What the Bible says about Wealth, Lesson 6
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI8m–6nN-A
What the bible says about wealth
Lesson 6
Text: Luke 12:16-21, 16:1-13,
Intro: In this lesson we are going to take a look at a few of the parables of Jesus, and see what He had to say about wealth. I have only chosen 3 of them for this sample, for a variety of reasons. The primary one being that the intent of a parable is to make a simple spiritual truth. That is not saying that we cannot extract other things out of it, yet it does mean we should proceed with caution. We have spoke about how the claim has been made that Jesus spoke about money more than any other subject, this is true only in the aspect, that he used money/ wealth as a medium to present a deeper spiritual truth. He used the idea of wealth in order to connect to people, and to draw parallels to help the individual connect the physical and the spiritual. More often than not, the wealth spoken of was just parts of the story to help catch the attention. An example for us today would be Emril, how every so often he would shout, BAM, then add season. The point is not the BAM, but the seasoning.
Intro: in this lesson we begin with the words of Christ, and what He said about wealth. I think it is important for us to see Jesus as the man Christ as well, and see the life He had, to help us see the Actions and attitude of Christ in the proper light:
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Jesus was born to a poor family- we know this because of the offering they gave at His birth, See Luke 2:24
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Jesus earthly raising was to a carpenter- manual laborer, not part of an elite class
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By the time Jesus was an adult, His family was well off enough to be part of a large marriage feast,
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In His public ministry, Jesus treated all men as equals, staying with the poor as well as the rich.
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Even in the men he chose:
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Andrew, Peter, James, and John were fishermen, middle class
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Matthew was a tax collector, upper class
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Simon was a Zealot- that is someone who engaged in political anarchy, probably poor.
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The others we don’t know much about,
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however the manner which Jesus chose these men was not according to any economical status.
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We life in a day where people want to engage in class warfare, and there has always been the haves and the have not’s. Jesus even said, the poor you will always have. Yet Jesus did not live His life in any aspect engaging, of partaking of that lifestyle. Jesus would speak to wealthy, and poor with the same intensity, and focus on the eternal more than the temporary.
That being said, we are going to look at two parables of Christ, and extrapolate form them what we can from the words of Jesus.
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The Parable of The Rich Fool,
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Luke 12:16-21 “And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. ”
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The Simple Lesson,
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looking at this parable, if we apply the basic hermunics we must ask the question, what is the simple reason for this parable?
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One question we must ask is: What prompted Jesus to speak this parable,
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if you would read vs.13,14,&15, you see that a person in the crowd came to Jesus, and ask Him “speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me”
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So this is the catilist of the conversation.
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The next question is, what did the original hearers hear?
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When one trims away all the details, the message is this: there are far more important things to be concerned with that wealth.
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Wealth is a physical matter, but spiritual matters are far more important.
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But looking closer into it…
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The I’s Of Wealth,
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vs.17, he thought withing himself….
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in three verses, the man used I, 6 times, and my 5 times, before concluding:
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vs. 19 “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”
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Remember one of the lessons form the Old Testament, All wealth comes from God.
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Deuteronomy 8:18,
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and the warning surrounding that was when you are full, and blessed, do not forget that it was God that enabled it.
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In the verses here, the man never acknowledges God as having provide it, neither did he realize that it belongs to God.
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Notice vs.16, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully”
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how much of that was the man? Yes he had to plant the seeds, prepare the ground, but at the end of the day, the harvest is God’s. The rain, the sun, the ability to transform from a seed to produce…
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We must do our part, yet in the large scheme of things, it is small in comparison to the work of God.
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The Certainty of Death,
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Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
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James 4:13&14 “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapourur, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
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what is this? No man has the promise of tomorrow.
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And no matter how grand our plans, when it is time to answer for our life, then we will have to give account, no matter how much more we wanted to do.
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Wealth will Always be Transferred,
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someone else will one day have all we have, land, cloths, money,
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it may go on to our children, or it may go to the government, to pay bills,…
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we don’t know. But what we do know is there will be none of that traveling with us.
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Final Point,
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Vs.21 “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. ”
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There are far more important things to occupy our minds that that of accumulating wealth.
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The Parable of the Unjust Steward,
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Luke 16:1-13 “And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 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. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. ”
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The Simple Lesson:
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What compelled Jesus to give this parable?
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It was during a teaching session, giving many different parables at once, to a crowd.
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But notice that in the crowd were people form all different walks of life,
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What did the original hearers hear?
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OK, there are a couple of main takeaways form this parable,
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first notice vs.3&4, the steward knew he was about to loose his job, and admits, I can’t dig ditches, and I wont beg, what can I do?
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So he devised a plan, I will give a deal to all that owe my master, and when he fires me, I can go to them and depend on them to help me our.
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Effectively he was making friends with the debtors, in order to make his own life more comfortable.
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Now contrast vs.8 “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light”
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the children of this world- the lost,
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the children of light- the saved
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Unbelievers are wiser in the things of this world than believers are about the things of the world to come
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the second point is that of Loyalty,
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who are you loyal to, the master, of your own concerns?
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The steward here saw the masters resources as a means for his own personal enjoyment and advancement.
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Again we should ask if this is consistent with the other words of Jesus, especially the ones surrounding this parable,
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following them in order, in Luke 15, there is 3 parables:
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the lost sheep- leaving the 99, and seeking the one
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the lost coin- turning the house upside down to find it,
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the lost son-
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Luke 15:2 is the reason for these parables in ch.15 “And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them ”
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Jesus uses these three parables to point out how they were joyous at the physical returning, they rejoiced over the sheep and the coin, but then the son, the older son represents the pharisees, how they were angry that the father gladly received his son back.
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They should have been glad they got the soul back. But they were more interested in the temporary, than the eternal.
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Then we have this parable, where the lord, lets the steward know, in the worlds eyes you are wise, taking care of yourself.
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vs.9, he points out, that he had made provision that when he fell, there was a place for him.
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This is not saying his actions were good, rather that in the worlds short shortsightedness it was wise in their eyes.
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However, he was not found faithful, and could not be trusted, even by the ones that would take him in, if he did this to this lord, then he would to others, he would put himself first.
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The next statements of Jesus are:
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Luke 16:14&15 “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15 And he said unto them, 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.”
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then Jesus drives the point home, you want to appear wise in the eyes of man, but God knows the true nature of your heart,
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that which men esteem (wisdom, cunning, self-preservation), is an abomination to God…
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Consuming on our own lust,
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the lesson here of the unjust steward is this, he wasted his masters resources,
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it doesn’t tell us what he did with them, but, he didn’t use them properly.
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We should remember that we are stewards of the resources of God,
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we will be held accountable of how we use them.
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Instead of protecting them and utilizing them for the proper things, he made sure his own needs and wants were meet.
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The 100 measures of oil would equal about 500 gallons,
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to let him have half off was 250 gallons, that is about as much as 12 trees could produce, that’s a lot.
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Think of the kickback the steward was expecting.
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Again, cutting the wheat back by 40%, also expecting a huge kick back.
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But the problem is, even if you went to work for the one who owed the oil, could he ever trust you?
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This is the next point, when one has a loyalty only to themselves, they will do what ever is needed to ensure that that one is taken care of.
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Note here, that Jesus is not saying this person is good, He is pointing out, that in the eyes of the world, this was a smart move.
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Also notice here, the final statement is God and Mammon, the metaphor mammon is used in place of self, and selfishness.
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You can not serve God and selfishness at the same time.
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