How Much Do We Owe?

Rev. E.C. Adams, Corsica, SD

The above words were spoken to one of the debtors in the parable of the unjust steward. In this parable there was a wealthy landowner who had a steward to manage his affairs. This steward received the grave message that he could be steward no longer because he had wasted his goods. The landowner yet required and gave him an opportunity to give an account of his stewardship. The steward, with this opportunity and within a short time, tried to prepare for his future. We and our children are also stewards—stewards with many goods entrusted unto us, stewards with a great responsibility, stewards only for a time, and stewards that must give an account.

For each of us the time will also come that we shall be told, “Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.” How necessary it is for us and our dear children to redeem our time (Ephesians 5:16). How are we spending the summer months with our children? Are we as the stewards wasting the goods and time entrusted unto us? Without considering the parable further, let us meditate upon the question which was asked by the unfaithful steward to his debtors as it concerns each and every one of us.

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” Thou includes every boy and girl, every man and woman. Before we consider the question as such, then we must first ask, who is our lord and master? It is true, the Lord is our Master and Owner by virtue of creation. Nevertheless, in our deep fall in our covenant-head Adam, we have placed ourselves voluntarily under the banner of the devil. In the moment of regeneration, however, the Lord, by grace, has placed a people under the banner of King Jesus. Who is our Lord? To answer the question let us ask: whom do we love (John 21:17)? Whom do we desire (Psalm 73:25)? Whom do we follow (Matthew 16:24)? Whom do we serve (Joshua 24:15)? Whom do we obey (John 14:15)?

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” No, then we are not going to speak about debts to earthly lenders, concerning our temporal possession. It is true, we are responsible also for our earthly debts. How burdensome and worrisome they can be, especially when the Lord visits with afflictions or when we cannot pay or they become overdue (2 Kings 4:1). What sleepless nights this can give, but, hopefully, it also gives a life bound to the throne of grace (Psalm 50:15). “How much owest thou unto my lord?” Let us speak of all the debts which we have before the Lord. Surely, we cannot even begin to conceive the extent of what we owe, much less to think of a way to repay this enormous debt. What are all the good things which the Lord gives unto us and our children? We read in Psalm 68:19, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits.” How much we are debtors to the Lord for all the wonderful blessings He grants so freely unto us. How much we owe to our Creator! Just to mention a few matters: the air we breathe, the sunshine which lightens and warms the earth, the rain which softens and refreshes the earth, and let us not forget our food and drink together with our health. Readers, let us remember that we have to give an account to the Lord for all of these things because we are only stewards of all the blessings which the Lord giveth unto us and our children. Concerning these blessings, we read in Psalm 40:5, “If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” How do we repay? Do we weary the Lord with our sins (Isaiah 7:13)? Does the Lord receive our thanksgiving and praise? Surely the earth is full of the Lord’s bounties but so destitute of His praise.

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” Let us now consider the precious means of grace. How manifold they are! We may freely read God’s Holy Word in our dwellings. We may freely pray in public before and after our meals without being arrested. We and our children may have a place of worship to gather together without persecution. The Lord has granted Christian schools for our children. The Lord can truly say unto us what we read in Isaiah 5:4, “What could have been done more to my vineyard?” And how do we repay? Is it by walking according to God’s Word? Can it be seen that we are separate people with our baptized forehead, not quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)?

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” We indeed have an enormous debt to the holy law of God. It requires perfect obedience to all His commandments, at all times, at all places, under all circumstances, and with right motives and purposes. The holy law cannot be satisfied with our good intentions, with our desires, or by doing our best. We are debtors to the justice of God which proceeds from His infinite perfection and holiness whereby he must punish sin. The law saith in Galatians 3:10, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

Indeed, when we meditate upon our text, then the word “much” is such a great reality in our lives. May it by the grace of God and by the uncovering work of the Holy Spirit become “much” here in the time. Otherwise the Word “much” will be understood at the day of death, on the great Day of Judgment, and to all eternity. Lamentations 5:16 exclaims, “The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!” Friends, how do we live with the great debt of our sins against a good-doing and just God? Has that true godly sorrow been born over our transgression (2 Corinthians 7:10)? How necessary it is to pray the prayer of the publican in Luke 18:13, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” The unconverted do, indeed, owe much to the Lord. It makes no difference whether we think of our great debt or not. It remains a heavenly high debt that must be paid by us or by another. The offer proposed to the debtors in this parable, to write a different figure to lessen their debt, shall never be extended to us and our children. No, the book of records is in the heavens (Revelation 20:12), and even though we forget or try to minimize or to justify our sins, it is recorded by an all-knowing God. Readers, how do we live with this great debt? Are we troubled about it? Do we pray and beg about it? It may still be proclaimed that there is an all-sufficient Saviour who can save and forgive to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” What great debtors the children of God are to grace! It cannot be fathomed or understood. How much they owe to the Father, not only for His Fatherly providence before their conversion and thereafter but especially for free and sovereign grace. The Father has freely and sovereignly elected His Church. There was no reason in them, and there never shall be any reason. 1 Corinthians 4:7 asks, “For who maketh thee to differ from another?” What thanksgiving and obedience you owe to the Father for giving His only begotten Son, the Son of His bosom, the Son whom He loves. For the Father has sent His dear Son into a very sinful and rebellious world, knowing that they would take Him and crucify Him on the cross. Why? That His Church might be saved and delivered from their debts and His attributes thereby glorified. What gratitude is then owed, but alas, and therefore the prophet has uttered the complaint in Malachi 1:6, “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is Mine honour? and if I be a master, where is My fear?”

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” Indeed, the living Church owes much to the Son. He was willing to veil His glory. He was willing to assume our human nature and be born in a manger. He has tabernacled for more than thirty-three years on this earth where His Father s name, law, day, and institutions were dishonoured. Christ Jesus was willing to give Himself as the ransom for sinners by offering Himself upon the cross. Jesus Christ has indeed felt the word “much.” Oh, child of God, what a price Christ had to pay to deliver you as a hell-worthy sinner (1 Peter 1:18&19). What a debt was placed on His shoulders when He was made sin and a curse (2 Corinthians 5:21 and Galatians 3:13) because of the imputation of the sins of His elect.

How much thou also owest to Christ concerning His work as the exalted Mediator. How is it with our repayment? Is there humility, wonderment, and gratitude? How is it with our talents, our time, our willingness, our sacrifices, and our gifts? The necessary admonishments concerning this matter are found in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” David has exclaimed in Psalm 145:1, “I will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever.”

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” The Church also owes much to the Holy Spirit. He was willing as the greater Eliezer to go to a far country to fetch and win over a bride for Christ. He was willing to take habitation in an unholy heart full of uncleanness and enmity. Surely, what patience the Holy Spirit has with His pupils even when they are so hard and slow of learning. When they are uncovered to their sins, they seek refuge in the law. When they receive a blessing, they become proud. Child of God, multiply it out. Oh, the wonder, that even when the Spirit is grieved (how much He is grieved in our day), He never departs although He withholds His sweet influences. When they are cast down, He lifts them up (2 Corinthians 7:6); when they are comfortless, they are comforted (John 14:18); when they sit in darkness, He grants them light (Micah 7:8). How glorious the work of the Holy Spirit is, especially in revealing through His Holy Word (John 16:14) the adorable and precious Saviour who is so white and ruddy (Song of Solomon 5:10) to lost sinners with all their debt. Because of space let this suffice: the Church of Christ does not owe much, but they owe everything to a Triune God (1 Peter 1:2&3).

“How much owest thou unto my lord?” By renewal let us turn in unto ourselves with the question of how much we owe and how it is with our repayment. Or do we not worry about repaying? Has the Lord not a right? Is the Lord not worthy? Alas, there are even many in the church that boldly and willingly defy the law of God, trampling upon God’s Holy Word, angering the Lord, and grieving those that love Zion well. Surely they shall be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47). Friends, are there times of shame in our lives when we consider what we owe? Are there times of profound humility and times of bowing of our knees, heads, and hearts? Are there times of wonderment?

May the Lord grant by His Spirit that we and our children with the everything that we owe do as David’s followers did in 1 Samuel 22:2: “And everyone that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them.” May the Lord grant by the first time or by renewal what the sweet psalmist has uttered in Psalm 116:12, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” David had a profound impression that he owed all to the Lord for His manifold mercies, and therefore he jubilated in Psalm 103:1&2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

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