The Parables of Christ no. 33
Stewardship
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Prayer…
LUKE 16:1 ¶ And,
(Now, this
rich man that Jesus is speaking of is His Father, God. He owns the cattle on a
thousand hills as you know. And this story is about a certain steward that
worked for this Rich man, who is God, our Father.) and so he said also unto his disciples; …
Now we are told in scriptures
that the ministry are supposed to be Good stewards of God’s Word. Therefore we
are dealing with the end time ministry of the Word of God. Paul taught us
that the ministry are the stewards of the mysteries of God. I CORINTHIANS 4:1 ¶ Let a
man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found
faithful.
And so we see the main
attribute of the minister or steward is that of being faithful. That is the
most important thing. It is not how good he can preach. It is not how good an
administrator he can be. But He must be faithful. That is the key…and so we see
this parable deals with a steward or minister that was not faithful…concerning
the things that belonged to the rich Man which was God. And remember, the
minister is a steward of the mysteries of God. Therefore we are not dealing
with the denominational minister here. He is not a steward of the mysteries,
because he doesn’t care two bits about the mysteries of God. He is only
concerned with his job, and keeping the people content so he will have a
salary. So this parable deals with the end time ministers or stewards of the
mysteries, and we know that pertains to this message where all the mysteries
have been revealed.
Now, this parable is
somewhat reminiscent to that parable we studied from LUKE
Now, in tying together
these two parables, we see that they both speak of the end time. Brother
Branham said, “All
the New Testament speaks of this hour”. Therefore, we can see
that the faithful steward will minister the Word in due season, or the season
that it is due. That means he will bring forth the Word for the hour. And
Seeing that Paul told us the Good Steward is a faithful stewardship concerning
the mysteries of God, Then this parable in Luke chapter 16 speaks of those who
are not Faithful to the mysteries of God.
There was a certain rich man, which had a steward
and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Now, there are several
things I want to look at in this verse.
Now, we must ask ourselves
the question, Who reported back to the Father what this man was doing? Because
whoever it was that reported to the Father, was getting some action from that
report. God was responding to the report He had about this steward. And that
portion of God’s Spirit that is within you has a direct link to the Father, and
gives him the report. That’s what brother Branham said.
AT THY WORD LORD 51-0928
E-4 it is the Holy
Spirit, that takes word to the Father and gives a report of what we do,
JAMES 5:16
Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be
healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17 Elias
was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it
might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and
six months. 18 And he prayed again,
and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 19 Brethren,
if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that
he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Now, whoever this person
was that made contact with the Father, you know one thing for sure, they got
results. And we just read that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much. He did not say, those who pray, but those who pray fervently.
And yet sometimes your answer is not what you want to hear, for Jesus Himself,
God’s Uniquely born Son, prayed so fervently that he sweated great drops of
blood. Now, that is fervent prayer. But here we see that the effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. That means it produces strength. And Jesus
need that strength to go through what he had to suffer. No mere man could have
received the suffering that He suffered, and the only way He could do it is
because He desired not His own will but He said, “My meat is to do my Father’s
will.” So His fervent prayer produced
the inner strength and determination that they could not keep Him from going to
that Cross. No matter how many beatings He would take, no matter how many whippings
and how much blood He would loose, and how much pain He would suffer, no one
was going to keep Him from accomplishing the Will of the Father. That’s a man
of God. That’s a man after God’s own heart. And no one has done that or ever
will do that and that is why He was given a name above every other name, that
at that name all knees shall bow. Hallelujah!
So, whoever sent forth this
prayer or report to the Father it worked, because in the next verse we hear
that the Rich man, (God) got a hold of this man (the steward) and called him to
give an account for his conduct. Now, you may say, how does this apply to this
hour? And the answer is in Matthew 16.
MATTHEW
RISING OF THE SUN 65-0418M 3-2 Well, if you'll turn the picture like this
and look (and you can probably see it from the audience), it's Christ. See His
eyes looking here just as perfect as it could be, wearing the white wig of
supreme Deity and Judge of all heavens and earth? Can you see His eyes, nose,
His mouth? Just turn the picture from this (the way they had it), this a-way,
the way it's supposed to be. And you... Can you see it? He is supreme Judge;
there's none other but Him. And that is a perfect identification again, a
vindication that this Message is the truth. It is true.
And notice that
when he comes as Judge at this time, the Supreme Judge, Matthew tells us at
that time, and then he shall reward every man
according to his works. And so we see in this parable that
God calls forth this steward to give an account of his stewardship.
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.
Now, these are the same
words used by the Apostle Peter, so let’s see what he was speaking about to get
a better understanding of what Jesus was driving at in this parable. Because we
must never forget that He spoke in parables so that those that had ears to hear
would know and understand and perceive but to those who were not ordained to
Life could not understand or perceive what he was driving at. Therefore, in reading from 1 Peter chapter 4
we will find a clue to our answer to this parable.
I PETER 4:5 Who
shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. So we see the same wording
used here as we find in Jesus’ parable. Notice what Peter tells us in verse one
and two tied together… Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the
quick and the dead 6 For for this cause (what cause?
Stewardship. The giving an account for) For for this cause was the gospel preached also to
them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh,
but live according to God in the spirit. (In verse one he tells us
of ones that shall give account to the Judge, and then in verse two he speaks
of preaching and the reason, and then in a few more verses he tells us that the
gift God gives us to minister we are to be good stewards of that Gift)
10 As every man hath received the gift, What gift? EPHESIANS 4:11
And He (God) gave some, to be apostles; and some, to be prophets; and some, to be evangelists; and some, to be pastors and some
to be teachers; (Why? ) 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the
unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: 14 That we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive;
Therefore in getting back
to what Peter was saying in verse 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.
So we see that this steward
was a man who was given a stewardship over God’s Word to minister that Word.
But in this parable we hear that this man, minister, was not a very good steward of the things he
was empowered to do.
Now the word that is used
here asking him to give an account of his stewardship, the word that was
translated as account is the
Greek word Logos. Now, most of
the time we use this word Logos in reference to the invisible thought becoming
manifested through speech or utterance. A word, uttered by a living voice, embodies
a conception or idea.
So we could read this as
saying, Give therefore an utterance of
thy stewardship.. The word logos also means anything reported in speech;
so we could render this verse as saying, therefore give a report of thy
stewardship, and that sounds pretty good as well. But a third meaning of the
word logos which is most often overlooked is the sayings of God - decree, mandate or order, doctrine or teaching. And
this then would be render as saying, what doctrine of stewardship is this that
you are teaching through the
manifestation of your actions.
In other words, the actions
of this man were declaring what his doctrine or teaching really was. Brother
Branham often said Do you know, I'd rather you'd live me a sermon than preach
me one?
In fact from the sermon, WORKS THAT I DO BEAR WITNESS OF ME 51-0413 E-16 Do you know, I'd rather you'd live me a sermon than preach
me one? It'll be a better evidence that you're a Christian. Isn't that right? A
live a sermon. And what we are is what we live, what we do. Our actions shows
what we are.
There was a certain rich man, which had a steward
and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. So we see that he was accused of something. He was
accused that he had wasted the rich man’s goods.
Now, the word wasted was
translated as such from the Greek word diaskorpizo which is pronounced as :
dee-as-kor-pid'-zo.. The word means to
scatter abroad, disperse. to
throw the grain a considerable distance, or up into the air, that
it may be separated from the chaff; to gather the wheat, freed from the chaff
into the granary.
Now, before I comment on
this, I want you to see how this parable also ties with the Parable of the ten
talents that we found in Matthew Chapter 25.
MATTHEW 25:22 He also that had received two talents came and
said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two
other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee
ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had
received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard
man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not
strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo,
[there] thou hast [that is] thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him,
[Thou] wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not,
and gather where I have not strawed: 27
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and
[then] at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give
[it] unto him which hath ten talents.
Now, notice the Lord said,
thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knew that I gather where I have not
strawed and that word strawed is this same word diaskorpizo, which means to
throw into the air to separate the chaff from the grain.
So we see that the parable
concerns those who were supposed to be Good stewards of the mysteries, which is
this Message, the Shout of the King in the camp. And yet Jesus tells us they
were doing something wrong concerning what they were supposed to be doing. Notice
they were winnowing, or tossing the Seed into the air. And so they were
scattering the Seed to the four winds but there was something wrong in they way
they were doing it. what they were doing was wrong, and not right and so they
were called to give an account. Now, if they had been doing what is right then
they would be righteous, but they were not righteous, but unrighteous in what
they were doing. 1 John 3:7He that doeth
righteousness is righteous.
Because when they were
called into question concerning their stewardship of the mysteries, they were
told that they wasted or scattered the Rich mans goods. Now, the fact is that
the goods are the Good News. The Message, the mysteries. That is what they were
to be the Stewards over. But what happened here that this steward was called
into question for scattering the message.
Many have went forth and
scattered to the four winds false doctrines. False Seeds, Seeds that were not
the mysteries of God, but their own made up mysteries. Seeds that made men receive
a wrong focus, looking at them who were sowing rather than the rich man whose
good news it was. And so they sowed seeds that glorified the bride and not the
God of the Bride. Seeds have been
scattered every where that have glorified the Messenger more than the message.
So we find God asking this
man, what is it that you are teaching the people by your actions? What are you
declaring to these people? What sort of doctrine is this? And then we find the
steward’s response…
3 Then the steward said within himself, What
shall I do? (Now, I want you to notice that this thing he asked himself is something
he asked within himself. In other words his little mind begin to whirl and try
to come up with a plan to make everything work out for his own good. The word
do was translated from a Greek word poieo pronounced poy eho, and it means to make a thing out of something. So
instead of God working all things to the good of those that love him, this man
began to plan how he himself could make it all to work out for his own good.,
and then we find him thinking, …) What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the
stewardship: I cannot dig;(no, to work with my hands is not an
option…) to beg I
am ashamed.(no, I know better than to beg, I would be ashamed to do
that… and then he got his brilliant idea, and he thought…)
4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out
of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. (notice this evil plan had
nothing to do with the rich man. On the contrary wise, his plan was focused on
them, not Him God. But them, the people. Notice in his mind he has no thoughts
toward God, only toward self. Not Thy will be done, but my will be done. And I
want you to notice how this unfaithful steward in his mind began to move toward
organization. )
5 So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto
him, (notice
here that he did not have any of his own converts. These were those who were
indebted to the Lord. ) and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? 6
And he said, An hundred measures of oil. (Now, we know oil
represents the Holy Spirit, and 100 is 10 x 10 and we know that ten represents
the end of a cycle. Thus this is the end of the cycle of oil or spirit 10
fold. In fact we find in scripture the
number 100 seems to represent the maximum of anything. So we see this debt had
to do with the maximum amount of the Spirit, or the fullness of the Spirit. We
se in other Scripture that 100 represents the maximum, or fullness of the flock
of God. There were 100 sheep and The Good shepherd went left the 99 to find the
one that went astray. And In the book of Ezra the kind gave a command that all
give tribute to Ezra of 100. This 100 represented the maximum tribute to be
paid.
EZRA 7:21 And I, [even] I Artaxerxes the
king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which [are] beyond the river, that
whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall
require of you, it be done speedily, 22
Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat,
and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt
without prescribing [how much]. 23
Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done
for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the
realm of the king and his sons?
24 Also we
certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters,
Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose
toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.
And remember there was
another parable that spoke of a steward that went to the man that owed 100 pence and we read in MATTHEW 18:28 But the same servant
went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence:
and he laid hands on him, and took [him] by the throat, saying, Pay me that
thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying,
Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him
into prison, till he should pay the debt. )
But this steward took
another tact. Instead of throwing him in prison, he cut his debt to 50 which
gave him deliverance. For 50 is the number of Jubilee which is the setting
free. And he said
unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down
quickly, and write fifty. Now, the oil did not belong to Him. It
belonged to the Lord. And he said, we do not need to apply the token, just talking
about it is all you need to do. Just believe it and that is all there is to it.
Just say you believe the Message and you are in, and you are set free.
7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou?
And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. (Now, remember here that wheat represents the
bread of Life which is Christ, the Word. And 100 means that it is the once for
all or the totality or the End-Time Word that must to be given back to God as a
wave sheaf offering. But notice what this steward did. God required 100 which
was the all of it, but this steward said 80 will do…He cut short the Word for
his own motives. Because 10 signifies the end of a cycle and 8 signifies a new
beginning, and this is exactly what the steward had in mind. His stewardship
was ending, that’s the 10, and now he had to come up with a new beginning and
that is the 8. So his plan was to mix a new beginning with the end of his
stewardship, thus 8x10 becomes 80. One that would look out for his own
interest, and not that of the rich man which is God.) And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write
fourscore.
Now, we have seen what this
unfaithful minister has done with the Mysteries of God, but what does God say
about what they have done?
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.
Now, at first it sounds
like the Lord is commending and praising this steward. But I want you to notice
that Jesus calls this man an unjust steward, and the word unjust means
unrighteous. That means this man is not rightly wise in his wisdom. It may have
seemed wise to this unjust steward, but what he did was very wrong and
unrighteous in God’s eyes.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, This word fail is used of
the light of the sun and moon going into full eclipse. In other words he is
saying, when you fail, or when what light you might have goes into darkness they may receive
you into everlasting habitations.
What we see here is that
Jesus is saying, when the light begins to grow dim to your spiritual eyes, then
all you will have left is organization, so organize while you can still see any
light for once your light is gone all you will have left is your organization.
And then Jesus tells us
what this is all about. It is about being faithful, no matter what God calls
you to do, be faithful in that calling.
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. In other words, it does not matter to God
whether you have much or little, what matters to Him is your faithfulness to
what He has called you to.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Brother Vayle said to me
years ago, “let
me see how a man handles money, and I will tell you where that man’s heart is.
For Jesus said Himself, “Where your treasures are there will your heart be also”.
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is
another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
156-2
Jesus goes on to say, 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.
You can’t do it. either God
has called you or man has called you. You can’t serve both. Now that does not
mean you can’t work a job and serve God,
because Moses did it, and Paul did it, and William Branham did it, until that
time that he as Moses had to be on the road so much of the time that he
couldn’t hold down a job. But what he is
saying here is that you can’t be true to God and line up with man. It doesn’t
mix. Either you will stay true to God or you will drift towards organization.
Look, I would love to have
a church full of people who want with all their hearts to serve God, but there
just aren’t that many people willing to do so. Not even in this message. Just
compromise here a little and there a little and then the people will begin to
flood your gates. I know churches where you almost can’t be a deacon unless
you are divorced. It seems that the
requirements in that church are that you have to have had two or three wives to
be a deacon. And yet they fill the
church from wall to wall. Why? Organization, that’s why. You can’t please man
and please God at the same time. You must be willing to walk alone or God won’t
walk with you.
89-1
The freedom of the Spirit was gone. Oh, they kept on
with a form; but the fire had died down and the blackness of ashes is about all
that is left.
89-2 A few moments ago I
mentioned that John understood what it was to love God. That great apostle of
love would certainly see it when the church began to lose that first love of
God. In I John 5:3, he says, "For this is the love of God, that we
keep His commandments
(His
Word)." One little
deviation from that Word was a step away from Christ. People say they love God,
they go to church, they even shout and rejoice and sing and have a great
emotional time. But when it is all over, watch and see if they are in that
WORD, walking in it, living in it. If they go through all the other and then
don't walk in that Word, they can say they love God but their lives tell
another story. I wonder if John didn't see a lot of that before he died; people
saying they loved God but not obeying His Word. Oh,
89-3 But as usual people don't heed
God's warning. That revival fire built upon the sacred Word is so wonderful,
and the manifestation of the Spirit so blessed, that a little fear creeps in
and a whisper in the heart says, "How can we protect this truth we have?
What can we do to see this revival goes on?" That is when the
"antichrist spirit" comes in and whispers, "Look, you have the
truth now, see that it doesn't get lost. Organize and set up your creed of what
you believe. Put it all in a church manual." And they do it. They
organize. They add to the Word. And they die just like Eve did for taking One
wrong word. It's God's Word that brings life. And it's not what we say about
the Word that counts, but it's what God said.
Now, back to our parable…14 And the Pharisees
also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 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 (or Presence) of God.
Don’t ever forget those
words church. for
that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight (or
Presence) of
God.