FEBRUARY 6TH
THE WRITE-OFF OF THE UNJUST STEWARD (Continued)
Reading: Luke Chapter 16:1-17
16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
16:2 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.
16:3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
16:4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
16: 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors [unto him], and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
16:6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
16:7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
16:8 And 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.
16:9 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.
16:10 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.
16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true [riches]?
16:12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
16:13 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.
16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
16:16 The law and the prophets [were] until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
As promised, we will now revisit the write-off of the fifty measures of oil. Actually, reference must be made to the write-off in order for the reader to apprehend the travesty of the remaining debt. Again, the debtor owed one hundred measures of oil. After the unjust steward wrote off fifty measures, the debtor owed fifty measures of oil. At this point, we hopefully have a clear view from the other debtor of an acknowledged life apart from the Expected End in Christ. What will this debtor of oil show us now?
As stated, fifty speaks to Pentecost or of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Biblical meanings do not change because scenarios do, so what is being done here? This debtor still acknowledges he owes fifty measures of oil; however, there is a problem with this fifty or this representation of the Holy Spirit. Let us glean from the Apostle Paul’s Second Letter to the Church at Corinth to see what is at work here.
Second Corinthians 11:1-4 reads, "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have expoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (Underline added for emphasis).
Yes, the other debtor still acknowledges what represents the Holy Spirit but is another spirit! With both debtors we then see a powerless self-life in a nutshell. Where is the Power of the church today? It is where the True Jesus and His Gospel are being preached, whether or not itching ears approve. It is also where stewards are Spirit-led and look only to God for their sustenance, present or future, and realize that promotion and power come from nowhere in the earth but from God above. The True Spirit will only testify of the True Jesus! Hallelujah! What Power! It is where the Anointed One ministers and is magnified and glorified! It is where the Lord Jesus has come, and His Throne sits on every heart!
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