can't serve God of the eternal things and the wealth, unrighteous wealth, money, temporal things. You will either hate one and love the other, or vice versa. There's got to be the foundation underneath it all. Who am I serving? Am I serving God and the eternal things? My maker, creator, savior? Or am I serving Josh, Brockwin Farms, the temporal things, business, success, monetary gain, so on and so forth. What's what's my principle? What's my point? What's the goal? And so that's where he he he ends it up with you can't serve both. You'll either love the one or hate the other. You can only serve one. So there's a a neat tie, a lot of things there in Luke 16. Uh that was fun for me just to again sit down and and go through it uh again and and and see it all that clearly. So I again my encouragement to you would be that make that your prayer. Don't don't set uh, you know, if if if you're don't set and say, Man, why why haven't I done better? That's a good principle to have because that leads to to repentance and a change and a turn. But but wake up and pray, Father, instill in me, lead me by your spirit, to walk in the things that you've laid out beforehand, that Father, that I would, I would handle my business with the ultimate goal of serving you, that I would make investments with the ultimate goal that they serve the kingdom, that I would do these things to carry out the gospel and the great commission that you've had for me, that because of the grace and the mercy and the kindness that you've bestowed on me, because of the blessings that you've given me, uh whether monetarily or not, that that I would recognize that, Father, that those things are given for me to continue to build an eternal kingdom, one that will never be broken, to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who I am a part of in Christ Jesus. So go about each day that way. Uh that's going to be my prayer uh for you and for myself. That's how we that's how we walk about, that's how we do these things. So thanks as always uh for tuning in. We will pick up next week and and uh well next week we'll have a guest, and then the following we'll pick up in verse 14. Hope you enjoy uh enjoyed today. If you haven't followed the podcast, we would love for you to do that. That'll be a bill at the end of this. But uh share the podcast with somebody that you make if you find it useful that you uh think might also um just helps uh get the word out. So again, thank you as always uh for being with us, listening to us uh here each week. Um it's fun to see the different places and the different people that jump on and then how the numbers kind of fun. It's not about the numbers, uh, but it's neat to see see uh see them sometimes and kind of see where the podcast is reaching and how many people are jumping on, and so we're very thankful of each other. And uh we'll see you again next week on the winter.