Luke 16:1–15

There are two parables in Luke 16. They belong so closely together that you cannot understand the second without grasping the teaching of the first. The Lord spoke chapter 15 to the scribes and Pharisees; these parables He speaks to His disciples. Chapter 15 sets out the grace of God at work to save lost and ruined men. Chapter 16 shows what that grace does in the conduct of those who receive it, even when they grasp it only in part. It also shows the eternal consequences of receiving or rejecting it.

Though it is pure grace that saves and finds deep delight in the repentance of a sinner, God's wise government is not ignored in the case of someone wasting His goods, as the prodigal had done.

The steward (one employed to care for his master's goods) in this chapter had proven unfaithful. The goods (the unrighteous mammon — v. 11) are earthly possessions entrusted to the hands of the steward, that is, to all mankind. Sad to say, all of Adam's race has been guilty of wasting our Master's goods. For who would dare to say that he had used all his material possessions honestly for God? Pharisees are no less guilty of this than are prodigals.

Before we go further, let me call your mind to the word "wasted" in the case of the prodigal. It was exactly what he had done. This parable is here to show that the elder brother may do exactly what the younger did. He may be a very respectable waster. There are hundreds of thousands of them in the world, and they stand high in the world's credit. But weighed in God's balances, they are just as much wasters as this wild prodigal. If we do not carry ourselves as stewards of God, we are wasters. If I am using myself and what I have as if they were my own, in the divine reckoning I am a waster. Here is a steward. We are not told how he spent his money. It is enough to know that he was not faithful to his master.

Man in general had wasted his master's goods, of course, but the Jew especially. He was the most favoured, and so under a stricter responsibility. He was not only a man, but a steward. A trust was placed in the Jew beyond all others, and he was most justly accused of wasting his master's goods. What had he done for God? He ought to have been a light in the earth. He ought to have been a guide to the blind. He ought to have been a witness to the true God.

Man is the steward of God (that is, God has committed His goods to man). Israel stands especially in this position. But man has been unfaithful; Israel had indeed been so. God has taken away his stewardship; but man is still in possession of the goods to administer them.

The unjust steward stands for man. He fails in every part of his responsibility. Trusted with the stewardship of his lord's goods, he proves to be no exception to the rule. He wasted them, and must lose his position as steward. But the goods stay in his hands for now. The point of the parable is the shrewd, though dishonest, use he makes of this opportunity, with the future in view.

Do not clutch at what you have not yet got, and do not hold on to what you have. Regard these things instead as your master's goods, and treat them as the unjust steward in the parable did. Rise above the unbelief that looks at money, or other present possessions, as if they were your own things. It is not so.

Man in general had wasted his master's goods, of course, but the Jew especially. He was the most favoured, and so under a stricter responsibility. He was not only a man, but a steward. The Jew held a trust beyond all others, and he deserved the charge of wasting his master's goods. What had he done for God? He should have been a light in the earth; he should have been a guide to the blind; he should have been a witness to the true God.

Looked at as a steward, man has proved completely unfaithful… Man here has gone to ruin. So now man is a steward out of his place. "Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." He is dismissed from the stewardship — he has lost his place, but not the goods he still manages.

Grace has not recalled the sentence, "You can no longer be steward." It has given us far more, but it has not reinstated us in the place we have lost. Death, in fact, is our removal from our stewardship. For us as Christians, though, it is the entrance into something we must admit is "far better." But grace has delayed the carrying out of the sentence, and meanwhile our Master's goods are in our hand. All that we have here is His, not ours.

First of all, our Lord explains here that the tenure of earthly things is now gone. It was no longer a question of holding a stewardship, but of giving it up. The steward was judged… He is a prudent man. He thinks about what will become of him when he loses his stewardship. He looks ahead to the future. He is not absorbed in the present… So he makes a wise use of his master's goods… Rise above the unbelief that looks at money, or other present possessions, as if they were your own. They are not.

Here, in Revelation 2, it is the Lord in "the house of God" challenging the churches to answer for themselves. He had already set them in the blessing, and now He looks for fruit. It is as though He had heard a report of their unfaithfulness and was now saying to them, "How is it that I hear this of you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward."

Our danger lies in the tendency of our hearts to seek a portion here, to hold present things as though they belonged to us. Whereas in truth nothing here belongs to us. Our portion is in the eternal things. What we hold here is only entrusted to us as stewards. We must give account for all of it. Not only for the deeds done in the body, our outward conduct, but for the use we have made of everything in this life that was entrusted to us. The motives, too, and the intents of the heart, will all be brought to light.

Man in general is God's steward. Israel was God's steward too, in another sense and in another way. God put the nation into His vineyard and trusted it with law, promises, covenants, worship, and so on. But in it all, Israel wasted His goods. Seen as a steward, man has proved completely unfaithful. So what now? In the sovereignty of His grace, God steps in and turns what man has abused on earth into a means of heavenly fruit… "Give an account of your stewardship, for you may be no longer steward." He is dismissed from his stewardship. He has lost his place, but not the things he manages.

The unjust steward is our picture here. He pictures those under sentence of dismissal from the place God first put them in, because they dealt unrighteously in it — and as to the old creation, that is where we all stand. Grace has not cancelled the sentence, "You may be no longer steward." Grace has given us far more, but it has not put us back in the place we lost. Death is our real removal from our stewardship. Yet for us as Christians it is the entrance into something we must admit is "far better." But grace has delayed the carrying out of the sentence, and meanwhile our Master's goods are in our hand.

He had no power, for the law provokes evil ways rather than giving good ones… On the other hand, the Jew was ashamed to beg. He would not take the place of a lost, good-for-nothing sinner who depends on God for everything. Such a man looks up to God to do and give what he cannot do himself. Sad to say, the stubborn pride of the Jew rebelled against God's verdict that he had no power.

So the steward takes it on himself to sacrifice the present for the sake of the future… There is no ground for thinking the parable makes light of his dishonesty. It brands him the "unjust steward." That was exactly the position and character of the Jew: they were all unrighteous in God's sight. But had they done what the steward does when he is about to be discharged? No! He looked forward to the future, and acted at once on that conviction. Were they not, on the contrary, absorbed in the present? Is this not the great snare of men — to sacrifice the future for the present, instead of the present for the future?

First, the one who commends him is not the Lord Jesus, but the imaginary master in the parable. Second, that master praised the steward for his wisdom, not his honesty. A clever rogue is bound to win a certain admiration from those watching. The point of the parable is that the man acted with his eye on the future.

Faithfulness here does not give, or form any part of, a right to be received there. That right is found only in the grace that receives sinners, and first has to seek them (Luke 15:4-10)… When verses 10-12 apply the teaching of the parable to the disciples, it is not prudence but faithfulness in handling earthly things that the Lord commends.

"I know" (ἔγνων) means "I am resolved."

"I know what I will do, that when I shall have been removed from the stewardship I may be received into their houses." This was prudent, and the precise point of earthly wisdom in the parable which the Lord commends for our admonition.

The steward was called to give an account, and told that he had forfeited his stewardship. In the same way, because of Adam's sin man came under the sentence of death, "and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12). We have forfeited all right to any place on earth. For each one of us, the actual putting out of the stewardship happens at death. Until then we still hold our Master's goods. How shall we use them?

Between the sentence and the day it takes effect, he makes up his lord's accounts and makes friends with his lord's debtors. He uses his lord's money so that these friendly debtors will welcome him into their houses when he is put out of his lord's house. In the same way, man has proved unfaithful in his stewardship. He has lost his place on the earth... Now the question is how to make the best use of the unrighteous mammon, so as to gain a welcome into heavenly homes.

It does not matter that the goods belonged to his master and not to him. In fact, we see the deepest wisdom in the parable just as it stands, once we apply it to the way we live. The only way we can look ahead like this is to count what people — what self — would call ours as our master's resources. We have no way to secure the future unless we use everything as belonging to God. But this is the victory of faith: instead of looking at the present moment with a natural eye, we keep our eyes on the future and act on it.

The words "that they may receive you" just mean "that you may be received into everlasting habitations."... We should put no weight on the exact form of the phrase "they may receive you." It has misled many. Taken literally it could hold true on earth, as we see in verse 4, but in spiritual terms it just means "that you may be received."... God alone receives into heaven. No one else has the right to receive anyone there.

First, the one who gives this praise is not the Lord Jesus, but the imaginary lord in the parable. Second, the steward was praised for his wisdom, not for his honesty. A clever crook always draws a kind of admiration from those who watch him. The point of the parable is that the man acted with his eye on the future. He used his short time as steward with a view to the years that lay beyond.

Man is the steward of God — that is, God has committed His goods to man. Israel stands especially in this position. But man has been unfaithful; Israel had indeed been so. God has taken away his stewardship; but man is still in possession of the goods to administer them, at least in fact, as Israel was at that moment. These goods are the things of earth — the things man can own in his natural state.

The steward was called to give an account, and was given notice that he had forfeited his stewardship. Just so, because of Adam's sin he was sentenced to death, "and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). We have forfeited all title to any place on earth. In the case of each individual, the actual putting out of the stewardship is at death; meanwhile we are still in possession of our Master's goods. How shall we use them?

He called his employer's debtors. He offered to reduce their debts as a kindness, if they would just write out a cheque for the smaller amount. In this way he collected what might have remained outstanding bad debts, so his employer benefited from it. His motives were not love for his employer, nor for the debtors either. They were entirely selfish. He counted on the debtors showing him kindness in return when he was discharged.

First, the one who commends is not the Lord Jesus, but the imaginary lord of the parable. Secondly, the steward was not commended for his honesty, but for his wisdom. A clever rogue always draws a kind of admiration from those watching. The point of the parable is that the man acted with his eye on the future. He used his brief term of stewardship with a view to the years that lay beyond.

He reduced the debt of the first by half, and the second by a good deal. In this way his favour and leniency bound these debtors to himself, so that when he was turned out of his post, they might take him into their houses. ... He looked forward to the future, and acted at once on that conviction.

For this it does not matter that the goods were his master's and not his own. Indeed, when we apply the parable to our own conduct, we may see its deepest wisdom just as it stands. We can only look out for the future like this by counting what people — what self — would call ours as our Master's resources. We have nothing to secure the future with, unless we use everything as belonging to God.

It would be disastrous to read these words of our Lord as if they applied to people seeking salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, and it rests on the Saviour's atoning blood. ... But those who are saved have serious responsibilities. Each one must give account of them at the judgement seat of Christ. So every disciple should take a leaf out of the unjust steward's book. Each should use this short life with an eye on blessing and reward in the life beyond.

Luke 16:6 — "Baths," a liquid measure. Ten of these went to the cor (Ezekiel 45:14).

His master's goods are still in the steward's hands; and these are all the means that he has, as his words plainly show. Yet his authority over them now seems to reach only as far as the rendering of that final account which his master has demanded. He is no doubt under close watch as to any further "waste," of the kind already charged against him. But of course, if he is to render an account, he has authority to call in the accounts. Here he can do no harm.

He called his master's debtors and asked each one what he owed. He let them state in their own bond that their debt was less than it really was, and so secured their friendship for the future. The amount stood in their own handwriting, and the unjust steward agreed to it. So they became partners with him in the fraud.

He called his employer's debtors and offered them the kindness of cutting their debts, if they would write out payment for the smaller amount. In this way he collected debts that might have stayed unpaid, so his employer gained by it. His motives were not love for his employer, nor for his debtors either. They were wholly selfish. He counted on the debtors showing him kindness in return once he lost his job.

It is not the honesty of the step that his master praises, but its prudence. He cut the first man's debt by half, and the second by a large amount. By his favour and leniency he bound these debtors to himself, so that when he lost his place they would take him into their homes. There is no ground to suppose that the parable makes light of his dishonesty. He is especially branded as the "unjust steward."

He looked forward to the future, and acted at once on that conviction... Is not this the great snare of men — to sacrifice the future for the present, instead of the present for the future?

It would be disastrous to read these words of our Lord as if they had anything to do with men seeking salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, and it rests on the Saviour's atoning blood... So each disciple should take a leaf out of the unjust steward's book. He should use the short span of life here with a view to blessing and reward in the life beyond... A grave responsibility therefore rests on the Christian as to how he uses what he holds, be it little or much. He is indeed a steward, and he must give an account to Another.

"Cors": a dry measure. It was the Hebrew homer, standard measure of capacity (Ezekiel 45:11), made up of ten ephahs: about eight English bushels.

There were these debtors of his lord's. He will cut his master's claim on them: by half in one case, by a fifth in another. In this way he makes friends of them for his own future advantage, when he is put out of the stewardship.

He acts with the utmost liberality with his master's goods. No doubt it cost him little or nothing. It is not the honesty of the step but its prudence which his master commends. By his favour and leniency he bound these debtors to himself, so that they would take him into their houses when his master turned him out. There is no ground to suppose that the parable makes light of his dishonesty. He is especially branded as the "unjust steward."

First, the one who commends is not the Lord Jesus, but the imaginary lord of the parable. Secondly, the steward was not commended for his honesty, but for his wisdom. A clever rogue is bound to draw some admiration from those watching. The point of the parable is that the man acted with his eye on the future.

So he calls in his lord's debtors to see how each one stands, and cancels part of each debt. Edersheim notes that this was within his rights, though his motive in it was unrighteous. He might have done it in mercy, and even in his master's interests. He did it in his own. But the wisdom with which he made capital out of what was not in his hands is clear enough.

Take the steward who tampered with his master's debts — was he righteous or unrighteous? When he told the debtor to write fifty instead of a hundred, was he not guilty of an act of unrighteousness? A steward is a servant in the house, with a special charge to look after his master's interests.

Man is the steward of God — that is, God has committed His goods to man. Israel stands especially in this position. But man has been unfaithful; Israel had indeed been so. God has taken away his stewardship; but man is still in possession of the goods to administer them. These goods are the things of earth. He has lost his stewardship by his unfaithfulness, yet he still holds the goods. So he uses them to make friends of his master's debtors by doing them good. This is what Christians should do with earthly possessions, using them for others, with the future in view. We may turn the miserable riches of this world into means of fulfilling love. For us it is in view of the everlasting habitations.

To read these words of our Lord as if they had any reference to men seeking salvation would be disastrous. Salvation is by grace alone, and it rests on the Saviour's atoning blood. But those who are saved have serious responsibilities. Each one must give account of them at the judgement seat of Christ. So each disciple should take a leaf out of the book of the unjust steward. He should use the brief period of life here with a view to blessing and reward in the life beyond.

Let us consider this carefully. First, the one who gives this praise is not the Lord Jesus, but the imaginary master in the parable. Second, the steward was praised not for his honesty, but for his wisdom. A clever crook always draws a kind of admiration from those watching. The point of the parable is that the man acted with his eye on the future. He used his brief term of stewardship with a view to the years that lay beyond.

"Unjust steward" expresses Christ's judgment of the man. The whole verse is a comment of our Lord Himself, not just its second half. All of it came from Him.

The steward is a child of this age, and his wisdom is that of his generation. It is not commended for its righteousness, but for how well it fits the end in view. In this respect the children of this age are wiser than the children of light. They go after their goal with clearer sight and steadier consistency, while the children of light are often oddly inconsistent.

Then saints, in the parable of the tares, are called "sons of the kingdom" (Matt. 13:38), for they will certainly inherit it; while mere men of the world are called "sons of this world" (Luke 16:8), being in their generation "wiser than the sons of light."

They look ahead, even if only to things on earth, because they have a keen sense of their best earthly interests. But when it comes to the soul, to heaven, to Christ's love, to God's nature and will, men tend to let the smallest present advantages blot out any right thought of the future. The Lord insists on this: the present is fleeting and deceptive, and it is not the real prize for us. The future, the eternal future, is the thing to consider, and it should govern the present. What is it that spoils the testimony of disciples now? That they are living chiefly for the present moment.

Man is the steward of God — that is, God has committed His goods to man. Israel stands especially in this position. But man has been unfaithful; Israel had indeed been so. God has taken away his stewardship; but man is still in possession of the goods to administer them. These goods are the things of earth. He lost his stewardship by his unfaithfulness, and he still holds the goods. So he uses them to make friends of his master's debtors by doing them good. Christians should do the same with earthly possessions: use them for others, with the future in view.

To read these words of our Lord as if they had any reference to men seeking salvation would be disastrous. Salvation is by grace alone, and it is founded on the Saviour's atoning blood. But those who are saved have serious responsibilities. Each one must give account of them at the judgement seat of Christ.

Notice that the parable never excuses the steward's dishonesty. It gives him the title "the unjust steward" (v. 8). And when verses 10-12 apply the teaching of the parable to the disciples, the Lord commends not prudence but faithfulness in the handling of earthly things.

"Unrighteous wealth." The word here means false, in contrast with genuine riches. For the word "true," compare John 1:9 and John 17:3; and see Matthew 13:22 and similar places, "the deceitfulness of riches."

Our use of present things is always unrighteous, for we have lost our title. These riches now stand for the world's separation from God, and for setting up self and its pleasures in the place of God. But the Lord turns it round to good. By nature we are unrighteous stewards of unrighteous wealth. Using it for Him becomes a matter of faithfulness. Spent on self, it takes up its natural character again: the expression of selfishness. On the other hand, this use is a test of faithfulness... Whoever has used or given it according to the mind of God — setting God up and self down — God will entrust on the same principle with what is more important, even the true riches.

The smallest thing gives us a place to glorify God. But we must think little of the present in the light of the future... Yet, as everyone knows, little things test how real we are. A man may be honest about something of great value and still take liberties in what is petty. Some say that judging a moral failure severely over a small sum is a fuss about nothing. There is no greater mistake. In small things a man's true character is often best known.

The Christian's whole course here is that of someone acting for another, even Christ. We are servants holding things in trust for the Lord. The Christian should treat his time, his money, his abilities and his property as his Master's goods. His business is to serve his Master and carry out His will. This matters enormously. Covetousness is trying to make your own the earthly things God has not given you.

If we looked on them as our own, we might be tempted to spend them on ourselves, or to hoard them up — laying up treasure in the last days, as James 5:3 says. But once we see them as wholly another's, we can afford to be generous with them. We can pour them out on every interest of His, looking on to that scene where we shall receive our own things.

We have a title in grace to use, in a heavenly way, that to which we have no title at all as man... Our own things are the heavenly things; the earthly things belong to another. These earthly, passing goods are not your own. If you do not use your title in grace and give them away in love, how can God trust you with the spiritual things that are "your own"? Our own things are all the glories of Christ — all that is Christ's is ours.

You cannot measure a man's godliness by his giving. Yet it cannot exist without giving, for "faith apart from works is dead." And whoever tries to satisfy himself with what is not his own, but is only his to steward, will find the things that really are his own unsatisfying in the same measure.

Present property is not strictly one's own. The whole course of the Christian here is really that of one acting for another, even Christ. We are servants in trust for the Lord. The Christian ought to regard his time, his money, his abilities and his property as the goods of his Master. His business is to serve his Master and faithfully carry out His will. This matters enormously. Covetousness means trying to make earthly things your own when God has not given them to you.

But then there are things also which we may speak of as "our own." What are these? Ah, they are what the Lord speaks of as, after all, "the true riches." "And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's" — not "another man's," but God's, of course — "who will give you that which is your own?"

They are not our own. They are "that which is another man's" — the master's goods, according to the parable, which are still in our hands until the master finally takes our stewardship away. If we looked on them as our own, the temptation would be to spend them on ourselves, or hoard them up — heaping treasure together in the last days, as James 5:3 says. But when we see them as wholly "another man's," we can afford to be generous with them. We can pour them out on every interest of His, looking on to that scene where we shall receive our own things. Only such a view of money, to speak plainly, can free us from a power that rules the human heart so strongly.

"Another's goods" are those which God has allowed us to use on earth for the time being, but we cannot call them our own, for we only have them in trust. But God gives the believer today "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." These are his own, because he will keep them for eternity. This is in contrast to what we have only for a time on earth.

When the glory comes, we shall have what is our own. What a wonderful truth, that the wide scene of Christ's glory in which we shall reign with Him will be ours! Then we shall hold power and glory without abusing them; now we can only safely use what we have by counting it Christ's and using it according to His will.

To use in this way what is so commonly, and so characteristically, the "mammon of unrighteousness" is not unrighteous. It is faithfulness in what belongs to Another. It is only "that which is least," as earthly things must be. Yet even so it can test and show what a person's character is about the "true riches." You cannot measure a man's godliness by his giving. But on the other hand godliness cannot exist without it, for "faith apart from works is dead." And whoever tries to satisfy himself with what is not his own, but of which he is only a steward, will find that his own things satisfy him just as little.

oiketēs, "household servant." Luke 16:13; Acts 10:7; Romans 14:4; 1 Peter 2:18.

An Aramaic word meaning "riches." Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13 present it as a "master": "You cannot serve God and mammon." Luke 16:9 calls it "unrighteous mammon," because it belongs to this world, where people have refused God's rights over everything. It stands in contrast to true riches, which belong to the world to come.

Besides, this object really becomes our master; in truth Satan governs by it. What governs our heart, our object, is our master, and so the love of money rules… This will show itself in loving one and hating the other, or at least holding to one and despising the other.

If I do not have Christ as my Master, I will make myself my master. The moment we set up our own will, we find ourselves in Satan's service. The fallen will is Satan's slave.

One person may have strong feelings of love toward one master and hatred toward the other. In another, the feeling may not be so strong. Even then, the fact of holding to one and belittling the other will be evident.

We find the same truth in Luke 16:13… To covet the things the world can offer is to despise God. In general our souls are very little aware of this, but this is how God looks at things.

Possessions here wrap themselves around the heart. They give a man a false place among the people around him, feeding his pride and shutting God out. So it is impossible to make both God and mammon the object of the heart. You cannot make the best of both worlds. It is either one or the other, but not both.

A Christian should treat his time, his money, his abilities and his property as the goods of his Master. His business is to serve his Master and carry out His will faithfully. This matters enormously, because covetousness means trying to make earthly things your own when God has not given them to you.

Now the Pharisees, not the disciples, come before us. The passage describes them as lovers of money. The Lord's teaching to the disciples did not touch their forms or their legalism; it touched their love of money. After they had "heard all these things," they "ridiculed him." The evil He had warned the disciples about was at work in the Pharisees with nothing to check it.

The Greek word philargyria means, literally, "love of money." It is the miser's sin, and a person can indulge it while professing religion. So Luke 16:14 applies it to the Pharisees, and 2 Tim. 3:2 applies it to those who had a form of godliness but denied its power. This love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, 1 Tim. 6:10, and those who go after it are liable to wander away from the faith, and to pierce themselves with many sorrows.

But that cuts deep, for the Pharisees are in His audience. They are the eager defenders of the law, and at the same time they are lovers of money. So they mock Him. Had the law not promised every earthly good to the man who kept it? From there the step was easy. A man who had never felt how hopeless his condition was on that basis could treat the profits of his own greed as the sign that God accepted him.

The greed of the Pharisees (v. 14) kept them from going after the things that belong to faith. Those things were unseen, and in their judgment too far-fetched to trust. They went after the good things of this present life, as though they could use the things of God however they pleased.

By rejecting the Lord's teaching, the Pharisees proved it was true. They clung to money and despised the Lord; they could not serve both. So the Lord announces God's judgment on them. Judgment is needed where influence is great, and that influence is unholy.

They cared only for the outside, for what people can see and what people admire. They ignored the God who cares about the state of men's hearts, and whose thoughts are completely opposed to men's. In the end God's thoughts will stand and men's thoughts will fall.

What He taught was a heavenly principle, and they loved money. Greed is living for this world, and we are greedy just so far as we are laying our plans for this world. Now, when you find such corruption in yourself, what do you do? Do not let it lead you to give up Christ. Let it lead you to put on your armour.

The Pharisees loved money, and they could only turn Christ's teaching into a joke (see Luke 16:14). The same will be true of everyone who catches the same infection from them. They will not see how the truth rightly applies, whether about greed or anything else. They will try to define it in a way that suits them. They will interpret it, adjust it, trim it down and bend it, until they have succeeded completely in getting their conscience out from under the edge of God's truth.

But that cuts deep. The Pharisees are in His audience, and these zealous defenders of the law are at the same time lovers of money. So they mock Him — had not the law promised every earthly good to the man who kept it? From this, one easy step followed for a man who had never felt how hopeless his condition was on that footing. He could treat the fruit of his own covetousness as the token of his acceptance with God. So, as the Lord told them, they justified themselves before men. But justification is not man's work; it is God's. What human law lets a man judge his own case?

Another light falls on human actions and motives. In the end a standard other than man's will weigh them. The judgment of our fellow men is one thing; the judgment of God is another. So a work was going on, and is still going on, because God will have reality.

Not so those who are justified before God by faith. Such people do not justify themselves before men any more than before God. They do it only when they let nature work and slip from their own ground of faith. Even so, they are not free from the snare of covetousness. As far as men's thoughts sway them, they lie open to it.

The best the flesh can offer to God is no more acceptable than the worst. "What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15) is a hard lesson to learn.

The moral sense, the natural conscience, self-righteousness, the laws of society, and the judgments of men supply us with false weights and measures. We carry them around with us more than we realise. But they are an abomination (Deuteronomy 25:16). In our thinking, the way of the prostitute and the tax collector is worse than the easy, respectable course of the world. If we had the balances of the sanctuary, we would weigh things differently.

People all around us will tell us what we must do and not do here among men. What suits man is their standard and measure. But the child of God walks straight on and pays no attention to what they say. What suits God is His standard and measure. They have the way marked out as plainly as can be, and it looks reasonable and satisfying. But that means nothing to someone who walks by faith. He knows that whatever everyone agrees is the right way must be wrong (Luke 16:15); that is the broad way.

Prosperity was no test of divine favour. What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Since John, the kingdom of God is preached. So pressing into it is now an urgent matter, and that for "everyone," because grace opens the door to anyone.