Being A Good Steward Of God's Money

“BEING A GOOD STEWARD OF GOD’S MONEY”

Text: Luke 16:10-14

10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

Luke 16:10-14 (KJV)

INTRODUCTION: We are being greatly blessed of God and with this being so, Satan will try his best to stop us. Our church has taken some great steps of faith in recent years and now in recent months. We are currently serving nearly 180 missionaries; we have a Christian School and now are beginning a television ministry to reach shut-ins and those who are not attending church, who may watch a TV service and get under conviction and get saved… and then come to church. We have young people who are plugging in like they haven’t in a long time. We had a wonderful group of young people who met this morning to pray for our mission’s conference. (May I say, when we are attempting great things for God, we are going to be inviting risk. Many will never attempt the impossible or even the challenging because it takes them out of their comfort zone.) We are facing financial needs in the church and with this being so, We will again be analyzing our spending and may have to make some “hard calls” to maintain our integrity and our testimony, but much of the problem has been BECAUSE of a gradual decline in our giving. There may be those of you here who have become negligent in your giving or may not be giving at all. For this reason I am going to give us a reminder of what our Christian stewardship is all about and our responsibilities that we have back to God.

I. A GOOD STEWARD WILL BE MARKED BY HIS CONVICTION ( 1 Cor. 4:1-5)

A steward is one who has been entrusted with that which belongs to someone else.

A Good steward will assume his responsibility of handling another’s property with conviction; he knows that God will ultimately be his judge in regards to how he handles what God has given him. With this being so, he, with strong conviction conducts his life knowing that God will rightly judge him. He will be fairly judged by God for the way that he handled what God entrusted him with. This is not just money, but it includes money…

1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

A good steward does not even try to judge himself nor is he swayed by the judgment of other men. He realizes that he must answer directly to God for the way he handles what God has entrusted him with. This is so as individuals and also as we make up the church, collectively. A good steward does not give or do things just to impress someone. He does it for the Lord.

4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Early in my ministry, I was quick to past judgment upon people, and very concerned about what people thought about me; I still am, but not in the same way as I was then. I thought that I had it all figured out, when it came to people. The truth of the matter, only time and eternity will perfectly reveal both the evil and the good done by men. I also learned everyone does not have to do just like me, nor I just like them.

The old Bible commentator Barnes said, Judge nothing. Pass no decided opinion. Matthew 7:1. “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. The apostle here takes occasion to inculcate on them an important lesson-one of the leading lessons of Christianity-not to pass a harsh opinion on the conduct of any man, since there are so many things that go to make up his character which we cannot know, and so many secret failings and motives which are all concealed from us.