Closer - "Eternity is Closer Than You Think" - Luke 16:1-13 - Tim Nay

LifeSpring Christian Church Sermons

Eternity is Closer Than You Think
Luke 16:1-13
Tim Nay

Part of Closer - A Study in Luke

April 21, 2024

Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. —James 4:13-14

Retelling of Luke 16:1-13 story:

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ —Luke 16:1-2

We’ve all mismanaged what God has entrusted to us.

We will all give an account to God.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.Do Not Cause Another to Stumble
13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. —Romans 14:10-133 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ —Luke 16:3-7

It’s not too late to improve on how we steward God’s possessions.

-shrewd = prudent=showing care and throught for the future; astute

8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. —Luke 16:8-9

-steward = “manages things that belong to someone else”

10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will 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 he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” —Luke 16:10-13

When we are faithful with worldly possessions we can be entrusted with true riches

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. —Luke 16:14-15

How to know if you are a Lover of Money:

Takeaway:

I will give an account of how I managed God’s possessions entrusted to me.

How will I use my current situation to prepare for the future?