There are many people today who have an investment portfolio, or at least something set aside for future security. Today on Truth for Life we'll consider what Jesus advises us to invest in now, not just to prepare for retirement, but to have true riches for eternity. Alastair Begg is teaching from the opening verses in Luke chapter sixteen. Jesus makes this observation. The people of the world in their normal everyday routine Are often far more shrewd in dealing with things.
than are the children. of the light. In reading a commentary that goes back at least 150 years from Scotland. The commentator said that there were four key areas in which he could see indications of this fact. I want just to mention them to you again as we proceed to the point of application.
In what way are the people of the world more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than our people of the light? The observations of this Scottish minister were: number one, in their ingenuity of contrivance. But what he's saying is that when Sinful people set about to contrive a strategy They tend to be far more ingenious in their methodology and in their application. than the average half a dozen Christians getting together to devise a plan for reaching the world for Jesus Christ.
Now it may not strike us as a very nice observation, but it is the observation that is made first by Jesus.
So those of you who understand, coming from a background of this, you know that when you move amongst these people, they will often spare no pains to understand what it is they are supposed to be doing. And then they will labor to make sure that they can teach them to those who are doing them. But the fact of the matter is that the average Christian doesn't study his Bible as much as the average insurance salesman studies the actuarial tables. That the average Christian student does not know as much of a panorama of their grasp of the subject as does the average English literature student have a grasp of, let's say, contemporary literature in the 20th century. Why?
Lack of application. Lack of ingenuity of contrivance. In the same way, when people sit down to mastermind a plan for achieving profit. for expanding territory, all legitimate exercises. You will find that they don't want to be involved in silly planning, they want to be involved in sensible planning.
They don't want to miss one favorable opportunity. They want to seize every opportunity. And yet? When you think about the way the children of light operate in terms of the eternal perspective in seeing, let's say, unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ, if the average business took as much raw material to get as little return as the average local church does on the basis of 12 months, it would deserve to be completely bankrupt. Let's just apply it as straightforwardly as we can.
You think of all the people that come through our doors here. All the visitors today and last week. And the week before that, the hundreds and thousands of people that have passed through here as visitors. All in business terms, potential clients. If we simply were an organization that had a product to sell, and we had the opportunity to bring people in.
uh at such in phenomenal levels We really should be hung up for missing the opportunity in the way that we continue to do. They say, but it's not a product and we're not trying to sell. I understand that. This is an eternal issue. And the people of the world Are more shrewd in their dealings.
with matters that are completely earthbound. Than are the children of the light in dealing with matters that are of eternal significance.
So says Jesus. You take the unity of purpose of the world. Not that the world is united, but I'll tell you the world is united against truth, isn't it? I mean, you can take it from any point in the compass, and they will all come together and say, no, we don't believe that. You take the average A Christian approach.
with our tiny differences and our petty jealousies and we destroy our usefulness. People set out on a venture, whatever it may be, business or otherwise. The dangers don't deter them, the difficulties don't discourage them, the amusements are not allowed to divert them. I see them, I travel with them on the plane all the time. They have these fat books, these ring binders.
I don't know who creates them or who gives them to them. But they're mugging them up all the time, reading one, reading page two, back to page one, double underlining, turning it over, turning it back. I'm looking at them like, do you really care that much about this book? Yes. Why?
This is a strategy book. This is the book, you know. If I can get this. Then I can get that. And if I get that, I can go there.
And if I go there, I won't need to go there anymore.
Sounds like you got a pretty shrewd approach to things. Bag your life I do. This is the book. This is Jesus' words. The people of the world are more shrewd.
They're greater in their perseverance. They phone all our homes, right? It's Camelon phones everybody, right? True green. We should pause for a moment and command true green, you know.
For phoning at the exact moment. When you don't want to hear from them. Consistently. I don't know how you do that. Not how you phone.
But take the rebuttals again and again, you know. Get lost.
Okay, that was just me reponding. That's not that's My wife's much nicer than that. But it said, I don't actually say that. They help me. But.
I have the hardest time, and I think of this poor soul. He just started. Hello, Mr. Begg. You don't know me.
Hello, mister Begg. Oh, hello. How is your evening so far?
Well, it was going well until I heard from you, but go ahead. What's on your mind?
Well, you know, you're one of us. Select them. Don't give me that stuff. And so it goes right. Why are they doing this?
So they can spray your trees. You take the I Take the honest perseverance of some of us in seeking to see unbelieving people become committed followers of Jesus Christ. Talk about a follow-up telephone call. Forget that.
So, did anybody come back from the VBS? Oh no, we phoned them. How many times?
Well, we don't phone them all. We phoned some of them. How many times?
It would be a scary thought, wouldn't it? If we had thousands of people that went right past the end of our road every single day, but mainly on Saturdays and Fridays and Sundays. to a huge big amusement park. In a way that not every other local church has thousands of people past the end of their street, wouldn't it? I mean, it'd be a scary r responsibility to have that happen, wouldn't it?
I mean, because you would think with all those thousands of people there, That any shrewd group of individuals would come up with a market strategy. for seeing these unbelieving people become the committed followers of Jesus Christ.
Now we'll just let them plop down another neighborhood. And another h neighborhood. And another neighborhood. Till now Solon has no more place for neighborhoods. It's done.
Going to max out at 26,000 people. Do you think McDonald's has got a strategy for reaching the neighborhood? The people of this world are more shrewd In their dealings. with the folks of their own kind. Then the people of the light are in tackling the issues of eternity.
That's what Jesus is saying.
So he says. In light of that, let me tell you what to do because everyone's saying, well, okay, let's get on here. I mean, what's supposed to happen now?
Well, Jesus says verse 9. I tell you. Use worldly wealth which is in the King James Version the the the mammon of unrighteousness. It's a It's almost a generic term for stuff, material possessions, money, certainly, but not simply money. Use everything that you have.
Incidentally, and it's only entrusted to you, it's not yours to keep. True riches are eternal and unending, but the transient riches of whatever we have going through are simply that. He says, What I want you to do is to use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, So that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. This is quite amazing, isn't it? I want you to use worldly wealth.
To gain friends for yourself, so that when it was gone, you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Go back to verse 4, and notice that that is exactly what this shrewd chap was doing. He said, Now I'm in trouble here, but what I'll do is, I will use worldly wealth. I will use the resources here in terms of the oil and the wheat. I will use it in such a way that I will ingratiate myself with these people so that I may be able to call in my chits as necessary and then they will be able to welcome me into their houses.
Jesus says, okay, how about then using the resources that God has given you, not in terms of being able simply to get welcomed in the time that we have here into other people's homes, but instead to use them in such a way as to build the kind of friendships that will last for eternity. Note We need also to be perfectly clear. That Jesus nowhere suggests that the money or the possessions are in themselves sinful and unclean. Rather, that it is our sinful attitude and our conduct in relationship to possessions which make things a curse for us.
Some of you will have gone and seen the cave of St. Francis of Assisi. tiny little cave in a beautiful spot up overlooking a river. And if you're going to live in a cave, it's quite a nice little place. It's more than a cave actually, it's a structure that he lived in.
Sue and I stood in there and we found ourselves admiring his devotion, admiring his zeal, admiring everything else, but we remarked to one another, you know, if you're going to try and deal with the rigors of life, this is an easier place to try and do it, and this is an easier way to do it than just to live in soul. And the easy way to handle this is to say, oh, yes, we're going to divest ourselves of everything. We're going to put flowers in our hair and we're going to San Francisco. We're going to wear open sandal shoes, you know. We're going back to the 60s.
Not a good idea. The hard thing It is to be a group of people such as we are. To be confronted by the fact that Jesus conveys. To now be faced with a challenge that he issues, namely, all the possessions that you have, all of the resources you've been given, all of the stuff that is stuff. He says, What I want you to do is to get shrewd in the way you use this.
so that you will make friends that are friends forever.
Now, if you think about this, and it's a bit like understanding a painting, and I know nothing about paintings, but sometimes I stand and look at it, and I said, Oh, is this a good one? And the person said, Oh, yes, a very good one. I said, Well, What am I missing? And they said, stand back. You stand back and suddenly things that you didn't notice become clear.
If you stand back from the text here in chapter 16, you'll pick up chapter 14 and verse 14 again, which you will remember. uh was a quite staggering little insight. There on the occasion of how to put together a party invitation list. Because on that occasion, remember where Jesus had been at this banquet? He said to the host, when you give a luncheon or a dinner, don't invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors.
Remember, this is not a categorical statement here. Jesus is making a point. He says, if you do, they may invite you back, and so you will be repaid. In other words, if you take your resources and simply use them to invite the people who also have resources, Then you will have the immediate gratification of them saying, That was a very pleasant evening. And uh why don't you come over to our place a week from Friday?
And we'll do the same thing. Then we've seen your mint in China, now you can come over, and then we'll be able to show you the ornamental garden, and you can see the fountain. And then we'll all say, mm-hmm, you know. All right? He said, Well, if you want to do that, it's okay, go ahead and do that.
Your repayment is immediate gratification. But if you want to get serious about things, he says, Invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. And though they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. You will be repaid. You see, we get ourselves tied up in knots here because we're so concerned to make sure that we all understand that we do nothing to earn God's favor.
Absolutely true. We cannot put God in our debt. Absolutely true. But you know when you push that to an extreme, You may find yourself on the wrong side of what Jesus is saying here. The nothing that we can do is the nothing whereby we come to faith in Christ.
There is everything that we can do and must do. That's the whole point of James. He's asking the question: He says, You show me your faith without deeds, and I'll show you my faith with deeds. And then he says, Of the faith without deeds, he says, Can such faith save? Is this saving faith?
Somebody who just professes? That there is a root, but there is no fruit?
So, Jesus says, if you use your stuff to. The benefit of those who cannot repay you. If you make friends of the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, there will be a blessing that attaches to that. And although there will be no immediate gratification, when you get up to heaven, there'll be people hanging off the light fittings. See, and here she is.
The person says, who is who? Said, here's the lady. What lady? The lady that drove me. Drove you where?
Drove me to church. When? Every single Sunday after my husband died. Here's the guy. Who paid for the Here's You want investments for eternity?
Invest in people. Invest in the gospel. Because every other investment is just a pain in the neck ultimately. Because the closer you get to the end of the day, You're now spending all your time trying to figure out who's going to get what you put away. And whether you still like Johnny and Mary and Jimmy, and whether they should get it or shouldn't get it or whatever it is.
Make friends for eternity, Jesus says. Get shrewd. Use your resources. There's only one place with which to conclude. Let's just go to Matthew 25.
We'll come back and pick this up later. Matthew 25, you know this passage well. Incidentally, just in passing, as you turn there and talk about making friends, the Pharisees never really made friends, did they? I mean, you don't read the Pharisees and you say, oh, I'd love to go over to the Pharisees' house. Pharisees like, oh man, do we I don't want to go to his house The Pharisees never made friends with the publicans and the sinners.
That's why Jesus was so attractive, because he made friends with them. Do you make friends with sinners? Are you loving them to win them? Jesus, what a friend of sinners. As Father, you have sent me into the world, so I send them into the world.
So that I'm making friends for the sake of eternity. The children of the world make friends so that they can be repaid.
So that they can call in the chicks in business.
So they can phone up and say, hey, listen, I'm the guy that did such and such two years ago. By the way, there's a truckload coming from Minneapolis. I wonder if you could help me with such and such. That's how it works. We understand that.
It's not all wrong. It's just the way it works. What a tragedy when the average Christian It's so self-righteous. That instead of us being a bridge for people to come to Jesus, We actually repel people. You see how How skilful, how shrewd.
The children of the world are working diplomatically. working wisely, working strategically. to an earthly end.
Well, Matthew 25. And when the Son of Man, verse 31, comes in his glory, and all the angels with him. He will sit on his throne in heavenly glory, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. And then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me.
I was in prison and you came. to visit me. And then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in?
or kneading clothes and clothe you. When did we ever see you sick or in prison and go and visit you? And the king will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine. You did it. for me.
And Jesus said, The people of the world are a lot more ingenious. in putting together a business plan. Than are the people of the light. in putting together a strategy. to see unbelieving people.
become the committed followers of Jesus Christ. And incidentally, For The small number of you that are saying Well, hey, go ahead, you're our faithful leader, come up with a strategy and present it. Yeah. No. My job is in Ephesians 4, I'm supposed to edify the saints.
So that you can do the works of ministry. Do you think God gave you all that business acumen? All that skillful ability. in the world of uh the arts or medicine. Or in being able to put a factory together in a way that works.
Do you think He just gave you all of that so that you could use it? Just to do what you do Just to get a paycheck? He gave it to you for that. But you realize that that shrewdness That ingenuity. That skill That the average half-witted pastor has never even thought of.
Is the key. in the development of ministry. Let's get shrewd. For Jesus' sake. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg.
Here at Truth for Life, one of the things we love is finding books that will introduce new believers to the Bible while still providing fresh insight for those who have been studying the Scriptures for a long time. The book we're recommending today is called The Story of Grace, and this book accomplishes both. It's written by Horatius Boner, a 19th-century Scottish pastor and hymn writer. And if you've never read a book by Horatius Boner, you're in for a treat. In this book, The Story of Grace, he slowly and thoroughly guides us through Scripture's teaching about the unsearchable grace of God.
He retells the story of the gospel as a narrative, unpacking the events beginning in creation to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, and ultimately to the saving provision of Christ's finished work on the cross. This book was originally written for younger readers or newer Christians, but if you're a seasoned believer, you will benefit tremendously from his attention to detail. In fact, he often breaks from the narrative to make sure we don't miss things that are important, and to urge us to embrace the extraordinary measure of God's unending patience and love. This is a book that Alastair brought to our attention, and he is here to share a little bit about this book with you. Thanks, Bob.
You know, Horatius Bonner, who lived at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote one of my favorite hymns, which begins: I heard the voice of Jesus say. He also wrote a wonderful communion hymn, which begins: Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face. This little book is actually a gem. Maybe I'm Very partial just because he was born in Scotland, but I don't think so. He does an amazing job of taking us to the very heart of God's plan and purpose for all of creation.
and in his preface he tells us that it is a story of the heart, It's a story of grace, grace. Is a story of love. He said, it is this story of love that God has been telling for these 6,000 years. and he says, And yet how few receive it as such, or give God the credit for speaking the truth. I have sought in this volume, he writes, to open up a part of this wondrous story.
Makes me think of a hymn which he didn't write. Of course, I will sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me, I can't really commend this book any more warmly than I do. There's a danger in it, I suppose. People say, why would you do this? And you didn't do it for the others.
Well, maybe I'll start and do it for the others as well. I don't know. But anyway, Bob, you can let the people know how they can get a copy of this. Thank you, Alistair, and we hope each one of you will do exactly that. If you've not requested your copy of the book, The Story of Grace, you can do it today when you give a donation to support the Bible teaching ministry of Truth for Life.
Give online at truthforlife.org/slash donate, or if you'd prefer, you can call us at 888-588-7884. Thanks for joining us today. Tomorrow we'll take a look at how an eternal perspective changes the way we see everything, including our Our legacy. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the learning is for a living.
