Unjust Steward

May 25th, 2017 Thurs. PM

Transcript

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Welcome to Sharper Sword, the publication ministry of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California. Lighthouse believes that individuals can reach their potential for the Lord as they grow in Christ. We want to hear our Lord say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Let's join Pastor Doug Fisher as he preaches another important biblical message from the Word of God.

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Luke chapter 16, it's the uh parable of the unjust steward. And he says this in Luke chapter 16, verse number one. And he said also unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man which had a steward, and the same the steward was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. Now, we have an owner, if you would, and somebody's stewarding over that which the owner counts important. But the problem is this steward, this manager, has uh wasted somebody else's. May I say to you that what he's talking about is in verse 14, verse number 14. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. And he said unto them, This begins the explanation, ye are they which justify yourselves before men. But God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. I want you to know that verses 14 and 15, when you read the first half of the chapter, begins to explain that what he's talking about is that Pharisees that are covetous of a couple things. Their covetousness is uh dealing with money, but it's also covetousness to, if you would, to be men pleasers. And what he says is, verse number 15, ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. With that in mind, now we read the parable, verse number one. There was a certain rich man which had a steward, and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. He called him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? And so the owner, the rich man, says, Give an account of thy stewardship, and then he says something very carefully, for thou mayest be no longer steward. I'm gonna put you out of your job. I want you to give you an account of your stewardship, because I'm gonna take your job of stewarding over my goods. I'm taking it away. Please listen. Jesus was saying, Pharisees, I gave you my word, you didn't honor it properly, and I'm not gonna let you steward over my word anymore. Stay with me. Verse 3. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? For my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship. Let's stop there for a moment. It's not a matter of if he's losing the stewardship. He's already being put out of the job. He's no longer going to be the steward. Why? Well, he says this, the steward says, I cannot dig. I'm losing my job. I can't dig. To beg, I'm ashamed. Now I want you to see verse 3 starts focusing the steward on the steward. I'll say this again. In verse number three, you see the steward not focusing on so much what's going on with his master's uh goods, but now the steward's focusing on the steward. He says, you know, to beg, I can't do that. I I cannot dig. It's almost like, you know, digging, that's I'm above all that. And to beg, I'm ashamed. Verse 4, I'm resolved what to do. That when I am put out of the stewardship, I've already lost my job. They may receive me into their houses. Who's the they? Well, the they is men who owed his uh master or the rich men money, that they may receive me into their houses. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna manipulate this thing a little bit. So he called every one of his lord's debtors. That's the they. What do you mean? Verse 4, I'm resolved what to do. When I'm put out of the stewardship, when I know how long I have a job, let me make sure I have friends down here that's gonna take care of me. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? Now, isn't that interesting? Shouldn't the steward know that? Shouldn't the steward understand how much everyone owes the Lord? Because he's a steward. He's not doing a good job. Please, please, please, don't give the steward in your mind that he's doing well. He's not doing well. He doesn't even know who owes what. Verse number six, and he said, an hundred mason of oil. Well, the steward said unto him, Take thy bill, sit down quickly, and write 50. Oh, wow, we got 50 out of the hundred. Please listen. That's selfish because the whole idea is I'm gonna lessen what this guy owes, and I'm gonna change what he owes so it'll go well for me. What do you mean? I'm gonna change the word of God so it goes well for me. I'm gonna change the rich man's goods and what is owed, and I'm gonna water it down because that'll be good for me in the long run. Because then I'm making friends with those that will take care of me because I can't dig. I'm out of my stewardship, so I gotta make friends somehow. So I'll just say, you know what, just write 50. You still with me or not? So he says, and he said, In a hundred measures of oil, and he said unto him, Take thy bill and write and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then said he to another, and how much owest thou? And he said, In hundred measures of wheat. Each time he says, How much do you owe? The steward should know that. And he said, in a hundred measures of wheat, he said, Take thy bill and write fourscore. The idea is he's lessen and he's and he's doing that. You say, no, he's getting something back. No, no, no, no. He's making friends because he's out of a job and he's trying to use the rich man one more time for his own purposes. Everybody's still all right with that? Are you listening? So he says this, verse 8. Here's where it gets a little bit uh, here's where it gets a little bit confusing. And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. That's where it gets a little fuzzy to us. And I say unto you, make to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Brother, I want to make sure you understand verse 9 is a little sarcasm. Come on, you still with me? He says, What you better do is you better make friends unto the mammoth of unrighteousness, that when you fail, that you may receive you into everlasting habitation. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is also unjust in much. I I if therefore ye have been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit, if you have been unfaithful, if you would, uh if ye therefore ye have not been faithful, thank you, in the righteous mammon, unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust to true riches? Brethren, it's all about what he's talking about is you Pharisees have not taken care of my word very well. You have not handled the stewardship of my principles very well at all. You have not represented me very well at all. And you did it to please men for your own good. Pharisees, you did it to please men for your own good, because you like titles in the marketplace. So you changed the word of God to fit something that was more human, so you could have, if you would, what you wanted. Are you still with me or not? So watch what he says. He says this, uh, verse 12, and if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Ye either will hate the one and love the other, or else you will hold to the one and despise the other. Pharisees, you can't serve God in Mauman. Now, let me say that a different way. Pharisees, you can't please God and be men pleasers too, to where you change what I said to please them, so they take care of you. I'm gonna say it one more time. Pharisees, you can't change the word of God, and you can't change the meaning of the word of God, so if you would, to benefit yourself. So he goes on to say, verse 14, and the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things and they derided him. Why? They knew he was talking about them. And he said to them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men. But God knoweth your hearts. You guys are unjust stewards. You haven't stewarded over my principles right. In fact, you've changed the principles of God to benefit yourself, just like that unjust steward changed what people owed him and what he was doing. He said, I'm gonna, I can't dig, I'm gonna be put out. I can't beg, I'm gonna be put out. So here's what I'll do: I'll ask them to write a lesser amount so I can, so they'll take care of me later. Stay with me. He says this, verse 16. The law and the prophets were unto John. Since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses to it. Now, I want you to see the next part of this chapter talks about a rich man in Lazarus. Talks about eternal habitations. Remember, he said, uh, make friends to yourself of uh of unrighteousness that they might receive you into eternal habitations. What do you mean, Pharisees? You've not stewarded over the word of God property. You're not helping others to go into the kingdom of God, and you're not even going on yourself. Everybody still all right or not with the with the interpretation? So he says this. The next part of the chapter is the rich man Lazarus, and that's what happens in verse number 22. The rich man uh ends up in hell, verse 23. The Lazarus ends up in Abraham's bosom, verse 22. It came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels unto Abraham's bosom. Abraham's bosom, we kind of believe that uh when Jesus said to the thief on the cross, today thou shalt be with me in paradise, that he was speaking about Abraham's bosom. Are you with me or not? It was a it was a place, if you would, that was uh reserved and they would be released later. And then we see that the rich man was in hell. The idea is the eternal habitations. Now, we'll come back to the parable in just a moment. Let me bear this out with you just a little bit tonight, and we're going somewhere for ourselves in just a moment of this, but look at Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15. Thanks for being in church tonight, and we'll we'll keep, we'll get this on a practical basis for ourselves in just a moment. Matthew chapter 15. Let me remind you what Jesus said to the unjust stewards. Let me remind you what Jesus said to the Pharisees who watered down what was owed. What do you mean, watered down what was owed? He said, uh, how much do you owe? All right, now write this amount. Oh, I know the Lord commended him, and you're thinking like he got something out of them. Please listen, there's sarcasm in there. You've got to see the sarcasm. Don't tell me Jesus at times wasn't sarcastic against the Pharisees. What do you mean sarcastic? Uh he called them uh vipers, snakes. Come on, is that right? So, with that in mind, look what he says in Matthew chapter number uh 15. Notice verse 7. Ye hypocrites, ye unjust servants. Did not uh Isaiah prophesy you, saying that people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts far from me. Watch. In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. That would be like the unjust tour saying, How much do you owe? Okay, write half of that. Let me change that. Uh, what they did was they changed the doctrines of God into the commandments of men. And may I say this? The commandments of men are very clever. But they have no power behind them. Please listen, the commandments of men can draw a crowd. The commandments of men can be very clever and and have things, but but the power of God is not on that cleverness. Uh brethren, a God builds the house. Now I want to tell you, the cleverness of men can build a house. The cleverness of men can build a house. Uh a charismatic speaker can build something. A charismatic speaker can draw a crowd. Uh uh certain philosophies can draw a crowd. Brethren, the Mormons have drawn a crowd. You say, how can people believe that? I know. It's unjust stewardship. Would you agree with that? It's not really the word of God, it's the word of God manipulated so somebody benefits. In this case, he says, he says this, he says, verse 9, in vain they do worship me, teachings for doctrine, the commandments of men. That's like the unjust steward saying, you know, write 80, even though you owe over 100, write 80. Why am I doing that? To get something for the rich man? No, no, no. That's for me. I'm not taking the money, but I want to I want you to know that you'll take care of me later because I just gave you a break. Everybody still listen to what I'm saying? You're getting it or not? You say, no, that's that's so the rich man gets some money back. No, no, that's so the steward has a place to go later because he gave the guy a break. Do I have that right? Brethren, we're not down here to get something from people in a manipulative way. We're down here to represent the word of God. I know the word of God offends sometimes, but it's the word of God that builds the house. We labor in vain unless God built it, it won't be built. And it won't be built solid. I I I know cleverness can build a church, but the word of God is what's strongly implied to use to build the house. And that way the house is not on shifting sand. Brethren, uh, let me make this statement. When I'm done pastoring, the word of God still stands. It wasn't my cleverness that built this church, it was the word of God that built this church. It was the word of God that increased and caused it consisting and not on a shifting sand that built this house. Therefore, when I'm done or any other good leader, and I'm not saying I'm a good leader, but when a good leader is done, if he's built it on the right foundation, and as a wise master builder, build on the word of God, the house continues on. Because it's based on the word of God, not on the charisma of a speaker. And uh, by the way, we're not building it on my charisma, that's for sure. Amen. You can say amen right there, that won't offend me at all. So notice what he says in verse 14 of Matthew 15, Matthew 15, 14. He says, Let them alone. They be blind, leaders of the blind. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. That was the unjust steward. The unjust steward, he said, the the Lord said to you, When you fail, you better have something planned for yourself. When you fail, you better go make yourself friends of unrighteous mammon. Because I'm putting you out of the stewardship. You're not going to be steward over my word anymore. There's no figs on the fig tree. You still get that or not? The fig tree's not bearing figs. So, what'd he do? Well, he's telling the Pharisees uh you you guys didn't get the job done. In fact, you changed what I gave you to benefit yourself. So you better go out and make yourself friends of unrighteous so they receive you in everlasting habitations. What kind of that? What kind of statement is that? He said, yeah, if you're going to hell, you better make friends because you're going there. You say that's pretty blunt. I know, but that's what he's saying to them. You say you better make friends of unrighteous because you're trying to please men and just might as well make friends with them because you're going to hell too. You say, that's pretty, that's pretty blank. That's pretty, oh yeah, it's it's it's pretty scriptural. Because why? Well, look if you would at Matthew 23. Matthew 23. We'll go back to the parable in just a moment. Look at Matthew 23. Everybody still good? I hope you're getting it. You're saying, I'm still struggling. Good. Matthew 23. Matthew 23, look at verse 5, and let's remind ourselves something. These Pharisees. All their work. They they do for to be seen of men. All their work. They do for to be seen of men. They're not doing it honestly. They're not doing it as unto me. They're doing it to please, and he says, look, you can't please God and man. Sooner or later you've got to make a choice. Now, brethren, the wonderful thing is when we get saved, then we're all pleased in hearing the word of God. But it's hard to say, you know, uh, let's uh let's see if we can join the church and the world. Let's see if we can join the world to the church. God said, no, I want a distinction there. I want a distinction between my church and the world. I want a distinction between the doctrines and the word of God and the clever things out there. Even though the clever things can build organizations. Brethren, think about the organizations that clever things have built. You say, how can they all follow that? It's clever. It has some truth to it. But it's not the word of God. Brethren, if it's clever, then who gets the glory? If it's the word of God, we know who gets the glory. When we think about principles, we think about the word of God. So, with that in mind, notice a little farther and look at Matthew 23. Notice verse 13. This is everlasting habitations. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourself, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. You're not going in, you're going to hell, and you're keeping other people from going in too. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, why? You changed the word of God and you made it into the traditions of men, and traditions of men don't get you to heaven. For ye devours widows' houses, and for a pretense you make a long prayer. For a pretense, like uh take thy bill and write fifty. That's a pretense. What am I trying to do? I'm trying to make friends with you because I've already lost my stewardship. I'm already done. For pretense make long prayer. Uh therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte. And when he is made, you make him two for more of the child of hell than yourself. That's pretty strong. Read that again. Hey, Pharisee, you're you're you're using your own traditions, your own clever sayings. You've manipulated the word of God. And I want you to know when you make your proselyte, he's two for more the child of hell than you are. Which means you're a child of hell, too. Everybody still okay with what I'm saying? I'm trying to be kind, but it is the word of God. Verse 19, ye fools and blind. For whether it's greater the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift. What he's doing now, he starts breaking down what they're emphasizing and saying, you're emphasizing the wrong thing. You're emphasizing the wrong thing. Like verse number 23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithe of mint and knives and common, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. He said to the Pharisees, you know, you don't have good judgment. You haven't exercised mercy, and you're not in faith. You ought to have done those, these things, and left the other undone. What he's saying is, and he finally says in verse number 33, ye serpents, ye generations of vibers, these are the unjust stewards. Now, one more thing before we go back to the parable. Look at Matthew 21, please. Matthew 21. We'll go back to the parable. I'm trying to set a mindset so when you read the parable, it'll make more sense to you. Matthew chapter 21, and I don't have this exhaustive in my mind, but it's getting there. Verse 12. Matthew 21, verse 12. Jesus went into the temple of God, cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves. So let's make sure we understand that if you're kind of new to the Bible. So certain sacrifices were required in the temple, like doves and different animals. So there was a monopoly going on in there. Where they were even saying you got to buy the doves from us, and it was a markup type of thing, and it was to make money, and they did it in the temple. Please listen to me. And it was a money changer thing, and they were uh they were manipulating the people and making a big profit. Come on, is that right? And that wasn't supposed to go on in there. Why are you saying they were manipulating the people? The next verse. He said unto them, It's written, My house shall be called a house of prayer. You have made it a den of what? Thieves. Somebody's taken advantage of somebody because that's what a thief does. A thief, a thief overcharges, a thief steals, a thief takes advantage of. Come on, is that right? So the idea is, he said, you know, my house is supposed to be a house of prayer. And here you are in here come making commerce of this thing. And you're requiring the people, if you would, to do certain things. Uh, and may I say to you, brethren, that uh God said, uh, my house was not intended for what you've made it to be. And you guys are being thieves in here and take advantage of my word. You're unjust stewards, and you're trying to serve mammon. Now, brethren, there's nothing wrong with having money, but that shouldn't be the main objective. Some of that television preaching. I've watched some of it in my hotel room before. Man, oh man, do they twist the word of God to get money? My goodness. I just sit there one time, one night, about 11 at night, listen to somebody preach, and boy, did he twist up the scriptures to get money. And then at the end, the commercial comes on, he's got this prayer wallet that you buy that produces money. God, he said, this will prosper you. And maybe that producing money is a little bit too far-fetched, but you buy this wallet, I've prayed over it, I've anointed it, and God will make you prosperous. And by the way, you need to give this much, you know, that kind of thing. But it's just uh, it's it's some of it's almost a racket. Come on, is that right? You can understand why some of the people that watch that go, no, I'm not going to church if that's the way it is. So, the unjust steward. Let's go back to Luke 16. Please, let's go back to Luke 16, let's read it, and then we're going to get the practical for us. Again, there's one scripture, two scripture in here that kind of throw us off just a little bit. So he says unto his disciples, watch. Verse 1, there was a certain rich man, he's speaking about himself, which had a steward, Pharisees. And the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. So he called unto him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? How is it that I hear you're wasting what I've given you? Give an account of thy stewardship. Tell me what's going on. For thou mayest no longer be no longer steward. He's already put him out, he's already decided. Then the steward said, Within himself, the steward's now talking to himself. What shall I do? For my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship. I cannot dig. To beg, I'm ashamed. Stop right there. There's no repentance. He doesn't say, I'm sorry. I should have been a better steward. He says, Wow, I'm losing my position. I can't dig. To beg I'm ashamed. I gotta do something. There's no repentance. There's no I'm sorry for doing a poor job. Verse 4, I'm resolved what to do. I. I've got it figured out. That when I'm put out of my stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So I've got to set up a plan so they think well of me. What do you mean? I've got to set up a plan where those that I'm supposed to be getting something from think well of me. So he called every one of his lord's debtors. That's who he wants to be thought well of unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? He doesn't even know. He said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. Brethren, he wasn't getting fifty so much for the Lord. He was changing what was owed. He was watering it down, so to speak, because he wanted to be friends with this person it owed, so the friend would later on take care of him. You still with me or not? Then he said another, How much owest? And he said unto hundred measures of wheat, take thy bill, write fourscore. And the Lord commended the unjust service. That's where we got that problem. Because he had done wisely. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, so the Lord says, Make to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness. Now, let's stop there for a moment. That is definite sarcasm. That when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Brethren, the everlasting habitations is not salvation. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And then he says, He that is unjust, the one then, verse number one that wasted. He that is unjust, he that wastes, is unjust also in much. If therefore ye've uh not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit unto you the trust, the your trust, the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot. You cannot. You can't please God and mammon at the same time. You can't be a pleaser of God and serve mankind in such a way where you manipulate the whole thing. Brethren, now, let me make this statement. That's called a hireling. A hireling is an unjust steward. A hireling lasts for a little while, and when things are going wrong and the wolf comes, he flees. He takes care of himself. The shepherd stays. The hireling flees. If you ever studied the hireling, the hireling is all about himself. And brethren the Pharisees were all about themselves and they were hirelings. But our good shepherd, he doesn't flee from us. When the wolf comes, he protects us, he pulls us into his fold. He's not in it for himself, so to speak. He's truly a good shepherd. I gotta tell you, I know we're not Pharisees, but we better be careful with what we do with the Word of God. Because the next thing he says in verse 14, the Pharisees also, who were covetous. So, verse number one through 13 has something to do with covetousness, because the Pharisees were many things, but the Lord decided to put in there that the Pharisees were covetous. Heard these things and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men. You make men think that you're something that you're not. You make men, you guys, make men think you're something but you're not, but I know your hearts. That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Then he goes on to talk about the law and the prophets, which they didn't steward well over. Now, I want you to do this if you would. Look at 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Everybody all right tonight still? And I know it's not exhaustive, and I know there's still probably questions on that. Just read it. You'll you'll you'll we'll we'll get through it a little bit. 1 Corinthians 3. I want to watch our time. 1 Corinthians 3. And I want to make this real practical, and I think we will. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Look at verse 10. Verse 10. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me. Paul says this, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. The foundation is very clear to everybody here. For other foundation can no man lay than that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So the cornerstone is Jesus Christ. When you build a building, the cornerstone, which everything lines up on the cornerstone. Is that right? I don't know much about building, but I know this. When they set the cornerstone, they level it, they square it, they put it in there right because everything's built with that cornerstone in mind. You guys that understand building, you ladies that understand building, you say, What do you build? It doesn't matter what you build, you got to get the first thing laid in there just right. And if you get the first thing laid right, then everything is right and plums on that. Is that right? So Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, he's the foundation, he's the key. But then he says, now we ought to take heed how we build thereupon. We ought to be real careful. As a master builder. Then he says this, verse 12 if any man build upon this foundation, if we build upon this foundation, Jesus Christ, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. Isn't that interesting? Let me give you a practical example. Brother North Carolina, I was thinking about y'all going over to the Bible clubs. Praise the Lord, we're teaching the Bible. And we're laying a foundation with Christ at the center. And we're not trying to manipulate them for show. We really want them to get the word of God. We want the children, and by the way, children are receptive. I know children can be manipulated, but this is not a manipulation program. I've seen how the leaders are built over the years. With Jesus Christ as the foundation. And we're going over into Benson, Arizona, and it's going to be based on the Word of God, and there's devotions with the leaders every morning, there's prayer, realizing that unless God builds it, it won't build and last. And it's not because it's some man-made system. There's a program to it, but it's based on the word of God. Brethren, when it's based on the word of God, now we're talking about gold, silver, precious stones. I think the Pharisees were in the wood, hay, and stubble. Come on, is that right? Why? Because they had the law and the prophets. They just didn't build it right. They had built their own man-made religion that was causing people to go to hell. Is that bad to say it that way? I know you're you're being quiet, but they built a system telling people they were justified and those people were going to hell. There was one that stood and said, uh, a Pharisee, kind of talking to himself, said, I'm glad I'm not like this publican here. I fast twice in a week. I give, I give. You know, I I don't do this, I'm not an extortioner as other men are. That guy didn't justify himself. This publican over here smote his breast and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And then the parable said, which one went away justified? Certainly it wasn't the one who fasted and tithed and wasn't an extortioner. That guy was just full of himself because he prayed with himself. He wasn't praying to God, he was praying within himself. It was a man-made system. Brethren, let's still believe that the word of God works. I still believe people, uh children get saved in junior church. I still people, I still believe that uh teenagers can get saved. We got youth conference coming up, and uh, brethren, we we want to go where the word of God is still preached. It doesn't matter if it's if it's like the what well, don't you understand you gotta be with the times? Brethren, the times is still the word of God, it still works, it still works. You say, I know all that. Well, if we know all that, then I ask you this question: how important is it on a daily basis in our lives? You say, What do you mean? How important is it in a daily basis in our lives? If we really believe it, shouldn't we be in it just a little bit each day? Because it builds businesses, it builds families, it builds marriages, it builds relationships, it'll help you in college. You say, What do you mean it'll help you in college? Read the word of God and you might pass your physics test. That doesn't make any sense. I've seen it prove out. What? God can give you wisdom in your studies. What do you mean, read the word of God and you can pass your physics? I'm just telling you, God can open up all kinds of stuff when the foundation is laid, and then the wise master builder and God says, now let me open that up to you because you're giving God the glory. You know you can't pass this test. You know you can't be an engineer, but I can help you be an engineer. Just make sure I get the glory when it's all done. Make sure you turn around and thank me. Thank me for your salvation and thank me for giving you some intelligence. Give me the glory. Come on, there's nothing wrong with that, is that right? So the idea is that the wise master builder and the and the foundation. Verse 12 again, please. Now, if any man's built upon the foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. I've always been fascinated with that little phrase, and of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he built thereupon, he shall receive reward. If any man shall be any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. It depends on the sort. It depends on what sort it's based on. If it's based on the principles of the Word of God, even though we don't like them all the time, you can't tell me you like everything that comes out of this book. Let me say that again. You say, no, I love it. No, no, you can't tell me you like everything that comes out of this book. Man, this book, this book rebukes us once in a while. It instructs us, it scolds us, it encourages us, it corrects us. And not every correction seems good. Sometimes we scratch our head and go, I don't know if I like that or not. And sometimes, brother, when you agree, we almost say, I don't know if I agree with that or not. And most of the time when we don't agree, it's because we don't understand. It's amazing what you didn't agree with when you're 20, and by the time you're 60, you go, yeah, I agree with that now. What is it? I don't know, but I agree with it because by now I just know whatever God says, that's right. Even the stuff I don't understand, just count it right. What's in that parable? I don't know, but it's a good one. What does it mean? I have no idea, but it's a good one. I get it. I look, I get in the Song of Solomon sometime and I read that and I go, Oh man. I need to get somebody to explain this to me. Who shall teach me this thing? You say, Don't you understand the Song of Solomon? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you do. But it might say, is there's some stuff in there you kind of go, what is that? Where's the Leviathan going? Not in Song of Solomon, but Job. So the idea is there's just certain certain things in the Bible that we still don't understand. But brethren, that doesn't mean we should spit on it. I gotta tell you, the internet can be a wonderful thing, but the internet can be a very wicked thing. The internet can be a wonderful thing, but the internet and the doctrine that's taught on there, some of the stuff is just, I mean, you talk about unjust stewards, and they appear unto men to be righteous. It's a mess. I I just got a I just got a note from a distant country and say, pray for me, Pastor. Uh I just lost a family to so-and-so. Name somebody on the internet that has this internet following that's just got this spirit about it, and and just lost another family to that. And it's an internet following that, you know, the the assembling of ourselves together type of thing, and it's just some uh, please don't take this wrong, it's some guru on there that uses the word of God wrongfully for their own benefit. And uh it just and I know this this particular following has uh has uh reached in different places in the world, and so and so tells, and there's just enough truth in there to draw people in. But man doesn't mess them up. There's just enough truth in there, but boy doesn't mess it up. And it's it's primarily against the local assembly. Man, that bothers me when God, when God's body is messed with, when God's bride is messed with. I still believe in the local church. I really do. More than you know, I believe, and I can see why God has the local assembly and why that's so important. The local assembly, while we can attend, while we're not shut in or we're not able to, or we can still get out, the local assembly is so. So very important. It provokes us to loving good works. It makes us interact with other people. It gets involved, it gets us involved in other people's lives in the right way. It gets us involved in worship and praising God. Come on. Don't tell me. You say, Well, I worship God at home. May I say to you, it's good to get a shot in the arm and come and hear some singing. And come and hear some things that are edified and get around the saints. And here's something where we go, I want to go away and study that. And I don't know if I you may go into this parable tonight and say, I don't know if I quite agree with you. Don't come up and argue with me. Just study it more for yourself. I'm not into arguing tonight. I'm just trying to say, let's approach something and let's be careful about what we do with the Word of God. Because we're going to give account one day. How much of the Word of God did we use? I hope it saturates in our homes, in our families. I hope we're still teaching our children in homes. I hope we're just not relying on the church to teach the children. It's not enough. The word of God has to be in the homes. Come on, would you agree with that? Has to be in the homes. You gotta have it in your homes. It's more important than the TV guide. I guess they don't have TV guides anymore. You know what I'm talking about. So the master building of the whole thing. And then I just want you to look at this scripture and we'll be done. Psalms 127. It's one you already know, but let's just remind ourselves it's in there. Psalms 127. Psalms 127. The word of God, homes, businesses, marriages, relationships. Psalms 127. So let's uh let's remind ourselves, except verse 1, the Lord build the house. They that labor, or they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city. The watchman waketh, but in vain. Isn't that interesting? The house and the city. Except the Lord build the city, or build the house, and except the Lord keep the city. So it's keeping it consistent. It's vain for you to rise up early and sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows. For so he giveth his beloved sleep. Boy, I've quoted that a few times to him. What do you mean you've quoted it to him? Lord, I need that tonight. I need for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Why? Sorrows can keep you awake at night. Do you know what I'm talking about? Stuff on our brains can keep us awake. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of the mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy as the man hath the quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, they shall speak with the enemies in the gates. But the idea is except the Lord build it. Except the Lord keep it. What we're doing is in vain. Brother Scott, uh, we've already decided on Sunday night we're gonna pray for the Bible clubs. Why? We know without prayer what we're doing is vain. What do you mean? We're gonna use the Word of God, but also the prayers of the saints are so important. I think we ought to start tonight. What? Why don't we pray for our homes to be built? Why don't we pray for our church to be built? Why don't we pray for our city to be kept? Why don't we pray for our homes to be kept? Why don't we pray for our houses, our marriages, our relationships to be kept? Because the scripture says he builds it, then he keeps it. He builds it, then he keeps it. Except the Lord build it. They labor in vain that build it, except the Lord keep the city. The watchman waketh, but in vain. We plant what? The seed of the Word of God. How is it watered? It's watered with the Word of God. It's watered with prayer, it's watered with edification. And God makes it grow. How? We don't know. Brethren, I got a good report. My tomatoes are growing. How'd you bring that in? I go out there and watch them grow. You mean literally? Well, not literally, but you know what I'm telling. And I realize they don't grow without God's mechanics of growth. I throw one in the ground, I know it takes dirt, water, and miracle grow. Why do you say miracle grow? If God doesn't grow them, they won't grow. And we're getting the increase. We're not quite there yet, but we're getting there with anticipation. I tell you what's good to see somebody grow. I talked to a person this week, last Sunday morning, they got saved here at our church. Man, were they excited?

unknown 49:07

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

They were excited. You you could just hear the the, I don't know how you say it, but the the bubbliness. Like, oh, I'm just so excited. Oh, oh, I've been studying the word of God. I've been reading. Oh, just, oh, it's just, and it's like, you know, and they're just like, oh, it's like, and I'm thinking, I need to be around that more. And uh I'm going out to see them next week and everything, but they're just so excited. I need to grow in Christ, they said. I said, Where'd you get that terminology from? One of your members already called me. They said, you need to grow in Christ. So, Pastor, I need to grow in Christ. And they were very serious about that. Nobody gets saved without God giving the increase. It's not done on somebody's uh charisma. But praise the Lord, he's still saving souls. And people are still growing. And we ought to rejoice in that increase, and then we should pray for fruit that remains. Why? Fruit that remains gives him glory. And this is all all this is about him getting glory. You say, why'd you mention the tomatoes? We'll make sure we give thanks before we eat those puppies. What do you mean? We'll say thank you, Lord. I want to tell you, I've I've listened to farmers pray before. I've sat at the table. When I was when I was early on, I can remember working for a Christian farmer even before I was saved. And I remember his wife was Christian. And boy, when that farmer prayed, you eat about 11. Why? Because you start at oh dark 30. And so the the farmer's wife has this huge, you don't eat breakfast, you eat before you come to work, like bale and hay or something. You grab something on the way because you're gonna eat 11 o'clock in the morning. That's the main meal. And man, the farmer's wife's spread is like it's a cultural thing. And I mean, there's mounds of food. And everybody gets in there, but I've seen this, I don't know how to say it, this big-handed farmer. This one farmer I remember. His hand wrapped around mine, callused. But when he started praying, he always started with something like this Lord, thank you for the rain. Thank you for the crops. And he'd pray about his crops. Thank you for these provisions. Thank you for this food that you've grown for us. And brethren, almost everything in there was out of the garden. What do you mean? Everything on the table? And you say, Well, what'd you have? Sometimes you have a pig and they butcher butchered it out and did the whole thing out there. Come on, are you still with me or not? I mean, I'm talking about self-sufficient farming back 45 years ago, back in Ohio. And the pig you eating, or the sausage you were eating, or whatever you're eating, they may have made it right there. You say, oh, that's no, no, they knew what they were doing. And it just had a certain flavoring to it. But I remember that old farmer praying one day, and I wasn't even a Christian, but boy, I tell you what, he choked up. Because he knew who gave the increase. And here I am, you know, here I am. That was when I was 14 years old. Here I am at 63 or whatever age I am. And uh, and I still remember that. When we realize who gave the increase in our life, when we realize who's sustaining us, it's worth giving him glory. And we don't want to be unjust in our stewardship.

SPEAKER_00 53:03

Thank you for listening to this message by Pastor Doug Fisher of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, California. To learn more about Lighthouse Baptist Church, visit our website at www.lighthousebaptist.com or call six one nine four six one fifty five sixty one.