1. I am going to speak this morning on principles of Christian stewardship.
2. A steward is a servant in charge of property belonging to his master. For example, we see in Genesis 15:2 that Eliezer was the steward in charge of Abraham's house.
3. First Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
4. Strictly speaking, stewardship covers more than just money, though the parable of the unjust steward here in Luke 16 deals with money.
5. We will all have to give an account to God with what we do with our time as well as our treasure (cf. Luke 16:2).

I. WE WILL HAVE TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT TO GOD

1. In this parable of the unjust steward, the "certain rich man" represents God (Luke 16:1), and the steward represents you and me (16:1, 2).
2. In I Chronicles 29:14, King David prayed and he said to God, "For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee."
3. This is the basis of stewardship. All things come from God, and some day, the Lord will say to you and to me, "Give an account of thy stewardship" (16:2).
4. You will notice in verse 1 that this parable was addressed to our Lord's disciples. Stewardship is part of discipleship.
5. The parables in the previous chapter were addressed to the Pharisees and scribes (15:1-3). These parables deal with repentance and salvation (15:7-10, etc.).
6. We should preach repentance and salvation to lost sinners, and we should preach stewardship to disciples.
7. But though our Lord was speaking to His disciples, the Pharisees were listening and they were paying attention (cf. 16:13, 14).
8. The steward was accused of wasting his master's goods (16:1). The word "wasted" is also used in Luke 15:13, where our Lord said the prodigal son "wasted his substance with riotous living."
9. Very few Christians are guilty of wasting their substance with riotous living, but many Christians are guilty of wasting the Lord's money.
10. They spend God's money on worldly things, instead of things of eternal value. They become materialistic and covetous (cf. 16:14).
11. Our Lord said in Matthew 16:19-21, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
12. As stewards, some day we will have to give an account to God.
13. Furthermore, many Christians waste precious time. Stewardship involves more than money.
14. One preacher said this, "The principle of tithing is timeless. It is for every man in every age and dispensation. It was neither instituted by the dispensation of law nor terminated by the dispensation of grace. It was neither given by Moses nor abrogated by Jesus Christ. Tithing was both incorporated into the Law of Moses and into the New Testament Church. The principle of the Sabbath is similar to that of tithing.
15. "The Sabbath was given by God and practiced by man from the Creation. In every age God has demanded one-seventh of man's time. This timeless principle was not first given with the Law of Moses. It was, however, incorporated into that Law. The wording of the fourth commandment reminds us of this: 'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy' (Exodus 20:8). Later, this same principle of one day in seven was by common consent adopted by the New Testament church.
16. "The Lord's day and the Lord's tithe stand or fall together. The New Testament assumes that all enlightened and obedient Christians will both set aside at least one-seventh of their time and one-tenth of their income for the Lord.
17. "Yes, thank God, we 'are not under the law, but under grace' (Romans 6:14); therefore the giving of our money and time is no longer a matter of legality and bondage, but rather of privilege and joyful experience" -- Tom Rees (cited by Stephen Olford, The Grace of Giving).

II. THE DAY OF RECKONING

1. This steward was not doing a good job. He was losing money for his master either by incompetence or by stealing, or both.
2. Finally his day of reckoning came (16:1, 2). Some day your day of reckoning will come. And so will mine.
3. Romans 14:12 says, "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
4. This steward realized he was in big trouble (Luke 16:3). It seemed to him that he had only two options, and he did not like either option: hard, manual labor ("I cannot dig"), or begging, which he would find humiliating -- "I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed" (16:3).
5. Today, the government has taken the shame out of begging. But it used to be considered shameful.
6. So he came up with an idea -- he figured out a scheme by which he could win friends who would then show kindness to him when he was in need (16:4).
7. His plan was plainly dishonest (16:5-7). These customers owed money to the rich man but rather than collect the full amount, he settled for a smaller amount.
8. The first debtor paid only half of what he owed (16:5, 6), and the second debtor paid only 80 cents on the dollar (16:7).
9. The certain rich man did not commend his steward because he was unjust in the way he handled his master's money (Luke 16:8).
10. He commended him for his shrewd foresight and his prudence. He commended him for his sagacity and wisdom (16:8).
11. In this parable, our Lord is contrasting the shrewdness of worldly people with the thoughtlessness of God's people (16:8).
12. Our Lord did not say that worldly people are wiser than godly people (16:8). Proverbs 15:24 says, "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath."
13. But sinners do not have any interest in the way of life. They are on the broad way, that leads to destruction.
14. Our Lord said, "For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light" (16:8b).
15. "In their generation" they are wiser. They are wise when it comes to business in this world, but they do not act wisely when it comes to the world to come. They do not give that any serious thought.

III. WE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN GOD AND MAMMON

1. If God is to be chosen over mammon (16:13), why did our Lord say in verse 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"?
2. "Everlasting habitations" refers to heaven. Some day we will leave this world and we will no longer have any need for money. But those who we led to Christ will receive us into everlasting habitations.
3. There are people all over the USA who I led to Christ, and many of them still stay in touch. Some have gone on to heaven. They will receive me into "everlasting habitations" when I get to heaven!
4. Our Lord's point was that worldly people use material wealth to prepare for their earthly future, and we should use it to prepare for our eternal future.
5. That is why our Lord said, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20).
6. Our Lord called money "the mammon of unrighteousness" (16:9) because it is characteristically used for worldly purposes, for things that do not bring glory to God.
7. But money itself is not evil or unrighteous. It is the love of money that "is the root of all evil" (I Timothy 6:9, 10).
8. A.T. Pierson compared mammon with the golden calf that was made out of the ear-rings and jewels of the backslidden Israelites. He said, "The golden calf may in turn be melted down and coined into Bibles, churches, books, tracts, and even souls of men" (The Fundamentals; italics in original).
9. We are instructed by our Lord to make friends of (or "by means of") the mammon of unrighteousness (16:9). We should carefully use our money and other resources in such a way as to win souls for Christ, and thus form friendships that will endure throughout all eternity.
10. We are investing in God's work when we support missionaries.
11. We are investing in God's work when we distribute Bibles and Gospel tracts.
12. We are investing in God's work when we and teach and preach the Gospel in our pulpit, in our Sunday School, and throughout the community.
13. With this investment in God's work, souls are saved and we are laying up treasure in heaven.
14. A.T. Pierson said, "Our Lord's teachings as to money gifts, if obeyed, would forever banish all limitations on church work and all concern about supplies."
15. He was right about that, but many Christians do not obey our Lord's teachings (cf. Luke 6:38).
16. Our Lord said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35), but many Christians have this backwards!
17. In man's estimation, money is the most important thing to have. But according to the Bible, it is of "least" importance. It is not as important as "the true riches" (Luke 16:10, 11).
18. If God cannot trust us with that which is "least," then He cannot trust us with "the true riches."
19. The value of money is only temporal. The value of the true riches is eternal.
20. "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" (Luke 16:13).
21. It is impossible to serve both God and mammon (money). Colossians 3:5 says covetousness is idolatry. Money is the number one idol in America today.
22. The Pharisees were covetous. God saw into their hearts and said what he saw was an "abomination" (Luke 16:14, 15).

CONCLUSION:

1. A recent news article reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is worth $25 billion.
2. The gain puts Mayor Bloomberg at Number 10 on the Forbes list of wealthy Americans. He is what our Lord referred to in Luke 16:8 as one of "the children of this world."
3. Recently Mr. Bloomberg gave a speech about his commitment to outlawing large sugary sodas and said, "I just spent roughly $600 million of my own money to try to stop the scourge of tobacco, and I'm looking for another cause."
4. In other words, Mr. Bloomberg believes so strongly in the dangers of tobacco and soda pop that he has already spent $600 million, and he is willing to spend more.
5. We say we believe the Bible. The Bible says people without Christ will spend eternity in hell.
6. That is far more dangerous than tobacco and soda pop!
7. Mr. Bloomberg and "the children of this world" invest their money for what they believe is right.
8. Do you?