MONEY or GOD? Can't serve both!

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Welcome back to the Iron Saints Podcast with your host, Dan Willis. Welcome back, Saints. I am so thrilled to be back again with you today. Sorry about missing the episode yesterday. Life is just kind of crazy right now, doing some crazy things in my personal walk with the family, and I'm pretty excited about the stuff that's coming up. It shouldn't affect the podcast too much though. Huge thank you to all of you guys that have been listening again since we picked it back up. I'm very excited to say that we are about to We have reached 10,000 downloads of the podcast. I cannot believe that we are there so quickly. What a blessing. I love that there's that many men that are out there that are diving into God's word daily and just ripping apart the scriptures. So often I heard when I started this that guys just didn't have the time to sit down for that 10, 15 minutes and really wrestle with God's word daily. So I am thrilled and overjoyed that that is happening. We're going to continue our walk through Luke. If you guys are new to the podcast, you've never been here before, we are walking through the book of Luke. I promise to end season 1 As soon as we get to the end of it. But we are only on Luke 15. So if you want to go back and start in the beginning, please do that. I encourage you to do that. If you just want to pick up right here and now, you didn't miss anything. It's not like it's sequential and you have to listen to every single episode. You can, you can miss one, skip one, whatever. But you're welcome to join us right where we are. Or if you want to go back and start at Luke 1, feel free to do that. I do encourage that. For those of you that are willing to keep on moving, though, grab your coffee, grab your Bible. Here we go. Luke 15. Let's hit it. As always, guys, I will be reading from the ESV. You guys are welcome to follow along in whatever translation you prefer. I had said Luke 15. It's actually Luke 16 we're going to be in today. Luke 15 was the last episode. So Luke 16, guys, flip the page, head to the next chapter if you're already there. If you don't have a copy of the Bible on you, you can't get a physical copy because you're driving, you know, you just don't have one handy. No problem. Don't worry. I always read the passage. But I do encourage you guys to have a Bible handy. Yeah, there's that. So without further ado, let's get down to it. Luke chapter 16. He also said to the disciples, there was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, what is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management. You can no longer be manager. And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I've decided what to do so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. So summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, how much do you owe my master? And he said, 100 measures of oil. He said to him, take your bill, sit down quickly and write 50. Then he said to another, how much do you owe? And he said, 100 measures of wheat. And he said to him, take your bill and write 80. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of the world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what— in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve 2 masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things and they ridiculed him. He said to them, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John. Since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his side. He called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I'm in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able. And none may cross from there to us. And he said, then I beg you, Father, send him to my father's house, for I have 5 brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. So there's an awful lot to unpack here, but we are going to focus on the unrighteous wealth. What is unrighteous wealth? Where does it fit? How does it play? Unrighteous wealth, guys, we are not talking about the riches which we store up in heaven. Not talking about the deeds that you have done here on this earth. We're not talking kindness that you've shown, the gospel you have spread. That's not what he's referring to here. We are talking about money when he's saying Pretty much outright. If you're not good with money, who's going to trust you with more than money? How, how can you possibly hope to overcome the world when you are so dependent on the wealth of this world? It's nuts. It's nuts. You can't serve God and money because money's always going to be there nagging. Always focus on me. You need more of me. You need this. Okay. If you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you True riches. We're not talking about gain there. We're talking about true riches. How can you be trusted with the things of this world that are more important than money if you can't even manage something as simple as money? And I know that that can be intimidating, guys. I know, I know. I have been there. I have been there as a father with a large family who's down to his last dollar. I know what that feels like. But at the same time, I often find that I was in that place because I was doing the things I wasn't supposed to be doing. I love here that in this passage, the rich man rebukes this manager for not being shrewd in the first place. He wasn't doing his job. He wasn't aware that that was what he was supposed to be doing. And only at risk of losing it all did he finally give himself a head shake and say, listen, if this is the case, if this is what's going to happen, I'm going to focus on the people around me and that's going to make money work a lot better. I'm going to do the things that I'm supposed to do, which is focus on community and relationships and, and Everything else. And that money factor is going to become less and less important because I understand that ultimately it's going to come down to when I have no money, being able to rely on the people around me to help me get back on my feet. And the manager says, this is fantastic. You're finally starting to get it. We don't actually find out in this passage whether or not he gets to keep his role as a manager, but we can pretty much imagine because of his actions and because he was shrewd in what he had done and the master had commended him, it is unlikely that this man lost his position. And so what I want to give us as a takeaway here today on this is where is your focus? Are you so focused on the worldly things? Are you focused on your wealth, on your possessions, on the things that are going on around you? Is that your fixation? Is that your focus? Or instead, are we focusing on the things that are more important, the things that are directly around us, our relationships? It really comes down to relationships here. It comes down to the people around us. Are you caring for friends and family? Even more so, are you caring for those people in your community and those people that are around you In your day-to-day environment, yeah, your family is always going to be there for you. For the most part, your family is always going to be there for you. There are exceptions to that, of course, but family is pretty much a given that they're going to be there for you unless you've got a really terrible circumstance, in which case I hope the family of Christ is always there for you. But that's a general, you know, family's around you, close friends are around. But in your day-to-day, you spend most of your time probably not directly with your family and friends. It's the world around you. So what kind of relationships are you fostering? Are you sacrificing relationships in your community around you for the sake of making some money, of getting a little bit ahead? Well, that's going to come at a cost. And I think God is really calling us here as he rebukes the Pharisees saying, listen, you guys justify yourselves before men and you exalt yourselves and you put yourself up on high. But the reality is that comes at a cost too, and you don't even realize it. When we jump down to the rich man and Lazarus, what we see is the rich man dedicated himself to wealth but finds himself burning at the end. And he says, listen, I'd give it all up. Let me go back. Let me go warn my brothers and my fathers that all the wealth that I coveted wasn't worth it. Too late. Focused on the relationships too late. And now those men that you love, those family members that you love, they don't get to hear the good news that you would give them because you dedicated so much time to money. Put God first. That's the call. You cannot serve God and money. And if you could only pick one of the two, which do you pick? God. Pick God. Pick God and money will get sorted out. If you pick money, God won't get sorted out. It's just the way it works. Unto Caesar what is Caesar's, unto God which is God's. Lead with God. That's going to be the way to go, guys. Really pause, take a look. Are you fixated on money? Because if you are, and I've been there, it's going to lead to real ruin real fast. Let me pray for you guys before we get out of here today. I'm thrilled to start to see emails coming back in and men with prayer requests asking for prayer. So I'm going to lift those prayers up. As always, guys, if you send me prayer requests either on social media or via email down in the description below, those can always be made first name only, anonymously. I'm happy to do that. I'm happy to pray that way, especially if the topics are a little bit more sensitive, things like addiction or pornography or lust or adultery. Those things are always going to be prayed for anonymously so that nobody's felt that they're in a place where they are exposed. And this This can be a place of trust where you are receiving prayer, and likely other men that are struggling can also receive prayer without fear of scrutiny or fear of being called out publicly on something like a podcast. So let's get down to it here. Lord, thank you so much for those that are listening. Thank you for the men that have opened their hearts and are willing to have prayer. I lift up those men that are struggling with lust, that are struggling with adultery and pornography. Lord, it is a huge, huge struggle and it is a massive trial, especially in this world where it's something that's applauded and lauded and seen as a perfectly healthy thing to pursue lust and adultery as much as you possibly can, that we are constantly bombarded with it in entertainment and in advertisement, in marketing. It's everywhere and it's all around us, Lord. And I pray that the men that are struggling with this have recognized it as a sinful way for them, Lord, that you would lift them up, that you would carry them, that you would hold them, that you would shield them, that you would guard them as they walk through their day, Lord. Pray for all of the men that are struggling with illness and suffering right now, Lord, bodily injury, bodily illness for them or their family members, their close ones. I just pray that you would lift them up, Lord, as to today's passage, Lord, to those that are struggling with worldly wealth, unrighteous wealth, that you would help them to see that you are the way, the truth, and the life, that to trust in you, Lord, is to give those worries and cares of unrighteous wealth up to you and trust that you will provide for us. Lord, thank you so much for all that you do for us. Thank you for the blessings that you give, and thank you for the convictions that you've given us, Lord. I pray for the men that are listening, that you would strengthen them. Pray for an amazing day for them today, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen. That is it for today. Again, guys, thank you so much to all of you guys that are listening, reviewing, and sharing the podcast episodes out either with friends and family or online. I greatly appreciate it. I can't wait to hit that 10,000 listener milestone. I might look to do a giveaway of some kind, maybe a men's study Bible to somebody. Even when we hit that 10,000 download, I'm still wrestling with that idea and how it would work. But for now, I just want to say thank you again. Thank you to all those who are listening, all those who are sharing, and I hope you guys have an amazing day. I will see you tomorrow with another episode. Till then, take it easy. Thank you for listening to the Iron Saints Podcast. If you are looking to share your prayer requests, check the description for social media or email to contact the show. Blessings on you all until next time.