Our varied stewardship. Stewardship is more than stewardship of money. There are various things of which we are said to be stewards. Number one, the stewardship of the gospel. One, as opposed to teachers of the law. First Timothy one, three and eleven. where he says, charge them that they teach no other doctrine. And rather than godly edifying, so do. Then he speaks about the law teachers who want to be teachers of the law. And then he said the gospel was committed to my trust. Now the word edifying here is a word which comes from the word for a house. And it means the one who is responsible for the house or for building it up. It's a very closely related word to our word for stewardship. If I am responsible for another man's house, and the other man's house includes Christians, you see, because the house of God is made up of believers, not of bricks and stone and mortar and wood. So... we have a responsibility to edify the Lord's people. And this begins, of course, with the preaching of the gospel. A, the right use of the law. In this passage he tells us how the law should be used. Not as a means of salvation. We should use the law to point out to men that they are lost. And then B, There are many false doctrines. Now this puts the responsibility on us very heavily. If you know the truth of the gospel, you have a very definite charge, a very definite stewardship. See, he calls it in this same section, the gospel of the glory of the happy God. I'm giving you a literal rendering here. It's called the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God. The word blessed is the word translated happy, and the Glorious Gospel is translated the Gospel of the Glory. So this is our responsibility to preach the Gospel of the Glory of the Happy God. God is happy to save men. God is happy. about giving salvation, giving eternal life to all men. Now should not we, as his stewards, be happy about preaching, should we not be glad for every opportunity we have of spreading the gospel? Number two, as fulfilling a charge, First Corinthians nine, Paul says, Woe is me if I preach not the gospel. He said, a dispensation of the gospel is committed to me. Now that word dispensation is stewardship. Same word exactly, translated dispensation here. A dispensation of the gospel is committed to me. You are stewards of the gospel. You know the gospel. You know what it can do for other people. And you may be passing people by every day. who ought to have the gospel, and you're not giving it to them. That's what Paul meant when he said, woe is me if I preach not the gospel, because I have a stewardship. And if I am not a faithful steward, I will have to give account for this. Many a man has said to me something like this, a fellow who works with me dropped dead last week. And I just feel terrible about it. I've been meaning to speak to him about the Lord, and I never got it done. That's failure in our stewardship in the gospel. Now, A, we are doing only our duty. Paul said, I have this dispensation. This is my responsibility. B, it is also a great privilege. And if you read on in this section, you'll see something that Paul was doing, and I put this down under C, attempting by all means to win the most. He says by all means to win some, but the word some there is literally the most. By all means to win the most. Number three, as good stewards, of the various grace of God. First Peter four. So the minister, he says, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. The word manifold means varied or various. So we are good stewards of the various grace of God. Eh? This begins with the gospel. You can't preach grace to anybody until you first of all preach the grace of God in salvation. They're not ready to listen to any other kind of preaching of grace until they understand the gospel of his grace. B, it includes all his grace. By grace are he saved as to the past. We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. for all of our time here on earth, and then the grace which shall be brought unto you and is coming again. So it's grace to begin with, and grace to go on with, and grace even at his return. See, it is for the glory of God through Jesus Christ. If you'll read this passage, you'll see why I've included that. A good steward will only be a good steward when he realizes that what he is doing is for the glory of God through Jesus Christ. I heard a very sharp question asked one time. A man said, would you have won any more souls to Christ or worked any harder trying to this last year if you have been paid a thousand dollars a piece for it? Now that question just simply floors all of us. Would you have tried any harder to win souls this last year if you've been paid a thousand dollars a piece for them? And it is for the glory of God and for the eternal honor of the Lord Jesus. And one soul is worth more than the whole world. Do we believe it? Are we really stewards? Number four. as being debtors to all men. Romans one, fourteen to seventeen. Paul said three things there. He said, I am a debtor. He said, I am ready. And he said, I am not ashamed of the gospel. Now isn't there a debtors to all men, eh? Regardless of condition. Is he a down and outer? Give him the gospel. If he's an up and outer, give him the gospel too. B, we must be ready to pay. That is our death. Now this doesn't mean that you're going to preach to everybody. It just simply means that you're ready as the Lord leads you, as He shows you. I don't believe for a minute that the Lord wants you to just hand out gospel tracks with both hands and preach to everybody that you meet. I believe that as a steward, I am responsible to find out who God wants me to reach today and be ready. Be ready to pay my debt to any man the Lord leads me to. If you're really interested in what the Spirit of God is doing, he'll lead you to the right one at the right time. And see, we should be glad to do it because we know that its power. That is, we know the power of the gospel. Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation. He wasn't bragging about his readiness or the fact that he was not ashamed. He was bragging about the gospel. Section number two, the stewardship of all truths. One, Paul faithfully discharged his stewardship. Ephesians three, two to twelve. And here the Apostle Paul says, if you have heard of the dispensation, that's that word again, of grace, of the grace of God, how that the Lord led me to make known the mystery. Now this word dispensation is stewardship again. And Paul said, You have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God committed to me. Now the third chapter of Ephesians says that Paul had faithfully discharged this. He had preached it everywhere that he could, and he was still willing to do so. So, A, this is the dispensation of God's grace. Remember that word dispensation. Now is stewardship. Perhaps you want to make a note of that. It is the stewardship of God's grace. B, we now possess these mysteries. Now the word mystery, you know, doesn't mean mysterious. It means truths that were not revealed until the days of the apostles and are now made known to us. You ought to be familiar with the various mysteries of the New Testament and especially with Islam, which was the mystery of the church. And since you know about the church, you know that it is the body of Christ, you know that all true believers are a part of that church, you know the priesthood of all believers, and so on, then you too are a steward. See, God's power enables us to pass them on to others. Paul said very plainly that he did this by the energy of the Holy Spirit. and the same power is working in you. Now this is entirely apart from gifts. God may give you the gift of an evangelist or the gift of a teacher or he may not. But the stewardship is ours anyway because it's the stewardship of knowledge. Anything that you learn of Scripture, any truth that you learn immediately makes you a steward of that truth. It's your responsibility to pass it on wherever you can. Number two, stewards are required to be faithful. First Corinthians four, stewards are required to be faithful. A, not, underline, not successful. Now organizationalism makes it necessary for you to succeed. you've got to turn in some kind of a report. You've got to show that what you're doing is paying off, or you won't be supported, or you won't be kept on in position. But if you're the Lord's steward, he wants faithfulness. He'll take care of the success. B, we are not judged by man. Paul says it's a very small thing to me if I be judged with man's judgment. He that judges me as the Lord. And C, the true heart motives will determine the rewards. Judge nothing before the time when the Lord shall come, and then he says he shall make manifest the hidden counsels of the heart. The true heart motives will determine the rewards. Number three, we should all be the servants of God. I very heartily object to this misuse of the term servants of God has applied only to professional preachers, those who are in, here's another unscriptural term, full-time service for the Lord. There is no such thing as full-time service. Everybody has to take off time to eat and sleep. And servants of God are not a special class. We are all the servants of God. There's no such thing as secular employment. If God has given you some dishes to wash or an automobile to repair or a ditch to dig or a business to run, you're doing this for the Lord just as much as the man who's preaching. And if you remember that you are his servant, it'll be much easier for you to be constant in your service for him. A? Both? Excuse me. number three, we should all be the servants of God. A, Paul had a special work. And Paul tells what his work was there in Colossians one. He said, I am a minister of the gospel and I am a minister of the church. B, all of God's saints have a part. In that same section he tells us that we too are his servants. The word minister and the word servant are the same. So each of us must find out what our job is. Now number four, good stewards become leaders of the flock. Titus one, seven and nine. Or he describes the elder. And he says that the elder is to be blameless as the stewards of God, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught. Now, if you're a faithful steward of the truth that God gives you, he may give you the privilege of being one of his elders, one of the overseers of the flock. A, both the truth and the flock belong to God. That's why in First Peter he says, not as being lords over God's heritage. Now elders are stewards. They do not own the church. And yet most secular ministers will refer to my church, you know, my church. But it's God's block and it's God's truth. B, elders are to hold both as a stewardship for God. You didn't invent the truth, you just learned it. You have no right to change it. You must teach it. The flock isn't yours. It belongs to God. You must feed it. See, they shall be amply rewarded when the Lord returns. First Peter five and four. They shall receive a crown of glory that fated not away. Number three, the stewardship of money and goods. Now, you might include time in this also because time is what you sell to get money. You may sell your time eight hours a day to get a certain amount of money, or you may sell your time in business to make money, but money, goods, and time are all material things. Let's see about this. Number one, as taught by our Lord in Luke sixteen, one to fifteen, which we read a while ago. A, we own nothing. Underline the word own. We own nothing. B, he called it, quote, the least. So your stewardship of the gospel and your stewardship of the truth is much more important than your stewardship of money. See a test of faithfulness. Do you remember the Lord said, He that is faithful in least will be faithful in much. it leads to true riches he said if you're faithful in what belongs to another man then God will give you that which is your own now what is another man's all material possessions belong to another man's belong to God what is your own the truth which God teaches you the wonderful the wonderful possessions that we have our spiritual blessings and the heavenly These are our own, and these will be ours for all eternity. If you have been faithful in money, God will give you, in turn, a knowledge of his word. E, this leaves no place for covetousness or selfishness. This leaves no place for covetousness or selfishness. Number two, again we're talking about stewardship of money and goods, as illustrated by stewardship of a vineyard, Matthew twenty, one to sixteen. I want to give you another word, it'll be interesting to you, the owner, and in parenthesis put this put this Greek word oikodos potes, O-I-K-O, D-E-S-P-O-T-E-S, and that's a long E, put a line over that last E, Oikodos potes. What does this mean? Well, look at the word. Oikos is a house. D-E-S-P-O-T, what's that? That's a death pot. That's an absolute controller. Now the owner of the vineyard was called the o cadespote. The steward was called the, what was it we had in our last lesson, he was called the oikonomos. He was the house arranger, while the owner was the house ruler. Now don't get yourself mixed up with the Lord. The Lord himself is the owner and the ruler, and you are simply the steward. Now what was said about this man? The owner, the oica despotes, controlled the money. He told the steward what to pay out. He told the steward what to do, how to handle it. He controlled the money. the steward was responsible to do as he was told. If you get this right relationship settled in this parable of the vineyard, it will help you wonderfully in this subject. Number three, as illustrated by the treasurer of a city, Romans sixteen twenty-three. The treasurer's name was Erastus. Romans sixteen, twenty-three says, Erastus, the chamberlain of the city saluted you. Now the word chamberlain and the word treasurer and the word steward are all exactly the same terms. Erastus was the chamberlain or the steward of the city of Corinth. Let me ask you, how much of the city's money did he own? What would have happened if he had used that money for himself? What would have happened if he had taken that money and put it in his own name in a bank, laid it up for his old age? That gives you a little idea of what God teaches about stewardship. He was responsible to Corinth for the city funds. B. He had opportunity to serve Paul for a time. In Acts, it says there were two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus. So for a part of the time, Erastus could take time off, could get away from his duties as treasurer of the city, and could do things for Paul. But then he had to get back to his job. See, he could not ignore his responsibility as a steward. And in Second Timothy, four and twenty, Paul says that Erastus had gone back to Corinth. He had to get back on the job. Now, he couldn't ignore his responsibility as a steward, and neither can we. Number four. as illustrated by Paul's, quote, commission, unquote. Acts twenty-six, nine to twelve, Paul having received authority and commission from the priests. Now the word translated commission is the same word again. It's the word steward. What was his commission? His commission was to go out and arrest the Christian. This is before Paul was saved. He's describing it in Acts twenty six, although he was saved actually earlier, and you have the account of his conversion in chapter nine. When he describes it in Acts twenty six, he says, I went having received authority and commission or stewardship from the priests. The priests furnished him the money and the horses and anything else that he needed. but it was for a special purpose to arrest the Christians. A, he persecuted the Christians. Flip in three six. B, after conversion, he said, I follow after. Now this is interesting, I think. In Philippians three, in verse six, you have the word persecuted. In verse twelve, you have the phrase, follow after. And in verse thirteen, you have the phrase, press forward. And these are all translations of exactly the same word. It's a word which means to relentlessly pursue. to, like a wild animal, actually stray. Now what Paul was saying is, when I was persecuting the Christians, I made that my job, and I did it. Now that I'm a Christian, I make this my job, and I do it. See? But the same words, the same zeal is implied. So, see, Paul used everything put into his hands as for the owners. When the high priest, the high priest and the chief priest sent him up to Damascus, what did he do? He was a good steward. Nor that he's saved and he's serving the Lord. What's he doing? He's a good steward. He does just as faithfully for God as he did for the Jewish priest. Now that's a good steward. That's the way we ought to do this, Stuart. Now, section four, true Christian liberality. One is wholehearted. I suggest that when you read through Second Corinthians eight and nine, you look for the superlatives. You know what a superlative is. Words like abundance and riches and bountifully and and sufficiency and multiply and exceeding. Look for superlatives because it just fills with it. Christian giving should be done superlatively. That means wholeheartedly. A? Cheerful. Incidentally, the word cheerful is translated very freely, hilariously. Now, you can't tithe hilariously. But if you're a steward and you're doing it because you belong to the Lord, you can do it hilariously. B is more blessed. Acts twenty, it's more blessed to give than to receive. It's happier to give than to get. C, as a result of first giving one's own self. Second Corinthians eight, verse five. And of course you remember that you have given yourself to the Lord. If you're sincere, freely you've received, freely give. And D, a secret between the Lord and his steward. Matthew six says, let not your left hand know what your right hand does. Don't tell anybody what you give. Let that be a secret between your Lord and yourself as his steward. Number two, The privilege of believers only. Believers only. This is what is wrong with the public collection in a meeting of the church. A. Unbelievers might be given a false security. If unbelievers are permitted to give, they may think that this is making them a little more ready for heaven. And B, the gospel must be made without charge. That's what Paul said in First Corinthians nine. I want to make the gospel without charge. And number three, it is to be used for scriptural purposes. Christian liberality is to be used, A, to support the poor. B, for evangelism. and see for the aid of those who teach the word. Those who are being taught, he said, are to minister to those who teach. And again, he says, I shall not muzzle the ox that tread without the corn. So to support the poor and to support the preaching of the gospel and to support those who teach the word. Now this is true Christian liberality.