Luke 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? AND IF YE HAVE NOT BEEN FAITHFUL IN THAT WHICH IS ANOTHER MAN'S - the pecuniary and other earthly means which are but lent us, and must be held at best as only entrusted to us, WHO SHALL GIVE YOU THAT WHICH IS YOUR OWN? This verse gives an important turn to the subject. Here all we have is on trust as stewards, who have an account to render. Hereafter, what the faithful have will be their own property, being no longer on probation, but in secure, undisturbed, rightful, everlasting possession and enjoyment of all that is graciously bestowed on us. Thus money is neither to be idolized nor despised: we must sit loose to it, but use it for God's glory. NO SERVANT CAN SERVE (OR, BE ENTIRELY AT THE COMMAND OF) TWO MASTERS. This is true even where there is no hostility bet...

12._And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another. _By the expression, _what belongs to another, _he means what is not within man; for God does not bestow riches upon us on condition that we shall be attached to them, but makes us _stewards _of them in such a manner, that they may not bind us with their chains. And, indeed, it is impossible that our minds should be free and disengaged for dwelling in heaven, if we did not look upon every thing that is in the world as _belonging to another _ _Who shall entrust to you what is your own? _Spiritual riches, on the other hand, which relate to a future life, are pronounced by him to be _our own, _because the enjoyment of them is everlasting. But now he employs a different comparison. There is no reason, he tells us, to expect that we shall make a proper and moderate use of _our own _property, if we have acted improperly or unfait...

1-12 Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord's debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their debt to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it so noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser than believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an exampl...

Verse Luke 16:12. _THAT WHICH IS ANOTHER MAN'S_] Or rather _another's_, τω αλλοτριω. That is, worldly riches, called another's: 1. Because they belong to _God_, and he has not designed that they should be any man's portion. 2. Because they are continually _changing_ their _possessors_, being in the way of commerce, and in providence going from one to another. This property of worldly goods is often referred to by both sacred and profane writers. See a fine passage in _Horace_, Sat. l. ii. s. 2. v. 129. _Nam propriae telluris herum natura neque illum,_ _Nec me, nec quemquam statuit._ Nature will no _perpetual_ heir assign, Nor make the

ANOTHER MAN’S - The word “man’s” is not in the original. It is, “If ye have been unfaithful managers for another.” It refers, doubtless, to “God.” The wealth of the world is “his.” It is committed to us as his stewards. It is uncertain and deceitful, and at any moment he can take it away from us. It is still “his;” and if, while intrusted with “this,” we are unfaithful, we cannot expect that he will confer on us the rewards of heaven. THAT WHICH IS YOUR OWN - The riches of heaven, which, if once given to us, may be considered as “ours” - that is, it will be permanent and fixed, and will not be taken away “as if” at the pleasure of another. We may “calculate” on it, and look forward with the assurance that it will “continue” to be “ours” forever, and will not be taken away like the riches of this world, “as if” they were not ours. The meaning of the whole parable is, therefore, thus expre...

EXPOSITION LUKE 16:1 The _Lord_'_s teaching on the right use of earthly possessions with regard to the prospect of another world, in the form of the two parables of the unjust steward, and Dives and Lazarus._ LUKE 16:1, LUKE 16:2 AND HE SAID ALSO UNTO HIS DISCIPLES. There is no doubt that this important teaching belongs to the last portion of our Lord's life, and it is probable that it is closely connected with the parable of the prodigal son just related. It is not likely that two such weighty sermons had been preached at the same time, but in the evening, or on the following day, or at leas

AND IF YE HAVE NOT BEEN FAITHFUL IN THAT WHICH IS ANOTHER MAN'S,.... Which is not a man's own, but what is committed to him by another; בממון אחרים, "with the mammon of others a", to speak in the language of the Jews; and of mammon, our Lord is speaking, and here of another man's, of which they were only stewards, as he in the preceding parable was: hence we read b of שומרי ממון, "keepers of mammon", who were intrusted with another's substance; and such are here supposed, which, if unfaithful in, WHO SHALL GIVE YOU THAT WHICH IS YOUR OWN? that is, should you unjustly detain, or make an ill use of another man's substance lodged in your hands, how can you expect but that you will be dealt with in like manner by others, who will not pay you yours, they have in their possession, but convert it to their own use? A like distinction of another's and a man's own, may be observed among the Jews...

LUKE 16:12 u`me,teron {A} The reading h`me,teron (B L _al_) has the appearance of being a later theological refinement (= “belonging to the Father and the Son”), expressing the divine origin of the true riches (ver. Luke 16:11) — as is also expressed by the Marcionite reading evmo,n. It is more likely, however, that, owing to the constant scribal confusion between u and h (in later Greek the two vowels came to be pronounced alike), copyists who wrote h`me,teron intended u`me,teron — for in the context the correct antithesis to “another’s” is “your...

CHAPTER 16 _ 1. The Unjust Steward. (Luke 16:1)_ 2. The Impossible Service. (Luke 16:13) 3. The Deriding Pharisees Answered. (Luke 16:14) 4. Concerning Divorce. (Luke 16:18) 5. The Rich Man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19 .) Luke 16:1 Let us notice that this story was spoken to the disciples. It contains a number of difficulties. It has well been said “there are knots in it which perhaps will never be untied, until the Lord comes again. We might re

THE RIGHT USE OF MONEY. Lk. only, except Luke 16:13 (= Matthew 6:24), which is brought in by the verbal link mammon. The note here is fidelity. There is some connexion with Luke 16:1 in the subject property and its obligations. In money matters one must be beyond reproach. If a man is untrustworthy here, how shall he be entrusted with the true wealth, the Messianic Kingdom? Luke 16:11 are parallel sayings; your own corresponds to the true riches, and that which is another's is therefore wealth which is regarded as lent to men only for a season. We are reminded of the Parable of the Talents....