Let us then turn to Luke chapter 16. I wish to focus on verses 1 to 12 and our text may be isolated there when we look at verse 2. Chapter 16 of Luke and verse 2, then our text. 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. The title is Give an Account. And we might consider that to be appropriate, considering what we seek to do shortly, where the office bearers will be given an account of what has been done with your money that you have given to the Lord, which of course, ultimately, is the Lord's money. And therefore, that's why I've entitled it this evening, Give an Account. At the outset, we would notice, friends, that this passage is difficult. It is a difficult passage. And I'm not sure that any one of us can fully plumb the depths of this passage. There are a number of commentators I've looked at. And basically, they all have different interpretations. So it is a difficult passage. And we're not going to get bogged down in any kind of difficulties. But we do think that there are some practical lessons that we can derive from this words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely the first thing that we should take home with us, whether we like it or not, he was speaking to his disciples. Verse 1, he said also unto his disciples. So whatever he wants to say, he's saying it principally to his disciples. And I would put it to you that is basically all of us here, he has a word to us from this passage for his disciples. We're not going to deny that others did not hear. Of course they did. Verse 14 tells us, And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. They heard this, they understood it, they didn't like it. But principally, it was for his disciples. And again, just to introduce the subject, it would seem that chapter 15 and chapter 16 deal principally with money matters, or mammon, or things of this world, if you like. You'll be familiar with Luke 15, the principal parable there, the parable of the prodigal son. It's all about money. He wants to get his inheritance. He gets it, and what does he do with his money? He wastes it. Well here, in this chapter here, at the beginning, what do we have? We have a steward who is not he's one who steals. He's stealing money. He's misusing his Lord's resources. And then towards the end of this chapter we have a rich man, another rich man. What's his problem? What's his sin? Well basically he's greedy and selfish. He couldn't care for anyone else but himself and therefore These two chapters do deal with money matters. Well, with that brief introduction, there's just one or two brief things that I'd like to say from this chapter relevant to ourselves. First of all then, let us state what this passage does not teach. Let us be clear what it does not teach first and foremost. The steward here, he's not a pattern of morality that we are expected to follow. He's not someone who has been set up for us as one we are to emulate in a certain way. He is not being praised for his integrity. but for his ingenuity or for his savvy or resourcefulness or foresight. What's the problem with him here? Well the problem is he's an employee, he's a steward, he's looking after his Lord's resources and money and whatever he has and he is Not being faithful, he's lying in his own pocket and he's been found out. His Lord has found him out and basically he has given him his P45, don't come back on Monday, you're sacked. He realises that things are not great for him. and we would believe from what he said here. My Lord taketh away from me the stewardship I cannot dig. In other words, I'm lazy. I'm not going to work. To beg, I am ashamed. He's too proud. So, he won't work. He's too proud to work. What does he do? He goes to those persons who owe his Lord money and he barters with them and they're delighted to accept his initiative. They are dishonest like himself. He manages to change the bill, he makes himself popular in their sight, so that when he's out of a job, he'll be able to cosy up to these individuals who will look after him. That's what happened here. Now he's still called an unjust steward, therefore we're not to emulate him as far as these things are concerned. He was a crook. There's no doubt about it. He broke the Eighth Commandment. But this is what his master finds commendable about him. We find it in verse 8, and the Lord, and let's be clear, it's not the Lord Jesus Christ here, but it is his boss, commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely. Why had he done wisely? He had done wisely because he realized that he had to do something. hard times were coming, difficult times were coming, his life was going to be changed upside down, he needed to make provision for that new life and he went about it with zeal, with gusto, with enthusiasm, with drive in order that he might prepare for himself a sound footing when he would be booted out of his current occupation. In other words He prepared himself for the future. He prepared himself when his world will be turned upside down. He was going to face new opportunities and he was prepared for that. And he went about it in a way that commended himself to his master. He was never praised by the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not to say that for one moment. But the lesson surely to be taken from this is that we should be preparing for that world that is to come, for the changes that will come. Well, in this respect, in the fact that he was dishonest, We are to avoid that, absolutely, completely. We are to be full of integrity, uprightness, honesty. These are the things that are to be hallmarks of the people of God. Well, secondly then, we might notice, I do believe, what is the one principle lesson that shines out from this portion of Scripture. It is the wisdom in preparing for what lies ahead. This is what he's commended for. And for the Christian, and for all of us, it doesn't matter our spiritual state or condition, we are ultimately to prepare for that life that is to come. We are amazed when we see the the industry of this man here, what was he doing? He was preparing for his life, his physical life, his earthly life. He realized things had to change and therefore he went about bringing about that change as best as he could. And we see him there with zeal and enthusiasm in order that he might prepare and get ready. We want to ask ourselves, do we have that same kind of zeal, enthusiasm? There is another world coming, eternity is coming. Can we not take a lesson from those round about us, maybe, who we see running after this world, plunging into everything in order that they might get on in this world? Are the Christian or the non-Christian, are we concerned at all about that great change that will come upon us? Either a death or indeed when the Lord Jesus Christ will return in power and glory? Is it something that's on our minds whatsoever? Do we prepare? Are we going about our Christian lives with zeal? Are we ones who make use of the Word of God that we all have? Are we found in prayer? Are we found seeking the extension of the cause of Christ in our day and generation? Are we concerned at all about what is going to happen? This man was preparing. The lesson that the Lord Jesus Christ would have us to learn is, we are to be preparing for eternity, for the day of death, and for that judgment that follows, when we'll all hear that words, give an account. Give an account of your life. Give an account of the gospel. You've heard the gospel. Has it penetrated? Has it transformed you? Jesus said, I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Can we say that as we've come to the house of God, week in, week out, here we are at a congregational meeting, an annual congregational meeting, Another year's gone, the Lord has been faithful, we've sought to bring forth the word of God, the gospel, week by week, mid-week by mid-week. Are we preparing for that great and glorious day? Surely we note here the contrast between the worldling who was preparing just for this world with the contrast with Christians and many other people who are not really preparing for their eternal destination. What does the Lord Jesus Christ say in verse 8 for instance? after 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." What's he saying there? Well, the children of the world, they do prepare. They don't prepare for eternity, but they do prepare for what will come afterwards as far as they can see. and they're wiser than the children of light. That's a reference to his disciples, the people of Christ. They don't seem to make that same kind of provision. They're not taken up with preparing as they should. And when we come to this meeting this evening, where we have to give an account, well, we should ask ourselves, are we preparing for eternity? Are we preparing for that solemn day when we will stand before King Jesus? We'll stand before Him in the flesh. We will give an account of your time. of your talents, of your resources, everything. The Lord will ask and account. Surely, I do believe that is the principle lesson that we're meant to derive from this tricky portion of Scripture, that we might make preparation. Well, thirdly and briefly, We have here something about little things. What do we find in verse 10 for instance? Here's the words of the Saviour. 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. The Lord is telling us, if you're not faithful in little things, you can't be trusted to be faithful in anything great. What's behind this? Well, maybe what's behind it is some people might say of this unjust steward, well, what he did really wasn't that bad at all. I mean, everybody sort of fiddles their employer to a certain extent, it's quite common. He didn't really do that bad a deed in actual fact. It's a bit of an overreaction, surely. This was quite normal. Not so. Because what it was revealing here is that his heart was not right. And those who are faithful in little things reveal that their heart is right, that the grace of God is in them by their integrity, by their honesty, by their faithfulness. Dishonesty in little things reveals a heart problem. which will also reveal itself when greater things come their way. And therefore, here we have the doctrine again of little things. Little things reveal our hearts. Little things that seem small and incidental to some people reveal the true state of the heart of the individual. And this is what Jesus is pressing on here. He may have had a reference to this steward. People think, well, it wasn't that bad. We're told here that his employer was a rich man. He wouldn't miss that. But it just revealed that the man's heart was not right. And as one commentator said, and how apt and appropriate it is, where there is no true honesty, there is no real grace. And this man here revealed himself, what was in his heart. He couldn't be trusted in the little things, never mind greater things. It's a very sobering thought then, when we'll hear the words, give an account. The only way that we can be found acceptable on that day is to have one who has paid our account. And we are delighted to be able to tell you about this person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died in our room and place. The one who did everything, that was required of him. The one who, by his sacrifice, propitiated God. We don't like to hear this word, propitiation. What does it teach us? What does it tell us? Well, propitiation speaks of an angry God. who has been appeased, who has been satisfied. And that's through what Jesus Christ has done. No one else could do it. None. No one but Him. He's the Great One who has settled the account, paid the price of all our sins. And that's why we're able to stand here and stand before Him, uncondemned. because he was condemned in our room and in our place. 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. May the Lord bless his word to us. Let us pray together.