Are You A Faithful Steward?

There is a disease that is running rampant in the 21st century church. I don't know if you know of that disease or not. That disease is entitled cirrhosis of the giver. It was actually discovered in 34 A.D. and it ran its terminal course in the life of two church members, one by the name of Ananias, the other by the name of Sapphira. It is an acute condition that renders the patient's hand immobile when it attempts to move from the billfold to the offering plate. One of the remedies, not all of them, but one of the from the house of God.

Since it is clinically observable that this condition seems to disappear in alternate environments such as golf courses, clubs, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, and ballparks. Actually, the disease is really not a motor problem at all. It is a heart problem. And the best remedy of all is to truly fall in love with the living God. For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also. The elders, in conjunction with the leadership of our church, have asked me to address the issue of giving in the church.

I have been the pastor here for 23 years. Never once have I done a series on giving. I've done sermons at different times on giving. You can count on probably one hand, but never done a series on giving. So the elders have asked me to do a series that would challenge all of us in the area of our giving. And you'd think that it really wouldn't be a problem because there are two monumental defining statements that Jesus makes that are absolutely unbelievable. All the statements that Jesus makes are remarkable.

But when it comes to giving, these are absolutely unbelievable because he describes for us the absolute blessing when it comes to giving. The first is recorded in the Sermon on the Mount, in Luke's gospel, the sixth chapter, the 38th verse, which says this, give and it will be given to you.

They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return. Now think about that statement. By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return. Jesus makes a promise to those who give. He describes it in Luke six as being pressed down, shaken together and running over. Have you ever been to the grocery store and you love cereal and you go and you purchase your favorite box of cereal?

Maybe it's Frosted Flakes or Rice Krispies or Cinnamon Toast Crunch or maybe Fruity Pebbles or I don't know, whatever your favorite one is. And you get it, you take it home, you open it up and it's only half full. Where did all the cereal go? Well, Jesus says by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

In fact, it will be measured to you in such a way, it's like a cereal box that you take and you fill it full of Rice Krispies or Frosted Flakes or whatever your favorite cereal is and you shake it and then you put some more in it and you shake it until it settles down, put some more in it and shake it until it settles down and put some more into it and shake it again until it settles down, until it runs over. Wouldn't you like to open a box of cereal that was that full? It'll come that way. But in the economy of Christ, that's how he gives to those who truly obey the imperative that he says, give and it shall be given unto you.

Now, what Jesus does is he takes an Old Testament symbol of Middle Eastern grain and how people received their grain and how they would take their garments and they would open them up and they would fill them. And Jesus would use this in the book of Malachi as it was spoken by our Lord when he said this in Malachi 3 10, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house and rest and test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

In other words, Jesus takes the Old Testament principle of a nation who gives and how if you open the storehouse and you fill it, I will do more than you can ever imagine in return. Uses that in the Sermon on the Mount to show you that if you obey the imperative to give, it will be measured back to you in such a way that it's shaken together, pressed down, running over in your life. And you'd think that that would be enough for the people in the church not to have cirrhosis of the giver. You would think right, but it's not.

It's not. Now the Bible tells us, and this gets really, really good. Now listen carefully. There are many other things and words that Jesus said and things that he did that aren't recorded in the gospels. Luke John 21 tells us this. Many of the things that Jesus said, many of the things that Jesus did that are not recorded in the gospel, but if they were recorded, all the libraries, all the books on earth could not contain all the things that Jesus said and Jesus did. Remember that? John 21 verse number 25.

But there is one thing and only one that Jesus said that was not recorded in the gospels. There's one thing that Jesus said outside of the book of revelation, which is the glorified Christ speaking things about the end times. There's one thing that Jesus said that's not recorded in the gospels. That's one of those phrases that would be incorporated in the many books that could not contain all the things that Jesus said and Jesus did. And if you could rack your brain and think, okay, what would be the one thing the spirit of God would want us to know that the gospels did not record about what Jesus said so that we would really actually get it, grasp it, understand it, believe it, and live it?

What would it be? Well, the apostle Paul tells us when he says these words, remember the words of our Lord Jesus. It is more blessed to give than it is to receive. There's a statement. There's the one thing that was said that nobody else recorded of the many things that Jesus said and did that could not be contained in all the books and all the world of the great things that Jesus said and did. But there's one, the spirit of God wants you to know to make sure you get it so that if you miss it, you miss the blessing.

How many of you are missing the blessing? I would venture to say that because cirrhosis of the giver is so prevalent in the church, many of you are missing the blessing. It's a great blessing. Paul would pick up what Jesus said in 2 Corinthians 9, verse number 6, and say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Generosity in giving results in great reward from God. Think about that. One author said it this way. These two monumental promises, Acts 20, 35, Luke 6, 38, from Jesus should be all we need to make us welcome with joy every giving opportunity.

They ought to motivate you and me, whether it's through the weekly offering at church or meeting someone's individual need, always to give generously, unselfishly, sacrificially as possible. But sadly, many professed Christians don't seem to realize that Jesus' two promises make giving a matter of faith and obedience. They cling to the notion that they must protect their assets and hang on to everything they own. Instead, they should be trusting the promises of God's word and giving with a generous spirit.

In Luke 6, 38, Jesus says give. That is an imperative, which makes it a command from Jesus that must be obeyed. Giving is therefore an issue of believing his command and following through in faithful obedience. If you do, you demonstrate you trust in his promises. If you don't, you sin against Christ in the sense that you have no faith in what he promised about the blessings of giving. We are about to embark on the greatest of all seasons, the season of Christmas, Thanksgiving, the holiday season that is characterized by giving.

What better topic to lead us into that season than to help us understand what the Bible says on how you and I can learn to get a grip on giving so that cirrhosis of the giver never affects your life because you understand the blessing that God has for you.

Let me begin this way and answer a question. Are you a faithful steward? Are you a faithful steward? If you are, then you go over to that corner and that corner and turn the air conditioner on because it's really, really hot in here. If anybody is a faithful steward in that area of responsibility, that can help me out here. Seriously, no one's going to move. Somebody help me. Thank you, Larry. May God bless your soul for eternity, my man. Okay, here we go. Here's the deal. I would like to do this.

What I like to do. I'm not going to do this. This is what I would like to do. I would like to have everybody stay in that don't stand, but I would like to have everybody come together and everybody to stand up and then answer the question. Are you a faithful steward in four categories? And once you fail in one of those categories, you have to sit down. Okay. Once you fail in one of those four categories, you have to sit down and then see who is the last man or the last person standing at the end.

Okay. Because the Bible says in first Corinthians four verses one and two, it's required of a steward that he be found faithful.

Now what's a steward? A steward is a household manager. A steward is one who's been entrusted with the possessions and affairs of his master and is required to manage them properly. And the only requirement in his managerial duties is that he'd be found absolutely faithful in how he handles his master's possessions and master's affairs. So Paul says it's required that a steward be found faithful. So the question comes, what are you and I household managers in? What do we manage that is our masters that we are required to be faithful in managing?

Four things. Let me give them to you to set the context for our topic, getting a grip on giving. Okay. Number one, are you a faithful steward?

Now let's imagine everybody's standing. Okay. Everybody in the room is standing. So you can answer this question in your heart. Now, the unique thing about this is that most of us will know whether or not you're a faithful steward in these areas. Okay. Are you ready? Number one, are you a faithful steward?

When it comes to eternal reconciliation, eternal reconciliation, the verse second Corinthians chapter five, if you've got your Bible turned there, second Corinthians five verses 11 to 21, this is what the apostle Paul says.

Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God. And I hope that we are made manifest also in your conscience. We are not again, commending ourselves to you, but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For we are beside ourselves. It is for God. If we are of sound mind, it is for you for the love of Christ controls us. Having included this, that one died for all, therefore all died and he died for all.

So that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore, from now on we recognize, excuse me, no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way, no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

Namely that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were making an appeal through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made him who knew no sin, excuse me, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. God has given us a ministry, a ministry called the ministry of reconciliation.

We are ambassadors of the kingdom of God. So the first area of stewardship falls in the area, the arena of stewards of eternal reconciliation.

So if you were standing today, would you be one who was faithful in sharing the gospel, in preaching the word to an unbelieving world? Or would you be like on Wednesday night's lot, who veiled his whole identity in God so those in Sodom never heard about the righteousness of God? Where would you be? Paul says these words in verse 10, he says, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. The love of Christ, he says later on, compels us, it moves us so that others will be reconciled to God. And so God has given us this great ministry of reconciliation.

And the question is, comes for you and me, is how are we at being faithful stewards of a ministry that God has entrusted to us as ambassadors of his kingdom to a lost world? The key word is urgency. Urgency. Because the judgment of God is coming. The impending judgment upon the unbelieving world is coming. They need to know the truth. So would you still be standing? Because you are effectively sharing Christ with others, talking to others about Christ, giving to missions in your church, giving to the radio program of your church so others will hear the gospel, maybe taking trips to Russia, Argentina, wherever we may be going.

Are you demonstrating Christ, speaking about Christ in your workplace on a regular basis? Are you a faithful steward of eternal reconciliation? Number two, are you a faithful steward of personal relationships?

Personal relationships. The text is Colossians chapter three, verse 12. So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. In the context of Colossians chapter three, we are put on the new man, put off the old man, because we are in the realm of a body, a family, a family of God. And we are stewards for how we operate within that family.

And all the one another's in scripture, the forgiving one another, the loving one another, the praying for one another, the encouraging of one another, esteeming others above yourself, the confronting one another, the admonishing one another, all the one another's in scripture define for us how we are stewards of personal relationships. How important are they to us within the body of Christ? Because we're a part of a family. We're accountable to God for how we operate within the family of God. And therefore we need to operate in such a way that we have been found faithful in living for God in the family of God.

Now, the key here is sincerity. If the key to eternal reconciliation is urgency, the key here is sincerity, because we need to be sincere. Romans 12 says we're to love without hypocrisy. Peter says in 1 Peter 4, that we are to be fervent in our love one toward another. By all this, all will know that you're my disciples because you have love one to toward another. So when it comes to personal relationships, are you forgiving? Are you gentle? Are you kind? Are you loving? Are you sensitive? Do you with humility, esteem others better than yourself?

Are you a faithful steward when it comes to personal relationships within the body of Christ? So important. Would you still be standing? Your family would probably disqualify some of you in those areas, right? For how you operate within your own personal family, they would say, well, he's not a very faithful steward of the ministry of forgiveness, or the ministry of love, or the ministry of esteeming others, or certainly he's not very good at confronting those in sin. See, all those things you have to consider.

Would you remain standing? Here's another one. Not only are we stewards in the area of eternal reconciliation and personal relationships, but we are also stewards in the area of spiritual resources. Spiritual resources. Peter says, 1 Peter chapter 4, verse number 10, as each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen. If you were still standing, would you be one who is faithful as a steward in the area of spiritual resources? In other words, would you be exercising your spiritual giftedness in the church? See, the unique thing about that is that we would all know whether or not you were. So you really couldn't remain standing if you had no ministry in the church, because we know, right? So you'd have to sit down. Do you even know what your spiritual gift is? Do you even know whether you might be found in scripture?

Do you know the difference between a special gift, a speaking gift, a serving gift, and a sign gift? Do you know what they're designed for in the church? Could you even tell us where they're located in scripture? Could you tell us they're Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 4, and Ephesians 4? Could you tell us that? Could you even begin to list the spiritual gifts in scripture? Could you tell us what your spiritual gift is primarily, and what a secondary gift might be for you on the side? Because everybody has at least one, some have more than one, some have two and three and maybe even four.

Do you know that? Do you even know how to find out what your spiritual gift is? If not, how come? But we have a class that we offer on spiritual gifts to inform you, to instruct you, to teach you on how it is you can know what your spiritual gift is so that every one of us is able to benefit from the gift God gave to you. Do you know that if you don't exercise your gift in the church, we lose out? Not only do you lose out, we lose out. Everybody loses because you sit there like a bump in a log and do nothing for the glory of God in his church.

Everybody who's born again has received a gift. They're to employ it in serving one another. That's what we're to do. What would you do? What would you think if you came to church and I wasn't here? And the next week you show up, I wasn't here. And next week you show up, where's the pastor? He decided not to exercise his gift this week. Really? What's he doing? He's home watching NFL football games. Really? He decided not to use his gift this week? No. And then next week? How come? Why would he not want to exercise his gift?

Why would he want to do that? You see, when God gives you a gift, it compels you, it moves you because you want to be invested into the family of God. So what God has done is given each of you a gift. And I don't necessarily know what yours is because I might not even know who you are. But at least you should explore, investigate and say, you know what, Lord, if you give me a gift, I want to be able to use it for your glory. That would be like me giving you a gift at Christmas and then you never opening the gift.

And by Easter, I'd say, hey, have you opened the gift I gave you back in December? No, I haven't opened it yet. Why not? Man, I like the way it's wrapped. If that's the case, I'd have wrapped you just a box with nothing in it. Open the gift. I'm going to look at it a little bit longer.

Why? Open the gift, exercise the gift, use the gift. It's for your benefit. It's for your welfare. But more than that, it's for the welfare of the kingdom of God. The key here is availability. If the key in eternal reconciliation is urgency, and it is because today is the day of salvation, right? Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation in the wilderness, there's a warning given. You need to come to Christ today and we need to be motivated by the fear of the Lord, by the love of Christ, so that people know that judgment is coming.

The king is going to return. You need to be ready to meet your maker. Well, when it comes to personal relationships, the issue is sincerity. We do it out of a pure heart, a clear conscience, because you really want to minister to those that were a part of a family on a regular basis. And when it comes to spiritual resources, the key is availability. What do you think God got so angry with Moses at way back in Exodus 4? The anger of the Lord burned against Moses. God gave Moses everything he needed to accomplish the Exodus, and Moses just kept giving excuse after excuse after excuse.

And finally, the anger of the Lord burned against him. Why? Because he made himself unavailable. Unavailable. God says, I'll give you the word to speak.

I'll give you Aaron as your associate. I'll give you a staff. I'll tell you what to say. I will be with you. And Moses just kept giving excuse after excuse after excuse. And the anger of the Lord burned against him, simply because he was unavailable to be used by God. If you have yet to open your gift, to understand what your gift is, you've made yourself unavailable. And you know what? The anger of the Lord burns against you. It does. God's not pleased with the fact that you sit down here and don't exercise your gift for the glory of his kingdom.

He gave you a gift. Use it. Use it. And once you begin to use it, you will note that once you begin to employ your gift, whether it's a speaking gift or a serving gift, once you begin to employ it, guess what happens? All eyes are off of yourself. And no longer do you go to church and say, give me, give me, give me, minister to me, minister to me, minister to me, serve me, serve me, serve me. No, you go to church to serve, to serve, to serve, to reach out to others, to help those in need, to bring them closer to the living God.

You go with a purpose and ambition, a desire, a drive to be used by the living God. Everything changes. And you truly then are freed to worship the true living God. How about you? Would you still be standing? So we're stewards of number one, eternal reconciliation, number two, personal relationships, number three, spiritual resources, and number four, temporal riches.

Temporal riches. Are you a faithful steward with God's money? It's God's gift. He gave it to you. It's his ministry. He entrusted it to you. It's his family. He placed you in it. It's his money. He gave it to you. Are you a faithful household manager of the possessions and affairs of your master in glory? See, our problem is, is that we think it's our money and it's not your money. It's God's money. The Lord said, the silver, the gold, it's all mine. It's all mine. If I choose to give it to you, I want to know how it is you're going to manage that which I entrust to you.

The verse for this is 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. And Paul says, now brethren, verse 1, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which is has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.

And this not as we expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

So here is the Macedonian church used as an example by Paul that amidst their great ordeal of affliction, there was an abundance of joy because they would give liberally. They would give, listen, out of their poverty. They weren't giving out of all of their riches. They were giving out of their poverty. And not only were they giving out of their poverty liberally, they gave themselves first to God.

That's why they could do that. That's why people always say, you know, they say, well, you know, I don't have a job. I'm sure the people of Macedonia didn't have a job either, but they gave sacrificially, generously, and liberally. And they were, they were being squeezed in on every front because of their testimony for the living God. They were like a pressure cooker because people were against their stand for the living God. They were losing their jobs, but they begged to give all the more. They begged Paul, Lord, let us give more.

Really? That'd be like us taking the offering and say, oh, hold on pastor. We want to give more. We wouldn't know what to do. I'd probably have a heart attack. We just want to give more. Don't, don't, don't, don't let the plate pass until I give more. That's the way the Macedonians were. They just wanted to keep giving. And Paul told the church of Corinth, this is, this is your example. This is your testimony. This is the people you follow after because you see the reason they could do this. And this is the answer to cirrhosis of the giver is that they gave themselves to the Lord first because the Lord has your heart.

He has your money. He can have your money and not your heart. Doesn't care. But if he has your heart, he automatically has all of your money. He just wants your heart. That's it. And the key to eternal reconciliation, urgency, the key to personal relationships, sincerity, the key to, uh, uh, spiritual resources, availability, and the key to temporal riches, generosity, generosity, because you want to give sacrificially. I know there are some of you today who think you give sacrificially. Well, let me give you an illustration.

A man went to a, to a farmer one day and said, let me ask you a question. If you had $200, would you give a hundred dollars of it to the Lord? Farmer said, absolutely, absolutely. I do that. It's okay. If you had two tractors, would you give one to the Lord? Absolutely. Without hesitation. You had two cows. Would you give one of them to the Lord? I would not hesitate to give one of my cows to the Lord. He said, if he had two pigs, would you give one of them to the Lord? He goes, hold on right there.

You know, I only got two pigs. You didn't get that, did you? You'll get it around lunchtime this afternoon. I only got two pigs. You think I'm gonna give one of my pigs to the Lord? It's easy for me to give one of my tractors to the Lord. I've only got one. I'll have two. If I had one, I'd give one to the Lord. I don't have two. I have two cows. I've only got one. I only have a hundred bucks. I don't have 200 bucks. Now I have two pigs. You want me to give one of them to the Lord? That's sacrifice.

See, most people just don't want to do that. And yet they miss the blessing. When the Lord says, you give, it should be given unto you. Pressed down, shaken, running over. By your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you again. What is your standard of measure? And then, the only thing recorded of Jesus, not in the Gospels, that was never spoken or never recorded of the words that he spoke or the things that he did, only one of all the things that Jesus did and all the things that Jesus said, so many things during his earthly ministry, only one is recorded.

Only one. It's more blessed to give than it is to receive. That's why Paul said, you got to remember the words of the Lord Jesus. How about you? Have you experienced that blessing? Have you experienced the blessing of giving? For most of us, we have yet to experience that overwhelming blessing of God giving back to us, pressed down, shaking together, running over. That's what I want for you. That's what I want for me. That's what I want for our church. To understand what Jesus said, to test him, to trust his promises, because what he says is true.

Will we walk by faith and not by sight? We look at our checking account. We look at our bank account.

We walk by sight, not by faith. When you walk by faith, you trust in God to do great and mighty things, despite what might be in your account, because you're trusting him to do above and beyond what he said he would do. During the next several weeks, we're going to help you get a grip on giving. What does the Bible say about that? That we might be able to experience the blessing together. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today, a chance to be in your word and to examine it once again. May your spirit control, lead and guide every single one of us as we seek to live for the glory of your kingdom.

We thank you for this day. We thank you for the opportunity you give us to study your word. May we learn, may we grow. Most importantly, may we obey. In Jesus' name, amen.