Music.
My theology has never gone any deeper than
that.
Jesus loves me.
This I know.
Oh, how he loves me.
Oh, how he loves you.
It's enough, isn't it?
Could you turn in your Bibles tonight, please,
to Luke chapter 16.
Luke chapter 16.
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.
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.
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.
I am resolved what to do, that when
I am put out of the stewardship, they
may receive me into their houses.
So he called every one of his lord
debtors unto him, and said unto the first,
How much owest thou unto my lord?
And he said, A hundred measures of oil.
He said unto him, Take thy bill, and
sit down quickly, and write fifty.
Then said he to another, And how much
owest thou?
And he said, A hundred measures of wheat.
And he said unto him, Take thy bill,
and write four score, eighty.
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.
And I say unto you, Make yourselves friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye
fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitation.
He that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much.
He that is unjust in the least is
unjust also in much.
Therefore ye have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust
the true riches?
And if ye 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, for either
he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will hold to the
one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard
all these things, and they derided him.
And he said unto them, Ye are they
which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth
your heart.
For that which is highly esteemed among men
is an abomination to the sight of God."
Before we turn to the passage, I just
want to mention something.
Brother Naismith was speaking this afternoon on reliance
upon the Lord from Matthew 6, verse 19,
and it made me think of an incident.
There was a Christian family, and they had
adopted a policy that mother could sleep in
on Saturday morning.
Dad got up every Saturday morning, and he
made waffles for the boys.
And were they ever good waffles?
Sometimes he served them with pure Vermont maple
syrup.
They were first drowned in butter, and then
Vermont maple syrup.
Sometimes he used blueberry syrup.
Very, very good.
Other times he had crushed strawberries and whipped
cream, and that was an event.
Every Saturday morning, Dad made the waffles.
Now, there's a very interesting thing about the
story.
Those kids never laid up waffles in their
bedrooms.
They never worried about whether they'd have waffles
the next Saturday.
They enjoyed the waffles, but they never hoarded
any of them.
Why?
Because they just believed that Dad would provide
waffles for them next Saturday, and he always
did.
And I really think that's the attitude that
our Father wants us to have, too, don't
you?
That attitude of trust in Him.
Think ye first, the kingdom of God, and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you.
And His waffles are really the best.
Now, would you be surprised if I told
you that the Lord Jesus spoke more about
money than He spoke about faith?
He spoke more about money than He spoke
about prayer.
The Lord Jesus spoke more about money than
He spoke about personal salvation.
In the Gospels, one out of every ten
verses deals with money or possession.
288 verses in all.
In the Bible, there are over 500 references
to prayer, and less than 500 references to
faith, but there are over 2,000 references
to money and possession.
It's a major issue.
There are 38 parables in the Gospel, and
out of those 38, 16 are in regard
to how we handle our money.
That's a shocker, isn't it?
Why did the Lord speak about money so
much?
Because He loved it?
No, not because He loved it.
Because He knew the dangers connected with it,
and also the wonderful ways in which it
could be used.
Now, this is an interesting passage of Scripture
that we read tonight, isn't it?
The other night, we read about the laborers,
and we scratched our heads, and we said,
why is something like that in the Bible?
And really, we come to another passage like
that in Luke 16.
You read a passage like this, and you're
reading about a crook.
You're reading about a shyster.
You're reading about an embezzler.
I can't say very much good about this
character, and yet it says, His Lord, or
the Lord, commended the unjust steward.
What is this?
In the Bible?
A Bible which is always standing for righteousness
and honesty, and doing what is proper?
Once again, as we said the other night,
don't be afraid of difficulties like that in
the Bible.
The Bible is the inspired Word of God,
and if you read it casually, carelessly, you
might run into problems.
I grant that, but if you look carefully
and see what the passage is teaching, you
go away shaking your head and saying, what
a wonderful book.
But that's what I say.
What a wonderful book.
Let's begin at the beginning of chapter 16.
There was a certain man which had a
steward.
A steward.
What is a steward?
Well, it was a manager.
It was one who took care of the
property of this certain rich man.
A steward isn't really noted for what he
himself owns.
His job is to care for somebody else's
money, for somebody else's possession, and the Bible
teaches us unmistakably that we are all stewards
of the Lord.
He's put us down here to be stewards.
He's put us down here to manage his
affairs.
All of a sudden, the owner gets wind
of the fact something that the books aren't
balancing.
His money is being siphoned off.
The steward is dipping his hand in the
drawer and taking some of the money.
He's embezzling.
He's stealing.
He's a cheat.
He's a chiseler.
And so, the owner calls the steward in,
and he said, what's all this all about?
What's this that I hear of you?
The auditors are saying the books don't balance.
There's money missing.
Some of my money is missing.
What is going on here?
He said, I want an accounting.
He said, you're fired, and before you leave,
I want an accounting of what has taken
place.
Now, in the King James Version, it doesn't
sound as if he were finally fired.
It says, thou mayest be no longer steward.
It almost sounds as if there's some doubt.
You may or you may not be steward
any longer.
But, dear friends, it was final.
He got his walking papers that day.
You are fired, and I want an accounting
of this whole matter.
Problem.
Steward says, what am I going to do?
What shall I do?
My lord, take it away from me, the
stewardship.
I cannot dig, and I'm ashamed to beg.
And then a light went on in his
brain, and he said, I know what I'll
do.
I'm determined that when I'm out of a
job, when I'm on the list of the
unemployed, I'll be able to go up and
knock on doors, and they'll say, come on
in.
Glad to see you.
Have a cup of coffee.
Have lunch with us.
That's what he would say.
He looked forward to the time when he
would be unemployed, and he made provisions for
that.
So, he started to call his creditors, his
owners, the owner's creditors in, and he said,
how much do you owe to my master?
He said, I own 100 gallons of oil,
let's say.
What he said, really don't worry too much
about it.
He said, you have the bill there, and
he said, cross out 100, write in 50,
pay for the 50, and we'll call it
even.
Was that all right?
Terrible.
It wasn't his oil.
He had no right to do that.
So, he did it.
He did it.
And so, he called another creditor, and he
said, how much do you owe to my
employer?
And he said, well, I own 100 bushels
of wheat.
And he said, well, don't worry about it.
He said, look, cross out 100, and write
in 80, and pay for the 80, and
we'll call it even.
Now, the shocker is, in that next verse,
it says in the King James, and the
Lord commended the unjust steward, and in other
versions it says, and his Lord commended the
unjust steward, which is right.
It doesn't make a bit of difference which
is right.
It doesn't make any difference whether you read
his employer commended him, or the Lord of
life and glory commended him.
It's equally true in either case.
Because what?
Because he had done wisely.
You say, he did this honestly.
Just hold it.
Just a minute.
Everything will come out all right.
He commended him because he had done wisely.
What?
For the children of this age are wiser
in their generation than the children of life.
There are two keys to understanding this difficult
portion of If you put these two keys
in the door, it'll open every time.
The first key is this.
The Lord, or his Lord, doesn't make any
difference, didn't commend him for his dishonesty.
He commended him for his foresight.
He commended him for looking to his future.
He commended him for providing for his future.
When I'm out of a job, I'm going
to have a lot of doors swinging open
to me.
I'm going to have a lot of friends,
the predators, that he had reduced their bills.
Remember that he was not commended for his
dishonesty.
He was not commended for his crookedness.
He was commended for looking forward and making
provision for his future.
F-U-T-U-R-E.
Very important, that word.
The second key is this.
The child of God's future is never said
to be in this life.
Our future is in heaven, and what the
passages say, the children of this world are
wise.
They make provision for their future in this
world.
The only future they have to look forward
to.
Christians aren't wise.
We don't make provision for our future in
the world to come.
Oh, yes, we make provision for our salvation,
but that's not what this passage is about,
and you must keep that in mind.
Let me just go over that once again.
The two keys that open up the passage.
The man was not commended for his dishonesty.
He was commended for looking forward and making
provision for his future.
Secondly, our future is not in this world.
His future was in this world.
Our future is not in this world.
It's in heaven.
Now, the Lord really brings it all together
in verse 9, where he says, And I
say unto you, make friends to yourselves of
the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail,
they may receive you into everlasting habitation.
Let's go over that slowly, because this is
really the crux of the matter.
First of all, the mammon of unrighteousness.
What is the mammon of unrighteousness?
I am holding in my hand some of
the mammon of unrighteousness.
It's money.
Why is it called the mammon of unrighteousness?
I don't know.
Maybe because money is so often used for
unrighteous purposes.
It doesn't have to be.
Money can often be used for very righteous
purposes, but it very often is used for
unrighteous purposes.
I think, again, of the 30 pieces of
silver that were used in the betrayal of
our Lord.
But the Lord is saying, although it's the
mammon of unrighteousness, which we call sometimes filthy
lucre, and although it's often used for unrighteous
purposes, it doesn't have to be, you can
make friends to yourselves of the mammon of
unrighteousness.
What does that mean?
Well, it's a wonderful thing that these coins
that I hold in my hand tonight, by
a wonderful chemistry, for instance, they can be
chained into gospel literature.
Is that wonderful?
You can invest money in gospel, in bible,
new testaments, tract, Christian literature, distribute these, and
see souls saved for eternity.
Those are friends.
What a vision!
Well, I never thought of that.
Well, that's what the passage is teaching.
Make friends to yourselves of the mammon of
unrighteousness.
Invest your money in the work of the
Lord so that people will be saved through
your wise financial management.
That's what the passage is saying.
Then it goes on to say, so that
make friends to yourselves of the mammon of
unrighteousness, that when ye fail, what does that
mean?
It means when you die.
Or, if you have a modern version of
the bible, it probably says that when it
fails, what does that mean?
It means when the money fails, when money
no longer has any value, and it both
happens at the same time.
Did you ever think of that?
When you die, your money ceases to have
any value for you.
It will not be put in your casket,
and even if it were, it wouldn't do
you any good.
So, read it either way.
That's the wonderful thing about this passage, so
that when you fail, when you die, or
when your money fails, which happens at the
same time, they may receive you into everlasting
habitation.
Who's the they?
Well, the they refers back to the friends,
doesn't it?
You've used your money to make friends by
means of the mammon of unrighteousness, and you
die, and you've got friends in heaven.
The poet said it well.
He said, and when in the mansions above
the saved all around me appear, I want
to hear somebody saying it was you who
invited me here.
That's lovely, isn't it?
What a vision!
You know, I often think it's a wonderful
thing to be a messenger of mercy to
people as far as their bodies are concerned,
as far as their teeth are concerned, helping
people in sickness and distress in life, ministering
to the body.
But, I know something even more wonderful, that's
ministering their souls.
I think it's a marvelous vision to think
that you and I can be used to
do a work in human souls that will
go on for all eternity, and that's what
this is talking about.
Make friends to yourself by means of the
mammon of unrighteousness, so that when you fail,
they may receive you into everlasting habitation.
Harold Wilde used to tell about a distinguished
English gentleman who was reaching his 80th birthday,
and his family decided to do something special
for Dad on his 80th birthday, and they
wanted to get a special gift for him,
too, on that illustrious date.
But, what do you get for a man
that's 80?
You know, I mean, his needs were supplied.
They lived a fairly affluent life, and the
sons and the daughters, they just racked their
brains to find out what to get for
Dad, and they just couldn't think of anything.
Well, it was supposed to be a surprise,
but they gave up on the surprise feature,
and they went to him, and they said,
Dan, your 80th birthday's coming up.
We really want to commemorate it.
We really want to do it upright, and
they said, we want to get a nice
gift for you.
What would you really like on your 80th
birthday?
And, he thought for a while, and he
said, I would like to see a portion
of the word of God going into a
language it's never been in before.
Well, that wasn't exactly what they had in
mind.
I think they thought maybe an electric razor,
or something like that, but that's what he
said.
And so, they thought, well, we'd better be
good sports about it, and they went down
to the Bible Society, and they told about
this quaint request of their father.
And, the Bible Society said, well, that's an
interesting thing.
They said, we're just about to put the
Gospel of John into an African dialect it's
never been in before.
And, with some trepidation, the sons and daughters
said, how much would that cost?
And, the Bible Society told them how much
it was really more than they had been
planning to spend for an electric razor.
But, they thought, well, we'd better be good
sports about it, you know.
And so, they started to collect the money.
And, on his birthday, that was the presentation.
Not that it was finished by then, but
that was a presentation that this money from
his family would go to put the Gospel
of John into a dialect that had never
been in before.
Now, project yourself forward a hundred years.
Dad, of course, is in heaven.
He's been in heaven a long time.
One day, he's walking down the streets of
glory, and he sees a brother in Christ
coming the other way.
And, they talk together without being introduced.
You don't have to be introduced in heaven.
There are no strangers in heaven.
And, Dad says to him, well, where did
you come from?
We said, I came from Africa.
He said, well, how did you ever get
here?
The man said, I'd like to tell you
how I got here.
He said, somebody really cared for us.
He said, we were there living in darkest
Africa.
And, he said, somebody was interested enough to
get the Gospel of John into our language.
And, he said, I'll never forget the day
that shipment came, he said.
He said, I could read.
And, he said, I read the Gospel of
John.
It was distributed.
I read the Gospel of John, the sweet
story of God's love.
And, he said, I bowed at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I acknowledged
him as my Lord and my Savior.
How do you think Dad felt?
He had a friend in heaven, through the
wise investment of his funds, through the wise
use of a birthday gift, he had a
friend in heaven.
That's what this verse is saying, isn't it?
Make friends to yourself by means of the
mammon of unrighteousness, that when it fails, they,
the friends, may receive you into everlasting habitation.
I think it's silly to think of the
child of God going up, up, up to
heaven, and he gets close to heaven, and
over the ramparts of heaven there are people
looking eagerly, waiting to welcome him home, because
he was the one who invited them there.
What a vision!
Dear friends, my training in life was in
investment banking.
It really was.
How to invest money so that your principle
is safe, and your income is satisfactory.
Well, I want to tell you, I found
the best investment in all the world.
That's investing material things in the souls of
men.
The principle is absolutely safe for eternity, and
there's no income, there's no rate of interest
quite like it.
It really is wonderful.
I thank God for the Christian men and
women who have this vision, and who are
living sacrificially for the spread of the gospel,
so that they'll have a welcoming community in
heaven.
Maybe I should pause here and just share
with you some little guidelines that we might
use in connection with our giving to the
work of the Lord.
I don't press these on you, I just
use them as guidelines that I myself follow,
and hoping that they might be of help
to you.
First of all, I like to give especially
to those who are working in accordance with
New Testament principles, building and strengthening New Testament
assemblies.
I feel I have a prior obligation to
them.
Let me say that again.
A prior obligation to those who are building
New Testament assemblies, strengthening New Testament assemblies, working
in accordance with New Testament principles.
Secondly, I like to give to those who've
gone out looking to the Lord alone for
the supply of their needs.
I don't know about you, but my mail
is filled with begging letters, and I have
a special file for them, and it's round.
I do not care for that whole business
of begging, begging, begging.
I like to feel a responsibility toward those
who look to the Lord for the supply
of their needs.
I feel obligated to them.
I think it's a nice thing, three, to
remember those who are going out for the
first time.
The first year in the work of the
Lord can be sometimes a little bit lean,
which is good.
I'm not opposed to that, but it's good
to think of those.
You read Missions Magazine, for instance, and you
read about young people, and incidentally, there's a
real moving of the Spirit of God among
young people today.
I wish I had the time to stand
here tonight and tell you some of the
wonderful things that God is doing among young
people, and brothers at CMML will tell you
that.
There's a movement of young people out to
the mission field.
Hearts ablaze for Jesus.
I think it's nice to keep track of
them and remember them during that first year.
Good idea.
I like to invest in works that are
accomplishing something for God.
I really do, and this is true all
over the world.
I like to give where the need is
greatest, and, of course, I like to give
where there's not a lot of money spent
on overhead.
You know, many Christian organizations today, they talk
about the orphans, and they talk about the
anti-communist activities, and all of this, but
when the truth is known, an awful lot
of their money is spent right here in
the United States on luxurious buildings, or glossy
brochures, and all the rest.
Watch out for heavy overhead.
I personally don't want to be investing in
that.
Somebody might say to me, should I give
anonymously?
Well, it's a very good thing to give
anonymously, but I just, I think it's a
good idea to send, for instance, if you're
sending to a missionary, send the first time
and give your name and address.
What?
You get on their mailing their prayer letters.
You can keep up with them by prayer,
intelligently, and then from then on give anonymously,
not letting your right hand know what your
left hand is doing.
I suppose most of us here today are
familiar with forwarding agencies, but I'm not sure
we appreciate them as much as we should.
CMML.
You can send money to missionaries of your
choice going out establishing new tents and assemblies,
and CMML sends the entire amount to that
missionary.
Most mission boards don't.
Most mission boards deduct a portion for office
expenses.
Most mission boards, when they drive a missionary
to the airport, he pays the charge for
that.
CMML doesn't.
Our missionaries are really taken care of, and
one of the mysteries of the 20th century
is where all that money comes from.
But, I think you and I know that
some brothers are dipping in their own pockets
to make it possible for that type of
work to go on.
You can write, you can send gifts through
Christian missions in many lands, you can specify
to whom it goes, or if you don't
know, if you're not aware of the needs,
you can let them make the distribution.
They will make it, and the whole amount
will go out to the mission field, and
you will get an income, a tax, a
receipt that's valid for tax purposes.
In this country, you can send, for workers
in this country, especially pioneer workers in the
United States and Canada, you can send it
through letters of interest.
Once again, they forward the whole amount.
They don't deduct anything for office expenses or
overhead, and I'd just like to say this.
Men going out in this country to establish
new assemblies, to do pioneer work, are largely
forgotten by the church.
That's quite an indictment, but it's really true.
They're largely forgotten by the church.
You can also send through Christian workers' fellowship
in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Same thing.
Forward the whole gift.
They'll make no deduction.
Our Workers Together, which is a missionary service
organization with sisters, are carrying on.
So, I just mentioned those things.
They might be of practical help to someone,
but the basic thing is make yourselves friends
of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye
fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitation.
Let's look on.
It says in verse 10, and I smile
when I read these verses.
They're so beautiful.
He that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much.
Now, question.
What is that which is least?
The mammon of unrighteousness.
That's not what most people think.
Most people think the mammon of unrighteousness is
that which is most, but I like the
value that God puts on it, and he's
saying here, look, I allow a certain amount
of money to pass through your hands, and
I stand back and I watch how you
handle it, and if I see you faithful
in that which is least, then I know
I can commit greater things to your care.
What kind of things?
Spiritual things.
Did you ever think, is it possible that
my understanding of the scriptures might be related
in some respect to how faithful I am
in in handling money?
That really searches my heart.
The way I handle money might have something
to do with how passages of scripture blossom
open to me like a rose.
He that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much.
He that is unrighteous in the least is
unjust in much.
If God sees me squandering this on self,
on selfish pleasures, he says, well, if I
can't trust him in that, I can't trust
him with to be a steward of the
manifold grace of God, ministering the grace of
God to others.
Notice, if you have not been faithful in
the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your
trust the true riches?
Mammon isn't true riches.
Soul prosperity is the best prosperity, isn't it?
Sure, soul prosperity is the best prosperity, and
God says, if you haven't been faithful in
handling money, how can I commit to you
true riches?
What are the true riches?
Well, I think they're spiritual treasures and rewards
at the judgment seat of Christ.
It'll all come out in that day, and
if you have not been faithful in that
which is another's not another man's, another's whose?
God's.
If you have not been faithful in that
which is another's, who will give you that
which is your own?
What's your own?
What you take to heaven with you.
What are you going to take to heaven
with you?
Well, the nation that was speaking in that
verse, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through and steal.
Where your treasure is, there will your heart
be also.
We don't take a lot to heaven, but
we take souls to heaven, don't we?
We take friends to heaven, we take Christian
character to heaven, and we'll have rewards in
heaven as a result of faithful stewardship.
Verse 13, 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 serve God and man.
What does that mean?
It means I either love God and hate
money, or I hate money and love God.
And it's a great thing to be able
to hate money.
Once again, it's a comparative.
I know that.
The same comparative you have in connection with
hating father and mother, wife and children, and
so forth.
It means that you love God so much
that your attitude toward money is hatred by
comparison, but you still value it because of
what you can do with it in the
service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, wouldn't you know it?
The Pharisees, the Pharisees who were lovers of
money, heard all these things, and they scoffed
at him.
You know, and people are still scoffing at
the teachings of the Lord Jesus.
They love money so much they say, well
he and his followers want to follow that
kind of a philosophy, let them do it,
but we're going to get just a little
of the roots of all evil, and we'll
grow the rest ourselves.
It's the attitude.
Can't you see that?
Can't you see the Pharisees scoffing at the
Lord Jesus because of these wonderful teachings?
Shows you the value that they put on
the mammon of unrighteousness, and the value they
put on human souls, not very much.
And Jesus' answer is wonderful.
He says, you are they who justify yourselves
before men, but God knows your heart.
That which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination to the sight of God.
What's highly esteemed among men?
Mammon of unrighteousness.
What does God think about it?
Abomination, except when it's used for the souls
of men.
What a wonderful passage of Scripture, isn't it?
What a vision to put before us.
I wish I could convey to some of
our young people the joy of Christian stewardship.
Years ago I was out in Hong Kong,
and I got a letter from a young
brother in Colorado Springs, and he enclosed a
hundred dollars, not for me, but for the
work of the Lord.
And he said, would you see if you
can put this to work for the Lord?
Well, I was staying with a man named
Michael Brown at that time in Hong Kong,
and I said to him, Michael, is it
ever possible to get money into the believers
in China?
And he said, well, he said, I wouldn't
say it's impossible, he said, but it would
take some time.
So, when I left, I left a hundred
dollars with him, and I said, see what
you can do with it from a young
brother in Colorado Springs.
By the time I got back to the
United States, that young brother had heard from
Michael Brown.
The money got in to needy saints in
China, and some of it got in to
the widow of Watchman Lee.
Some of you know that Watchman Lee was
a dear Chinese brother who spent, well, most
of the closing years of his life in
prison.
He died in prison in communist China.
And here's a young brother in Colorado Springs,
and he made friends of the mammoth of
unrighteousness, and some of that money got in
to Mrs. Watchman Lee.
And when I got back, that fellow was
so happy that he had spent that money
on anything material.
He would never have got the same happiness
out of it.
One time I was speaking down in Crown
Point, Indiana.
I was speaking on how Jesus multiplied the
loaves and the fishes, and I said, you
know, he's still doing it today.
He's not doing it by Blue Galilee, but
he's still multiplying the loaves and the fishes.
And, you know, a young fellow came up
to me.
He was a student in high school, and
he gave me a sizable gift.
I was really astounded that any high school
student would have that much money.
I never had it when I was in
high school.
But anyway, I went back home, and I
was with Emmaus at that time, and I
started figuring how many copies of What the
Bible Teaches, the correspondence course, that would reach,
the money he gave.
And it wasn't hard to see that cheap
editions of What the Bible Teaches overseas could
reach 5,000 people.
And I wrote him that.
I sent him the statistics, and told him
that, you know, you don't limit it to
one person.
More than one person in some of those
villages read what's sent to them.
Or, one fellow who can read sits down
and reads it to a bunch of people
who can't read sitting around.
More than 5,000 people as a result
of his gift.
God is still multiplying the loaves and the
fishes, and it's a wonderful vision.
And so, that's the thought I'd like to
leave with you tonight.
Make to yourselves, friends, of the mammon of
unrighteousness, that when it fails, they may receive
you into everlasting habitations.
When in the mansions above, the saved all
around me appear, I want to hear somebody
saying, it was you who invited me here.
Shall we pray?
Father, we thank you that you've deigned to
make us stewards of yours.
What a dignity!
What a privilege!
We don't want to be like this steward
in the Bible who was a cheat, a
chiseler, a imbezzler, a crook.
But, we'd want to imitate him in this,
that he looked forward to his future, and
made friends for himself, for his future here
on earth.
That our future is in heaven, Lord.
We want to look forward beyond this veil
of tears.
We want to look forward to the time
when we're going to be there at the
feet of Jesus, and when others will crowd
around, and be able to say, thank you
very much.
Thank you very much for investing your money
in the work of the Lord.
Make this real in our lives.
Blessed Lord Jesus, we ask in your precious
name.
Amen.