ighty strata,
corroding its fabric, and undermining its strength.

In counselling the disciples to acquire for themselves friends from the
mammon of unrighteousness ([Greek: poiesate heantois philous ek tou
mamona tes adikias]), the Lord obviously adopts the terms of his
spiritual lesson from the structure of the parable which conveys it. By
remitting part of their debts the steward made the debtors his friends;
he won them to his side, and made sure of their sympathy when his day of
need should come. His prudence and skill were commendable, but the fraud
which was mingled with them is neither approved by the Lord, nor
prescribed as a pattern for the disciples.[90] Nor is it difficult to
lift the pure lesson from the impure ground on which it lies. The
steward could not reach his unrighteous object except by a crooked path;
but the ends which a Christian strives to attain neither require nor
admit the employment of falsehood. Use the world in such a way that it
shall help and not hinder the interests of your soul and of the world to
come.

[90] The Emperor Julian adduced this parable in order to prove that
the doctrines of Christ were adverse to good morals. This is
precisely the place where the apostate, seeking reasons to justify
his apostasy, will most readily find what he seeks.

The position of the phrase, [Greek: eis ten genean ten heauton], in or
for their own generation, near the end of the sentence, determines that
it is applied equally to both parties. It is implied that both
classes, the children of the world and the children of light, look
after their own affairs; and it is intimated that the one class attends
to its business more earnestly and more skilfully than the other. This
man cleaves to the world as his portion, and that man has chosen the
Saviour as his: but, in point of fact, he who has chosen the inferior
object prosecutes it with the greater zeal. The superior energy of the
worldling in the acquisition of gains is employed to rebuke the
Christian for his slackness in winning the true riches. This is the
main lesson of the parable.

The specific form which the lesson assumes is,--Provide now for future
need, and make the opportunities of time subservient to the interests of
eternity.

The characteristic features of the steward's skill were, that when his
dismissal was near, he occupied the short time that remained, and the
resources still at his disposal, in skilfully providing for t