LESSON FOUR: STEWARDSHIP OF GOD’S THINGS
TEXT: 1Co 4:1-2; Matt 25:14-30
Introduction:
Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,
neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall
be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Deu 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be
put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12
AV)
God has given all men some things for which he is accountable. These things are common to
man; rich or poor, sick or strong, married or single. But the man of God knows the truth about these
things. The man of God calls them by their proper name: gifts of God. These three things are Time,
Property, and Money. God has given us all three. Each of us has some of them in varying degrees.
We, as stewards are going to be held accountable for how we manage them. Today, we will look at our
stewardship of each of them.
But for just a moment, before we do, I want to focus on another point that is of eternal
significance for each of us. That is that each soul is accountable to God first for what he or she has
done with Jesus Christ. We read the verses that each person shall be put do death for his own sin.
Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. God did not say that we would be put to death if
our sin-level was high enough. He said we would be put to death for our own sin -- in any level. So how
do we remove that sin? By believing that the death your sin requires was paid by the very Son of God
for you, and that after paying that price, He rose again that you might have eternal life. It means living
for Him, under His authority, and letting Him lead you through the rest of this life as you put your faith in
Him. It means calling your sin Sin, and repenting of it, doing it no more. It means becoming His servant,
a servant of righteousness instead of the old self, the servant of wickedness. Have you done that? Have
you committed your life to Jesus Christ? Have you begun to change your ways to honor and glorify Him?
Is He the Lord of your life? If not, then eternity will be hell for you. Make this the day you commit to Him.
Turn around and trust Him. If you need to recommit your life to Him today, make this the day you do so.
Make it known to everyone that you are trusting Him. He died publicly for you, and demands that you
publicly stand for Him. For genuine Christians, as they follow Him, will be evident by the way they do
things. Their stewardship will be different than that of the World, and so will be evident. So Christ will
publicly stand before the Father and declare that you are His only if you have stood before the world and
declared Christ to be YOUR owner and master. Those that hide their Christianity will be hidden away
from the Father. Don’t let that be you.
London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The
building had been empty for months and needed repairs.
Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior.
As he showed a prospective buyer the property, Clegg took pains to say that he would replace
the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage.
"Forget about the repairs," the buyer said. "When I buy this place, I’m going to build something
completely different. I don’t want this building; I want the site."
Compared with the renovation God has in mind, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial
as sweeping a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball. When we become God’s, the old life is over (2
Cor. 5:17).
He makes all things new. All he wants is the site and permission to build.
Anyway, back to stewardship, that all-important part of the life of the Believer. The good steward
is faithful. He not merely to care for the things put in his charge. He is careful to gain for the master from
the things put in his charge; whether it be Property (property may not be added, but it can be productive
or not); or Time (time cannot be gained or lost, but how it is used can be effective or not); or Money
(which can be productive and reproductive, or it may be useless).
I. Stewardship Over God’s Property. (Lev 25:23; Psa 24:1; Act 2:45)
All that is belongs to the Lord. We must, as God’s servants, take our stewardship over the land,
the materials, the things God Gives us.
A. The property of our Family
B. The property of our church
C. The property of our community
D. The property of our nation
E. The property of our world
The question concerning our stewardship of this property is this: are we productive in our use of
the property to further the goals and aims of Jesus Christ? In asking this, there are a few things to
consider. First, we should think about the use to bring others into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Since not every parcel of property or every instrument of possession can be used directly in evangelism
(ie, what person has been saved through the use of a blender?), then we must ask ourselves whether the
property and possessions we have are being productive toward the community it is designed to serve.
Does it enable life to be more productive for the things of God? Is it ethical according to Biblical
Standards? For instance, the TV. In itself, it is neutral. But the uses for the TV can be God-honoring, or
evil. Most shows today are far from honoring the Lord. Yet, as stewards, we are accountable for what
we watch. Another example would be our church’s property. Some believe that church property belongs
to the people. But it is really God’s. The things the church does with that property should be evaluated
according to the seive of Scripture. Many churches make excuses for using church property in ways that
contradict Scripture by putting up the front of a “higher purpose.”
II. Stewardship Over God’s Time. (Psa 31:15; Eph 5:15, 16).
A. Time for Family
B. Time for Job
C. Time for Friends
D. Time for Self
E. Time for God
How we spend our time is indicative of where our priorities are. We all have been given the
same 24 hours. However, we have not all been given the same number of 24-hr periods. Since time
was created by God, and all things were by Him and for Him created, we must understand time to be
another area for which we are stewards. How do you use your time? What has priority?
Perhaps you’ve been thinking in terms of quantity. Consider now quality. A popular phrase is
“quality time” when it seems time is so limited. Indeed, we should make everything quality time. But as
Solomon put it in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything -- a time for laughter, for tears; for growth,
for death; for sunshine, for rain. But do we use the time we have for the Lord’s purposes, or are our
priorities askew? Do we spend our worship time thinking of other things. Do we spend our family time
focused on the job, and our job time focused on recreation (the TGIF syndrome)? Has our time for the
job, friends, family, and self crowded out God? We will be accountable to God for that misplaced priority.
“We should make work what we live to do for the Lord, not just what we do to live.”
Our priorities must be God-honoring. We should eliminate things that waste our time by keeping
us from doing the God-honoring things.
God will ask us all a series of questions which we MUST answer honestly: “With those days and
years I gave you, did you ever commit yourself to me?”
To those that answer, “NO!” -- A question will follow, “Why not?” Then the judgment.
To those that answer, “Yes!” -- A question will follow, “What did you do for me?”
III. Stewardship Over God’s Money. (Psa 50:10, 1Co 16:1-2)
A. The Scriptural Priorities of Financial Accountability.
1. God’s Ownership of all things. SEE I CHRONICLES 29:10-14
a. He claims all the wealth in the world. See Vs 11
1) He created it all, and he has never relinquished his claim to any of it.
2) Our apparent freedom to use what belongs to God should not cause us to
forget that it still belongs to Him.
b. He controls all the wealth in the world. See Vs 12, 14
1) It would seem that the ungodly have an unfair amount of that which God
claims for His own, but God can take it from them at any time and give it to one
of his children.
2) For years, the land of Israel was inhabited and controlled by other nations,
but when God decided to give it to His people, no force on earth could keep it
from them.
2. My Stewardship of all I receive.
a. I must recognize that God is the source from which all my needs are met. Philippians
4:19
b. I have the responsibility to manage according to Biblical principles all which God
provides.
Modern Americans are some of the worst money-managers around. We work to earn it,
then live to spend it. But when it comes to making the money work to grow, and giving to honor God, we
fail miserably. That is mostly because we don’t consider money as something over which the Lord has
given us stewardship. Instead, we think it is ours to serve ourselves. What a reversal of priorities, and
what a slap in the face of the one who died for us to live.
3. Christ’s Lordship in everything I spend.
a. Tithing acknowledges Christ’s Lordship over my financial affairs.
b. I give Him 10 percent, and trust Him to direct me in the spending of the other 90
percent.
Some time ago, a Madison Avenue advertising firm surveyed unchurched people to get their
impression of the church. After tallying the responses, the firm issued its finding: the problem with
churches is that the people are always sad, they talk too much about death, and they constantly ask
for money. As for the latter, many churches have adopted the philosophy, if we can get by without
talking about money, we will.
Unfortunately, many Christians have never learned how to give God’s way. To them, giving in
church is a lot like paying admission: you pay $15 dollars to see a baseball game, $3 to rent a movie,
and a couple bucks to attend a church service. They have never learned that giving is an act of worship
and obedience. It has a major impact upon our spiritual lives.
The Scripture has much to say about giving, telling us who should give, how they should give,
and why they should give. Giving is an important part of Christian stewardship.
B. The New Testament Pattern of Giving. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
1. It is to be PERPETUAL. "Upon the first day of the week"
a) We are to begin our week in grateful acknowledgment of God’s blessings of
the previous week. On the FIRST DAY we are to put GOD FIRST.
b) Every week, month upon month, year upon year, as often as we have
received, we are to give a portion back to God.
c) It is important to understand that we are giving to God, not to meet the needs
of the church, an organization, or an individual.
d) If all the needs of the church were met, and all our missionaries and
ministries flourishing, God would still expect us to give a portion of our income to Him.
2. It is to be PERSONAL. "Let every one of you"
a) To give is an individual, personal decision each person must make.
b) You are choosing to give to God, the money isn’t being taken from you.
3. It is to be PLANNED. "Lay by him in store"
a) Each person is to calculate to what degree he has prospered that week, and
then set aside the portion that he will give to God.
b) Thus God gets the "firstfruits" of our earnings, not the leftovers. SEE
PROVERBS 3:9-10
4. It is to be PROPORTIONATE. "As God hath prospered him"
Everyone is not expected to give the same amount, but the same proportion - the tithe of
your increase.
The more you receive, the greater the amount you have to give, but it is still only ten percent.
II. The Biblical Principal of Tithing.
A. It predates the law. Genesis 14:17-24
1. Abraham is the first recorded tither in the Bible.
2. After recovering the property of Sodom Abraham is met by Melchizedek, God’s
representative, the "priest of the Most High God."
3. Abraham then gave "tithes of all." He gave a tenth of everything he had received to
Melchizedek. This event took place 400 years before the Law.
B. This act raises three questions.
1. What prompted Abraham to tithe? The realization that God was responsible of
Abraham’s victory and subsequent prosperity.
The "Possessor of heaven and earth" had shared His wealth with Abraham.
In response to God’s GOODNESS and FAITHFULNESS, Abraham voluntarily and
cheerfully gave a tithe.
His tithe was an act of worship and gratitude.
2. How did Abraham know to give a tenth?
The Bible doesn’t say, it just endorses what he did.
It is probable that either God’s man (Melchizedek) or God’s Spirit instructed him
to give the tithe of his increase.
3. What bearing does this have on New Testament Christians?
In Galatians 3:7, Abraham is called our spiritual father because he, like us,
exercised faith apart from the Law.
As children, God expects us to follow our "father’s" example.
C. Jesus endorsed it. Matthew 23:23 (If ever there was an occasion to undermine the principle
of tithing, this was it.)
1. On another occasion, concerning the Sabbath, Jesus taught that the Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
a. It was meant to be a blessing to men, not a burden.
b. Instead, the Pharisees had made Sabbath keeping a burden by defining
hundreds of incidental activities as work, which of course was prohibited
2. On this occasion, Jesus endorsed the tithe, although the Pharisees, too, slavishly
observed it.
a. They tithed on EVERYTHING they received - even incidental things like
spices which they gathered from the countryside
b. And Jesus said it was right for them to do so, and put it on the same level as
judgment, mercy, and faith - things no one would suggest are no longer
necessary to New Testament Christianity.
C. God blesses it. Malachi 3:8-11
1. God says to put Him to the test with the tithe and see if He won’t "pour out a blessing"
upon those who do so.
a. God stops just short of promising to bless those who tithe, but He comes
awfully close.
b. Tithing does not guarantee a person will not experience financial problems
(see Philippians 4:2), yet over the years, those who tithe will be blessed above
those who do not.
2. It is clear from verse 11 that God’s blessings will come materially
a. Malachi spoke of the pests who destroy crops and vines that fail to produce. .
These represented the Jews main source of income.
b. Today we would speak of sales for salesmen on commission, business for the
entrepreneur, pay raises for those on salary.
c. God materially blesses those who give His way.
Giving is an act of worship. It is a grateful response to a gracious God. The only
reason why we should have nothing to give is we have received nothing from God.
Giving is also an act of obedience. It is commanded. To disobey is to limit God’s ability
to bless our lives. Many problems Christians experience can be linked directly to
disobedience in the area of giving - problems they would never have experienced if they had
only obeyed God in tithing.
Giving is also a test of our faith. It demonstrates our ability to trust God. It is a
declaration of dependence and an invitation to experience the faithfulness of our Heavenly
Father.
Conclusion:
To conclude our series, we should see that our stewardship over our life is a stewardship over
God’s Truth -The Word of God
-The Gospel of Jesus Christ
-The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
God’s Church - God’s People
- Self
God’s Things - God’s Property
- God’s Time
- God’s Money
It may seem like a big bite, but to consider it as our reasonable service, then we must take care
to commit to moving in a Godly direction beginning today. We may need to rearrange our household
affairs and priorities. We may need to adjust our attitudes, or we may need to get back to basics.
Regardless, we MUST take care to be found faithful, no matter what. God won’t accept excuses. He
WILL make us give account. Sin is to know to do right and not to do it. Will you please make the
commitments you must make today? Don’t go another day in the knowledge that God wants you to do
something, but stubbornly refusing to do it. Don’t miss the blessing of being a good steward.
