I want you to turn—and we want to briefly, and in conclusion, discuss these verses—turn to Luke, the 16^th chapter. I want you to turn there, because I want you to read these words yourself, that we may have a better understanding of the material things of this life. Notice verse 10—notice what Christ said: “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.” Well, somebody says, “What does that mean?” That simply means [that] if I’m not a faithful steward with the little I have, I wouldn’t be a faithful steward if I had much.

Did you ever hear a person talk like this: “You know, if I had fifty million dollars, you know what I would do? I would call these preachers, Brother Dillingham and Brother Watson, together. Then I’d ask the elders to come in. And I’d say to you men, ‘I want you men to select some part of the world to send missionaries. And I’ll support these missionaries for years and years.’ You know, that sounds good, doesn’t it? But, you know what? I don’t have fifty million dollars. But, that’s what I would do if I had fifty millions.” That may be true and it might not be true. The truth about it is [that] if I’m not a faithful steward with the little I have, I would not be a faithful steward of God if I had fifty million dollars! I wouldn’t support missionaries any more than I support missionaries now!

Well, somebody says, “How do you know that?” I know that because Christ said it—“if you’re unjust in a little, you’d be unjust in much; if you’re not a faithful steward in a little, you wouldn’t be a faithful steward with much. So, now you know what you’d do if you had fifty million dollars! You would do with it just exactly what you’re doing with the little you have!” That’s what Christ said about it.

And now, the next statement, in my opinion, is the strongest statement that’s ever been made about money. And someone has said that money is mentioned over fifteen hundred times from Genesis through Revelation. But if it is mentioned fifteen hundred times, I’m sure this is the strongest statement that’s ever been made about it. I want you to listen to what Christ said: “If, therefore, one is not faithful with unrighteous money, who would commit to his trust the true riches?”

Well, somebody says, “What does that mean?” Well, that simply means, if a person’s not a faithful steward with these material things, he’ll be deprived of the true riches of life. But someone may ask, “What are the true riches?” Well, just suppose I should say, “I don’t know”? But there’s one thing I do know. I know if a man is not a faithful steward of God, he’ll be deprived of these true riches. But what are the true riches? Well, I know one thing—they’re not material things. That wouldn’t be the true riches of a life. The true riches of a life would be that deep, spiritual understanding of the Word of God, joy, peace, happiness, [and] contentment that one derives from living the Christian life. And Jesus Christ is saying, if one is unfaithful, he’s going to be deprived of this happiness, this joy, this peace of mind that one should derive in living the Christian life! And I don’t know. Maybe that’s the reason we’ve had so much fussing in the church throughout the years. Maybe that’s one reason we’ve had so much trouble, so much division. Maybe [that’s] because we have so many unhappy people in the church, and they’re unhappy because they’re unfaithful stewards of GOD, because Jesus Chris said [that] the unfaithful steward is going to be deprived of the true riches of life! I repeat—that’s the strongest statement, in my opinion, made about material things anywhere in the Word of God when Jesus Christ said [that] this unfaithful steward is going to be deprived of the true riches of life! That’s powerful teaching, my friend, and Jesus Christ is the One Who did it.

And in the next statement, He says, “If you have not been faithful in that which is another man;s, who should even give you that which is your own?” Well, somebody says, “What does that mean?” Well, let me give an illustration:

An individual rents an apartment. It’s a beautiful apartment—beautiful carpet on the floor; beautiful draperies. The family moves in there, and six months later you visit this family and they’ve spilled gravy and ink all over the carpet. They’ve written on the walls. The drapes are half-way torn down. And this disturbs you to the extent [that] you say, “You ought not to treat this apartment [this way]. This is a nice apartment you have here.” That individual says, “It’s not mine.”

You know what Christ says about a person like that? He doesn’t deserve to have anything. If you don’t respect those things that belong to others, “who should give you that which is your own?” And, of course, the bottom line is, God is the sole OWNER, and if we don’t respect those things that belong to God, they why should we expect to enjoy the true riches of life?

Then, the next verse about the two masters—we’ve already commented on that.

“And the Pharisees, who were covetous….” Now, that’s interesting. Notice that. See, Christ had made this speech, and then it says, “the Pharisees, who were covetous,” heard this speech, and what’d they do? Go up and shake hands with Him? Compliment Him? NO! When they heard this lesson I just read to you, “they derided Him”! They mocked Him. They ridiculed Him—for doing what? Preaching a lesson on GIVING!!

That’s the reason I don’t get upset when some member of the church complains or whines about hearing a lesson on giving, because I always think of the man that Jesus Christ talked about. [In effect, Jesus said,] “I know what’s wrong with you. You’re trying to live the Christian life, and you’re being deprived of the true joys; you’re unhappy; and you’re a potential troublemaker in the Lord’s church!” That’s what Jesus said about the man! So, the Pharisees criticized Jesus for doing what? Preaching on giving.