
“Make to Yourselves Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness”
“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.” Luke 16:9
No different than when He commanded us to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” here Jesus instructs us to view our earthly resources as “friends,” as missiles to send up-range into the eternal glory that we are headed, aimed toward! This wisdom is what God calls “durable riches” or those which are forever.
“Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.” Proverbs 8:18-19
Using Our Temporal Money, Investing it, for Eternal Rewards
There is no eternal wealth to be had in this fleeting world, other than to use the temporal to fund the eternal. Yet Jesus taught that we can use the temporal to fund, to create wealth in the eternal. Only that done for the eternal glory of Christ will last, will be waiting for our arrival in the eternal.
As we take a peek into this parable of the unjust, shrewd steward, let us ask “Just what was Jesus communicating here?” What was our LORD trying to teach, to impart into us?
And let us remember that a parable is simply an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
The Parable of the Unjust Steward or Parable of the Penitent Steward is a parable of Jesus which appears in Luke 16:1–13. In it, a steward who is about to be fired tries to “curry favor” with his master’s debtors by remitting some of their debts. Fittingly, this teaching of Christ extends to us just after He taught about the prodigal son who took his inheritance wealth and went off and squandered, wasted it. Jesus then segues into telling His disciples the parable of the unjust steward.
This parable is about how to handle money correctly.
Jesus’ Teaching Luke 16:9-13 – Parable of the Unjust, Shrewd Steward
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail (die, pass away from this temporary earthly life), they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
10 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.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Of this teaching, one writer notes:
“God appears, and in the sovereignty of His grace turns that which man has abused on the earth into a means of heavenly fruit. The things of this world being in the hands of man, he is not to be using them for the present enjoyment of this world, which is altogether apart from God, but with a view to the future. We are not to seek to possess the things now, but by the right use of these things to make a provision for other times. It is better to turn all into a friend for another day than to have money now.”
In summation of these words of our LORD Jesus above, John Wesley writes:
“And I say to you – Be good stewards even of the lowest talents wherewith God hath intrusted you. Mammon means riches or money. It is termed the mammon of unrighteousness, because of the manner wherein it is commonly either procured or employed. Make yourselves friends of this, by doing all possible good, particularly to the children of God: that when ye fail, when your flesh and your heart faileth, when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, those of them who have gone before may receive, may welcome you into the everlasting habitations.”
Adam Clarke on Luke 16:9:
“The mammon of unrighteousness – Μαμωνα της αδικιας – literally, the mammon, or riches, of injustice. Riches promise Much, and perform Nothing: they excite hope and confidence, and deceive both: in making a man depend on them for happiness, they rob him of the salvation of God and of eternal glory. For these reasons, they are represented as unjust and deceitful. It is evident that this must be the meaning of the words, because the false or deceitful riches, here, are put in opposition to the true riches, Luk_16:11; i.e. those Divine graces and blessings which promise all good, and give what they promise; never deceiving the expectation of any man. To insinuate that, if a man have acquired riches by unjust means, he is to sanctify them, and provide himself a passport to the kingdom of God, by giving them to the poor, is a most horrid and blasphemous perversion of our Lord’s words. Ill gotten gain must be restored to the proper owners: if they are dead, then to their successors.
“The expression seems to be a mere Hebraism: – they may receive you, for ye shall be received; i.e. God shall admit you, if you make a faithful use of his gifts. He who does not make a faithful use of what he has received from his Maker has no reason to hope for eternal felicity. See Mat_25:33; and, for similar Hebraisms, consult in the original, Luk_6:38; Luk_12:20; Rev_12:6; Rev_16:15.”
Sending it before you…by using your earthly coins to lay up treasure in Heaven, eternal wealth, capital assets that shall never stop giving, is what Christ commanded us to do (Matthew 6:19-24).
The Believer’s Bible Commentary notes the following about this stewardship teaching of Jesus in Luke 16:
“We should make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous mammon. That is, we should use money and other material things in such a way as to win souls for Christ and thus form friendships that will endure throughout eternity. Pierson stated it clearly:
‘Money can be used to buy Bibles, books, tracts and thus, indirectly, the souls of men. Thus what was material and temporal becomes immortal, becomes non-material, spiritual and eternal. Here is a man who has 100. He may spend it all on a banquet or an evening party, in which case the next day there is nothing to show for it. On the other hand, he invests in Bibles at 1.00 each. It buys a hundred copies of the Word of God. These he judiciously sows as seed of the kingdom, and that seed springs up into a harvest, not of Bibles but of souls. Out of the unrighteous, he has made immortal friends, who when he fails, receive him into everlasting habitations.’
“This then is the teaching of our Lord. By the wise investment of material possessions, we can have part in the eternal blessing of men and women. We can make sure that when we arrive at the gates of heaven, there will be a welcoming committee of those who were saved through our sacrificial giving and prayers. These people will thank us saying, ‘It was you who invited me here.’”
“There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” Proverbs 13:7
Those who send their wealth forward into eternity, may appear poor on this earth and yet are full of treasure in heaven!
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
Jesus taught:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man 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.” Matthew 6:19-24
Only that done for Christ with the temporal money of this fleeting world carries an “eternal weight of glory.”
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
YOUR PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus’ Name, asking You to forgive my misuse, my mis-stewarding of the resources You have and are giving me in this temporal life. Please forgive my sin of self-idolatry. LORD I ask You right now to truly be the LORD, the rightful Master of my life from this moment forward. Please grant my heart and mind to be imbued with an eternal perspective. Teach me Your wisdom O God and unite my heart to fear Thy holy Name, as I look eagerly and expectantly for Your soon return Jesus! In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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Abiding
“If God be For Us Who can be Against Us?” [podcast]

WHO is God truly “with”?
“And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and IF YE SEEK HIM, he will be found of you; but IF ye forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2
What happens when one of His children deny Him?
“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13
Those who reject Him shall be rejected by Him. OSAS/eternal security is a fairy tale espoused by the moral cowards who refuse to serve God on HIS stated terms – repentance, faith, true worship, obedience, holiness, the crucified life, etc.
“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” Matthew 10:14-15
Persecution and the Disciple of Jesus
1 Peter 4
“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
Suffering as a Christian
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”
Romans 8
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
God’s Everlasting Love
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Romans 8:29: For whom he did foreknow, etc. – “In this and the following verse the apostle shows how our calling is an argument that all things work together to advance our eternal happiness, by showing the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to complete our salvation. In order to this he first gives us, in this verse, the foundation and finishing, or the beginning and end, of the scheme of our redemption: For whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. To foreknow, here signifies to design before, or at the first forming of the scheme; to bestow the favor and privilege of being God’s people upon any set of men, Rom_11:2. This is the foundation or first step of our salvation; namely, the purpose and grace of God, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began, 2Ti_1:9. Then, he knew or favored us; for in this sense the word to know is taken in a great variety of places, both in the Old and New Testaments. And as he knew the Gentiles then, when the scheme was laid, and before any part of it was executed, consequently, in reference to the execution of this scheme, he foreknew us. This is the first step of our salvation, and the end or finishing of it is our conformity to the Son of God in eternal glory, Rom_8:17, which includes and supposes our moral conformity to him. When God knew us, at the forming of the Gospel scheme; or, when he intended to bestow on us the privilege of being his people; he then destinated or designed us to be conformed to the image of his Son; and, as he destinated or determined us then to this very high honor and happiness, he pre-destinated, fore-ordained, or pre-determined us to it. Thus we are to understand the foundation and finishing of the scheme of our salvation. The foundation is the foreknowledge, or gracious purpose of God; the finishing is our being joint heirs with Christ. Now, our calling or invitation (see on Rom_8:28 (note)) stands in connection with both these.” Adam Clarke
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Apostasy
The Book of Jude Narrated [podcast]

The Book of Jude:
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: 2 mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Bible Books Narrated | 100’s of Christ-centered Podcasts


Abiding
The Song of Moses: God’s Favor upon His People [podcast]

“And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.” Deuteronomy 31:30
Everything we read of the children of Israel was pointing to Christ and to His perfect salvation He would later come and accomplish and bestow upon His beloved people, the body of Christ which is “the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:16) And so this song is written to us (Romans 15:4; Corinthians 10:11).
At the end of his days, at the end of the 5 books he penned, God gives us through Moses a summation of His salvation work among His beloved people.
“He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.” Deuteronomy 32:10-14
“32:10-14 The birth and childhood of the nation of Israel are described in verse 10. After the Exodus from Egypt, God guided, instructed, and preserved His people with the love of a mother eagle (v. 11). There was no foreign god who had a part in Israel’s preservation. Why then should the nation turn to idolatry and ascribe the goodness of Jehovah to another? Beginning in verse 13, the song is prophetic. He brought them into the blessings of the Promised Land.” Believer’s Bible Commentary
“Deuteronomy 32:10
a [He found him in a desert land …] The sevenfold preservation of Israel:
1. God found (literally, sustained) him in the wilderness (Deu_32:10).
2. He led him around (Deu_32:10-12).
3. He instructed him (Deu_32:10).
4. He kept him as the apple (pupil) of His eye.
5. He preserved him from idolatry (Deu_32:12).
6. He exalted him among the nations (Deu_32:13).
7. He gave him material prosperity (Deu_32:13-14).
b [apple of his eye] Hebrew: ’iyshown (H380), the dark pupil of the eye; the hole, gate, or door of the eye (Psa_17:8; Pro_7:2)” Dake
“Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14
MOSES’ SONG: THE LORD’S FAVOR UPON ISRAEL
The song of Moses, like the fabled song of the swan, was his last and sweetest. It is probably the noblest ode in the whole compass of the Bible, and is the source from which subsequent singers derived suggestions for their noblest outbursts. The marginal references prove how deeply it dyed the national sentiment.
It excels in the names and designations of the Almighty. He is the Rock: Deu_31:4; Deu_31:15; Deu_31:18; Deu_31:30; Jehovah: Deu_31:6; Father: Deu_31:6; the Most High: Deu_31:8; God: El, the strong, Deu_31:15, etc. What a study are the names of God, scattered through the Bible! Each was coined to meet some need of the human soul. What the rocks of the desert are to its shifting sands God is amid the changes of this mortal existence.
This earlier part of the song is very tender. We are God’s portion; the apple of His eye; as young eaglets, whom the mother-bird is carefully teaching to fly, the favored recipients of God’s richest gifts, Deu_31:13, etc.” FB Meyer
Notice the descriptive language, the metaphors—how the LORD illustrates how He loves, protects, and provides for His people. In Scripture, the LORD uses imagery to communicate truth.
“Moses’ song and what our LORD reveals in this message, is such a beautiful picture of God finding us in our hopeless, miserable, and lost state. He pulls us out of the miry clay and gives us His supply of grace. He then clothes us with His righteousness, seating us in heavenly places in Christ and surrounding us with His care and protection. God’s love and goodness to us.” Karen Cochran
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will
say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my
God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers,
and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall
be thy shield and buckler.” Psalms 91:1-4
Read Psalm 91 often so this truth permeates you. Here the LORD uses the imagery of His “winged fowl” creation (Genesis 1:21). GOD made this very creature/bird for the express purpose of showing us how much He loves us and how He comforts, cares and provides for, guides, and protects His own (Psalms 91:1).
“The Song of Moses is recorded in Deuteronomy 32 of the King James Version (KJV), spanning verses 1 through 43. It is a prophetic poem given by Moses to the children of Israel just before his death, serving as a witness and a reminder of God’s faithfulness and Israel’s potential turning away.”
Prayer: Father, please grant that I know and understand You more and more. I love You LORD. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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