Unrighteous Manager

Unrighteous Manager

Scripture: Luke 16: 1 - 15

1. Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg.

4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’

6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.[a]’

7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.[b]’

8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.

9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.[c]

10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.

11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.

15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.

 

I am going to give a sermon with you today on the subject of the parable of the unjust steward.

Luke 16:1-15 is the main text.

Jesus told many parables.

Among them, the most difficult verse to interpret is called the esoteric verse of the Bible.

Now, when we read the Bible, there are things that are really difficult to interpret. What should we do in such a case?

In order for us to correctly interpret the Bible, three things are essential.

Without this, we often make mistakes.

First, in order to correctly interpret the Bible, it must be based on the original Hebrew and Greek languages.

The Old Testament is in Hebrew and the New Testament is in Greek.

There is a limit to interpretation with just a simple English or translated Bible.

A preacher must study the Bible in the original language.

Let's take an example.

In Revelation 3:10 there is this verse.

10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

In clearly translated Bibles, the ‘time of trial’ here speaks of the seven years of tribulation that will test those who dwell in the earth that will come upon the whole world.

All scholars agree on that.

But now the problem is that the saints who keep the word of perseverance can escape the time of trial.

This word is the problem.

So what does it mean to give away?

The saints do not participate in temptation.

I will remove the saints from temptation.

That is why, centering on this verse, it becomes the basis for claiming the theory of the rapture before the tribulation.

Therefore, it is interpreted that the saints who patiently keep the Word before the tribulation will not pass through the tribulation and will be spared the tribulation.

Does the Bible really teach that?

If you look at the original language, it is a mistranslation to say that it is to set you free.

To be more specific, if you look at this in the original Greek, you will pass through the 7 years of tribulation, but I will protect you from harm during the passage.

You need to translate it like this. 'It will protect you.'

There is absolutely no basis for this as a pre-tribulation rapture theory.

It means that you will be protected from going through the 7 year tribulation.

So now, if we don't know the original language well, we can make such a bizarre interpretation.

Second, in order to correctly interpret the Bible, we need to understand the context before and after.

In the context before and after, for example, John 10:28-29 said.

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. (John 10: 28-29)

From this verse alone, those who believe in Jesus cannot lose their salvation under any circumstances.

Because Heavenly Father is holding on to you.

So it is said that it will not perish forever.

And no one can take it from his father's hand.

Because ‘God is greater than anything else’ If you look at this verse, ah, once saved is eternal salvation!

You teach the eternity of salvation!

It is a phrase often used to defend God's absolute sovereignty, but this also causes a problem.

Because, in today's text, what is written right before John 10:28-29, where this soul claims the safety of salvation, is that in John 10:27, a human response is presupposed.

Shall we take a look?

John 10:27

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

What does this eternity of salvation presuppose?

On what condition?

You must continue to follow the word of the Lord.

Just because we once confessed our faith to Jesus and received salvation, the salvation of that confessed faith is not guaranteed forever.

We must continually obey the words of Jesus.

This is the condition of salvation.

In order to properly interpret the Bible, we must understand the context before and after so that we can interpret it without making errors.

As such, the Bible greatly emphasizes the mutual cooperation of God's absolute sovereignty and human liberalism in response.

Third, there is something very important.

In order to correctly interpret the Bible, it is necessary to know Jewish idioms.

Everyone, we must remember that the Old Testament was written three to four thousand years ago, and the New Testament was written at least two thousand years ago.

There is a time gap called two thousand years.

Everyone!

How would we interpret the terms we use today if our descendants heard them a thousand years from now or two thousand years from now?

You'd be very curious.

We may not understand the interpretation of posterity.

As much as that, the interpretation differs according to the passage of time, and there are idiomatic expressions according to the customs of the time and the country.

It is the same throughout the Bible.

For example, there is this saying.

In Matthew 8:21-22, another of the disciples said like this.

'Lord! Let me go first and bury my father.'

Jesus said to them, 'Let the dead bury their dead, and you follow me.'

A literal translation of this verse is, 'Jesus is so cold-hearted.'

My father has passed away and I have to have a funeral, but how many days does he not allow that?

I can't help but think that Jesus is really cold.

So, was Jesus really that cold-hearted?

No.

If you look at the text here, if you look at the words, asking for permission to bury my father first does not mean that my father is dead now.

Asking this story is that my father is now alive.

You never know when your father will die.

In five years, ten years, twenty years, if you live a long time, you may die in 30 years.

When my father dies, I will have a funeral and then follow Jesus.

It is like that means.

What is that talk?

In other words, I have no heart to follow the Lord right now.

Now I really like life in the world.

In other words, it is to reject the saying that you do not want to follow Jesus in this way so that Jesus does not get hurt.

It is not going to follow Jesus.

How is it?

In order to properly interpret the Bible in this way, we must first understand three things.

What is the first?

Accurate understanding of Hebrew and Greek is required.

What is the second one?

Before and after a sentence, you should not interpret it without knowing the content of the context.

Preachers made many mistakes.

You should have read the context before and after carefully and interpreted it in the context before and after.

What is the third one?

There are many Jewish idioms here and there, so we need to understand them.

Just translating the sentence literally as it is may lead to incorrect interpretation.

These are the three things we need today.

Today's Gospel of Luke 16:1 - 15 can be said to be a parable that is very difficult to interpret even if you understand and interpret these three original languages, contexts, and Jewish idioms.

However, there is one most important passage in Luke 16:1-15 in this text.

It is in Luke 16: 9.

9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. (Luke 16: 9)

Does anyone really have the ability to interpret?

Jesus tells us to make friends with the wealth of unrighteousness.

The unrighteous steward gave the money to a friend.

And the two became friends.

Then, when the steward's wealth runs out, the person who received the money takes the steward who gave it to his house.

The unjust steward paid all the bribes to his friend.

So will my bribed friends help me when I run out of money?

Or do you just take a friend's bribe and pretend you don't know?

If we translate it directly, it can lead to such a bizarre interpretation.

Does this mean that the unjust steward will be welcomed into his home without worrying about food, clothing, and shelter?

No matter how much we think, is Jesus a compromiser with evil? That's nonsense.

First of all, Jesus is not like that.

Then you should quickly figure out that something is wrong with the translation of this verse.

Do you understand?

The most basic thing in interpreting the Old and New Testaments is to understand that there is a problem with the verse when it is against the attributes of God, the attributes of Jesus, or the basic teachings of the Bible.

The same goes for this verse.

So in order to interpret this Luke 16:1 - 15 you need to understand that it is largely divided into two.

Luke 16:1 - 8 is one story.

And then 9 - 15 make up the second story after that.

If I give you a hint to understand this well, the story before this and the story behind this are completely different things.

This is a very important story.

So, verses 1 - 8 are one story, and verses 9 - 15 are the second story, which is a completely different story.

And the first sentence that opens the second story is Luke 16: 9.

As I read “9 here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”

What the hell is this?  

Then, in the text, is Jesus teaching that God's children must learn the cleverness of a deceiver who embezzles other people's wealth, which is ethically unacceptable?

That's really difficult.

A passage that leads to misinterpretation in this way is recorded in Luke 16:8 just before it.

I have studied and preached the Bible for decades, but the sermon in this text is a difficult sermon.

That is not to say that I am preaching in difficult sentences.

We will interpret all of this today.

This is a fairly esoteric structure.

So now, expert interpretation is required.

8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. (Luke 16: 8)

 

It is said that the master behaved well, calling this unrighteous servant clever and cunning.

And verse 9 tells us to make friends by means of unrighteous riches.

What do you think of this saying?

Then, who is the son of this generation in this text?

They are unbelievers.

Those who do evil that do not live according to the will of God.

So who are the children of light?

They are believers.

Or we can say that they are righteous people who live according to God's will.

Then, in today's text, Luke 16:8, does this mean that in the text Jesus said, in this world, believers must learn our way of dealings because unbelievers are wiser than believers?

It is very difficult

The text is tangled.

You need to understand this well.

Then the wisdom spoken of in the text is that the sons of this generation are wiser than the sons of light.

So what is this wisdom?

God's wisdom is found in 1 Corinthians 1:24.

In 1 Corinthians 1:21, it is said that it is human wisdom. These two words use the word 'Sophia'.

Sophia! It means wisdom.

However, in today's text, the wisdom that the sons of this generation have, that is, unbelievers, and evildoers, is not God's wisdom.

It's called 'pro nimos,' and it's about calculating and cunning.

People in the world are very cunning

They don't do any harm.

Because they use their brains well because they want to survive and thrive in this world.

So, the wisdom that the sons of this generation have is not true wisdom.

If the calculating and unrighteous steward was praised by his master, why did he praise him?

Rather, it should be rebuked.

First, the manager took his master's property and wasted it; second, he took his master's property and forgave all the people he owed in order to survive.

Then the owner should get angry. He's a bad guy!

But rather, the master said that he had such a prudent and shrewd act, and when he saw that the steward did it for his own sake, he praised it, saying that he was great.

Then, where are the clever ways of dealing with the unrighteous managers recorded?

It is actually recorded in Luke 16:1-7.

The manager himself neglected his position, so he took possession of his master's property and did not manage it well.

Of course, I don't know if there was embezzlement there or if the loss was due to poor property management.

In any case, it caused the owner to lose money.

In the end, this steward thought out of desperation.

What do I do if I lose my job?

It's too hard for a manager to farm.

It's too shameful for us to live begging again.

So, the steward thought, how can we get out of this crisis?

How can I ensure my survival?

One idea came to mind.

What it does is relieve the debt of those who owe the owner.

And the manager does a favor to the debtors.

A 50 percent discount is given to those who have a hundred pounds of oil,

Also, 80 percent reduction will be given to those who owe a hundred s of wheat... …

In this way, the steward reduced all those who owed his master and did him a favor.

The property does not belong to the steward (though the owner loses), and the steward has just done his favor.

Why would you do that?

When he was now sacked from his stewardship, he wondered if the people he had shown favored would urge them to come to their home.

So the steward was very clever with this thought.

In this way, he sought his survival.

But what I did not understand was that the owner praised such a steward for being wise.

We don't quite understand.

If I were the owner, I wouldn't be able to praise him, but this owner praised the steward even though he caused him to lose his property.

Awesome, you will survive any situation.

What is that skill? Can't I learn something?

Would the owner have said like this?

Let's all listen together.

Then who was the master who praised the wickedness of the unrighteous manager?

Let's figure this out first.

Jesus told many parables.

Among them, there are many stories about the owner.

When the master went abroad, he gave his servants property and told them to trade.

In Jesus' parable, there are many people who are called masters, and if you look closely at them, they are divided into two.

 

The Lord in Mark 12:9 refers to God.

The Lord in Matthew 25:19 refers to Jesus.

When Jesus mainly uses parables, the master expresses God or Jesus.

People have slanted preconceived notions.

However, it is a biased tendency to think that it is correct by confirming it when judging other things or certain things.

This is called Confirmation Bias.

It has a tilted frame.

Many of you and I are like that.

So people see what they want to see.

People believe what they want to believe.

This is called confirmation bias and is a term used in psychology.

Let me give you one example.

Many Christians make this mistake when interpreting the Bible.

In the Bible, the word leaven appears.

In the Old Testament, we remove all the leaven from the house when we celebrate the Passover on the day of the Passover.

Everyone!

You will need yeast to make the flour rise.

So to make the bread delicious, you have to mix it with yeast.

We put yeast and knead it and eat it, and when the Passover approaches, we get rid of all the yeast in our house and eat unleavened bread.

The word leaven here is sin.

Even in the New Testament, this leaven was often used in connection with sin.

For example, in Luke 12:1, it is said that leaven represents hypocrisy.

Also, in 1 Corinthians 5:8, leaven is expressed as wickedness.

So there's something inside us.

Leaven is a bad thing and a sin.

This is bad

This is evil

This should be removed.

I think like this.

However, in Matthew 13:33, it is like adding leaven to three gallons of flour, expressing the expansion of the spiritual kingdom of God.

When yeast is added to three gallons of powder, it gradually swells.

Then the leaven mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 5:8 is bad.

Matthew 13:33 is the expansion of the spiritual kingdom of God.

The above two are completely different.

In this way, people have the concept of confirmation bias, take one, and apply it like the same formula, but you shouldn't do that.

It’s different from case to case

According to this human bias, who can be interpreted as the master who praised the unrighteous steward mentioned in Luke 16:8 today?

Its owner is either God or Jesus.

Because we have always been.

But that's not it.

What is shocking is the cleverness, cunning, and tongue-in-cheek of this unjust steward, and what is the point of praising the master's property even though he suffered a great loss?

Listen well

It is not God or Jesus who is the master.

Could Jesus have made you do that?

As you can see, unbelievers did better with this cleverness and wit than those who believed in Jesus.

I admired

From today, let's learn how to deal with the unjust steward.

Was Jesus like this?

No, there's no reason for that.

There's no reason for that.

So who is the owner here?

Listen carefully.

This owner is Pharisees.

The Pharisees live and teach the same way as their masters who praise the unrighteous stewards.

This fact supports Luke 16:14-15.

In Luke 16:1-8, Jesus has the notion that the Pharisees are the signs of those who serve God well and that they are wealthy people.

They never thought that material things could get in the way of serving God.

The criticism of it is mentioned in verses 9-15, and when the Pharisees heard all of it, they realized that it was speaking to them.

He said that he laughed at Luke 16:1~8 and the words that were against it, that is, verses 9~13.

They did not accept the teachings of Jesus.

He ridiculed the teachings of Jesus.

'You're laughing at me,' and look at it.

Jesus said to them, "You are those who agree with men, but God knows your hearts. What is exalted among men is to be hated before God.

What did the Pharisees laugh at?

When Jesus pointed out the words of Luke 16:1~8 and verses 9~13 as contradicting words, the Pharisees ridiculed them.

And what did Jesus say?

You are the ones who say they are right in front of people.

What's wrong with this unrighteous steward?

Just as the master applauds that these stewards were very good at dealing with all the injustice they did, so the Pharisees believed and taught the public that way.

Jesus pointed it out and criticized it, but the Pharisees laughed at Jesus' words.

Do you understand?

In this story, the Pharisees quickly recognized that Jesus was referring to them as the master in the parable of the unrighteous steward in Luke 16:1-18.

What did the Pharisees think of this?

I have the notion that those who serve God well are those who have a lot of wealth.

So the reason I became rich is because I served God well.

The reason you are poor is because you are not doing well in your religious life.

I think we've heard a lot of sermons like this!

They never think riches are a hindrance to serving God.

There were people who believed that they could serve God with wealth at the same time.

Where did that idea come from?

Let's look at the Old Testament.

Genesis 18:18, 24:35, 26:12,

Deuteronomy 5:33, 6:3, 7:13, 15:10

In addition, in many verses, God has promised material blessings to those who serve Him well.

They only think of the material blessings promised by these Bible verses.

I only think about it.

Of course, if you serve God well, the Lord can give you material blessings.

However, serving God well does not necessarily make you rich.

Without looking closely at these front and back contexts, we are only looking at the bible verse that says that if we serve God unconditionally, we will be blessed.

You don't look at the front and back context, you just look at it.

So, if you believe in God well, you will be blessed.

I only think like this.

So these people regarded all wealth as a decisive sign of serving God well.

They are people who love money under the guise of material blessings.

In the end, it turned out like this.

What did Jesus point out about this!

In Luke 16:1-8, he pointed out the following through the parable of the unrighteous steward.

Even if the Pharisees accumulate wealth in an unrighteous way, they can tithe and give alms.

Many Christians today think this way.

The Pharisees had such a belief that God would overlook their unrighteousness if they tithe and give alms well, even if the unrighteous method was ethically and morally problematic.

What has been taught in many churches to this day?

The Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday, just as an unrighteous steward took his master's possessions and relieved the debt of the debtor to seek survival.

That's amazing!

And he gave his tithe thoroughly to the Lord.

What's even more surprising is that I set aside a day and worked hard all day for relief.

So the Pharisees were giving alms all day.

Why? Did they do it?

These Pharisees are accumulating wealth by any means possible.

But their conscience has become a bit remorseful.

As for what covered his conscience, he covered it with his religious life.

They had these thoughts that if they fasted twice a week, paid my tithe, and gave alms all day, it would take over my injustice and cover it up and offset it.

So they thought that this religious life would be an indulgence for their unrighteous riches.

The miscommunication of prosperity theology today and people today are of the same mind.

That is why Christianity is becoming so secularized and degenerate today.

This problem is serious.

And more importantly, he taught the general public the faith he believed in.

In an unrighteous way, we have nothing to do with it!

We became rich by any means possible.

Because when we become rich, God acknowledges our faith.

Those who have become rich are proof that they have served God well.

The Pharisees taught the public that if we tithe and give alms diligently, we will make up for everything we lack.

Jesus is pointing out that this wrong teaching is wrong through today's text.

Do you understand?

That's it.

Your wrong material views and wrong beliefs, that's not right.

God is not pleased with it.

This is what is being pointed out here.

Looking at the contents of Luke 16:1-15, Jesus rebukes these Pharisees for their false beliefs and teachings in Luke 16:1-8, what Jesus mentioned the parable of the unrighteous steward, the shrewd steward’s conduct, and his master’s praise.

Didn’t you guys do that!

Its owners are the Pharisees.

They talk like this.

Now you understand.

This is very important.

There have been these false beliefs in 2,000 years of history, as we see today in prosperity theology.

And its owner, the Pharisee, quickly recognizes that Jesus was talking about it.

So, as I just said, Jesus responded like this in Luke 16:14.

The Pharisees are lovers of money.

 The Pharisees heard all this, they laughed!

I mean, it was ridiculed.

They did not accept Jesus' rebuke.

Many modern Christians today have deviated from the biblical faith.

So, my heart is broken by coveting material things and being rejected in an unjust way.

They think that if they tithe, their injustice will be covered.

That's why I have that one firm belief that I tithe hard and don't eat tithing.

So, he has the faith that he will continue to receive blessings.

Furthermore, he has such boldness that he will go to heaven because he leads a religious life that works harder than that.

This is very, very serious.

The reason the Pharisees ridiculed Jesus is because in the parable of Luke 16:1-8, Jesus spoke against the false teachings of the Pharisees.

This is proven in Luke 16:13.

Listen carefully.

Make a great statement at the conclusion.

A servant cannot serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cherish the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.

This is a very solemn statement.

At that time, the Pharisees could serve both God and money.

Furthermore, it is said that it is okay to do it in a slightly unrighteous way.

We tithe and bail out hard!

We fast too!

Jesus said no to them.

He said that he cannot serve both God and riches at the same time.

This is a very serious statement

This is the conclusion of Luke 16:13.

And where does the verse that supports this verse begin?

It begins with Luke 16: 9.

I tell you, make friends with the means of unrighteousness, and when those riches run out, they will receive you into their permanent residence.

Luke 16:13 says, "Unless you can serve both God and money..."

What does Jesus mean when he rebukes the Pharisees?

That is Luke 16:9.

Isn't this biblical righteousness?

Jesus said that it is impossible to serve both God and money. Is that statement compatible with verse 16: 9?

The saying says to make friends as a sacrifice to unrighteousness!

Jesus said, "When your riches are gone, they will receive you as a permanent residence."

Then Luke 16:1-8 looks like a verse that defends the story.

Isn't it?

It means that the steward took the unjust wealth and embezzled it at his will, and he indemnified it with it, causing a riot.

You paid off your debt.

That's what made friends by means of unrighteous wealth.

Is it a good thing to use someone else's money for you?

Does it make sense that they go to heaven?

That doesn't make sense.                                                          

Jesus couldn't have said that.

Now do you understand?

Let me explain again.

In Luke 16: 9, I say to you, 'Make friends by means of unrighteous wealth'.

However, I can understand that something is wrong with this verse.

Because Luke 16:9-13 is one message and verse 13 says that you cannot serve God and money at the same time.

But, in verse 9, make friends with unrighteous riches, and when those riches run out, they will receive you as a permanent residence.

There is no connection between the front and back of this verse.

You have to realize that this interpretation is wrong.

I'll give you that interpretation.

It’s two things.

Wealth of unrighteousness in the text can be interpreted in two ways.

The first interpretation is that the use of the modifier of injustice in the text is to refer to the act of this steward trying to gain his own profit by deceiving his master.

The Greek word translated ‘Adikias’ means ‘unrighteous’ so it means ‘unrighteous wealth’.

By the way, this may apply to Luke 16:1-8, but this interpretation does not apply to verses 10-13 after Luke 16: 9.

Clearly, Jesus said in verse 13 that you cannot serve both God and money at the same time, but if you try to make friends by interpreting 16:9 as wealth in unrighteousness, it doesn't make sense.

Then we can take the second interpretation.

The second interpretation, according to rabbinic tradition, contrasts with the treasures of heaven.

The treasure of the kingdom of heaven is found in Matthew 6: 20 and it is reasonable to interpret it as worldly riches with the opposite concept.

It is correct to interpret 'the world', that is, Luke 16:1-8 as wealth of unrighteousness.

And the unrighteous riches in verses 9 to 13 that follow and the ‘unrighteous riches’ in verse 9 are worldly resources, not unrighteous riches.

It is correct to translate the world riches into English.

This is what the rabbinical tradition looks like against the heavenly treasures.

So, if you look at 16:9 here, make friends with worldly goods.

First of all, this interpretation is correct, and this claim is supported by Luke 16:10-12.

10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.

11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

If you look here, if you are not loyal to unrighteous wealth, then what is the unrighteous wealth you are talking about?

It's the world's treasure. Do you understand?

That's a very important thing.

It doesn't make sense to say that unrighteous riches should be loyal here.

What does it mean to be loyal to the riches of the world?

As a good steward of the material world God has given, do not love material things, but use them for the glory of God.

This continues until Luke 16: 10 - 12.

You have to be loyal there.

It must be sincere.

As a good steward of God's matter, it is a very small thing in God's eyes.

But if you do your best in this, you will be rewarded in heaven later and entrusted with something bigger.

That's what it means.

So, in Luke 16:10-11, 'unless you are loyal to unrighteous riches' is written.

The first, what I mean by unrighteous wealth here is not unrighteous wealth.

 

It speaks of worldly riches.

In value-neutral terms, this wealth refers to worldly wealth.

Now you understand.

So, in Luke 16:9, 'Make friends with unrighteous riches' becomes 'Make friends with worldly riches'.

But now, even if this happens, a problem arises. 'Make friends with the world's riches.

Then, when your wealth runs out, they will receive you as a permanent dwelling place.’

This is also a bit strange.

So what's the second one?

In the text, make friends by means of unrighteous wealth.

The phrase to make friends with worldly wealth is a fatal mistranslation.

That's a fatal mistranslation.

It is important to correctly understand the most basic Greek or Hebrew in interpreting the Bible.

If you look at the text, the Greek word for 'unrighteous riches' is 'ek tu mamona tes adikias'.

So, when we say 'unrighteous wealth', the Greek preposition EK appears at the beginning. Now, when we say 'unrighteous wealth', it belongs to 'by'.

'By' is EK when it comes to unrighteous wealth.

You understand.

Most of the English Bibles were interpreted as ‘by the riches of unrighteousness’.

Most of the English Bibles were interpreted as ‘by the riches of unrighteousness’.

 

When interpreting the original language, knowing only Greek and Hebrew does not mean that you can interpret it.

If there is no systematic theological framework, it is interpreted as false.

Because one word has multiple meanings.

 

Even English is same.

So this word 'Ek' has at least five meanings.

The first is 'meaning the state', 'without anything'

The second is 'indicate the direction', 'out of something'.

The third is 'to indicate the origin', 'from what'

The fourth is 'indicate the cause', 'because of what'.

The fifth is 'say the source', 'from what'

It should be interpreted by applying one of these five, but everyone translated it as 2, 3, 4, 5 except for the 1 'without'.

So, it was interpreted incorrectly as 'by the wealth of unrighteousness'.

This interpretation is wrong.

So which of these is correct?

The first meaning 'without', 'remove it', 'don't rely on it' should have been interpreted as such.

Therefore, the correct interpretation is to translate 'with the riches of unrighteousness' as 'without the riches of the world' or 'without the riches of the world'.

Few people have interpreted it this way. It's a shock.

The decisive mistake of misinterpreting these words today is that they are misinterpreted in Luke 16:9, where the word ‘with unrighteous wealth’ is misinterpreted.

Again, if we correctly interpret Luke 16:9 according to the original language interpretation, it is as follows.

'Do not depend on the riches of the world, but make friends. Then they will lead you to the eternal kingdom of heaven when the riches run out.'

But why did Jesus say this?

And in Luke 16: 9, 'If you do not depend on the riches of this world, but make friends, you will go to the eternal kingdom of heaven.' Why does Jesus conclude in verse 13?

You cannot serve God and wealth at the same time.

In verses 11 and 12, write 'for the glory of God' and 'for the kingdom of God' as good stewards of things.

This is to emphasize.

But what about Luke 16:1-8?

What about the Pharisees?

It is said that the duty of a good steward is not necessary.

They loved money, and they loved money so much that they taught that by any means, accumulating injustice would pay off if you tithe and give out all day.

Jesus said.

Don't do that.

Don't do that!

You can't do that.

You cannot serve God and wealth at the same time.

At the same time, do not depend on the riches of the unrighteous world, and live uprightly according to God's will.

That way you can go to heaven.

When Jesus said this, the Pharisees laughed at him.

What do you think?

Therefore, the text reads, do not cling to the riches that will disappear or be greedy, but rely only on God.

And if the saints keep their faith as good stewards of wealth, they will enter the eternal kingdom of heaven when they keep fellowship with the people of God who use their wealth for the glory of the kingdom of God.

It is like this meaning.

 

The people of the world are obsessed with material things, greedy, and even accumulating unjust wealth, mobilizing and rationalizing religious practices to shake off their remorse.

The point is not to imitate the form of faith of these Pharisees

The sons of light should only serve God, not material things, engage in economic activities in a just way, and use those materials for the kingdom and glory of God as good stewards of material things.

This is the core of the lesson in the parable of the unrighteous steward.

In the parable of the unrighteous steward, I introduce the theological ideas that still make the same argument today as the Pharisees who praised the unjust steward and the master who praised it as right.

It is prosperity theology.

Prosperity theology originated in America in the 1980s.

It is a satanic idea that took the lead in secularizing Christianity by corrupting the whole of Christianity in accordance with the demands of material greed and fleshly lust in the post-modern era.

But unfortunately, most Christians today are tainted with prosperity theology.

It's such a sad reality.

We call this prosperity theology the gospel of success, the gospel of translation, and the gospel of health and wealth.

This prosperity theology believes that material wealth and happiness are the will of God.

But it teaches that in order to obtain this material wealth, you need two things.

 

The first is through faith. In particular, when I believe, I have a lot of positive thoughts and words, so I am blessed.

I will get rich.

It is said that material wealth comes through this.

Second, the act of giving should be followed along with this.

That act is what tithing.

You have to prove it with action.

I'm not just saying that I'm getting rich, I'm just saying that the current tithe (I'm not saying you shouldn't tithe) is that giving increases your material wealth.

It guarantees material blessings.

And what did these people secretly do?

Even if you accumulate wealth in an unrighteous way lacking morality, you will become very rich if you pay tithing and keep speaking the word of faith.

And what they are saying is that they can serve both God and material things at the same time.

Does this make sense?

Jesus said about it that no man can serve two masters.

This man says he can serve two masters.

So, who is the God that prosperity theology teaches?

He is not a personal God.

It's just a cosmic law to which the human belief of positive thoughts and words belongs.

In this respect, prosperity theology completely denies God's absolute sovereignty and providence.

 

In the end, prosperity theology in orthodox theology was decided as the gospel of greed and condemned as heresy.

Nevertheless, the majority of Protestants today are imbued with prosperity theology.

 

Today, I gave a sermon with the title of 'The lesson of the parable of the unrighteous steward' with the words of Luke 16:1-15.

 Everyone! Let's not love material things, but let's be good stewards of material things.

By using material things for the sake of the kingdom of God and its glory, let us not really be slaves to material things, but to become stewards of material things as sacred instruments that handle them well.

 

A-men