Being a Faithful Steward

Transcript

Rob McFarlane: 0:58

Today, I would like to speak about being a faithful steward. Please turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 1 and 2, and I'm reading it from the English Standard Version of the Bible. It says, This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it's required of stewards that they be found faithful. I want you to notice two words that we see in verse 1. They are servants and stewards. We are servants of Christ and we are stewards of the mysteries of God. What an awesome privilege. Secondly, notice in verse 2, he says, Moreover, it's required of stewards that they be found faithful. God wants us to be faithful stewards. Now a steward is someone who has been entrusted with that which belongs to another. You and I are stewards of all that we possess. We will have to give an account before God one day for how we have used everything that we have been entrusted with in this life. In Matthew 25, Jesus taught the parable of the talents, and he paints a picture of stewardship. We see a master or an owner goes on a journey and he leaves his possessions with three servants. To one he gave five talents, another two talents, and to the third, one talent. And we see in the parable of the talents that the servant with five talents and two talents put those talents to work. They invested them and they increased them. And when the master returned and they brought their increased talents to him as an offering, he said, Well done, good and faithful servant. However, the talent that was given to the servant with one was returned unused. He didn't use it, he didn't increase it, he simply brought it back as it was, dusted it off, and said, Here's your talent back, unused and undeveloped. And what does the master say to him? You are a wicked and lazy servant. Now I wonder whether this represents two out of three Christians who use the gifts, talents, abilities, and opportunities that God has entrusted to them for his purposes, to extend his kingdom. This would indicate, if that is true, that one out of three Christians never use what God has entrusted to them to extend his kingdom. We read in Matthew 25, verse 20 and verse 21. Jesus speaking about the master's response to the servant who had five talents and increased them. Listen to it. Enter into the joy of your master. Oh, we long to hear those words one day. Well done, good and faithful servant. Well, for us to hear those words, we need to be faithful stewards of that which God has entrusted to us. And if we are faithful with what God has entrusted to us, the Bible teaches us that if we're faithful with little, we will get more. If we're faithful with worldly wealth, God will entrust us with the true riches. If we're faithful with what is another man's, he will give us our own. Let's be faithful stewards for the Lord Jesus Christ. So today we're going to look at four areas that we need to be faithful stewards. And in order to make it easy for us to take notes, I'm going to use the letter T for each of my points. I'll use a word that starts with the letter T that will make it easy for us to take notes. So, number one, we need to be faithful with truth. We have been entrusted with the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful message and it's a glorious message. It's a message that needs to be shared with others. We have been commissioned by Jesus Christ to take the gospel to the whole world. And we need to play our part in making that happen. Now it's important for us to recognize we don't make up our own message. We are not out to share our thoughts, our opinions, our traditions with people. We simply need to share the gospel. We don't need to go and share our personal convictions or preferences or our culture with other people. We need to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've had people ask me what my opinion is about a particular subject, and I've had to say my opinion doesn't count for much if it doesn't line up with the truth of God's word. We have been entrusted as stewards of truth. Let's look at two verses that explain this. The first is Colossians chapter 1, verse 25 and 26. Paul says, I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known. The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints. He recognized that he was a steward of that which had been entrusted to him. Things that were mysteries for ages and generations, now revealed, so that we can walk in those truths. What an awesome privilege we have to take the gospel message and to make it known to people who do not know Jesus Christ, to share with them about his goodness and his love, to share with them that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal, everlasting, abundant life through faith in Jesus Christ. The second verse I'd like us to look at is First Corinthians chapter 9, verse 16 and 17. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me, woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. Here he's saying that we have a stewardship of the gospel, it needs to be shared. We are required to share it, and I want to encourage us as Christians to take this wonderful message and share it with others. So, number one, we've seen that we have been entrusted with the truth. Number two, we have been entrusted with time. Each one of us have 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 168 hours a week. And we can either waste those hours or we can invest those hours. I want to encourage us to invest the time that has been entrusted to you in things that have eternal value. Invest time that God has entrusted to you in the lives of others. Invest time that God has entrusted to you sitting at the feet of Jesus. Let's not waste the time that God has entrusted us with. Let's use our lives for his glory to extend his kingdom and to reach people with the gospel. Let's look at two verses. First is in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15 to 17. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. I think every day we should ask God, Lord, how do you want me to invest this day that you've given me for you? You know, every day is a gift from God. He needs to be praised from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. Every day he's prepared good works in advance for us to do. Let's be wise, let's use the time that God has entrusted to us for him by serving his purposes. Look at Colossians chapter 4 and verse 5. It says, Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of time. Today, why don't you take stock of how you are using your time? Are you wasting time? Are you spending time or are you investing time? Holy Spirit, help us to be wise in the use of our time. Help us to use the opportunities that you give us every day for your glory. So, number two, we have seen that we need to be faithful in the use of our time. Number three, we need to be faithful with our talents. For this point, I'm not talking about a sum of money as we saw in the parable of the talents, but I'm talking about the gifts and abilities that God has entrusted to us. Many people ask me, how can I discover what my ministry is? What should I do with my life? How will I find purpose in God for my life? And sometimes we expect something mysterious, but in actual fact, I believe it can be boiled down to this your ministry is using the gifts, talents, and abilities that God has entrusted to you for him by serving others. Using whatever God's put in your hand to see other people encounter him, to advance his kingdom, to make others aware that he loves them. Let's have a look at 1 Peter chapter 4, and I'm going to read verse 10 and verse 11. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God. Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So these verses tell us that each one of us has received a gift, and we need to be good stewards of this gift, this talent, this ability, and we need to use it for Jesus Christ. It also tells us that there's basically two kinds of gifts. There are serving gifts and they are speaking gifts. He says those who speak speak as an oracle of God. In other words, those who speak shouldn't just share their opinion, but they should be a mouthpiece for God. He says those who serve should serve with the strength that God provides, not in your own strength or just limited to your own ability, but allow him to equip you, empower you, anoint you to serve Jesus Christ. Now I think that speaking gifts often refer to the public upfront gifts, and serving gifts often refer to the behind the scenes or private gifts. Both are necessary and important. And however God has wired you up, use the gifts, talents, and abilities He's entrusted to you for Him by serving His purposes. In verse 11, it ends with saying that whatever we do, we should do for the glory of God. Lord, use us, use our gifts, talents, and abilities for your purposes. Help us to be good stewards of that which you have entrusted to us. So number three, we've seen we need to be a good, faithful steward of our talents. Number four, we need to be faithful with the treasure that God has entrusted to us. Here I'm talking about money, opportunities, resources, assets that God has entrusted to us. Are we being faithful with those gifts? We need to be wise in the use of the resources that God has entrusted to us. In 2 Corinthians chapter 9, we read two verses. First of all, verse 8, which says, And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. God wants us to make a difference with what He has entrusted to us. Look at verse 11. You will be enriched in every way, to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. If we are faithful stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us, we can see our needs met and we can use what He has entrusted to us to meet the needs of others, and we will see others turn their eyes to Jesus and say thank you to Jesus. We've been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. It's important for us to be wise stewards of the treasure or resources that God has entrusted to us. So, in summary, we need to be faithful stewards in four areas. Number one, with truth. We've been entrusted with the gospel. Let's share God's word with others. Let's make sure that the mysteries that we understand we help reveal to others. Number two, our time. Let's be wise in the use of our time. Don't waste time, invest time. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom to show you his will for the use of your time. Number three, our talents. The gifts, talents, and abilities that God has entrusted to us are part and parcel of our ministry and using them to serve others for his glory. Number four, our treasure. Our treasure is the resources, the finances, the assets that God has entrusted to us. Let's use them for his glory and to serve others. Let's be wise and generous with the use of the treasure he has entrusted to us. As we close, I would like to pray and encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit, what does He want you to do as a result of what you've heard in today's message? Let's pray. Father God, thank you for the privilege of being called servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Help us to be faithful with that which you have entrusted to us. Help us to be faithful with truth, to share the gospel in an uncompromising and clear and loving way with people who need to hear it. Help us to be faithful with the use of our time. That we wouldn't waste time that you have entrusted to us, but we would invest it and use it wisely, asking you what your will is for our lives every day. Thank you, Lord, for the talents, the gifts, the abilities both given to us at birth and learned through life that you have entrusted with us. Please help us to use those for you by serving others. And Lord, thank you for the treasure, for the finances and resources that you have entrusted to us. Help us, Lord, to use those wisely to extend your kingdom, to bring increase, impact, and influence for the kingdom of God. We thank you for these things. Holy Spirit, speak to us now. We pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.